<h5>Su Shuyang, a well-known writer and playwright, died in Beijing on the evening of July 16. IC courtesy of the image</h5>
Nandu reporter learned that Su Shuyang, a well-known writer and playwright, died in Beijing on the evening of July 16 at the age of 81.
Su Shuyang worked tirelessly throughout his life and wrote and wrote. Among them, the drama "Dan Xin Spectrum" won the first prize for the creation of a gift performance to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
In 1994, Su Shuyang was diagnosed with kidney cancer and began a 25-year anti-cancer journey. He underwent many surgeries and radiation therapy, passed the cancer pass three times, and with extraordinary perseverance, he wrote about 3 million words of writing after treatment.
He once said: "I have two knife scars on my left chest, one is the Yellow River and the other is the Yangtze River, and the shadows of our two mother rivers remain on me." So my life is full. That's probably my childishness. ”
When he received a call from a reporter from Nandu, Zhang Wei, a young screenwriter and young disciple of Su Shuyang in his later years, had just come out of Mr. Su's home. He told Nandu reporters that the last time he saw Mr. Su was two months ago when he went to the hospital to visit. "He was lying in a hospital bed, very thin, but his eyes were really, very clear. It is not the kind of eyes of people who are usually tired of life, but the eyes of the old people who are very popular. ”
Zhang Wei introduced that because of 25 years of cancer, and there is more than one, Mr. Su's physical function has not been very good. In the past 25 years, his wife Mr. Zuo has taken good care of him, although there have been several first aid situations, Mr. Su has been doing research, and he has enjoyed himself in life, and has made a lot of achievements in his later years.
"After the end of this year, I felt like [his body] was suddenly going down a little bit." Zhang Wei said.
Mr. Su, who was in his hospital bed two months ago, saw Zhang Wei still warm and talkative. Zhang Wei recalled that during the hospitalization, there were many drips every day, and the old man's spirit was not good, "but he was such a heart." "There was another anecdote later. Three weeks ago, because there was no need to drip on Monday, Mr. Su Shuyang conspired with the elder sister who was caring for him to sneak back home to see home and miss home. Zhang Wei heard about this at that time, and felt that the old man still had the heart to toss home on a hot day, and he was in a good state. Unexpectedly, the news that the old man was gone suddenly came.
"I remember that thirteen or fourteen years ago, when I was hospitalized, we went to see him, and we sat down for less than three or four minutes and began to talk about creation, and the conversation was very exciting. Every time we talk about the script, we have tears in our eyes, so his wife will always advise him, you calm down, calm down. ”
<h5>Su Shuyang gave an interview before his death. </h5>
In Zhang Wei's impression, Mr. Su Shuyang has a quick thinking, a strong sense of knowledge, and a tendency to degenerate his memory in his later years, but it does not affect his expression of his feelings. He has a unique way of speaking, and there is a strong poetry flowing between his words. "He has all the precious qualities in the artist, authentic, honest, like a child."
After the news of Mr. Su Shuyang's death came out, Zhang Wei and the screenwriters, actors and audiences who had seen Mr. Su Shuyang's plays posted tributes in the circle of friends. Zhang Wei said regretfully: "Although I am prepared for this matter, I always hope that such a lovely old man can continue to accompany us all the time." ”
When it comes to Su Shuyang, the elders of the literary and art circles will think of the drama "Danqing Spectrum". In March 1978, it was staged as the first original play after the restoration of Beijing Renyi, which caused a sensation in Beijing. Thousands of spectators poured into the theater of Beijing Renyi, major newspapers rushed to report on the grand performance, Su Shuyang's name appeared frequently in the press, and troupes from all over the country flocked to Beijing to study.
At the time of writing the Danqing Spectrum, Su Shuyang was teaching at the Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. "Danqing Spectrum" also takes medicine as the background and tells the story of fang Lingxuan, an old Chinese medicine doctor, with the support of Premier Zhou, who strives to develop a new drug for the treatment of coronary heart disease with artemisinin. When new drugs are made, millions of lives gain hope, but the bad news of Premier Zhou's death comes. In 1978, just two years after the death of Premier Zhou Enlai, "Danqing Spectrum" was seen as a play in memory of Premier Zhou, and later people recalled that some audiences even fainted in the theater.
In fact, the performance of "Danqing Spectrum" has also experienced some twists and turns. The play was originally called "Fiery Heart", su Shuyang originally voted it for the Beijing Film Studio, but unfortunately, under the circumstances at that time, the Beijing Film Studio could not put into filming. Through the introduction of director Ling Zifeng, Su Shuyang became acquainted with theatrical performance artist Hu Zongwen and others, and under their recommendation, Beijing Renyi set up the "Danqing Spectrum" crew to put this drama on the stage.
<h5>After the performance of "Moth", Zhang Wei (the left one in the back row) took a group photo with Su Shuyang and his wife. </h5>
Later, when Su Shuyang talked about the reasons for the sensation of "Danqing Spectrum", he said that on the one hand, everyone was mourning Premier Zhou at that time, on the other hand, the script restored the realist style, wrote several characters real and credible, and wrote his feelings for upright intellectuals. Most importantly, "At that time, many plays began to criticize the 'Gang of Four', such as "When the Maple Leaf Is Red", which can be said that the times are calling for the birth of this play." ”
"Danqing Spectrum" has been widely praised inside and outside the industry. Even Arthur Miller, an American playwright who came to China, commented that Su Shuyang was a passionate author and that his play was "full of humanity."
Born in Hebei Province and attending university in Beijing, Su Shuyang has been fond of the language of Jingwei novels since he began writing. The famous Beijing flavor writer Liu Yida is Su Shuyang's old acquaintance and good friend. He told Nandu reporters that because of the drama "Danqing Spectrum", Su Shuyang "became famous in one play".
"There were not many writers in that era, and Su Shuyang rose almost at the same time as Wang Meng and Liu Xinwu. However, unlike Liu Xinwu and Wang Meng, he pursued Jingwei'er at that time and was counted as a Jingweier writer. But he has never lived in Beijing since he was a child, and he has always been among intellectuals when he went to college, and his Beijing taste is not particularly authentic. He wrote many short stories, novellas and plays, none of which were as influential as Danqing Spectrum. Liu Yida said.
The 1980s and 1990s were the peak of Su Shuyang's literary creation. Dramas such as "Left Neighbor and Right House", "Taiping Lake", "Family Affairs", "Moth", "Moonlight", film and television scripts "Xizhao Street", "Spring Rain Xiaoxiao", "Blooming Moon and Seasonal Flowers", novel "Homeland" and so on have come out one after another.
"Sir has a lot of drama works that he likes, but there is no good time to stage them." Zhang Wei said. In November 2018, the descendants held the "Tribute to the Playwright" and the exhibition and performance of Su Shuyang's works for Mr. Su Shuyang, and Mr. Su personally selected three plays "Moth", "Moonlight" and "Umbrella of Salzburg" to read the scripts at the West District Theater and Juyin Theater in Beijing.
"The weather is relatively cold, we are all worried that he may not be able to sit completely, and when he can't sit still, we will help him out of the field." But in fact, from the opening ceremony to the reading of the play, he persevered for four and a half hours, and watched it with relish. Several of the actors told me that they were impressed that after the performance, he got up and bowed ninety degrees to all the actors, thanking everyone. I think that as a senior, mr. Li's little bit of influence on us is the most important. ”
In 1994, Mr. Su Shuyang suffered from kidney cancer. While tenaciously fighting cancer, he also shifted from pure literary creation to cultural work.
<h5>Su Shuyang always gives people a positive and optimistic look. </h5>
"He mainly works with TV stations to do some series of Chinese culture programs. At that time, there were no hundred pulpits, and Yu Dan had not yet come out, he was the first to give a lecture on Chinese culture on CCTV. That show had a great impact at home and abroad at that time. Liu Yida recalled.
The biggest achievement is the historical and cultural essay "Chinese Reader", published in 2007, translated into 15 languages such as English, German and Russian, and sold 15 million copies worldwide. This is a popular reading for young people, condensing the history of Chinese civilization for 5,000 years with only a few hundred thousand words. When he received the task of writing the "Chinese Reader" given by the Central Propaganda Department, Su Shuyang also thought about it again and again. He even held family meetings to discuss whether the book was worth writing and needed to be written.
Writing popular history books, on the surface of the writing is simple and shallow, but behind it there is a complicated data collation and literature accumulation, which requires both the profound knowledge and calmness of the historian and the smoothness and sensitivity of the literary scholar. Su Shuyang devoted all his energy to writing the "Chinese Reader", and in order to feel the temperature of history, he insisted on not using assistants and personally combing through historical materials and academic materials.
During this time, the cancer returns. Su Shuyang has a stubborn personality, and the first draft of the Chinese Reader is written on the back of a thick stack of medical records. Writing this book, his style and thinking have undergone a huge transformation. He even created a "reading ontology" that was emulated by later books on reading books. Cassie, a Sinologist and translator of the German edition of the China Reader, said she read through the book and was moved by "Su Shuyang's beautiful writing and strong patriotic passion." ”
Three times through, anti-cancer for 25 years
In the literary and art circles of Beijing, Su Shuyang also has an identity of anti-cancer star. On the 15th Lantern Festival of the first month of 1994, he felt dizzy and uncomfortable when attending a party held by the central government, rushed to the hospital for CT examination, and was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Su Shuyang later wrote in the article "You Have Two Paths After Illness": "I was blinded at the time, when I was 56 years old. For 10 days I was thinking about the same question – why did I get this disease? ”
The treatment process was very painful, and after the operation was a long radiation therapy. Because eating during radiation therapy was very painful, one patient cried against the wall as soon as he ate. Su Shuyang's attitude is that if you can't eat, you have to eat, tell jokes to patients, and hold him to dinner.
In 2000, there was lung metastasis again, and Su Shuyang operated again. At this time, his mentality has been adjusted to be more idyllic, the doctor and the patient are frank with each other, and the chief surgeon can study the surgical plan in front of him. After another 8 years, the cancer cells metastasized to the left lung, and Su Shuyang removed the left lung lobe again.
"At least half of man's destiny is in your own hands. If you can treat it correctly after getting sick, then when you encounter Kan'er, others will pull you along, and you will add some oil yourself. After suffering from cancer, Su Shuyang regarded cancer as a friend in life, and took a handful of medicine every day as a daily lesson, he said, "Play together!" ”
Reading, writing, and studying, he did not delay, and wrote about 3 million words of writings after treating diseases. In the past two years, he is still planning to write the "Tibet Reader" again. I am also preparing to compile my reading notes into a book, and the title of the book is called "My Spiritual Country".
He still appears frequently at gatherings in the literary and art circles of Beijing. "He can't eat much. Other people drink and chat, he doesn't drink, he just looks at everyone. He said, I was happy to see everyone eating. In his later years, the cancer had spread, and he still showed himself in front of people as if he were indifferent and breezy. He does not present the troubles, regrets, and bad luck in life to people, but presents people with a positive and optimistic attitude. Liu Yida said.
<h5>In his later years, Su Shuyang accepted the young screenwriter Zhang Wei (first from the right) as a disciple. </h5>
Zhang Wei told nandu reporters: "In the last few years of my life, I think the biggest contributor is Mr. Zuo, Su Shuyang's wife. Both gentlemen were intellectuals. Mr. Zuo is a typical Chinese female intellectual, who supports and helps Mr. Su to do many things while studying on her own. It cannot be said that he hides himself in Mr. Su's aura, but that because of Mr. Zuo, Mr. Su's achievements in art are even greater. ”
Producer: Nandu Editorial Command Center
Coordinator: Nandu Character News Studio
Written by: Nandu reporter Huang Qian
Image courtesy of Zhang Wei
Editor: Jin Ge Intern Li Yanshan