Literary "Wukong"'s "magic weapon"

Literary "Wukong"'s "magic weapon"

——Speech at Zhao Defa's lecture on "Talking about Creation with Hometown Literary Friends".

(October 1, 2024)

[Compiled from audio recording]

Li Hengchang

I am glad to have the opportunity to come to Gaoxiang College to listen to this lecture by Chairman Zhao Defa, although I am fortunate to serve as an advisor of Gaoxiang Academy, it is also the first time to come here in a real sense. We are in Junan, and I have a lot of feelings. I worked on the Yanshi Railway for 10 years, and I often came to Junan at that time. My father-in-law joined the revolution here as a teenager and once participated in the Battle of Koshiyama. The best teacher and friend in my life is also Junan's, and he is today's lecturer Zhao Defa.

Today, I listened to a lecture by Chairman Zhao and was deeply inspired. This class is worthy of the proposition of Gaoxiang Academy's excellent courses, and it is also worthy of the theme of "talking about creation with hometown literary friends". Chairman Zhao truthfully shared his creative experience and treasures with everyone. Why do you say it's a boutique? You may have listened to a lot of literature classes in the past and been inspired by a lot. In general, literature lectures will talk about reading more books, reading good books, how to read books, how to observe life, how to transform life into literary works, and how to improve language, etc., which are very important and necessary. But they all belong to the "law" of literary creation. Chairman Zhao's class today has reached a higher level, he talks more about the "Tao" of literary creation, and at the same time, it also combines a certain "law". Chairman Zhao talked about "taking root in the earth", "developing to the sky" and "looking up at the starry sky"; It's things, blood, and inheritance. He suggested that everyone should "accept the wind, frost, rain and snow" and "absorb the winds from all directions", in fact, he talked about the "heaven, earth and people's hearts" in literary creation, so as to stand at a higher level and a broader vision. If a person's creation is limited to the creation itself, it is difficult to become everyone.

There is a general consensus in the contemporary literary circles that we are in a great era, and our career and life are magnificent, but it is difficult for the contemporary era to produce great writers and works, even worse than some works in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. I think that although many writers have been trained in professional classes, they lack the feelings of the earth and the realm of the hearts of the people of heaven and earth like Chairman Zhao and other writers of the older generation. Nowadays, many critics and editors judge works more on the technical level such as the methods and methods of writing, and ignore the importance and advocacy of the feelings of the works. Writers such as Mo Yan and Chairman Zhao did not have a high degree of education at the beginning, but they were able to become great writers because they had the feelings of heaven and earth, stood in the middle of heaven and earth to observe life and society, and thus conceived their own creations. I remember that when Chairman Zhao published his first novel, "Bondage and Determination", I was working in Rizhao, and after reading it, I wrote a commentary with only three words, "Heaven, Earth and People", which was published in the "Harvest" supplement of Dazhong Daily at that time. At that time, when many critics interpreted Chairman Zhao's "Bondage and Determination", they probably focused more on the relationship between farmers and land, but I think what was more important was the common relationship between heaven, earth and man. Last year, I planned a book for Rizhao City called "Rizhao Contemporary Writers", and I was responsible for writing about Chairman Zhao and Chairman Tieliu. The 30,000-word article I wrote for Chairman Zhao was originally titled "The Heart of Carving Letters on the Mountains and Seas and the Earth". Mr. Qin Chao, editor of Shandong Literature and Art Publishing House, said that he felt that this title was suitable not only for Chairman Zhao, but also for the entire contemporary writers of Rizhao, and after Chairman Zhao's approval, the book was named after this title. The titles of the "Contemporary Writers' Biography Series" that I have created in recent years are all named after the "earth". Mo Yan's is called "Blood Food on the Earth", Zhang Wei's is called "Long Love on the Earth", and Chairman Zhao's is called "Song on the Earth". All these show from one side that a writer should be good at thinking and observing problems from the perspective of "heaven, earth and people's hearts". This is also the biggest inspiration that Chairman Zhao gave me in today's class, if a writer wants to become a writer with feelings and can go out, he must stand high, and analyze and develop himself from the perspective of heaven, earth and people's hearts.

During Chairman Zhao's lecture, I listened to his lecture and thought about a question. Today, when Chairman Cao Chunlei went to pick me up at the high-speed rail station, he talked about Chairman Zhao's creative achievements and praised him as a "winner in life". In his early years, some people once said that Chairman Zhao "lived several lives in this life, which is equivalent to others living for several lifetimes". He went from a private teacher to the principal of Liancheng Middle School, became the deputy director of the Organization Department of the county party committee, and became a famous writer in the country. I wonder, where is the success of Chairman Zhao? As the "Wukong" in the literary world, from "Heavenly Mandate Man" to "Conscious Man", what is his "unique magic weapon"? I have summarized a few preliminary points and would like to share with you here.

Be a man: kind, warm as the sun

Chairman Zhao is a person who has his own light and can warm others. He follows the principles of being kind to others, helping others, and the beauty of adults, and does not ask for anything in return, and can consciously help and lead everyone to move forward together. It can be said that the reason why Rizhao's contemporary literary circle has made such great achievements has a lot to do with Chairman Zhao's leading role as a teacher and his care, love and support for everyone. When I have problems with my creation, Chairman Zhao always takes the initiative to help. My recently published novel, The Red River, was only published after Chairman Zhao put forward pertinent comments. If you want to be a good writer and a great writer, you must first have a good character. This is what I admire most about Chairman Zhao.

For the text: Beloved, as devout as a believer.

Chairman Zhao was originally engaged in education and became a principal, and his future was originally very good, but he came up with the idea of becoming a writer because he read a magazine "Shandong Literature and Art", and he never gave up after that. In his early years, he gave up his position as deputy director of the Organization Department of the county party committee to attend a writer's class at Shandong University. Later, after becoming the vice chairman of the Shandong Writers Association, he politely declined the hospitality and kindness of being transferred to Jinan to work, just to have more time and energy to engage in literary creation. Chairman Zhao's love and devotion to literature is not something that ordinary people can do. Many people initially have literary dreams, but lack perseverance and cannot persevere when encountering difficulties.

Life: transcendence, tenacious as a warrior.

On the road of life and creation, Chairman Zhao has always been like a brave mountaineer, tenaciously climbing one mountain after another. He continues to expand unfamiliar fields in his creations, from within experience to outside experience, from the familiar life in the Yimeng Mountains to writing in new fields, from dreams to cultivation, from mountains to oceans, from the "peasant trilogy" to the "cultural trilogy" and then to the "Canghai trilogy", from survival to culture to spirituality, constantly exploring new fields, constantly challenging himself, and constantly surpassing himself. On the other hand, some contemporary writers often lack the spirit of challenging themselves and surpassing themselves, and their works have not made breakthroughs for many years.

Therefore, from many perspectives, Chairman Zhao is undoubtedly a good example for me to learn from, and there is no reason not to learn from him.

Here, I wish Chairman Zhao a higher level of work and better works in the future as a professor at Shandong University. I also wish Chairman Zhao's novel "The Great Sea Breeze" and other works are expected to climb the peak of Chinese literature and art. This will be the pride and pride of our Shandong people and hometown.

Thank you, and thank you, Chairman Zhao.