Scholar Chen Fumin, a judge of the Mao Dun Literature Award and the Lu Xun Literature Award, recently held a press conference at the 2021 Tianfu Book Fair for his new book "Forty Degrees North Latitude", which was attended by Ah Lai, chairman of the Sichuan Writers Association and winner of the Mao Dun Literature Award, and Luo Weizhang, vice chairman of the Sichuan Writers Association and winner of the People's Literature Award.
The scene of the event
Chen Fumin joined the Contemporary Literature Research Office of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1996. He is the vice president of the Chinese Contemporary Literature Research Association; a member of the Novel Professional Committee of the Chinese Writers Association; a director of the Beijing Writers Association; and the deputy secretary-general of the Literary Committee of the Beijing Literary and Art Critics Association; and is currently committed to the study and writing of frontier history.
Chen Fumin:
Since childhood, he has loved to collect maps, and essays hope to draw a text version of China's rivers and mountains
"My latest collection of essays, titled Forty Degrees North, is not only a review of past experiences, but also a tribute to the Great Wall and Northern China."
Talking about the origin of the creation of this book, Chen Fumin said that he grew up with a hobby of reading maps, collecting various maps, and the longitude and latitude lines on the maps are so charming that he holds them every day. This habit has been maintained until now, and I always try to buy a local map on business trips, and over time the family has accumulated a lot.
New book cover
He believes that "forty degrees north latitude" is indeed a magical geographical belt. It not only intermittently connects the Great Wall of China, but also separates the different climates, altitudes, landforms and different lifestyles of different ethnic groups in the north and south.
It was this doubt that prompted Chen Fumin to start reading and writing about "forty degrees north latitude". He hoped to draw a "map of China's rivers and mountains" in words from the perspective of forty degrees north latitude.
Lai:
In the past, our understanding of the Great Wall was very narrow, and this book gives us more insight into it
"My wife asked me how to put these books? I said put it on the edge of the couch because what I put on the edge of the couch and at the head of the bed is what I'm going to read. A month ago, Chen Fumin sent him this new book, he read it carefully, and remembered that he once went to the Hexi Corridor to walk, carrying two books, one is the Englishman Stein through archaeological discoveries, in the book said a very shocking sentence: "The Great Wall of the Han Dynasty was used to advance, it is a military fortress, and it is also its military supply line." ”
Ah, we always think that Chinese the Great Wall is defensive, but this thing Stein said is more exciting, it turns out that the Great Wall is used to advance, "How narrow our understanding of the Great Wall is!" As we all know, we have a history book in China today, or we conduct a field investigation of history, we call it a fieldwork, combined with the literature, standing on the broken wall, meditating on the sunset for a while, we need to have a detailed history, not just the history that others have given us conclusions. Then the forty degrees north latitude, and the Great Wall that has been winding and undulating for more than 2,000 years at forty degrees north latitude, will give us a lot of enlightenment through the interpretation of the scene today. ”
Luo Weizhang said that after reading every article in the book, he felt the real existence of forty degrees north latitude, and the wind, climate and customs of forty degrees north latitude were there. He believes that the history told in this book is rooted, growing, and a culture that is vibrant, and although this book is written about history, it feels like water, constantly pouring in and pouring into today.
Many writers judge a historical phenomenon and historical figure at both ends of the head, feeling that they dare not have an opinion, and Chen Fumin's pen is firm, without blurring those judgments, Luo Weizhang said that this is the place that most impressed him.
Red Star News reporter | Chen Mou
Edited | Duan Xueying
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