Common sense of literature

Modern essayist. Zhejiang Wuxing people. Formerly known as Shangshou, he was born in a teacher's family on June 5, 2004. 19 14. Studied at Soochow University College of Literature in Suzhou. 193 1 began to write poems, 1934 published poems such as farewell, heavy car and outstanding poems, which were later collected as Twenty Years Old. Since 1936, he has published essays such as Opera House and Others, Beethoven's Love, and Ideal Tree. Later, he was included in the Collection of American Literature and Carnival Night. Xu Chi's early works were influenced by European and American modernism. His poems, in particular, pursue the meaning of images and the jump of rhythm, some of which are difficult to understand. Influenced by Hemingway, an American writer, his prose creation is slightly clear, delicate and poetic. As the author said: "each has its own characteristics, and the poetry written in prose is more intense than my poetry." (autobiography)

After the founding of the People's Republic, Xu Chi worked hard. In the first seven years of the 1950s, he went to the Korean battlefield twice, Angang four times and Yangtze River Bridge six times. Poetry anthology "Beauty? Amazing? Money ","war? Peace? Progress and Song of the Republic of China, Collection of Contemporary People's Close-ups, Celebration Banquet and Essays on Poetry and Life are his creative achievements in this period. During the four years from 1957 to 1960, he served as the deputy editor-in-chief of Poetry magazine. 1960 after he settled in Wuhan, he devoted his main energy to reportage creation, including Phoenix in the Fire, Under Qilian Mountain, Peony and other works. Under Qilian Mountain, written by two patriotic intellectuals, Chang Shuhong and Sun Jianchu, was widely praised after publication.

After 1976, Xu Chi reflected his life in the field of natural science in the form of reportage, and wrote a series of works with strong repercussions, such as Goldbach conjecture, geological light, evergreen tree of life, and in the turbulent vortex. Goldbach's Conjecture, Light of Geology and Dance of the Stars, which reflect the construction of Gezhouba Water Control Project, won the National Outstanding Reportage Literature Award.

Xu Chi writes reportage with the temperament of a poet, especially works on the subject of intellectuals, which often combine political theory, poetry and prose. The structure is grand, the momentum is open, the language is gorgeous, and the warning is unparalleled. His works include Goldbach Conjecture (Selected Reportage), Selected Essays of Xu Chi, French Spring Tour, Essays on the Art of A Dream of Red Mansions, Literature and Modernization, etc.

1At the end of 996, he committed suicide by jumping off a building in a hospital in Wuhan because of depression, which shocked the whole country.

Xu Chi and Goldbach conjecture

Author: Zhejiang Daily Zhou Ming updated on March 2008-14

The sensational reportage Goldbach Conjecture published in People's LiteratureNo. 1 in 1978 is still often mentioned and talked about by literary circles and readers. Thirty years later, Xu Chi, the author of this reportage, and Chen Jingrun, the hero, have both died. They once moved and inspired a generation to fight for the "scientific spring" and the great cause of reform and opening up. These two gentlemen will go down in history.

I was working in People's Literature magazine. So, how did this work come into being?

After the downfall of the Gang of Four, the CPC Central Committee and Comrade Deng Xiaoping made great efforts to set things right and correctly evaluated the status and important role of intellectuals. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China also decided to hold a national science conference. The convening of the scientific conference means a new direction of China culture and indicates that the spring of science is coming soon. With this information, the comrades in the editorial department of People's Literature have been greatly encouraged. At the same time, they believe that if People's Literature can organize a reportage reflecting the scientific field at this time and call on people to respect knowledge and intellectuals, readers will definitely like it.

However, who should I write? Who will be invited to write? There was a discussion in the editorial department.

Suddenly, we remembered a story circulating at that time, that is, a foreign delegation visited China, and some of its members asked to see Professor Chen Jingrun. Because he saw the academic paper on Goldbach's conjecture written by Chen Jingrun, an international authoritative scientific magazine, and highly praised it. Relevant parties in our country tried their best to find this mathematician, and finally found him in the Institute of Mathematics of China Academy of Sciences.

No one knows what he has achieved. Chen Jingrun was awed by the severe criticism and attack on his so-called "white specialization" road during the Cultural Revolution, and even tried to commit suicide at one time, but he survived, took risks and buried himself in argument. On weekdays, he closed himself in a dormitory with only 6 square meters, studied hard, tackled problems silently and quietly. But he broke through a world problem and shocked the international mathematics community!

It should be said that this is a contributing scientist. But at the same time, many of his out-of-touch jokes and "selfish" behaviors came out. It is said that he is a "Frankenstein".

Editorial comrades agree, write Chen Jingrun! Anyway, he made a contribution. So, who should I ask to write? Everyone thought of Xu Chi.

I made a long-distance call to Wuhan to find a long-lost poet. It was the late autumn of 1977, when the poet was 63 years old ... how excited Xu Chi's voice was on the phone! We invited him to Beijing to write about Chen Jingrun, and he was very happy, but he just said "Try it".

Why do you say "try it"? First, he felt that he was unfamiliar with the subject of mathematics. Second, I heard that Chen Jingrun is a "Frankenstein". Therefore, he hesitated.

Sure enough, he came into contact with some old friends only a few days after he arrived in Beijing. When people heard that he was going to write about Chen Jingrun, they kindly advised him to change the subject. They think that Chen Jingrun is a controversial person, so why bother?

At this time, I told him that I had contacted the relevant parties of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and got the support of Fang Yi, the leader of the Institute. He said, "Great!" He also asked an old comrade for advice. The old comrade said, "Chen Theorem is amazing!" It should be written. "

Who is this old comrade? I learned later that it was General Wu Xiuquan, Xu Chi's brother-in-law and deputy chief of staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The general's support strengthened Xu Chi's determination.

On a sunny autumn day, I accompanied Xu Chi to the Institute of Mathematics of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Zhongguancun, a western suburb of Beijing. We were received by Comrade Li Shangjie, secretary of the Party branch of the Institute of Mathematics.

In the office, Lao Li told us the story of "Xiao Chen" studying science. After a while, he left the office and brought in a young man with a short head and red cheeks, wearing an ordinary old blue uniform. Lao Li introduced us and said, "This is Xiao Chen, Comrade Chen Jingrun."

Comrade Xu Chi and I didn't expect to meet Chen Jingrun, a simple mathematician, so soon.

We started chatting casually. We asked him what he was thinking recently, and he said that he had recently received an invitation to an international conference, and the leader asked him to consider whether to go or not. Then, he told us that not long ago, he received an invitation letter from the president of the International Mathematical Federation, inviting him to attend the International Mathematicians' Academic Conference held in Finland and give a 45-minute academic report. He said, according to your letter, there were more than 3,000 scholars from all over the world attending the conference, but only a dozen people decided to give academic reports, of which only two were from Asia, one was a Japanese scholar and the other was from Chen Jingrun, China.

After careful consideration and investigation, Chen Jingrun wrote back soon. There are three points in the letter: first, thank you, Mr. President of the International Mathematical Society, for your kind invitation; Second, there is only one China in the world, and that is People's Republic of China (PRC). Taiwan Province Province is an inseparable province of China, and at present, Taiwan Province Province occupies the seat of the Mathematics Association, so I can't attend; Thirdly, if the representative of Taiwan Province Province is expelled, I can consider participating.

How principled and complete the answer is!

Out of our expectation! He is by no means so stupid as the legend, but a scientist with a strong political mind. He also told us some horrors that he was brutally criticized during the Cultural Revolution, and how he managed to avoid his teacher Professor Hua who took part in the struggle.

After listening to these touching stories, Comrade Xu Chi and I deepened our understanding of him and cleared up some misunderstandings. Of course, he does have some eccentricities, but most of them are caused by his personality. Xu Chi whispered to me emotionally, "Zhou Ming, how cute he is! I am in love with him! Just write about him. "

In order to write this reportage well, Xu Chi lives in Zhongguancun, and the interview schedule is full, day and night. In the interview, some people say that Chen Jingrun is good, while others have opinions on Chen Jingrun. He listened carefully to both positive and negative opinions. He said: "Only in this way can we objectively and comprehensively judge a thing and a person." During this period, he spent a lot of time on Chen Jingrun's academic papers.

In the Institute of Mathematics, Xu Chi went to the library where Chen Jingrun often went, went to his office, went to the canteen with him, chatted together, and went to see the stairs where Chen Jingrun was beaten down during the Cultural Revolution. Soon, he and Chen Jingrun became bosom friends. But I haven't seen an important place-the 6-square-meter room where Chen Jingrun analyzed Goldbach's conjecture. It's a pity not to look at this hut, and it's inevitable that there is a lack of direct feelings about the environmental atmosphere he has captured! To this end, we have repeatedly expressed this small wish to Comrade Li Shangjie. Lao Li said, "Xiao Chen never lets anyone into his cabin! Every time you enter the door, you lock it quickly, which makes the hut mysterious. I have been there. If you want to go in, you must find another way. Otherwise, let's try some tricks. "

After planning, on this day, I went upstairs with Xu Chi and Li Shangjie. As we approached Chen Jingrun's room, Lao Li knocked on the door and entered the room first. Xu Chi and I knocked at the door ten minutes later, saying that we had something urgent to find Secretary Li, and then we managed to squeeze into the room.

When I knocked at the door, before Chen Jingrun could respond, Li Shangjie opened the door for us, which caught us off guard. Xu Chi and I walked into the room quickly, so he had to say shyly, "Please sit down, please sit down." Actually, where can I sit? I looked around; There is a single bed, a simple desk and a chair in the room. There are two bulging sacks in the corner. One is filled with clothes he wants to change, and the other is full of calculation manuscripts and waste paper. The desk is covered with dust except a small place in the middle. Sometimes he doesn't need a table. He is used to lifting the mattress in the corner of the bed board, sitting on a small bench and thinking and calculating on the bed. What a "hard struggle"!

After in-depth interviews, combing, thinking and refining, Xu Chi repeatedly thought and revised several times, and the reportage Goldbach Conjecture was finally completed.

People's Literature was published in the headlines of 1978 and 1. At that time, the Central Committee's resolution on completely denying the "Cultural Revolution" had not yet been made, and people's long-standing grievances were happily expressed by Xu Chi. For a time, Goldbach's conjecture was flying all over the sky, almost a household name. Chen Jingrun also became famous.

Since then, the poet Xu Chi has formed an indissoluble bond with reportage. He broke out one after another and wrote and published a series of excellent reportage reflecting the four modernizations and describing scientists in People's Literature. He wandered in the kingdom of science, after the light of geology and Goldbach's conjecture, in the swirling vortex and the evergreen tree of life, and during the National Science Conference in March 1978, he began to dabble in high-energy physics again until his life stopped.

Looking for Xu Chi.

Zhang Kangkang

In Harbin in the early spring of this year, I visited an old leader of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, a poet Fang Xing who always cared about me. Fang was born in Huzhou, Zhejiang. Although I have lived in the northeast for decades, I have retained a strong Zhejiang accent since I opened my mouth. Fang is over eighty years old. Although his legs and feet are inconvenient, he is full of energy and refreshed. After chatting for a while, I suddenly asked if I had read the novel Jiangnan Town written by Mr. Xu Chi. I said I knew the book, but I had never seen it, which made Fang feel a little depressed. When I left, out of courtesy, I asked him what he was doing in Beijing, and I would try my best. Fang Lao hesitated for a moment and said that you are free to help me find a book "Jiangnan Town". I was told that it was well written and I wanted to have a look, but I couldn't find it in the bookstore in Harbin.

I thought it was just a book, but nothing else. It was more than enough to get a book, and I agreed at once. When I return to Beijing, whenever I go to the bookstore, I will never forget to look for Jiangnan Town. I remember reading the introduction a few years ago. The cover is an ink painting of a small town in the south of the Yangtze River, which is very elegant and quiet. But I didn't expect to go in and out of the bookstore several times, but this book "Jiangnan Town" was nowhere to be found. It took me some time to realize that this kind of "old book" published a few years ago has been "abdicated" in the bookstore with the flood of new books, and I was very disappointed for a while. However, entrusted by others, you have to do your best, not to mention the other person is an old man who loves books all his life.

I was very worried. I suddenly had a brainwave that day and thought, since I can't buy it in the bookstore, why not go to the publishing house and buy it directly? Others don't know, the editor of the publishing house must know a few. Just a moment of relaxation, I found a bigger problem-Fang Lao and I don't know which publishing house Jiangnan Town comes from.

Determined to casually make a phone call to a friend in Beijing's literary and art circles, enthusiastic people said they knew it was Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House, some said it was Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, and some said it was Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House. All publishing houses have become suspects in Jiangnan town, but they are not credible. So I had to make long-distance calls one by one, and a publishing house inquired carefully, which was of great help to the police in tracking and solving the case. As a result, I had a long-distance telephone chat with my editor friend, and finally told the reason for the call, only to find that none of those foreign publishing houses had published Jiangnan Town. If you don't want to, ask again and again. Really? The friend said, don't you know all the published books? Only when I put the phone down angrily did I realize that it was actually very difficult to find an "outdated" good book. I'm in trouble.

In despair, I thought of Mr. Zhou Ming, a famous editor in Beijing. This person has a wide network of contacts and has had contact with Mr. Xu Chi before. It should be easy to ask him to help me find Jiangnan Town Publishing House. Zhou is really chivalrous. He called me back a few days later and told me that the case had a clue-"Jiangnan Town" was published by Writers Publishing House, which is beyond doubt. However, he doesn't own the book. He searched the library of China Museum of Modern Literature, and the novel was not included in Xu Chi's collected works. Zhou Ming comforted me that since it is a publishing house in Beijing, it is also convenient to find. I was overjoyed. I've been in contact with iron shoes for several days, but it's right in front of me. It's not easy. Let's see where you are hiding in this mysterious town. I immediately called Ms. Jiang, vice president of Writers Publishing House, and repeated how the old poet in Harbin wanted to read this book. Ask her to help me get one anyway, even if it's expensive. Sister Jiang said with a smile, we are so happy that some people like our published books. No problem, no problem. However, in response to the old saying, the problem immediately came: I sent someone to look for "Jiangnan Town" in the stacks of writers publishing house, but there was not even one in that huge stack. Sister Jiang, I'm sorry to say that if it weren't for the library of the publishing house, it would really be gone. Maybe it will be printed again sometime in the future, but at present, I'm afraid there is no way for the time being.

After the death of a poet, it is difficult for anyone to find his book. How would the poet feel if he knew it underground? I feel a little sad in my heart, and I can't get rid of an unspeakable sadness in my heart, for the missing or extinct book, for Xu Chi, who is arrogant in front of me and deserted behind him, and for the person who wrote the book. At that moment, I vowed to find this book. Once born, it has life. It is made up of many movable types. Those ancient town people and stories, those poetic and beautiful languages are the cells, skin and blood of that life. The poet's independent personality and thoughts were the hard bones of that life. That was the poet's last talk before his death-Nanxun Town, his haunted hometown, entrusted with his stubborn innocence and remaining ideals. I don't believe it will disappear so quietly. People will die, but good books should live longer than people.

I began to take an interest in this book, and my stubborn nature came back to life in those days. I almost frantically searched for that book, not only for Fang Lao, not only for Xu Chi, but also for that book. I don't even know why I spent so much energy and time looking for anyone who might have something to do with this book or Xu Chi. I asked my friends all over Beijing, either I couldn't find the book when I moved, or I didn't read the book at all, and I was disappointed again and again. I also think that Xu Chi should start with the people he knew before his death-I called Liu Fudao, vice chairman of Hubei Writers Association, my old classmate in the literature workshop, and Mr. Yu Rujie, an old friend of the Institute of Literature of Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, and repeated the old saying I told many people, asking them to find his old friends, colleagues, neighbors and researchers of his works before his death, hoping that there would always be a meeting.

But the answer is that no one can own this book. Xu Chi's daughter is abroad, and a researcher of Xu Chi's works just went abroad to visit relatives a few days ago, which will take a long time.

All the information sent back is chilling, which also proves my inference that Xu Chi was an unsociable person before his death, and he rarely even gave books to others. He lived in a humble room, disappeared into the crowd, buried himself in a sheet piling, and explored the mystery of people and the universe in his heart. He writes a book only because he needs to. As soon as the book was published, he realized his wish. He didn't particularly care about the future and fate of this book. He gave wandering souls to works without wings and legs, and let them wander around the world, never asking their whereabouts or the evaluation of their recipients. In this age of science and technology, which he loves and fears, he handed all his loneliness and doubts to the sky outside the window of a six-story hospital. ...

I know I'm not looking for the book "Jiangnan Town", but the poet named Xu Chi.

Jiangnan Town seems to be out of print, but Xu Chi is still alive.

On a desperate morning, the names of Feng and Huang Zongying suddenly appeared in front of my eyes. The sunlight leaked through the cracks in the curtains, so I jumped out of bed and rushed to the telephone.

Teacher Zong Ying's soft voice, like turning pages, came from page to page, and I recognized the voice smiling.

She said, why didn't you think of me earlier? Of course I have Xu Chi's books. There are all kinds. But you know my bookshelves are piled up like that, and I know where Jiangnan Town is. Don't look for it, don't look for it. Right there. But you have to give me some time to find a way to take it out.

Yes, keep the change. I don't have to go to Xu Chi like a thread. There he is. In an old friend who knows him and wants him to read him, in that crowded and warm study and bedroom.

A few days later, Mr. Zong Ying told me that she had asked someone to copy the whole book and send it directly to Mr. Fang Hang in Harbin (think about it, it is really difficult for a person in his 70 s to copy and mail such a thick book). She repeatedly said that she was only afraid of losing the original work. You know Feng Lao, right? He loves books as much as his life. Besides, this is a book left by Mr. Xu Chi before his death.

The wandering soul will eventually have a place to live, in the heart of an old friend.

Later, Fang Xing's wife, Mr. Shiyuan Wang, called and said that she had received Jiangnan Town. I really don't know how to thank Mr. Huang Zongying and Mr. Feng. Fang Lao's eyes are not good, but he takes this manuscript every day and reads it page by page. Fang Lao likes this book very much. What he said is actually an autobiography of Mr. Xu Chi's mind.

My eyes blurred at that moment. To all those who write books.