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Endless Stories of Heroes and Ghosts —— Reading Liang Heng's Recent Prose
Abner Liu
Book house pinming
Liang Heng's prose is getting older and older.
He is the author of a collection of landscape essays, Famous Mountains and Rivers. Although his thoughts are full of springs and his themes stand on high rocks, I didn't care after reading them. Because throughout the ages, there are many kinds of prose about landscapes, and famous articles abound. However, once I saw his newly collected collection of works, Ghost, and I felt really touched. After learning, I feel deeper. I dare to shout loudly: as far as I have read, I am afraid there is no such thing as contemporary prose.
Why do you say that? My feeling, after reading his article, is that there are some words I can never say.
What can't you say?
Let's talk about asana first. When Liang Heng's prose "Find a ferry, find a ferry, find a place", "Nothing but Zhou Enlai" and "Red Wool, Blue Wool" broke out in the literary world and spread widely, I asked him: "What are the styles of these articles? Is it political theory, characters or lyrics? " He said: "I didn't think about it before I wrote it, and I couldn't make it clear after I wrote it." Later, some critics said that his articles were political articles, which may be different from his past landscape articles. This statement makes sense, because in these essays, all articles are related to politics. But on this basis, it is not very scientific to say that it is political prose. If there is political prose, it will inevitably be divided into military prose and economic prose ... then the classification of prose will be endless. In addition, if you study it carefully, you will find that his essays are not mainly about politics.
Some critics also say that Liang Heng's prose is character prose. There is also evidence to support this. Many stories in Ghost, such as "Looking for a ferry, looking for a ferry, looking for a place", "Great Zhou Enlai", "Reading Han Yu" and "Reading Liu Yong", give people the first impression that they are talking about people. But on closer inspection, he is not "writing" people. If you are "writing" characters, you should write about their voices, smiles and great achievements, such as Sima Qian's Biography of Xiang Yu and the Chen She family, such as Jiao of Mu Qingzhi and Chen Jingrun of Xu Chi. However, when Liang Heng writes about his characters, his voice, appearance and great achievements are rarely involved, and they are often ignored. In my opinion, he is judging people. And judging people is not just making a few comments. Therefore, it is probably inaccurate to say that his essays are character essays.
In fact, there is no need to label Liang Heng's recent prose as political prose, character prose and lyric prose. In my opinion, prose is nothing more than relative verse. Except poetry, it's all prose. Throughout the ages, political essays written by some great politicians are all beautiful. Notes, prefaces, biographies, books, epitaphs, essays and so on written by some great writers are all beautiful essays. Liang Heng's prose, as he himself said, never considered what form it was before and after writing. Because of this, his prose is a kind of "indefinite style" prose, which can also be said to be a kind of "Liang Heng style" prose. In my opinion, he doesn't have a great truth in his heart first, or a passion first, and then he sings it out loud by relying on a carrier of "outstanding people". He is a strict realist. His prose seems to be a work that can be met but not sought. Every time he meets outstanding figures and ghost heroes, he always flies in the wild, thinking about the Millennium, thinking about where he is, feeling what he wants and writing what he wants. He combined philosophy with real life, linked nature, man with political thoughts and social organizations, and integrated man with nature, vividly expressing his views and thoughts on politics, society and people. This kind of prose, you say it is political, you say it is lyrical, you say it is also a character's ... it is really endless.
Let's talk about people first. Most of the outstanding figures and ghosts and gods written by Liang Heng are famous great men in the universe, and there are also literati who shocked the world and passed down from generation to generation. Their merits and demerits have long been determined by history, and in the minds of readers, they have long been determined. What else is there to say? Liang Heng just wanted to say. Say what? He doesn't talk about the voice and appearance of the characters, nor about their great achievements. On the contrary, he analyzed the characters and gave a new evaluation to the conclusions drawn for thousands of years. This evaluation is character. What is personality? Personality is the highest expression of human nature. A person's personality is the main reason for his life. Liang Heng believes that a person's greatness is nothing more than two aspects, one is his contribution to society, and the other is his personality. Many authors regard characters as great achievements; Liang Heng evaluated these characters, but he insisted on his own personality. If you grasp the personality, you grasp the essence of the characters. Great achievements, great achievements, endless personality. Because of this, I think the biographies of some characters are not as good as Liang Heng's prose.
Finding the Cross is the masterpiece of Talented Man, and it is an essay to evaluate Qu Qiubai. Qiu Bai has been dead for half a century. Why do people remember and commemorate him today and forever? Is it because he is the leader of the party? Because of his literary achievements? Or because he died peacefully? Of course there are these factors. Liang Heng bypassed these in his prose, highlighting Qiu Bai's attitude towards life, death and name. For students, autumn white is brilliant. If he sits quietly in his study, writing, painting, practicing medicine and printing, he will truly realize his cultural value. However, he doesn't cherish his talents. Once the national public needed it, he jumped on the wind and waves with the body of a scholar, as if to plug the gap with a pure jade instead of a stone. Liang Heng thinks this is the greatest selflessness. For death, Qiu Bai does not pursue grandeur, but with a weak body, relying on the power of reason and taking it lightly. Liang Heng believes that this cannot be achieved through physical endurance and emotional input. It is impossible to sum him up with courage and strength. Qiu Bai is an "intellectual who has reached the stage of freedom". On the other hand, when his life was about to come to an end, Qiu Bai rushed to write a "superfluous words", carefully analyzed his soul and showed the world that he was a colorful person. In this regard, Liang Heng wrote: "When we only look at his career and see him die calmly, he is a mountain on the plain, which is admirable; Let's look at his anatomy again. He is a mountain peak facing a deep valley. The wind whistling and whistling is extremely steep, giving people more thoughts. "
For decades, there have been countless articles describing, commemorating and evaluating Qiu Bai, and Liang Heng was the first to analyze Qiu Bai from his personality, and approached the highest realm of Qiu Bai's human nature layer by layer, arousing an uproar in readers' hearts with his personality charm. No wonder this article was reprinted by more than 100 newspapers. No wonder Qiu Bai's daughter said in a letter after reading "Seeking the Crossing": "My father's life is full of hardships and controversies. Mr. Wang's pen summarizes his life and refines the essence of his life. Let people who have not read the history of the party clearly feel their father's ideological context and his heart for the party and the country. " "I am always grateful, meditating on quiet nights and chewing my husband's kind words. I thank him for turning his personal thinking into the memory of his father by hundreds of millions of people. " Seriously! Believe it! I remember when Looking for Crossing came out, we got a sneak peek and unanimously recommended each other. I read this article no less than ten times in the next few years. Every time I read it, I feel a step closer to Qiu Bai, but I always feel that I have endless words with Qiu Bai. Autumn White is a famous painting that can't be read all one's life, and Liang Heng's Looking for Crossroads is an essay that can't be read.
Another example is Zhou Enlai, which, in my opinion, is the most influential article on the centenary of Ryan's birth. Why? I'm afraid it's also because I wrote about the personality of the prime minister. Why are there prime ministers everywhere in China? Is it because of his talent? Is it because he cares about the country and people? Or is it because of his insight into Qiqi? ..... This is of course a well-known reason. Liang Heng's prose, on the other hand, bypassed these and found another way to sum up six "nothings" for the Prime Minister: death without ashes, life without afterlife, official without showing, the party without personal interests, hard work without complaints and no words. These six "nothingness" have approached the highest realm of the Prime Minister's humanity, and triggered an unforgettable, fresh and endless topic among millions of readers who miss the Prime Minister.
Others, such as the hundred-year-old evaluation of Madame Curie's beauty, Han Yu's evaluation of reading Han Yu, and Fan Zhongyan's evaluation of Qingzhou Shoushou: An Eternal Fan Zhongyan, are all layered analysis, blending reason and reason, revealing their shining personality. Because of this, the outstanding people and ghosts in his works can stand in front of readers with newer, higher and more real images and become endless famous paintings.
Let's talk about thoughts first. What does prose win? Just by description? Talk? Poetic? Lyrics? I'm afraid not. In my opinion, the winning way of prose mainly lies in thought. This idea is to say what others dare not say and what others cannot say. Throughout the ages, everyone's work has been like this. Read Model, Ten Thoughts on Emperor Taizong, The Story of Yueyang Tower, Biography of Shi Lingguan in Five Dynasties, etc. Everyone feels that there is an idea that is impacting you and enlightening you. Sometimes just a few words can make people suddenly realize. I often feel this way when I read Liang Heng's Ghost. It is Liang Heng's courage to say what others dare not say, and Liang Heng's knowledge to say what others cannot say. It can be said that the outstanding works in Ghost are all courageous works.
Reading Zhou Enlai, I think the most soul-stirring and soul-destroying thing is Zhou Enlai's fifth "nothing": work without regrets. The first sentence is "Premier Zhou was the first victim of the China Revolution", and then he went on to say that "his extraordinary talent has harmed him, and his hard-working quality has harmed him", "He is regarded as a balanced pawn or a scapegoat", "Sorrow is greater than mental death, and pain is greater than mental suffering, but the pain lies in the extreme bitterness of the heart and not dying". Over the years, I have missed thousands of articles written by Premier Zhou. Speaking of working without regrets, the Prime Minister works tirelessly for the country and the people. Only Liang Heng's article changed "hardship" into "bitterness". A word "bitterness" is all in everyone's heart, not in everyone's pen. Liang Heng just broke the paper with a pen. A word difference, rock-breaking. Around a "bitter" word, it is really embarrassing! In "Red Wool, Blue Wool", it is mentioned that Liu Shaoqi held a national land reform work conference in Xibaipo, and Liang Heng wrote bluntly: "There was no sofa, microphone, tea and hot towels in the venue. This is a real meeting, a meeting that abandons all forms and leaves only ideas. Today, when we look at this small table and this meeting place, we suddenly realize that there is only one purpose of the meeting, and that is work. We come together, accept new ideas and produce new ideas through communication and collision. Everything else is redundant and attached. Unfortunately, this attachment has become more and more (emphasizing that it was added by the author). " How many topics can this discussion lead to in the face of the current disadvantages! Similar to the above straightforward words, there are many examples in The Grinch. Although the world is cold today, to be honest, it is not without taboos. I'm afraid it's hard to do it without courage.
Liang Heng's chapters on strange people and ghosts and gods are often about man and reason, things and reason, affection and reason, and faith. This argument, whether in a few words or plausibly, can always tell original opinions. You can find philosophical sentences or paragraphs by picking up letters and leafing through them quickly. For example, "when the strength of personality reaches a certain intensity, it will attach itself to everything at the speed of light, and the space in the vault will protect creatures", "History remembers Qin Huang Hanwu and Liu Yong", and "Tradition has two sides, and when it faces the revolutionary tide, it shows disgusting stubbornness. However, when it faces the heresy against the current, it shows the majesty that it is easy to shake the mountains but difficult to shake the tradition. "China, a country with profound feudal culture, worship of gods and unified habits, always likes to have an authority to simplify the procedures of action and save the pain of thinking", and so on. The insights revealed here are equally enlightening and thoughtful!
Liang Heng is not a thinker. But in my opinion, the result of his thinking is far above that of some "thinkers" today. Therefore, it is reasonable for the publication of Heroes and Ghosts to attract Luoyang paper.
May Liang Heng continue to write excellent people, ghosts, heroes, Yue Wumu, Wen Tianxiang, Sun Yat-sen and Hu Yaobang ... He brought us endless topics with his pen and left us endless thoughts.