"There is an older generation of editors"--"Book Lovers" Season Dusty's Literary Book Affairs

□ Xu Mingxiang

I began to understand Mr. Ji Dichen because of the words of the contemporary literary master Sun Li. Sun Li wrote in the inscription on the coat of the "Biography of the Children's Heroes":

In this part, Yu Xiang has nothing to hide. I know that the humanities have printed this book, which is a letter to Ji Di Dust for a generation. The book has been published for many years, and it is not easy to obtain, and then from the disposal of the stack of books, I got one. Fearing that the mail would be lost, he entrusted someone to bring it and apologized for the defacement of the book. Ji Jun is responsible for people, has the style of the older generation of editors, and is generous and can be felt. The packaging was then trimmed under the lamp. (7 February 1987)

This "Book and Clothing Anthology" was originally published in the "Collection of Wuwei" (by Sun Li, first edition of the People's Literature Publishing House in 1989). In the 1990s, I read it in the three-volume Essays of Sun Li (China Radio and Television Publishing House, 1995). Sun Li gave Ji Dichen such a high evaluation, which impressed me deeply.

After that, after reading Zhang Aquan's book inscription, the understanding of Ji Dichen was more specific, and the time was 2000 years. Ah Quan fondly recalled the process of Ji Dichen's self-saved "Wuwei Collection":

Sun Li's little book has been asked for for two years. Helplessly, write a postcard and ask mr. Ji Dichen, the responsible editor of the book, to find it. In 1985, I went to school in Sichuan, went through Beijing to do things for Zeng Shaoyi, and went to the People's Literature Publishing House to visit Mr. Ji, humble and enthusiastic, gentle and elegant, and Confucian. He was hospitality at his apartment and received two books donated by Ji Lao, one was "Selected Essays of Wu Boxiao" and the other was "Selected Essays of Wild Coal". The two books are still wrapped in a book jacket and placed on the top of my bookshelf.

It was registered with humanities and opened it to "Nothing"! Ji Lao nei attached a short note, Yun: "Sun Li's "Wuwei Collection" has only printed more than 2,000 copies, and it has long been sold out, and our company has not had a single book in storage. I will now send one of my own copies. Please let me know after receiving it, and avoid suspense. "Sincere and humble like Mr. Ji is rare today!" I had the opportunity to meet, and I was personally cared for, and I felt sorry for my heart, and I was lucky to talk about it. On April 30, 1991, the wind and sand filled the air.

("Palm Pearl", by Zhang Aquan, Inner Mongolia People's Publishing House, December 1998)

Later, I had the opportunity to correspond with Mr. Ji, and he sent him his poetry collection "Sun, Man, Falling Flowers", the essay collection "The Blossom of Life - Chronicles and Others of "Caprice" and his editor-in-chief", "Masterpieces of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Prose" (volume 1 and 2), and I personally felt his "modesty and enthusiasm". A transcription of a letter can be seen:

Mr. Ming Xiang:

Hello!

It has been more than a week since I read the masterpiece, and I still pray for forgiveness because of the delay in recovering the matter!

I have been looking up to the name of the text for a long time, and I am very happy to receive a book donation a few days ago, and now I am very happy to hear your words full of friendship.

The big book "Chronicle of the Hidden Books", I read it interspersed with other books (also gifted books), so far I have only read most of them, but I love it and benefit a lot.

The appearance of the book is very beautiful, the Quicksand River inscription and Chen Shizeng's painting are placed in the upper right and lower left, which complement each other perfectly, the inner page is rich in text and pictures, the character lines are sparse, and the whole book is very atmospheric, beautiful, and first-class.

After reading many articles in the collection, I have an understanding of your literary and personal character, and I have great admiration. It seems that you have made great efforts to love books, collect books, and read books. Spare no effort in searching for books, and read books carefully and carefully. Reading secretaries is very diligent, not in generalities, not short books, but a veritable chronicle of books. Rich in content and profound in review, the work itself is integrated with letters, interviews, interesting facts, and feelings, and it is eloquent and enlightening. I want to worship you as a teacher, but it is too late, because I am old and weak, and I am no longer engaged in the business of compiling and tasting books. Let me be a loyal reader of you!

Hurry this, that is, praise

Be safe

Season on dust

2012.7.27

Mr. Ji's letter is full of encouragement and rewards for the younger generations. The humility of the Confucians is touching. What he said about "integrating the work itself with letters, interviews, interesting facts, and impressions" was exactly the direction of book writing that I had been working on, and he immediately saw it.

Ji Dichen, pen name Ji Nian, born in 1928, is a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. He graduated from the Beijing Journalism School in 1951. He successively served as the editor of the Workers' Daily and the deputy editor of the People's Literature Publishing House. He has served as the responsible editor of "Caprice" (Ba Jin), "Selected Essays of Bingxin", "Selected Essays of KeLing", "Collection of Nothing" (Sun Li), "Footprints of the Past" (Huang Bao), "A Piece of Lovesickness" (Jiang Deming) and other books. He is the chief editor of "Essence of Contemporary Chinese Prose" and "Masterpieces of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Prose" and other prose anthologies. Tu An, a famous writer, translator and former editor-in-chief of the People's Literature Publishing House, called him a "prose editor." The famous essayist and playwright Curling called him "the old gardener of prose".

Ji Dichen said: "When I compile any book, whether it is the role of responsible editor or editor, I will work diligently, conscientiously, and strive to do a better job. I think that since it is called 'responsible editor', 'editor' or 'selector', we should be meticulous and do our best to be truly responsible for the author and the reader, otherwise we will be sorry for them. In order to produce a book, his responsible editor generally corresponds with the author twenty or thirty times, and the most is fifty or sixty times. Perhaps, therefore, Sun Li made the judgment that "Ji Jun is responsible for people and has the style of an older generation of editors".

Two of his favorite books are Literary Writings: Letters from Writers to Editors and The Blossom of Life: A Chronicle of Caprice and Others. The former is a collection of letters he compiled, the latter a collection of essays he wrote.

"Literary Books: Writers' Letters to Editors" (Ba Jin et al., Edited by Ji Dichen, People's Literature Publishing House, 2001, priced at 13.80 yuan), I bought in Linyi Book City in February 2005, 30% off. This book is a selection of more than 200 letters from fifty writers to Ji Dichen. Ji Dichen said: "Therefore, I want to compile this collection of letters in order to make my cherished writer's letters, a batch of valuable literary materials and prose in special genres, not lost by the passage of time, and to leave a text and a memorial; at the same time, it is also to express my gratitude and respect for the many excellent writers who have given me help and encouragement." "The letters are rich in content and interesting to read." Appendix: Pinshu Xiaozha "Is very interesting to read, but also very interesting. When Ba Jin's "Collection of Fire", "Exploration Collection", "Collection of Truths", "Untitled Collection", "Caprice", Huang Qiuyun's "Wind and Rain Years", Huang Pei's "Footprints of the Past" and other books compiled and distributed by him came out, he wrote short articles with joy to tell readers in a timely manner about the publication information or after reading. These short texts in the appendix are book reviews, book introductions, and book words, simple and concise, full of bookish fragrance and friendship, and feel very kind to read.

"The Blossom of Life- Chronicle of Caprice and Others" (by Ji Dichen, Popular Literature and Art Publishing House, 2011), the content is divided into four series, including "Chronicle of Caprice", "Mr. Barkin and Me", "Notes on The Book of Pins", and "Twilight Thoughts". The "Pinshu Xiaozha" is roughly the same as the articles included in the appendix of the "Literary Chronicles". The author edited the book mainly in honor of Mr. Barkin. He was the responsible editor of the "Collection of Fires" and "Caprice" published by the People's Literature Publishing House, and had the opportunity to meet with the author Ba Jin many times and maintained long-term correspondence, and the "Literary Book" included 36 letters from Ba Jin to him. The two series of articles "Chronicle of Caprice" and "Mr. Barkin and Me" help us understand Barkin's magnum opus in his later years, Caprice.

"I call myself a 'book lover' because I've loved books all my life — I love to read, to compile, to buy, to collect. The content of this book is also mostly about some of the books you like. I like these books so much, in addition to being attracted by the works themselves, but also because I am the responsible editor of the books, I know their details and value. It is like facing a confidant, even if you look at each other without words, there is a deep affection and complete understanding. This is the heartfelt voice expressed by Mr. Ji in "The Blossom of Life: Afterword". Because of this, what he wrote was all beautiful literary books.