—— Some thoughts after reading Five Fates of Emperor China
-------------. The popularization of history seems to have never been so popular.
It seems that we in China are naturally willing to be close to history. Traditional Chinese opera and storytelling novels are history textbooks for the general public. The story of history has become the most important external packaging and internal boiling point of history. The public is keen on historical stories, especially the story of the emperor of the palace. When talking about the past and discussing the present, they pay attention to the entertainment function and use history to amuse themselves. One is the role of awakening the world. Today, in the oldest existing Yangping Theater in Beijing, there is still a plaque of "Awakening the World" written by Wang Duo, a calligrapher in the late Ming Dynasty, which is the case.
In front of the stage of Sanqing Theater in Dashilan, Beijing, there used to be a pair of column-hugging couplets: "Illusion portrays love, evil is righteous and treacherous, try to see the principle of circulation; Today, the ancient things are passed down, and the clothes are made up, and * * * makes the color in Sri Lanka. " The "principle of circulation" mentioned here is its role in awakening the world; "Hue in Si", that is, its entertainment function. No matter which angle, the public has always regarded history as a story and a play. Drama and history are a mirror for the public to read each other.
Nowadays, the history book craze goes the same way. The popularization of history should probably start with the TV play "Joking", which shows the side of "color in Sri Lanka" in the popularization of history. The abuse of "joking" has made many people dissatisfied or dissatisfied with the popularization or even vulgarization of such a historical writing. Some people began to try to write a historical, cultural and literary writing, which is not only a historical romance, but also hopes to restate history and revive the trend of "awakening the world" and emphasize the relationship between history and reality, that is, "circular theory."
Recently, I read Zhang Hongjie's new book Five Fates of Emperor China, which belongs to the latter.
It is worth noting that even the latter, the basic narrative strategy and number of ways, is still a continuation of the "joke" pulse, but the "play" here more excludes the Zen-like "play" of the wild fox in the "joke" and adds the "play" in the drama element, and still takes the story and drama as the yellow ribbon to summon readers back.
Zhang Hongjie's book also treats history as a play.
in the first chapter about Wang Mang, shortly after the opening, when Wang Mang dug a well near Chang 'an and dug a stone with the words "Wang Mang is the emperor" engraved on it, the author wrote eagerly: "This historical drama is about to reach its climax. Everyone held their breath and there was a terrible silence in the whole theater. "
In the second chapter, the author wrote that Emperor Yangdi wanted to rape Wendi's favorite princess, and Wendi's princess died after her blood splashed on the screen. Then the author wrote, "It's a rape movie."
The most symbolic thing is that the fourth chapter states that Emperor Zhengde opened a free market in his palace, ordered eunuchs to play the role of vendors, and the emperor himself played the role of citizens bargaining with vendors. Contrary to the popular court drama in the market, the emperor staged a popular street drama. In particular, the author points out the irony of this play: "The palace is the least free place in the world ... Every inch of the air here is full of taboos, every inch of the ground is covered with rules, and every gesture must be considered again and again. People living here have to live according to the script written in advance, and everything in the palace is fake, like a play."
Paying attention to the drama of history is the most convenient way to win readers in the upsurge of historical popularization. Knowing that readers love this bite, of course, we must serve this dish. However, too historical and dramatic writing can easily make readers doubt that history. In the Five Fates of Emperor China, Wang Mang, an advanced model, a traitor and a traitor, and Emperor Yangdi, who only cared about grand plans before his death, had almost no place to die. The dramatic turn of fate and personality was so dramatic that the play was just a play, but it was convincing enough that it failed to sew.
In this book, the author's narrative style is literary, and he pays attention to details, personality and drama. The narrative posture is subjective and passionate. There are many wonderful discussions, which just coincide with the readers' complex that history can be given a realistic view, and the readers' inner demands of pointing out the mountains with the help of history. In this book, the author said: "No nation attaches more importance to history than China people, and China's history books are vast and unique to the world. However, no nation has ever been so unscrupulous in its history as China people. The ancient history of China is not so much a process of recording, but rather a process of being destroyed, omitted, modified, painted and fictional. " This passage is interesting. Today, with the popularization of history writing and history popularization, in so many hot history books, while we attach importance to history and rewrite it, will there be a recurrence of history's destruction, omission, modification, painting and fiction?