Back to 80: My Literary Life

Fenyang is a very ordinary small county located in the hinterland of Shanxi Province. There is a courtyard called No. 5 Luluba Street in the county. There are 7 or 8 households in the courtyard.

There are workers, farmers and soldiers living in the courtyard, some are hard-working, some are lazy, some are kind and good-looking but some are cowardly and poor, and some are arrogant, unreasonable and shameless.

Jia Zhangke was born here, spent his childhood and youth here, and has now entered his youth.

He is 22 years old this year.

Other boys at this age have already graduated from college, but he is still struggling to get into college.

This is the third time I have taken the college entrance examination.

In the first college entrance examination in 1990, he applied for the Journalism Department of Nankai University. However, just like the movies he would make in the future, there was no so-called "miracle" in his life.

Because his math score stretched his hips, Jia Zhangke failed in his attempt, so he followed his father's advice: take the art test because he didn't have to take the math test.

So he went on the road alone for the first time with 300 yuan in tuition and living expenses in his arms, and arrived at the first "distant place" in his life - Taiyuan, the provincial capital.

In order to apply for the Fine Arts Department of Shanxi University, Jia Zhangke entered a pre-examination class and studied the major diligently. In order to make money, I painted signs for restaurants and screen walls for villages.

I also saw copies of works by Van Gogh, Cézanne, Renoir, and Millet in airports, art galleries, and foreign language bookstores in provincial capital cities.

If he had followed this path, Jia Zhangke might have become a painter, but an accident changed his destiny.

There was a "Highway Department Cinema" near his school.

Once he watched a movie.

Through the lens, I saw the endless yellow land, silent people, and profound poverty.

He thought of the loess of his hometown, those faces, eyes, and expressions. Past life experiences kept knocking him, and at that moment he felt himself being awakened, and burst into tears throughout the scene.

This movie is called "Yellow Earth"

From that moment he decided: "I want to do this job, I want to learn from Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, and I want to work for Yandian."

In order to have a better chance of winning, he consulted many opinions and decided to save the country by taking a curveball. He decided to skip the more difficult directing department and apply for the literature department.

You must know that in high school, he was a literary young man who loved literature. He loved reading poetry, writing, and could also break dance. His novels were published in "Shanxi Literature", and he established the "Shapai Poetry Club" with his classmates. He has published three poetry collections, and the first poem he wrote was called "Kiss". At that time, he had never kissed.

The Shanxi Writers' Association even said that it doesn't matter if you can't get into college, the Writers' Association's door is open to you!

Jia Zhangke really didn't pass the exam. I failed to apply for Yandian for two consecutive years.

This made the young man feel a little hesitant.

Now during the summer vacation, he didn't go anywhere and locked himself at home all day long, reading magazines.

Of course, it's not "Story Club", "Friends", "Yi Lin" and the like. He considers himself a literary young man and wants to watch higher-end things.

What he watched today was "Yanhe", which was produced in Qin Province next door.

He had an inexplicable envy and confusion about Qin Province.

The name is very similar to our own province, and people from other provinces often cannot pronounce it. Moreover, there is only a Yellow River across the country. Even though the provinces that eat the same noodles and are equally poor, their culture is extremely developed.

In literature, there are four leading companies that dominate the literary world, and in the film world, Xi Film Studio leads the way. In addition, in the past two years, Shengshi Film and Television Company has emerged, producing several excellent film and television works.

Now he is reading a novel "Hello! Mr. Tree" by Minghua, one of the four major literary figures in Qin Province.

This is the story of a little guy.

He suddenly felt that the description in the novel seemed to be the place where he lived.

Gray air, gray town, gray people.

And this Mr. Tree, isn't he the one in the yard?

Although he doesn't squat in a tree for a day, he is cowardly, poor, and has a good face, but he reveals a kind of kindness in his bones - isn't this the same as Mr. Tree in the book?

Jia Zhangke suddenly had an impulse to put this novel on the big screen and film it in the future!

But when I think about the fact that I can't even get into the Yanden Literature Department, which is the best place to get admitted, I can't help but feel a little discouraged.

Then, he suddenly came up with the idea of ​​writing a letter to the author Minghua to express his worries and distress.

In this era, it is very common for readers to write letters to authors, not to mention that Jia Zhangke himself is a literary young man, so he jumped out of bed and came to the desk, took out the letter paper and started writing for several pages.

In my mind, I briefly introduced myself and told about the problems I was facing and the confusion in my heart.

"I like movies and literature, and yearn for the outside world. When I was a child, my father often took me to the top of the old city wall and looked out at the endless desolate emptiness outside the wall. I looked at the road and the passing cars. My eyes were different from usual. .

Later, as I grew up, I realized that there were two words in that look: sadness.

"One day, I was only in second grade at that time. I remember it very clearly. It was a Sunday morning when I was not in class and I was sweeping the yard. A distant and thick voice cut through the silence of time and space, like a call."

"I didn't know what it was at the time, but later I asked my dad and he said it was the sound of a train whistle. After I entered junior high school and got my first bicycle, the first thing I did was to ride it to dozens of miles. I went to the county next door to see the train. At that time, I also had a sense of direction in my life: go outside.

Every place has its own trend. In Fenyang, going to Tianjin to study at NTU is a trend.

My father had such a dream back then, but he was unable to realize it due to identity issues in a special era.

So, in the first year of the college entrance examination, I did not hesitate to apply for the Journalism Department of NTU.

I didn't pass the exam because my math score was too bad, so I followed my father's advice to study art and take the Shanxi Academy of Fine Arts exam, so I went to Taiyuan.

It was a week after Fang Minghua received this letter. After six days in Dalian, he took a ferry across the sea, then took a train to Qingdao, where he visited for three days, took a bus to Jinan, and then flew back to Xijing.

At this time, he was reading a letter from a reader published in "Yenjing Literature".

After his novel was published, it was immediately reprinted by magazines such as "Yenjing Literature" and "Selected Novellas", and a reader's letter was also published.

"I am a high school student who likes literature, but unfortunately I was not admitted to college, so I took over from my father and worked as a worker in a factory. After reading this article "Hello! Mr. Tree", I suddenly felt that the two pigs and the two pigs in the novel The third child, the distinguished friend.

Aren’t they just the old classmates, old friends and old colleagues around me?

Now our country seems to be developing too fast. They are working hard and running forward quickly. Soon, I can't catch up with them and they are passing by quickly. I am so powerless watching them running past.

They went to college, even studied for PhDs, went abroad, worked in public institutions, state-owned enterprises, worked as civil servants, and opened companies. I could only feel the embarrassment of not knowing what to do in the workplace.

I don’t have to kneel down if I make the “two pigs” go crazy, but how much difference can I make? I told a few nonsense and everyone was happy. If I went to borrow a car, who would care about me? What else can I do if the village chief takes over my land but say a few harsh words that don't hurt? I will sadly fantasize about overtaking in corners, like a magic stick,

When I read, write, create or take any other path, I imagine that you will come back to me in the end, just like the magic stick comes to you at the end, you who left me far behind will come back to me. I just try my best to maintain some dignity in front of everyone, and please don’t expose me. "

Fang Minghua was speechless after reading it, and then saw this letter from Fenyang, Shanxi.