In the usual impression, Zhang Jie has a personality, has a chivalrous spirit, and even sometimes makes people unable to get off the stage, and she is more gentle in life.
Zhang Jie
Zhang Jie, the only famous writer to win the Mao Dun Literature Prize twice so far, died in the United States on January 21 at the age of 85. Today, the China Writers Network and other media published news, which immediately aroused a lot of attention in the literary circles and the vast number of readers, although it is not said to "brush the screen", it is also hotly discussed.
Zhang Jie has lived with her daughter in the United States for nearly ten years, and her house in Beijing has also been sold, and it should be said that she has left the Chinese literary scene, but just as she has not forgotten her old friends, everyone has not forgotten her. Writers gathered, especially with her contemporaries or later, to occasionally spy on her, though there was little news. Whoever has occasional contact must ask in detail with the sitting monarchs, and then recall this beautiful and intellectual, distinctive personality, and undiminished literary heroine who has experienced wind and frost.
Gong Zizhen gave his friend Huang Rongshi a poem with a sentence that "it is not a bitter reputation for everyone, but also a madman and a gentle man", and after more than a hundred years, it is also true that Zhang Jie was used. In the usual impression, Zhang Jie has a personality, a chivalrous spirit, and even sometimes makes people unable to get off the stage, and there are many such stories. But what remains in my memory is her gentleness as an elder and a woman.
In 2008, near the Mid-Autumn Festival, Comrade Jin Binghua, then secretary of the party group of the China Writers Association, asked me to send Zhang Jie a mooncake of Shanghai Xinghualou. I went to the Beijing Wenlian dormitory, which is located near Tiananmen Square, and knocked on the door and entered Zhang Jie's house. At that time, I did not work long from the Shanghai Propaganda Department to the China Writers Association, and as a professional of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature, I had read a lot of works, and seeing writers with my own eyes was also one of my dreams. Qian Zhongshu's famous saying that eating eggs without seeing the hen is modest, but it cannot be taken seriously, and it is still very important to know people's papers. Out of excitement, I actually ghosted God and went straight to the bathroom to wash my hands. To explain my actions outside of this procedure, I said, walking outside for a long time, going into the house to wash your hands and clean up. It was originally an excuse to avoid embarrassment, but it was unexpectedly happy and praised by Zhang Jie. She said that this habit is good, Xiao Li is clean, and I wash my hands first when I enter the room. The mooncake was put down, and Secretary Jin's greetings were conveyed, and a few small talks were made, and it was said that the house was spoken. In those years, almost the whole people in Shanghai were talking about houses, and I talked about this topic habitually not long after I left the time. Zhang Jie said that this is the unit's house change, paid 100,000 yuan. To pay money, there is no money on hand, just a novel sold the film and television rights, the buyer asked me how much money I wanted, I remembered to pay the house, I said 100,000, the money arrived, directly to the unit. As he spoke, he made a gesture of holding and pulling it down with both hands.
The second time I went to Zhang Jie's house, it seemed to be to take her signature book. When she opened the door, she said that she had eaten at my house at noon today, and I had done the rest of the meals in general, and the fried steak was very good. I couldn't resign, so I had to obey. She was busy in the kitchen, and when I went to the study, I saw that half of the paintings had been created. After a while, the steak was served, a large piece, poured red wine, really had the feeling of eating Western food. Perhaps she is deliberately preparing for life in the United States in the near future. I said, Teacher Zhang is versatile. She replied that I hadn't learned to draw much, and I would paint when I felt it. Eyes glazed, reading books can't bite the words, painting can be. Writers write and paint, there are many places, more and more, but the vast majority of them are writing brush characters, painting Chinese paintings, painting very few oil paintings, Zhang Jie is indeed not taking the usual road.
Zhang Jie oil painting
At that time, Haoran had just died and lived in the same building. During the meal, Zhang Jie told me about the past of Beijing writers, including the events when Haoran was proud and frustrated, and she did not have a low evaluation of Haoran. When we study contemporary literary history, we think that the author of "Golden Light Avenue" must look tall and complete, but in fact, this is not the case. At that time, she said Haoran, just as the crowd said that she began today, it was a person who walked into history and became the posthumous name of the ancestors, which was more real.
Before going to live in the United States, she went to her daughter in the United States every year, stayed for a few months and came back. Once, she called me and said she was back and asked me to eat roast duck together. I thought that Eating Roast Duck in Beijing, of course, was Quanjude or Cheap Fang, but Zhang Jie took me to the restaurant of the Beijing Municipal CPPCC. Zhang Jie, a former member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, is familiar with the place and praises the authentic taste of roast duck. Sure enough, several waiters greeted her and asked how much time it had been out, and her daughter was in good condition. The diners are still two people, but the food has changed and become an authentic Beijing-style main dish. Looking back now, she should have been homesick. While eating and chatting, talking about the creation of industrial themes, I said that I grew up in a state-owned enterprise coal mine, belonged to the "third generation of enterprises", has a deep affection for state-owned enterprises, and must read your "Heavy Wings" well. She said that in the early eighties, she visited the United States and saw so many things in the supermarket, and she was very envious, thinking about when we could be so rich in materials. At that time, she was working in the first machine department, knew the level of China's industry, and was very anxious, it was the reform and opening up that made China undergo earth-shaking changes.
A waiter came over and said, Teacher Zhang, duck rack to help you pack it. It seems that she is like this every time. Zhang Jie explained that I took the duck rack back to make soup. Now that I am getting older, although the neighbors are very good, it is still inconvenient to live alone, so I am ready to sell my house in Beijing and live with my daughter in the United States, so that someone can take care of me. I said, you'll have to stay in the hotel later. She replied that the flight time was too long, the body could not eat, and it was really uncertain whether she could come back. Before she went to the United States to live for a long time, the house sold for 7 million. The added value on the books is enormous, but given the location and scarcity of the house, the value is even greater today. After saying that, I took out several books from the cloth bag I carried, three copies of "No Words", and two collections of essays, all signed, with the inscription: Xiaodong Save, said, even the bag to give to you. After eating, it was raining, I couldn't get a car in half a day, and there was no ride-hailing software at that time. Zhang Jie asked the restaurant to borrow an umbrella, and I accompanied her to walk home. Crossing the passage of Chang'an Avenue, it is obvious that she is walking hard and unable to do so. Soon the rain stopped, and Chang'an Avenue at night was more wide and magnificent. At the door of the community, Zhang Jie said, Xiaodong, enough buddy!
Unfortunately, I have not yet read "Heavy Wings", "No Words" has not been finished, the book she sent me should still be there, but it is also difficult to find. Her work, which I have carefully read, is "The Soul is Used to Wander", which is written about the exploration of the culture and life of the Mayans in the Americas, which is cruel and not her masterpiece, but it seems to be a metaphor for her destination. Now that the Scythians have passed away, may they rest in peace. (Li Xiaodong 7 February 2022)