1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 294 Root Seeking Sect

"You are very efficient." Jiang Xian rubbed his eyes and took the manuscript from Zhang Shouren.

Early in the morning, before he woke up, Zhang Shouren came to his house and returned the manuscript of Red Sorghum.

Jiang Xian flipped through the manuscript and couldn't help complaining, "Old Zhang, you are too stingy. It's not the manuscript for October, but you didn't even give me a review."

Zhang Shouren was too embarrassed to talk about his inner struggle last night, so he said perfunctorily, "I stayed up too late reading this manuscript yesterday, and I fell asleep as soon as I finished reading it."

"Teacher Zhang, have you eaten?" Zhu Lin came to the living room and greeted Zhang Shouren.

"I have eaten, I have eaten."

Zhang Shouren said politely, "Isn't Comrade Zhu Lin filming in another place? When will she come back?"

"Just finished shooting, took the train last night."

Zhu Lin poured him a glass of water, saw the thick manuscript paper on the table, looked up and asked Zhang Shouren.

"Teacher Zhang, is this our Jiang Xian's new manuscript?"

"good."

"Have you read it? What's it like?"

Zhu Lin asked Zhang Shouren out of curiosity.

"Then I'm going to praise your Jiang Xian."

Zhang Shouren smiled and looked at Jiang Xian, saying, "Good manuscript, it's really a good manuscript."

Zhu Lin covered her lips and smiled, and said politely, "Please don't be so polite."

"I'm definitely not being polite."

Zhang Shouren's expression became serious: "This Jiang Xian of yours is as good at telling stories as ever, and his writing is fluent, his talent just flows onto the paper like flowing water.

The evaluation that impressed me most in the past was that he was a representative writer of "Chinese stream of consciousness". As soon as I read this novel, I felt that the flow of fragments was perfect, the brushstrokes exuded the flavor of sorghum, and the scenes were extremely visually impactful.

"Okay, Lao Zhang."

Jiang Xian chuckled, "There's no one here, why are you praising me to the skies in front of my wife?"

Zhang Shouren chuckled and shook his head. He was silent for a while, but then he felt like he had to say something, so he spoke.

"You, there's something really true about you. All you have to do is pick up the pen. Without even moving, the paper is filled with words."

After hearing this, Zhu Lin knew that the editor was truly conquered by Jiang Xian's talent, which was why he gave such a high-level evaluation of him.

She glanced at Jiang Xian, her almond-shaped eyes filled with pride.

"Okay, I have things to do at work, so I won't disturb your reunion."

Zhang Shouren did not stay long. After chatting for a few words, he stood up to say goodbye. However, his steps were a little hesitant when he left.

It seemed that he was about to turn around and ask Jiang Xian whether there was any room for negotiation regarding the whereabouts of the manuscript.

I rode my bicycle to the Beijing Publishing Bureau and entered the editorial office of October.

After greeting several colleagues on duty, Zhang Shouren made a cup of tea and recalled the contents of Red Sorghum for a while. His expression went from excitement to listlessness. Finally, he sighed, stopped thinking about it, and sat down to read the manuscript.

During the third review of the manuscript, Zhang Shouren, as the head of the novel group, was responsible for the second review.

The first article has some elements of reform literature. It is written by a worker in Shijiazhuang. He takes in an apprentice, but later finds out that the apprentice is his son. The son is progressive, while the father is conservative. The two are struggling with each other, and finally the father chooses to step back and accept his son's new ideas.

"Decent quality, but not up to publication standards"

Zhang Shouren carefully wrote his second review comments on the manuscript.

"This manuscript is useless, please return it."

"okay, I get it."

After reviewing these manuscripts, it was already noon.

Zhang Shouren had lunch and felt that the cafeteria was a bit lively today. Young colleagues were sitting together in groups of three or four, discussing something intensely.

“This could be a retro trend!”

"How to make it retro? I think it's about promoting the good elements of cultural traditions!"

"Yes!"

"That makes sense! I support it!"

Zhang Shouren sat over. Several young editors were looking excited, but when they turned around and saw him, their excitement immediately faded.

"Team leader."

"Ah."

Zhang Shouren nodded as a greeting, "What are you talking about?"

Several young editors looked at each other, and none of them dared to speak. Finally, the most senior editor in the theory group smiled and explained to Zhang Shouren:

"I am talking about a slogan of cultural 'seeking roots', which was put forward by Jiang Xian in a theoretical article a few days ago."

According to the editor, the theory group received many manuscripts today, most of which revolved around the issue of "cultural roots."

It can be said that since Jiang Xian published this article, the number of voices discussing this literary "root-seeking" has gradually increased in recent days, and the growth trend is quite exaggerated.

Zhang Shouren quickly understood.

The reason why several young editors had a grudge against him was, of course, because of the topic of “searching for roots”.

After all, the idea of ​​"taking traditional culture as roots" is too sensitive.

First of all, let me make one thing clear:
In later generations, "inheriting Chinese culture" is a very normal and correct thing in everyone's subconscious mind.

We must inherit, carry forward, and protect the things left by our ancestors, and we must promote the excellent traditional Chinese culture. There is no doubt that traditional culture is the precious resource and wealth left by our ancestors.

This idea seems natural and unquestionable.

But it’s different in this era.

Traditional culture? That is the dregs left over from the feudal dynasty!

You mean searching for roots?

What root are you looking for?

The orthodoxy of our culture is continuing!

If you want to find your roots, you must go to Yan'an! Go to October Ge Ming!
How can we look for it in feudal dynasties and feudalism?
To later generations like Jiang Xian, this idea may seem a bit stubborn.

But in this era, this is how people think.

Root-seeking literature has always been viewed with caution by the mainstream because of its call for "paying attention to Chinese cultural traditions."

It can be seen that over the past few decades, people's thinking has changed dramatically, but in just a few decades, their views on things have become completely different.

In the following days, the discussion about cultural "roots-seeking" became increasingly heated.

Jiang Xian's article "Return to national traditions, return to contemporary language!" has attracted many fans, but also attracted a lot of controversy.

Hundreds of articles discussed the topic of “seeking roots”, which caused a fierce uproar in the cultural community and gradually formed a wave of controversy.

Early that morning, Zhu Lin got up early and took out the Zhongshan suit that Jiang Xian had customized in Hongdu, and ironed it twice.

After Jiang Xian took over, he felt so strong and crisp, and he looked more energetic than before.

“That’s not like a writer.”

Zhu Lin helped him fix his collar, her eyes flickering, "I think you look more like an actor." "Then you have to tell me clearly what kind of actor you are. After all, I'm in good health and have a wide range of acting skills," Jiang Xian said.

Doing writing work requires long periods of sitting, which is very harmful to the body.

However, he had started to run in the morning for a long time and formed a habit, and now he is in pretty good shape.

"Where do you get the willpower to keep running every day?"

“Once this becomes a habit, you can’t stop.”

My body actively accepts running and automatically adjusts my biological clock every day, so I jump out of bed on time when the time comes.

These are the words of Haruki Murakami, and Jiang Xian also experienced them personally.

Today is the day for the National Outstanding Novella Award. Jiang Xian dressed neatly and went out with his wife watching him.

Like previous sessions, this year's selection is still hosted by the China Writers Association and entrusted to People's Literature, and is conducted by combining public recommendations with expert reviews.

Readers these days are quite simple and honest, and they still maintain a high level of enthusiasm for the selection.

As soon as the selection notice was announced, readers' recommendation votes continued to flow into the selection committee.

As of January this year, a total of 369,186 ballots were received in more than three months.

Jiang Xian was no stranger to the award ceremony process, and other writers were also familiar with Jiang Xian's appearance.

There is this kid every year!
Relatively speaking, Jiang Xian was relatively low-key this year, and only won first place with "The Garland under the Mountain".

Jiang Xian knew that the topic of "root-seeking literature" was very popular recently. He thought that once he arrived at the scene, he might become the target of public criticism, so he deliberately arrived late.

When I arrived at the scene to get the letter of introduction, the award ceremony was about to begin.

He found his seat and sat down calmly, then looked around. Wang Meng, Jiang Zilon, Wang Anyi, Wang Jianguo and Kong Jiesheng were all familiar faces to him.

Among them, Wang Meng noticed his gaze and looked into his eyes. There seemed to be endless words in those eyes.

Jiang Xian swallowed his saliva, knowing full well that he would have to have a chat with Wang Meng about "root-seeking literature" later.

The award ceremony began soon, and Jiang Xian listened quietly to the speeches for a while.

Soon it was his turn to go on stage to receive the award, and he stood on the stage with other award-winning comrades.

Ba Jin personally presented him with the award and delivered the following speech:
"The Wreath under the Mountain describes the life of the instructor of the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion of a certain border defense unit before, during and after the war, creating a series of contemporary military heroes with lofty ideological qualities and moral sentiments, revealing the contradictions and historical pains within the army, and showing a broad picture of social life."

The young writers in the audience were looking at this scene with fascination. Their eyes were shining when they looked at Jiang Xian, as if they were looking at their idol.

This is how a man is born!
Speaking of which, "The Garland under the Mountain" won the first place in the selection, which is indeed a result that everyone is convinced of.

Many people still remember the reading craze that "The Wreath" sparked last year.

These include several anecdotes that came out after the publication of "The Wreath", including a female worker in a printing factory forcing Jiang Xian to revise his manuscript, a worker from the Maotai Distillery going to Beijing to revise the text, and the head of the Wanshou Temple paying homage to Jiang Xian. Each and every one of these events reflects the influence of the novel "The Wreath".

So no matter from which perspective, this first place is well deserved.

In addition, "Life" edited by Jiang Xian for Lu Yao also won the second place.

During the creation of "Life", the false story that Jiang Xian and Wang Weiguo were looking for a soulmate in the mountains and rivers had spread throughout the literary world, and many writers were aware of the secret between the two.

As Wang Weiguo took the award from Ding Ling, he turned towards Jiang Xian and bowed to him sincerely.

Jiang Xian quickly bowed to him.

Many people felt as if they had just woken up from a dream when they saw this scene.

It turns out that the first two places in the selection were taken by Jiang Xian alone!
As in previous years, there will be a symposium after the award ceremony.

As this year's first place, Jiang Xian's seat is much better than in previous years.

Seeing Feng Mu sitting not far from him, Jiang Xian quickly stood up and greeted him.

Feng Mu frowned as usual and glanced at Jiang Xian, feeling a bit disappointed with him.

"Xiao Jiang, you have to take the right path!"

"."

Jiang Xian certainly understood that Feng Mu was talking about the "roots-seeking" concept he had recently proposed.

In the eyes of seniors like Feng Mu, the term "seeking roots" sounds a bit heretical.

"Revolutionary realism" is their unshakable code.

"Teacher Feng, I don't think that a slogan of 'seeking roots' or learning from tradition is not the right path."

Jiang Xian said sincerely, "Let me give you an example, let's talk about the rule of law. We often say that China did not have laws before, but in fact, laws were made during the Qin Shihuang period. The Legalists were a well-known school of thought in the pre-Qin period.

I have read some laws of Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. For example, the well-known law "no punishment for doctors" is often understood to mean that important people can be exempted from punishment. In fact, the law of Song Dynasty does not explain it this way. It just says that punishing doctors must be in accordance with etiquette. For example, I don't want to kill you, but ask you to commit suicide. I will give you a white silk and let you hang yourself. This is called "no punishment for doctors."

Don’t our current laws also have this judicial characteristic, which is to give criminals a decent death?

There is also what Confucius said, "Father and son conceal each other." It is understandable that a son or a father gives false testimony to each other.

In our judicial system, direct relatives who give false testimony are given lighter sentences or exempted from punishment. Doesn't this also have a bit of legal 'roots-seeking' connotations? "

Feng Mu listened quietly to Jiang Xian's explanation from the perspective of "seeking roots" in law.

His frown deepened.

I opened my mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end no words came out.

Seeing this, Jiang Xian smiled and found an excuse to avoid it, so as to avoid embarrassment between him and Feng Mu and avoid getting disgusted with each other.

He still didn't want to break up with Feng Mu.

After all, he also understood that Feng Mu had more concerns and protection for him.

"Comrade Jiang Xian!"

As soon as Jiang Xian hid out, he was stopped by his niece Wang Anyi.

"Comrade Jiang Xian, I read your theoretical article, it's really brilliant!" Wang Anyi's eyes lit up.

After reading that theoretical article a few days ago and seeing the slogan of "seeking roots", Wang Anyi suddenly felt as if she had been enlightened and her literary vision was suddenly broadened.

As for Wang Anyi's appreciation of root-seeking literature, Jiang Xian was not too surprised.

He also knew that Wang Anyi herself was a writer who was keen on actively accepting new writing ideas, and that she was also a representative writer of root-seeking literature.

The two chatted for a few sentences, and Li Tuo and Wang Meng also came over, and the topic they talked about was also revolving around the word "searching for roots".

"Your concept is amazing."

Li Tuo gave a thumbs up.

He had a lot of exposure to Western literature, and the various literary genres dazzled him.

Jiang Xian’s slogan of “seeking roots” and his novel literary stance made him suddenly enlightened.

"While absorbing the nutrients of Western novel creation, it is based on realistic, local and aesthetic novel expression!"

Writers continue to join the discussion, including Han Shaogong, Zhang Chengzhi, Zheng Wanlong, Li Hangyu, and Li Qingxi.
Soon they formed a big circle.

Li Tuo glanced at these faces and was a little excited:
"Comrades, comrades, listen to me."

"Since it's so lively today, how come heroes think alike?"

"Why not set up a 'Root-Seeking Sect'?"

(End of this chapter)