1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 75 [Tang Dynasty]

In Dongcheng District, there is a 700-meter-long alley between Dongdan North Street and Chaoyangmen South Street, which is called "Dongtangzi Hutong".

During the Ming Dynasty, this area was a place of red-light district, with people drinking in the morning and dancing in the evening. In the Suzhou and Shanghai dialects, "tangzi" means brothel, hence the name "Tangzi Hutong".

In the Qing Dynasty, because there was another "Tangzi Hutong" near Jinyu Hutong, the word "Dong" was added and the name was changed to "Dongtangzi Hutong".

No. 51 Dongtangzi Hutong is the dormitory where Shen Congwen was assigned to live when he was assigned to the China History Museum. It is the western neighbor of the "Ziliang Yamen".

As soon as Jiang Xian entered the door, he looked around. Wow, it was a quadrangle courtyard with two entrances and twenty-six rooms with tiled ridges. It must cover an acre of land. The location was also good, close to Wangfujing, and he could stroll to Tiananmen Square.

I'm greedy.

This yard is good, but there are too many residents, so it is not easy to buy it. If you buy it, there will be a lot of mess and it will be difficult to deal with.

"Jiang Xian, why are you here?" Shen Congwen looked up and saw him. He lived in a room on the east side of the north wing, which was ten square meters in size. The walls of the room were piled with materials and there was almost no room for people. He moved a table and wrote something in a corner of the yard.

Jiang Xian leaned in to inspect it. "Teacher Shen, this is almost as good as 'Narrow and Moldy House'."

"Haha."

Shen Congwen smiled knowingly.

"Narrow and Moldy Studio" is the nickname Shen Congwen gave to his former residence in Qingdao. He also used the pen name "The Master of Narrow and Moldy Studio". His good friend Ba Jin also lived there. Later, he moved to Beijing and gave his residence in Yinzha Hutong the nickname "Narrow and Moldy Studio".

Jiang Xian sat down, and Shen Congwen sighed and complained to him, saying that a young man was riding a bicycle very fast and almost knocked him down. After the accident, the young man got off the bike and scolded him, saying that he was so old, why was he hanging around outside instead of staying at home.

"Teacher Shen, just lie down on the ground!" Jiang Xian became anxious.

This is a startup project.

"Alas, he didn't really hit me, that would be too immoral." Shen Congwen said.

Jiang Xian also understood that as a person who lived through that era, Teacher Shen still retained the gentleness and elegance unique to that era.

"Are there any celebrities in your alley?"

In this city of Beijing, if any alley doesn't have some story or some famous people in it, it can't be called an alley in Beijing.

"No. 75 is Mr. Jiemin's former residence. It is a courtyard house with three entrances. Mr. Jiemin lived a simple life and never owned a house or a piece of land. He rented a house there from 1917 to 1923. It was also one of the sources of the May Fourth Movement."

Listening to a history expert speak is such a pleasure, but Jiang Xian was more curious about Mr. Jiemin, also known as Cai Yuanpei.

"Have you met Mr. Jiemin?"

"I was in Nanjing at that time," Shen Congwen recalled. "I ran around everywhere to save Ye Pin. Mr. Jiemin wrote a letter for me personally, but unfortunately..."

Ye Pin was Ding Ling's first husband. In order to save him, Shen Congwen ran around between Shanghai and Nanjing and sought help from a large group of people including Hu Shi and Zhang Qun. However, no one answered his calls. It was truly the most desperate time.

After Ye Pin was killed, Shen Congwen was busy again, taking risks to escort Ding Ling and the children back to Xiangxi.

The streets are full of soldiers and the countryside is full of bandits.

Because of this, he missed the opportunity to teach at Wuhan University and had to return to his writing career with unstable and limited income.

The friendship between the three people at the risk of their lives is touching, but the fact that some died and some hated each other later on makes people sigh.

Seeing Shen Congwen getting upset, Jiang Xian quickly changed the subject, "Teacher Shen, I came here this time to ask Senior Brother Wang to review my manuscript for me. Can you help me contact him?"

"Mr. Wang Zengqi." Shen Congwen was used to addressing his senior student with the respectful title of "Mr.". "Although he is a bit lazy and a bit greedy, he has worked as an editor for Beijing Literature. He should have no problem reviewing manuscripts. Is this a new manuscript you wrote?"

"I wrote this together with Feng Jicai. It tells the story of Huo Yuanjia."

"Huo Yuanjia, well, I've heard rumors about him. I'll ask Mr. Wang Zengqi for you." "No need, please invite him over and I'll ask him personally."

Jiang Xian didn't feel comfortable accepting so many favors, especially since he had other requests.

"Can you tell me about the history of the Tang Dynasty?"

"Tang history?"

"I'm planning to write a novel about the Tang Dynasty, so I'd like to ask you for advice." Jiang Xian told the truth without hiding anything.

Shen Congwen became interested when he heard this. "The Tang Dynasty is very interesting and worth writing about. Among the Twenty-Four Histories, there are two 'Tang Books' that record the history of the Tang Dynasty."

Jiang Xian also thinks the Tang Dynasty is very interesting. He has previously written a historical article online called "Cao Cao Travels Through An Lushan."

"I have done some research on the history of the Tang Dynasty." Shen Congwen recalled: "A few years ago, Ms. Yan Yumin worked with me on sculpture for a year.

She was given a task to sculpt a statue of Li Bai. I saw some drafts of the statue of Li Bai that she made. The beard is just like the beard of ordinary men, not that of people in the Tang Dynasty. The beards of people in the Tang Dynasty were curled.

She didn't believe it. She said that only Shanghai gangsters' beards would be curled up, and the great poet Li Bai's beard could not be like that.

Later, a batch of cultural relics from the tomb of Prince Zhang Huai were transported to Shaanxi. I took her to the History Museum and showed her the murals in the tomb of Prince Zhang Huai. I showed her what people in the Tang Dynasty looked like. Only then did she finally believe it. Now the statue of Li Bai is placed in the Li Bai Memorial Hall in Dangtu County, Ma'anshan, Anhui. If you have the chance, you can go and see it. "

Yan Yumin is a first-generation sculptor who has participated in major projects such as the Teachers Memorial Hall sculpture project, the Monument to the People's Heroes, and the Mogao Grottoes Buddha statue replication.

"What do you want to hear?"

"Tell me about Tang Dynasty clothing."

Shen Congwen's deepest interest was in ancient costumes. When Jiang Xian asked him about this aspect, he spoke about it like he knew all about it.

"Then let me talk about the Tang Dynasty's decorative arts. At that time, floral patterns were widely used, and the composition also changed. They emphasized liveliness, freedom, symmetry, and fullness and roundness."

Shen Congwen was a little uncomfortable at first, but he spoke more and more fluently. He had not talked about these things with anyone for a long time. He even recalled the time when he taught Chinese at Southwest Associated University.

He hasn't set foot in a classroom for 30 years.

Jiang Xian listened humbly, very attentively and attentively. After all, "full concentration" is one of the necessary conditions for collecting inspiration.

Shen Congwen was both pleased and appreciative.

This must be because he really loves history, as he would listen to content that ordinary people consider boring with such gusto.

It is rare to find children who love history in this era.

Too rare.

An old man and a young boy squatted in a corner of the courtyard, listening and talking. At dusk, the clouds gradually became rimmed with gold.

Jiang Xian was listening intently when a prompt suddenly came to his mind.

"Inspiration [Tang Dynasty] Progress +1, Current Progress (1/10)"

After roughly understanding the collection method, his first reaction was worry.

If we just pick on Mr. Shen, he'll probably be exhausted, right?
But seeing Shen Congwen full of vigor, passion, eloquence and talking eloquently, it was as if he was eighteen years old again.

Jiang Xian felt that he might be the field that was damaged by the plowing.

(End of this chapter)