Editor's Note:
Recently, military writer Wang Kun's long non-fiction "UN Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion" and long novel "Mo Yun on the Edge of the Sky" have been published successively, writing contemporary military figures from different perspectives, attracting widespread attention.
Wang Kun, who is currently serving in the joint logistics support force, witnessed the sacrifice of his comrades-in-arms when he served in the special forces to perform parachute jumping tasks, so he had the feeling to embark on the road of literary creation. Today, he has published about 2 million words in "People's Literature", "October", "Chinese Writers", "Youth Literature", "People's Liberation Army Daily", "People's Liberation Army Literature and Art", etc., published novels such as "Mo Yun on the Edge of the Sky", "Sentinel No. 6", "Hunter's Diary", "Long Non-fiction "Ultimate Hunter", "UN Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion", ""Red Zone" Log: Day and Night of Vulcan Mountain" and many other monographs, and with these literary creations, He became a master of literary creation in the postgraduate class of writers jointly organized by Lu Xun College of Literature and the College of Literature of Beijing Normal University.
On the occasion of the Founding Day, the Red Star News and Culture Channel "Red Star Book Review" specially recommends Wang Kun's two new novels "UN Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion" and "Mo Yun on the Edge of the Sky" for the benefit of readers.
UN Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion
A calm narrative straight to the battlefield
——Commenting on Wang Kun's long-form non-fiction "UN Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion"
◎Pearl
Special forces are a characteristic "symbol" on the creative road of military writer Wang Kun. From special forces to peacekeeping infantry, it is a continuation of Wang Kun's "special warfare" road. The latest long non-fiction "UN Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion" published by the People's Liberation Army Publishing House can be called Wang Kun's calm account of directly arriving on the battlefield.
"UN Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion" is based on the experience of Young gensi's troops in the South Sudan Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion, based on real life, and artistically recreates the scene of the explosion in Juba, South Sudan, on July 8, 2016. In the past two years, Wang Kun has visited almost all the people and things involved in the peacekeeping war, penetrating time and space with a large number of detailed materials and delicate emotional brushstrokes, so that the heroes he wrote are no longer just the martyrs of the peacekeeping, Yang Shupeng and Li Lei, but the stories of "Yang Shupeng and Li Lei" who silently exist in the frontline of peacekeeping and experience the threat of survival and the test of life and death every day.
Since 1990, China has sent military observers to the United Nations to carry out peacekeeping missions every year. In the 27 years to 2016, 19 servicemen have been killed in the line of duty. Active participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations is an important policy decision of our country, which fully embodies the responsibility of a responsible major country and has been highly praised by the United Nations. There are many peacekeepers in "UN Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion" who have also gone to the battlefield after 80, 90, and even after 95, where they can not only see the cruelty of war, but also see the youthfulness and flesh and blood of these young soldiers. The phrase "to maintain world peace" came out of the mouths of peacekeepers.
I remember that a peacekeeping brother just stepped on that hot land and sent such a circle of friends: there is a primitive terroir here, but there is no primitive style. As the article describes, "The team members suddenly had the feeling of returning to 'primitive society' through thousands of years. Despite the fact that mosquitoes were rampant, the land was barren, the land was barren, the drought was short of water, and the local people were full of hunger, poverty, and war, the officers and men of Yang Gensi's unit actively carried forward the spirit of "three disbelieves" of "not believing in unfinished tasks, not believing in insurmountable difficulties, and not believing in an invincible enemy," and carried out a battle course of fighting with heaven, earth, and people.
South Sudan's hot and dry climate is not suitable for crop growth, and the supply of vegetables for peacekeepers is extremely scarce, which makes it impossible for officers and soldiers to eat fresh leafy vegetables. In order to change this situation, the officers and men brainstormed and reclaimed more than 1,000 square meters of vegetable fields from "drawing drawings to build water wheels" to "nibbling on books and planting vegetable gardens." The "steamed bun team" turned the sour and hard "black steamed buns" into a drawer of white and soft sweet steamed buns, and the water officers and soldiers drove the "wild horse-like drill bits and began to dig down tamely" until "a thin layer of water with warm sand was drawn out of the ground." "This is a record that China has continued to set during its participation in international peacekeeping operations. These seemingly familiar little things in China have moved to the African red land thousands of miles away, familiar but strange, ordinary but not simple. The author just rightly chooses a small angle to cut into the big background, showing the Chinese soldiers' victory over nature's untamed spiritual form and unspeakable life force. However, all efforts failed to stop the war in Juba, and the Chinese infantry ushered in the most thrilling time of their peacekeeping missions.
For our generation of soldiers, war seems to be far away from us, so far away that we feel that it only exists in novels, film and television works. So much so that the high-class soldier Cai Yuhang suffered from "pre-war syndrome", thinking to himself: It is really not easy to encounter this situation, and finally I can feel it. However, this kind of "joy in hearing the war" in different senses was quickly dispelled by the severe task, which was really "fighting".
Restore the truth, but also sublimate the truth. The reflections on war and peace, life and human nature in Wang Kun's pen always strike at the reader's heart. For example, the author splashed ink to describe a 12-year-old teenager with 5 years of "military experience" who resisted the disarming, and the teenager said, "If I don't hand it over, I won't be safe if I hand it over, if they attack me, what will I do?" "Yeah, the author isn't going to argue here. War shatters local social justices and tramples on the laws of survival, and weapons are at some point a reliable guarantor of survival.
Although the fighting of the peacekeeping infantry battalion in South Sudan is gradually drifting away, these battles have made the whole society respect for the profession of the military increasing day by day, which is the value of reproducing the combat of the peacekeeping infantry battalion, and it is also the author's deep sustenance for the creation of "UN Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion".
Overall, "UN Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion" focuses on the deeds of ordinary soldiers, highlights the image of Chinese soldiers who are particularly proud of the world with the image of "Chinese Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion", and is unique in telling the story of contemporary realism.
Military writer Wang Kun
Let the flower of life bloom in the plateau
——Read Wang Kun's novel "Mo Yun on the Edge of the Sky"
◎ Zhang Junping
Wang Kun is a young writer who has emerged in the literary world in recent years. Those who know him well know that "walking" is the source of his literary creation. From the frontline of coastal defense in the motherland to the inland frontier, Wang Kun, who was born in the military, took up the order and traveled thousands of miles at every turn, and for several months, in the process of walking, one after another of emotionally rich, solid and steady works also came out one after another, and all I know is last year's long non-fiction "The Sixth Outpost", and this year's novel "Mo Yun on the Edge of the Sky" published by the Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House.
"Mo Yun on the Edge of heaven" is born from the author's personal experience, and is a realistic theme work that reflects China's medical assistance work, with a distinct mark of the times. Wang Kun served as a member of the People's Liberation Army's medical team to aid Yushu for 4 years, during which time he heard and witnessed the most touching character stories in the process of medical assistance.
"Mo Yun on the Edge of the Sky"
Compared with Wang Kun's previous works, the changes presented in "Mo Yun on the Edge of the Sky" are obvious, and the past warm and bright, one-sided narrative style has changed to soothing ups and downs, which shows the author's calm and leisurely creative mentality. The story time of the novel is only a few months, and the medical team led by the protagonist Dongfang Yuyin came to Moyun Township, which is close to 5,000 meters above sea level, to carry out the screening of hepatic echinococcosis of plateau herders, from Geyun Village to Jiehuan Village, overcoming many obstacles and saving lives and injuries, not only winning the respect and understanding of the herders, but also harvesting the baptism of the soul. Outside the main line of the story, the author has made a meticulous depiction of the local customs and natural landscapes, and the use of some blank spaces and idle pens not only increases the reading interest of the novel, but also organically expands the novel in terms of volume, which is rare in Wang Kun's previous works, showing the author's increasing maturity in narrative techniques.
In terms of narrative structure, "Mo Yun on the Edge of heaven" takes time as the scripture and the character as the weft, makes the characters appear in the progress of the story time, presents contradictions in the differences in the characters' personalities, and makes the novel end perfectly in the characters' sadness and joy, disappointment and hope, misunderstanding and reconciliation.
In addition to the Oriental Yuyin, the novel focuses on shaping several typical characters, who to a certain extent represent the real survival and life of Tibetan compatriots. The Tibetan girl Kelsang Ram is a character throughout the novel and has left a deep impression on us. As the first college student in Sharitang Grassland, she is most likely to accept the concept of modern medicine, but she has a great prejudice against Western medicine, and in the conflict with Oriental Yuyin, she exposes her conceited and inferior psychology. Dongfang Yuyin "repays grievances with virtue", exchanges benevolence and benevolence for Kelsang Ram's understanding and friendship, and the power of love transcends conflicts and differences, and also bridges Kelsang Ram's state of spiritual division. The Tenzin Lama is the spiritual symbol of the Sharitang grassland, and his profound understanding of modern civilization has made him tolerant of medical teams and modern medicine, and to a certain extent, it has also influenced Oriental Yuyin's thinking on the living conditions of modern people. If Lozamamba still has a hesitant and wait-and-see attitude towards modern medicine, Solange yangjin represents the understanding and acceptance of modern civilization by the younger generation. The unfortunate experience of the elderly Tsering Yangzong made us strangle our wrists, and deeply felt the importance of modern medicine to the health of the people, and the death of Lazhen Ouzhu made us sigh like the withering of life, and also reminded us of the long way to go in medical assistance.
Although "Mo Yun on the Edge of the Sky" has an innate advantage in the use of materials, it takes the unique regional culture as the background to deal with the major realistic theme of medical poverty alleviation, which is particularly eye-catching in many current poverty alleviation works. The special experience of Wang Kun's personal practice, his deep understanding of poverty alleviation work, and his affectionate observation of the spiritual world of people have given this novel a richer connotation, making the novel have a realistic and universal significance.
The practical significance of the novel lies first and foremost in recreating for us the hardships and greatness of medical assistance work. In Moyun Township, where Oriental Yuyin patrols, the 6,000 square kilometers of grassland are scattered with less than 6,000 people, and the plateau snowy area with an average altitude of 4800 meters tests the physiological limits of each medical team member, and the biggest difficulty of the inspection is not here. Herders are limited by geographical and cognitive limitations, and they always drag small diseases into major diseases, and the tragedy of the Tsering Yang family is not unique in pastoral areas. Arousing the scientific awareness of life and health of herders, caring for every child like Rajeon Ouzhu, and letting their flowers of life bloom on the plateau is the mission of the "Golden Pearl Mami" and "Oriental Mamba", and it is also a deep concern from the country. In the novel, we see more and more people like Lao Zhou and Guo Zongwang responding to the call of the state to alleviate poverty through medical treatment, green poverty alleviation, education poverty alleviation... It is forming a synergy to produce a richer, healthier and more beautiful appearance with the perseverance of dripping water through stones, and "Mo Yun on the Edge of the Sky" is just the tip of the iceberg of this great cause for us.
The novel pours a lot of ink on Dongfang Yuyin, as the protagonist of the novel, her body is pinned on the author's thinking on the value of life and the living conditions of modern people, which is another important meaning of the novel. In the author's pen, Dongfang Yuyin is a soldier and a modern woman, who has both a tenacious will and selfless dedication, as well as delicate emotions unique to women. The highland tour was both a physical and volitional test for her, as well as a process of spiritual baptism. The herders always maintain the purity of their hearts and the firmness of their faith in the harsh natural environment, and they regard the difficulties of survival and physical suffering as a necessary process for cultivating the mind, and they know their destiny, do not argue, and cultivate a pure spiritual world in the place closest to the sky; Lao Zhou and Guo Zongwang take root in the plateau, silently dedicate their youth, and feel the joy of life in a monotonous and difficult environment, which is not a mirror for modern people living in a bustling and noisy and material-rich city. What is the meaning of life, how to seek a balance in the dual pursuit of spirit and material, this is the problem brought to us by Oriental Yuyin and Wang Kun.
Edited by Li Jie
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