Reinventing the space-time coordinates of science fiction in history | Interview with 2023 Hugo Award winner Haizhang
According to Xinhua News Agency, on the evening of October 21, the "2023 Hugo Award" was announced at the 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention, and Chinese science fiction writer Hai Zhang won the Best Novelette Award for his novel "Time and Space Painter". The Hugo Award is one of the highest international awards in the field of science fiction in the world. This is the first time that the World Science Fiction Convention has been held in China, and this nomination has received unprecedented attention and enthusiastic participation from domestic science fiction readers.
Haizhang has been trying to explore more sci-fi in Chinese history. In the words of the historical texts, he saw vivid characters and stories. Tang Dynasty general Guo Xin, Northern Song painter Wang Ximeng, modern industrialist Xie Mantai... were introduced to the world of science fiction by him. He combines historical research with science fiction imagination, looking for the intersection of reality and fantasy, and at this intersection, he has created a unique fantasy town.
In the general impression, science fiction is always about the future. Science fiction writer Baoshu wrote in his book "Chinese History in Science Fiction": "If science fiction is a narrative about a new future, then it seems to be disconnected from the history that has long sunk into the past." This seems even more true in China: the future of science fiction, both technologically and institutionally, comes from the 'advanced' West, with a fundamental disconnect from traditional Chinese society. "Since Lu Xun, Liang Qichao and others introduced science fiction into China more than a hundred years ago, science fiction has been given different missions and responsibilities in different historical periods. In the New Culture Movement, science fiction is a cautionary fable that awakens the Chinese people, and for a long time after the founding of New China, science fiction has always existed as popular science literature. This has led to the fact that today, the mainstream genre of domestic science fiction is still the so-called "hard science fiction" with many technical details.
But outside the mainstream, there are also many domestic science fiction authors who try to create different styles of science fiction works. One of the most successful examples of this is Qian Lifang's historical science fiction novel "Providence". This long science fiction novel featuring Han Xin successfully combined Chinese history and science fiction, which attracted widespread attention and discussion at the time.
Baoshu believes that "science fiction contains greater and more far-reaching possibilities. It is like the two-sided god Janus, looking both into the future and back into the past. What science fiction imagines is not so much the development of technology itself, but rather the many magical worlds revealed by the worldview on which it is based, which cannot be limited to a specific time dimension, but must extend to the depths of boundless time and space. When people invest in a new future, they inevitably take their entire history with them, and under this impact, the novelty of the historical imagination emerges. “
Haizhang's "The Painter of Time and Space" adopts the method of speculative fiction, starting from the "phantom" that appeared on the closing day of the Palace Museum, combining history, reasoning, and science fiction, tracing the creation of a fictional famous painting and the story of the power struggle between the government and the opposition "at that time". This work belongs to the same series as his previous "Blood Disaster" and "Dragon Remains", both of which reconstruct and analyze the story behind a certain history without completely emptying the real history, so as to show the grandeur of history and the insignificance of individuals, and create a sense of realism and wonder like a documentary. The main difference between historical science fiction and ordinary time-travel fiction is that "crossing" has never been taken for granted and does not need to be deeply studied, but must be taken seriously. Whenever time travel is involved, there are paradoxes and consequences of changing history.
After the Hugo Award finalists were announced in July, we interviewed science fiction writer Haizhang to step into his world of science fiction history.
Special interview|Fan Yilun Tong Boxuan
Haizhang, currently living in Shenzhen, is a member of Shenzhen Writers Association. Senior science fiction fan and documentary enthusiast. His current works have been published in journals such as "Galaxy Edge", "Science Fiction World", "Science Fiction Cube", "Chinese Literature Anthology", "Ancient Legends • Story Month" and other journals, and have won the second prize of the Cold Lake Award for novella and nominated for the Galaxy Award for Best Short Story.
Painted "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains"
Mysterious teenager
Beijing News: "The Artist of Time and Space" was shortlisted for this year's Hugo Award for Best Short Novella, can you talk about the origin of this creation?
Haizhang: The inspiration for this article came from the CCTV program "National Treasure". One of the things that particularly caught my attention was Wang Ximeng's "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains". According to the inscription at the end of the painting, the author was only eighteen years old when he made this painting. This genius young man named "Ximeng", how could He De get the personal guidance of Song Huizong, who called himself "the world's man" along the way of calligraphy and painting? Where did he inherit such a skill before the weak crown? With these questions in mind, I began to flip through the relevant materials.
Part of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", waterfront covered bridge.
Incredibly, such a stunning opening was a swan song, after which "Simon" disappeared from the historical books. Why did he fall silent with his worldly talent? How did he end? As I read more and more information, I found that Ximeng's life was like a puppet, and behind each key node was the figure of Prime Minister Cai Jing. Xi Meng, Song Huizong, Cai Jing, what kind of entanglement do the three of them have, is the truth of Xi Meng's fall hidden in it?
Returning to the painting itself, according to relevant research, many scenes in the painting have prototypes in reality, but they are distributed throughout the country, and there is no trajectory law to follow. Before painting, Xi Meng must have studied for a long time in the court painting academy, so in such a closed environment, in ancient times where transportation was inconvenient, could Xi Meng have enjoyed the Great Song Mountains and Rivers when he was a teenager?
Part of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", the main peak.
Perhaps a science fiction author's self-consciousness, I think of the alien creature seven-limbed barrel in Ted Jiang's "The Story of Your Life" that blurs the boundaries of time and space. Perhaps, I can use the power of science fiction to continue a life without regrets for this young genius? So, this story slowly took shape. And in another court painter behind Simon, I saw a kind of love of life after suffering, and a leisurely freedom in dreams and worldliness. Presumably Simon would be satisfied with such an arrangement, right? And is this also what we can't ask for in a busy world?
Beijing News: It can be said that the "doubts" hidden in the historical materials can be described as very "research". When did you start sci-fi? Was there an opportunity for you to write?
Haizhang: For a long time, I considered myself an old science fiction fan. When I was a child, as a child of a dual-income family, how to settle my vacation was the biggest headache for my parents. It wasn't until they found out that I could spend a whole day at Xinhua Bookstore that the problem was solved. The Xinhua Bookstore in my hometown has three floors, and each floor is an all-encompassing world for me. Many times, I find a book and sit there for a day, until I look up at dusk, watch the setting sun through the glass, my eyes are a little hazy, and suddenly I feel that the plain world has become different. There, I read "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "Death Light on Coral Island", "Fog of the Ancient Gorge" ... These were also my earliest initiations in science fiction.
Many years later, probably the last time I returned to the town, it had become decayed and dilapidated in my eyes, and even the new riverside scenery seemed out of place with its core. But the Xinhua bookstore was still there, and I walked in inexplicably, the first floor had been transformed into a stationery store, the second floor was full of tutoring classes, and only some teaching aids were placed in a corner of the third floor. The hometown that cannot be returned can only take away fragments of memory. Of course, reading books at that time, I didn't have any concept of "science fiction", and it was difficult to say what it had to do with my future interest in science fiction, but at least, it made me accustomed to loneliness. This may be the common memory of our only child of the mine, but I was fortunate to discover another world and enjoy myself in it.
After going to junior high school, by chance, I saw a copy of "Science Fiction World" in my classmate's hand, borrowed it, and was immediately shocked by Pan Haitian's "Hungry Tower", and began to buy it without landing since then. Through this magazine, I read works such as "The Devourer", "Chaowen Dao", "The Way of Skywalk", "Iokasda" and so on. Da Liu once said in "Ball Lightning" through the mouth of Dr. Chen's father that "a happy life lies in being fascinated by something". At that time, I believe I found it.
Science Fiction World Selection 2021, edited by Yao Haijun, Science Fiction World | Sichuan Science and Technology Press, May 2022.
I have the impression that the first time I wrote should be around 2011, which is exactly the freshness of the university, and before I have time to reminisce, I am about to enter the dazed period of society. Looking for a job or staying in school? Long-distance or breakup? Many subtle entanglements at that time are still clearly remembered today, but the memory of the moment I picked up the pen seems to have been deleted, and I only remember that the childish novel was completed in only two days. Perhaps subconsciously, I also hope to say goodbye to my youth with my hobby that I have persisted for many years.
After graduation, he was busy with work and once stayed away from science fiction. But when I picked up the pen again in 2016, I found that the love had not cooled. The universe is big, life is bigger, but we will always see each other again. This is the origin of my relationship with science fiction, parting and reuniting.
Beijing News: Not only "Time and Space Painter", but also "Dragon Remains", "Walking Jiao", "Exhaustion Tower", etc., most of your sci-fi creations involve history and legends, why are you keen on sci-fi creation on this theme?
Haizhang: When I was in college, I was obsessed with documentaries and historical films. In the old version of the TV series "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Kong Ming sighed: "Yoyo sky, how thin is me!" "Anyone who dwells in history is small, and he is powerless before the tragic truth. But this does not prevent generations of heroes, one by one, ordinary people flashing their own light, which is the meaning of the existence of civilization. And this constitutes one of the motivations for my writing, to create a fantasy world as real as a documentary, as thick as history, but imaginary, and embodies human courage with the struggles and resistance of the characters.
Look for the coincidence of fantasy and history
Beijing News: In your opinion, where is the connection between narrative styles such as historical stories, folklore, and religious mythology and science fiction literature? What are the distinct differences between them? As a science fiction writer whose main theme is history-mythology, how did you try to connect the two?
Haizhang: There is no doubt that fantasy is the bond between them. I have never been interested in arguing about the classification and distinction of literary styles, and it is quite appropriate to simply divide them into "fiction" and "non-fiction". In writing, outside of fantasy, I strive for authenticity, inevitably searching and finding a lot of material. With the most sober words condensed mountains and rivers change color, the change of sun and moon is history, it itself is extremely wonderful and rich, I found that as long as I rummage through enough materials, I can always find a star and a half in it that coincides with the story in my mind. Many times, finding such coincidences is both a pleasure and a step-by-step framing process for one of my novels.
A still from the animated film "Chang'an 30,000 Li" (2023).
Beijing News: In a previous interview, you mentioned the kinship between "science fiction" and legendary stories, that is, there is a "fantasy" side to both. In your creations, from time to time, there are plots that use certain scientific principles to "dispel enchantment" for historical legends or wild history stories, do you think this "disenchantment" will have an impact on the so-called "illusion" nature found in science fiction and legendary stories?
Haizhen: Of course not. I've collected some tomes of myths and legends and strange stories. Such books are usually written by experts with a strong academic background, and the original text is often accompanied by commentary. The appreciation of experts is naturally wonderful, the only thing that makes me dissatisfied is that whether it is myth or strangeness, the final analysis will inevitably be raised. "Embodying the spirit of so-and-so" and "singing praises of so-and-so", these are the most common. But I prefer to simply and bluntly admire the wonderful imagination of the ancients.
When talking about horror novels, George Martin once said: "If there is no light, there is no darkness, and if there is no beauty, horror is meaningless." The "disenchantment" of myths and legends is similar to this, and if there is no curiosity and fantasy about the unknown (even if it may be wrong), how can there be the pursuit of true knowledge and science? The so-called "disenchantment" is just a self-justifying story that human beings tell for themselves by constantly satisfying their curiosity. As long as that curiosity exists, the fantasy will never go away.
Beijing News: Do you have any special preferences for the choice of historical periods as the background of the story? In previous works, you have selected legends and stories from historical periods such as the Middle and Late Tang Dynasties and the Late Qing Dynasty to rewrite.
Haizhang: No, the novels I have written so far involve the Tang, Song, Ming, Qing, and Republic of China. In the future, I will also look for materials in historical periods such as the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms.
Beijing News: In the classic short and medium science fiction works published in Science Fiction World magazine in the 90s, did you pay attention to the emergence of a lot of historical-mythological topics? How do you think your work differs from those, and has your focus and motivation changed?
Haizhang: Yes, during that period, there was a number of historical-mythological science fiction works. At that time, the genre of works was very pure, and most of them were born out of "new stories", that is, the use of modern technology to explain ancient myths and legends or bizarre historical events. Nowadays, authors such as Qian Lifang and Zhang Ran do not stop there, we hope to see the meaning and role of "people" in them.
A still from the animated film "Chang'an 30,000 Li" (2023).
Beijing News: "Chinese historical science fiction is not only about the history of its own country as an exotic land for exploration, but also as its own hometown, looking for a blood connection with itself." Baoshu divided the science fiction works on the theme of Chinese history into three categories: "secret history", "other history", and "wrong history", I don't know what you think?
Haizhang: Historical science fiction is a product of contradiction. Many times, history represents the "past". But in fact, it is dynamic, slow and rolling forward. In a sense, historical science fiction is not about finding a new exotic land to explore, but about recapturing from this culture born in Sri Lanka that can move us and move all mankind. It is the past, but it faces the future.
The classification of Baoshu is applicable in Chinese science fiction, and the same is true in world science fiction. It's just that our historical science fiction is more inclined to "secret history" and "other history", and what I understand is that the known history is not reshaped on a large scale, but focuses on the reinterpretation and interpretation of history.
Foreign historical science fiction, such as Philip K. Dick's masterpiece "The Man in the High Castle", the so-called "wrong history", history has been completely turned upside down, and the end of World War II has become the defeat of the United States by Germany. The reason for this difference may have something to do with the amazing length of our culture's heritage.
"Chinese History in Science Fiction", edited by Baoshu, Life, Reading, and New Knowledge, September 2017.
Tangible and intangible indigenous resources
Beijing News: This year's World Science Fiction Convention has finally come to China. Nowadays, more and more science fiction researchers regard science fiction literature as a kind of "world literature", and Chinese science fiction itself is also breaking the circle step by step and going to the world. Do you think it is necessary to pay attention to, absorb, transform, absorb and rewrite the so-called "Chinese resources" in this process? If this is necessary, what do you think "Chinese resources" should mean?
Haizhen: It's necessary. National history and myths and legends are quite "local" in a certain sense, and I often have a sense of collision between "cosmopolitan" and "national" or "local" in the process of creation. A typical example is "Dragon Remains", a story about airships told in a Chinese context. In order to bring two protagonists who have no intersection in history to meet, I transformed a monster that belongs entirely to Eastern culture and tried to give it a new, sci-fi meaning. Although the story takes place in and about China, the emotions and thoughts expressed can be understood by all human beings.
Therefore, in my opinion, "Chinese resources" can be tangible or intangible. In some of my works, such as "The Time Painter", "Blood Plague" and "The Exhaustion Tower", which share the same world setting, I have written a lot of stories about cultural heritage conservation. These cultural relics, such as ancient paintings and ancient buildings, are tangible "Chinese resources" and carry many "stories" that may occur. And the cultural relics protection workers behind them, whether they are the restorers of the Forbidden City or the researchers of the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, the spiritual backbones of their perseverance, dedication, and courage are all intangible "Chinese resources" that are worthy of being passed on and sung.
A still from the documentary "I Repair Cultural Relics in the Forbidden City" (2016).
In addition, I noticed that the current world-wide science fiction creation, especially in third world countries and regions, almost all show the characteristics of absorbing local cultural resources, such as using science fiction settings to rewrite national epics and myths, and reinterpreting specific historical events and characters in a specific period, which can be traced in works in Africa and Southeast Asia. Therefore, on the ever-expanding boundaries of imagination, transforming "national resources" into "world stories" is an important proposition of science fiction as a kind of "world literature".
Beijing News: I noticed that "dragon" is a recurring theme in your works, such as "Dragon Remains" and "Walking Jiao", and it is refreshing to explain the physiological characteristics of dragons with scientific principles. Does "dragon" mean anything else to you personally?
Haizhang: In the elementary school library, I once read a strange book "Dragon: An Unknown Creature" by Ma Xiaoxing. Now that I think about it, many of these discussions and derivation processes are quite jumpy and imprecise, but as I have always emphasized, curiosity is the source of everything, and this work has had a huge impact on me.
A few years ago, after the publication of "Dragon Remains", Mr. Ma Xiaoxing also wrote a review for it, at that time, Mr. Ma's physical condition was not very good, but between the lines, you can still feel the vitality and enthusiasm that often belongs only to young people. And hearing Teacher Ma's message again, it was already his death... I think all my novels about dragons are a tribute to him. In addition, another science fiction author fractal orange who has seen Mr. Ma's work is another science fiction author, we have become friends because of this book, and we are now working together on a long story about dragons, and I hope to meet you in the near future.
This article is an exclusive original content, special interview: Fan Yilun, Tong Boxuan; Editor: Lotus; Proofreader: Yang Xuli. The cover title image material is from "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", welcome to forward to the circle of friends.