Author: Zeng Zhennan (Researcher, Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
On the day of commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Chinese Volunteer Army's war to resist US aggression and aid Korea, looking back at and reliving the literary chapters in the history of new Chinese literature that reflected this war, we will not forget Yang Shuo's novel "Three Thousand Li Jiangshan" and Wei Yang's lyric poem "Give Me the Gun!" that appeared shortly after the war began. "Rushing through the burning village", Shi Fangyu's long poem "The Strongest Voice of Peace"; will not forget the Guizhou writer Fu Ze's series of short and medium stories describing the life of the Korean battlefield, especially the "Little Sisters" that burns with patriotism, internationalism and sincere feelings and full of passionate fighting emotions; will not forget Lu Zhuguo's novella "Shangganling", Meng Weiya's novella "Yesterday's War" and Zheng Zhi's novel "Fierce Battle of the Nameless River"... Joining these talented young writers and poets with patriotic enthusiasm, there was also the author of the short story "Reunion", Who was already everyone at that time; one of the songwriters of the film "Heroes and Children" based on "Reunion", the famous poet Gongmu; the short story "The Battle on the Depression" and the author of the long novel "War, for Peace" that was published in the 1980s, lu Ling, and so on. Cloaked in the sunshine of new China like the rising sun, adhering to Lu Xun's spirit of "literature is fighting", the writers of that generation wielded colorful pens and jointly composed a heroic epic that reflected the great struggle of the Chinese people against the invaders.
Among these literary creations, the most eye-catching and eye-catching are Wei Wei's famous newsletter "Who is the Most Lovely Person" and the novel "Orient"—they are strange peaks towering over the mountains. This cannot but make us particularly nostalgic and admiring this war poet and revolutionary writer. He devoted his life's efforts to describing and reflecting China's revolutionary war, especially the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and was determined to praise Chinese the revolutionary heroism of the people and the people's army of the people and the people's army of indomitable and never yielding. After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in 1950, Wei Wei personally went to the Korean battlefield twice, living and fighting with the vast number of volunteer commanders and fighters. Inspired by the heroic deeds of the commanders and fighters of the Volunteer Army, Wei Wei wrote many excellent literary works that influenced the Chinese and foreign literary circles.
For my generation, Wei Wei's name is closely associated with his masterpiece "Who is the Cutest Person". 70 years later, this article still retains its exciting power. I still vividly remember how I memorized the natural passages at the beginning and end of this essay as required by my chinese teacher as a teenager, and the emotional stirring was one of the most beautiful and unforgettable impressions of reading in my life.
In 1952, Wei Wei interviewed model nurses on the Korean front
Re-reading this article, I feel that the ethical enthusiasm that burns within it is an important source of its artistic appeal. When the work was published in the People's Daily on April 11, 1951, it was placed on the front page editorial by Deng Tuo, the newspaper's editor-in-chief at the time. Although this kind of unusual and bold arrangement is based on the insight of an outstanding newspaperman, the unique ideological charm and political color of the work itself are the internal basis of this arrangement. If the writer merely recounts the touching deeds and cute images of the volunteer soldiers, and does not drive these materials to the burning ideological focus; if the writer does not keenly and eloquently raise the question of "who is the most lovely person", about the moral judgment and value assessment of people in socialist society, then it is impossible for this work to obtain such a deep and broad general meaning and arouse universal social excitement.
At the end of this essay, the writer enthusiastically praises the ordinary soldiers of the volunteer army: "They are the first-class warriors in history and in the world, the first-class people!" They are the best flowers of all the good people in the world! It is the flower of our motherland that we are proud of! Then he raised a question before the broad masses of the people who enjoyed the right to live peacefully and to work because of the bloody struggle of the volunteer soldiers:
Dear friends, when you take the first tram in the morning to the factory, when you carry the plow rake to the field, when you finish a cup of soy milk and carry a school bag to school, when you sit quietly at your desk to plan the day's work, when you stuff an apple into your child's mouth, when you take a leisurely walk with your lover, friend, do you realize that you are in happiness? You may be surprised and say, "This is very common!" "But those who have returned from North Korea will know that you are living in happiness."
This kind of reminder of the unattended sense of happiness in living in a peaceful environment, and the revelation of the intrinsic link between the happiness enjoyed by people and the dedication and hardship of ordinary soldiers, actually put forward to people a collectivist outlook on life and happiness that is linked to personal happiness and social welfare, and is a correction of the selfish prejudice that vaguely regards the so-called "soldiers" as ordinary and simple, and somewhat despises them. The intense artistic effect of Who is the Cutest Man is achieved precisely in the power of the world's prejudices caused by its inherent political sharpness.
In 1953, Wei Wei was with Korean children on the Korean battlefield
This close-up of the newsletter, which is only more than 3500 words, immediately set off a wave of enthusiasm after publication, and was widely welcomed by readers. According to historical records, after reading this work, Mao Zedong immediately gave instructions to "print and distribute it to the whole army" and suggested that other leaders carefully read this work. Commander-in-Chief Zhu De even praised after reading it: "Well written! Very good! On September 23, 1953, Premier Zhou Enlai said to Wei Wei at the Second National Literary Congress: "I thank you for giving our sons and soldiers the title of 'the most lovely person.'" ”
2. "'Motherland', this is not an ordinary word, it is a beloved name, a noble name, a sacred name"
"Who is the Cutest Person" was the most brilliant pearl in Wei Wei's series of communications on the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea that year. In October 1951, Wei Wei launched the first edition of his Korean war newsletter under the title Who Is the Cutest Man. Later, in 1953, wei Wei entered the DPRK for the second time and wrote several newsletters on the theme of the return of volunteer troops, making his group of communications a complete reflection of the whole process of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. It is not only a famous article in the history of Chinese and even world journalism, but also a shining gem in the history of contemporary Chinese prose and reportage. Because of his superb art of news writing, the news genre of communication, which is the most timely, simplest and most convenient way to report the real events of life, has burst into the field of literature that pursues universality and typicalization, and has become a member of the emerging combat style in modern literature, that is, a member of the reportage garden.
Another work, "The Warrior and the Fatherland," included in The Who's the Loveliest Man, begins by asking the question: How can a volunteer army with inferior weapons defeat a powerful enemy? "What kind of strange thing is hidden in the depths of the heroes' hearts?" The author finally found this strange thing in the conversations of the soldiers and the heroic deeds, that is, the love for the newborn socialist motherland. The author vividly describes the soldiers on the front lines "caring for everything in the vast land of our motherland." They talked intoxicatedly, as if they were talking about a most intimate and beloved man, willing to even talk about his hair. "The author also has a profound glimpse into the heart of a brave warrior, revealing that his patriotic feelings are mixed with the victory of the Chinese revolution and the deep love for the new China." New China, this is our piece of flesh and blood in exchange for ah! From the voice of the soldier, the author wrote passionately: "For the Chinese people who have won the victory of the revolution, 'motherland' is not an ordinary word, it is a beloved name, a noble name, a sacred name... It is a general term for all things that are sacred and beautiful. ”
This is the understanding of patriotism by a revolutionary fighter and party writer. This understanding is also like the socialist and collectivist outlook on life, which runs through Wei Wei's entire creation. More than forty years later, Wei Wei also quoted Comrade Li Erzhong as the same tone in an article written to young people: "I also very much agree with the two sentences that Comrade Erzhong spoke at the meeting in Hainan. He said: The patriotism we are talking about is not the patriotism of Wen Tianxiang and Shi Kefa, nor is it the patriotism of Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei, but the patriotism of socialist content. ”
The beginning of another essay, "Young People, Make Your Youth More Beautiful", was quoted as a motto by many young people, including Lei Feng: "Youth is beautiful." But a person's youth can be mediocre, it can also radiate the fire of a hero; it can be regretted by vanity, and it can also be used to walk with strong and solid steps to a brilliant and magnificent adulthood. The writer recounts the flashes of youth of Dai Dubo, a member of the Youth League on the Korean battlefield, in the fires of war, and describes the young women in the field hospitals and literary and labor troupes for heroes, their understanding of youth, and their enthusiasm for pursuing progress, and then concludes in the philosophical language of poetry: "Young friends, this is how they spent their youth in the fiery struggle along the road of combining with the workers and peasants. This is happy youth, beautiful youth, heroic youth! With an encouraging voice, the writer inspired a generation of young people to move forward: "There can be no more glorious effort to be a heroic warrior who wholeheartedly serves the people of Chinese and the people of the world." This youthful march of fighting in the face of youth was repeatedly played on Wei Wei's creative path.
From these works, we see the writer Wei Wei, who was one of the lighters of the creative ideological torch in the new socialist literature. He lit the torch of the proletariat on human values, the torch of socialist patriotism, the torch of youth dedicated to the people and growing up in battle. What kind of people are the most lovely, what kind of feelings are the most sacred, what kind of youth is the most beautiful, these questions are the most common and concentrated ideological questions that exist in the new Chinese society that has just emerged from the old China, and Wei Wei's prose works are precisely the sparks thrown at the gathering points of these ideological trends of the times, so they ignite the blazing flame of new values, outlook on life, and morality in the hearts of millions of people, especially millions of young people.
The light of this torch, which has passed through the smoke and dust of nearly 70 years of history, is still so bright and so scorching that its unique position in the history of contemporary social thought and the history of contemporary literature is difficult to erase.
3. "This is indeed the most powerful team in the world, this is the great current of heart-to-heart, shoulder-to-shoulder friendship!" ”
In 1953, when the Chinese Volunteer Army completed its historical mission and returned to China after victory, Wei Wei wrote two famous newsletters, one was a literary and artistic newsletter with a political argument, "Here is Today's Orient", and the other was a more poetic lyrical documentary newsletter "Yi Yi Cherish other deep feelings". The former summed up the significance of the victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea with a broad and lofty historical vision and political language. After the signing and entry into force of the Korean Armistice Agreement, Peng Dehuai said: "Gone are the days when Western invaders could occupy a country for hundreds of years by erecting a few cannons on a coastline in the east." This is the undertone of the resounding voice of "This is today's Orient" that echoes repeatedly from the title to the words in the article. This is the conclusion of history, the declaration of victory, and the inscription of the victory monument given by the old man of history to "the beloved son of our Chinese people, the heroes of the volunteer army."
In a language as fine as silk, as veined as water, and as warm as jade, "Relying on Other Deep Feelings" expresses the friendship formed by the Chinese and DPRK people on the battlefield with blood, as well as the friendship cultivated by love in the relationship between the DPRK and the military and the people during a period of time after the armistice, all of which are expressed in meticulous life scenes and detailed descriptions of life. Created in 1958 after Wei Wei's third interview in North Korea, the article was sent to the People's Daily, which was valued as a sister to "Who is the Cutest Person". According to Wei Wei's later recollection, "Afterwards, I learned that the manuscript was personally handled by Comrade Deng Tuo. The original title was "Farewell Tears Spilled wet the land of Korea", and Comrade Deng Tuo changed it to the current form. ”
Wei Wei also recalled: "The response to this article was good after publication, and I was particularly happy that I did not expect to be praised by the prose master Bing Xin Old Man. At the npc meeting, as soon as she saw me, she said happily: 'You wrote a good article!' Later, in the 3rd issue of "Language Learning" in 1960, she published a post-reading feeling, which I am deeply grateful for. This memory aroused my strong interest. As soon as "Who is the Cutest Person" came out, it was enthusiastically commented by Ding Ling, and its sister article "Relying on Other Affection" was praised by Bingxin.
In the 1960s, Bing Xin was a prose writer who was good at writing about international exchange themes, and her prose title "Cherry Blossom Praise" was written in a light and elegant way. It can be said that Bing Xin is indeed an expert in writing such lyrical prose, and her appreciation for "Relying on Other Affection" is somewhat sympathetic. Bing Xin wrote in the tone of an art connoisseur: "The author presents the scene he deeply feels and sees to the reader with the thoughts and feelings of the warriors. He began by writing with his own emotions, bringing everything to life in the local area. These prominent local colors are like glowing pearls, firmly strung together by the red thread of the Chinese and DPRK people's deep affection. ”
Of course, in this affectionate painting and lyricism that relies on others, there is also a duanxiang bone that supports emotions. The soldiers said excitedly: "If the US imperialists dare to do it again, that is, I will live to be eighty years old and my beard will be three feet long, and I will also bring my children and grandchildren to resist the United States and aid Korea!" This is the great light of the will that lurks in the undercurrent of clinging to other feelings, and this is the height of the revolutionary heroism and internationalism that the heroes of the volunteer army collectively exert to the extreme--"This is the height that you can't see when you look up!" At the end of this essay, there is also the literary image of "The East", which has the meaning of world history:
It was as if the people had suddenly woken up, wiped their tears, and gone to grab the soldiers' backpacks. The children also snatched the backpacks and carried them on their shoulders, and the women carried the snatched backpacks high on their heads and floated beside the warriors. At this time, the ranks were no longer divided into ranks, soldiers and civilians, men and women, staggered and scattered, full of colors, holding each other, talking and walking. What a team this is! Maybe it's not like a team, but it's really the most powerful team in the world, it's a great current of heart-to-heart, shoulder-to-shoulder friendship! This great current, marching, marching, crossed one water after another, one mountain after another, they marched in the red-hot mountains of Maple Forest, marched in the socialist East...
4. "It is a historical record of the magnificent achievements of the Chinese People's Volunteers in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, a splendid and colorful picture scroll, and a monument to the heroic figures of various different images."
Wei Wei's series of communications on the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, with its advantages of strong news documentary, strong sense of on-site substitution, and strong emotional impact, promptly outlined the original outline, style, and momentum of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, an oriental heroic epic, and left behind many silhouettes and sketches of Chinese sons and daughters who were loyal and courageous, and recorded the colorful music of this period of history. However, Wei Wei was not satisfied with this way of reflection and expression, and after returning from the Korean battlefield, he immediately began to write an epic with a higher and broader artistic generalization and a deeper and stronger artistic typical plastic painting power than the actual poetic history. He spent more than twenty years immersed himself in studying and deepening the material obtained from the DPRK interviews, and after going through hardships and twists and turns, he worked hard to finally create this long heroic epic "The Orient", which summarized the struggle and construction life in the domestic countryside in the early days of the founding of New China, with the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea as the main body. It depicts social phenomena and the style of the times on a large scale, and is a work of historical significance that casts the soul of the statue of the giant of the East. With its magnificent momentum, beautiful colors, and rigorous and complete structure, the novel has shaped many people on the historical stage who have created history and promoted history forward, leaving a full-bodied and vivid character image for China's contemporary literature.
The feelings and breath that Wei Wei absorbed among the soldiers of the Volunteer Army, the spiritual baptism he obtained in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and the values and world outlook of revolutionary heroism, patriotism, and internationalism that he formed have been surging and flowing in his creations for many years, forming the emotional characteristics, soul light waves, and national style that all his creations have consistently formed, which are cast in his long and huge work "Orient". The literary image of "The Orient" not only contains the characteristics of the historical period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, but also covers an overview of the world pattern in the long historical process from before the war until the end of the war.
On August 31, 1952, he took a group photo with the special heroic models of the Volunteer Army at the celebration of the 63rd Army. From left: Liu Guangzi, Wang Yongzhang, Wei Wei, Guo Enzhi, Li Rui, Li Man.
In 1978, "Orient" was published by the People's Literature Publishing House, and as soon as it came out, it attracted the attention of readers and critics with its profound life, high typical generalization, and epic temperament. Ding Ling, the earliest, most enthusiastic and most stable critic of "Dongfang", pointed out: "'Dongfang' is an epic novel, it is a historical record of the magnificent achievements created by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, it is a splendid and colorful picture scroll, and it is a monument that sculpts heroic figures of various different images. "It almost writes about several stages and all the famous battles in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea... He distilled his characters, lives, and sentiments from his long fighting career... It represents the most essential and essential things of an era, so that there are some small miscellaneous things in the novel, but it is a correct and poetic celebration of a great era and a group of new people with characteristics, the most lovely people. Ding Ling further analyzed: "The writer spent a lot of energy to organize this novel scientifically, the pen power is always unremitting, and the feelings run through to the end." The descriptions of the twenty or so main characters in the book", one by one, jumped on the paper. So many characters, characters with many similarities, are not written in the same way, each has its own characteristics, the reason is because of the depth of the author's life, the concentration of feelings, that is, we often say to transform our world view in the life of the battle, from the masses to the masses." Ding Ling's comments on "Orient", from the theme, structure to the realistic basis of the characters and even the content of the life of the work, have consistently started from the refinement and betting of the author's thoughts and feelings to answer the question of how to obtain artistry in works with strong revolutionary tendencies, which is a central issue and "hardcore" problem of Marxist creation theory and criticism. It is precisely because of this that Ding Ling's comments on "Orient" have basically become the definitive evaluation of history.
For a period of time, the comments and research articles on "Orient" were endless, and gradually reached a consensus, and finally won the first Mao Dun Literature Award in the new period of literature.
This year marks wei wei's centenary. He is like a monument to literature, casting a long shadow on the land of the motherland, in the east of the world, at the turn of the century, all the way to the new era.
Guangming Daily (13th edition, October 23, 2020)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily