1980 My literary era

November passed by in a hurry, and on the day at the end of the month, Lin Weimin received a package from the United States, which contained a book and a letter.

The book is a sample book of "Jinling Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II", and the letter was written by Zhang Chunru, thanking Lin Weimin for his help in the creation process of this work.

Lin Weimin opened the book. In addition to the preface and conclusion, the book was divided into two parts and ten chapters in total. The five chapters in the first part were about Zhang Chunru’s interview process and the restoration of the Jinling Massacre. The second part was about It was what happened after the Holocaust.

The English content of the full text did not affect Lin Weimin's reading. He read every word in the book carefully. Although he knew many of the contents in the book, when they were summarized in a book like this, the shock was still extremely strong.

This is just like everyone in later generations knows about the crimes of aggression committed by Mu Bang against China during the Anti-Japanese War, but when people actually visit the Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Jinling Massacre, they will still be shocked, saddened, and angry.

Distance creates beauty, but distance also dilutes feelings.

After spending three days reading the book, Lin Weimin called Zhang Chunru with a heavy heart.

When he came up, he did not say any polite words, but directly asked Zhang Chunru: "Ms. Zhang, I hope your work can be introduced into the country."

Zhang Chunru was a little surprised and explained: "I wrote this book for Americans and foreigners who don't know about the Jinling Massacre."

"I know your original intention. In fact, I had the same idea as you at the beginning, and I also thought this was a book for foreigners.

But in the past few days, I have read this book carefully, and I found that I overlooked a problem, or that I entered a misunderstanding.

The country has not relaxed its national awareness of the history of the War of Resistance and the Jinling Massacre. Our children have been exposed to these things since they were in junior high school.

But it is precisely because of this that we have problems.

Because when I look back on the education I received, apart from the historical academic research materials that few people care about, the knowledge in history textbooks, and the literary and artistic works describing the Anti-Japanese War period, I have seen very few true records about that era. , there are even fewer books specifically about the Jinling Massacre.

Therefore, I think it is very necessary to introduce this work to China so that domestic readers can also see it. "

After listening to Lin Weimin's words, Zhang Chunru understood what he meant and said, "I don't have any problem. This is also a good thing."

"Okay, then it's settled."

After talking about the introduction of the works, Zhang Chunru said: "Mr. Lin, thank you."

Zhang Chunru previously mailed Lin Weimin a sample book of "Jinling Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II". This book is not yet available in the United States, but recently Zhang Chunru discovered that it appeared in some well-known literary magazines and newspapers in the United States. Advertisements and advertorials for her novel.

At first she thought that the publishing house was helping her with publicity, but later after chatting with the editor, she found out that the publishing house was doing publicity, but it was not willing to spend money. The media that the publicity funds could cover was far less than what was shown now. .

If the book was already on the market, Zhang Chunru might think that this was the influence of the book itself, but now her book hasn't been on the market yet?

With confusion, Zhang Chunru inquired about several media outlets and found out that these were all produced by FSG Publishing House.

FSG Publishing House is the leading publishing house in the American literary world and is very famous, but Zhang Chunru has no connection with it. She immediately thought that FSG Publishing House had published many novels by Lin Weimin.

Although she had not confirmed it with FSG Publishing House, Zhang Chunru was sure that Lin Weimin was behind this.

"Compared with what you have done, these are just insignificant help." Lin Weimin said.

Seeing that Lin Weimin did not deny it, Zhang Chunru thanked him again.

"There is no need to say thank you. There are some things I want to remind you. After the publication of your book, it is likely to arouse attacks from some right-wing forces. You must be prepared."

"Thank you, I'll keep an eye on it."

Lin Weimin heard that Zhang Chunru didn't seem to realize the impact this incident might have on her, but it was hard to persuade her because it hadn't happened yet.

"If you need any help, you can contact me at any time."

Lin Weimin warned again before hanging up the phone.

After communicating with Zhang Chunru, Lin Weimin held a special meeting on the introduction of "Jinling Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II" and requested that the translation, review and editing of the novel be completed as soon as possible while ensuring quality.

There is a separate meeting for the introduction of a book, and the president presides over it. This level of attention is rare in the Chinese Literature Society.

Everyone didn't understand it at first, but they understood it after reading the manuscript of "The Jinling Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II".

Such a book that tells the history of the suffering of the Chinese people during the Anti-Japanese War has been published in foreign countries. How could China not publish it?

The Chinese Literature Society is fully responsible for this.

While the Chinese Publishing House was intensively planning the domestic publication of "Jinling Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II", the book was already on the market in the United States.

Zhang Chunru is not well-known in the United States. Before "Jin", she had published "The Mystery of Qian Xuesen, the Father of Chinese Missiles" in the United States, which received some praise, but only in a small area.

However, the situation after the publication of "Jin" was completely different from what happened to Zhang Chunru's first book "Zhong". Thanks to the publicity campaign before the publication of the work, this book was placed on the most conspicuous shelves after it landed in major bookstores in the United States. position.

Many readers who entered the bookstore to buy books could see it at a glance. Some readers picked up the book and opened it, and found the preface written by You Lin Weimin, which aroused the interest of these readers.

“On December 13, 1937, Jinling, the capital of the Republic of China under the rule of GMD, fell into the hands of the mud-bombing invaders. For Ni-bombing, this was a decisive turning point in the war between the two countries. The most glorious victory achieved by Chiang Kai-shek's army after half a year of fighting. For the Chinese army, their heroic defense of Shanghai failed in the end, with the most elite troops suffering heavy casualties, and the fall of Jinling was a painful and even fatal defeat..."

Lin Weimin's preface did not loudly denounce and condemn the brutal behavior of the mud-bombing invaders from the very beginning. Instead, he told the war situation that took place in China in 1937 in a straightforward manner. Following his preface, readers gradually got into the flames of that war. Turbulent times.

It was not until the second half of the preface that Lin Weimin revealed the serious disasters caused by this war to the Chinese people. The shocking figures he listed made readers unable to help but tremble with fear.

It is difficult for Americans who have never experienced a large-scale war to understand the tragedy of the Great Patriotic War, nor can they understand the perversion and cruelty in the bones of the Nihong people. Just one preface shocked countless readers.

The deep feelings brought by the preface also gave these readers the motivation to read the book "Gold".

In the second week after its release, "Kim" successfully entered the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list and was widely welcomed by American readers.

As an American-Chinese female writer, Zhang Chunru was not well-known in the American publishing industry before "Jin". However, the publication of "Jin" attracted the attention of the American publishing industry to Zhang Chunru in a short period of time.

At the same time, an article titled "Humanity Should Not Forget" was quietly published in the New York Times.

"... Generally speaking, the mainstream society in the United States is very familiar with the history of the persecution of Jews by the German Nazis in World War II, but has limited knowledge of the history of the invasion of China and neighboring countries by mud bombs in World War II. This is due to the fact that the United States and other Western countries’ indifference to Asia’s World War II history.

"Jinling Massacre: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II" is the only book in English to discuss the Jinling Massacre so far. The book not only narrates the sad history of the past that is unknown to Western countries, but more importantly, profoundly reveals It reveals the ugly humanity of the aggressors, criticizes the phenomenon of racial discrimination in human beings, and discusses the human rights issues of survivors, reflecting the pure enthusiasm for safeguarding human rights and justice.

This book will have a great contribution and far-reaching impact on the United States and other Western countries’ understanding of the history of the invasion of China during the Asian battlefields of World War II. Asian people have not forgotten that history, and humans should not forget that history. It is the foundation of human civilization. of a scar. May there be no more wars in the world and may there be world peace! "

The New York Times has always been known for its serious and conservative style. The page is so gray that it is also called the "Gray Lady" by American readers.

"Humanity Should Not Forget" is published on Page A of the New York Times, which usually publishes daily news, mainly political and social events. "Humanity Should Not Forget" is a book review and is placed here It doesn’t quite fit the style of The New York Times.

But many readers understood it when they saw the author's name of the article - "Lin WeiMin".

In the United States, there are many words related to Chinese culture, such as Kongfu, Confucianism, and General Tso’s Chicken.

But in recent years, a word composed entirely of Chinese pinyin has appeared frequently in American media and has become a name well known to countless Americans.

As a foreign writer, Lin Weimin's popularity in the United States is not inferior to that of most well-known writers in the United States, and is directly catching up with those internationally renowned literary giants.

Over the years, there have been many news reports about Lin Weimin in the American media, but he has published very few articles in the American media. He only wrote a few when he was promoting the works of his friend Richard Yates. book review.

For the vast majority of American readers, even if they have not read Lin Weimin's books, they must have heard of his name.

If such a world-renowned writer wants to publish an article in a newspaper, he must be treated well. It is not surprising that the article is placed on page A.

The New York Times is one of the newspapers with the largest circulation in the United States. Seeing Lin Weimin publish an article in it naturally aroused the interest of many readers.

What was the reason for this famous writer to write an article in the newspaper? In this way, "Jinling Massacre: The Forgotten Catastrophe of World War II" has entered the attention of more American readers.

Starting from its third week on the market, "Kim" has once again risen to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

In less than a month, the book's sales exceeded 100,000 copies, becoming one of the best-selling non-fiction works in the American publishing industry in 1997.

With the hot sales of "Gold", Zhang Chunru's fame in the United States also expanded rapidly. The publishing house began to arrange for Zhang Chunru to take the book to various places in the United States for signings and speeches.

As the first book in English to specifically introduce the Jinling Massacre, "Jin" also aroused great repercussions in the American historical and literary circles. More than half a month after the book was released, it appeared in many newspapers and magazines discussion article about this book.

It has only been one month since the release of "Gold", and the response it aroused in the United States has gradually become a sensation.