It's been ten years since Stetson left us, and I miss him a lot.
Writer Shi Tiesheng (1951-2010) photographed by Zeng Huang
In February 2010, Mr. and Mrs. Shi Tiesheng took a group photo with Mr. and Mrs. Liu Qingbang
In May 1993, Shi Tiesheng took a group photo with Liu Qingbang
On the occasion of the second anniversary of Shi Tiesheng's death, the Chinese Writers Association organized a seminar on Shi Tiesheng's works, and many writers, critics and scholars attended by Tie Ning, Zhang Haidi, and Zhou Guoping reached an unforgettable consensus: In this era when "great" should not be said lightly, Shi Tiesheng is worthy of a great life and a great writer.
At that seminar, I spoke briefly about Stetson's strong life force, extraordinary retreat abilities, and the specific scenes and vivid details of dreaming of Stetson. Then I compiled my speech into a thousand-word article and posted it in a Newspaper in Beijing, titled "Dreaming of Shi Tiesheng." I have always felt that the article is too short to express my understanding, respect and miss of Stetson, and even sorry for the many interactions with Stetson. On the day of commemorating the tenth anniversary of the death of Mr. Shi Tiesheng, please allow me to spend a little longer space to review the process of getting to know Shi Tiesheng, and then understand the unique ideological connotations of Shi Tiesheng's works, so as to express my deep nostalgia for Shi Tiesheng.
Wang Anyi "matchmaking" for us
Reading a good work is like a heart, reading "My Distant Qingping Bay", my heart seems to be close to Shi Tiesheng's heart at once, and I almost have the idea of seeking the same breath. I knew that the Ministry of Coal Industry, where I was working, was very close to Stetson's home, one outside the north gate of Ditan Park, and the other outside the south gate of Ditan Park, and I only had to walk through Ditan Park from north to south, and walk ten minutes to Shi Tiesheng's house and meet Shi Tiesheng, whom I longed to visit. However, I will not easily rush to the door to disturb him. He is in poor health, has limited energy, and needs to maintain a relatively autonomous and quiet life. The earth turns and the sky turns, and I firmly believe that one day I will meet Stetson.
The course of events seems to be a story, and the person who matched me with Shi Tiesheng was Wang Anyi, who was far away in Shanghai. After the autumn of 1986, I finished writing a novel at the request of the Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. Because the novel was completed in one go, without transcription and without leaving a manuscript, I was worried that it would not be good to lose the manuscript by post office mail, so I packed a large stack of manuscripts into a canvas bag, and let my wife carry the bag and take the train to Shanghai. Earlier, Wang Anyi saw my short story "Walking Kiln Han" in Beijing Literature and knew my name. She heard Yao Yuming, the editor of Shanghai Literature, say that when my wife arrived in Shanghai, she asked my wife to come to her house. My wife had never seen Wang Anyi before, and she was embarrassed to go to Wang Anyi's house to live, planning to stay in a hotel. Wang Anyi said: Everyone is not rich, and if they can save one point, they will save one point. Wang Anyi also said that her husband went on a business trip, and she was alone at home, and it was okay for my wife to live in her house, and there was no need to be embarrassed. In this way, my wife Yao Weiping, who was like Wang Anyi, who was a young man in the countryside, lived in Wang Anyi's home. In the evening, my wife and Wang Anyi watched TV together, and saw Wang Anyi watching TV while Knitting a sweater on his hand. The whole sweater is almost knitted, and it has reached the stage of sleeve closure. My wife also loves to knit sweaters, and the level of knitting sweaters is also very high. Speaking of knitting sweaters, Wang Anyi told my wife that this sweater was knitted for Shi Tiesheng, the weather was getting colder and colder every day, and as soon as the sweater was knitted, she immediately sent it to Shi Tiesheng. When my wife heard that she told Wang Anyi, don't send it after the sweater is knitted, and she will not get it for Shi Tiesheng when she returns to Beijing. Wang Anyi said that it was also good.
My wife returned to Beijing from Shanghai one morning, and in the afternoon, my wife and I each rode a bicycle from Jing'anli, where my family lived, to a small courtyard next to the Lama Temple, to deliver sweaters to Shi Tiesheng. I remember very clearly that the north wind that day was blowing very strongly, and the whole city seemed to be raising sand. We had to withstand the cold wind and squint our eyes before we could ride forward. I still remember very clearly, Wang Anyi's sweater knitted for Shi Tiesheng is dark green, the texture of pure wool thread, the needle type of the knitted sweater is not a "flat needle", it is a "yuanbao needle", it looks a little heavy, just a touch with the hand, it gives people a warm feeling.
Shi Tiesheng, who received the sweater, seemed a little excited, and his excited performance was to lift the weight lightly, and in a joking tone, he showed sincere gratitude in humor. He said, Wang An remembers such a big writer, she knitted sweaters for me, how did I get this, how can I afford it! I saw that I couldn't wear this sweater, but I should embroider a few words on the sweater and send it to the museum.
I took a look at it, and the camel flat needle sweater that Stetson was wearing was very old, small and thin and thin, tightly hooped on him, and he sat in a wheelchair and bent down slightly, and his back was exposed. Wang Anyi knitted a new sweater for Shi Tiesheng at this time, which can be said to be necessary and timely, similar to sending charcoal in the snow.
Through the conversation, we learned that Shi Tie was born in 1951, my wife and I were born at the end of 1951, and although we were the same age, he was more than 11 months older than us in terms of birth month. Since then, we've called him Brother Iron.
Listen to Wang Anyi and Shi Tiesheng "lifting the bar"
My time with Brother Tie sheng was between April and May in the spring of 1993. During that time, Wang Anyi asked me to help her borrow a small unit in Beijing, and write in the unit alone. In the beginning, Wang Anyi's writing was almost closed, she did not want others to know that she wrote in Beijing, nor did she contact other literary friends. There was only one writer she took the initiative to visit, and that was Stetson. At this time, Shi Tiesheng's family had moved from the Lama Temple to shuizi in the east of the city. The place where Wang Anyi wrote was far from Shi Tiesheng's home, and Wang Anyi was not familiar with the roads in Beijing, and every time she went to Shi Tiesheng's house, she asked me to accompany her. Every time he saw Shi Tiesheng, Wang Anyi was very curious, he was always "finally seeing Tie Sheng again", there were always many questions to ask Shi Tiesheng, and there were always many words to talk to Shi Tiesheng. Often, before we enter the house, the conversation between them gets to the point. In my impression, Wang Anyi said very little in front of others, a little cold, and a little proud. Only in front of Shi Tiesheng did she appear so modest, enthusiastic, and talkative, that she was simply thirsty for the sages. Their conversations involved a wide range of contents, including Chinese and the world, historical, realistic, philosophical, artistic, abstract, concrete, and so on. For example, Wang Anyi has just published a new novel, "Documentary and Fiction", and Shi Tiesheng has read it, and she wants to listen to Shi Tiesheng's criticism. For example, they talk about their views on homosexuality and what kind of attitude they should have towards homosexuals. For example, they discuss the origin of art, did the nobility create art, or did the folk create art? Who among the rich and the poor need to appreciate art more? Because Wang Anyi had too many questions, he sometimes stuck Shi Tiesheng's questions. Stetson put his hand on his forehead and said this, you let me think about it. Still unable to remember how to answer, he would light a cigarette and use the pungent power of the smoke to mobilize his mind. Due to physical limitations, Stetson could not finish a cigarette, but could only smoke a cigarette to one-third, or at most half of it, and then snuffed out the cigarette. After a few puffs of his cigarette he said: I remember, I should say so.
Wang Anyi is so keen to talk to Shi Tiesheng, but her view of Shi Tiesheng is not blindly agreed, but some agree, some do not agree. For the view of disagreement, she will seriously shake her head, say that she feels that it is not, and then say the reason why she does not agree. Wang Anyi did this, as if he was ready to find Shi Tiesheng to "lift the bar", and in the "lifting bar" of the opponent in chess, he stimulated the fire of thought and enjoyed the fun of wandering in the depths of the soul.
Since the level of thought is not on one level, I can only be an observer of the argument between the two of them, and I can't interject at all, like a fool. However, listening to the argument between the two wise men also enlightened me, at least to understand that there are many problems in the world that need to be discovered and pondered by human beings. The human brain is used to think, and if you don't think, a head on top of the body is probably like a gourd.
The difficulty of Shi Tiesheng is that he has a super intelligent brain, relying on such a brain to think and write, and the energy supplied to the brain is often not powerful. We all know that the energy that keeps the brain on and running is a steady supply of blood and oxygen, and It is precisely the blood that has a problem because of the uremia that tiesheng later suffered. In order to remove toxins from his blood and preserve his ability to live and mentally, he had to go to the hospital for dialysis three times a week, each time lying in a hospital bed for two or three hours. Tie Sheng once told me that once during dialysis, he saw his drawn blood flow blocked by a blood clot in a transparent plastic tube, so that the blood flow stopped flowing, and the remaining blood quickly changed color. He quickly called the nurse, who removed the blood clot and the dialysis was able to continue. Tie Sheng also told me that during dialysis in his hospital bed, his brain was still thinking, and the blood circulated outside his body, but the thinking never left his brain for a moment. However, due to the lack of blood and oxygen supply to the brain, his thinking is very difficult, often it is difficult to get a new idea, because it is not grasped in time, the idea is like a flashing spark, quickly dissipated. Tie Sheng later thought of a way, grabbing a mobile phone in his hand during dialysis, and when he had a new idea, he quickly wrote down some marks on the mobile phone and sorted it out on the computer after returning home.
The news of Wang Anyi's writing in Beijing was still known to some writers and friends, who called me and asked to invite Wang Anyi to dinner and get together with Wang Anyi. The main writers who attended the gathering were Mo Yan, Liu Heng, Liu Zhenyun, Wang Shuo, and so on. Of course, every party is indispensable. As far as Stetson's physical condition is concerned, in fact, he is not suitable for going out to participate in such a party, looking at the table full of mountains and precious seafood, seeing his friends eating and drinking, he does not dare to eat more. For example, he likes to eat peanuts and rice, but he can only eat six grains at a time, and if he eats one more grain, the potassium will exceed the standard. But for the sake of the friendship between friends, he still insisted on going to the party in a wheelchair. Every time I took Tie Sheng from home to the hotel, it was almost always me who scrambled to push his wheelchair for him. I'm low in stature and have a low wheelchair, so I push it more appropriately. Also, I see Tie Sheng as my brother, and I push the wheelchair behind him, and I feel a sense of closeness.
After Wang An recalled that after returning to Shanghai, my wife and I often went to see Shi Tiesheng. Two or three years before the Spring Festival, my wife and I would give Tie Sheng a bucket of peanut oil packed with ten pounds every time we went to see Shi TieSheng. Tie Sheng and his wife, Chen Ximi, were reluctant to let us send them something. Once, Tie Sheng smiled and said a word that made me think it was funny too. The word he said was oil, and if we gave him oil, he would become an oil picker. I explained: It's almost the New Year, our unit has given each person a barrel of oil, and my wife's unit has also issued oil to each employee, so much oil can't be eaten, you can help us eat some.
The story of the retreat is metaphysically lyrical
Before the Spring Festival, we visit Tie sheng, and Tie Sheng will give us a New Year card he made by hand. If there is a new book born in time for the iron, he will sign and give us one. Once, Tie Sheng suddenly gave us three thick "Shi Tie Sheng Works Collection" published by the China Social Sciences Press, and wrote the names of my wife and me on the title page of each collection.
For each of Stetson's works, I have a very pious attitude, put them near my hands, read them slowly little by little, and read them carefully. In the case of Stetson's "Sick Gap Broken Pen", I read it for nearly half a year. If there are also stories in Shi Tiesheng's book, it is not a story of reality, it is a story of retreat; if there is also lyricism in his works, it is not a metaphysical lyricism, but a metaphysical lyricism; if the characters in his works also have expressions, it is not only a sentimental expression, but also an expression of thought; if his writing is also inseparable from words, his words are no longer figurative, but abstract. The reason why Shi Tiesheng's creation is unimaginable to ordinary people, and the reason why it has reached a height and depth that other creators cannot reach, is forced out, and fate has forced him into a corner, putting him in the dead and reborn. Life in a wheelchair limits his external activities, and he can only turn inward, turn deep inside, and take up the weapon of thinking and enter a life of hard thinking. Like us who are able-bodied, who spend all day long in the richness of material life and the activity of external life, have no time or ability to think about those mysterious and profound problems, and our understanding of the world can only stay at the level of what is known to all. With a huge amount of mental intelligence, with the strength of thought like a crossing, and the responsibility for life, Shi Tiesheng took the light of reason from the dark concepts of layers and illuminated people's way forward. Mr. Zhou Guoping called Shi Tiesheng a "philosopher in a wheelchair." Tie Ning commented on Shi Tie Sheng: Tie Sheng is a person with true faith, a writer who truly adheres to a high spiritual height, pure, calm, sincere, and dignified. He has been in a wheelchair for so many years, but he can see higher than many people who can stand, and he can't walk too far for so many years, but he has a broader heart than people who travel in all directions.
A philosophy of life that seeks the salvation of the soul
We all know that the writer's writing is inseparable from the support of philosophy, especially the support of the philosophy of retreat. However, we have to admit that the philosophy of retreat in our country is weak and scarce, so that our writing cannot be improved, cannot fly in the wind, and can only struggle in the quagmire of reality. In the thousands of years of civilization history of the Chinese nation, it cannot be said that we do not have philosophy, but most of our philosophies are social philosophy, moral philosophy, life philosophy, and philosophy of life, as well as the philosophy of governance, collective philosophy, power philosophy, struggle philosophy, etc., mostly utilitarian philosophy of practicality. We say that Stetson's writing rose to the height of philosophy because he contributed to the philosophy of life, a philosophy that transcended utilitarianism. What we have long lacked is the philosophy of life, and it was Mr. Stetson who filled the gap at the end of the 20th and early 21st centuries.
Stetson clings to the philosophical proposition of life itself, and explores in depth the body and spirit, spirit and soul, life and death, god and dreams, as well as good and evil, love and sex, obscurity and openness, happiness and pain, and so on. Stetson believes that the human spirit and the soul cannot be confused, there is a difference between the two, the soul is above the spirit. He said: "The existence of the soul after death is the conjecture of human nobility. "The question of the soul has always been in the realm of faith." "It's not something that can be seen or touched." "The evildoer is more inclined to the nothingness of the soul. Death is the end of everything, and evil deeds are easy. "What impressed me most about Stetson's discourse was about the three dilemmas inherent in life: loneliness, pain, and fear. Loneliness is because people are born only by themselves and cannot communicate completely with others. Suffering comes from infinite desires, and the ability to fulfill desires can never catch up with the ability to desire. Fear is the fear of death, and it is inevitable to die. Stetson pointed out that the dilemma of life is not a pessimistic purpose, but also to give life an ideal and positive meaning. He went on to point out that it is precisely because of loneliness that love is precious; that without the pain of desire, there is no joy in realizing desire; that the brevity of life, the nothingness of life, opens up the space of possibility for mankind to overcome himself, transcend his predicament, and prove the meaning of existence.
The philosophy of Western philosophers about life is generally from virtual to virtual. Stetson is not, his philosophy of life is based on himself, from his own suffering life, with his deep life experience as a solid and reliable basis. His philosophy first completes a kind of self-salvation of the soul, and then points to the salvation of all souls. As Chen Fumin, a researcher at the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: Shi Tiesheng has borne the heavy answer of life and death for those of us who are able-bodied with his own suffering, he has used his suffering to enhance everyone's understanding of life, and we have enjoyed the spiritual height he reached at no cost. In this sense, Stetson is a hero of contemporary culture.
Many people avoid death, and even some deceive themselves, unwilling to talk about death. Stetson confronts death and is the one who talks about death the most. He said: "Man can avoid anything, but death cannot escape." He described the death of man as a festival, "death is a festival that will come." Then he tried to prove that human death was impossible. Life is a desire, man is the carrier of enthusiasm, is the ever-presenting transmitter of the vigorous news of the world, the perfect and unreachable confusion and the thoughts and realizations that come with it make desire never end. So all earthly names can be erased, and "I" do not die. "Death is but a brilliant end, and at the same time a brilliant beginning." At the end of "Me and the Temple of Earth," Stetson likens life to the sun, "but the sun, every moment of his life is the setting sun and the rising sun." When he was extinguished and walked down the mountain to collect the desolation or the afterglow, it was when he was burning on the other side and climbing up the mountain to spread the fierce morning light. ”
I read a lot of Shi Tiesheng's works, and I read a strong religious feeling in it, and read the silent superhuman soul power. Stetson's articles are not religious creeds, and he has not admitted to any denomination he believes in, but his series of articles on the philosophy of life do have similarities with religious beliefs. Anyway, after reading his article, I can at least look at death more satisfactorily, and I am less afraid of death.
The dead do not die
However, we still hope that Brother Iron can live, and the longer he lives, the better. Because Tie Sheng's body is in such a state of fluttering in the wind and rain, we often carry a heart for him. On February 4, 2010, when we saw the news of Shi Tie's illness in some media, my wife and I were shocked. Before we could get in touch with Chen Ximi, we hurried to Stetson's house to see what was going on. Fortunately, we came to Tiesheng's house to see that Tiesheng was still welcoming us with his usual loving smile. Shi Tiesheng also saw that kind of news, and he smiled and said: They sent the news that Shi Tiesheng was seriously ill, and then there should be a message: Shi Tiesheng is alive again!
This time to visit Tiesheng, I saw something similar to a lift in the corner of Tiesheng's bedroom, and Hemi said that it was indeed an electric elevator, which was used to carry iron. Tetsumi needs to go to bed, and Hemi starts the elevator to lift Tetsuo to the bed; Tetsuo needs to get out of bed to write, and Hemi uses the machine to move Tetsumi to the wheelchair. The friends who went with us took pictures of Tetsusen, and also took photos of Tetsuson, Himi, and my wife and me. It is said that this was the last time That Stets was photographed before he was born. Tie Sheng joked: This photo is considered a relic! Hemi sneered at Tie Sheng: What are you talking about! Hemi said: We tiesheng's name is good, and tiesheng is alive! Tie Sheng continued to tell jokes: the housewife of other people's housewives is a leader inside and out, and we Himmi are a leg inside and out. By this, Tetsusen means that one of Hemi's legs is disabled and needs to use a crutch to get around the room to serve Tetsuson.
Sad days inevitably came, and on December 31, 2010, the coldest day in Beijing, Stetson left us forever.
January 4, 2011, is Stetson's 60th birthday. On the afternoon of the same day, thousands of Tiesheng readers spontaneously came to the 798 Space Gallery in Beijing from all over the country to attend Tiesheng's birthday party and deeply remember Shi Tiesheng. On that day, I bought three bunches of flowers at once, one bouquet that my wife and I gave to Tiesheng, and the other two bouquets that were dedicated to Tiesheng for Wang Anyi and Yao Yuming. On the wall of the memorial service site, I saw the enlarged Tie Sheng and our last group photo. I stood in front of the group photo for a long time, and tears came out of the corners of my eyes again. In the memorial session, I had the honor to make a brief speech on behalf of the Beijing Writers Association, and I said that Tie Sheng is our colleague, our brother, and the most cohesive force in our team. Although Tie Sheng has left us, but the dead and the undead will live, and the light of his mind and soul will shine on us forever. I remember that I also specifically mentioned Chen Ximi, the wife of Tiesheng, who is a supporter of Tiesheng's life and a companion of Tetsusheng's thought, and is simply an angel of Tiesheng, expressing deep respect to Chen Ximi!
It has been ten years since Tie Sheng left us, and I believe that many of Tie Sheng's admirers will once again gather under the banner of Shi Tie Sheng's thought to launch a new wave of remembrance of Shi Tie Sheng. I did not intend to deify Tie Sheng, but as time went on, the divine brilliance of Stetson's thoughts and souls was becoming more and more revealing and more brilliant!
(Original title: Thinkers among Writers)
Source: Beijing Daily Author: Liu Qingbang, novelist, vice chairman of Beijing Writers Association.
Process Edit: u022
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