Good luck
On March 15, 1944, New Oriental Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 3, published a recollective essay by Zhang Ailing, "Saving Manuscripts", starting from her original fictional works and her early writing and submission experience. The article focuses on the discussion of the early unpublished novel "Modern Dream of the Red Chamber" and the "Niu" and "Overlord Farewell" published in the Guoguang School Journal, Xu because the history of Chu Bawang and Yu Ji mourned, melting war and love, these two major hot themes are in one furnace, so it is favored by the author, so it introduces the storyline in large paragraphs and excerpts from the moving text, resulting in a slight imbalance in the structure of the article, which makes onlookers feel quite impatient to read. However, if it is regarded as the first-hand material of Zhang Ailing's early reading history and writing history, it is not without research value. In particular, when Zhang Ailing collected and published the essay collection "Rumors" in December, a page of illustrations was added after the second paragraph and before the third paragraph of the article, marked "The First Submission Letter", which was preceded by a note in parentheses: "It seems that I have been attacking Mr. Editor since I was nine years old, but at that time, the news of the "News Newspaper Benbu Supplement" was heavy several times, and I did not try again until two years ago. ”
Speaking of "News Daily", Zhang Ailing's fate with her is not shallow. "Apartment Life Fun" revealed that she and her aunt and the two of them co-authored a copy of the "News Newspaper", which was delivered every day after being looked at by a person who drove an elevator; "In the end, it is a Shanghainese" mentioned that "the "News Daily" has published an opening advertisement for a department store", writing "'Friendship is related, it's not big!'" Saying this "seems to be ironic, but it is completely true and not exaggerated"; she also wantonly belittled gu Mingdao, a senior writer of the Mandarin Butterfly Sect, in "Poetry and Nonsense", for setting up an unreasonable plot in the serial novel "Mingyue Tianya" in the "News", and even pulled circumstantial evidence: "There is a cousin who also reads "The News", and as soon as we meet, we scold "Bright Moon Tianya", while grunting and looking down. The explanatory text suggests that she has been associated with The News since childhood.
This first submission letter is handwritten and has no punctuation, and in order to facilitate the expansion of the following text, I would venture to add the following:
Mr. Reporter: I am nine years old this year, because I don't have enough English, so I haven't entered the school yet, so I'm going to make up English at home, and I can take the fourth grade next year. The day before yesterday I saw the notice in the "Supplementary Journal" editorial office, I remembered my diary in Hangzhou, so I sent it to you to see, I don't know if you are too long, don't you? I often like to draw pictures, but unlike the first-class paintings of "The Son of Sun Yat-sen" that you published that day in your newspaper, they are dolls, people in ancient costumes, who like to fill in colors. If you want it, I'll send it to you. Have fun.
In her later years, Zhang Ailing revealed that although she loved painting since she was a child, she only tried to submit articles under the encouragement of her mother: I "did not do well in school, and no one regarded me as a genius." However, because when I was a child, my mother encouraged me to draw pictures and submit papers, although it was always stoned in the sea and not adopted, it was still a bit pretentious, as if it was not a prodigy and also had a little edge. When she first went abroad, I was already 'painting villains' every day, and there was a whole red-bar ledger in the concierge room, and a whole roll of bamboo paper for me to smear." ("Love and Hate Table")
The "painting" mentioned in the submission letter is not known to be in the Dialect of Anhui or Nanjing, and I always feel that the rural pronunciation has not changed. Another example is "dolls, people in costume, like to fill in colors", which is also very difficult to read. Other works, such as the newsroom notice of the "News Newspaper Benbu Supplement" and the painting of "Sun Yat-sen's Son" seen by Zhang Ailing, are all unspoken and worthy of in-depth exploration.
Two years ago, in order to write the humble article "Liu Yusheng and tabloids", I used my spare time to read the "Great Shanghai News" (October 21, 1943 to August 28, 1945) on the "Anti-Japanese War and modern Sino-Japanese Relations Literature data platform" day by day.
Zhang Ailing is a female writer who writes novels, and Yu Ailing is a writer who translates and writes Articles in Western magazines, and the two people are not related, and it is difficult to compare. However, the world is strange to say, the so-called coincidence is not a book, it turns out that it is not just a book.
Zhang Ailing recently published a collection of essays, "Rumors". Her collection of novels, Legends, gives the impression that its author is too extraordinary, and after reading Gossip, it feels that the author is a very close person, because "Rumor" is a typical confession of a small citizen about the various aspects of life. It was in this Book of Rumors that the author mentioned the story she originally submitted. At that time, Zhang Ailing was nine years old, and she drew a picture and submitted it to the "Benbu Supplement" of the "News Daily", and at the same time wrote a letter to Mr. Xiao Reporter, the editor of the supplementary journal. The letter praised the "Son of Dr. Sun Yat-sen" published by the journal. And this painting was painted by Yu Aizhuo, who was only six years old at the time.
It's a coincidence, but it's also quite interesting, worthy of a literary anecdote.
When he talked to Brother Yu yesterday, he laughed a lot; this was a great opportunity to get to know Ms. Zhang, because she was the first person to appreciate Yu Aizu's pictures. Brother Yu said that after he saw the self-drawn illustrations in Ms. Zhang's novel, he felt that Zhang Ailing's paintings were too good, so he did not dare to paint them.
In order not to plunder the beauty of people, it must be pointed out that the above short article was first published in "Old News and New Knowledge Zhang Ailing" (East China Normal University Press, 2009), but the editor Xiao Jin somehow deleted and modified individual words. It is still the same today, so as not to mislead.
Who is Yu Aizhuo? His real name is Xu Huitang, and he also has pen names such as Kang Tilu, Shan Qingfang, Duan Muhong, luo wei and so on. (For details, see Xiao Zhilong's "YunyanLu Spring and Autumn Bandi", "Prosperous Daily", 1945.5.15) As for Liu Fengwen's claim that the young Zhang Ailing did not have the intention of admiring Yu Ailing's paintings, if you deliberate on the original text of Zhang Ailing's submission letter, it seems that there is no such intention, it seems that it is only the author's cunning, slightly suspected of climbing celebrities. In fact, it is not necessary, because Shen Huan said in the reminiscence article that Xu Huitang was one of the "Five Tiger Generals" in the group of young writers in Vientiane edited by Ke Ling, who was talented and had many translations.
What is Yu Aizu's original painting? How could nine-year-old Zhang Ailing specifically mention it, and the tone was still full of disbelief? After some searching, I finally found it: it was a cartoon entitled "Mr. Zhongshan's Son", painted by "Xu Huitang, a seven-year-old in the first grade of Wuben Girls' School", and published in the "News Newspaper Honbu Supplement" on August 21, 1929.
Comparing this painting with Sun Ke's photos of that year, but seeing Xu Huitang's children's brushstrokes, although immature, there are only a few strokes, which accurately outlines Sun Ke's physical characteristics: a round head, combed into three or seven short hairs covering it, and a pair of iconic round-rimmed glasses on the nose. It's a beautiful sight to behold. Considering the young age, it is even more amazing.
Look again at the dialogue between Xu Huitang and the young reporter at the bottom of the comic:
Mr. Little Reporter: Can this painting be published in the newspaper? It's not very well drawn. I am now in the first grade of Theomoto Girls' School, and I will be upgraded in the second half of the year. I am seven years old and live in the xinkangmi shop at No. 423 Zhaozhou Road, Tangjiawan, Ximen. Xu Huitang bowed. The envelope was written by my sister Hui Ling, who was in the second grade of Wuben Girls' School. (The little reporter said: Cute huitang sister, you have drawn very well, you have made plates for you to publish on it, and I hope that you will draw a few good ones for me in the future.) And in the future, even the envelopes will have to be written by yourself, because your sister is in the second grade, and you will be promoted to the second grade in the second half of the year, of course, you should also write letters. ）
The editor here mistakenly thinks that the letter writer is a girl, but of course it is not. In order to show caution, I deliberately checked out a pamphlet printed in 1930 from the Shanghai Library's Modern Literature Collection, "Administrative Organization of the Affiliated Primary School of Shanghai Special Municipal Wuben Girls' High School", in which the "Overview list of affiliated primary schools" shows that the school is located in Huangjiaque Road, Ximen, Shanghai, reorganized in September 1929, and a number of boys were enrolled in the fourth grades from the first to the fourth grade of autumn, but the proportion was small.
According to this press, the "little reporter", yan Chensheng (1897-1969), the editor of the "News Daily", is said to have been used to commemorate his visit to Sun Yat-sen in his youth, and he wrote tens of thousands of words of his visit. Originally from Haining County, Zhejiang Province, Yan came to Shanghai in 1917, and two years later experienced the huge impact of the "May Fourth Movement" from Beijing on the Shanghai business community, so he gradually developed a sense of national self-determination and deeply rooted the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal ideas in his mind. It is not difficult to guess that when he received this cartoon of "Mr. Zhongshan's Son", just seeing the title will feel kind, not to mention that the painting is so realistic and full of childlike fun, don't like it? As for Zhang Ailing's submission letter, Chinese not only talked about it, but also said that he wanted to paint costumed characters, which was simply boring and old-fashioned, so it was difficult to enter the editor's eyes.
The "News Newspaper Honbu Supplement" was founded on April 1, 1926, similar to the "Honbu Supplement" given to the "Declaration" newspaper, it was also attached to the newspaper to local readers. The establishment of this supplementary journal has its own unique function, as Zhao Junhao commented in the book "Newspaper Industry in Modern China": "Chinese newspapers, in order to increase advertising, have added a kind of supplementary periodicals to this port, and the advertising fees charged are relatively low, and their sales channels are also limited to the local port. The effect of the advertisements attached to this port extends only to one place, so the written materials are also devoted to local matters, such as drama, film, music, dance, shop news and all other trivial matters unrelated to the foreign port, which are attributed to this journal. ”
The editor who initially presided over the "News Daily Hongbu Supplement" was Xu Shamejian (real name Menglan), and after he left in 1929, he was taken over by Yan Chensheng, who immediately carried out a drastic reform of the columns of the supplementary journals, and began to publish a large number of women's and children's works. Until April 25, 1929, in order to enliven the layout and encourage the participation of ordinary readers, the attached journal issued the "Special Notice of the Journal", began to solicit "children's works (text and pictures can be)" from the society, and from July 8 to August 17, for many consecutive days, repeatedly published the "Special Call for Papers of the Journal": "This journal now requires the solicitation of women's and children's works, regardless of their nature, are extremely welcome, but short and interesting is precious, each article is best not to exceed 500 words, photos, pictures, poems, fairy tales, especially applicable, The remuneration is especially from the abundance, if the manuscript is accompanied by a postage flower, it is not appropriate to return it immediately, and I hope that female writers and children will not hesitate to give the manuscript as a blessing. ”
It is not difficult to infer that Zhang Ailing saw the august 17 draft notice and the August 21 Xu Huitang comic, and was deeply encouraged, so she excitedly wrote the submission letter and sent a Hangzhou diary. Fortunately, she was able to persevere and diligently pursue, and finally came to the center of the literary stage many years later, shined brightly, and fully achieved a literary career.
Speaking of drawing comics and submitting articles, Ding Cong, who has also liked to draw comics since childhood, has a much higher success rate than Zhang Ailing, who "began to submit articles to newspapers and periodicals in the society from the third grade of junior high school." It was originally invested in the Shanghai Newspaper. It has a weekly comic column. I started getting the manuscript fee at this time, and although it was only a dollar per painting, it was quite happy for a teenager." Fortunately, Zhang Ailing also had her first successful experience in the middle school era, and the unit price of the manuscript fee was much higher than that of Ding Cong: "The first time I made money in my life was in the middle school era, I drew a cartoon and threw it into the English "Damei Evening News", the newspaper library gave me five yuan, and I immediately went to buy a small Danqi lipstick. ("Fairy Tales")
For the "little reporter" to be stern, Zhang Ailing seems to be a long-time reader of her works, suffering from "anxiety about influence". For example, "Under the Umbrella" wrote: "Once I thought about this section on the streets on a rainy day, I never wrote it out, because it was too similar to Mr. Nechang's 'tea talk' style." Nachang is another pen name for Yan Chensheng, "Tea Talk" is another comprehensive supplement he hosts in the Newspaper News.
Editor-in-Charge: Yu Shujuan