When did Lao She start writing short stories?

Shortly after returning to China, Lao She began to write short stories, most of which were included in Fair (1934), Sakura Sea Collection (1935) and Mussel Algae Collection (1936). The first few articles tend to "write short stories casually" ("How do I write short stories"), and some are humorous sketches, which almost make people laugh. Soon, a chapter with serious significance and rich social significance was added. He wrote humorous poems for The Analects of Confucius edited by Lin Yutang, and was one of the important contributors to the magazine. He also published essays in Shen Bao Free Talk. These poems reveal the writer's concern and anxiety about the fate of the motherland under the plot of Japanese aggression in light and witty language, and some of them are included in Lao She's humorous poems (1934). Starting from 1935, he also wrote articles to review and summarize his own creative experience, and later integrated these articles into the book "The Old Bull Broke the Car" (1937). In the mid-1930s, Lao She created a large number of works of various genres with increasingly mature styles. These works were published in newspapers with different tendencies, and he became an active writer in the literary world.

The most important achievement of this period is the novel Camel Xiangzi serialized in Cosmic Wind from September 65438 to September 0936. The novel tells the story of a young and energetic rickshaw driver who hopes to change his humble position through personal struggle. He went all out and struggled several times, but what he got was failure and blow. With the disillusionment, his faith and pursuit of life were lost. The writer wrote the process from self-esteem and self-confidence to self-indulgence, which is the unfortunate fate of Xiangzi himself. This is a profound social tragedy. The novel highlights the writer's sincere sympathy and profound understanding of the urban poor and becomes Lao She's main masterpiece. Camel Xiangzi is one of China's best works in 1930s, and it is also an excellent novel in modern China. It established Lao She's important position in the history of modern literature in China. After being translated into English in the1940s, it also won the love of foreign readers.

War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression involved Lao She in the whirlpool of the times. 1937 10, Lao She, who returned to cheeloo university to teach, went to Wuhan alone on the eve of the fall of Jinan. 1938 In March, the All-China Anti-Enemy Association of Literary and Art Circles was established in Wuhan. He was elected as the director and director of the general affairs department, responsible for the daily affairs of the association and became the actual person in charge of the group. 1June, 939, participated in the condolence group of the North Road of the National Comfort Federation to express condolences to the soldiers and civilians in the Anti-Japanese War. In the past six months, it has traveled more than 20,000 miles, passing through Sichuan, Hubei, Henan, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu and Sui provinces, including Yan 'an and Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia anti-Japanese democratic base areas. All these have broadened his horizons and enriched his life. In the past, due to some alienation from revolutionary forces and revolutionary movements, misunderstandings occurred. At this time, through contact and working together, the understanding was enhanced and the political attitude was obviously radical. In 1944, Mao Dun once pointed out: "Without the efforts of Mr. Lao She, this great event-the great unity of writers and artists in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, I am afraid it could not be completed so smoothly and quickly, and I am afraid it could not support today." (Mr. Lao She has worked brilliantly for twenty years) He has done a lot of work in order to implement the anti-Japanese United front policy put forward by the China Producer Party in the literary and art circles, eliminate the destructive interference of the Kuomintang die-hards and protect the legitimate rights and interests of writers. In the later period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, he joined the growing democratic movement. From April 65438 to April 0944, people from all walks of life in Chongqing and other places held activities to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Lao She's creative career, and highly praised him from different aspects. Lao She is no longer a writer who is simply immersed in writing. Become an organizer and social activist in the literary and art circles and a fighter for anti-Japanese and democracy. War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression profoundly changed Lao She's thoughts and actions.

The above changes are also clearly reflected in his creation. As soon as the war broke out, he immediately gave up two novels that had already written tens of thousands of words, and became the most enthusiastic advocate and practitioner of popular literature and art. He has been discussing the problem of writing drum words with artists who sang Quyi during the Anti-Japanese War in Jinan, Wuhan and Chongqing. He also wrote many well-known works to promote War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in various ancient forms, including Peking Opera, Drum Songs, Crosstalk, Treasures and Pendants for artists to perform. Some of these works are included in 34 1 (1938). In the discussion of "national form" in literary and art circles, he wrote a long poem "Jian Bei pian" (1940 ~ 1942, unfinished) that "blends the old with the new" (How do I write Jian Bei pian). Later, I began to write plays, either by myself or in cooperation with others, and wrote more than a dozen books, such as Remnant Fog (1939) and Country First (1940). Some called for national unity, some praised patriotic generals, and some exposed corruption in the "home front". War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and national salvation are the themes of these works. Later, he concluded: "I don't know the tricks of the stage, so I can't always perform the tricks of those plays" and "I always tell them in the form of novels" (Gossip about My Seven Plays). These plays do have obvious weaknesses in drama art, but through these efforts, he made good preparations for his plays in the 1950s.1At the beginning of 944, Lao She began to write the novel A Family of Four. The book is divided into three parts: confusion, indifference to life and famine, with millions of words, describing the suffering and struggle of people at all levels after the fall of Beiping. Lao She is familiar with the old capital, but lacks the experience of this kind of life. His wife Hu Qing, who just came to Chongqing from Peiping, provided him with a lot of materials about the sufferings and struggles of the people in his hometown under the rule of the enemy and puppet troops, which made up for this defect to some extent. Although the clues of the anti-Japanese struggle in the book are still a little thin and vague, at the critical moment of national survival, he depicts all beings in this ancient city with strong oil paints, and depicts in detail the inner conflicts and awakening of the middle and lower class residents who are deeply bound by traditional concepts, which contains whipping and expectation for them, adding many colorful and thoughtful frames to his numerous descriptions of Beijing citizens.

After War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory,1March, 946, Lao She went to the United States to give lectures at the invitation of the State Council. After the expiration of one year, he continued to live in the United States, completed the writing of Four Generations under One roof, created another novel, The Drummer, and helped others to translate these two novels into English. Pass the parcel tells the story of the old artists' pursuit of rebirth in the storm of the Anti-Japanese War, showing the true image of revolutionaries and calling for the arrival of a new China. 1949 10 10/day, People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded. 13 Lao She left for home, passing through Japan, the Philippines and other places, and 12.9 arrived in Tianjin. "It's been 14 years since I left North China, and suddenly I saw the snow and yellow land on the river bank, and I couldn't help but burst into tears" (from San Francisco to Tianjin). Born in Beijing, this writer, who has always been famous for describing Beijing, left home on 1924 before relocating to his beloved hometown.

The prosperous weather of new China immediately inspired Lao She's new creative enthusiasm. 1950 1, less than a month after returning to China, he published his first work praising the new China-the drum book "New Year". He once again engaged in the reform of traditional art with great enthusiasm, including the work of transforming old artists. The drama Fang Mingzhu (1950) takes the artist's experience before and after liberation as the theme, and the first half is somewhat similar to Drummer. A year later, the drama Longxugou was staged, which aroused strong response from the literary and art circles and society. The script is based on the true story that the people's government first made great efforts to improve the living conditions in slums in the early days of liberation. Lao She combined his familiarity and love for Beijing and the urban poor with his excitement and joy for their new life, and wrote down the profound changes that are taking place in ancient Beijing and the urban poor who have suffered. This is an ode to New Taipei, Peking and New China. An old writer from old China can write such excellent works praising new China in a short time, and his success has aroused widespread admiration, so Lao She was awarded the title of "People's Artist".

Since the early 1950s, Lao She has successively served as a member of the State Council Culture and Education Committee, a member of Beijing People's Committee, a vice chairman of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, a vice chairman of China Writers Association and secretary of the Secretariat, a vice chairman of China Folk Literature and Art Research Association, a director of China Dramatists Association and China Quyi Workers Association, and a chairman of Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles. He is also in charge of minority literature, focusing on the training and counseling of young writers. He was elected to the National People's Congress and the Standing Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for many times. He has visited Korea, the Soviet Union, India, Czechoslovakia, Japan and other countries. He spent more time and energy on politics, society, culture and friendly exchanges with foreign countries than during the Anti-Japanese War. He also writes more diligently, and new books keep coming out. As he said, "I keep an eye on the society and always want my pen to catch up with the present" (ten years of pen and ink). He tried to understand and experience the new life and reflected it in his works. Naturally, not every attempt is successful. For example, the novel Unknown Highland (1954), which describes Chinese people's Volunteer Army's combat achievements, and the drama Youth Commando (1955), which praises the labor competition of construction workers, lack artistic strength due to the lack of real life. Well-written works show the joys and sorrows of Beijing residents' lives, such as the drama Salesgirl (1958) and Family Portrait (1959). Can be regarded as a sequel to "Longxugou", which depicts how old Beijing and the suffering old-school citizens move towards a new life. The author is familiar with these characters and their changes. With tears and laughter, he wrote a leap forward in history through the comparison before and after liberation, which made people realize the true meaning of life in laughter. Looking at Chang 'an in the West (1956) is based on the case of Li Wanming, which shocked the whole country. The reason why Li Wanming was able to cheat everywhere exposed the serious bureaucracy and unhealthy tendencies of some cadres, which was exposed and ridiculed in his plays. How to write satirical works of the new society is a topic that has been discussed a lot but not practiced much. This attempt by Lao She, who is famous for his humor and satire, is particularly striking.

In the later creation, the most successful plays are Teahouse (1957) and novel Under the Red Flag (196 1 ~ 1962, unfinished). The former takes a teahouse in Beijing as the stage, and uses the characteristics of "a big teahouse is a small society" to unfold the life scene and historical trend of half a century in three different periods: after the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898 in the late Qing Dynasty, during the occupation by the northern warlords in the early Republic of China and before the collapse of the Kuomintang government. There are more than 60 characters in the play, and there is no central story clue and no coherent plot connection between scenes. However, it can be tightly structured, reproduce sharp contradictions and rich social life in one go, and reveal the truth that we must find another way out through the decline of old China. The latter is autobiographical, but it describes the colorful social features when the Qing Empire was about to perish, especially the differentiation and decline of the flag-bearer society as a special pillar of the Qing rule in the great turmoil. Both works give full play to Lao She's specialty as a painter of Beijing customs. "Under the Red Flag" is interesting, which once again shows the humorous style. It can be chewed up with a smile and scolding, indicating that his humor has become deep and subtle. Although they all describe old China, Teahouse still has a strong sense of tragedy, but they all jump with the pulse of the times, show the strength of the people and the trend of historical progress, and have an inherent spirit of historical optimism. This marks the important development of the writer's thought and realistic creation method. Teahouse is one of the best plays on the stage of contemporary China drama. When performing in some western European countries, it is known as "the miracle on the oriental stage". (See the color map of Lao She's drama Teahouse (performed by Beijing People's Art Theatre))

The mid-1930s was the first peak of Lao She's creation, and the 1950s and 1960s was the second peak, with many works and new progress in ideology and art ... Writers who started writing in the 1920s and 1930s still maintained strong artistic creativity and made new achievements in the 1950s and 1960s. Lao She is a prominent one. Only in this way,1August 24, 966, he unfortunately died at the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", which is particularly regrettable.

Literary Achievements Lao She was first famous for his novels. When he started writing, few writers of new literature wrote novels. He is one of the earliest writers of modern novels in China, and has contributed to the development of this genre. Later, he became famous for his plays, with a large number of works, and became one of the most important playwrights in the 1950s and 1960s. His short stories are few, but there are also many graceful and meaningful masterpieces, such as "Broken Soul Gun", "Taking Office" and "Liu Family Courtyard", all of which are written with their own characteristics. His short stories are often superior to novels in artistic conception and wide range of subjects. He wrote many interesting and witty articles and some old and new poems. Lao She's novels include novels, novellas, short stories and short stories, as well as fairy tales and fables. In drama creation, in addition to drama, there are children's dramas, pantomime, opera, drama and vaudeville. Different from most writers after the May 4th Movement, he also created a large number of popular works of different genres by using various traditional forms, including operas transplanted and adapted from different traditional operas. Lao She is one of the most diversified writers in modern China, and has made outstanding achievements in many fields.

Besides the writer's diligence and being good at drawing nutrition from China tradition and foreign literature at the same time, there are deeper ideological and artistic reasons. When War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out, Lao She was already a famous novelist. In view of the urgent need to encourage the Anti-Japanese War in the form of literature and art that people understand and love, he interrupted his novel creation, fully explored the utilization and transformation of popular literature and art, and personally "boldly tried various genres of (popular) literature and art" ("Three-year Writing Self-report"). Later, due to the consideration that "drama is needed in the war of resistance against Japan, drama must resist Japan" (the development and predicament of drama during the war of resistance against Japan), he turned to drama creation. People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded. When he just returned to China and wrote Longxugou, he knew what a difficult transition it meant to be a critic in old China and a singer in new China: "In my writing experience of more than 20 years, writing Longxugou is the biggest adventure"; Thanks to the enthusiasm of the government, I dare to take risks. He answered the new topic put forward by the times with his own creative practice. After the success of his drama creation, he continued to make "new attempts, not completely bound by his conservative son" ("Answering Several Questions about Teahouses"), challenging the traditional drama law that emphasizes that time, place, clues of characters and plots need to be highly concentrated, and wrote a unique "painting drama". In Lao She's view, "it not only shows the most precious political enthusiasm of an artist, but also shows the real courage of an equally valuable artist" (Zhou Yang, "What to learn from Longxugou? ), with a strong sense of social responsibility and artistic innovation spirit, he has tirelessly dabbled in all fields of literary creation, never satisfied with any achievements he has made, and has been able to make important progress and breakthroughs in his creative career for more than 40 years.

When Lao She started writing, she held the attitude that "no matter who or what, it should be funny anyway" and "humor is the purpose" ("How do I write Zhao Ziyue"). His works have a distinctive humorous and satirical style from the beginning. He is one of the few humorous writers in the history of modern literature. He was once known as a "humorist" and a "comedian". His early works are mixed with some episodes that are purely for fun and lack ideological significance. His character of "laughing and cursing, but not killing them all" (How do I Write Lao Zhang's Philosophy) makes his satire less cold and sharp than Lu Xun's, and more warm and relaxed, thus forming his unique humorous style. Since1the mid-1930s, Lao She's writing style has become more and more serious with more experiences of national disasters and the harshness of life. Humor is no longer the keynote of most of his works, and it is no longer humorous works that are praised. However, in most of his works, witty language still often appears, which makes people laugh or laugh, and sometimes makes people cry or think deeply. In his later works, the writer made many characters say goodbye to yesterday with smiles. These all have an inherent humor-sublimated humor.

Most of Lao She's works focus on citizen life. He is good at describing the life and fate of the urban poor, especially the conservative and backward middle and lower class citizens saturated with feudal patriarchal ideology, their ambivalence of confusion, hesitation and loneliness, and their ridiculous behavior of being in a dilemma and being at a loss under the impact of the new historical trend. He likes to reflect common social conflicts through ordinary daily scenes, and his brushwork often extends to the excavation of national spirit or the thinking of national destiny, which makes people taste the seriousness and heaviness of life from relaxed humor. Colorful natural scenery rendering and meticulous description of customs and human feelings add to the life breath and interest of the works. In the history of modern literature, Lao She's name is always closely related to the citizens and the theme of Beijing. He is an outstanding painter of local conditions and customs in modern literature in China, especially in Beijing. As a great man, the social reality he reflected may not be broad enough, but within the scope he described, he combined history with reality, from the natural scenery throughout the year, the social atmosphere and customs of different times to the joys and sorrows and subtle mentality of various people, which was colorful and lively, forming a complete world full of "Beijing flavor". This is a special contribution of Lao She in the history of modern literature.

Another feature of Lao She's works is that it shows a distinct anti-imperialist and patriotic theme. Anti-imperialism and feudalism is the basic theme of the whole new literature since the May 4th Movement. However, except in certain periods (such as the May 30th Movement, after the September 18th Incident and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression), there are not many anti-imperialist themes and contents in the creation of ordinary writers. Lao She's works are often obvious. Jason Chung, his first work, expresses the national consciousness of resisting foreign invaders through the childish actions of primary school students. Mao Dun deeply felt "love and yearning for the motherland" from Lao She's earliest works (Mr. Lao She who has worked brilliantly for twenty years). After that, Lao She wrote many works that directly exposed the crime of imperialist aggression and described their economic, cultural and religious infiltration and the harm caused by racial discrimination to the people of China from different aspects. He showed national awakening, praised national integrity, and criticized the humble and unwise foreign slaves who faced these invasions and infiltration. The drama Shenquan (also known as the Boxer Rebellion), which was written in the early 1960s, reproduces the heroic scene of Beijingers fighting against Eight-Nation Alliance. His later works strongly show the joy and pride of China people who are masters of their own affairs and stand on their own feet to strengthen themselves in the world. His love for the socialist motherland has added new content and brilliance to his patriotism and reached a new ideological height. Strong national pride and ardent patriotism are the noble character and precious spiritual heritage in Lao She's works.

After the May 4th Movement, writers of new literature abandoned the classical Chinese written by feudal literati and did not adopt modern vernacular in vernacular novels and operas. Instead, they created modern vernacular Chinese from modern spoken language, which is convenient to reflect modern life and express modern people's psychological activities. As a new literary language, Lao She has made outstanding achievements in this respect. He is from Beijing and can speak standard Mandarin. More importantly, we should try our best to learn and refine literary language from people's oral language. Pay attention to study, avoid hard work and over-Europeanized student accent problems; Paying attention to refinement can break away from the rough natural form and overcome the weakness of copying and abusing dialects. He used a truly artistic and living language. Lao She's novels and essays are catchy, and the dialogue in the play is lively. The language of many characters in the works has its own personality characteristics. He solved the problem of language disconnection well. He is outstanding among modern writers in the accuracy, vividness, expressiveness and artistry of language and the creation of new literary language. Lao She believes that the writer's style is first embodied in language, and his language has indeed become an important means to express artistic style. Even the language of his theoretical articles is very individual. His contribution in this respect is beyond the scope of literary creation. As early as 1930s, some people advocated that his works should be regarded as "textbooks to promote pure Putonghua" (Lao She's letter to Zhao Jiabi), and his works have been frequently cited in modern Chinese textbooks.

Lao She's creation was influenced by British Dickens, Conrad and others, and had a deeper connection with China's traditional literature and art, mainly among the people. This makes his works have the characteristics of popularization, popularization and strong national color, and can be appreciated in both form and content. Therefore, it broke through the narrow circle of new literature circulating only among students and intellectual youth earlier, and was loved by a wide range of readers. Later, it vividly described the social outlook and people's feelings of modern China, with distinctive China characteristics. Coupled with standardized modern Chinese, it has attracted foreign attention. All these have expanded the influence of China's modern literature. Based on the daily life of small people in Beijing Hutong, he skillfully used the literary language of "Beijing flavor" and was imitated by some latecomers.

Publication and Version of Works Lao She is a prolific writer, who wrote more than 1000 works with 7 million to 8 million words in his life. In addition to the above, his works published before his death mainly include the novel Dr. Wen (also known as Voter, 1936 ~ 1937), Cremation (1943 ~ 1944) and the collection of short stories. Drama Zhang Zizhong (194 1), face problem (194 1), dragon snake on the ground (1942), back to Xi (1942), and. 1952), Shi (1953), Shiwuguan (Peking Opera based on the legend of Shiwuguan, 1956), Red Courtyard (1958), etc. Prose and essays on literature and art include Fu (1958), Xiao (1963), and export (1964). In addition, from 1930s to 1950s, there were various anthologies selected by writers and edited by others, mainly including short stories, novellas and plays. His translation of Bernard Shaw's play Apple Car was included in Bernard Shaw's Plays Collection (1956).

Lao She never compiled and published his own works at any time before his death. There are many missing chapters. In the 1930s and 1940s, there were many pirated books without the author's consent, which contained many mistakes and sometimes mixed with other people's works. In the first half of 1950s, some works (such as Camel Xiangzi and Divorce) were revised by writers and formed different versions. Since the late 1970s, the collection and arrangement of Lao She's works has attracted wide attention. Selected Poems of Lao She (1980), Stories of Lao She (1982), On Lao She's Creation (1980) and On Lao She's Drama (65438) have been published one after another. The Complete Works of Lao She, edited and published by People's Literature Publishing House 1980, contains the literary works of writers from 1925 to 1966, sorted by literary genre and writing year, and collated according to the first edition or other editions with annotations, which is a relatively complete and accurate collection of Lao She's works so far.

Comments on Lao She and his works began in the late 1920s and gradually increased in the mid-1930s. In the 1950s and 1960s, every new work of Lao She was published, which immediately aroused extensive discussion in the critical circle. , Zhu Ziqing, Wang Shuming, Zhao Shaohou, Ye Shengtao, Ba people, Feng Chang, Xu Jie, Yi Qun, Tian Zhongji, Wu Zuxiang, Zhou Yang, Jiao Juyin, Guang Weiran, Li Jianwu, Mei Qian, Zhang Geng, Feng Zi and others have all written comments. Since the end of 1970s, newspapers and periodicals have published many articles recalling Lao She, and systematic and comprehensive research has been carried out day by day. In addition to continuing to analyze and evaluate Lao She's representative works, they also made a comprehensive discussion on Lao She's creative path, artistic style and position in the history of literature.

The translation, publication and research of Lao She's works abroad are very active. Keiichi Ito of Japan, Paul Buddy of France, Bigniev Schopsie of Poland, and ranbir Waller of the United States have all written papers or works on Lao She's research.

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