Hundred Flowers Literature
In 1956 and the first half of 1957, some important changes occurred in literary thought and creation. This was a common phenomenon in the "socialist camp" at that time. In China, Mao Zedong’s slogan of “Let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend” in May 1956 gave impetus and support to the powerful demands for change in various fields. As a result, there was a "thaw" in the literary world that broke through rigid dogma and was similar to the Soviet literature at that time. The fourth issue of "People's Literature" in 1956 published Liu Binyan's feature (Note: In contemporary China, "feature" and "reportage" are generally interchangeable genre concepts. But during this period, Liu Binyan and Geng Jian His writing is not the kind of close-up that requires "real people and real events", but a "research-based" close-up that can be summarized and fictionalized. This genre was not developed later.) "On the Bridge Construction Site". Qin Zhaoyang, the deputy editor-in-chief who was in charge of the editorial affairs of this magazine at the time, gave high praise in the "Editor's Note" and "Editor's Note" of this issue, saying, "We look forward to such sharp questions, criticism and satire", "like detective work" It’s been a long time since I’ve written a work that explores problems in real life like a soldier and bravely. Later, this magazine published the feature "Inside News of Our Newspaper" and its sequel by the same author, which had greater repercussions in the literary world. In September of this year, "People's Literature" also published the short story "New Young People from the Organization Department" by another young writer Wang Meng (Note: The original manuscript of the novel was revised by Qin Zhaoyang, and when it was published, the title was also changed by "A Young Man Comes from the Organization Department" was changed to "A New Young Man from the Organization Department" in Wang Meng's anthology and collection of essays after the "Cultural Revolution". For details about the revision of this short story by the author, see " About "New Young People from the Organization Department" ("People's Daily", May 8, 1957). This work, at the end of 1956 and the beginning of the following year, triggered heated debates in newspapers such as "Wenhui Po" and "Literary Learning". Before and after, "People's Literature" and some literary journals in various places published exploratory works on thought and art. They either had "new ideas" in their materials and themes, or provided new perspectives and expressions. The more important ones include: short stories "Director of the General Office" (Li Yi), "Clouds Falling in the Fields", "Xiyuan Grass" (Liu Shaotang), "When the Reeds Bloom White", "Gray Canopy Sail" (Li Zhun) , "Silence" (He Youhua, Qin Zhaoyang), "Joining the Party", "Mingjingtai" (Geng Longxiang), "Beauty" (Fengcun), "Hongdou" (Zong Pu), "Reelection" (Li Guowen), "Little Deep in the Alley" (Lu Wenfu); close-ups of "The Besieged Farm Chairman" (Bai Wei), "The Man Climbing on the Flagpole" (Geng Jian, Liu Xi), "The Fall of Ma Duan" (Li Qing); poetry "One and Eight" (Guo Xiaochuan, unpublished), "Grass and Trees" (Liushahe), "Jia Guixiang" (Shao Yanxiang); as well as dramas ("Sharing the Sufferings" by Yue Ye), essays, etc. Most of the above-mentioned works are short stories. This is because the literary period in which "Hundred Flowers" was advocated lasted only more than a year (there were also some unknown and frightening twists and turns during this period). Neither the time nor the extent of the writer's spiritual development is enough to integrate this adjustment into a larger-scale work. Another characteristic is that although there are "veteran" writers such as Fengcun and Qin Zhaoyang who wrote these works, the main ones are young authors who embarked on the literary path at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s. Unlike those writers in Yan'an in the early 1940s (Ding Ling, Wang Shiwei, Ai Qing, etc.) who wanted to rely on their established reputation and influence to rebuild their right to criticize life, young writers have more idealistic vitality. They acquired political beliefs and life ideals during the revolution, and also accepted the promise of realizing an ideal society. But they gradually see the distance between reality and ideals, and find cracks in new ideological forms and social systems. They inherited the "tradition" of "social responsibility" from their predecessors, and took over the slogans of "writing the truth" and "intervening in life" from their Soviet counterparts. Their creations, superficially, show two different trends. One is to require creation to strengthen its "intervention" in real politics and take more responsibility for exposing current ills and caring about social defects. These works that question and criticize the status quo aim to reawaken the critical consciousness of contemporary writers who have declined. Another trend requires literature to return to "art" and clean up the excessive social and political burdens placed on it. The latter trend tends towards the maintenance and exploration of neglected personal life and emotional values ??in content. These two seemingly opposite tendencies are actually related to each other in the writer's spiritual intention. The shortcomings of social life and the shortcomings of personal life are actually two sides of the coin. The rediscovery of personal value is also the basis for "innovators" to explore and think about the external world. The author of "On the Bridge Construction Site" has been engaged in news and publicity work for a long time. His language is not that full of variety and color, and his ability to capture the subtleties of images and emotions is not what he is good at.
But he is good at thinking, including passionate thinking and discussion, which is the main driving force to promote the story. The events described in "On the Bridge Construction Site" took place from the winter of 1955 to the autumn of 1956. It uses a reporter's interview method to describe the conflict between Luo Lizheng, a veteran cadre and captain of the bridge team, and Zeng Gang, a young engineer under his command, at the Yellow River bridge construction site. What the work endows Luo Lizheng with is the ideological and character traits of being conservative and maintaining the status quo. His work attitude and life goal is to spare no effort to "understand the leadership's intentions" in order to protect his status and interests. This conflicted with Zeng Gang, who did not stick to the rules and demanded change. Conflicts of this nature have become more acute in the "Internal Information of Our Newspaper" and "adopted an attitude of explicit and open challenge" (Note: Li Xifan's "What is the essence of the so-called "interference in life" and "realization"?" , "People's Literature" Issue 11, 1957). These works involve the relationship between individuals, groups, and society, and at the same time hint at the tendency of "essentialization" and "dogmatization" in this new society. Wang Meng's "New Young People from the Organization Department" tells the story of the "alienated people" in modern Chinese society in the 20th century. Lin Zhen, an "outsider" with simple and sincere beliefs, came to a new environment but could not integrate smoothly, which made him confused. The theme and plot pattern of the novel are quite similar to "In the Hospital" written by Ding Ling in Yan'an. Lu Ping, a young doctor who devoted herself to the revolution, came to the base hospital. She was unable to deal with the huge gap between imagination and reality. She had friction with the people around her. She also had a friend of the opposite sex to support her, but they seemed so weak. Of course, compared to Lin Zhen, Lu Ping had already seen the world, and Lin Zhen's pure illusion of life had faded to a great extent in her case. Her actions are more challenging and more calculated. "New Young People from the Organization Department" and other "life-intervention" creations use the narrators of young intellectuals full of romantic passion to describe the social "crisis" they observe; in some works, They also expressed their worries about the uncertain future and the "tragedy" of their "hero" being isolated and helpless. The meticulous and slightly sentimental short story "Red Bean" (Zong Pu) is a work with greater influence in another type of creation. It is also a story about the conflict between revolution and love. The love story between Jiang Mei and Qi Hong, a university student in Peking, is placed against the unturbulent social background of the 1940s. Personal life paths and "historical" choices are regarded as "isomorphic"; the main factor that restricts emotional destiny is different positions and attitudes towards real politics. Therefore, the protagonist transforms himself towards revolution in the mass movement, which also includes reflection on his fragile and misguided emotional experiences. But the novel contains more complex elements. There are internal contradictions in the narrative. The story unfolds in memories, and the narrator can be regarded as Jiang Mei, who has become a "party worker" to a considerable extent. However, the "reflection" of the narrative is not thorough. When the love experience of the person involved is involved in detail and emotion, he will more or less leave the "critical" position and sympathize with Jiang Mei's emotional entanglement. Therefore, joining the revolution and personal emotional life are not completely consistent in the novel. This kind of narrative split was already pointed out by critics at the time: "The author also wanted to... depict the petty bourgeois intellectual Jiang Mei who went through various complex inner struggles and finally subordinated her personal interests to the party under the education of the party. "Revolutionary Interests", "However, in fact, the author did not describe the psychological state of the petty bourgeoisie intellectuals from the standpoint of the working class. Once he entered the specific artistic description, the author's feelings were completely dominated by the petty bourgeoisie's plaintive and sentimental attitude. "Narrow and endless sentimentality of individualism dominates", "The author does not stand higher than Jiang Mei", and does not "see Jiang Mei's love in the past" "is not worthy of nostalgia and regret at all" (Note: Yao Wenyuan's " "Revisionist Thoughts and Creative Tendencies in Literature", "People's Literature", Issue 11, 1957). The above-mentioned creations were criticized after the summer of 1957, and their emergence was described by critics as "a countercurrent in creation" (Note: Li Xifan's "A countercurrent in creation starting from "Internal Information of this Newspaper"" , "China Youth Daily" September 17, 1957). More than twenty years later, in the changed political and literary environment, these "poisonous weeds" turned into "reblooming flowers" (Note: In 1979, Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House published this batch of works (mainly novels, Features) were compiled into a volume titled "Flowers Replayed" and they were renamed "Flowers". The editor stated in the "Foreword": "We started from "On the Bridge Construction Site" and "Inside this Newspaper". "News", "Organizing New Young People", "Reelection" and other works that 'intervene in life', we can see that Luo Lizheng, Chen Lizhu, Liu Shiwu and other various bureaucrats were portrayed in them, and they are still tarnishing our party today. We must actively fight against the honor of our party, and hinder our progress towards the four modernizations. We can also draw inspiration from characters such as Zeng Gang, Huang Jiaying, and Lin Zhen in these works. The will, the strength to fight.
"Deep in the Alley", "On the Cliff" and "Red Beans" are works about love. The author writes these so-called life stories of "housework, love between children" and "joys and sorrows"... to praise the noble revolution. Sentiment, praising the new society; lashing out the ugly souls of selfishness and criticizing the old world. "It can be seen that although the evaluation of these works will have opposite conclusions of "poisonous weeds" and "flowers", the theoretical basis and perspective of the critics are quite consistent.), have received completely opposite evaluations. And their authors , is also regarded to a large extent as a "cultural hero" who came back from suffering.