Zeng Xiangjin: Newly discovered Ye Shengtao and Ba Jin sent a letter to Hu Muyi

When I was flipping through the Nanjing Daily during the Republic of China period in the Nanjing Library, I found a letter from Ye Shengtao and Ba Jin. These two letters are not found in the Ye Shengtao Collection and the Complete Works of Ba Jin, and the chronology of the two is not recorded, which can be judged as a letter. In order to preserve the historical materials, the two letters are first recorded as follows: Mr. Hu Mu:

Show me. Two poems will be published in the 179th issue, and two poems will be published in the 181th issue. The 179th issue was completed, so it was moved to the 181 issue. Issue 181 has been sent and I want to receive it at this time. The number of drafts favored this time has been renewed. The price is flat, there is little aftertaste, and the heart is not intended to be published, that is, to return. Silently observing the progress of writing under the foot, it has now reached the stage of not being able to write, and it seems that it is further advisable to complain less, think more, think deeply and then come out, when there is also entry. Hurry, that is, please be near.

Ye Qiutaoqi

Mr. Hu Mu:

Both letters were received, thank you for looking up to me. In fact, I don't know how to understand literature, I am just learning to write novels. I am a pseudonymous editor of "Chinese Writers", and the actual person in charge is Mr. Ye Shengtao. Originally, the good publication was published in January, but because the registration certificate was not issued, it could not be printed, and there is still no news of the publication. Hurry, good luck!

Barkin March 24

Both letters were published in the "Writer's Book" section of Nanjing Daily, Literary and Art New Wave (Ye Shengtao's letter was published on June 14, 1947, and Ba Jin's letter was published on June 21, 1947). On June 6, 1947, Nanjing Daily published the "Notice of This Newspaper": "Since this month, this newspaper has added a literary and art new wave weekly, hired Hu Mu as the editor-in-chief, and published it every weekend. It was officially published on June 7. Editor-in-chief Hu Mu clearly declared in the "Six Chapters of the Manuscript": "This journal welcomes literature and art that is full of reality, and all old literature please turn backwards." He also actively invited Ye Shengtao, Ba Jin, Jin Yi, Li Jianwu and other literary masters to draft. Hu Mu also called on everyone to write dialect poems, folk songs, and rural short stories in the "Future Journal", and under the influence of this, "New Wave of Literature and Art" successively published Ding Li's novella "Night", Hu Mu's "Small Collection of Dialect Poems" and long poem "The Wrath of the Land".

Then I came back to Ye Shengtao's letter. At the end of the letter, hu mu made a special explanation of the mistake of signing "Ye Qitao" as "Ye Shengtao": "The previous issue of the writer's book was written by the writer Mr. Ye Shengtao to the editor, and was mistakenly planted by the hand people as 'Ye Qitao', and is hereby corrected. The date of the letter's writing is uncertain for the time being, but the magazine in which the letter says to contain "Two Poems" is "Middle School Students" edited by Ye Shengtao, and the "Two Poems" are titled "Hope" and "Blessings" (see Middle School Students, No. 181). Previously, Hu Mu also published poems "Hymns", "Words on the Side of the Spinning Wheel" and "Light" in the 172nd issue of "Middle School Students" magazine, and published poems "Flag of the Century", "I, You, He" and "Flower" in the 174th issue, which is also in line with Ye Shengtao's letter that "the number of drafts favored this time has been renewed". Perhaps because Ye Shengtao felt that Hu Mu's poems were "evenly priced and had little aftertaste", Hu Mu's name never appeared in the magazine "Middle School Students" after that. However, Hu Mu's writing level was still recognized by Ye Shengtao, who believed that he had reached the stage of not worrying about writing articles, and suggested that Hu Mu should create less and think more in the future, think to a certain extent and then write, so that there can be progress. Ye Shengtao's attitude towards Hu Mu, a young author, was sincere and kind.

Ba Jin's letter was written after receiving two letters from Hu Mu in succession, and the date of reply was March 24, 1947. Hu Mu's letter to Ba Jin is now unrecoverable, and it can only be roughly inferred from here that he asked Ba Jin about the Chinese Writer in his letter. Ba Jin told Ye Shengtao, the actual person in charge of Hu Mu's publication, who was originally going to publish it in January, but "because the registration certificate was not issued, it could not be printed, and there was no news of the publication until now." The Chinese Writer was edited and distributed by the All-China Literary and Art Association, and its inaugural issue was not launched until October 1, 1947. The magazine published 3 issues, and there were no poems by Hu Mu in these 3 issues. As for the statement in the letter that "I can't say that I understand literature" and "I am just learning to write novels", it is naturally Ba Jin's self-effacing words, which seems to show that there is no deep friendship between Ba Jin and Hu Mu.

Finally, let's talk about Hu Mu, the object of writing of these two letters. The author only collected some sporadic information about him, Hu Mu mainly composed poetry and prose, and after 1945 began to publish a large number of works, and published poems in well-known newspapers and periodicals such as "Literature and Art Spring and Autumn", "Wenchao Monthly", "Literary pioneer", "Yishi Bao" and so on. The "Wenxun" column of "Nanjing Daily: New Wave of Literature and Art" has several news about the editor-in-chief Hu Mu: "Hu Mu is now immersed in writing a film script called "Spring Wind Blows and Grows Again", which will soon appear and be published in the Xinmin Bao Commentary Street. "The Chinese Poetry Society has newly planned to add poetry periodicals to the newspapers of "Peace," "Dagang," and "Zhongshi," and is now in contact with the four editors-in-chief of Hu Mu, Shaping, Zai mei, and Hong Bo." It can be seen that Hu Mu was quite active in the Nanjing literary circle at that time. In addition, Hu Mu's vigorous advocacy of folk songs and dialect poems deserves attention. In "On the Current Poetry Movement in China", he clearly pointed out: "The current new poetry is only a process of slow progress from the old literary heritage - poetry, words - to the road of folk songs. Therefore, folk songs can be regarded as the main part of the people's lives that really reflect the literary and artistic movement. In the "Direction of Folk Songs", it is also said: "The mountain song of Ma Fantuo and the Sichuan dialect poem of Sha Ou have been unveiled and cut off, and we believe that this glorious road is the nearest journey to the sun." Specific to practice, Hu Mu created a large number of folk songs and dialect poems, and opened columns in many publications to advocate the folk song movement. His co-authored "Flowers Blooming on the Ground and Spring Again" is considered by critics to be an attempted collection of folk songs written collectively in a language that the public can understand, singing the unspeakable grievances of the people. Hu Mu has made his own contributions to the theoretical advocacy and specific creation of the popularization of new poems, and should also be remembered by literary history.

(Author Affilications:College of Literature, Nanjing University)