New Era Novels and Chinese Classical Literary Tradition
1 Worldly Spirit and Decadent Feelings
The ideological connotation of Chinese classical literature is very rich, and it is reflected in the novels of the new era. The influence of classical literary thought is mainly reflected in two aspects: one is the traditional Confucian spirit of joining the world, and the other is the decadent feelings of scholar-bureaucrats.
Chinese classical literature is seriously influenced by Confucianism and has a strong sense of worldly spirit and social participation. The idea of ??"literature to convey the Tao" runs through the entire history of literature, and literature is therefore regarded as "The great cause of running a country is an immortal event." The extreme expression of this worldly spirit is to directly serve politics, and its edge is the embodiment of the philosophy of life that "if you are successful, you can help the world, and if you are poor, you can be alone." Throughout the history of Chinese classical literature, there are few purely personal creations. The works all embody the writer's social concerns and express various political or cultural ideals. Beginning with the Book of Songs and Qu Yuan, and evolving through Du Fu, Fan Zhongyan, Wei Yuan, etc., an excellent tradition of concern for the country and the people and moral responsibility has been formed, and it also conveys the spiritual lifeline of literature that emphasizes education and social effects. The worldly spirit of classical literature was criticized in the May Fourth New Literature in the name of "writing to convey the Tao", but in fact, the May Fourth Literature did not really throw it away, but existed in another way. What the May Fourth writers really criticized was only the connotation of "Tao" contained in classical literature. The basic spirit of literature serving reality is still maintained - literature should not maintain traditional feudal culture and feudal system, but should serve Transformation and powerful services in real China. As far as novels are concerned, Liang Qichao’s revolutionary view of novels still profoundly affects the May Fourth writers: “If you want to renovate the people of a country, you must first renovate the novels of the country. Therefore, if you want to renovate morality, you must renovate novels; if you want to renovate religion, you must renovate. Novels; if you want to new politics, you must new novels..." [7] The dominant tendency of May Fourth literature is still "for life" facing society and the public, while humanism, patriotism and criticism of reality have always been the most prominent characteristics of May Fourth literature. Ideological characteristics. Although many new modern ideological connotations have been infused into it, it still fundamentally contains certain spiritual imprints of classical literature.
New era novels, especially novels at the beginning of the new era, also show a strong spirit of worldliness. This is very clear in the creative ideas of writers. Although writers generally do not mention the classical literary tradition directly, when talking about their literary ambitions and understanding of literature, they almost without exception talk about the relationship between literature and reality, and closely link literature with politics and sense of responsibility. In other words, in fact, the writers’ ideological core already inherently embodies the worldly thinking of classical literature. As Zhou Keqin understands, literature is "a visual testimony of the emotional impact of the times and the lives of the masses on the author, and the most authentic evidence of the combination of the individual and the times."[8] Gao Xiaosheng talked about his return to the literary world after a break of more than 20 years. In his first work "The Head of the "Funnel Household"", he clearly expressed his appeal for the farmers' sense of creative responsibility: "When I write about them, I write about my heart" [9]; Jiang Zilong also closely connected his creation with the needs of reality: ""Director Qiao's Taking Up the Job" was 'forced' to come out. It was 'forced' to come out by life, and it was 'forced' by an ordinary Chinese person's sense of responsibility for the four modernizations..."[10]
The spirit of joining the world is also reflected in creation. In terms of novel themes, the most typical manifestation of novels in the new era is a strong sense of enlightenment. Many novels in the new era contain clear educational concepts. Novels are used as tools for ideological education and are used to spread various social and cultural consciousnesses. Liu Xinwu's works such as "Class Teacher" and "Wake Up, Brother" typically embody this idea. Because of this, "Class Teacher", which is full of didactic color, is regarded as the beginning of the new era literature and has become a period literature. typical. In addition to Liu Xinwu, the creations of other writers are basically similar. For example, the famous Zhang Xianliang and Cong Weixi used suffering as a way of moral preaching, which attracted people's attention. Another example is historical novels, such as "Li Zicheng", "Xingxingcao" and other works, which also follow the ideological tradition of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" in traditional Chinese historical writings, summarize historical lessons, and use history to guide and serve reality. These are The works have a consistent theme. Moreover, this characteristic of historical novels continued into the 1990s. Works such as Chen Zhongshi's "White Deer Plain", Tang Haoming's "Zeng Guofan", Xiong Zhaozheng's "Zhang Zhidong" and "Zhang Juzheng" also follow a similar view of history. It is a modern embodiment of traditional historical writing (novel) ideas.
As far as the content of the novel is concerned, it is reflected in the close relationship between the novel and real politics. The trend of novel creation in the new era is closely related to the actual political changes. In other words, the content changes of novels closely follow the liberation and development of the society of the times. From the initial "scar" to "reflection", and then from "educated youth novels" to "reform literature", every rhythm of novels in the new era has a direct correspondence with social reality and changes in political culture, and participates in social politics. changes and the emancipation of cultural concepts. And critical literary trends such as "humanism" actually convey another kind of political concept and reflect the more independent social concerns of writers. Since then, novel creation trends such as the "realism shock wave", "officialdom novels" and the "lower class writing" in the new century after the 1990s are also closely related to the real political situation and closely linked to the writers' realistic participation and social responsibility awareness. .
In the late 1980s, especially after the 1990s, the literary spirit of novels in the new era has undergone certain changes. The traditional worldly spirit has been criticized and ridiculed by some writers (the most typical one is "New Historicism" The novel deconstructs and mocks traditional historical novels with a new historical perspective), and its performance has also declined significantly. At the same time, another spirit closely related to classical literature is quietly emerging and becoming the literary trend of the times. This is the decadent consciousness of traditional literati.
"Decadence" is not a complete characteristic of Chinese literature. It is even said that the concept itself comes from the West. However, this does not mean that this idea does not exist in traditional Chinese culture and literature. On the contrary, it is influenced by The traditional culture influenced by Taoism contains a strong connotation of decadence, and in the subsequent development, it was combined with Confucian and Buddhist ideas to form a long tradition with a strong atmosphere of scholar-bureaucrats, which also constituted its own unique characteristics. Generally speaking, decadence in Chinese literature is more of a cynical attitude, and is closely related to the mentality of seclusion and enjoyment. This is different from the decadent ideological trend in the West, which often has a misanthropic color and is combined with aesthetic thoughts to form a certain difference. Because the decadence of Chinese literature is often the product of the failure of traditional Confucianism, influenced by mainstream Confucianism, intellectuals generally regard the realization of social responsibility ambitions as their basic pursuit. However, in reality, not all intellectuals have the opportunity It is also quite difficult to realize one's own ideals and ambitions, and to successfully achieve the spiritual transformation of "if you are prosperous, you can help the world, and if you are poor, you can be alone". Therefore, many people will give up Confucianism and fall into emptiness and doubt when they are frustrated. In his outlook on life, he indulges in and is satisfied with the small interests of his personal world. His life is illusory and unreal, and his literature typically shows the decadent thoughts of Chinese culture. In addition, another prominent feature of the decadence of Chinese literature is contradiction and confusion. Because in the long-term cultural accumulation, the social consciousness of Chinese intellectuals has been strong and lasting, it is difficult for ordinary people to get rid of the influence of this kind of thinking suddenly, which leads to the decadence of Chinese literati is often incomplete - just like in Chinese history Like many hermits. The decadent literary spirit was concentratedly reflected in the literati class in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Lu Xun's "Wei and Jin Dynasty Literature and the Relationship between Style, Medicine and Wine" gave a very thorough discussion. Of course, not only during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Zhuangzi's literary works contained the core of decadent thought, but the literature of the late Ming Dynasty was its more extreme overflow.
The rise of decadent thoughts in novels in the new era is closely related to the evolution of the culture of the times. Since the late 1980s, with the deepening of reform, political ideology has been further liberated. At the same time, commercial culture has entered China and quickly become the mainstream culture of society, and the social and cultural pattern has undergone tremendous changes. During this process, on the one hand, literature was pushed down from its original position as a political dependent, and its hypocrisy and artificiality in dependence were exposed, which fundamentally impacted the traditional idea of ??"literature as a means of carrying the Tao". On the one hand, along with the tide of spiritual culture loss, literature has gradually lost its basis for survival of spiritual beliefs. Under such circumstances, the life path choices of writers in the new era are of course diverse, and their spiritual worlds are also scattered. The decadent thoughts of traditional literati will naturally be exposed in some writers. In this regard, as some scholars have analyzed the literature of the late Ming Dynasty, “The ideal personality of ancient Confucian tradition is based on self-cultivation. Through the cultivation of things, knowledge, sincerity, and righteousness, people can become a gentleman who can live in poverty, enjoy morality, and have perfect morals.… …In the late Ming Dynasty, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism gradually lost its lofty status, and the trend of individuality emerged. The literati in the late Ming Dynasty were far more interested in pursuing individuality than in the normative and perfect personality. What they appreciated more was the characteristic. The character of a maniacal scholar rather than a perfect saint."[11]
Broadly speaking, the spirit of the "avant-garde novels" of the 1980s has a certain decadent flavor. Writers realized the powerlessness of literature in reality and turned to the pursuit of form to fight against reality, which contained some of the decadence of traditional literature. The discussion of some scholars is accurate: "It is precisely because of the same aesthetic preference and inner desire for gloom and decadence that Ye Zhaoyan and Su Tongcai embarked on the art boat of 'nostalgia' together, sailing towards the 'death' time of the past. River." [12] However, it was Jia Pingwa in the early 1990s who was truly typical, or who started the decadent trend of novels in the new era. In the 1980s, he dabbled in themes such as reform and "root-seeking", and there were many traces of "Taoism" in his creations. However, in "Abandoned Capital", which came out in 1992, he keenly expressed the marginalized intellectuals in literature. The theme of decadence and helplessness. The decadence and death of Zhuang Zhidie in the work, as well as the decline of the entire Xijing cultural circle, convey the author's strong sense of cultural failure and nihilistic spirit. Just as the novel draws on the famous late Ming novel "The Plum in the Golden Lotus" in terms of expression, its spirit also directly inherits the decadent tradition of the late Ming Dynasty.
Jia Pingwa's creative spirit has a very wide range of successors after the 1990s, represented by writers of the "late generation" who are younger than him, mainly Han Dong, Zhu Wen, Zhang Min, etc.
Like Jia Pingwa, these writers also felt the emptiness after the collapse of the traditional literary system, but in comparison, they relied much less on the traditional system, and they expressed a certain independent spirit towards the remaining literary system. However, deep down in their hearts, they have not really gotten rid of the restrictions and pressures of the real system, so they often resort to decadent ways such as sex, nihility, and aesthetics to express their resistance to reality. Specifically, their creations have three distinctive characteristics. First, they have a nihilistic attitude towards life concepts. Their protagonists are often dissatisfied with reality but unable to change, so they use selective and unreal methods as ways to resist society; the second is strong individualism. Their concerns are basically limited to personal destiny and survival value. They rarely think about things related to society, and rarely write directly about real life outside the individual. The third is the literati sentiment in art. Although there are great personal differences in the creations of writers, in general, their indulgence in personal life often reveals a certain degree of traditional literati sentiment, or self-appreciation and self-narcissism.
It needs to be pointed out that the classical literary spirit displayed by novelists in the new era is not single and pure. Their creative spirit is closely related to mainstream political thought in reality and modern Western culture and literary concepts. connection, or that these multiple factors have been integrated into a whole, making it difficult to simply separate. For example, the worldly thought in novels of the new era contains the spirit of modern enlightenment and is directly related to the concept of real politics and realist literary thought; similarly, the decadent trend of thought also contains the influence of modern consumer culture and is rich in post-modern culture. imprint. It can even be said that the proliferation of decadent literary trends in novels of the new era has its spiritual brother, the ascendant consumer culture in China.
Reflection: Tradition and Modernity in Literature
For new literature, the relationship with classical literature involves its basic characteristics and spiritual origin. Because of this, people have been thinking and discussing this issue since the founding of new literature. Famous writers and scholars such as Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Shen Congwen, and Wang Yao have all expressed their opinions. In recent years, some writers and scholars such as Zheng Min have made in-depth reflections. In this sense, this article’s thinking on the relationship between novels and classical literature in the new era cannot be just about the novels themselves, but must be related to the history and tradition of new literature, as well as the characteristics and development trend of new literature.
1. Emancipate ideas and treat the classical literary tradition with a more open concept;
As mentioned above, the new literary tradition has always treated classical literature with a critical and alienated attitude. , it is meaningless to criticize the predecessors too harshly. Different cultural backgrounds have put forward different cultural requirements for the times. The May Fourth era urgently needed to get rid of the old and welcome the new, and learning from the West was its top priority. But today, there is a real need to look at the classical literary tradition from a new perspective.
This is first of all related to the cultural characteristics of the times. Today is an era of economic and political globalization. Commercial culture is incorporating the entire human culture into its orbit and planning. In this context, maintaining the uniqueness of national culture has special significance. Literature should also adjust itself with traditional relationships and demonstrate one’s own national personality. After thousands of years of reproduction, Chinese literature has become an indispensable part of traditional culture. It carries the unique character of Chinese culture. The Chinese people’s thoughts and behaviors embody the unique spiritual personality of the Chinese nation. To maintain the characteristics of national literature (culture), we must re-examine the long-standing classical literature and absorb its deep national character and cultural personality. "When we restore our faith in old literature, because we cannot create a new world (it is impossible in fact and theory), we can only and should build new houses on the old foundation. ... We should understand more about our Eastern Culture. Eastern culture is absolutely beautiful and elegant.”[20] Although Wen Yiduo’s words were said in the 1920s, they still have practical significance today.
In thinking about classical literature, we need to think new about the concept of "modernity". Modernity is the trend of the times, but whether modernization is Westernization or whether modernity is a simple linear development of evolutionary theory has been increasingly questioned by people. The question of literary modernity is particularly complex. As a unique spiritual product, the evaluation of literature must not be based on simple evolutionary thinking. Modern literature is not necessarily better than the previous generation, but each has its own characteristics and value. Classical literature is the most mature of traditional Chinese literature and has achieved the highest achievements. Its unique aesthetic value still has a long-lasting charm today and has not lost any meaning.
Finally, we must also consider the basic creative rules of literature. The American poet Eliot once particularly emphasized the significance of traditional consciousness for literary creation: "Not only must we understand the pastness of the past, but also the presentness of the past. Historical consciousness not only enables people to have the background of their own generation when writing, but also understands the presentness of the past. Moreover, we must also feel that the entire literature of Europe and the entire literature of the country since Homer have a simultaneous existence, forming a simultaneous situation. This historical consciousness is a consciousness of eternity, a consciousness of temporary, and a consciousness of eternity and eternity. Temporary combined consciousness. It is this consciousness that makes a writer traditional, and it is also this consciousness that makes a writer most acutely aware of his own position in time and his relationship with the contemporary world.
"[21] Indeed, there is no creation without inheritance in any era. A writer's inheritance is either Eastern or Western, Chinese or foreign. He cannot have more choices. In this aspect, a writer Whether a deep spiritual connection can be established with traditional (classical) literature does indeed greatly affect the depth of its reflection on national life and the level of its achievements. As far as the history of new literary novels is concerned, almost all outstanding writers have Benefiting from the classical literary tradition, Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Mao Dun, Zhang Ailing, Sun Li... almost all have a profound connection with classical literature. On the other hand, due to the cultural requirements of the times, the "Seventeen Years" novels have more references to the classical literary tradition. Alienation and criticism mainly draw nourishment from the folk literary tradition. Although its creation also has its own characteristics and achievements, it is obviously insufficient in reflecting the depth of life and artistic conception [22]. We have no reason to cut off history. A simple belittling and rejection of classical literature is directly related to the issue of the continuity of creation by writers in the new era, but what exactly is it? There are different opinions on the reasons for this phenomenon. I think the depth of the writer's traditional literary accomplishment is an important factor: whether the writer has a deep cultural accumulation, whether he has a deep understanding of the national aesthetic tradition, and whether he can combine modern art and tradition. The fusion of (national) styles determines the length of the writer's creative vitality and the sustainability of his creation.
Second, identify and inherit the classical literary tradition with a more scientific attitude;
Maintaining tradition does not exclude innovation, and it is definitely not about following tradition completely. Instead, we should persist in scientific reflection, view and absorb things selectively and selectively. Specifically, I think we should follow two basic principles. < /p>
First of all, it should be dominated by the modern spirit, focusing on the absorption of the spirit, and not simply returning. Chinese classical literature is rich in connotation. Some of it adapts to the new era, and some are behind the times and should be eliminated. This needs to be done. There are rational and objective choices. From a spiritual point of view, the spirit of worldliness is a major feature of Chinese classical literature and has its positive value. However, if you pursue it blindly and do not know how to criticize, you will easily lose the independence that literature should have and degenerate into politics or politics. Other tools will inevitably be eliminated by the times. The concept of educational literature in the novels of the new era flourished for a while in the 1980s, but declined rapidly after the 1990s. The important reason is that the essence and dross of the traditional educational literary concept have not been clearly distinguished. The same goes for form. The chapter-like form of classical novels, as well as its legendary and story-like characteristics, are not suitable for simple regression. Although it once flourished, it has not been sufficiently maintained. Its vitality and lack of recognition by the public are directly related to the limitations of its form itself. This form may be suitable for reflecting the life emotions and anecdotes of ancient literati, but it cannot reflect the broader and rapidly developing life and is difficult to convey. The emergence of modern humanistic thought. I think what Li Qingxi said is reasonable: "The value of 'New Note Novel' may be that it provides artistic preparation for the future development of novels. It provides a poetic summary of novel techniques at a high level of art, and guides possible ways to transform the novel's aesthetic relationship and narrative form. "[23] Similarly, in the modern literary period, Fei Ming's "poetic novels" are enough to serve as a lesson. His works such as "The Bridge" and "Mr. Mo Xuyou Makes a Plane" completely follow the path of traditional lyrical literature and ignore the influence of modern novels. In contrast, Shen Congwen's attitude towards classical literature is more flexible, incorporating more modern factors and achieving higher results. Secondly, it is based on reality and life. Tradition does not exist in the abstract. It exists not only in literary classics, but also in the lives and culture of real people. If you leave reality to pursue the illusory, you can only get emptiness instead of reality. Nor can we use tradition to explore a path that is both consistent with reality and contains unique national aesthetic characteristics. Moreover, tradition is comprehensive, it is not just classical, not just folk and reality, it should be a collection of them. Period novels have obvious shortcomings in this aspect. Taking language as an example, from a basic aspect, "the spiritual characteristics of a nation and the formation of language are extremely closely related, and no matter which aspect we start from, we can deduce them. Another aspect. This is because the form of intelligence and the form of language must fit each other. Language seems to be the external expression of the national spirit; the national language is the national spirit, and the national spirit is the national language. The degree of identity between the two exceeds any imagination of people. "[24] In other words, we cannot simply deny and separate the language of classical literature (including classical Chinese). Although it has died in life, it not only has unique aesthetic effects, but also embodies the spirit of national culture. , it still has reference significance for today's literary creation and language development. However, simply imitating it is obviously wrong. After all, this language no longer exists in real life and has no direct value in expressing modern life. It must be integrated. In modern spoken language, Lu Xun once said about the language of his novels that he combined the language of daily life with the charm of classical Chinese: "Collect stories and get rid of the glibness, listen to gossip and get rid of the looseness, and gain the spoken language of the people but keep it so that everyone can understand it." Every word has become a vernacular with four different characteristics.
"[25] In fact, it is an organic fusion of classical Chinese and modern spoken language. In the novels of the new era, writers such as Jia Pingwa draw lessons from the language of classical novels. The method is not meaningless, but it does not integrate well with real life. On the contrary, it has Isolated, it seems too rigid and artificial, and I think it is a failure. In addition, Ge Fei's "Human Face Peach Blossom", "Mountains and Rivers into Dreams", Li Rui's "Silver City Story" and other works, despite the understanding and study of classical literature. It is meaningful and has unique gains, but it also has the disadvantage of neglecting life for the sake of form. Without the real flesh and blood of real life, no matter how many classical literary factors are absorbed, it will only appear stiff and unnatural, etc. The latter will reveal traces of imitation and fabrication.
3. Deepen and transcend tradition to find the truly unique national literary spirit;
Tradition is not just inherited. It needs to be deepened and transcended. Only by forming its own distinctive personality on the basis of inheriting tradition and embodying the truly unique national literary spirit can it show its own distinctive characteristics in the entire world of human literature. In terms of external aspects such as subject matter, focus angle, and artistic method, it is also the embodiment of inner spirit and aesthetic characteristics. It is the multi-faceted unity of the way of understanding life and the unique aesthetic spirit. Only by forming a unique national personality tradition can we achieve it. Only in the depth of national culture can we show our irreplaceable characteristics. Here it is necessary to analyze the relationship between traditional personality and cosmopolitanism. Some people think that in modern society, human beings have the same concerns and destiny, and cosmopolitanism is. The direction of the development of human literature. I have a slightly different view. I believe that literature must pay attention to human beings and the world, but any angle of attention should not be abstract, but concrete and real. It is expressed through concrete life and concrete aesthetic vision. This concreteness is national (the meaning of nation here is more expanded, and it is generally the meaning of culture). Only national personality can reflect culture. Only with richness can we truly reach the depths of human spiritual dilemma.
From the perspective of human history, every successful national literature has its own unique personality, such as the philosophy of German literature; the divinity of Russian literature; The secularity of American literature, etc. How to deepen and transcend tradition cannot be explained simply here, but integrating it with modernity and life on the basis of maintaining the traditional spirit should be an important prerequisite here. In terms of literature, Japanese modern literature does a relatively good job. It absorbs the essence of traditional literature very well, and has rich and colorful expressions of personal style and life themes. It is a fusion of tradition and reality, and also highlights the unique aesthetics of Japanese literature. Tradition. Although writers such as Kawabata Yasunari and Oe Kenzaburo have different personalities, they all embody many unique spirits of the Japanese nation. In their aesthetics, we can see the shadow of traditional Japanese literature such as "The Tale of Genji" and "Pillow". .
As for the traditional inheritance and transcendence of Chinese literature, I think there are two characteristics that should be fully considered. One is spiritual practical concern, and the other is aesthetic poetic characteristics. Chinese culture is characterized by a focus on reality and a lack of transcendence. Of course, this has shortcomings and requires breakthroughs and innovations. However, it is not entirely a shortcoming but a part of its personality. The focus on human reality does not mean that it cannot reach the depth of literature. ("A Dream of Red Mansions" is an obvious example). Rather than reluctantly giving up oneself and following others, it is better to naturally stick to one's own traditions and develop through inheritance. In terms of art, poetry is the most successful and mature literary genre of traditional Chinese literature. It is not accidental. This genre most profoundly embodies the culture, especially the literary characteristics of the Chinese nation, and reflects the ideal spirit of the Chinese nation. It has been used for thousands of years. His poetry creation incorporates his unique life and aesthetic style, embodying his unique national memory and national personality. Today, poetry is no longer the most typical form of Chinese literature, but the tradition of poetry should be inherited in novels and other genres as a characteristic of one's own personality. Of course, neither the realistic spirit nor the poetic tradition requires writers to follow and correspond rigidly and simply. A truly excellent inheritance of tradition should be like salt in water, formed naturally, and go deep into its spirit rather than simply externalizing it. In appearance.
Of course, it is very difficult for new literature to realize the modern inheritance of classical literature and art. I think there are two aspects that need to be urgently strengthened: First, the writer’s profound classical literary literacy. Only with a profound foundation in classical literature and artistic perception can we deeply understand its characteristics and personality and transform them into modern creations. In the traditional literacy of writers, in addition to the artistic level, the philosophical level should also be mentioned in particular. Chinese philosophical thought has a unique value that stands side by side with Western philosophical thought, and is deeply embedded in the Chinese people's way of thinking and living habits. If we can deeply absorb the essence of traditional Chinese philosophical thought, it will have a very good promotion effect on the deep connection between new literature and classical literature; secondly, we need to strengthen the exploration and utilization of classical literature theory. Scholars have been calling for the modern transformation of classical literary theory, but with little success. I believe that the combination of creation and theory should be strengthened. Reference in creation is the prerequisite for the success of theory. Otherwise, theory will easily shrink in self-talk. On the other hand, if we can make an accurate summary of classical literature and art and inspire the creation of today's writers, we can resurrect certain traditions of classical literature and art in creation.
The regeneration of creation is the real resurrection. Otherwise, no matter how much research is done, it will have no practical significance, it will still be silent, and it will not have real life.