Li Xiaoran, repeat the fate

Author | Zhang Jing

Li Xiaoran, Li Naiwen, Song Chunli, Sun Hao... The period drama "Our Day" gathers many acting schools, and the ratings once ranked first in the same period in the country after the broadcast of a set of CCTV.

Unlike the previous "Wind Blowing Half Summer", "Our Day" does not directly write about major events, but hides the big history in the background, reflecting the passion of the big time through the direction of the three families and the changes in the fate of the little people.

The most praised thing about the series by netizens is the shaping of the atmosphere of the eighties.

Liu Shuxia (played by Li Xiaoran) is intoxicated with poetry, reminiscent of the era of national poetry, nostalgic for poets such as Gu Cheng, Beidao, and Haizi.

Xiao Shu's southward trip to Shenzhen is reminiscent of the tide of southward Shenzhen at the beginning of reform and opening up, and those people changed their fate and created history.

The strong emotions of the three families make people miss the family affection and friendship that may not have a sense of boundaries, but are full of human touch.

"Our Day" reflects the passion of the big time through the direction of three families and the changes in the fate of small people

At that time, the old order collapsed, and the new order was not yet formed. So, it is an age of exploration, a time of passion and wonder.

People are willing to look back to the eighties from film and television dramas, perhaps because even if we can't encounter such a miracle, we hope to feel that passion again.

01

Pure emotion

In the Northeast Family Home, Liu Shuxia lives with her mother, husband Wang Xianping, younger uncle Wang Xian'an, and her eldest son Mingzhong in a small two-room living room, with a fetus in the womb. Therefore, the little uncle can only build a bed in the living room and hang a curtain as a partition to cover his ears.

In the family home, Liu Shuxia's good friend Fu Ying and her husband Dongfang Yushu's family, good friends Fang Hui and Yang Dashan's family also lived. Liu Shuxia, Fu Ying, and Fang Hui always commuted together, and when they had nothing to do, they went to the canteen where Fu Ying worked to peel garlic and "nag" together, and they agreed to guard each other when they gave birth.

This is the epitome of human relationships in that era. Perhaps due to practical reasons, people cannot have too far distance on the physical level, and they are not yet immersed in modern cities, so the interpersonal distance is smaller and the emotions are stronger.

Liu Shuxia, Fu Ying, and Fang Hui always commuted together, and when they had nothing to do, they went to the canteen where Fu Ying worked to peel garlic and "nag" together

Therefore, after making trouble with Liu Shuxia, Fu Ying, who is not highly educated, is willing to delve into poetry collections and write poems to impress Liu Shuxia, and even save money to see Liu Shuxia's children; After a quarrel between friends and couples, they think not about keeping a distance and protecting themselves, but about accompanying and appeasing the quarreling little couple, "loving your neighbor as yourself".

The writer Li Tuo was very touched by the change in this relationship, he once said that in the 80s, friendship was valued, "they are the kind of friends who can treat each other with all sincerity, can be trusted, and can make friends." He believed that friends at that time could argue, and even stir up arguments, and take pleasure in arguing.

Indeed, their behavior today may lack a "sense of boundaries", but it is this blurring of boundaries that makes them more emotionally connected.

Wang Xianping quarreled with Dongfang Yushu countless times, and his red face did not affect the next time he continued to drink and chat; Dongfang Yushu directly criticized Wang Xianping's attitude towards his wife as wrong, directly accusing him of being selfish, even if Wang Xianping lifted his legs and left, it would not prevent him from continuing to criticize next time.

When the doctor suggested that Wang Xianping's son Mingzhong was suffering from a disease that should not be declared, Dongfang Yushu, who was standing beside Wang Xianping, did not have any thoughts of avoiding suspicion; After learning that Ming Zhong was suffering from cryptorchidism, Dongfang Yushu accompanied Wang Xianping to drink and told him, "Don't worry, I will also cure Ming Zhong if I smash pots and sell iron."

More importantly, Wang Xianping believes that Oriental Yushu can really smash pots and sell iron for friends, and the friendship at that time was pure and direct and chivalrous.

What can better reflect the deep feelings of the two families is that Liu Shuxia returned milk after giving birth to her daughter Snowflake, and Fu Ying simply let Snowflake live in her house, and the two children were fed together. This is a commitment and effort that is unimaginable at the moment.

In this regard, writer Zha Jianying believes that behind the change in emotional concentration is the change of lifestyle, "in the 80s Chinese there was not such a common pressure to fight for survival", she believes that there must be a certain amount of leisure time to cultivate this friendship.

A still from "Our Day"

The factory workers in the eighties did have such conditions. There are many scenes in the episode when leaving work, the employees in the factory brush off the work, and there are a few "gangsters" who stop in the factory area and want to see the female workers passing by, and they will be chased away by the security section.

The employees of the factory live very simple, eat in the canteen, live in the family home, although the conditions are difficult, but they do not need to face market competition and survival pressure, so the utilitarian nature of friendship is not strong, more conducive to the purity of emotions.

This sentiment is pure to the point of being willing to sacrifice future and interests. In the play, Fang Hui's husband Yang Dashan was promoted to section chief, which was considered by everyone to "grab" the position of Liu Shuxia's husband Wang Xianping. Fang Hui was not happy because her husband was promoted, but blamed Yang Dashan for affecting her friendship with Liu Shuxia.

At the moment, such friendships are difficult to reproduce. Li Tuo believes that the meaning of "competition" and "personal value" is now distorted to the point of absurdity, and popular cultural values and moral standards fundamentally reject this ideal.

Perhaps, this is the price of modern society. Modern life emphasizes the spirit of contract, and even marriage relationships are becoming more and more contractual, which indirectly leads to the alienation of interpersonal relationships. Whether it is trusting others easily or blurring the boundaries of interpersonal communication, it is contrary to the values of modern society.

But humans, as group animals, are so hungry for emotions. From this perspective, the increasingly materially plentiful but increasingly alienated modern society does not necessarily make us happier.

02

Upward economy

In the play, Liu Shuxia, Fu Ying, and Fang Hui gave birth to a child on the same day in 1980, but Liu Shuxia returned breast milk because of bad mood and other reasons. Liu Shuxia's uncle Wang Xianan stole two bags of milk powder, and then gave up his upcoming stable job because he wanted to improve his sister-in-law's embarrassing economic conditions.

On the other hand, in order to let the child eat meat, Fu Ying secretly took meat and noodles home in the canteen "near the water building platform first", and after being reported, she lost her job as a canteen employee in a state-owned enterprise, heartbroken, and reluctantly embarked on the road to open a restaurant.

This is the epitome of the "road of nuggets" of the "self-employed" of those years. In 1982, the Constitution recognized the status of the individual economy, and Wu Xiaobo wrote: "In that era, it was most of the people at the bottom of society who were not in the system who seized the opportunity and became 'the first to get rich.'" ”

Fu Ying accidentally earned the first pot of gold, and the hotel was full of customers, and the hotel expanded its operation in the following years.

Wang Xianan's experience was relatively bumpy, and he was arrested and imprisoned for "opportunism". His "speculation" is selling imported goods from abroad.

A still from "Our Day"

At that time, smuggling and "uncles" were all the rage. In terms of smuggling, in many places, there are scenes in which "fishermen do not fish, workers do not work, farmers do not farm, and students do not go to school", and people who dare to take risks sell smuggled goods in the streets and alleys. The emergence of "uncles" is largely due to the implementation of a dual-track price system between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, and they can use the price difference to obtain profits, and the saying "one billion people and nine hundred million falls" can be glimpsed at that time.

For reasons such as protecting the state-run economy, there are businessmen who, like Wang Xianan, have been imprisoned for "speculation," and the famous entrepreneur Mou Zhong was imprisoned for a year. It was not until 1997 that the amendment to the Penal Code deleted the offence of "speculation".

After being released from prison, Wang Xianan once again gave up stable work - instead of accepting his brother's arrangement to work as a worker in the workshop, he went south to Shenzhen to seek "wealth" opportunities.

The long way from the northeast to Shenzhen shows the attractiveness of Shenzhen to the people of the whole country at that time. At that time, many people went to Shenzhen to find opportunities, and goods and funds also flowed to Shenzhen, and in "Thirty Years of Turbulence", Wu Xiaobo wrote: "In 1979, the most important bank in Shenzhen, Shenzhen Construction Bank, had deposits of only 3.81 million yuan, and by 1983, it had 719 million yuan. ”

Despite the twists and turns, Wang did eventually dig the first pot of gold in Shenzhen and returned to his hometown to do business, while his brother and sister-in-law's factories faced closure.

This is the characteristic of the big era, the eighties are a departure for the country, but also a new start for a generation, different choices, leading to different destinies.

Those who remain in state-owned enterprises face unemployment when they reach middle age, and the fame and glory of the year are meaningless. In the early years, although there were twists and turns, most of them seized the opportunity and obtained a lot of economic returns.

That era that encouraged courage and hard work also gave confidence and passion to the people of that era, and the writer Liu Zaifu said that the eighties made the Chinese nation once again have a shining and vibrant soul.

This confidence and dynamism reached its peak in 1984. On January 24, Deng Xiaoping arrived in Shenzhen and within days traveled all over the SAR, where Liang Xiang, then secretary of the SAR Party Committee, and others eagerly awaited Deng Gong's clear affirmative opinion. Although Deng Xiaoping did not express his attitude on the spot, he wrote a few days later that "Shenzhen's development and experience prove that our policy of establishing special economic zones is correct."

This made the special zone, which was in the vortex of public opinion at that time, breathe a sigh of relief, and also made some businessmen with a keen sense of smell discover huge business opportunities.

Wang Shi later recalled the day of his inspection in the south, "as if the time had come to do something big." In the same year, he established the Shenzhen Modern Science and Education Instrument Exhibition and Sales Center, which also became the predecessor of Vanke.

Wang Shi, founder of Vanke Group

This year, all over the country began to give birth to today's well-known large enterprises:

Zhang Ruimin was assigned to be the director of a Qingdao daily electrical appliance factory on the verge of bankruptcy, and it will become "Haier" under Zhang Ruimin's bold sword;

Liu Chuanzhi, who has been depressed, left the Institute of Computing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and went to the new technology development company closely related to the research institute - the company that started as a small communication room is now Lenovo;

Li Jingwei, the director of Sanshui County Distillery, successfully promoted the new beverage that was not even sure of the packaging and trademark at that time to the Los Angeles Olympic Games, thus starting the glorious road of Jianlibao.

Also starting in that year were "Sanjiu Stomach Tai", "Rongsheng Refrigerator", "Giant Group" and so on.

Wu Xiaobo believes that this is because Deng Xiaoping's southern inspection and the demonstration effect in Shenzhen and other places finally fermented in this year. 1984 is also known as the first year of China Hyundai.

03

The culture of enlightenment

The Iron Curtain of the times slowly opened, and like the economy, culture has undergone tremendous changes due to reform and opening up. People believe that the eighties were the era of enlightenment and the "first year of the century" of ideological emancipation.

In the series, Liu Shuxia's favorite is poetry, even if she chats with her girlfriends, she has to answer with poetry: "Wait for me, I will come back, wait until the university is flying, wait until the heat is hard". Whether before going to bed, after an argument with her husband, or even sitting in a hospital bed just after giving birth, she has to hold a book of poetry.

In the eighties, the whole society was fascinated by grand narratives such as poetry and philosophy. In 1980, "Poetry Journal" founded the "Youth Poetry Society", known as the "Whampoa Military Academy" in the Chinese poetry world. Haizi, Beidao, Gu Cheng, Shu Ting... Countless outstanding poets are active in the poetry circle, becoming the spiritual comfort of young people.

Writer Zha Jianying said that in the eighties, people obsessively pursued knowledge and creation like their first love and dream lover, and regarded reading, exploration and thinking as the greatest pleasure in life.

During the Age of Enlightenment, cultural changes permeated the lives of ordinary people. Little Uncle Wang Xian'an was the first to feel the change because of his uncle's work. He wore jeans, bought imported clothes for his sister-in-law, and bought suits for his brother that were rare at the time. After being imprisoned, Liu Shuxia's daughter Xuehua visited him and performed "A Fire in Winter" with song and dance.

"A Fire in Winter" is the song of Taiwanese singer Fei Xiang, who sang this song and "Clouds of Hometown" at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 1987, and became popular overnight.

He is also the first singer from Taiwan Province to appear on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, and his popularity is a sign of cultural openness. It must be known that in the early eighties, Hong Kong and Taiwan music represented by Teresa Teng was still regarded as "low-grade fun" and boycotted, and after 1984, restrictions on Hong Kong and Taiwan music were more relaxed.

In May 1986, Cui Jian shouted "I used to ask a question" at the Beijing Workers' Gymnasium, which became a symbol of the birth of Chinese rock music. Although the song is about love, it roars out everyone's own questions, and writer Wang Shuo believes that he broke an illusion and revealed some truths, "the most important thing is that he let me hear a person's heart".

In January 1988, the film "Red Sorghum" directed by Zhang Yimou won the Golden Bear Award at the 38th West Berlin International Film Festival.

The blooming of a hundred flowers in the literary and artistic world seems to be a counterattack after years of imprisonment, a concentrated release after being suppressed for too long.

Although Cui Jian, who became a popular idol in that era and was known as the "father of rock music", did not want to raise that era too high, he said, the eighties were enlightened, but if the value of the eighties enlightenment is overemphasized, the loss of renewed creativity is misleading to young people, "the real meaning is in the present, and ignoring the present is just as dangerous as enduring narcissism."

Cui Jian's singing scene in his early years

Indeed, as Foucault said: what matters is not the age of the object of study, but the age of the object of study.

If you are nostalgic, you will forget the more real present.

The eighties were not so much a golden age as a prelude to grand times. The end of the eighties is also the beginning of another era, and it is those bygone eras that give China its current glory and dreams.

If the eighties still imagined modernization, in today's modernization, idealism has been replaced by secularization as an inevitability. In sufficient material conditions, we can focus on our own little life, small fun, perhaps the legacy that the eighties brought us.

The pictures in the article are partly from Visual China and partly from the Internet

Edit | Wu Qing

Editor on duty | Monet

Typesetting | soda

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