From July to November this year, the cultural news section of Beijing Daily specially opened the "Chu Xin" column, and successively launched a series of in-depth cultural figure reports, which are dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China. Launched today is the final issue of the series.
Since the founding of New China, in the field of culture and art, many outstanding writers and artists have not forgotten their original intentions, kept their mission in mind, and made indelible contributions to the cultural undertakings of the motherland. In the past four months or so, we have interviewed and reported on dancer Chen Ailian, singer Li Guangxi, writer Liu Qingbang, artist Wu Weishan, film director Huang Jianxin, film and television director Li Shaohong, film and television director Liu Jiang, drama director Li Liuyi, screenwriter Guo Qihong, screenwriter Liu Liuliu, conductor Tan Lihua, actor Wang Xiaotang, Huayi Brothers CEO Wang Zhonglei, and others. By sharing their wonderful life experiences, we understand the cultural inheritance, cultural persistence, cultural innovation, and their remembrance, reflection and exploration are also a valuable cultural wealth, worth writing and remembering.
The 88-year-old writer Deng Youmei'an sat quietly, he liked to be lazy in the recliner, and he gave himself an irrefutable reason: after a busy life, it was time to be quiet. Deng Youmei and the literary circles have long been estranged, he said that he did not want to mix anymore, the more mixed things are more. Now he talked about himself as if he wasn't talking about himself, but more like he was talking about a long-ago legend.
Immersed in the Beijing flavor, but risk writing love
On the 3rd page of the Beijing Daily on January 27, 1957, there was a commentary entitled "Reading "On the Cliff"", in which the protagonist was Deng Youmei's first novel "On the Cliff" after entering Beijing.
On January 27, 1957, the 3rd page of Beijing Daily published an opinion article entitled "Reading "On the Cliff".
In early 1950, Deng Youmei, who was not yet 19 years old, came to Beijing. He had worked as a Chinese worker in Japan at a young age, and had also been a soldier in the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, but everything in the city made this young man feel very fresh.
When he first entered Beijing, Deng Youmei was fascinated by the Beijing People's Art Creation Group because he could write allegro in the army, and later transferred to the editorial department of the Beijing Municipal Federation of Literature and Literature 'Rap Singing', the people around him, the city where he was located, and the Beijing dialect that fluttered in his ears every day.
Deng Youmei in the war years
After many years, many things have been forgotten, but Deng Youmei's initial impression of Beijing is still vivid and vivid. He visited the big and small hutongs in Beijing, and was surprised that the old Beijingers were very civilized, and when acquaintances met on the street, they must make a greeting. He remembers the old Beijingers scolding people for turning corners, such as "Hurry home, your grandmother is waiting to praise you", at first Deng Youmei did not understand how, and then suddenly realized, grandma boasted, is not to say that you are a "good grandson"? He also described the girls in the city as "amazing", "very learned" and "gorgeous", and he felt that these girls were too far away from him.
"Old Beijing has left old customs and old habits, and I am very curious." Mr. Deng said he decided to learn Beijing dialect because he found that he spoke with a foreign accent and did not even have the right to bargain when he bought something. Deng Youmei spoke Tianjin dialect, mixed with Shandong dialect, and at first did not learn the Beijing dialect, such as "is not" said to be "four no four", which caused laughter from people around him.
"The experience of Beijing culture is naturally formed, not intentionally cultivated." After nearly 70 years, Deng Youmei talked about the flag bearers in the editorial department of "Rap Singing", and even the descendants of those princes, who are still full of interest. At that time, his eyes were like searchlights, spying on the every move, every word and deed of these flag bearers. Every morning, Deng Youmei would drink soy milk and eat fritters on the street. The flag people are much more particular, from bringing noodles such as flower rolls at home to baking in the dormitory. The tea leaves of the unit are categorically not drunk, each person brings a small bag of tea leaves, and the new day must start with a cup of tea. Deng Youmei was kind enough to pour a cup of boiling water for his colleagues, who knew that the other party would pour it out without any gratitude, and the sense of ceremony of that cup of tea could not be easily destroyed. "I like them and I annoy them, there are too many rules." Deng Youmei said.
Middle-aged Deng Youmei and his birds
Although immersed in the Culture of Beijing, Deng Youmei's original works did not write about Beijing, nor did he write about Beijingers. After the founding of New China, the first novel he wrote was called "On the Cliff", which was published in the "Literary Monthly" in 1956, which was also the result of his two-year study of the Central Literature Seminar. The novel is about a young couple facing a marital crisis and emotional confusion. Deng Youmei recalled that after liberation, he wanted to write about the lives of ordinary people, and writing this work actually contained his good wishes for love, "At that time, I also wanted to find a young and beautiful girl, but it was forbidden to fall in love in the army. So he turned his imagination and what he saw into this work.
Writing "love" in that era, Deng Youmei was adventurous, after all, it was a love novel different from the political climate at that time. Deng Youmei has long forgotten the sensation caused by the novel at that time, but the biography about him has been recorded. The novel was a hit, the magazine that published the work sold out as soon as it was listed, Deng Youmei's name was sought out among the literary circles and literary enthusiasts, two film companies came to Deng Youmei, and the film artist Zhao Dan personally came to the door twice to negotiate the adaptation of the novel into a film script.
But it was also this novel that brought bad luck to Deng Youmei, who was beaten to the right in 1957 and later transferred to Anshan, isolated from literary creation for 22 years.
He regretted that he could not write about the "pawn shop" of old Beijing.
On September 16, 1984, Deng Youmei published an article in Beijing Daily called "Cherish", which was also a call for essays on the 35th anniversary of the founding of New China. At the time of writing this article, Deng Youmei's creation was in its heyday.
On September 16, 1984, the 3rd edition of Beijing Daily, Deng Youmei wrote "Cherish" to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the founding of New China.
As early as the 1950s, Deng Youmei began to write in "Rap and Singing", and Mr. Lao She, who was then the chairman of the Beijing Municipal Federation of Literature and Literature, gave him a lot of encouragement, "Little Deng, write well!" But Lao She specifically said that he should try to write in the Jingweier language and not write those words that are written in a single article. Zhao Shuli, the editor-in-chief of "Rap Singing", also always dialed him. "Zhao Shuli is such a big writer, the most simple, the most shelfless, the most peasant, he said I want to write to the common people."
But Deng Youmei really decided to write a Jingweier novel in the 1980s. At that time, shijing novels and vernacular novels became literary phenomena that could not be ignored in the trend of contemporary Chinese literature, but Deng Youmei only had one strong desire: to write, it was necessary to provide some fresh things for the Chinese literary circle and readers.
"Wang Meng wrote about Xinjiang, from Wei Xi to the big wall, Lu Wenfu wrote about Gusu Shijing, the literati have shown their unique skills, where do I go to find my characteristics?" He thought that his military career was his special feature, he had written war-themed novels such as "Our Commander" and "The Women Chasing the Troops", which had a great influence and won awards, not to mention that General Ye Fei had encouraged him to write more stories about the New Fourth Army.
But Deng Youmei insisted on his own judgment, he believed that compared with the old writers, there was no greater breakthrough and should seek a new path. He further thought that he was the last generation to understand the Eight Flags disciples, and he had interacted with the flag people in Beijing in his early years, and in Anshan, he had interacted with the eight flag disciples who were also delegated and various figures from Beijing. At the end of the "Cultural Revolution", he returned to Beijing, and in Taoranting, not far from his residence, he also met many people in the pear garden and cultural relics circles in Beijing. He also often went to the overpass every day after dinner to listen to the commentaries. He said: "I am more familiar with old Beijing, I might as well write two articles to try." ”
Regarding his own adventure to write this time, Deng Youmei recalled that he would often write until twelve o'clock at night, compared with being a laborer and marching sixty or seventy miles, writing was completely happy for him.
"I write with a pen dipped in water, two or three thousand words a day, those words are flying and dancing, messy, only I know." 」 Deng Youmei said that the manuscript he wrote had to be copied word by word in a disciplined manner, and later the famous "The Five" and "Smoke Pot", as well as "In Search of "Painting Han", "Shao Brothers", "Anecdotes from the Four Seas", "Descendants of Suo Qi", and other Beijing-style novels were all written in this way. Deng Youmei's wife Han Wuyan told reporters that these works were brewed for many years, accumulated for many years, and completed in one go, and the novella "Smoke Pot" took only one week to write, "At that time, the room was small, the weather was very hot, and his arms were full of prickly heat." ”
Just as the writers of that era were good at going deep into life and experiencing life, Deng Youmei always maintained an intimate relationship with front-line life. Han Wuyan recalled that in the late 1980s, when Deng Youmei was writing the novella "Smoke Pot", she once went to Hengshui, Hebei Province, and lived in the factory of Wang Xisan, a master of inner painting, to carefully observe each process, and the communication with Wang Xisan lasted for several days and nights. Later, Hong Kong director Li Hanxiang filmed a film adapted from "Smoke Pot", and Deng Youmei also recommended Wang Xisan to play Nie Xiaoxuan. Han Wuyan laughed and said, "Snuff bottle, Deng Youmei is cheap to look at, expensive can not afford to buy, but Wang Xisan gave him snuff bottle is his treasure, and their friendship continues to this day." ”
Deng Youmei's novel "The Five" was adapted into a TV series
This batch of Jingweier novels recalled traditional culture, reconstructed Beijing's memory, and guarded folk culture, which was rare in that era, so it caused a sensation when it came out, and Deng Youmei also became the first generation of writers to touch film and television. "That Five" was adapted into a TV series hit, and Deng Youmei once said: "Those five are typical of many of the flag people I originally met. Hopefully, he can touch some people's nerves. If the audience can arouse some associations and reflections on life after watching "The Five", I wish it was enough. ”
What is particularly interesting is that a report in the Beijing Daily also witnessed the influence of "Yanju" that year. On September 28, 1984, the newsletter "Hanmo and Xiang Liuli Factory" was published, 19 long-established brands reappeared in the Liuli Factory, and the reporter went to visit, and the article mentioned, "If someone does not know what kind of object the 'Guyuexuan' cigarette pot written by the writer Deng Youmei is, then go here to see its true appearance." And Han Wuyan clearly remembers that after the "Cigarette Pot" was on fire, an old man came to the family one day, he said that he used to be a pawn shop, he expressed his sincere voice, "You should write about the pawn shop in old Beijing, there are more stories than snuff bottles." But then the old man never came again, Deng Youmei also became more busy, and this "pawn shop" that was too late to write also became Deng Youmei's eternal regret.
Recalling the past, Deng Youmei sighed: "The most difficult place to be a writer is to experience life, to have an understanding of special people of a certain era in a certain place, and ordinary people and general things can be written by everyone." ”
He once introduced his old friend Jin Yong to join the Writers Association
On February 17, 2008, beijing daily published an article by writer Hong Zhan, "The Taste of Beijing", which described Deng Youmei's reception of Taiwanese female writer Lin Haiyin in Beijing and taking her to drink bean juice. But to this day, when Lin Haiyin drank six bowls in one breath, he still had an unfinished past, and Deng Youmei could not remember clearly.
On February 17, 2008, the 6th page of Beijing Daily, "Taste of Beijing", recorded the interesting story of Deng Youmei taking Taiwanese writer Lin Haiyin to drink bean juice.
But when taking stock of his life, Deng Youmei said that in those years of the China Writers Association, he was just in time for China to speed up reform and opening up, so he achieved the "day" he enjoyed the most. He said that although he was very busy, he was able to see the world and had an unprecedented broadening of his horizons.
Deng Youmei served as secretary of the Secretariat of the China Writers Association, director of the Outreach Department, and in 1996 was elected vice chairman of the Writers Association. Deng Youmei advocated going out, inviting in, and welcoming writers from all over the world to Come to China, see China, and write about China. When recalling the past, he repeatedly said that in the beginning, the road to "going out" of Chinese writers' works was very difficult, and the so-called "going out" works were almost unpopular, and he repeatedly said that they were not well translated, making it difficult for these works to show Chinese characteristics.
Deng Youmei visited abroad
During his days at the China Writers Association, he established a deep friendship with Hong Kong and Taiwan writers. In 2009, Jin Yong joined the China Writers Association, which caused keen attention for a while, and many people did not know that Deng Youmei was among Jin Yong's introductions to the association. Han Wuyan said that Jin Yong liked Deng Youmei's writings and thought that his language was sophisticated and very Chinese. He also likes Deng Youmei as a person, saying that he is not ostentatious. Han Yanwu remembered that every time Deng Youmei came to Hong Kong, Jin Yong would definitely entertain him. And Jin Yong went to Dali, Yunnan and Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan, and Deng Youmei must have accompanied him. "Jin Yong's "Eight Parts of the Heavenly Dragon" made Dali famous overseas, but he had never been to Dali. After Jin Yong came to Dali in 1998, he said that Dali was so beautiful that if he had come earlier, he would have written better. Han Wuyan said.
In the Writers Association, Deng Youmei also had more opportunities to visit, he said: "When I was a child, I worked as a laborer in Japan, and when I went again, I was an international friend. Deng Youmei recalled that as an official of the Writers' Association, he had visited Japan many times, and he did not expect that the Japanese language he had learned in the past could be blurted out, so that the Japanese people were very surprised, "They asked, your Japanese is learning very quickly." I said, how can you not be fast, speak unhappily, a few slaps and come. When he went to the chemical factory in Seto Inland Sea, where he used to work, the director of the factory was already standing at the door waiting, and the factory had not changed at all, but the former little boy had already transformed into a well-known writer.
Deng Youmei did not expect that her hookup with Japan would always be there. Han Wuyan said that Deng Youmei's novel "Farewell, Seto Inland Sea" once had a text that was placed in a textbook by the Textbook Resources Department of the Osaka Kumon Education Commission in Japan, and the institution sent a greeting card to Deng Youmei every year.
On June 21, 1993, the 7th edition of Beijing Daily, Deng Youmei published "Unable to Write 'Search Notice'"
In 1993, Deng Youmei wrote an article for the Beijing Daily entitled "Unable to Write a 'Search Notice'"," which mentioned his half-century-long friendship with the former Japanese foreman Nakamoto Yukihiro. Han Wuyan said: "His friendship with Deng Youmei lasted for half a century, and he sent a wall calendar every year. She said that he, like Deng Youmei, is a kind person. Han Wuyan also talked about a detail, when a worker in Japan heard that Deng Youmei came to Tokyo, the old man had no money, so he sent a representative to Tokyo to visit Deng Youmei.
For Deng Youmei, many details have been forgotten, and many details are still in memory. 70 years of time, just like this, slipped through the fingertips, but because of the words, it will stay forever.
Source: Beijing Daily client · Art Bloom
Author of this issue: Lu Yanxia
Editor of this issue: Jin Liwei
Producer: Zhou Nanyan
Process Editor: Wu Yue