Cong Xin Qiang, a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Literature of Shandong University, is the director of the teaching and research section of modern and contemporary literature in China, and concurrently serves as the director of the Shandong Contemporary Literature Research Association. The topic of this lecture seems to be about the world of prose, but it is not limited to the world of prose, the world of literature, the world of life and the ultimate world. All of a sudden, we opened a number of windows, a lot of information, fresh ideas and rich knowledge points, which made us overwhelmed. Many of them were never involved and thought about, and there were also many subversive ideas, which just needed to be recorded and digested slowly.
The mainstream of literature. Literature has never been the mainstream, the center or marginalized. It is personalized writing, which must transcend individuality and realize universality and pluralism. If it is purely personalized, there is no need to communicate. Literary creation is to turn everything into one's own spiritual resources. Of course, because of different realms and different transformation abilities, the effective resources for transformation are also different.
Literary creation and literary research are meaningless in the ultimate aspect, but people can't experience the ultimate. The ultimate is a limited body, and the limited body can't experience infinite meaning, so it will be meaningful at a certain stage of time, pursuing an ultimate spirit and limited meaning, and realizing an existence facing nothingness in the ultimate process; Through this existence, a kind of nothingness is expressed, and nothing is nothing after existence. Without wealth, how can you know you are poor? Only the experience from high to low is the source of good literary works.
The more you think about literature, the worse you write, the more fully prepared you are, and the worse you write. Literary classics are a reservation of the good life in the past. Literature is not to serve the society better in the future, but to keep it. Preserve the past times and past life. Literature looks backward, not forward. Literature is essentially a retrogression, not progress. Which literary classic is not an elegy, the past is gone forever, and the beautiful past and the bitter past are gone forever.
Life looks forward, meaning looks back.
The so-called transcendence is also limited transcendence, and infinite transcendence cannot be realized. Just like when people are 20 years old, 50 years old and 80 years old, there are age differences, but there is no difference in the end, from a limited point of view, and from an infinite point of view. For example, prose, novels and poems are different in style, but their forms of expression are inconsistent, and the limited content is infinite, but the ultimate spirit and ultimate value are the same.
The problems we are facing now have been faced by the ancients in the past, and there is still no panacea. What happened in the past will definitely happen in the future; What happens now will definitely happen in the future. There is not much innovation in human nature. To some extent, human nature is eternal, and it is the same at any time.
Facing nothingness, transcending nothingness and solving the nothingness of life with the nothingness of literature. Transcendence is a kind of checks and balances, and literature is a kind of compensation. Life can't be achieved, and literature can help you achieve it.
Prose is an emotional expression. The shape is scattered but the spirit is gathered. Light is interesting, but heavy is greasy and exaggerated; Light is meaningful, but it is stuck in rigidity and peace. It should be both meaningful and interesting. At first glance, it is interesting, then it is meaningful, and thirdly, it is meaningful.
Lu Xun's self-analysis. It is self-construction, self-deconstruction and self-denial. Meaning and meaning complement each other and disintegrate each other. Grasping a degree shows the writer's realm and foundation.
We can't choose our own life, and there are few active choices in life. Otherwise, no one will choose pain and torture. Life is shallow, and literature is meaningless if it is too easy. Life needs sublimation and sublimation to turn the blood and tears of life into pearls. Sisyphus's endless push up the hill seems meaningless. Meaningless means meaningful, pursuing a limited meaning.
Professor Cong interprets and analyzes the elements of a good article from a thank-you letter from Mr. Wang. I can only say thank you.
Mr Wang Dingjun is a Christian. He said that there were three words that supported him all his life.
(1) There is no miracle, but there is still God.
(2) Without the church, there is still God.
(3) Without the Bible, there is still God.
It doesn't matter whether you are a believer or not, but there must be a supreme spirit in your heart to rely on or rely on, and everything is a means except spirit.
Mr. Wang Dingjun's three sentences are his standpoint of life and cultural position.
What are the criteria for judging yourself and the world? Just like the standard of communication with people, there is a standard in your heart about who you like to associate with and what kind of people you hate.
A thank-you letter, which combines experience, thoughts, life ideals and complex consciousness, expresses a spirit of literature and prose.
Simple and sincere writing is the most powerful weapon. Truth, goodness and beauty come first. Without truth, there is no goodness and beauty. The reason is simple.
"Thanks to the teacher of heaven and earth, thanks to the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and thanks to Jin Mu." Behind these words is culture. Most of the articles we write now are about an event, an emotion. But there is a deep meaning behind all the words. Every word has its place, life and literature.
"You have given me far more than I deserve, and I can't express it in words far more than I can say." A person is limited, and language is helpless and powerless. We live in a language, and good interpersonal relationships are basically caused by language, and they are all language conflicts. There is a big difference between being able to talk and not being able to talk. No one wants to communicate with someone who can't speak. As soon as he opens his mouth, it's over. The best way is not to express. silence is golden. Lu Xun said: "When I am silent, I feel full, and when I am about to speak, I feel empty." If you can't say something when you are complaining, it won't be bitter if you say it. The bitterness of the past is a kind of nostalgia, which can be expressed in limited words and its connotation is almost infinite.
Literature is useless and useful. Literature is useless. I'm using literature. I'm doing literature. Life is thinking, meaningful and interesting.
"I think life can be divided into three stages. The first stage is practical, very useful, very useful. The second stage is decorations, which are unnecessary and can be seen. The third stage is souvenirs. I have used it and seen it, but I can't bear to throw it away. " "The three stages of life can be put another way, namely, animal stage, plant stage and mineral stage."
From decorations to souvenirs, you need to cross; From animals to plants to minerals, we also need to cross. People should be modest, don't be arrogant and don't feel inferior. Without cultural support, there is no cultural confidence.
In the end, all the classics are to let go, give up and stop pursuing. This is the ultimate spirit. Look down on everything, everything is not important.
The meaning of listening is still unfinished, and the meaning of discussion is still unfinished. The world is so meaningful and interesting.
2020. 1 1.28
Appendix: (At the beginning of the month, I went to Cangshan to attend Mr. Wang Dingjun's seminar. At the opening ceremony, Mr. Liu Huangtian read Ding Gong's speech to the conference. Every word sounds like tears, which is the biggest gain of the whole meeting. I found the full text online today and posted it here. )
I can only say thank you.
My parents' country Cangshan held an academic seminar for my work, and I couldn't attend it. My friends asked me to write a letter to the meeting. what can I say? 1942 left my hometown and never went back. Now I am not only afraid of being near my hometown, but also resigned from poverty. I can only say: thank you! Thanks to the relatives of heaven and earth, thanks to the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, thanks to the fire, water and soil in Jin Mu, thanks to the experts and scholars present here today and the advanced literary world, and thanks to the officials, elders, aunts, brothers and sisters of Cangshan. I have made no contribution to Sang Zi. You have given me far more than I deserve, and I can't express it in words and far more than I can say.
I am honored that you can comment on my work here. When I was studying in Lanling No.5 Primary School, the great teacher, Mr. Shi Jing, revised my composition and warned me to get rid of the popular new literature accent at that time and lay my simple style. There is also a predecessor, Mr. Tian Bing, who criticized my composition for its lack of vitality. Later, I regretted it. I remember reading Wen Xin, co-authored by Ye He, and was deeply inspired. I remember that I got a preliminary understanding of Shen Congwen, Xie Bingxin, Yu Dafu, Ba Jin and Lu Xun from the loose-leaf anthology of Beixin Bookstore. I recall how my mother taught me to read the Bible, how my father explained Xunzi's exhortation to me, and how the madman who intervened in Liu's mouth taught me to read Tang poetry. At that time, there was a Mr. Pan in Lanling. He is a Chinese doctor, and his wife, Mr. Zhu, teaches in Lanling Primary School. He told me that literature was useless.
Cangshan county, formerly known as Bianzhuang, has the home of my uncle and aunt. I lived in Bianzhuang for a few days when I was a child. My uncle is a squire, and he has a good accomplishment in classical literature. My aunt is a Christian with good eloquence and can preach on stage. My cousins are all young artists, and this family has also given me a great influence. I still remember my uncle's deep house compound. Many bamboos are planted in the yard. Cousin and her classmates are sitting in the bamboo shadow reading Bing Xin. My cousin and I are walking in the street of Bianzhuang. He said that chanting sandalwood sutra requires burning sandalwood, and many villagers passed by. There are many calligraphers' inscriptions in my uncle's study He said, "Calligraphers have been difficult to do since Wang Youjun came into being." Of course, none of this exists. The mountain should still be there. I still remember the general outline. The colors of the mountains in the morning are different from those in the evening. Bianzhuang is also my inspiration.
At that time, I occasionally read the Novel Monthly edited by Mao Dun, an advanced writer in the literary world. Mr. Sidian, the elder of our family, is a novelist. I was deeply impressed by his "A Bullet" in Novel Monthly, and I also want to write a novel. At that time, there was a newspaper in Linyi called Lunan Daily. The first four words are woodcut, and the middle word "Lu" is written as a horizontal line with thick strokes. I often read its supplements. There is a man named Kong Peiqiu who often publishes new poems in the supplement of Lunan Daily. I forget what he wrote, except that I want to be a poet, too.
These were all things before the Anti-Japanese War. I study in Lanling Primary School. There is a library edited by Wang in the school, which contains some translated fairy tales and novels. From there, I first came into contact with foreign works, such as Andersen's King of the Golden River and Stevenson's Treasure Island, which gave me all kinds of dreams. When War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out, my world was broken. "All kinds of yesterday made me who I am today" are the objects I want to thank today. Today, facing the seminar, I am an ugly daughter-in-law who meets her in-laws, and I dare not ask the depth of thrush. The elders of Cangshan respect me very much and think I can show it to the distinguished guests. Cangshan county has a big face, so please come from afar. Dare not ask what you heard, what you saw, and left. Twenty years ago, an anthology of mine was published in China. As I said, I am a seed that drifts overseas, takes root and sprouts, grows into a big tree and bears numerous fruits. Now I send back a basket of fruit. Twenty years later, this seminar was held in my hometown. I think life can be divided into three stages. The first stage is practical products, which are very useful and useful. The second stage is decorations, which are unnecessary and can be seen. The third stage is souvenirs. I've used it and seen it, but I can't bear to throw it away. I am lucky to be able to move from practical products to decorations. Next, I hope to be luckier. From decorations to souvenirs, if I want to get through this stage, I must get the blessing of all the guests. Every word you praise or criticize is my life.
Some people blame me for not coming to Cangshan to attend the seminar. I have explained for a hundred times that I can't fly for many years. My daughter got married in Hawaii, so I can't attend the wedding. For me, the three stages of life can be put another way: animal stage, plant stage and mineral stage. I trekked 6,700 kilometers in various provinces of China, and then crossed the Taiwan Province Strait, the Pacific Ocean and the New World. I am a non-stop animal. Then I really don't want to run, and I can't run. I am vacillating on the fifth of new york, so I can only take root and bear fruit. At this time, I am a plant. The most satisfactory result in the future is to become minerals, that is to say, a writer's works, his literary life, can be crystallized, can be turned into fossils, can be rubbed by future generations in their hands, carefully looked at with a magnifying glass, and may be equipped with a base to display. At this time, someone may defend him and say, "It's no use!" ! One thing seems useless, but it is indispensable, and that is literature and art; One thing is very useful, but it can't be used! That's an atomic bomb.
In the face of the academic seminar held in my name today, I will think that my creative era has passed. Even if I am really good, it is still a known number. Literature always needs to be unknown, there is no contentment in the dictionary of literature, there is no pity for the old and the weak in the literary world, and literature needs to continue to create from generation to generation. Our Lanling, Cangshan and Linyi are all flourishing and talented. You advanced and authoritative people come to check a known number, analyze a known number, and prepare for those unknowns. I am ashamed that I can't do anything for the literary youth in my hometown. I believe all the elders and officers will spare some spirit and time to train them. Let me quote from John the Baptist. "The latecomer is older than me, and I am not worthy to carry his shoes."
thank you
1October 9th new york Apartment 20110.