Lao She and Zhao Shuli

Author: Hu Qing

Four years after Lao She's death, another contemporary writer, Zhao Shuli, also died tragically after suffering. The people suddenly lost two of their own writers. "Own", I think, only these three ordinary words have the heaviest weight, there is no need to say anything, all meanings and feelings are included in it.

Lao She and Zhao Shuli, different origins, different ages, different experiences, different creative paths, different genres, different styles, different languages, but, for some reason, I always feel that the two of them have a very similar place.

They all come from the poor class, they are all drilled out of the bottom; they are hardworking all their lives, they are a pair of "hands that cannot be held";

The protagonists of their works are all small people born and raised, a rickshaw driver named Xiangzi and a farmer named Li Youcai, who later became famous figures; they loved all kinds of folk literature and local drama, and they could sing, write, and perform in some of these forms, and they were quite proud of them; they were all particularly proud of their hometowns, one had written a lifetime of Beijing City, one had written a lifetime of Shanxi countryside, their "Beijing flavor" and "yam eggs" Taste became an important literary genre with a unique character; they were enthusiastic, generous and extravagant, like a ball of fire;

They are humorous, they are all experts at telling jokes, and in a few words, they can make everyone happy to lean forward and backward, but they don't laugh at all.

They are all modest, but they don't rub sand in their eyes on matters of principle. Treat yourself very strictly, be serious in life, and live an unusually simple and even a little old-fashioned life.

Even their deaths were so similar that they could not understand what had happened after 1966.

Moreover, their tragedy has shocked and saddened many, many of their peers and future generations, and the same question mark has arisen in their hearts, and everyone is pondering the same question.

Lao She and Zhao Shuli respect each other very much, and the friendship between them is extremely deep and sincere. It can be said that they are very fond of each other. Lao She rarely wrote literary criticism in his lifetime, and one of the few literary reviews he left behind was commenting on Zhao Shuli. In 1960, Zhao Shuli wrote a short story, published in "People's Literature", called "The Hand That Can't Be Stopped", Lao She immediately wrote a two-thousand-word short article, the title is to read "The Hand That Can't Be Stopped", although the article is short, but the words and sentences are full of Lao She's heartfelt love and admiration for Zhao Shuli. At the beginning of the article, Lao She said: "Whenever I read Comrade Zhao Shuli's novels, I always get some inspiration and learn some tricks."

Summarizing the meaning of Lao She, the few inspirations he got were probably:

First, the older the age, the more rigorous the text. It seems that Zhao Shuli's writing did not seem to be effortless at all, but in fact, it was carefully considered and did not easily let go of a word.

Second, Zhao Shuli described the experience of rural labor in considerable detail, which people who did not live in the countryside for a long time and loved farming would not write. Writing things without a deep foundation in life cannot be done.

Third, some scattered things were originally irrelevant, and Zhao Shuli put them on with a rope—the glove of hands—up and down, avoiding trivialities, quite ingenious, showing the means of art.

Fourth, Zhao Shuli did not use any slogans to encourage, whoever reads his work will itch and want to do something; at the same time, he will feel that laziness is extremely shameful. This is the power of image.

Fifth, Zhao Shuli's work is not a big deal, but a big deal, not long, but of great significance. People should enjoy labor, and their hands should stretch out when they see life, and they can't hold gloves! Creating the world is all about a pair of industrious hands, which is the big truth that Zhao Shuli tells the reader carefully, vividly and kindly through small stories.

Sixth, Zhao Shuli knows a large number of old farmer Chen Bingzheng's things, if he is happy, he can write a large book "Old Farmer Chen Bingzheng Biography", but he only writes from gloves to his hands, through these hands, Zhao Shuli let the reader see the most lovely character and quality of Old Man Chen. That's enough, no gloves needed, no need to write a biography. The conclusion is to write a short story with enough material to write a long novel.

These Zhao Shuli creative experiences talked about by Lao She have considerable regularity and are indeed very enlightening. In terms of the first one alone, it is quite a magic experience in Lao She. About 3 years later, Lao She himself began to write an autobiographical novel, which was the unfinished posthumous work "Under the Red Flag" published last year. In this work, it is not difficult for people to see: "The older you are, the more rigorous the text", which is very reasonable. According to critics, the text of "Under the Red Flag" is indeed smooth and concise. However, Lao She admitted at the Guangzhou Drama Conference that when he wrote it, he was really miserable, and almost every word had to be pondered for a long time, which showed that he was "careful with words and sentences, and did not easily let go of a word." In this way, "the older you get, the stricter the writing" has really become the law.

After Lao She finished saying, "Whenever I read Comrade Zhao Shuli's novel, I always get some inspiration and learn some tricks", and wrote two touching words: "From the words and lines, I can still see his smile, the most kind and lovely smile." ”

The friendship between Lao She and Zhao Shuli is a very enviable friendship. The two of them are together, and their every move makes people look kind, warm, and lovely. And Zhao Shuli's smile is a sign of this kindness and cuteness.

Zhao Shuli is a very characteristic person, and his peasant temperament has not changed from beginning to end. His poor lifestyle, his special habits, often became a good subject for friends to talk about after dinner. When Zhao Shuli listened to the play, his two hands never stopped moving, he used the two index fingers of a pair of hands as a drum hammer, knocked on the chair, joined the band's beat, accompanied the actors, single-mindedly, immersive, fully concentrated, and became a member of the play. Zhao Shuli's way of drinking is the North China handlebar style of drinking, all the way, all the way to drink, a wine shop a cup, a neck, a drink, do not want any dishes with wine, put the money on the counter, do not say a word, out of the door, you can catch up with the carriage that is moving forward. Zhao Shuli could not sleep on the hard bed, went abroad to visit, had to lock the door, quietly slept on the floor... The humor of the literati makes these anecdotes particularly intimate. Whenever this happened, Zhao Shuli always smiled and squinted at the side, and Lao She's eyes also shone behind his glasses. When it was Zhao Shuli's turn to lyrically, no matter how narrow Lao She's living room was, he would pull his throat and "shout" a few paragraphs of shangdang zi in a deafening high voice, dancing with his hands and feet, and patting his thighs. The people present were first stunned, then laughed breathlessly, and could not stand up straight... What a harmonious atmosphere.

Friendship in addition to help, criticism, understanding, considerate, then can not be these relaxed and comfortable?

Friendship requires a smile.

The 10-year catastrophe has destroyed many human treasures, and even friendship has been ruined beyond recognition. When you need to sound unevenly, you can't stand up and speak; when you need comfort, you can't come to the door to greet. The relationship between people is rashly made into a relationship of enemies, and in order to avoid suspicion and draw a clear line, they have to hide from each other. Best friends have to disguise themselves as complete strangers. There are also a small number of weak-willed people who cannot resist the pressure, betray their friends in order to save themselves, and make everyone endanger themselves, and no one dares to speak to anyone in their hearts, and they guard against each other. A fighter who prefers not to bend, to say a few fair words for his friends, often has to pay for his freedom, even his life.

This era has finally passed, and true friendship has begun to recover. Today, after tasting the great sufferings of loneliness, fighting, and coldness, how much sincere friendship needs to be re-advocated!

In Lao She's words, "Between the lines, I can still see his smile, the most kind and lovely smile", how delicate, how rich, how deep feelings. How humane is it!

Lao She once heard that Zhao Shuli twisted his arms on the public tram, and he was very relieved and asked me to visit Lao Zhao. I went and found that his injuries were very serious, and he couldn't sleep all night in pain, so I came back and quickly told Lao She. Lao She immediately called the secretary general of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and asked him to immediately find a way to send Zhao Shuli to hospitalization. But I did not expect that a few years later, Zhao Shuli was broken in Shanxi, could not lie flat day and night, and in the case of extreme pain and weakness, he was dragged around to fight, and finally one end was planted on top of three tables... At that time, Lao She was no longer able to protect Zhao Shuli, he was no longer in the human world, and his old friends who were alive could not protect Zhao Shuli; they themselves were also very difficult. Everything is upside down, what is the use of friendship? Where is the minimum humanity? In contrast, isn't it particularly memorable to care about small things like friends going to the hospital?

A few years ago, Zhao Shuli's daughter came to Beijing to run for his father's rehabilitation, talking about the dilemma of their mother and daughter, and she burst into tears. Zhao Shuli did not leave any money for his children before his death. He either paid the membership fee or simply did not want a salary. On behalf of Lao She, I have visited three residences in Beijing where Zhao Shuli lived on several occasions — the Xiagongfu dormitory, the courtyard of Nanshan Hutong in cinder hutong, and the north room on the west side of Dafosi Street. The interior decoration of Zhao Shuli's house can be summed up in a word - all four walls are empty. After Zhao Shuli's death, his wife and daughter were driven back to their hometown with nothing. Old Zhao's hometown has planted many trees and has become a forest, some of which zhao Shuli sent money back to the people of his hometown before his death. It was these trees that saved his loved ones. With these trees, none of the villagers believed the nonsense that smeared Zhao Shuli's face, and they accepted orphans and widows.

After listening to these stories, Lao She's two sentences suddenly poured into my mind: "I can still see his smile, the most kind and lovely smile." ”

Today, coincidentally, I received two new German texts from the city of West Defolk, which contain novels by Zhao Shuli and Lao She recently translated by German friends. Looking at these little purple-skinned books, I was happy.

How good, not only did Lao She and his old friends see Zhao Shuli's smile, but all the cities and villages of the whole country saw Zhao Shuli's smile like the tree-lined Shanxi small farm, and even the other side of the distant world also saw Zhao Shuli's smile, the smile that was always kind and lovely.

July 15, 1980 in Beijing

(Originally published in Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po)

Note: The author of this article, Hu Qing, is Mrs. Lao She.