"Coconut Wind Banana Rain": Liu Yiman's "Wet Memory" in Nanyang

"If you had one more ticket, would you come with me..."

I believe that friends who have seen Wong Kar-wai will remember that Zhou Muyun once asked Su Lizhen this before leaving Hong Kong. In fact, the archetypal character of the film, a generation of literary masters Liu Yihu, also visited Nanyang in the 1950s and worked as an editor in various newspapers and periodicals in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. In reality, there is probably no tree cave in Angkor Wat, but Liu Lao still worked tirelessly during his stay in Nanyang, replacing the tree cave with manuscript paper, and filling it with the sincere feelings of a foreigner inker.

Stills from the movie "Fancy Years"

Recently, Liu Yihuan's collection of novels "Coconut Wind banana rain: Nanyang Stories" was published in the mainland, systematically including liu Lao's nanyang period works, which is extremely precious, and readers are indeed lucky. Before reading the masterpieces of the master, you may wish to first get to know the origin of this Chinese stream of consciousness, and even his two or three things as a guest in Nanyang.

Genzoshin City Publishes new literary masters

Perhaps many readers know Liu Yihuan through Wong Kar Wai's films, which will probably classify him as a "Hong Kong writer". In fact, Liu Yiman was born in Shanghai in 1918 and was educated in the public concession. In an interview, Liu Lao recalled that he was already good at writing when he was a child, and in the second grade, he was arranged by the school to "skip the grade" and move straight to the fifth grade. He graduated from St. John's University in Shanghai in 1941 (now East China University of Political Science and Law). In the same year, the Pacific War broke out, and Liu Lao moved to Chongqing. This fledgling graduate served as the editor of the National Gazette and the Sweeping Newspaper in the rear area, and it became a good story to preemptively publish the news of the death of the commander-in-chief of the Japanese fleet at that time.

Looking through the interview materials, during the period of compiling the newspaper in Chongqing, Elder Liu had successively invited Lao She, Jiao Juyin, and other famous artists to write. Until the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Liu returned to Shanghai with a beard, and later founded the Huaizheng Cultural Society, focusing on the publication of new literary works. Many well-known masters, such as Xu Xi, Yao Xueyu, Dai Wangshu, etc., have all submitted their works to Huai Zheng for publication, especially contributing to the development of new literature at that time. Later, he himself worked hard and still implemented the creative purpose of "being different", which coincided with the spirit of new literature.

Until the economic chaos in 1948, Liu Yihuan moved to Hong Kong, reopened the publishing house fruitlessly, and re-invested in the pen of the newspaper, thus becoming the prototype character of Zhou Muyun that everyone is familiar with. Probably it is difficult for you to imagine that this person will go to the back alley to eat wonton noodles at night, meet the role of Su Lizhen in the neighbors, and publish "Wind Xiaoxiao" and "Half a Car of Wheat Straw" in Shanghai a few years ago. Foreigners cooking in the slits of the city to make a living may be the portrayal of a group of southern literati at that time.

Liu Yihuan (December 7, 1918 – June 8, 2018)

South to New Malaysia Huai Cai bitterly looking for Bo Le

Liu Yiman did not last long in the foreign land of Xiangjiang. In 1952, he accepted an invitation from a friend and went from Hong Kong to Singapore alone to run a newspaper. In other words, a generation of literary craftsmen sailed south again in a few years. It turned out that there was still a story behind his resolute departure from Hong Kong this time: At that time, Liu Lao was serving as the editor of the supplementary magazine of the Hong Kong Times in Hong Kong, and he was still determined to new literature, but he violated the newspaper policy of preferring classical literature at that time. Liu Laosui resolutely resigned and went to Nanyang, which showed his literary attitude and persistence.

If "all memories are wet" ("The Drinker"), then Liu's memories of being a guest in Nanyang for five years must be stained with wet banana wind and coconut rain. He was originally invited to Singapore to serve as the editor of Yishi Bao, but unfortunately, the newspaper soon encountered financial difficulties and closed down after a few months of work. The exile coincided with the loss of his career, and Liu Yiman once planned to return to Hong Kong, but fortunately was later invited to Kuala Lumpur to renew his post as another post. As a result, Liu Lao worked in the Nine Newspapers in Singapore and Malaysia in five years, and some of them were single-handedly working on all the manuscripts of the entire newspaper, which was not simple.

"I heard that Xingjiapo is very big and beautiful like paradise."

"Yes, Xingjiapo is beautiful, but without money, even heaven will become hell."

- "Banana Wind Coconut Rain"

One of the reasons for the unsatisfactory work is that Liu Yihuan has always been responsible for the editor of the supplement, but the status of the supplementary magazine was not mainly at the top of the newspaper at that time, and many of the relevant editorial positions were already occupied by local editors, so Liu Lao could only circulate in different tabloids. These tabloids themselves are weak and difficult to operate for a long time. Under the vicious circle, it is difficult for Elder Liu to find a stable job, which is not easy.

The lonely wanderer composes a long-distance love song

I believe that you still have some impressions of the train that symbolizes loneliness in "2046" and "Drunkard". This lonely beast may be exactly the portrayal of Liu Yiman's heart at that time: he did not meet at work, and he was alone in this foreign land that lacked four seasons. Lonely and difficult to dismiss, at that time, Liu Yi took advantage of his status as a journalist and lingered on the local song stage from time to time. Today, looking through the novella "The Story of Xingjiapo" in "Coconut Wind banana rain", you can still spy the red wine and green of the song world of that year.

Unfortunately, Liu Lao suffered from lung disease during his stay in New Life and needed to take injections and medication for a long time to concentrate on recuperation. He was in the room editing a manuscript when he suddenly coughed and vomited blood, and was stunned. A wanderer is plagued by illness again, presumably adding another layer of loneliness to this memory.

"Man is such a strange animal."

"But man is an animal of feelings."

"My emotions have never been vented normally."

- "The Story of Star Kapo"

Liu Yihuan had the honor of meeting his wife at this time, and since then he has walked the road of life together. Similar to Zhou Muyun's experience in "2046", when Zhou Muyun met Bai Ling, a neighbor of the hotel, Liu Yihuan, who was a guest in a foreign country, lived in one of the rooms of the Jinling Grand Hotel in Singapore, while the future Liu Tailuo Peiyun was a modern dancer who performed with the group in Singapore and happened to live on the same floor of the hotel. According to Liu Lao's editor Meizi, it turned out that Luo Peiyun's popularity in Singapore was higher than That's in Singapore, and there were even newspapers and periodicals that specially reported the grandeur of his performance, or were surprised by fans.

Liu Yihuan, who is accustomed to returning at night, occasionally happens to meet the future Liu Tai, who has just completed the dance troupe performance, and the two also get acquainted by chance. It turned out that Liu Tai himself also liked to read, and naturally surrendered. She recalls that the two of them liked to go to Raffles Place for tea and pat on the drag, and also to the beach to pasar for supper. It is no wonder that the prosperous lion city of the past, such as the Kangle Pavilion, the morning of Chinatown, and the Garden of Katong, appear from time to time in Liu Lao's Nanyang period works.

At the time of The above-mentioned illness of Elder Liu, it was also fortunate that Mrs. Liu was carefully cared for by her side. From 1952, when he went to Singapore alone, to 1957, when the two decided to return to Hong Kong to get married, Liu Lao ended his five-year experience as a guest in Nanyang and has since settled in Hong Kong.

Mr. and Mrs. Liu Yihu and Luo Peiyun were photographed in Hong Kong in 1958

There is a small episode in this fashion. According to Liu Taizhen's letters with Mr. Liu that year, it turned out that Liu Lao had ordered Cathay Pacific airline tickets from a travel agency and flew back to Hong Kong from Singapore. The latter paragraph of the letter also stated that due to the discrepancy of the ship schedule, it was necessary to wait for more than half a month for a large ship to leave the port, so it was decided to change to a plane. I can't imagine that the film dialogue that many literary youths are talking about is actually inferior to the mistake of the ship schedule on the return trip. However, since Liu Lao's flight landed and arrived in Hong Kong, a couple of couples have quickly grown old with white heads, and the romance is still there.

Liu Lao returned to Hong Kong to be the editor of the "Hong Kong Times", and then worked in the "Express" and "Sing Tao Evening News", and even founded the "Hong Kong Literature", during which he still worked tirelessly, collecting more than three million words in his lifetime, and successively completed masterpieces such as "The Alcoholic" and "The Upside Down", all of which belong to the afterword.

Distinctive Wenfeng is always new

This re-publication of "Coconut Wind banana rain: Nanyang Stories" is written by Liu Yihu in the five years of Nanyang. Among them, "The Story of Xingjiapo" depicts the encounter between a pair of unruly inkers and a bright lady, while the other novella, "Banana Wind and Coconut Rain", details a love story of Malay Kampung. The whole book is full of new and prosperous style, with Liu Lao's consistent innovation and breakthrough pen, the delicate portrayal of novella works, the novella plot is repeatedly broken, and the miniature novel is more compact. Among them, many of the short stories and miniature works included in the new book were published in the Nanyang Shang Bao, which was obtained by Liu Tai later from the newspaper. According to Cai Lan's account, he grew up in Nanyang, and when he was a child, he was already a fan of Liu Yihuan's books, and he cut and collected them from the Nanyang Business Daily one by one, which shows the charm of a generation of literary masters.

"Coconut Wind Banana Rain: A Collection of Nanyang Stories", Liu Yihuan/ by Plum Zi / Editor, Sichuan People's Publishing House, Houlang, April 2022 edition

Some mainland readers flipping through Liu Lao's works may at first be trapped in Mr. Liu's words and sentences. It must be known that Elder Liu himself was a southern scholar, and the background of the times was completely different from today, but the author believes that it is only necessary to adapt slightly, properly adjust the view of chronological history when reading, and suddenly be able to open up. Probably the charm of Liu Lao's works lies in the fact that even after more than half a century, the flipping of chapters and sentences still feels the creativity of guzhong, the words are still poignant when encountering metaphors, and the plot is still novel at the end of the article, and its "experimentality" is always new.

Looking back at the young Cai Lan and a large number of readers, they were able to contact Mr. Li's works for the first time, which must be refreshing, and the impact can be imagined. Don't forget that Liu Lao is the originator of the Stream of Consciousness in Chinese, and if it were not for his early pioneering attempts, the development of Chinese literature today would never be the same. In fact, Liu Lao's works have a respected status in Hong Kong, and they are one of the literary works that many Hong Kong book fans must read, which cannot be ignored.

During his tenure as editor, Liu Yihuan adhered to the principle of "recognizing manuscripts without recognizing people", which originally meant that only the level of articles was measured rather than the fame of the author. Although none of us are editors, after you know the life of Liu Lao, you may wish to start from this point and try to get to know the manuscript works of this master. As the preface says, the Nanyang experience has laid the foundation for Liu Yiman's future creations, and even directly provided content materials for Chun Yubai's foreign memories. Although it is said that Liu Lao's life experience is not simple, in just five years as a guest in Nanyang, he has condensed various things such as exotic new guests, huaicai, diseases, and encounters with beautiful people, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is one of the important stages of Liu Lao's life. Reading the old works today, you can still spy the mental journey of this literary master between the lines. Therefore, regardless of the content, length and importance of the book, the book is really suitable for book lovers who have never read Liu Lao's works as an entry; for a group of Liu Yifan fans, it is even more impossible to miss.

In fact, this originator of Chinese stream-of-consciousness novels definitely deserves more attention and scrutiny from more mainland readers. It is time to "recognize the manuscript and recognize the person", peruse the master's timeless and new works, and sublimate himself from "Wong Kar-wai archetype" to "a generation of literary masters".