1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 570 Correct Tendency
Jin Jin is over seventy years old this year and is a veteran children's literature writer.

He attended primary school for two years, and later worked odd jobs at the Children's Daily, eventually becoming an assistant editor. After working for a while, he embarked on a literary career and soon published his first fairy tale, "The Rise and Fall of the Eagle and the Hawk," in the magazine "Little Friends."

This is quite rare in the literary world.

After all, very few writers start out writing children's literature; most writers begin with other genres.

Take Bing Xin, for example.

The earliest works he wrote were novels like "The Lonely Man Grieves," "Leaving the Country," and "Autumn Wind and Autumn Rain Make One Sorrowful," which reflected the devastation of humanity by feudal families, the fierce conflict between two generations in the new world, and the suffering brought to the people by warlord conflicts, and so on.

Later, they took a different approach and started working on children's literature.

There's also Zhang Tianyi, whose representative works include "Dalin and Xiaolin" and "The Secret of the Magic Gourd." He didn't write children's literature at first; his novels were known for their satire and humor. He mostly wrote about the vulgar and ridiculous lives of ordinary citizens and some intellectuals, using these works to reveal the hypocrisy and ugliness of reality and criticize the ills of a distorted society. "The Bao Family" is a representative work from this period.

Later, he started writing fairy tales, including classics like "The Story of Not Using Your Brain" and "The Secret of the Magic Gourd".

However, Jin Jin was different. He started with children's literature. Of course, this was also because he felt that his education level was low and children's literature was an easy subject to learn.

That being said, Jin Jin, who only has an elementary school diploma, writes children's literature that even college students couldn't write.

He embarked on his literary career through self-study, publishing his first fairy tale, "The Rise and Fall of the Eagle and the Hawk," in 1937. He then served as an editor for the Children's Daily and Little Friends magazines, and also taught at the Chongqing Homeless Children's Home. It can be said that he accumulated rich experience in children's education and had a deep understanding of the inner world of children.

His works include "The Story of the Swindler," "The Fox Delivers Grapes," "The Kitten Fishing," and "The Little Carp Leaps Over the Dragon Gate."
Those born in the 80s and 90s must have watched this when they were young.

In addition, he also worked with veteran writers such as Ye Shengtao, Bing Xin, and Zhang Tianyi to prepare for and establish the magazine "Children's Literature".

In the inaugural issue, Jin Jin's fairy tale "The Fox Hunts the Hunter" was very popular, and Mao Dun even praised it in the "People's Daily":
"This will at least satisfy some of the children's insatiable needs!"

Therefore, Jin Jin is definitely an expert in children's literature. The literature workshop that Jiang Xian attended previously also invited Jin Jin as the mentor in children's literature, which shows his reputation.

He was also the deputy head of the Children's Literature Group of the China Writers Association. Since the liberation, he has always focused on writing fairy tales. Critics believe that his children's literature is "simple yet novel".

When the Lu Xun Academy of Literature and the Peking University Writing Class discussed the novel "The Little Prince," it was natural to invite such a respected and accomplished veteran children's literature writer, who had dedicated his life to creating children's literature, to critique Jiang Xian's version of "The Little Prince."

After finishing "The Little Prince," this "old country man" slapped his thigh with joy and exclaimed to the others:
"Well done, that's great!"

He is from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and speaks with a strong local accent. "The most prominent aspect of children's thoughts and feelings is their imagination. Imagination runs through their entire childhood. Jiang Xian's writing is just like that of a 'big kid,' as clean as his daughter's lines!"

Li Qingquan smiled and said, "I remember you were the children's literature lecturer at the literary workshop. Now that Jiang Xian's children's literature work is so well written, it seems that it is because of your teaching, Comrade Jin Jin."

"No, no."

Jin Jin is an honest man who can't utter a single empty word. "Jiang Xian writes very well, much better than me. My understanding of writing is limited. Often when I'm lecturing to my students, I don't know what else to say. Jiang Xian is much better than me in this respect. At least I couldn't write 'The Little Prince' or such a good work."

"You're too modest." Everyone around laughed when they heard this.

"Really, it's really good!"

Jin Jin possesses an innate elegance, quietness, gentleness, and composure, but he is clearly not good at speaking, and seems somewhat uneasy when talking to a group of people.

"I have always said that some children are very rude, uncivilized and impolite, and some are even cynical. We must try to change this situation and strive to cultivate children's beautiful feelings. Literature should act as such a 'discipliner' and can play a unique role in this regard."

Jiang Xian's novel is excellent. It shouldn't just be given to middle-aged and elderly people like us; it should also be given to children. In my opinion, this novel has the power to guide children to develop a broad and compassionate heart.

The other teachers present nodded slightly. Almost everyone present had read "The Little Prince" and they all agreed with and agreed with Jin Jin's words.

Among the many graduation projects that pursued both technical and literary merit, it seems that only Jiang Xian chose children's literature.

His children's literature work, in terms of both quality and thought, clearly far surpasses the level of other graduation works. It does not pursue new or avant-garde novels, but uses a traditional and uncomplicated style, as if telling a story, yet it achieves a remarkable effect of "using four ounces to move a thousand pounds," allowing the novel to burst forth with tremendous literary power.

"It's really well written. I didn't expect a children's literature work to be this good," one of the teachers present said.

Immediately, someone nodded, "Yes, to be honest, since I first got this novel, I've read it several times these past few days, and I feel like I gain something new every time I read it."

“I told my sons about it, and they both really liked it.”

"I didn't read much children's literature before, but this one written by Jiang Xian is truly exceptional."

"."

The teachers took turns commenting, following up on Jin Jin's words, and expressed their own views on the novel "The Little Prince".

Unlike the heated debates surrounding other novels, when discussing "The Little Prince," almost all teachers gave it very positive reviews, agreeing that it was a remarkable work.

"I read this novel three times in a row yesterday."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Wang Yidi who spoke.

Wang Yidi is from Shandong and a leading figure in Shandong's literary scene. He has published several children's literature works, including "The Explosive Boys," "Muddy Spring," and "Camel Bells Ringing." Currently, he is the chief editor of "Children's Literature," a magazine hailed as "a banner of Chinese children's literature."

"After reading this novel, I felt much purer inside and thought a lot."

Hearing Wang Yidi say this, everyone present realized that he was about to share his thoughts. Wang Yidi was usually not a talkative person, so his sudden remark drew curious ears from many people, who were eager to hear his ideas.

"I recall that Comrade Chen Bochui once advocated the 'theory of unity,' saying that children's literature writers should start from the perspective of children, listen with children's ears, see with children's eyes, and especially feel with children's hearts. As a result, this view was criticized. I remember that Comrade Mao Dun strongly opposed the criticism of Chen Bochui at the time, believing that this tendency led to a situation where 'art was out of step with the times, stories were formulaic, characters were conceptualized, and language was dry.' In recent years, Chen Bochui's 'theory of childlike innocence' has been brought up again, and our children's literature creation has gradually become more child-oriented, increasingly approaching the perspective of children, and children's literature works have become more and more 'child-oriented.'"

Is this situation a good one?
In my opinion, it's not good. I think Jiang Xian's *The Little Prince* is an "unconventional" children's literature work that doesn't conform to the mainstream environment. While others pursue "childlike innocence," Jiang Xian's work retains childlike innocence while achieving depth in its thought-provoking content and core themes. It's not only written for children but also for adults. I think this should be a model and a goal for future children's literature creation.

"."

Wang Yidi's insightful remarks resonated with many in the audience, elevating the status and significance of Jiang Xian's "The Little Prince."

The meaning of "the king of men" is quite clear:

Children's literature should be written like Jiang Xian's.

It's called children's literature, but it's not just written for children!

Making literature too childish or too young for children will actually ruin this type of literature, causing readers to gradually lose interest in children's literature.

This can be understood with a very simple example. Many people watched cartoons like "Calabash Brothers" and "The Legend of the Heavenly Book" when they were young. Even adults can enjoy these works.

Later, the animation market gradually became dominated by shows like "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" and "Boonie Bears." This trend towards younger audiences reduced the viewing interest of adults. However, these animations still maintained a certain level of depth, and their plots were rich and exciting enough to become part of many people's childhood memories.

And then there's BabyBus launching! How many adults still actively pay attention to the cartoons that kids watch these days?

Unless you're taking care of a child, it's extremely rare.

Therefore, Wang Yidi's meaning is clear: children's literature should not lose its connotation and core theme, and should not blindly pursue childishness and young age. Jiang Xian's "The Little Prince" obviously provides the right thinking and direction for the children's literature market that is going in the wrong direction.

"Since it's such a good novel, why don't you, Children's Literature, hurry up and book it?" Jin Jin said with a smile.

He was the previous editor-in-chief of Children's Literature and one of the founders of the magazine. He had a deep affection for Children's Literature. His words were also a reminder to Wang Yidi, hoping that he would not miss this novel, which was absolutely excellent.

"I just saw it yesterday."

Wang Yidi smiled awkwardly, "I think it would be rather hasty and not solemn enough for our editors to visit Comrade Jiang Xian so abruptly. It would be better if I could take some time after today's discussion to go there in person."

"."

Listening to Wang Yidi's words, Li Mingshuo was filled with "Holy crap" in his mind. Commissioning articles is basically the job of the responsible editor, or at most the head of the editorial department. But Wang Yidi is the editor-in-chief of a journal. For him to personally commission an author's article is giving him too much face.

But upon further reflection, it seems perfectly reasonable.

This is Jiang Xian!
Let alone the editor-in-chief of Children's Literature, even if People's Literature wanted to commission a manuscript from Jiang Xian, the editor-in-chief of People's Literature would have to personally invite him. That's the truth, because the editor-in-chief of Children's Literature is Jiang Xian.

"Based on the current assessment of this batch of graduation works, I think Jiang Xian's 'The Little Prince' is quite likely to be ranked first. The quality of the work itself is very convincing," said Chen Shanshan, a teacher at the Lu Xun Academy of Literature.

Upon hearing Chen Shanshan's words, many of the teachers present nodded slightly, and no one raised any objections.

"Based on the power of 'The Little Prince' to move people's hearts, Jiang Xian should be given first place."

"You're wrong. It's not that Jiang Xian got first place."

"Ok?"

"He and his daughter are both authors, tied for first place."

"Ha ha ha ha."

The discussion ended in a harmonious atmosphere. Such discussions are not held often; they are only held specifically for important works that are worth discussing.

And The Little Prince is clearly such a work.

"Dexia".

After the meeting, Wang Yidi, the editor-in-chief of Children's Literature, approached editor Xu Dexia and said, "You edited Jiang Xian's novel 'The Grass House' before, so you are quite familiar with Jiang Xian. Let's go together for this assignment with Jiang Xian."

Six years have passed since the novel "The Grass House" was first published. In that time, Xu Dexia, the young female editor who edited the novel back then, has matured and become a pillar of the children's literature magazine.

"Jiang Xian really wrote children's literature?" Xu Dexia had never seen "The Little Prince" before, and she found it hard to believe when she heard Wang Yidi's words.

In recent years, apart from "The Grass House," Jiang Xian has not made any new achievements in children's literature. He really doesn't need to make any achievements, because in Xu Dexia's view, "The Grass House" is a well-known work that he can boast about for a lifetime. Even after so many years, this novel still brings great emotion to many readers.

Moreover, strictly speaking, is "The Grass House" really a work of children's literature?
It's probably too simplistic to draw such a conclusion, because while the novel is composed of children's stories in terms of subject matter, the beauty of its language and the skill of its writing make it worthy of being called an artistic masterpiece.

Therefore, Xu Dexia never had any hope of getting Jiang Xian's manuscript. "The Grass House" was a lucky accident, and she didn't think she could get Jiang Xian's manuscript again one day.

When Wang Yidi suddenly asked her to go with him to solicit manuscripts, Xu Dexia was pleasantly surprised.

"What novel?"

Is it as good as "The Grass House"?

(End of this chapter)