Speaking of Guo Moruo, he is a well-known writer, but there are also controversies behind it.
Although he has a deep literary foundation, he is also a full romantic talent, with countless lovers around him, likes the new and hates the old, and likes to dig and study ancient tombs...
In addition, he was also unceremonious to his peers, and once scolded Lu Xun in 4 words to express his disdain for him.
And Lu Xun was not to be outdone, and directly added 1 word "return"!
When these 5 words were made public, everyone laughed and felt that this was the true portrayal of Guo Moruo's life.
What did the two of them say, and why did they quarrel?
The content of this article is based on reliable sources, and it is repeated at the end of the article, and some of the content is apocryphal.
01. The collision of Guo Moruo and Lu Xun's style
Guo Moruo is a native of Leshan, Sichuan, this place is rich in writers, Guo Moruo has been particularly literary since he was a child, and he can write poems at the age of six.
He has lived a comfortable life since he was a child, his family is wealthy, and he goes to Jiading Higher School, which ordinary people can't afford to go to.
In 1913, Guo Moruo went to Japan to study, not only learned advanced Western thoughts, but also fell in love with a Japanese girl, and lived a very happy life.
During the May Fourth Movement, Guo Moruo was at the forefront and wrote a bunch of inspiring poems, such as "Goddess", which was particularly romantic and passionate.
In 1926, Guo Moruo felt that it was not enough to write poetry, and he had to go into battle in person. So he took the financial support given by his father and participated in the Northern Expedition.
Although he went through so much, he had a smooth ride and did not encounter major setbacks, which made his literary style gradually romantic.
Guo Moruo's characters are called a wind and snow, the men are all heroes, and the women are dream lovers.
Take his poetry collection "Goddess" as an example, what is "the red of flowers" and "lingering dreams", how romantic and romantic it is.
Let's take a look at the scripts he wrote, "Qu Yuan", "Tiger Fu" or something, either the whole Chu State worked together to resist Qin, or Xiang Yu turned the tide, anyway, it is 108,000 miles away from real life.
On the other hand, realism, Lu Xun is a real realist warrior.
His works are all about the miserable lives of poor people, exposing social injustice and the ugliness of human nature.
For example, Xianglin's sister-in-law in "Blessing" was killed by feudal etiquette, and Ah Q in "The True Story of Ah Q" was forced by the old society to become a master of the Spiritual Victory Method.
Anyway, if you flip through Lu Xun's novels, it is basically bitter and hateful, and the tragic color runs throughout.
Therefore, Lu Xun and Guo Moruo's literary views are not at all compatible.
Lu Xun advocated that literature should reflect reality, "for life", expose the darkness and injustice of society, and awaken the consciousness of the people.
But in Guo Moruo's view, literature cannot always write about suffering and tragedy, but also has to give people a little beautiful longing and yearning. Especially in the revolutionary years, it is all the more necessary to use romantic brushwork to praise the heroic deeds of the revolutionary martyrs and boost morale.
However, Lu Xun resolutely opposed this romantic style of writing that was divorced from reality.
He clearly pointed out in "A Glimpse of Shanghai Literature and Art" that if Guo Mo was engaged in creation, he would not consider the feelings of ordinary readers at all, and would patronize himself and become self-absorbed.
Write a novel, either looking for flowers and willows in the mountains and countryside, or falling in love between urban men and women.
When writing poems, it is not clouds, moons, stars, or spring breezes, falling flowers, and flowing water. In short, it is a group of talented and beautiful women who do not eat fireworks in the world.
Lu Xun also said that Guo Moruo and they like to engage in some revolutionary and love tricks.
For example, to write about a workers' strike, you have to arrange for a worker leader to fall in love with a capitalist lady, and to write about the student movement, you have to have a progressive student elope with a feudal lady.
In the end, the revolution has become an embellishment, and love has become the protagonist.
Thus, the dispute between the two began...
02. The first meeting between the two
At first, it was just because of an article by Lu Xun.
In 1928, Lu Xun published an article in a magazine titled "My Attitude, Strength and Age", saying that it is good for young people to care about literature and progress, but they should broaden their horizons and criticize the East and the West at every turn.
What Lu Xun means is that young people care about literature and social progress, which is a good thing.
However, as the mainstay of the country, young people must also have a big picture and a big mind, and look at problems with a progressive vision. If you always wear colored glasses to judge literary works or something, it will be difficult to really improve.
Lu Xun's article is called a sharp one, and some words even make people feel an aggressive taste.
As soon as Guo Moruo read this article, he was immediately unhappy.
He didn't say a word, he picked up the pen, grabbed a typo in Lu Xun's article, and began to criticize the pen.
"Is it the strength or the energy? It seems that your Chinese is taught by the physical education teacher!"
Guo Moruo didn't say a word, he put pen to paper for an 8,000-word argumentative essay, first laughed at Lu Xun's Chinese teacher and physical education teacher, and then sent him a personal attack, which was ruthless enough!
Guo Moruo also said in the article that you are a feudal remnant who does not learn and has no skills, and you can only accept praise, not criticism. How could such a person write a work that represents China's advanced culture!
In the end, he summed it up and pushed the contradiction to a new height, saying that Lu Xun, an old thing, was backward in thinking.
And Guo Moruo still uses a pen name, but everyone knows who is behind this name.
So Lu Xun wrote another article, called "I and the Thread of the Language", refuting Guo Moruo's article word by word.
As soon as this article was published, it caused a big sensation in the literary world!
A group of literati and students all stood up to support Lu Xun, and some people published articles in magazines, saying that they were on Lu Xun's side.
The beam between these two literary bigwigs has come to an end.
03. Four-word and five-word confrontation
The second meeting between the two was in 1931. This time, it's because of private life issues.
Lu Xun posted an article, although he didn't name him, but anyone can see what it means, it's Guo Moruo!
In this article, the main thing is to scold those men who have received a new education, but they are still attentive and negative.
If these words are put to this day, they are scolding scumbags.
When Guo Moruo read this article, his face was full of pain! He was very angry, but he couldn't fight back, because what Lu Xun said was the truth.
Guo Moruo is indeed a well-known carrot.
He has been married three times in his life, and there are no fewer romances outside, which is simply synonymous with liking the new and hating the old.
Lu Xun was quite disdainful of Guo Moruo's behavior, so he wrote an article to wake up those women who had been hurt by people like Guo Moruo.
Guo Moruo was scolded so hard that he couldn't write an article to fight back, so he left four words to scold Lu Xun, well-dressed beast.
When Mr. Lu Xun received these four words, he was not annoyed and calm.
After all, he is not like Guo Moruo, he has a lot of respect for women.
For his original wife, although he has no love, he still takes care of him wholeheartedly, and for Xu Guangping, his feelings have never failed her.
He thought about it, and added another word, five words in return to Guo Moruo, a talented man and a hooligan!
These five words, put on Guo Moruo, it couldn't be more appropriate.
said that he was a genius, that was because Lu Xun admired his literary talent.
But to say that he is a hooligan, it is because he is emotionally extremely irresponsible.
He broke the hearts of many women, and there were often people in the newspaper who complained about Guo Moruo's lack of affection, but Guo Moruo never paid attention to these, as if he didn't care about these at all.
At that time, the ordinary people who didn't pay attention to the literary world knew what kind of virtue Guo Moruo was.
So as soon as Lu Xun's five words came out, everyone laughed and said: These five words are really in one sentence, and it couldn't be more appropriate to describe Guo Moruo.
In this round of confrontation, Lu Xun had the upper hand again. The battle of words between the two literary giants is quite exciting, one is yin and yang, and the other is-for-tat, which is really enjoyable.
But then again, Guo Moruo's literary talent is still recognized by everyone. His research and promotion of ancient Chinese culture is also obvious to all.
It's just that in terms of dealing with people, he is indeed a little despicable.
As the saying goes, no one is perfect, and Guo Moruo is no exception.
But when we evaluate a historical figure, we still have to be objective and look at his achievements and shortcomings separately.
This time Lu Xun and Guo Moruo's battle in the air can be regarded as leaving a lot of talking points for future generations.
In any case, their contributions in the field of literature are worthy of our respect and learning.
04. The collision of romanticism and realism
In the final analysis, the fundamental reason for the outbreak of this controversy is that Lu Xun and Guo Moruo have different understandings of literary creation.
Lu Xun is a representative of realism, and his works often expose those dark sides of life.
Guo Moruo, on the other hand, represents romanticism, and in their works, you can always see romantic images such as "goddesses".
These writers felt that in order to express the revolutionary ideals, it was harmless to exaggerate appropriately.
Regarding the creative style of Guo Moruo's group, Lu Xun is quite disdainful.
He also posted an article, comparing them to the ancient "talents", saying that they soaked in the green building all day long, thinking that they were merry and talented, but they didn't know that other women only recognized money and did not recognize people.
Guo Moruo saw that Lu Xun had something to say, so he jumped out and gave Lu Xun the hat of "feudal remnant", saying that he had outdated thoughts and was an old antique.
This controversy actually reflected the ideological confrontation in the Chinese literary circles at that time.
On the one hand, there are the realists represented by Lu Xun, who advocate that literature should truthfully reflect life and expose the evils of society; on the other hand, there are the romantics represented by Guo Moruo, who emphasize that literature should express revolutionary ideals and serve the revolution.
Two different literary propositions collided in this controversy.
They argued and went back and forth, but they left a lot of wonderful articles and interesting stories for future generations.
In general, this debate between Lu Xun and Guo Moruo reflects the ideological confrontation of an era.
Their controversy reflects the differences between different literary genres, and also shows the intellectuals' thinking about the relationship between literature and revolution.
Although the process is a bit intense, it is precisely in such confrontations that the ideas of an era can continue to develop and burst out with sparks of wisdom.
This may be the greatest significance of this controversy.
05. Friend or foe
Although the two have always been-for-tat, when the iron hooves of the Japanese invaders set foot on Chinese soil, the two writers chose to put aside their personal grievances because of the righteousness of the country, and unanimously devoted themselves to the cultural propaganda cause of resisting Japan and saving the country.
Although Mr. Lu Xun did not directly shake hands with Guo Moruo, he still posted an article praising Guo Moruo's good writing and contribution to the revolution.
You must know that when they quarrel, Lu Xun often has the upper hand, and it is not easy to take the initiative to seek peace this time.
But this is also normal, when the enemy is present, these small contradictions are not important.
As soon as Guo Moruo read this article, he immediately understood what Mr. Lu Xun meant, and from then on, the two began to scold the Japanese devils with the article, calling on everyone to resist Japan together.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and in October 1936, Mr. Lu Xun died of illness. This is a big loss for the Chinese literary world and society.
Although Guo Moruo failed to attend the funeral in time, he still wrote a couplet to mourn.
Fang hangs in April, stacks and falls double stars, and East Asia and Western Europe are in tears. Reciting two hearts, regretting no one, and summoning spirits all over the south and the north.
Just by looking at this word, you can know how much Guo Moruo respects Lu Xun.
There is another pair: before Confucius, countless Confucius, after Confucius, there is no Confucius. Before Lu Xun, there was no Lu Xun, and after Lu Xun, countless Lu Xun.
This directly puts Lu Xun and Confucius in the same position, which shows how much Guo Moruo admires Lu Xun.
Since then, every time someone mentions the past polemics between the two, Guo Moruo never speaks ill of Lu Xun, and always evaluates objectively, emphasizing how important Lu Xun is to the Chinese literary world.
Later, these two enemies of the year felt sorry for each other.
The grievances between Lu Xun and Guo Moruo were-for-tat during the debate for a while, and they were bitter for the enemy when the national disaster was at hand.
Although these two literati had different views, they both admired each other's talents, and although they often quarreled, they were able to put aside personal grievances in the face of major rights and wrongs.
Their ability to put aside their personal interests and integrate themselves into the great cause of the nation is really commendable, and it is also an important reason why they can become the backbone of the nation and the vanguard of the times.
Resources:
[1] China News Network-"Why Guo Moruo Missed Lu Xun ?——Chinanews.com"
[2] China News Network - "Visiting Lu Xun's Hometown "Removing the Fence and Demolishing the Fence": Visitors Feel the Writer's Past Up Close
Hatps://baijiyahaao.baidu.com/s?id=1796214763247683834&dfr=spider&for=pc
[3] Yangtze Evening News - "Finding Your Shadow in Brother Xun's Childhood"
Hattpus://baijiyahaao.baidu.com/s?id=1796321464751390091&dfr=spider&for=pc
[4] Guangming.com - "Guo Moruo: Concentrate on Accumulation and Bloom"
[5] CPPCC Network - Guo Moruo (1892-1978)