Back to 80: My Literary Life

But at the end of the last chapter of his book "My Twenty Years of Literature", it ends with Dong Qian's interview.

There is this sentence above.

Today is Saturday, and it’s Fang Minghua’s turn to host a reading salon at the Xuecheng Bookstore.

Today we’re talking about poetry.

Fang Minghua has not paid attention to poetry for a long time.

Although he didn't pay attention, the poetry world was still very lively, and there were especially many awards.

"Poetry Reference Ten Year Award" As the name suggests, this award is the summary and praise of the poets and their works who have performed best in the ten years since the publication was launched. The special thing about this award is that it does not award cash, but only provides spiritual encouragement. Due to the huge influence of "Poetry Reference" among the people, it is still cherished and respected by poets.

"The Third "Stars" Cross-Century Poetry Award, "Times Literary Award New Poetry Award.

There are also various poetry gatherings.

The annual "Youth Poetry Club" has been held for more than 20 years since 1980, as well as the "Hengshan Poetry Club", "The Third (Guilin) ​​International Chinese Poets Pen Club" and the Global Chinese Poets Poetry Club.

And of course there is the debate between "folk writing" and "intellectual writing" that has been going on for several years.

These have nothing to do with Fang Minghua. Even if someone was invited to participate, Fang Minghua always declined.

Today he is lecturing on a poetry collection just published this year - "Selected Poems of Lu Li".

The poems in this collection were not written in recent years, and Lu Li himself is an old poet, born in 1914 and died in 1999.

This collection of poems was published in order to commemorate him and selected outstanding poems from his past poems. Fang Minghua selected several representative works from them for analysis and feelings.

"Today, I will focus on Mr. Lu's short poem "Soil"."

There is a small poem written on the small blackboard beside Fang Minghua:

Always think of yourself as a pearl

I am always afraid of the pain of being buried

Treat yourself like dirt

Let everyone trample you into a path.

"Anyone who has a little knowledge of modern poetry knows that" for most modern poetry, it is an amplification of extremely personal individual experience. Because new poetry (modern poetry) is essentially an art form produced under the trend of Western individualism. It focuses on the ultimate expression of individual experience and personal emotions, and has the opposite pursuit of traditional collective emotional resonance. "

"Why does Tang poetry have a profound impact on all Chinese people? To put it simply and crudely, it can be said that Tang poetry and Song poetry reflect and express the common collective emotions of us Chinese people and are our common spiritual home."

"And this little poem talks about collectivism." Fang Minghua pointed to the poem on the blackboard and talked: "Why did the author write such a little poem? We must understand the background of this poem."

"The background of this poem is that in 1938, the author traveled to Yan'an and plunged into the melting pot of revolution. There are only four sentences in the whole poem, among which "treat yourself as clay" and contribute everything you have to the collective (country). This feeling is The sincere poet Lu Li gained a real sense of reality in the new living environment of Yan'an. Behind him are the life ideals and value standards unique to that special era. The poet devoted himself to the fiery revolutionary struggle at that time, willing to make "mud" and let everyone "step on a road", which enriched the country. It can be said that the attitude towards life with a sense of social responsibility has influenced generations of Chinese people.”

"Here's a little poem. It's the other extreme."

Fang Minghua said and wrote another poem on the blackboard.

"I have been alone since childhood"

taking care of

stars of the ages

This is written by the young poet Bai Helin. It is extremely refined. Through a dozen words, the poet uses an eclectic and modern poetry form to pay tribute and reproduce something similar to the famous Tang Dynasty poet Chen Ziang's "Dengyouzhou Taige" to a certain extent. ". As everyone knows this poem, I won't write it here. "

"Although the above two poems are both short poems, they represent two completely different writing cores, and can even be said to be two mutually contradictory emotions and writing positions. What is commendable is that these two modern poems, included in our Most of the poetic works left in the history of contemporary poetry writing actually inherit the thousands-year-old poetic lineage of our farming nation, and are also partially compatible with the individual orientation and respect for modern poetry (the mainstream of Western literature after the industrial revolution). trend."

After the literary salon ended, the readers discussed and left. Finally, Fang Minghua went downstairs and Lei Xuecheng came up to greet him.

"Minghua, take a break and drink some tea."

Fang Minghua nodded.

After making tea, the two of them sat in Lei Xuecheng's room and drank. Through the window, they could see the crowds of people coming and going on the street.

The two chatted.

"Minghua, I watched the program on "Hundred Schools of Forum". Why did you also reveal that I evaded fares and went to Yanjing to meet Bei Dao?"

Fang Minghua smiled slightly after hearing this.

In the spring of 1981, Fang Minghua won the second prize in the "Poetry Essay Contest" organized by "Harvest" magazine. On the train to Yanjing to receive the award, he ran into Lei Xuecheng. He evaded the fare and went to Yanjing just to meet his idol: Winning First Prize North Island.

That was the first time the two met.

After hearing this, Fang Minghua took a sip of tea and replied slowly: "I have saved face for you. I didn't mention your name and just said that you are a friend of mine. And in the lecture, I didn't mention that you brought a little girl with you. The fact that you went to our magazine library in the middle of the night to steal books is already to give you face."

"Don't, don't, don't do it." Lei Xuecheng was shocked and couldn't help looking outside the door. A middle-aged woman in her forties was calculating something with a calculator at the counter. It was Lei Xuecheng's wife, the owner of the store.

It was the winter of 1983. Fang Minghua was still the doorman of the magazine. One night, it was his turn to be on duty and he caught a book thief, Lei Xuecheng. There was a little girl next to him. It was later explained that she was his neighbor's girl.

But she was not his current wife.

Fang Minghua laughed, and Lei Xuecheng laughed too.

Those were ridiculous things done when they were young, and now they are particularly interesting when they think back.

"Hey, Minghua, did you hear that "Harvest" magazine is going to offer a "million-dollar award" for writers? Haha, this bonus is more than the bonus of your World Chinese Literature Award." Lei Xuecheng changed the subject again.

Fang Minghua did not answer but asked: "Do you think it is credible?"

"It was said on TV that Chen Yongxin, deputy editor-in-chief of Harvest, talked about the plan to offer a "million-dollar prize" in response to reporters' questions."

Fang Minghua shook his head after hearing this.

"Is it interesting? The idea of ​​one million is obviously out of touch with China's national conditions. It is definitely not a good idea to give a young writer who has not yet debuted one million to let him "rise to heaven". And those successful young and middle-aged prides must have already married business, and one million is a passing guest for them.

"What about old writers? They are supported by the country, and they will not spend one million. One million is another "great leap forward" for China's literary world. Our Chinese literature award of 200,000 is considered relatively high, and a one million prize is just a gimmick. "

Lei Xuecheng also nodded after hearing this and sighed: "Even a magazine like Harvest has become impetuous. "