One Branch and One Leaf General Concern - Reading Zhang Chaolin's "Ancestral Biography" (Young Writers Network Zhang Yingzi)

A branch and a leaf are always concerned

—Read Mr. Zhang Chaolin's novel collection "Ancestral Tradition"

Young Writers Network signed writer Zhang Yingzi

In the early summer and May of "when the sunny day is warm and the wind is full of wheat, and the green shade and grass are victorious", I was honored to receive Mr. Zhang Chaolin's short story collection "Ancestral Tradition", and I gently opened the new books with curiosity and browsed the catalog to collect a total of 21 novels. Through careful reading in recent days, he was impressed by his keen insight and profound literary skills, and he was a college teacher from the Yellow River Institute of Science and Technology. Most of his novels focus on the trivial things of mortals in the countryside, creating a character with a distinct personality for us. Reading his words is unpretentious, concise and smooth, and intriguing. He is worthy of being a true writer who "can see the green mountains and see the green water and remember the nostalgia", the subtleties are wonderful, and the branches and leaves are always concerned.

One side nurtures the other. Reading Zhang Chaolin's short story collection is like walking into the daily life of the villagers, listening to the stories of joy and sorrow that have occurred in their families and families, and feeling the strong smell of fireworks in the world.

"Ancestral Biography" as the general name of this book, but also the title of the opening novel, the text tells the story of the 18th generation of ancestral medical skills of the old Sun family, which has lasted for more than 200 years, and the closure of the old clinic, so that the Sun family can deeply reflect on the story of changing the rules of the old ancestors. The novel is fascinating, enough to see the extraordinary strength of the author, so that as a reader, I can imagine it. Yes, the inheritance of the secret recipe of traditional Chinese medicine in the old Sun family for a hundred years has indeed brought many gospels to the local people, but the society is progressing, the times are developing, and blindly sticking to the rules can no longer meet the needs of the future, and should keep pace with the times; "Dowry" tells the story of the Zhao family's two generations of "thirty years of Hedong and Thirty Hexi", thinking that the Zhao family was very poor, marrying their daughters outside the mountains, and only using the big mill plate as a symbolic dowry for their daughters, and parents sought peace of mind. Decades have passed, the bucket has shifted from star to star, rural tourism and specialty sales have turned the mountain into a fragrant feast, and the large mill plate has become an important symbol of the mountain, and the children of the Zhao family have also taken this opportunity to achieve common prosperity. In the text, the author spares no effort to show the warm affection of the family members who help each other. At the end of the novel, Father Zhao You looked at the big mill in front of him, and then looked at the lush mountains in the distance, and muttered to himself: "Oh, the things in the world are really elusive." If you think about it, everything is useful, and it looks useless at the moment, and it will be useful in the future. I think this simple passage hints at a deep philosophy and makes people think twice; "The Return" uses flashbacks, which begins with the decisive resignation of the two sons Yuan Yuan and Zhou Hui and disappears into the vision of the Yuan family, and the story of the Yuan family in this novel is in stark contrast to the Zhao family in "The Dowry". In "The Return", Yuan Yuan's sister Yuan Hongli is eager to smoke her heart, regards Yuan Yuan's younger brother who has a career as a "cash cow", and for the benefit of her small family, she even put forward excessive demands for her brother to buy a house in the city for her son. Because of the conflict of interests, the sisters and brothers of the Yuan family gradually alienated their family affection, which is a phenomenon that Yuan Yuan and Zhou Hui do not want to see, and the subsequent events also violate their original intention of enthusiastically helping their families. Although the end of the article did not directly say the reason why Yuan Yuan and Zhou Hui did not quit, but this is the use of the novel's blank space technique, smart readers will slowly taste the author's unspoken meaning after reading it; Liu Zhiqiang in "No Shame" resolutely picked up the burden of taking care of his seriously ill father after his three sisters married away from home, insisted on more than ten years, and people have been skinned into skins and bones. Hearing that Zhiqiang's father was dying of illness, Uncle Zhiqiang took the initiative to come to visit, in fact, Zhiqiang's uncle and father had made trouble many years ago because of the homestead, and there was very little contact between them. I read a sigh of emotion in ZhiQiang's text: "Alas, when I could speak, I was like an enemy, never spoke, could not speak, and now I have become a relative again." Alas, I really don't understand, but my father and he are brothers with broken bones and tendons after all. "Really, life is very short, there is no obstacle that cannot be crossed, we must love our relatives well!"

There are no perfect people and things in the world, and there are more or less shortcomings. In the "Ancestral" novel collection, the author does not deliberately beautify the characters in the novel, so that we are like reading the stories of the people around us, with an indescribable sense of intimacy and reality. The following is a list of several neighbors in the novel, in real life, in fact, you can see similar shadows to them.

"Boundary" in the "my" neighbor Deng Youfu and Deng Youhui originally had a good relationship, regardless of you and me, since the courtyard wall was built, it has gradually become alienated, each other's hearts are suspicious, coupled with the addition of good people's oil and vinegar, the two families have little contact, and the field plot also has a clear boundary. But beautiful things always make people nostalgic, the two families through the bond of children, and finally eliminate the estrangement, and reconcile as ever, unity and friendship; the two neighbors in "The Gap", Shen Shicheng and Han Laifu, one is drunk as life, drunk in this day and drunk in this day; one is shrewd in handling things and always loves to be thoughtful. The difference in their personalities has brought different fates in life; Liu Hao, the protagonist of the novel "Trust", is a handsome guy, but he has the problem of nocturnal wandering, so he has inferiority and comes alone. As the days passed, his neighbor Zheng Dabao's daughter-in-law first speculated that he had stolen a hoe while swimming at night, and then suspected that he had pushed Zheng Dabao down the river when the flood came. The neighbors lost trust, and in the end, Zheng Dabao came back to clarify the facts and save Liu Hao's reputation.

In the collection of novels in "Ancestral Biography", through the family affection, fraternity, diligence, hard work, dedication, etc. shown by the simple people in the countryside, all of them reflect the truth, goodness and beauty, show a positive attitude towards life, and show extraordinary strength in the ordinary, so that readers are touched and admired.

After dexingge, the protagonist of "Ganlai", fell ill at home, he had no choice but to make up some white lies to comfort his family, secretly went to the south with his friends to work, and provoked the heavy responsibility of supporting his family. If the children of the poor were in charge early, he worked overtime desperately, studied hard, made great progress in his work, and became the technical director of the factory. He not only repaid his parents and brothers, but also changed his fate, really good people have good rewards, full of positive energy, must be praised; the protagonist of "Du Should" Liu Yuede is born in the military, high political quality, in response to the government's call, voluntarily signed up as the leader of the patrol squad. Before the heavy rainstorm came, he tried to persuade the crowd to move to safety. After the storm suddenly struck, Liu Yuede watched his wife being swept away by the water in order to save the woman who fell into the water and her children. Although he didn't do anything wrong at the time, he still felt guilty afterwards. Liu Yuede deserved to be a hero, and it is worth rejoicing that behind the hero there is also a broad-minded and understanding Xianneisuke, and his wife said it well: "At that time, everyone should be saved, you tried your best, there is no need to be ashamed." The fourth sister-in-law in "Reclamation" is gentle and virtuous, treats people sincerely, and the people in the village all agree that the fourth sister-in-law is a person who is addicted to work. Over the past few years, she has reclaimed more than ten acres of wasteland, although the harvest is not much, she still insists, saying: "Whether it is drought or flooding, that is not a matter for our croppers, and the croppers have to plant the land well with all their hearts." Later, the village built a barrage and submerged all the wasteland reclaimed by the fourth sister-in-law, but the fourth sister-in-law showed how open-minded: "The crop land I reclaimed was originally a wasteland, there is no pity, only when I have exercised in the past few years." I think that entrepreneurs in the workplace, if they fall, they must be strong and get up, the more frustrated and courageous, and they must have a momentum of not accepting defeat and not giving up like the fourth sister-in-law!

Enjoying this book, there is also one of the biggest feelings is that the author uses localized and simple language, the description of the characters is exquisite, and the characters are portrayed in three points. For example, the description of the ninety-year-old grandfather Sun Jizu in the "Ancestral Biography": "Every day he wears a melon skin hat, wears a robe and a horse coat, and has an old-fashioned stone mirror without a frame on the bridge of his nose", "keeps a small goatee, and a long dry cigarette bag does not leave his hand." The description of Zhao Fatzi in "People": "He slowly put on the liberation shoe, carried the snakeskin bag, and the penguin shook his body and walked to the shadow of a house across the road", "The fat man's thighs as thick as cattle really can't support the huge physique for a long time." He stood for a moment, numb, so he wandered to the side of the road, found a relatively high place, spread the snakeskin bag there, and sat on it. Although the author does not tell us how heavy he really is, we can imagine Zhao Fatzi's bear-like appearance from the text, as if he were dangling in front of us; the description of Liu Xingye in "The Walking Dead": "Xingye only wears a large pair of pants, and is lying on the reed mat laid on the floor of the west wall of the hall house in the morning, and a rotten fan covers the belly of most of the white flowers." "His hair is long, fluffy, and from a distance he looks like a crazy woman if it weren't for his beard. The author portrays Liu Xingye's lazy image vividly, so that readers can understand this "god man" who has not been encountered in a thousand years.

In addition, there are three children-themed novels "Quit Killing", "Childlike Heart", and "Alternative", which are also very impressive to read. Most of the children are in the growth stage, have their own immature outlook on life, have their own unique troubles at this stage, and even have a little vanity, which needs to be educated and guided by the family, school, and society, so that they can grow up healthily in the sun. At the same time, children have their own characteristics and personalities, as long as it does not hinder big things, we adults should give a moderate tolerance, because everyone is unique to themselves.

Reading the whole book of Teacher Zhang Chaolin's "Ancestral Biography", I simply loved it and reached the hearts of the people. Teacher Zhang's writing seems plain and simple, but there is a deep meaning between the lines. Rooted in ordinary people, he uses a variety of artistic depiction techniques to carefully portray the personality characteristics of the characters, which makes us read it refreshingly and with a different taste. These are all places worth learning from our humble hearts, and we have benefited a lot. Through teacher Zhang Chaolin's writing, we feel that the truth, goodness and beauty in the world are everywhere and all the time. However, everything is relative, and where there is truth, goodness, and beauty, there will be false evil and ugliness. Because of this, we must vigorously promote truth, goodness and beauty, enthusiastically praise truth, goodness and beauty, and let it always become the mainstream of the whole society.

Recalling the vivid stories in the "Ancestral" novel, those vivid characters appear in the mind, whether sad or happy, all of which affect our hearts and concern our feelings. Because most of our ancestors came from the countryside, we, like the author, have a deep affection for the vast countryside. With the steady implementation of the national rural revitalization strategy, I believe that the lives of the people will become better and better! Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Zhang Chaolin once again for his dedication to us!

About the Author:

Zhang Yingzi, a native of Xuancheng, Anhui Province, is a senior engineer of a central communications enterprise and has been awarded the title of Outstanding Talent of Anhui Telecom. He is a contracted writer of the Young Writers Network, and a member of the Chinese Poetry Society and the Chinese Women Photographers Association.