Epilogue at the end

On October 21, 1977, a day of historic significance in the Republic, the university admissions examination was announced to be reinstated, and talents were selected to attend the university by means of a unified examination and merit-based admission. In the next three years (77, 78, 79), the college students admitted are collectively referred to as the new three (different from the old three in 66, 67, and 68). The new third session has several obvious characteristics, the age difference is more than ten years, there are children, there are many junior high school students, the source of students, workers, peasants, soldiers and merchants, most of them have "weathered the wind and rain, seen the world", which can be called a spectacle in the history of Chinese education. The reason for this is very simple: in the ten years of the "Cultural Revolution", the college entrance examination was suspended, and a large number of young people of the right age were delayed, resulting in an unprecedented and possibly unprecedented college entrance examination army, and it is said that it also created the lowest admission rate in the history of China's college entrance examination. This incident is not only a change in the fate of countless people, but also a sign that Chinese society has embarked on a normal track.

It was a golden age of reading, there were no mobile phones, computers, it was not easy to watch TV, and books were not the only and most important spiritual food. Due to historical reasons, many new third terms missed early education, and cultural knowledge can be said to be a blank. I remember that in class, I learned that there were a large number of shining names in Chinese history, such as Zhuangzi, Laozi, Qu Yuan, Sima Qian, etc., and I was already 25 years old. Therefore, when the young students in the spiritual world who are hungry and thirsty like beggars spy on the great treasures of the book world, the reading fever that erupts is like a surging current. Every day, classrooms, dormitories, and canteens are three o'clock and one line, the morning sun is recited, the lights are picked and the night is fought, and the library and classroom are often full. We are also fortunate to benefit from the personal teaching of Master's Degree Hongru, like the Nanjing Normal University where I studied, there are Tang Guizhang, Xu Fu and other academic masters who have opened windows for us to appreciate the mysteries of Chinese culture.

It was an era of active thought. Imprisoned by the shackles of the spirit for many years, once the shackles are removed, people's thoughts are like wings inserted and soaring in the vast world. At that time, because the "Cultural Revolution" was not long after the end, many people had a painful imprint on their hearts, so reflection and criticism constituted the main trend of thought, and the confrontation of ideas was sometimes extremely sharp, the most typical of which was the great discussion on the standard of truth. At the same time, the door of the country is opened, and science and culture, like the seeds that have sprouted, have taken root and sprouted in various fields, and have also brought a fresh air to campus life. Scar literature, intellectual literature, humanitarianism, alienation issues, obscure poems, popular songs, etc., have all caused a lot of shock in people's hearts, and the space that triggers thinking has been further expanded. The exploration and controversy of the ideological front flashed a bright spark of wisdom, and also laid a solid foundation for the soundness and prosperity of the discipline in the future.

It was a dream-chasing era. People are born with dreams, dreams make people reverie, and produce the motivation to pursue. After the catastrophe of the "Cultural Revolution", there were hundreds of industries to be revitalized, and there was a shortage of talents, which provided a broad space for the dreams of students. Our campus dream may not be as colorful as today's students, but people's thoughts chase the footsteps of dreams, step by step towards the distant place with sunshine and poetry. The pursuit of dreams on campus has left people with endless thoughts and created a brilliant landscape for a generation. Facts have also proved that the new third session has experienced the selection of the tide of the times, and it should be said that the vast majority of them have become the backbone of all walks of life in society for more than thirty years, and have played an important role in revitalizing China.

That's a... Era, perhaps there are many more. The history of a generation often highlights its distinctive characteristics due to the drastic changes in society. Like the Red Guards and the intellectual youth, the new third session is also a "historical symbol" with exclusive significance. This symbol, which contains the hard work and sweat of a generation, the wisdom of wisdom and brilliant achievements, will surely shine brilliantly in the long river of Chinese civilization history.

In a person's life, he will experience many things, meet many people, and many people and things will leave deep or shallow traces in the depths of the soul. With the passage of time, the past will gradually dissipate like floating clouds in the air, but some are like big waves, revealing their true faces and inspiring the parties to think more deeply. Today, as we enter or are about to enter the years of retirement, looking back at the unforgettable university era, what do we hope for? Do you want to record a fragment of the years, or do you want to learn something from life? Yes, in their old age, people will have an impulse to write memoirs, wanting to leave a little trace of their experiences in words, it seems that this is not a waste of life, from the emperor to the people. Our generation has experienced too many social upheavals and changes, so it is obligatory and responsible to write a true history and leave a precious spiritual legacy to future generations. History cannot be forgotten, let alone made up, only the parties concerned record their own experiences and feelings, which cannot be replaced by future generations. It is precisely because of this that we should have a sense of urgency and mission. Literary works are not history books, it is impossible to reproduce life documentarily, but must extract the glittering components from the materials, that is, to grasp the characteristics of things and portray the complex expression of human nature. This is actually the basic common sense of literary creation. But when it comes to literary truth, many opinions will arise. In my opinion, there should not be too many rules and regulations for literary creation. Creation itself is a personalized spiritual activity, the expression and perception of reality, which naturally takes into account the life feelings of the group, but more is the author's own ideological accumulation. Literary creation has an element of fiction, but fiction cannot be made up at will and distort facts, but must conform to the truth of history. False performance will damage the personality cultivation of the creator and easily have a negative impact on the reader. Therefore, respecting the writing of history is the reverence for life.

Song Dingguo is a good friend of mine, we have known each other for more than thirty years and studied at the same university. During his time at school, Dingguo wrote a number of short and medium stories, many of which made up for the shortcomings in this book, and the two of us had their own strengths and weaknesses in writing, which could complement each other, thus forming a cooperation between the two.

In the process of writing this book, I was warmly corrected by my friends Huang Fan, Ding Xin and Yu Kuichao, and I would like to express my deep gratitude.

Sun Li

May 30, 2017