In July 2008, Nie Hualing attended a symposium on her memoir "Three Lives Image" in Beijing.
Biography
Nie Hualing, born in 1925 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, moved to Taiwan in 1949 and later settled in Iowa, usa. In 1967, he founded the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa with the American poet Paul Ingres. So far, a total of 22 chinese, English and other literary works have been published, and his representative works include "Emerald Cat" and "Mulberry Green and Peach".
In 1937, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, and Nie Hualing became an exiled student at the age of 12. She sang the exile song "On the Songhua River" with her classmates, and the lyrics of the lyrics, "Wandering, fleeing, fleeing, wandering", became the main theme of the first half of her life.
In 1949, at the age of 24, Nie Hualing moved to Taiwan with her family. On the day I arrived in Taipei, I encountered a typhoon. The wind howled and the thin house shook and creaked, ready to crack at any moment.
In 1978, Nie Hualing was 53 years old. Returning home for the first time after 29 years of leaving the mainland, she and her family visited the home of the poet Ai Qing after several twists and turns. She greeted the sunset and walked along the narrow alley, and at the other end of the alley, Ai Qing stood anxiously at the door and waited. Closer, Ai Qing looked at her and said, "Why are you here now?" ”
In 2015, when Nie Hualing was 90 years old, a documentary about her life premiered in Wuhan. This famous writer and translator, because he co-founded the University of Iowa International Writing Project (hereinafter referred to as the "International Writing Project") with the American poet Paul Ingres, provides a platform for Chinese writers around the world to connect with the international literary world, and enjoys a high reputation in the Chinese world. Under the lens, her joys, sorrows, joys, and sorrows carry the era in which she lived, as well as the process of that generation of Chinese to the world.
At 23:00 Beijing time on June 6, when the global people reporter dialed Nie Hualing's phone, she had just ushered in the weekend morning on the other side of the ocean.
Dawn in the trough
90 years ago, in that era of frequent wars, Nie Hualing was born in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Because of his father Nie Xie's Gui identity, after the Gui clan lost power in 1929, Nie Hualing and his family hid in the Japanese Concession in Hankou, where he spent his childhood. She loved to stay at home and listen to her father and mother talk about the flower world outside, and she would also sneak into the concierge room to listen to the messengers talk about the warlords of the direct, Feng, and Anhui lineages, as well as Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang, and Zhang Zuolin. "Warlords fight around, originally friends, somehow suddenly become enemies; originally enemies, suddenly become friends, combined to beat others..." In the autobiography "Three Lives Image", that chaotic world also became vivid because of Nie Hualing's brushstrokes.
When Nie Hualing was 11 years old, her father died. A year later, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, and Nie Hualing, who had just been admitted to the Hubei Provincial First Girls' Middle School, and her classmates participated in the anti-Japanese activities together. After graduating from junior high school, she went to Chongqing during the war, and later entered the Department of Foreign Languages of National Central University and married her classmate Wang Zhenglu.
In 1949, Nie Hualing dragged her mother and younger siblings to Taipei in a typhoon and began a new life. She joined the semi-monthly magazine Free China founded by Lei Zhen and Hu Shi, began to write essays and novels under her real name, and was appreciated by Lei Zhen, becoming the youngest and only female member of the editorial board.
At that time, in Taiwan's literary circles, anti-communist eight shares prevailed, but Nie Hualing paid more attention to pure literary works outside the political framework. Under her auspices, Liang Shiqiu's "Sketches of Yashe", Lin Haiyin's "Old Events in Seongnam", as well as Bai Yang's novels and poems in Yu Guangzhong were published one by one in "Free China" and became a classic of the times.
The trickery of fate did not stop — in 1960, the open-speech "Free China" was closed by the Kuomintang authorities, Nie Hualing's home was always wandering with spies, followed by the death of her mother, and her marriage to Wang Zhenglu fell into a "helpless" state. Nie Hualing suffered a low point in her life.
It was at this time that the dawn of her life appeared. This light is Ingres. This famous American poet was hired by President Johnson as the first member of the National Commission on Literature and Arts and as an advisor to the Kennedy Center in Washington. In 1934, Angle founded the University of Iowa Writers Workshop for Young American Writers and built it into one of the most prestigious writing workshops in the United States.
In 1963, at a cocktail party to welcome Angel to Taiwan, the 55-year-old Angle and Nie Hualing met unexpectedly. After reading Nie Hualing's short story collection "Emerald Cat", and then seeing the author himself, he was fascinated by this dexterous woman and couldn't help but issue an invitation: "Do you want to go to Iowa?" ”
In the early autumn of 1979, Xiao Qian (second from left) was invited to Iowa, and Nie Hualing (center) and Angle specially held a "China Weekend".
In 1972, Nie Hualing and Angle swung on a swing in the back garden of the Red Chamber.
The second half of life
In 1964, Nie Hualing accepted Angel's invitation and came to Iowa from Taiwan. Three years later, the International Writing Program was born. In 1971, they married and settled their home on a hill by the Iowa River, named the Red Chamber. Nie Hualing's wanderings really ended here, and Angle and the International Writing Project became the focus of her life for the rest of her life.
Writer Wang Zengqi once said that Nie Hualing was "on a whim, emotional, and actually accomplished", which is the cause and effect of the birth of the international writing program. But when the "Global People" reporter took these 12 words to ask about the situation at that time, Nie Hualing laughed: "In fact, it is not a complete whim, it is the accumulation of experience to that stage." ”
During a boat trip on the Iowa River, Angle mentioned his intention to retire, and Nie Hualing suddenly suggested: "Why don't you set up an international writing plan?" "You're a little crazy at that idea!" Angle said. "You try it!" In the face of Nie Hualing's insistence, the two talked for a long time, and Angle finally admitted: "It's an interesting idea." ”
In this way, since 1967, twenty or thirty outstanding foreign writers have been invited to the International Writing Program every year. "The exchange time was initially half a school year, but then for financial and human reasons, it was adjusted to 3 months, and the number of people gradually decreased, but it became more and more refined. In Iowa, writers can write, discuss, visit, and travel completely autonomously. As for the thousands of dollars per writer, it was initially self-funded by her and Ingres, and later funded by some foundations, academic institutions and even the U.S. State Department.
Ingres has hosted the University of Iowa Writers Workshop for 22 years and has produced many well-known American writers. He joked: "Hounds can smell flesh and bones, I can smell talent." "Nie Hualing and him are probably the same kind of people. The 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, the Turkish writer Pamuk, joined the International Writing Program in 1985. At the time, he was just 33 years old, published two novels, and was not very famous. Nie Hualing remembered that he was very silent, and rarely participated in the activities of the organization, writing almost all night. The Chinese writer Mo Yan was also invited eight years before winning the Nobel Prize.
In 1981, Egypt and Israel were at war, and the International Writing Program invited writers from both countries. As soon as they saw each other in Iowa, they threw wine glasses at each other and scolded each other, but a few months later, when they left Iowa, they cried at the airport.
In this way, more than 1,400 writers from more than 70 countries have come to Iowa for more than 40 years. In the words of the Chinese writer Liu Heng: "This is a miniature world. It combines different races, different countries, different ideologies, different experiences, different personalities of all kinds of writers, all kinds of people, but also creates a very unique way of communication. In 1976, Nie Hualing and Ingres were jointly recommended by 24 countries as Candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Nie Hualing has also not stopped writing. In the 1960s and 1970s, she published the short story collection "A Little White Flower", the novel "The Lost Golden Bell", "Mulberry Green and Peach" and other works.
"We are together this moment"
Mainland writers really participated in this plan after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in 1979. Xiao Qian, who has good works, knows English and has been abroad, has become their first invitee.
In the early autumn of that year, Nie Hualing and Ingres deliberately held a "China Weekend". After 30 years of isolation, more than 20 Chinese writers from the mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United States gathered for the first time to discuss Chinese literature. Nie Hualing remembered, "Everyone grabbed Xiao Qian and talked, as if they were clutching the dirt of their hometown. Xiao Qian couldn't wait, but he kept smiling." It was also at that seminar that she said: "We are not here to fight, but to communicate, to get to know each other, to get to know each other." It is not possible to draw any concrete conclusions today. We are together at this moment, and that is the conclusion. ”
After Xiao Qian, Ding Ling, Ai Qing, Wang Meng, Liu Binyan, Ru Zhijuan, Wang Anyi, Wang Zengqi, Yu Hua, Su Tong, Bi Feiyu and other mainland writers, Taiwanese writers such as Zheng Shuoyu, Bai Xianyong, Lin Huaimin, Jiang Xun, and Chen Yingzhen, and Hong Kong writers such as Dong Qizhang and Li Yi came to Iowa to exchange views with writers from all over the world through the International Writing Program. Nie Hualing's criteria for selecting people are only 3 words: the work is good. The library of the University of Iowa and the Chicago Library are all treasure houses for her to borrow Chinese literature. After reading it, I thought it was good, "Just get in touch with this writer friend and send out an invitation."
Ding Ling came to Iowa in 1981, and before that, the Western world was completely foreign to her. "Ding Ling feels fresh about everything, like a naïve little girl." She and her husband Chen Ming live in the Mayflower Apartment under the mountain, Nie Hualing and his wife live in the mountain, a 10-minute walk is reached, and the 4 people often sit together on the steps of the courtyard and talk about the world.
Ding Ling met Jiang Xun in Iowa. "She likes and is curious about him, likes him as a person, and is curious that he is from Taiwan. She always smiled and squinted at him. At that time, there was no cross-strait exchange. Lin Huaimin, also from Taiwan, also said: "After coming to the International Writing Program, I found that the world can be so free. You can do what you want to do and say what you want to say. Most importantly, here you begin to figure out what kind of person you want to be. ”
Wang Anyi came to Iowa in 1983 with his mother Ru Zhijuan. In Nie Hualing's eyes, the mother-daughter thoughts and views on reality, like their creations, reflect different eras. Wang Anyi is the Chinese writer who has been active in Iowa in the past years and has the most contact with young people in the United States. In addition to the event, she attends a gathering of Chinese writers. She is more free than most Chinese writers, freed from many entanglements, and can independently see the outside world. ”
Roots in the mainland, stem in Taiwan, branches and leaves in Iowa
In 1988, Nie Hualing and Angle retired. In 1991, they received the International Cultural Prize from the Ministry of Culture of the Polish Government. In March of that year, they rushed to collect the award, but Angle collapsed at the Chicago airport and never returned.
Without Ingres, Nie Hualing's life "seems to be the same old way, very vivid, very rich." But in retrospect, it's just a blank slate." But the work did not stop. An anonymous person donated $500,000 to the school, indicating that it was "for Nie Hualing to use for the University of Iowa." "I use it to invite Chinese writers. For nearly a decade, every year, the fees paid by a Chinese writer were paid with interest on the money. ”
Nie Hualing no longer participates in the activities of the International Writing Program, but still invites visiting Chinese writers to the Red Chamber for tea or to dinner outside to talk with them about literature, China, and life. "I write in Chinese, but I am far away from China. This distance makes me more objective about people and things, which is necessary when inviting writers. But the writer's life does not need this distance. Writers should feel life up close and write this feeling into their work. Nie Hualing said that there is literature in one era and one era, and it is difficult to compare writers of one era with writers of another era, but the soil of growth has a great influence on works, "Mainland works have a local atmosphere, have its historical and practical experience in it; Taiwan's literature is introverted and belongs to island literature; Hong Kong is both Chinese and Western, so I say that most of the really good Chinese works come from the mainland, and it has deep roots there." ”
Nie Hualing's own roots, deeply rooted in the mainland, grew tall branches in Taiwan, and eventually spread the branches and leaves of life in Iowa. She had inscribed her name on Ingres's tombstone. On the back of the shiny black marble tablet is an inscription from Ingres: "I can't move the mountain, but I can shine." ("Global People" reporter Xiao Ying)