My era, 1979!

Chapter 90 The Genes of Modernist Literature (610, Seeking First Subscription)
Because Li, a graduate student supervised by Huang Lin during this period, was also someone who skipped the college entrance examination and took the postgraduate entrance examination.

However, his skill level is terrible. He can't even compare to the level of a normal college freshman, let alone the likes of Chen Shangjun and Yi Zhongtian.

This has been a source of ridicule in history.

Zhang Peiheng immediately glared at him: "What? You're talking badly about me behind my back? I was doing it for your own good! I criticized Huang Lin's notes the most harshly back then, but now he's still a literary authority, isn't he?"

This person is quite tactful; they're a pro at changing the subject.

Huang Lin pushed up his glasses and made a rare joke: "Senior Brother Zhang's red pen is spicier than chili peppers. Every time the homework is handed out, there are more red pens than black ones."

Huang Lin was actually quite a remarkable person; after all, a master of Jin Ping Mei couldn't have done this research without some real expertise.

But don't get the wrong idea. The literary and realistic aspects of "Jin Ping Mei" are indeed very high. In fact, there are only about 3000 words that are not pleasing to the eye, but these 3000 words have become the greatest source of amusement for "literati" who do not read literature.

In 62, a teacher commented on this book: "Jin Ping Mei did not become popular, not only because of its obscenity, but mainly because it only exposed and wrote about darkness. Although it was well written, people did not like to read it."

Still don't believe it?
To quote another passage from the preface to *Jin Ping Mei*:

I once said: Those who feel pity after reading "Jin Ping Mei" are bodhisattvas; those who feel fear are gentlemen; those who feel joy are petty people; and those who want to emulate it are beasts.

Are you a bodhisattva or a beast?

Zhu Bangwei covered her mouth and laughed: "Junior brother, you'd better be mentally prepared. Senior Brother Zhang doesn't even spare the punctuation marks when grading homework."

Xu Chengjun inwardly scoffed, but smiled outwardly: "A strict teacher produces outstanding students; I couldn't be happier."

As they spoke, the dishes were served one after another: a plate of braised pork glistening with oil, a bowl of stir-fried pickled mustard greens and edamame looking tempting and green, and a plate of steamed fish, steaming hot, the aroma instantly filling the whole house.

Zhu Dongrun picked up the wine bottle and poured some Shaoxing wine for everyone: "Let's have a simple meal today as a farewell for Chengjun and a welcome to him as he officially joins the sect."

That being said, the dishes were truly extraordinary. These days, with fish, meat, and wine, one can imagine what a wonderful life it is.

The wine glasses clinked together, making a crisp sound.

As soon as Zhu Dongrun took a big gulp, Zhu Bangwei quickly took his cup away.

"That's all I can drink today!"

"Give me some more!"

"Absolutely not! Don't even think about it!"

"Hey, Weiwei, what's wrong with you! Today is a farewell party for Chengjun, and also a small gathering between master and apprentice. You should drink!"

As he spoke, he quickly gave Xu Chengjun a meaningful look, staring intently at the wine bottle.

Xu Chengjun gave him a helpless look, pretending he couldn't see it.

Old Zhu shook his head helplessly and laughed, "Other people fight as a team of teachers and students, but here I am, with four students at the table, and not one of them speaks up for me!"

No one paid attention.

Old Zhu was incompetent and glared angrily!

Everyone ignored it.

Zhang Peiheng picked up a piece of braised pork and gave it to Xu Chengjun: "Eat more. These days, you can only eat more from your teacher. Next time you come back, you have to bring us some of your local specialties so that we, as your senior brothers, can also benefit from them."

This is a suggestion.

“No problem!” Xu Chengjun ate his rice. “If you don’t mind, I’ll bring more.”

Huang Lin suddenly asked, "In which direction do you plan to deepen your thesis? There is actually still a lot to explore in the area of ​​modern transformation of traditional literary theory."

“I was just about to ask you, senior brother.” Xu Chengjun put down his chopsticks. “I want to combine the theme of reform and see how the traditional ‘metaphor and allegory’ technique can be integrated into realistic writing.”

Chen Shangjun nodded: "This is a good direction. I've been organizing local chronicles from the Tang Dynasty recently and found a lot of agricultural proverbs in them. Maybe they can be used as material for you." Zhu Bangwei smiled and said: "Junior brother, you're going to be both a scholar and a warrior. You'll have to teach us senior brothers and sisters more often in the future."

"Senior sister is too kind." Xu Chengjun blushed. "I still have a lot to learn from you all."

He can show off in front of others, but he still needs to practice in front of these people.

Zhu Dongrun watched the lively scene before him with a smile on his lips before finally speaking: "Chengjun, go home and spend time with your family. When you come back for the new semester, let's work on a project together as a group to thoroughly understand traditional literary theory."

"Okay!" Xu Chengjun nodded emphatically.

Sunlight streamed through the sycamore leaves outside the window, falling warmly on everyone's faces.

The glasses clinked again, mingled with laughter and chatter. The scent of old books mixed with the aroma of food, making it one of the warmest farewell banquets in Xu Chengjun's memory.

Looking at his teachers and senior students, he suddenly realized that life at Fudan University must be very lively.

Zhang Peiheng suddenly slammed his hand on the table: "That's right! Next time you come back, bring some sheet music for Fengyang Flower Drum. I've been studying folk literature lately, and I'm really missing this!"

"Senior brother, you're forcing me into this!" Xu Chengjun said, both amused and exasperated. "How would I know how to do this?"

“If you don’t know how, just learn it.” Zhang Peiheng raised an eyebrow. “As scholars, we have to know a little bit about everything.”

Everyone laughed again, and the laughter drifted out the window, startling the sparrows in the trees.

"By the way, my junior brother's latest work, 'The Fitting Mirror,' is really popular!"

"That's right, there are many people criticizing it, but also quite a few praising it. Even that old guy Wu Zhengping got involved. He's shameless."

Without a doubt, this must have been said by my senior, Zhu Bangwei.

After he said that, everyone looked thoughtful.

Zhang Peiheng laughed and said, "Let me give my junior brothers and sisters some homework. Before the start of the semester, submit a literary review of 'The Dressing Mirror' and try to publish it in a newspaper. If you really can't publish it, publish it in Fudan University's internal journal!"

Wow, this is blatant favoritism.

You're bullying the sect's holy son, are you? Do you even know what our traditional skills are?

After beating the young ones, a bunch of older ones came.

Why isn't Mr. Zhu saying anything?

The old man was still sulking because he didn't get to drink a second cup of rice wine!

The external evaluation and discussion of "The Fitting Mirror" will not disappear with this meal. On the contrary, the fate of more writers and scholars has intensified this literary discussion.

Why did "The Fitting Mirror" cause such a huge controversy?

On the one hand, in 1979, although the Chinese literary scene had begun to liberate its thinking, the literary evaluation system was still deeply rooted in the soil of "traditional realism." This paradigm, with "reflection theory" at its core, emphasized that literature should "objectively reproduce collective life" and "serve social utility," requiring clear narratives, well-defined themes, and characters that conformed to "class attributes," while rejecting subjective, symbolic, and psychological expressions.

On the other hand, there was the borrowing from Western modernism by Lu Xun, Dai Wangshu, and others in the 1930s, such as symbolist poetry and psychological realist novels. The emergence of "The Fitting Mirror" was just like a "test runner" in this revival.

Therefore, the essence of this controversy is that the modernist literary genes quietly implanted in "The Fitting Mirror" have touched the boundaries of the "legitimacy" of this system.

At the same time, "The Fitting Mirror" also poses a question to the literary world, which is a question for all authors and literary researchers: Can literature not serve the purpose of "meaning transmission" but focus on "expression itself"?
This issue is precisely the core proposition of avant-garde literature.

From the perspective of the development of literature, the common spiritual core of modernist literature and avant-garde literature is the awakening of "literary subjectivity": the former emphasizes "human subjectivity", while the latter emphasizes "literary subjectivity".

This was also Xu Chengjun's deliberate act. This work carries the shadows of "modernist literature" and "avant-garde literature," though faint, it is enough to make a small contribution to the future development of modern Chinese literature.

Of course, modern and avant-garde are not at all equivalent to Westernization.

In August, Chen Dengke, vice chairman of the Anhui Provincial Writers Association, published a commentary on "The Fitting Mirror" in the Wenyi Bao (Literary Gazette).

(End of this chapter)