Literary Master 1983

Chapter 230: The Akutagawa Prize is Just the Beginning

Shortly after winning the award, Yu Qie has been giving lectures in Japan.

Talk about his literary philosophy and polio, a common problem faced by the human world.

This disease is also an unforgettable memory for a generation of Japanese people. In the early 1960s, polio broke out in Japan. In a short period of time, there were thousands of patients and more than one hundred deaths.

Then the number of patients and the death rate continued to soar. At the peak, there were more than 12 patients in Hokkaido (one of the least developed regions in Japan), which caused great panic in society. However, Japan did not have the ability to mass-produce vaccines. Finally, by purchasing vaccines from the United States and the Soviet Union, Japan raised 1300 million doses of vaccines within a month and vaccinated all million people under the age of in the country... For a time, all schools and community hospitals were busy with vaccinations, and this phenomenon lasted for ten years.

Fujiko Fujio, the author of the comic book "Doraemon", may have experienced this crazy era. He described the protagonist Nobita Nobi in the comic book as a little boy who is "extremely afraid of vaccinations."

Therefore, Yu Qie saved some effort in fundraising in Japan. He did not need to specifically introduce "what polio is" to his Japanese book fans. Moreover, these fans who had received the vaccine back then have now entered society and have the financial ability.

Yu Qie's speech reminded them of their own childhood experiences.

The youngest and only one, China's prophet, you are talking about me again, you are always writing my story.

Fundraising went smoothly at the beginning, and within half a month, 30 million yen was raised, equivalent to nearly 2 million yuan. After that, it became increasingly difficult, just like a movie that is released. As the number of screenings increases, people lose interest in watching the movie.

As a result, Yu Qie frequently accepted interviews from Japanese media and participated in commercial literary seminars. These conferences attracted book fans to buy tickets and publishers to sponsor them, so the organizers could pay the writers a lot of money.

Yu Qi donated all the money to the "Spring Rain Operation" in China.

At the "Akutagawa Great Writer" writers' symposium of Bungeishunju, Yu Qie and Oe Kenzaburo once again talked about wasteland literature and cyberpunk that was born in Europe and the United States.

Kenzaburo Oe said: "In fact, these two novels have similarities, and many people even think they are the same thing. I think there are still some differences, but they are not particularly big. Their core is similar... despair, endless despair. Human development has become more advanced, but it has not brought a corresponding improvement in life."

"It's like our world today, where we are always at risk of nuclear war."

"Yu Qie's novel actually also has cyberpunk elements, and the American novel Neuromancer also has some descriptions of 'ruins'. Giant companies achieve hegemony through technological monopoly, and then make it impossible for the lower class to stand up forever... This is exactly the same setting."

"Yu Qie, how do you think you stand in this kind of literature?"

What do I think?

It is really interesting to listen to Nobel Prize-winning writers analyze this kind of novel. Many people think that these novels are non-mainstream, but in fact, Oe Kenzaburo and even Ba Lao have studied them, but even these people did not write them at the time. Then in the 1970s and 1980s, this kind of novel was finally born, and later it became more mature.

Therefore, Yu Qie's novels must be more comprehensive, as he stands on the shoulders of giants.

"Happy Hunting" is able to tell a metaphor of Western colonization and resistance to Western colonization while satisfying the setting, which is already on another level.

Yu Qie told a story from the world of mathematics: "Calculus was invented by Newton and Leibniz together. They independently invented this mathematical tool in different regions and at similar times... I think this is the relationship between me and foreign writers."

"But," Oe Kenzaburo said, "most of the calculus symbols people use today were created by Leibniz. In terms of your contribution to this field alone, are you Leibniz or Newton?"

Yes, Leibniz is the MVP. Newton was, to some extent, the easy winner. As the president of the Royal Society of London, he conducted his own investigations, wrote his own reports, and finally proved himself to be the main inventor, and he never had any competition.

Yu Qie said: "Let my readers decide. Whoever's novel is more popular, whoever's novel has caused a greater sensation, that person is Leibniz."

Kenzaburo Oe was a top student at the University of Tokyo, so of course he understood the meaning of cotangent: cotangent is Leibniz, and any literary debate is useless. Everyone only knows how to look at and use the cotangent, so there is no point in arguing.

He was very happy and said: "I look forward to you writing another amazing masterpiece to prove that you are the 'only one' in this field."

Two hours later, Bungeishunju and its related sponsors paid Yu Qie 60 yen, about yuan, which was about the same as the interview fee for Ba Lao in Japan.

Yu Qie also participated in the "Chinese Literature Exhibition" organized by Iwanami Bookstore and served as a training teacher, teaching his perspective on Chinese literature to young Japanese literary people. He also highly praised those great writers in Japanese history who had a clean foundation and outstanding achievements.

He also said: "Today, Japanese literature is still in the world's top position. Not only is there a large number of works, but also a variety of styles."

The Japanese were very pleased to hear these words and donated generously. This exhibition raised tens of thousands of yuan.

But this kind of event can't be held at any time, and readers really can't get gold coins. The embassy helped Yu Qie organize some salons with the theme of literary society, invited those Japanese celebrities, and raised some money.

This is not enough, far from enough.

Japan can buy tens of millions of vaccines from the United States and the Soviet Union within a month and implement them, but China is very difficult because there are 12 million children under the age of 25 in Japan, while more than million babies are born every year in mainland China for nearly years. In addition, China's area is more than times that of Japan, and there are some areas with ridiculously sparse population.

In terms of transportation costs, it is also much higher than Japan.

But it is also important to succeed. In the 1980s, literature lost more and more attention due to national events such as "going into business" and "business boom". Wang Meng, as the executive leader of the Chinese Writers Association, seemed to realize something later. He felt that literature was too far away from ordinary people. If this continues for a long time, literature will naturally lose its appeal.

Now this is something the average person really has to grapple with.

Nie Weiping and Xu Chi are also in Japan. They learned about the disease because of Yu Qie, and they also tried to raise funds. Then they said with emotion: "We actually lack everything, not only sugar pills, but also refrigerators, roads, and transportation vehicles."

Xu Chi said: "Japan is so developed, they have everything they need now, I don't know when we can catch up. Can we do it in a hundred years?" Yu Qie said: "It won't be a hundred years, half a century later, this won't be a problem. The United States and the Soviet Union provided vaccines to the world, 50 million and 20 million respectively a year, which was their limit. It took many years to complete this feat... If it were us in the future, we would be able to make the whole world use it in a few months. What we produce in a year cannot be used up by half the people on the earth."

Xu Chi smiled and said, "Even if what you said is true, we are not in that time after all. I live here, and I am a person of today."

Yes, it is very difficult for an individual to be ahead of the times and do something.

And what Kenzaburo Oe said became a reality: not every Japanese supported Yu Qie's fundraising, although it was purely out of humanitarianism and there was no coercion or inducement at all.

Why use Japanese money to support Chinese children from paralysis? Is this a mental disorder?

Some Japanese came to the New Otani Hotel and held a sit-in demonstration, holding a banner that read "No Yu Che". They quarreled with Yu Che's fans and neither side gave in.

Yu Qi initially intended to persuade these Japanese, but they did not say a word or communicate with him, but just looked at him with cold eyes.

Then they spoke:

"Mr. Yu, you are a great writer who won the Akutagawa Prize, but it would be great if you were not a foreigner! We don't have a problem with you, in fact, we have a problem with all non-Japanese people. We exclude all foreigners."

Yu Qie said: "Take your words and tell them to the Americans and see how they evaluate your words?"

"You're not American either. You've never defeated us."

Yu Qie was angry: "It's a pity that I'm just a novelist. I can't become a giant army and fight a world war to prove myself. I can only defeat my opponents in my field, including the writers you support... Please make a list of the writers you support, and I will have friendly literary exchanges with them."

The news that Yu Che had shot an enemy communicator with a Type 54 pistol was widely circulated, and it became more and more magical. In many countries, it was said that he was actually a literary agent secretly trained by mainland China, and that he was in secret training for two years during his repeat year. In short, because foreign countries did not know much about China at that time, although Yu Che was the most lovable "big friend" of readers in China, abroad, his muscular appearance was very intimidating, and seemed to have some violent elements.

The reason why Wen Ruian wrote him as "Qi Shaoshang" is because Yu Qi really looks like he can beat several people.

As a result, these people were frightened, and only said after a long time: "Is the Akutagawa Prize the pinnacle of your literary achievement? If so, you have never defeated us."

Yu Qie said coldly: "The Akutagawa Prize is the beginning."

The news was published in the newspapers, causing controversy among the Japanese. Some people liked his spirit of forging ahead, even if it was to defend his own reputation, while others thought that Yu Qie should be respected when he won the award!
The leaders of China who were still in Japan also found Yu Qie and said to him earnestly: "We should indeed show respect."

I have no comment, which means I may not necessarily listen.

This kind of respect is beyond what Yu Qie can give, because in his opinion, as long as there is a writer who is special enough to be exempt from these rules and he needs them, then this so-called "respect" is discrimination and is something he wants to destroy.

Why has Yu Qie become so intolerant now?

Perhaps the literary edifice that he was gradually building, perhaps his fans all over East Asia and Southeast Asia, perhaps his own determination, could not support him to give in.

This incident was not reported in China, and everyone was still immersed in the joy of winning the award. Under the coordination of the Writers Association, the "Spring Rain Operation" was still progressing steadily. After Yu Qie won the award, the hundreds of thousands of yuan raised from around the capital rolled down the mountain like a snowball to ten times the original amount.

But this is just enough and can only serve as an introduction.

If you can raise a little more, why not raise a little more?
When Yu Qie was bored, he would play chess with Nie Weiping. After Yu Qie won the award, Nie Weiping no longer played Gobang to make him happy, but instead played Go to bully him. As a result, Yu Qie always lost the game, which made Yu Qie even more speechless, so Nie Weiping played table tennis with him. Nie Weiping was actually a sports fan. He liked sports such as football and table tennis, but he was completely defeated by Yu Qie in all these sports.

Nie Weiping could understand why Yu Qie was not as good at table tennis as he was. Yu Qie's table tennis skills were well-known in the literary and artistic circles, almost second only to professional players. When he got angry, he could block the serve with one hand, and even Nie Weiping knew a little bit about it.

But football?
Why is football so powerful?

Invited by the Go Association and the Japan Writers Association, Yu Qie participated in a small indoor football match between the two Go teams and the Writers Association. This football match on the campus of Tokyo University attracted many fans, Go fans and book fans to watch. Yu Qie turned into the most powerful striker in the Asian literary circle and scored five goals in the game. In order to avoid affecting diplomatic feelings, the Chinese side had to arrange for him to retire at halftime.

At this time, the score between the two sides was five to three.

However, with Yu Qie leaving the field and Nie Weiping coming on, the Japanese side showed obvious teamwork and gradually tore open the Chinese defense. Ten minutes before the end, the score quickly became five to six and they were overtaken.

Therefore, Yu Qie was asked to put on his jersey again and return to the court. However, Yu Qie said: "I will not come down before the end of this time. If you can't do it, I will not play."

"I followed the rules the first time, but you have to follow the rules the second time. It's within the rules, and even if I kick you to death, you can't say I did something wrong. There's no emotion here."

Yu Qie's request was granted.

Nie Weiping was substituted in a state of despair. He said to Yu Qie: "It depends on you. We cannot lose any game to the Japanese. If we want to win, we have to rely on you."

Yu Qie patted him on the shoulder and said to him, "Old Nie, I understand now. If you really want to beat ten people by yourself, you have to persist in the game. No matter what opinions others put forward, you must disagree with them, even if they are your own people's opinions. Because you want to win."

Nie Weiping was stunned: "But we need teamwork, we need to work together..."

Yu Qie said: "These are off-field matters. Our profession determines that sometimes when we are working, we are dictators and traitors to the people behind closed doors. Everyone must listen to us. Those who obey us will prosper, and those who disobey us will perish. That's how it is."

(End of this chapter)