Li Chunlei's "Peasant Academician":
A colorful painting of ethnic customs
Wen 丨 Bai Ye
Poverty alleviation has been completely won, and rural revitalization is on the way. Recently, the long-form documentary literature "Peasant Academician" created by Li Chunlei was officially published. While fully describing Zhu Youyong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, leading the Lahu people to get rid of poverty and embark on the road of rural revitalization along the Lancang River, the book also vividly depicts a colorful national customs painting, which is particularly eye-catching in countless similar works.
The beginning of "Peasant Academician" is full of picturesque national customs: "The sky is blue like a smile, and the landform is like anger." Thin and thin mountain roads, white and fat clouds, sweet wild winds, flowers and green miscellaneous trees. The sun is shining, the penetration is strong, projected on the skin, fiery. "Lancang Lahu Autonomous County is the place where the story of the classic old movie "Lusheng Love Song" takes place. The sons and daughters of the Lahu people have long lived in deep mountainous areas and made a living from hunting. After the founding of New China, they directly transitioned from primitive society to socialism and became "straight over the nation".
The protagonist Zhu Youyong was born in the gathering place of ethnic minorities, and from an early age, he was immersed in the customs of lusheng dance, cigarette box dance, bamboo pole dance, mountain song, grass tobacco and so on, and has a deep childhood memory of colorful dances and costumes. In the first half of the work, through Zhu Youyong's growth experience, with trivialities such as planting seedlings, cultivating land, collecting dung, drinking fire pond wine, marrying a daughter-in-law and greeting relatives, the customs, lifestyles, and mental state of the work are vividly portrayed here, and the picture of the paradise-like life in the border areas of Yunnan is outlined in a colorful way.
For decades, the economic development here has not been ideal for historical and practical reasons. It was with the desire to change his own destiny that Zhu Youyong worked hard to be admitted to the Agricultural University. Then, in order to change the fate of this land, he resolutely returned to China after studying abroad and marched to the biggest problem of rice, rice blast. Even here, the author does not ignore the important element of national customs. The text repeatedly writes about the drinking scenes of the Lahu people: drinking alcohol may be restricted in other places and in the pen of other writers, but in the context of this special custom, not drinking is not humane. A drunken battle, until the middle of the night, revealed the simple customs and straightforward temperament of ethnic minority areas.
The middle and back of the book mainly write about Zhu Youyong's journey to the countryside to alleviate poverty. The first time I climbed the Artemisia Branch Dam, walked into the village, randomly visited several households, pig dung and cow dung were everywhere, cups, plates and dishes were stained, and a unique original atmosphere came to the face. However, in the cruel reality, there is no lack of poetry and touching, and when it is about to leave, the scene of the closed and backward Lahu people wearing national costumes and singing hand in hand to send farewell makes people sour.
In the author's pen, a difficult poverty alleviation story is interspersed with strong Lahu characteristics. For example, on the debate over planting potatoes in winter, Zapi, Zawa, Nanu, etc. all believe that lancang winter cannot grow potatoes, but when Zhu Youyong's demonstration field began to harvest, the white and yellow potatoes rolled out, suddenly making the suspicious villagers all become "dumb". Immediately, "dumb" became "trumpet" again. For example, Li Nanu followed the training class to learn to plant forest three seven, overcame many difficulties, and took the initiative to invite Zhu Youyong to her house to eat pig-killing rice after making money. Ribs stewed in a large cauldron on the adobe stove, the husband poured wine to get drunk with the academician, Li Nanu was invited to sing a mountain song, and the earth dog drilled around in the crowd...
Ma Zhengfa of the old village of Potou in Sakai Township lives in a single family halfway up the mountainside. The crop had a good harvest and a beautiful thing to do, and his mantra was: "You have to eat." However, in addition to providing for his children's education and family medical treatment, his annual income is only to maintain food and clothing. After the news of Zhu Youyong's establishment of a winter potato training class in Artemisia Branch Dam came out, he heard that he did not have to pay tuition, so he took the initiative to run to register, because he was worried that the academician would not accept it, and he also specially brought a large mango. After a semester, Ma Zhengfa quickly "had to eat." At harvest time, his land attracted several buyers, who sang mountain songs with joy and dangled the wine gourd around his waist.
Liu Zapi's family lives in the middle of the mountain, fence house, breathable wind and rain. Zhu Youyong's training class brought popularity to Artemisia, and Liu Zapi expanded the kitchen and set up a greenhouse in the open space of his backyard. Flowers and grass were planted around the greenhouses and fences were placed around them. The outside of the fence is full of vegetables, bunches of papayas, and beans full of branches. He also learned to make 10 dishes with potatoes, and guests couldn't help but praise them after eating them.
Writers write about poverty alleviation, focusing on special nationalities and special regions everywhere, from the aspects of history, culture, customs, etc., to fragment these elements, and the whole article is a whole, forming a unique and beautiful sense of chaos. The wooden houses crawling with dense green vines, the golden gourds placed on the roofs, the roaring bonfires, the man who blows the reeds, the hostess who steps on the dance steps, and the melodious singing section that echoes from time to time seem to bloom a colorful flower, filled with the fragrance of Nana, psychedelic and intoxicating. The whole book not only truly records Academician Zhu Youyong's scientific poverty alleviation, but also truly records the progress and integration of this nation in many aspects of modern society and modern civilization. The text vividly records all this through small stories and small characters. This little story, little character, so ordinary, so special, so distinct, full of special fragrance, jumped into the reader's eyes and reader's heart.
With the help of the academician team, Liu Zawa, who was once poor and decadent, changed her name to Liu Mingsheng, no longer smoked and drank, but learned technology. The author gives a white depiction of this ethnic minority youth with great national characteristics: "In the morning when the sun was shining, on a moonlit night, he sat on the roof, blew up the reeds, and sang joyful songs... Lusheng and singing, painted his affection and hope all over the mountains, like the rainbow in the sky, like the stars in the sky..." In the strong national customs, the book leads readers to see the various planting industries, taking root, sprouting, flowering, and bearing fruit in the border of the motherland, and the former winter idle land has become the current golden field: "In this plateau pure land, all kinds of vegetables can be planted, potatoes are the leading big brothers, green peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, rape, loofahs are brothers and sisters." Everyone is here to be happy, growing up and maturing... Together, they vigorously entered Lancang's stomach and strengthened Lancang's bones! At the end of the story, Lu Sheng blew up again, and the love song of "Wedding Vow" swirled in the air, accompanied by a roaring bonfire, and Bi Bi peeled his face, "That is the love of life, that is the romance of life." The whole Artemisia Dam, Hengduan Mountain, and Lancang River sang and danced..."
It can be said that "Peasant Academician" is a major harvest of contemporary ethnic minority literature themes, whether it is recording the themes of the new era such as poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, or recording the past and present lives of the Lahu people, or praising the unity of the nationalities, or artistic expression, it can be called a thick historical masterpiece, and it is also a colorful national style painting.
Creative talk
A true peasant academician
Wen 丨 Li Chunlei
Li Chunlei
As for Academician Zhu Youyong, I have heard about it for a long time, but it is limited to the level of news reports. After receiving the invitation, I read it carefully from the Internet. At this moment, I was surprised. The place where Academician Zhu Youyong helped the poor is the birthplace of the love song "Wedding Oath" that we are all most familiar with - Lancang County, Yunnan Province. Behind this romantic song, there is such a heavy story.
So, I walked into Lancang County and conducted in-depth interviews for more than a month three times. In the interview, I was even more surprised. The bizarre and magnificent story that took place in this minority region refreshed many of my perceptions. From this, I learned about the other side of China's rural areas, especially the rural areas of the frontier areas, and I also learned more about the other side of scientists.
In academia, Zhu Youyong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is recognized as the pioneer of biodiversity control of diseases and pests; in the eyes of farmers, he is a caring person who knows the warmth and cold of farmers and understands what farmers think. But in his own eyes, he was just a cultured farmer.
Indeed, a scientist who wants to truly serve the country and realize his own value is not enough to dream and specialize. Objectively speaking, there are many experts and professors in the city, but most of them are only in the study or laboratory, while Academician Zhu Youyong's choice is just the opposite. Wearing rubber shoes and vests with dreams and affection, he walked into the mountains, devoted himself to the cause of poverty alleviation in the rural areas of Lancang County for many years, and wrote wonderful papers on the ground, thus enabling one scientific research achievement after another to be promoted, enabling hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority fathers and fellow villagers to get rid of poverty and become rich, and walking out of a golden light road that combines Chinese intellectuals and reality in the new era.
It was precisely because I recognized the special value of Academician Zhu Youyong's poverty alleviation that I had a special creative impulse. I made up my mind to write this book well, to write a real academician Zhu Youyong, and to write about the sacred responsibility and selfless dedication of intellectuals in the new era to the country and to the times.
However, when the creation really began, it was difficult to write. After careful consideration, I decided to start with three aspects. In addition to academician Zhu's personality story of accurate poverty alleviation, I focus on two points: one is national custom painting, the other is science and literature, and the third is special literary expression.
After more than a year of meticulous creation, the book was finally published. This book was written with painstaking efforts by me, confident that I have innovated in writing about poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. In particular, the protagonist of this book is an academician scientist, and his poverty alleviation land has a unique national story and cultural background, which adds a layer of brilliance to the book.
Looking at myself, I think there are three innovations in this book:
The first is to use literary brushwork to vividly and vividly describe the relatively abstract world of natural science. The introduction of rice, potatoes, Sanchi and other varieties and related planting technologies in the book are vividly described. Second, before I created it, I went deep into the Lahu village three times for more than a month and consulted a large number of written materials. In the creation, I focus on this special nation and special region everywhere, from the history, culture, customs and other aspects of the pen, these elements are fragmented, and the whole piece is a whole, forming a unique and beautiful sense of chaos. The whole book not only truly records Academician Zhu Youyong's scientific poverty alleviation, but also truly records the progress and integration of this nation in many aspects of modern society and modern civilization. The text vividly records all this through small stories and small characters. This little story, little character, so ordinary, so special, so distinct, full of special fragrance, jumped into the reader's eyes and heart. Third, the whole book begins with the prologue "The Cry of Ago and Sister" to the end of the chapter "The Song of Brother and Sister", and through a large number of rich and orderly stories, it depicts this major theme of the times. It should be said that in terms of literary and artistic performance, this book has made breakthroughs and improved.
For years, the literary world has been debating how to tell "good" Chinese stories. At present, the creation of reportage literature is telling stories, but is it "good"? Not easy to say. In fact, most of the works of reportage, which are only superficial propaganda, do not really form exquisite works. Or rather, there are good stories, there are touching stories, just told, but in literary storytelling, it is not done. In the process of creation, I made a deep attempt in this regard.