Zhou Keqin (1936-1990), formerly known as Zhou Keqin, was a native of Jianyang, Sichuan. His novel Xu Mao and His Daughters is his famous work, which established his place in the history of contemporary Chinese literature and was hailed as "a monument to Chinese literature in the new era".
I, as Zhou Keqin's fellow countryman and editor of contemporary literature, naturally feel the value and significance of this book. After thinking about it and analyzing it, I decided to "track down Zhou Keqin" (see my other humble article before), carefully write a set of review articles, and recommend this novel to more readers in time. I remember that it was 1980, and I published many commentaries in Wen Wei Po, China Youth Daily, Journal of Wuhan Normal University, Contemporary Literature Research Series (1981 No. 2), Sichuan Literature (No. 2, 1981) and other journals. Now choose one to share with you...
Zhou Keqin
Comrade Zhou Keqin's new work "Xu Mao and His Daughters" (in "Red Rock", No. 2, 1979, hereinafter referred to as "Xu Mao"), broke the silence of contemporary novels in the three years after 1976, like a dazzling primrose, and brought a seductive spring atmosphere to the literary circle at that time. This was a new breakthrough and a new harvest in the creation of novels with rural themes in China at that time.
The second issue of Red Rock, 1979, was first published in Zhou Keqin's "Xu Mao and His Daughters"
First, the selection of themes
The choice of subject matter has always been a problem that writers and artists attach great importance to. Mr. Lu Xun once advocated that writers should be "strict in selecting materials." How to reasonably choose a good theme and grasp the angle of artistic depiction is of great significance for excavating the foundation of life, revealing the face of the times, deepening the theme of the work, and creating a typical image. "Xu Mao" is quite distinctive in the selection of themes, and the meaning it contains is very intriguing.
The work is about the rural life in Sichuan in the winter of 1975, when the whole social work group entered the village and left the village for one or two days. The second half of this year is a turning point in China's history, and "Xu Mao" reflects the sharp and complicated struggle between the two currents. The force that represented the conservative trend of thought set off a fierce wind and a fierce wave, and for a while, it took the lead on the surface, stirred up the Liuxi River, and rolled over the Gourd Dam; the force that represented the trend of reform was extremely firm, withstood the fierce wind, faced the fierce waves, broke through difficulties and obstacles, and held the confidence of victory. Taking advantage of the important moment of concentrated contradictions and fierce struggles in the winter of 1975, the novel has made appropriate handling and effective arrangements in terms of capturing the timing, excavating the subject matter, and applying angles, so that the work truly reproduces the chaotic environment and background of various social forces at that time and the relationship between people. This is an important factor in the success of the novel.
In 1980, the first edition of the Hundred Flowers Literary and Art Publishing House was published
The novel selects the important moment of the winter of 1975 to show the ups and downs of the struggle between the reform forces and the conservative forces, and the dissipation of strength. After going through the tortuous road and repeated struggles, the reform forces finally fought tenaciously, revealing their invincible vitality, gathering together a vigorous contingent and rushing to a new journey. Through the full performance of the old-fashioned power, the old-fashioned power gradually reveals the ugly face of the glamorous fish and the despicable hypocritical soul, and its inevitable fate of failure. In this clear contrast and strong contrast, it shows the bright future and brilliant prospects of the reform cause; through the writer's obvious tendencies and attitudes, from the vivid and vivid artistic depiction, it gives people confidence and strength, encouragement and education.
The novel chooses this important moment in the winter of 1975, truly presents us with various forms of life, various real situations, and creates a colorful and colorful character image. Whether it is the miserable life of Jin Dongshui, the stepping down of the branch secretary, or the difficult situation of "maintaining the president" and acting branch secretary Long Qing; whether it is the enthusiastic pursuit of the fourth girl Xu Xiuyun, or the awakening of Xu Mao's old man; whether it is the trickery of Zheng Bairu, who has been in the storm, or the confused follow-up of the young team member Qi Mingjiang... How real and vivid it was to depict the scene of life at that time, the social situation at that time. Although the novel only concentrates on the rural life on the banks of the Liuxi River for one or two decades, it quite typically summarizes the social outlook of China's rural areas during the ten years of catastrophe; although the novel only focuses on the fate and encounter of Xu Mao's family, it profoundly portrays the bitterness and twists and turns of hundreds of millions of people. Watching "Xu Mao", it is like seeing the long picture of the social life of Huluba, the blue ripples of the Liuxi River, the morning fog and spring rain of Huluba, the various living conditions of the people in the water village, and the complicated scenes of the old and young in the mountain village, which make us feel clear and cordial, the social scenery is in full view, and the times are vividly remembered. In short, with the help of in-depth excavation and proper handling of rural life and struggle in Sichuan in the winter of 1975, the writer effectively enhanced the sense of the times and reality of the work, and improved the ideological value and social significance of the work.
"Xu Mao" was published by the People's Literature Publishing House after winning the first Mao Dun Literature Award
Second, the shaping of characters
The shaping of character images is the central topic and important task of literary creation, especially novel creation. Or, in other words, the success or failure of the novel is closely related to the success or failure of the typical character modeling. Typical must be universal and representative, reflect certain essential aspects of a certain social life, full of distinct and unique personality; typical, is flesh and blood, vivid and active individual, is novel, original, and has no similarities or similarities with any other artistic image, but he cannot but be stained with the color of the times. The typical character in the novel "Xu Mao" is this unique new artistic image, which is worthy of our careful consideration, good analysis and in-depth summary.
First, the novel portrays two main literary archetypes—the fourth girl, Xu Xiuyun, and her father, Xu Mao. These are two brand-new literary models, which have not only been seen in the history of Chinese and foreign literature before this, but also the earliest we have seen in many literary works at that time. They were not the heroes we often saw at that time, nor were they the kind of artistic images that were reviving at that time that accused the "Gang of Four" and had scars, nor were they the so-called "intermediate figures" who went from backwardness to transformation, nor were they the kind of backward figures or even negative figures that we often saw... In short, this is a brand-new kind of literary image that we have never seen or heard of. However, such a character image is not unfamiliar to us. They were born and raised in the mud of the land of China, with the temperament and charm of our nation, and shared the thoughts and feelings of the people around us, that is, the kind of "familiar strangers" that Belinsky praised.
The fourth girl, Xu Xiuyun, was a unique woman who was distorted and suppressed by the wind and clouds of the times, but also carried the pure and simple character of rural women. The virginity of young girls is trampled on, which occurs in a chaotic social context; the youth of Miaoling is tormented and appears in turbulent years; abandoned, discriminated against... She has lived under such social environment and historical conditions, and she has really suffered from wind and frost. Therefore, her personality is complex and full of contradictions: full of confidence in pain, looking for happiness in confusion; sorrow and joy, sorrow and faith, hope and pursuit... Complex personality contradictions are tightly intertwined. Everywhere in her body is unique, but everywhere is with the bright colors of the society and the times at that time, and everywhere is a reflection of the social life and the atmosphere of the times at that time.
A comic strip of the same name adapted from Xu Mao
Xu Mao's old man is a literary image with a strong rural atmosphere in Sichuan and the temperament and character of Chinese peasants. He had a deep affection for socialism in the Party, was an active member of the agrarian reform and agricultural co-operatives, and was an honorable leader of the operations team. However, after suffering the impact of the social storm of that year, he went from confusion to disappointment, from duty to selfishness, with tenacious stubbornness in pain, believing in reality and looking forward to a better future.... This is the peasant character cultivated by experiencing a long period of harsh real life. He proceeded from reality everywhere, observed reality, understood reality, and understood reality; he was an authentic "realist"; he never forgot his own foundation, his own burden, and his responsibility, and he was a simple and diligent cropper; he cared about the reality of his own life and his family's life, and he also cared about huluba, the working group from above, and the social reality of the whole country; he relied on his own efforts not to forget the duty of the cropper, but he also longed for the changes in the Liuxi River and the cultivation of state policy. His complex and contradictory personality is also clearly imprinted with the times. After reading all kinds of descriptions of Xu Mao, we truly feel that this is a typical example of the character of the Chinese peasants in those decades; and it was only in those decades that the unique character of the old Chinese peasants such as Xu Mao could be produced.
Secondly, it is about the artistic images of two rural grassroots cadres , Jin Dongshui and Long Qing. If we say, jin Dongshui, the former secretary of the party who stepped down without forgetting the party's sacred duty. We've been familiar with each other in past literary and artistic works (strictly, of course. Compared with the kind of heroic images he has seen in the past, Jin Dongshui's temperament and personality are also many different), then the literary image of Long Qing, who is known as the "maintenance president" as the acting branch secretary, is completely a special person in the ups and downs and turmoil of the past ten years. However, in general, these two are specific figures of a specific historical period in our country. They are worthy of being the backbone of the masses of the people in Huluba and the glorious representatives of the wishes and interests of the peasants. The depiction of them in the work is successful. Their distinctive characteristics of the times cannot be ignored.
Again, there are the artistic images of several different young people. Xu Qin, the ninth girl who is pure, simple and yearning for a better future, Wu Changquan, who is down-to-earth and changes the appearance of her hometown with her own practical actions, Xu Zhen, the seventh girl who is influenced by the atmosphere at that time, who only knows how to pursue a comfortable personal life, and who is frustrated and wants to change her course, Qi Mingjiang, a team member who follows the customs and customs and at the same time imposes old-fashioned ideas on others, and Xu Zhen's friend, Xiao Zhu, who is swindling and opportunistic... These young people with different personalities represented different aspects of life, different states of mind, different attitudes to life, and different realistic expressions of society at that time from different angles. They are different models, different representatives of the youth of our time. These images also have considerable universal significance and basis for reality.
All in all, portraying different personalities with distinct and unique character images and shaping different literary models with characteristics of the times and national temperament plays an important role in truly reflecting the social life and spirit of the times at that time, and in making the works have a wide range of universal significance and profound ideological content. This is another important factor in the success of the novel.
Edition of Times Literature and Art Publishing House
Third, profound thoughts
Choose a good theme and dig deeply; shape the characters well, so as to effectively show the broad picture of social life; and furthermore, it is necessary to include rich ideological content and profound practical significance... These aspects are several important factors that are indispensable for a literary work that perfectly combines thought and art. "Xu Mao" shows profound ideological significance and social content by reflecting rural life in Sichuan in the past ten years, which is another important factor in the success of the novel.
The social significance of an excellent literary work is by no means limited to a certain region, and its ideological value is not limited to a certain aspect. For example, Engels praised Balzac and Lenin to Tolstoy, saying that their works were the "encyclopedia" of the society at that time, which of course was not easy to achieve. However, the novel "Xu Mao" has a high degree of generalization and typical significance, which is also an undeniable objective fact. We say that it has effectively summed up China's rural life in the past ten years, reflected in a concentrated way the fate and suffering of hundreds of millions of people in the past ten years, prominently expressed the spiritual outlook and ideological will of our people in the past ten years of wind and rain, and revealed the profound and extensive ideological significance and rich content of life from many different angles. For example, here are the gambling sticks and the rogue Zheng Bairu taking advantage of the wind, and his despicable acts of setting up conspiracies and making tricks, here are the various performances of the young and naïve followers Qi Mingjiang's ultra-left ideological features, as well as Lin Biao, the "Gang of Four" forces behind them, and the vast social background at that time... These powerfully show the reality of the life of the demons and ghosts in those years, and outline the specific environment and historical background of the story. In the works, there is Jin Dongshui, a resolute and loyal former branch secretary, who was forced to step down, who remained loyal to the duty of a communist, persisted in the struggle, and was loyal; there was also Long Qing, the acting branch secretary of firm and upright, who, for the benefit of the masses, willingly took risks, swallowed his anger, and "maintained" the minimum standard of living of the people of Huluba; there was also Jin Shunyu, a woman veteran party member, who was upright and upright, with a pure heart, who could not hold back his words, and who had the noble character of fighting for work. These are the main backbones of the rural areas cultivated by our Party, the loyal sons and daughters of our Party, who at all times embody a healthy spirit in the reality of our rural areas and are the relying force and backbone of socialist construction in rural areas of our country! Here, there is also the typical image of The diligent and simple old peasant of Xu Mao's old man, the representative figure of the new generation of women like the fourth girl Xu Xiuyun who has endured twists and turns and tribulations and stubbornly struggles and enthusiastically pursues a happy life, and a generation of young people such as Xu Qin, Xu Zhen, and Wu Changquan have different performances... These, in turn, reflect from different aspects how rich and broad social life and real struggles are. Isn't this exactly the unique social reality depicted in the artistic depiction of "Xu Mao", which is "foggy", "rainy", and "deep at night"?
Hundred Flowers Literary and Art Publishing House republished that year
The description of the environment at the beginning of the seventh chapter of the novel, "Rain Xiaoxiao", is not only to depict the natural scenery at that time, but also to summarize the social situation in rural China at that time, not only to depict the specific environment and background of the characters' activities, but also to point out the political climate and atmosphere of the motherland at that time, which is the same as the first chapter of the novel, "Foggy", the ninth chapter "Deep night" and other chapters and even the whole work, its artistic value and ideological significance are quite deep, rich in meaning. Just think about it, the dry grass returns to green, the willow tree sprouts, the wheat seedlings spit out ears, the flocks of geese return, the birds play, the swallows hold the mud... What a vivid spring scent, how seductive, how fragrant, and delightful! However, at present, "winter is slow to leave", "the winding drizzle has been falling non-stop", the road of life is still tortuous, and there are inevitably difficulties and obstacles and thorns on the journey. This is a call to people to clear the fog, sweep away the smoke clouds, and summon up the courage to continue marching! From this specific artistic description, we can see one of the artistic expression and generalization, universality and typical meaning of the novel "Xu Mao"!
It is particularly worth mentioning that these rich and profound ideological contents of the work are expressed through the writer's profound understanding gained from long-term observation of life, and then through specific and vivid image depictions. As Engels put it, his political tendency is not to "point it out in particular", but to "naturally reveal it from the scenes and plots", and the beautiful artistic description and the profound ideological content are completely integrated. As mentioned above, the shaping of some specific characters in the novel, the description of specific storylines, the specific natural scenery and the outline of social backgrounds, etc., are all powerful examples of "natural outflow". This is the result of reversing the creative principle of starting from concepts and starting from the line and sweeping away rigid literary and artistic ideas, so "Xu Mao" is not a formulaic and conceptual work, but a brand-new work of art with profound thinking and rich value created by acting in accordance with the laws of art and conscientiously grasping the characteristics of art.
Reprinted by the People's Literature Publishing House
At the same time, we should also point out without hesitation: There are still some obvious flaws and deficiencies in the novel "Xu Mao". Perhaps it is the reason why the writer first ventured into the field of long-form creation, he is not concentrated and perfect enough in controlling the overall structure of long-form art; there are some love entanglements that seem to use too much ink, far from the main contradiction and story development of the novel around the four girls, Jin Dongshui and Zheng Bairu; there are several places that deliberately pursue the bizarreness of the plot, leaving the central context of the character development, and somewhat artificial traces. In the use of philosophical lyrical arguments, some are quite wonderful and have deep meanings, which are good and successful; but some discussions are too direct and too shallow, and even writers stand up and directly judge people or events, evaluating the merits or demerits or right and wrong, and the handling seems to be ill-considered. Of course, in general, flaws are not hidden, and "Xu Mao" is still a successful long-form masterpiece.
Bayi Film Studios shot a poster for the movie of the same name
Beijing Film Studio shoots a poster for the movie of the same name
Supplement: Bayi Film Studio and Beijing Film Studio simultaneously decided to adapt and shoot "Xu Mao"; both factories bid for the auction, and soon both were released nationwide in 1981, which is extremely rare in the history of China's film development. After the screening, it attracted people's extensive attention and research on "Xu Mao".
Zhou Keqin at the first Mao Dun Literature Award Ceremony (first from the right)
Revised according to a review written on March 16, 1980