Shen Congwen (1902- 1988), a representative figure of Beijing school novels, was originally named Shen Yuehuan, a secluded and mysterious native of Fenghuang County in western Hunan, with Miao and Han Tujia descent. /kloc-joined the army after graduating from high school at the age of 0/4, and saw the world was dark and disgusted. After being exposed to new literature, 1923 went to Beijing, but failed to enter the university. Embarrassed, he began to write under the pseudonym "Hugh Yun Yun". From 1930s, he began to construct his own "Xiangxi World" with novels, and completed a series of representative works such as Border Town and Long River. He examined the present situation of urban-rural confrontation at that time from the subjective perspective of "countryman" and criticized the ugliness of modern civilization in the process of entering China. This concept, which is contrary to the masters of new literature, greatly enriches the expression range of modern novels.
There are more than 80 books created by Shen Congwen in his life, which is the largest number of books among modern writers. Early novels include Oranges, After the Rain and Others, Love of the Witch and so on. The basic theme has been seen, but the urban and rural clues are still unclear, the description of gender relations is shallow, and the purity of literature is poor. After 1930s, his works have been very mature, including Dragon Ball, Hotels and Others, Zhou Shi, Tiger Boy, A Black Mini-History, Scenery under the Moon, Eight Horses, Entering Kunming Collection, Selected Literary Novels and New and New.
From works to theory, Shen Congwen later completed a series of contrasting urban life forms, such as Xiangxi, Beauty of Rural Life Form and Synthesis of Critical Structure, and put forward his philosophy of "harmony between man and nature", that is, based on nature and returning to nature. The healthy and perfect human nature represented by "Xiangxi", a "beautiful, healthy and natural life form that does not contradict human nature", is exactly the content of all his creations. (Hui Yu was compiled and written according to Qian Liqun's Thirty Years of Modern Literature in China)
About the author:
Shen Congwen (1902- 1988), a representative figure of Beijing school novels, was originally named Shen Yuehuan, a secluded and mysterious native of Fenghuang County in western Hunan, with Miao and Han Tujia descent. /kloc-joined the army after graduating from high school at the age of 0/4, and saw the world was dark and disgusted. After being exposed to new literature, 1923 went to Beijing, but failed to enter the university. Embarrassed, he began to write under the pseudonym "Hugh Yun Yun". From 1930s, he began to construct his own "Xiangxi World" with novels, and completed a series of representative works such as Border Town and Long River. He examined the present situation of urban-rural confrontation at that time from the subjective perspective of "countryman" and criticized the ugliness of modern civilization in the process of entering China. This concept, which is contrary to the masters of new literature, greatly enriches the expression range of modern novels.
There are more than 80 books created by Shen Congwen in his life, which is the largest number of books among modern writers. Early novels include Oranges, After the Rain and Others, Love of the Witch and so on. The basic theme has been seen, but the urban and rural clues are still unclear, the description of gender relations is shallow, and the purity of literature is poor. After 1930s, his works have been very mature, including Dragon Ball, Hotels and Others, Zhou Shi, Tiger Boy, A Black Mini-History, Scenery under the Moon, Eight Horses, Entering Kunming Collection, Selected Literary Novels and New and New.
From works to theory, Shen Congwen later completed a series of contrasting urban life forms, such as Xiangxi, Beauty of Rural Life Form and Synthesis of Critical Structure, and put forward his philosophy of "harmony between man and nature", that is, based on nature and returning to nature. The healthy and perfect human nature represented by "Xiangxi", a "beautiful, healthy and natural life form that does not contradict human nature", is exactly the content of all his creations. (Hui Yu was compiled and written according to Qian Liqun's Thirty Years of Modern Literature in China)
About the author:
Shen Congwen (1902- 1988), a representative figure of Beijing school novels, was originally named Shen Yuehuan, a secluded and mysterious native of Fenghuang County in western Hunan, with Miao and Han Tujia descent. /kloc-joined the army after graduating from high school at the age of 0/4, and saw the world was dark and disgusted. After being exposed to new literature, 1923 went to Beijing, but failed to enter the university. Embarrassed, he began to write under the pseudonym "Hugh Yun Yun". From 1930s, he began to construct his own "Xiangxi World" with novels, and completed a series of representative works such as Border Town and Long River. He examined the present situation of urban-rural confrontation at that time from the subjective perspective of "countryman" and criticized the ugliness of modern civilization in the process of entering China. This concept, which is contrary to the masters of new literature, greatly enriches the expression range of modern novels.
There are more than 80 books created by Shen Congwen in his life, which is the largest number of books among modern writers. Early novels include Oranges, After the Rain and Others, Love of the Witch and so on. The basic theme has been seen, but the urban and rural clues are still unclear, the description of gender relations is shallow, and the purity of literature is poor. After 1930s, his works have been very mature, including Dragon Ball, Hotels and Others, Zhou Shi, Tiger Boy, A Black Mini-History, Scenery under the Moon, Eight Horses, Entering Kunming Collection, Selected Literary Novels and New and New.
From works to theory, Shen Congwen later completed a series of contrasting urban life forms, such as Xiangxi, Beauty of Rural Life Form and Synthesis of Critical Structure, and put forward his philosophy of "harmony between man and nature", that is, based on nature and returning to nature. The healthy and perfect human nature represented by "Xiangxi", a "beautiful, healthy and natural life form that does not contradict human nature", is exactly the content of all his creations. (Hui Yu was compiled and written according to Qian Liqun's Thirty Years of Modern Literature in China)
The transformation of human nature in the native land,
Xiangxi in 1930s was an ancient world at that time, perhaps because of its history and unique geographical and cultural environment. It is precisely because of its unique historical culture and geographical environment that Xiangxi has been able to create a literary master and artist like Shen Congwen. It also made China's literary paradise in 1930s no longer lonely. Shen Congwen opened up the ancient Xiangxi for China people and the world, and Xiangxi also perfected the literary attitudes of Mr. Shen and Mr. Shen with his great homeland feelings and national tolerance.
In Mr. Shen's works, we can read many images and sympathy and tolerance for multiple contradictions, which is a deep nostalgia for my hometown and a sincere and affectionate praise for the people in my hometown. It is a high praise and eulogy for the beauty of human nature, and it is also a sympathy and retention for the beauty of human nature in a hypocritical and dirty world; There is more understanding and respect for death and passing, which is an absolute conversion.
Xiangxi Complex —— Xiangxi Perspective
Shen Congwen, 1902, a native of Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, his grandfather Shen Hongfu. "When he was about 22 years old, he used to be a guard in Zhaotong, Yunnan. Tongzhi was the governor of Guizhou for two years. " His father and uncles used to be soldiers, but they didn't become famous. Because his father spent most of his childhood in Beijing and was negligent in discipline. He often skips classes and travels around his hometown, so he has seen everything about life and nature. As he wrote in his Autobiography of Congwen: "Because the daytime is too wild, I look everywhere, listen everywhere and smell everywhere: the smell of dead snakes, rotten grass, the smell of butchers, and the smell of earthen kilns where bowls are cooked after rain. Although I can't describe it in words, I can tell it clearly. The sound of bats, the sigh of scalpers when butchers thrust knives into their throats, the sound of rhubarb-throated snakes hidden in caves in the sky, and the whispers of fish poking and poking on the water in the dark all reached my ears with different weights. I remember it so clearly. " [1] Yes, "even if people die, there is no trace of the long past, but the smell and taste are more fragile but more vital; Although more illusory, more lasting and more loyal, they still pin their memories, expectations and hopes on the vague past. They have almost unrecognizable clues, and they firmly and indefatigably support the whole building of memory. " [2]
/kloc-at the age of 0/3, Shen Congwen, the descendant of the general, got the consent of his mother and entered the preparatory technical class held locally. He didn't learn any military knowledge in the class, but he made friends with an old coach named Master Teng. This rattan master seems to be a character who ran out of a narrow novel. He really has eighteen kinds of martial arts and can do anything. No wonder 13-year-old Shen Congwen admired him deeply. After about two years, Shen Congwen got the permission of the client and had to be stationed in Chenzhou (Yuanling) in the name of supplementary soldiers, and was put in Huaihua four months later. After only 16 months in this small town, he has seen 700 people beheaded. Later, he followed different troops and dispersed to Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou. In addition to military duties, he also served as a policeman, responsible for taxation and proofreading.
During this period of wandering around the rivers and lakes (he is a frequent visitor to Yuan's dirty boat on the water in Xiangxi), Shen Congwen made friends with officers, bandits, prostitutes, sailors and other people of all kinds. Therefore, at an early age, I have been exposed to the erotic, degenerate and heroic side of the adult world. Some of the events he experienced seemed very evil, but from another perspective, they were beautiful expressions of the human spirit. These events left a deep impression on him. Later, in Autobiography of Congwen and many short stories, he recorded the most memorable characters and events. For example, in "Three Men and One Woman", a young tofu shop owner dug up a woman he secretly loved from the grave after her death and carried her back to the cave to sleep for three days and three nights. Later, he was sentenced to death after the incident, and he did not regret it at all. He even said, "Very beautiful, very beautiful."
This wandering time is very important for Shen Congwen's later writing life, not only because he can gain a lot of knowledge and wonderful experiences, but also, most importantly, he has increased his understanding of history and facts. At that time, the Revolution of 1911 was in full swing in China.
In this way, bit by bit accumulation and in-depth thinking, he began his own artistic creation process of "emotional inflammation and its treatment". However, the inflammation of his poems was not inspired by the turmoil of the times, but the loss of human nature, which condensed into a colorful artistic pearl on a neglected Mongolian landscape. In essays such as Autobiography of Congwen, Essays on Xiangxing and Xiangxi, we always feel that Xiangxi is a mysterious and human world, such as Border Town, Chenzhou and Huaihua Town. , flashing the original mystery and specificity of the border area, emitting an amazing and intoxicating virgin land atmosphere. There are some ancient customs rich in games, and there are several people's soul fossils. If Shen Congwen doesn't write them, I'm afraid it will be difficult for future generations to trace them. At the same time, the mystery of Xiangxi is closely related to the particularity of the nation. The fantasy emotions of Chu people in history must be nurtured in this environment in order to grow into moving poems. If you want to save it, you also need this environment. Therefore ... Shen Congwen wants to write more, just as he once said: "A person has a person's destiny, I know. Some things in the past will always bite my heart. As soon as I say it, you think it's a story. No one can understand what kind of mood a person uses when he is suppressed by these hundreds of stories in his life. " Describing Xiangxi, exposing the mystery of Xiangxi to the world and retaining the disappearing beauty of human nature have become a fate and a doomed mission of Shen Congwen.
Shen Congwen deeply loves the land and people in his hometown. He loves them because of their simplicity, which has not been destroyed by Confucian orthodoxy, and because of their jade-like political simplicity, which has not been distorted by urban civilization. He is so persistent and devoted to this pure beauty: "Where is our hometown? Anyone who studies history will know that it is the place where' Wuximan' is located. This place is still very contemptuous of people who grew up in the city until now. If an honest personality close to animal nature is an accumulation of primitive national energy, then we will never be smart, never be bad at planning, and never lack the same interests and ideas as an urbanite. We just don't need to be humiliated because we grew up in this desolate and remote place. " [3]
Sad pastoral, warm elegy
Shen Congwen's local feelings are the combination of rational choice and romantic feelings. It describes the frontier people with simple ancient customs or mixed gods and people, aiming at "trying to record the higher wisdom and perfect morality of this nation with extremely special social organizations." [4] This kind of "goodwill record" is opposite to the alienation and degradation of human nature in the semi-feudal and semi-colonial urban society he witnessed. Judging from his life track from the countryside to the city, he feels that "the noble qualities of ownership such as enthusiasm, courage and honesty have completely disappeared." [5] This rational choice is not without reality and rationality, because Xiangxi, which it describes, is a place where Han, Miao and Tujia live together, with a special patriarchal society and a strong legacy of clan system.
Liu Xiwei called "Border Town" a masterpiece of pastoral, a pearl jade that never grinds. [6] Yes, this is a sad and ethereal human love tragedy. However, among these people with good human nature and natural nature, it is impossible to distinguish the obstruction of social system and civilization. He is full of mystery and fatalism of primitive human beings, and naturally arranges people's fate. People have no complaints, no Aidit, conform to nature and blend in it, forming a life form that is detached from the world and forming a final elegant lyric poem. The simple local poetry is lost in the strong historical torrent, which makes it inevitable that the artistic conception of nostalgic novels is "extremely soft and melancholy." [7] Nostalgia exudes earthy flavor. At the junction of soil and social history, the writer's feelings have undergone a qualitative sublimation, from the melancholy of human nature to the sadness and sorrow of society, which makes his works shine with valuable democratic spirit in the tragic experience of sympathizing with the human nature of the lower class workers.
"Man is immortal, not because he is the only creature that leaves a continuous voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit of sympathy, sacrifice and hard work." [8] Shen Congwen is like this, feeling the soul of Xiangxi nationality and the depths of history. Looking at Long River again, it is more obvious that the position of Miao people gave way to what American scholar Jin called "localism". The novel shows the opposition and conflict between Xiangxi as a whole and the outside world. The background of the story is the Xiangxi Incident which happened before and after the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. However, this background is diluted in the novel and only vaguely revealed in the dialogue between the characters. "Freshness" is a symbol of the central power of the Kuomintang. The security captain from the city is the embodiment of He Jian's power and the boss's "family man", that is, Chen Quzhen. Through the mouth of the characters, the novel makes different value judgments on the four forces involved in the Xiangxi incident. Shen Congwen affirmed the Miao Rebel Army. Here, what Shen Congwen pursues is "the' invariability' and' change' of the lives of some ordinary people here, as well as all the joys and sorrows in the multiplication and division of the two phases" [9]. Here, "Chang" refers to the unchanging way of life in western Hunan, and "change" is a heterogeneous cultural factor from the outside world in the process of rapid social change. The narrative focus of "Long River" is the native people in western Hunan living in a natural way, and their responses and choices in the face of life disasters. Whether it is the innocent soul and its calmness in the face of suffering, the heroic temperament of the old sailor and the three sunspots who want to compete with foreign forces, or their longing for the future democratic political ideal, all mark the life form of the indigenous people in western Hunan. He used the "changes" of social history to set off the "normality" of the simple and quiet rural independent life form, and wrote the psychological pressure of the "new life movement" of political authorities on the stormy Xiangxi society by comedy, vaguely revealing the omen of tragedy, so that the whole film was shrouded in a sense of historical mission. The writer eulogizes a beautiful dream that is about to die with the enthusiasm of a pure artist and the tenacity of simple moral beauty.
At the same time, what Shen Congwen feels from this "unchanging" and "changing" is not the "changing" of the "impermanent" ghost described in Lu Xun's "Remembering Things Past". Lu Xun felt the sadness after warmth in his hometown, while Shen Congwen felt a long and melancholy warmth from those lovely Miao people in western Hunan. If a person feels that he is always in his mind, then he will not feel that he is in a stable cage, but that he and the cage are involved in an endless jump, trying to get out of the cage and reach the outside world. At the same time, he will hear a voice echoing around him, not the echo of the outside world, but the voice of the heart. Shen Congwen realized this leap and * * * in the sublimation of human nature. Found the conversion of the soul.
Divine conversion
Kundera said, "History is as light as an unbearable personal life, as light as a feather, as light as flying dust, as light as something that will disappear tomorrow." Perhaps, after Shen Congwen understood this lightness, he was so stingy with the subtle changes in life and history. Even though "he has only been in this town for 16 months, he has already seen 700 people beheaded." He still hopes to turn this cruelty into the only beauty left in human nature. Therefore, death and death in his works are deeply moved by the writer's compassion and sympathy for human nature. "I don't believe in fate and don't recognize the status quo, but I respect time." [10] Then the author is also respecting the death of human beings and individuals caused by the incident. The hero and heroine in Little Drama under the Moon committed suicide by taking poison for love. At the moment they die, they are still playing and believe in this love forever. This is the most sacred love and perfection that is not illusory and defiled. He did not describe the pain and regret of the deceased in an extremely vivid way like many writers before and after him. His handwriting is simple and elegant, and his pen is very accurate, and the loser dies.
A wandering lamp, he attached to and escaped from the world under the lamp. Lights refer to the human world, like an ancient story, warm and desolate ... distant lights, such as distant mountains, distant waters, distant villages and distant trees, are pure poems because of their distance. ..... "This is like life, this is life. What I need is absolute conversion and seeing God from conversion. " [1 1] The fleeting sigh of life makes the mood empty, and the approach of death makes life a ship without a rudder. Life is like electricity, everything becomes empty in an instant. Therefore, the trajectory of individual life cannot be connected into an endless river. "Xiangxi experience, in Shen Congwen's heart, finally turned into an unyielding love. The love of Lao Huang in the depths of time, the innocence and madness of the past have also become the symbol of folk spirit in Shen Congwen's heart. Shen Congwen must prove its value through death. Even if he dies, he will look at the river where tears and love have been buried for many years. All the memories belonging to the folk China will become eternal because of Shen Congwen's death. " [ 12]
And he, the ripples on the water, have already disappeared with the previous gust of wind. He is an orchid tree that leaves the slope in a crack in the rock and has long been covered by wild smoke and weeds. That year. The mountains are silent all day, the sun is getting dark, and the pool is lonely; There is no wind, no sorrow because of caring, no rain, no rain because of missing.
I don't care what kind of high-rise mansion I had before my death, as long as Quxiang still has his old residence;
I don't care how vivid Four Treasures of the Study is, as long as the world of mortals still has its fragrance.
1988, Shen Congwen died in Beijing and was buried in his hometown of Phoenix. A crumpled stone standing on the side of the mountain city, on the bank of the Tuojiang River and under the Danya Cliff made his tombstone and resting place. Mountain is the root of the mountain, water is the water to forget the year, and stone is the third stone. Shen Congwen, who came from a tired swimming, drew the last full stop of his life and completed his sacred conversion.