What kind of socialism does Wang Zengqi's Tail satirize?

Jin is a scholar who studies Shen Congwen. He just borrowed some money from the library to write a biography of Shen Congwen. According to it, the original work was in English and was translated into Chinese by others. The preface of Wang (Ceng Qi) is placed in a particularly conspicuous position on the title page of the translation, which is obviously what the translator Fu Jiaqin meant.

Wang's preface said: "Mr. Jin is a rigorous young scholar (he is not too young, but he looks very young and naive like a big boy-I hope Mr. Jin will not be angry because of my words). He spent a lot of time, collected a lot of information, visited Mr. Shen many times, persevered and wrote a biography of hundreds of thousands of words. His enthusiasm for Shen Congwen is beautiful and touching. "

"... Wang Zengqi wrote a lot of essays, which I didn't pay much attention to. I pay more attention to his novels and find them a little simple. There is often a tail of political theory, which is a bit dogmatic. "-Kim

In many of Wang's works, it is not difficult to find these "political tails", and some dogmatism is inevitable;

In On, it is mentioned that Wang's works in his later years have gone the old road of "expressing the truth by writing" and eventually dried up ... As for Wang's friends, Dening Zhang couldn't restrain his dissatisfaction and said, "If it weren't for Wang's signature, others would never publish it."

"... his works are beneficial to the people of the world"-Wang Zengqi

As for what Kim said, politics is not politics, and dogma is not dogma. Let the reader comment.

My research makes people stop at the top of the mountain.

Reporter: Teacher Jin, when did you start studying Shen Congwen?

Jin (hereinafter referred to as Jin): I started my research from 1972. I have a Harvard teacher who recommended Shen Congwen's Border Town. The professor is also a historian. He thinks that Shen Congwen's description of the 1930s society, that is, the era of warlord regime in China, is different from that of other writers, so he said that I only read his works to understand history. At that time, we had a seminar entitled "Looking at the Modern History of China from Literary Materials". We use Shen Congwen's literary materials as historical materials, and add some memoirs of warlords and missionaries in western Hunan to write the history of the Republic of China. The materials are relatively rich. So I mainly look at Shen Congwen from a historical perspective.

Later, the more I studied him, the more I felt that others and his works were particularly good, probably because of the influence of Xia Zhiqing, who was particularly good to me at Columbia University, and Xu Jieyu, a student of Shen Congwen, who gave me great help in my research.

Reporter: Are there many people in the United States who are engaged in Shen Congwen's research like you?

Kim: Not too much. Actually, I don't specialize in Shen Congwen myself. I study legal literature, that is, anti-corruption novels. Other scholars who have studied Shen Congwen include Wang Dewei of new york Columbia University and Wang Xiaoping of Michigan State University. Most of them are students studying in the United States in China. Generally speaking, not many people study it. I don't know if I wrote the book carefully, so now others are a little scared. In fact, Shen Congwen is a prolific writer and has many subjects to write about.

Reporter: Strictly speaking, your Biography of Shen Congwen should be regarded as a critical biography, in which Shen's life only accounts for a small part, and it is great to make a detailed textual research on nearly a thousand works of Shen.

Jin: When I was writing my doctoral thesis at 1977, I thought I would never see Shen Congwen in my life, and I would never come to China, but things soon changed. 1980, I came to China for the first time, visited Shen Congwen and got to know Yu Ling and Shao Huaqiang. We help each other and exchange information. They also helped me translate my doctoral thesis into Chinese, but I met many nails. At that time, I had revised my English doctoral thesis, written a book and a Chinese translation, which was translated by Mr. Fu Jiaqin. The first edition 199 1 is annotated, only the second edition is annotated by Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House, and the third edition is the version of Taiwan Province Province, called Shen Congwen's Epic, which is a relatively complete translation and well translated.

Dozens of intimate contacts

Reporter: After 1980, in order to write a biography of Shen Congwen, you interviewed Shen Congwen and his old friends for dozens of times and got a lot of first-hand information. Can you tell me about your specific communication process?

Kim: I wrote to him at 1979, and he wrote back. He knew that I had written my doctoral thesis, so he was willing to be interviewed by me. 1980 I got a scholarship from the United States, so I came to China. I am in the Institute of Literature of China Academy of Social Sciences, and Shen Congwen is in the Institute of History. He is compiling a study on ancient Chinese costumes. At that time, I met some graduates of Chinese Department in universities, many of whom didn't know who Shen Congwen was. No one in the Academy of Social Sciences specializes in Shen Congwen, but Yu Ling and Shao Huaqiang compiled the Collected Works of Shen Congwen. I visited Shen Congwen about 12 times in June and July of 1980. His student Xu Jieyu also came to see him before, but it was around 1973, which was still very dangerous. When we met in the hotel, we had to talk about literature. But Shen Lao didn't want to talk about literature at that time, just wanted to talk about his art history and archaeology. Before I came to China, I copied my catalogue and about 600 cards. Just in case, I gave them all to yang shen when I left China, so that Yu Ling and Shao Huaqiang could see them. At the same time, I also visited Shen Congwen's friends and students, including Bian, Feng Zhi, Yuan Kejia, Shi Zhecun, Li Jianwu, Zhu Guangqian and Wang Zengqi.

It's probably the winter of 1980. Shen Congwen came to the United States, nominally speaking and visiting relatives. At that time, Zhang Chonghe (Zhang Zhaohe's sister) and her husband were at Yale University, and I also went to see him.

In the summer of 198 1, I went to China for my honeymoon, which was my second visit to China. I interviewed Shen Lao again this time.

The third time I came to China was 1986. Wang Meng, then chairman of the Writers Association, held an international symposium on China literature and invited many translators and researchers at home and abroad, including me. I visited Shen Congwen. He had a cerebral hemorrhage at that time, which was probably the last time I saw him.

Reporter: What's your overall impression of him? Kim: I think he looks like a child. He always tells jokes and is very naughty, so everyone's articles say that he has a childlike innocence. He didn't talk about complicated problems and the dark side of society, saying, "I don't know politics." In fact, he has many views on politics. For example,1When I first went to Phoenix in August, 980, Shen Congwen wrote to Long Haiqing, saying that you took care of Jin Fu Jie and helped him arrange activities in Fenghuang County. He wants to see more traditional things, things with the flavor of the 1920s and 1930s, rather than modern reservoirs. Of course, the local cadres asked me to see their reservoir, so I had to go.

Xiangxi has experienced what will happen in the Yangtze River.

Reporter: How many times have you been to Phoenix? Jin: In March this year, I came to Phoenix for the second time at the invitation of some German friends. We rented a bus from Changsha, Changde, Yuanling, Jishou, Fenghuang, and then to the tea cave, which is the "border town". Phoenix is beautiful, but the tea cave is poor, poor and dirty. We also know that the Yangtze River is building the world's largest dam, the Three Gorges Dam. Many small towns in western Hunan have experienced what will happen in the Yangtze River. Many places written by Shen Congwen, such as Yuanling and Luxi, have disappeared and been submerged because of the construction of some dams. This is my concern for the Yangtze River.

Reporter: You have been to Phoenix three times before and after. What changes have you felt?

Jin: Compared with today, Phoenix at 1980 is much better now. I heard that Tuojiang River is much cleaner now than it was a few years ago. 1980 Phoenix also had a revolutionary committee, which was very backward. I remember it was dangerous to walk after dark. There seems to be only one intersection with a 20-watt light bulb. Most people don't turn on the lights at home for fear of spending money, and the shops are closed at night. There are many internet cafes here now, and there is a street about 10, which surprised me. Much better, Ricky. Now you can't tell who is Han and who is Miao. Miao women also dress beautifully in the countryside.

"First-rate writer, second only to Lu Xun"

Reporter: What do you think is the most important influence of Shen Congwen on world literature?

Jin: He has a great influence on Chinese literature in the world, including Taiwan Province. He Liwei, Gu Hua, Han Shaogong and Chien Sun, young writers in Hunan Province, and Jia Pingwa, Acheng and Wang Zengqi were all his students in the 1940s. Shen Hong, the granddaughter of Shen Congwen, is compiling a catalogue of Shen Congwen's foreign translation works. I didn't expect Shen Congwen's works to have so many foreign language translations. Many intellectuals, including edgar snow, think that Shen Congwen will be Lu Xun's successor.

Reporter: In the Biography of Shen Congwen, you said that he was "the first-class modern literary writer in China, second only to Lu Xun", and you spoke highly of him.

Kim: Yes, I like him. So I may have a lot of prejudices. Some of Lu Xun's novels may be better than his, but there are not many novels written by Lu Xun, and Chinese mainland pays more attention to his essays. Personally, I think you can't understand his prose unless you have a lot of notes. In another 50 years, there are many articles that you can't understand at all. Comments must be longer than the original.

Reporter: So what makes you so obsessed with his novels?

Jin: His novels are beautiful in words, idyllic in life and unpretentious. The more I read, the more I feel that there are many symbols, such as Cui Cui in Border Town. I read a paper written by Taiwan Province Wang Xiaoping, saying that she looks like a modern girl in some ways. She is free to choose marriage, which seems to be influenced by the May 4th Movement and is unlikely. Moreover, Shen Congwen also admitted that there are some Freudian symbols in Border Town. I think all his novels have a pun meaning, which is very profound. Shen is one of the few writers who successfully applied Freud's psychoanalysis theory in China. He also tried to use avant-garde (modernism, stream of consciousness) to open up the wasteland of literature.

Reporter: Wang Zengqi and Jia Pingwa are considered to be two famous disciples of Shen Congwen. What do you think of their novels?

Jin: I haven't finished reading Jia Pingwa's "The Wasted Capital". It's not easy to read. I think Li Rui's novels are better written. I like Li Rui and Mo Yan. Wang Zengqi wrote many essays, which I didn't pay much attention to. I pay more attention to his novels and find them easier. There is often a tail of political theory, which is a bit dogmatic.

The Biography of Shen Congwen only sold 500 copies in the United States.

Reporter: In the United States, does it feel neglected to study writers like Shen Congwen?

King: All academic works in the United States are ignored unless they are published by large commercial publishing houses. My biography of Shen Congwen is academically good in America, but I only sold about 500 copies. How much is each book? ) About 50 dollars. If you take out a book on the history of Tang and Song Dynasties, you can sell at most 120 copies.

Reporter: Then who will publish these books at a loss? Kim: University Press gives them subsidies. That's their responsibility. University libraries used to buy books, but now it's different. Some universities have joined forces. This library buys books about Japan, and that library buys books about the mainland and borrows them from each other. It's terrible.

Reporter: You can sell books to students. Kim: I won't. Objection. Reporter: Does your university professor stipulate how many articles to send each year?

Kim: Scientific research can be said to be amateur, but it is more important in a better university. This is a contradiction. If you can't publish one or two good articles a year, your professor will lose face.

Reporter: Is there a charge for publishing articles?

Jin: Academic magazines have no contribution fees. The first time I received the manuscript fee, it was sent to me by a domestic magazine, which was Zhongshan magazine in Nanjing.

Reporter: Then why publish it?

Kim: For honor.

Shen Congwen: A Rising Stock

Wang Runhua (Singapore)

After nine years of hard editing, the 32-volume Complete Works of Shen Congwen was finally published. Because Shen Congwen has never published all his works, there are many unpublished documents and papers. Therefore, when the Complete Works of Shen Congwen is published, it is the time for the study of Shen Congwen to start again. We will find that Shen Congwen is not Shen Congwen now, that's for sure.

Shen Congwen started writing only after he left his hometown and went into exile in Beijing. If Shen Congwen hadn't left Phoenix, he would have been here, and his works and thoughts would certainly be very different. When he went to Beijing, Xiangxi culture, China central culture and western culture strongly impacted him. This multi-culture has made Shen Congwen have a very explosive creativity. His great literary works and his literary criticism are still not valued by ordinary people.

To study Shen Congwen, we must first realize that he is a marginal person and a self-exiled person. In China literature, from the wandering exile of Qu Yuan, Li Bai and Du Fu to Cao Xueqin, the works of such marginal people are just different from ordinary writers. This is the terrible place. At present, there are many writers in the west, especially in America. Many writers are exiles, rubbish, and unrecognized people. This has been the mainstream since the mid-20th century until post-modernism.

The greatness of Shen Congwen lies in the fact that his new novel tradition is a local novel destroyed by material civilization. Shen Congwen's novels examine modern civilization from the perspective of rural areas, which is the beginning of modern novels. At the same time, he creatively mixed poetry, travel notes and prose to express his feelings. He broke the boundaries of literary form, especially the novel style. Now in our society, universities break down the fence and the country goes to the world, which is actually a kind of progress in this thinking. Shen Congwen's literary view and novel theory are pioneering and forward-looking. Jin and others have special works on this. Moreover, Shen Congwen is also a world-class literary critic. Like Eliot, he is a poet critic and a person with creative experience to sum up his own creation. He criticizes writers who are very similar to his works. For example, his analysis of Lu Xun's early local novels is very wonderful. Many writers, you have read it many times, but every time you read it, your experience will be different, you will make new discoveries and you will be changed. Shen Congwen is such a writer. Times have changed, and Shen Congwen's value is like a blue chip, rising every day.

1977, when China and Chinese students didn't know who Shen Congwen was, Kim, an American scholar on the other side of the ocean, had written China with Shen Congwen's pen. His other book, Biography of Shen Congwen, published in 1985, is the first academic research on Shen Congwen. Happiness suppresses misfortune? What did the husband say?

Autumn. Phoenix. Shen Congwen's Centennial Birthday International Symposium. The reporter finally met Mr. Jin, who is known as the first person to study Shen Congwen abroad. Late at night, through the clear and pure Tuojiang River written by Mr. Wang, I talked about sitting quietly and understood Mr. Wang's feeling of "birds singing like washing", which involved "wet memories" That night, let a person infinite regrets.

Jefferies. Kinkley (1948 ——) 1977 received his Ph.D. in China under Shen Congwen's pen from Harvard University. He is currently a professor of history at St. John's University in New York, USA.