【Literary Review】Zou Jianjun: How was "Yan Yangchu" made?

Editor's note: In recent years, there is a book that is very "popular", published and distributed in September 2021, which immediately aroused hot comments from the ideological and academic circles and the literary and artistic circles, and has been reprinted 18 times, Xinhua News Agency, "People's Daily", "Guangming Daily", "Literature and Art Daily" and other more than 400 media have reported and commented on it, with more than 300 million clicks to understand, and was rated as one of the top ten good books of the year by the People's Oriental Publishing House, and won the first place in the popularity list of ten good books and good books at home and abroad, and was rated as a good book by more than 60 media (think tanks) such as China Publishing Media Business Daily, Sina, and Zhengbang Think TankHe won the first place in the 2021 Sichuan Literary Works Influence List, the first place in the Sichuan Copyright Works Creation Award, and the first Li Jieren Literature Award and Daba Mountain Literature and Art Promotion Award. Today's "World Book Day", "Fang Zhi Sichuan" New Media Matrix and "Sichuan Provincial Information Network" have published an article "How 'Yan Yangchu' was Made" written by Professor Zou Jianjun, a doctoral supervisor of China Normal University, for readers.

How was "Yan Yang Chu" made?

Zou Jianjun

The biographical novel "Yan Yangchu" (written by Miao Yong, published by Oriental Publishing House in 2021) has had an important impact in China and even many countries in the world, and has been positively evaluated from home to abroad, indicating that it has set an example for literary and artistic workers in telling Chinese stories and spreading Chinese voices to readers around the world. After the central government put forward the strategy of "Chinese culture going global", although many important academic works have been translated into foreign languages, they have not achieved good results in the creation of literature and art with the theme of the Chinese spirit and its related figures, and there are still not many works that have really influenced. The biographical literary work "Yan Yangchu" is one of the most important creative achievements.

《晏阳初》 by Miao Yong ,Published by 东方出版 in September 2021

However, how did this important literary work come about? At the invitation of the readers, I would like to answer the following questions:

What kind of strange book is "Yan Yangchu"?

We believe that "Yan Yangchu" is a literary work with legend and mystery.

First of all, it is not an academic work with the theme and goal of studying Yan Yangchu, or it is not an academic biography or commentary.

Secondly, it is not a chronology about the beginning of Yan Yang, let alone a chronology, because the author does not list and narrate in chronological order, so it is not a historical work.

Thirdly, it is not a true "non-fiction" narrative work, although its main historical figures and their storylines are well documented, but the author does not narrate them in the form of historical documentaries, and not all narratives can be compared with historical facts one by one.

Finally, it is not a work of reportage, because it does not report to us the stories of each day and month from Yan Yangchu's birth to his death like history, but has made trade-offs, imagined them, and conceived them, and the author does not write them as a reportage work.

According to the content and formal composition of the book, it can be preliminarily concluded that this is a biographical novel about the historical figure Yan Yangchu, which is narrated mainly in the penmanship of the novel, but it is not all the author's imagination, let alone the characters and events fabricated out of thin air, nor is it detached from the discussion and lyricism of history and the times. The narrative of this book can be unconstrained by the characters themselves and the history itself, so as to give full play to the author's natural talents, and can describe and discuss many important issues related to it: the question of civilian education around the world, the question of rural transformation in China and the world, the question of humanism in Yan Yangchu and the Christian tradition in the West. It is precisely because of this that this literary work has a profound literary and artistic nature, and the author can also have his own personality and characteristic way of speaking, telling a character and his story with world influence in modern Chinese history, and it is an authentic "Chinese story".

Yan Yang was originally an ordinary person, but the author excavated many legends and mysteries in him, and told every reader in a literary way, such as how he spent his childhood and youth, what kind of natural and human environment was the Bazhong Mountain where he was born and raised, how he walked to Hong Kong, the "Oriental Magic Capital" at that time, and how he crossed the ocean to the United States, the day after graduating from Yale University, He crossed the Atlantic to France and came into contact with the vast number of Chinese workers and his fate changed, and then how did he return to China and start a decades-long movement of civilian education and rural transformation, and later spread China's experience to dozens of countries on several continents in the world?

"Yan Yang Chu" describes all these incredible events in the way of storytelling, which makes the book a strong exploratory and highly readable.

What kind of historical figure is Yan Yangchu?

Yan Yangchu is a great educator and social activist in modern Chinese history, a Chinese sage with global influence, and a rare thinker and politician in modern China.

First, he is a social activist who went out from Bazhong County, a small and remote place in southwest China. Although he was born in a scholarly family, he is not a wealthy family, but his grandparents and grandchildren are all scholars. Due to special reasons, he had the opportunity to reach a higher platform, step by step to the world stage, and achieved his great life. His influence in the world is not because of his "Dingxian experience", but because of his promotion of the "Dingxian experience" in countries around the world.

Second, he was a great thinker of his time. The reason why he chose "civilian education" as his life's cause was not only his sympathy and compassion for the people at the bottom of Chinese society, but because of his active choice under the broad world vision, he once believed that the understanding of coolies was the driving force of his life, and he also said that he had the spirit of "Christ" and the feelings of "salvation", and he has been working hard for this, which shows that he is a rare thinker in modern China, has formed a set of ideological propositions, and has carried out comprehensive and long-term practice for this purpose.

Third, the Chinese rural transformation movement that he began in the mid-to-late 30s of the 20th century not only began to look for a new way out after the implementation of the feudal system in China for 2,000 years, but also a real way to save the country and the people, which shows that he was a politician who made a difference in China at that time. The reform of the county-level administrative system he carried out in Nanyue and Chongqing has achieved particularly remarkable results, and has also accumulated a lot of experience for today's political system reform.

Fourth, he is the preeminent generation of educators in modern China, but he is not engaged in higher education, nor primary and secondary education, but civilian education that is neglected by many people. Civilian education is a product of such an era, and Yan Yangchu is a pioneer of civilian education in China, as well as a thinker and practitioner of civilian education. According to Mr. Yan Hongguo, Honorary Dean of the School of Rural Revitalization of Southwest University, his concept of civilian education is mainly reflected in three aspects: "First, there is an unprecedentedly advanced and advanced talent concept", "Second, it has a complete and operable civilian education system", and "third, Mr. Yan Yangchu's idea of 'eliminating illiteracy in the world and being a new citizen of the world' is comprehensive and overall". (Yan Hongguo, "Educating the World for Peace", Preface 2 of Yan Yangchu, p. 8 of Yan Yangchu, Beijing: Oriental Publishing House, 2021) It can be seen that Yan Yangchu is an outstanding figure in modern China, as well as a great thinker and statesman, but many people do not know his name, let alone his heroic deeds. The original purpose of writer Miao Yong in writing this literary work was to tell readers in China and the world that we cannot ignore the existence and great ideological value of such a great historical figure.

What kind of ideological background does "Yan Yangchu" have?

As a biographical novel with historical figures as the object, "Yan Yangchu" has a high degree of ideology and important ideological value.

First, as a writer from the same hometown as a historical figure, the author tells the reader the story of the life of a historical figure with "world-class influence", with a deep emotional and local background. If this historical figure has nothing to do with the author and does not have a homeland complex, it is difficult to say whether the written work can be as we see it. As the author tells the story in the "Afterword" of this book, many people do not know that there is such a historical figure as Yan Yangchu, which deeply stimulates his desire to create. Then, the first layer of ideological background is the existence of the author's self, the encounter and unity of subjective personal aspirations and objective historical facts.

Second, the author stands on the height of human beings and rediscovers the ideological and ethical values of the historical figure Yan Yangchu, who lived in the turbulent era in which Yan Yangchu and that group of particularly outstanding and even outstanding talents carried out important experiments and great practices on the land of China centered on Dingxian County, Hebei Province, which have great historical significance and ideological value, and they and their words and deeds have also had an important impact. Therefore, the second layer of ideological background is human feelings and moral adherence.

Thirdly, from the perspective of China's actual development, the author links the theory and practice of Yan Yangchu's civilian education and rural transformation movement with the rural revitalization strategy and its implementation in contemporary China, revealing the practical significance and contemporary value of the historical figure Yan Yangchu. Therefore, the third layer of ideological background is to talk about yesterday for today, and the main purpose is to provide ideological resources and emotional motivation for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation today.

Fourth, the author places Yan Yangchu in the entire history of mankind and narrates it as a whole from a world perspective, linking his story with the theory and the theory of today's community with a shared future for mankind, showing that there were a group of pioneers who cared about the fate of the people at the bottom of human society in the early Yan Yang era, and their theories and practices can provide a profound historical background and important historical experience for the theory of a community with a shared future for mankind. Therefore, the fourth ideological background is to provide reference and typical cases for the idea of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Fifth, starting from Yan Yangchu's deeds and achievements in his life, the author reveals the Christian character and ascetic spirit of Yan Yangchu one by one, and connects it with the evaluation of him by political leaders from all over the world, telling us about the lofty realm and noble moral sentiments hidden in a scholar with human feelings and a practitioner with a world vision. Therefore, the fifth ideological background is the humanism and human justice that this book focuses on.

The ideological background and ideological propositions in the above five aspects make this book ideologically inherited and groundbreaking, and to a certain extent, it has a certain degree of integration in many important ideological propositions related to the world today and contemporary China.

What kind of aesthetic value does "Yan Yangchu" have?

Ideological value is one aspect, artistic value is another. "Yan Yang Chu" not only has important ideological value, but also has multiple artistic values, whether it is ideological value or artistic value, and finally it comes down to aesthetic value. Because this is a literary work with distinctive artistic characteristics and advantages, not just a biography or chronology; It is not a work that is only academic, but a literary work that is ideological, academic, literary, and artistic at the same time.

Its important artistic aesthetic value is mainly manifested in the following four aspects:

First, the narrative structure is based on the chapter back style. Although this is not a typical chapter-style novel, the author's narrative approach is one chapter at a time, with nine chapters, two prefaces, four appendices, and an afterword. The number of words in the title of each chapter is basically the same, and the structure is also the same, such as "Chapter 1: Teenagers Study, Poor Boys Grow Up", "Chapter 2: Serving Chinese Workers, Determined to Be a Civilian for Life", "Chapter 3: The General Association is Established, and the Vast Sea Meets the Same", etc. The novel tells the ups and downs of Yan Yangchu's tortuous life in the form of chapter by chapter, allowing us to perceive the charm of narrative. This kind of storytelling from the style of ancient Chinese novels is of course the existence of beauty, although the time interlude, flashback and other artistic techniques are exquisite, but the basic structure is basically according to the life deeds and life destiny before and after, so the reading is not only smooth, but also like listening to a book.

Second, the management and construction of poetic language. The existence of poetry in the narrative of novels is also a tradition of classical Chinese novels, such as "Dream of Red Mansions" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other novels, there are a large number of poems and lyrics, and they play a great role in the narrative. The language of "Yan Yangchu" is basically narrative, but it also has a strong lyrical factor, and there are also some philosophical and interesting feelings, thus forming a rather poetic language, allowing us to perceive the beauty of the Chinese language, the beauty of sound rhyme, the beauty of patterns and the beauty of lines, which will make us suffer a serious impact in the process of reading. Sometimes the conciseness and accuracy of his language expression, as well as the beauty of his profound literary language, show that the author's ancient literary skills are remarkable. The whole narrative is also dominated by small paragraphs, so as to facilitate the reader's reading.

Third, the pursuit of visual art effects and the heights they have reached. As a biographical novel, "Yan Yangchu" adopts a visual presentation method throughout the whole process, connecting all the characters and phenomena in history like a movie lens, so that readers can enjoy watching a movie while reading, which is rarely seen in other biographical works. This is also the reason why we consider this to be a novel and not a purely historical biography.

Fourth, the appropriate grasp and in-depth revelation of the inner world of the characters. In this biographical novel, many important historical figures are involved, including some famous political and business figures, and the author does not just mention their names, but shapes them as the history of the novel, paying special attention to showing their inner world and emotional activities, so the reader is particularly moved by the images of these historical figures. So many years have passed in history, and we have no way to guess what historical figures thought at the time, but writers can write in this way, and this is the penmanship of literature, and it is also the charm of literature and art. And the artistic creation formed in all these aspects has special aesthetic value. The so-called aesthetics is the reading and appreciation of literary and artistic works, especially the aesthetic interest and aesthetic discovery shown in this process, only literary works such as novels, movies and other works of art have aesthetic value, and non-literary and artistic works have no aesthetic value, the aesthetic significance of "Yan Yangchu" occurs in its aesthetic value, and its aesthetic value comes from the author's aesthetic creation, if it is a non-literary work, there is no aesthetic creation. "Yan Yangchu" is not only a literary work, but also a literary work with a high degree of ideological creativity and artistic creativity, and it is also different from ordinary pure literary creation. It rises to literature based on history, to art based on characters, and to aesthetics and philosophy based on events, and this is his important success.

What kind of writer is Miao Yong?

"Yan Yangchu" is such a literary work, not all writers can write it, and it is not something that anyone who wants to write can write it. Miao Yong created this work, it took more than ten years before and after, and it was officially published, and before the publication, he suffered from anxiety and was admitted to West China Hospital twice, which shows the hardships and hardships.

Why was the writer Miao Yong able to write this important literary work, and what kind of writer was he?

Miao Yong has rich life experience and solid creative experience, and has published a large number of literary works, including "Mountain People", "Mountain Rhyme", "Monument", "Little Song Random Play", "Witness Angel", "Scattered Words", "History Will Not Forget", "Zeng Xikou" and other works as many as 16 works, and most of the works are related to novels and reportage genres.

First, he has a particularly deep affection for his hometown. At the end of the 60s of the 20th century, Miao Yong was born in Bazhong City, Sichuan Province, and has worked in schools and many institutions for a long time, where he has lived and worked for 20 years. Every mountain range and river, many towns and villages here have left his footprints. This is also the motivation and basis for him to write the long biographical novel "Yan Yangchu".

Second, he has a special sensitivity to literary creation. Miao Yong has a great interest in literature since he was a child, and has always insisted on writing as his goal in life, so he has always insisted on writing. He observes the natural landscape carefully, has a transparent understanding of the characters and their lives, and has a special sensitivity to language expression, so he quickly entered the literary creation and entered the house.

Third, he has rich experience in grassroots work and is quite enthusiastic about current affairs. The reason why he later became an administrative leader from a teacher has a lot to do with his enthusiasm for politics since he was a child and his enthusiasm for serving the people around him. He has worked at the grassroots level for many years, and has a good understanding of the structure of Chinese society and the life and mentality of the common people, which is conducive to his ability to write a variety of literary works, and he can truly and vividly describe and narrate the changes and development of society, the problems existing in society, and the weaknesses of human nature.

Fourth, he has his own comprehensive grasp and unique understanding of the requirements of literature in this era. The reason why he created works like "Yan Yang Chu" is first of all his own interest, and at the same time, he also takes into account the needs of reality and the requirements of human beings. If it is only a record of history, or just a life of a historical figure, it is a different way of writing. Only by combining this character and his story with the strategy of rural revitalization, the strategy of "Chinese culture going global", and the consciousness of "community with a shared future for mankind" will it have greater significance and value. However, he did not stiffly connect the two, but told the story of Yan Yangchu in his life, and the main content of Yan Yangchu's life was "civilian education" and "rural transformation movement", and he struggled for this for life, which also had a wide and deep impact on the world, and the evaluation of him by the three presidents of the United States and many influential figures in the world was basically based on such events and themes.

Miao Yong is a particularly sober and responsible writer, who has such a macro vision and human feelings, as well as such political insights and aesthetic insights, as well as the ability to execute, and puts into action in the way of literary writing, and has achieved unexpected success as a result.

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Please indicate: "Source: Fang Zhi Sichuan"

Source: Sichuan Provincial Office of Local Chronicles

Author: Zou Jianjun (Professor and Ph.D. supervisor of Central China Normal University, member of the Chinese Writers Association, director of the Chinese Poetry Society, vice president of the Chinese Literary Geography Society)