Peking University and Beyond Time, by Bian Yufang, Guangdong Higher Education Press, March 2021, 58.00 yuan.
□ Chang Zeping
For Bian Yufang, Peking University is not so much a physical space as it has been transformed into a symbol, becoming a knot that can never be solved by an existence that can never be solved. Its entanglement with Bian Yufang is difficult to clear, which is vividly reflected in Bian Yufang's new work "Peking University and Beyond Time".
Bian Yufang was a disciple of Ji Xianlin and later devoted himself to prose writing. Ji Xianlin once commented: "The reason why Yu fang is willing to work hard, run a dismal business and succeed is that he has a full belly, reads a wide range of Chinese poetry, and has a huge chest and insight; in addition, he also has the inspiration that a writer must have." "For a long time, Bian Yufang was considered a unique writer in the prose world.
"Peking University and Beyond Time" is a memoir by Bian Yufang about himself and Peking University. The book is divided into six series, the first, second and third series are mainly the author's memories of the antecedents and backslidges of his adolescence and Peking University, and the next four, five and six series are mainly a deep depiction of dozens of elites of Peking University who can be called brave or can be called pioneers of the times.
In the book, Bian Yufang bluntly said that Peking University is the main trunk of his tree of life, and his childhood, youth, youth, prime-age, and old age are all related to Peking University. Therefore, in the overall narrative constructed by Bian Yufang, Peking University is the spatial coordinates and the lever of memory, which is anchored, thus extending his rich horizontal axis of life in many directions in the non-realistic marginal time.
In the radiation field of Peking University, there are not only the enlightenment of the last generation of private schools in the Erti period, the transfer of classes into the school, the wonderful association with literature after the serious illness in the middle school era and the reasons for entering the Eastern language department of Peking University in the future, and the unforgettable free reading air floating in the small town bookstore... These are like a hand of darkness dragging him towards Peking University; there are also people who, after turning around and turning into the Yan garden, are forced to witness the friendship of the township party and the window of the village party, the friendship of the township party, the teachings of the masters of the teachings, the fate of the masters, and the difficult and bitter future exploration of life that cannot tell how dark the night is and how white the day is... This period of "deep time, above the dust" shaped the growth trajectory of Bian Yufang's thoughts. Although Peking University within the time limit is not as imagined as outlined in the heart, although it is only five and a half years of personal relationship, although it failed to obtain a diploma as scheduled due to a special period, it is deeply embedded in Bian Yufang's life journey.
For Bian Yufang, the temperament of Peking University "shapes a person's spiritual temperament and nurtures a person's cultural disposition", achieving self-recognition and mutual confirmation of "leaving Peking University to know that this life is Peking University". On the one hand, such spiritual temperament and cultural disposition are in the same vein in the time scale of Peking University, which can be traced back to Cai Yuanpei in the book "Huanghuang Shangku", Hu Shi in "Dream Extinction floating cha", Ma Yinchu in "The Third Shape of the Thinker", Chen Duxiu in "Duxiu's Alternative "Wencun", Lu Xun in "Gazing at that Horizontal Eyebrow", and the most influential ideological and cultural pioneers in China in the twentieth century, such as the three elders of Peking University (Ji Xianlin, Jin Kemu, Zhang Zhongxing), who are getting older and more valuable. In the future, it can also be captured in the unique posture of Wang Fu, who is the most "smiling star" in Bian Yufang's pen, Lin Jiangdong, who is the most "warm pot of moonlight wine", Zhang Jing, the most mature and open-minded peer, and Qi Shangle and Wang Huangru, who are also friends and teachers. "No matter where they are scattered, they have never forgotten the mission of the eagle."
If you use one sentence to describe the endless entanglement between Bian Yufang and Peking University, it is: success is Peking University, failure is Peking University; love is Peking University, pain is also Peking University. This complex is not only a unique perspective for observing Bian Yufang's life, but also an important basis for understanding Bian Yufang's articles. This complex is difficult to explain. But isn't the subtle tension of the book not being exhaustive, unsatisfactory, and unfulfilling precisely a different kind of charm between Bian Yufang and Peking University?