Writer 1979: Writing for the People

The book "Receiving the Precepts" is printed first, followed by "My Distant Qingping Bay," so the first thing people see is the "Editor's Note" about "Receiving the Precepts."

Editor's notes are editorial notes for newspapers, magazines, and other publications, providing suggestions and commentary on published manuscripts, reports, or features.

It generally represents the official stance of the editorial department and is a special writing style used by editors to guide reading and convey the journal's publishing direction.

The editor's note written by the editorial department of Yanhe for Shoujie is as follows.

"This novel is set against the backdrop of folk life in the water towns of northern Jiangsu. It narrates the ordinary experience of the young Minghai becoming a monk and taking vows, as well as the pure and hazy feelings between him and Xiaoyingzi, a farm girl."

The works are written in a light and natural style, depicting the human condition and social customs in daily life and rural life. The scenery is vivid and the words are simple yet meaningful.

Currently, we strongly advocate for the diversification of creative themes and artistic styles, and encourage writers to base their work on real-life experiences and engage in diverse creative endeavors.

This piece is novel in both its subject matter and writing style, and is therefore published here for readers to appreciate.

Everyone was already very curious about this article, and after reading the editor's note and discovering that even the editorial department of "Yanhe" praised it so highly, they couldn't wait to read the main text.

They really wanted to see what was new about this article.

Moreover, the element of "love" is mostly used as an embellishment in stories these days; it's quite rare to see it as the main theme!

I have no idea how the other party will write it.

……

The writing style of "Receiving the Precepts" is very obvious, so after reading the beginning, these readers immediately understood why the editor of "Yanhe" said that its "writing style is light and natural".

This writing style is indeed very unique!

Moreover, it's the kind of look that feels natural and comfortable to look at!

Not bad!

Please continue reading!

  

The further they read, the more they realized what made this novel "different".

The entire novel contains no bitter or resentful complaints; aside from depicting the everyday life of the Jiangnan water towns, it focuses on the mundane routines of the young monk.

Despite its mundane nature, for some reason, everyone holding "Yanhe" was thoroughly enjoying it, especially when they saw the interaction between Xiao Yingzi and Minghai, their lips curled up and their faces were full of smiles.

That's a really interesting story!

The article was only a little over 10,000 words long, so it didn't take long for everyone to finish reading it. They all found it very interesting and couldn't help but start discussing it.

"This piece, 'Receiving the Precepts,' is truly remarkable. No wonder Yanhe magazine placed it in their 'Newcomer Featured' section; its quality is certainly deserving of the title!"

"Yes, although the plot of the article doesn't have many ups and downs, for some reason, reading it is like listening to a story. Before you know it, you've finished reading the whole story."

"Moreover, the details described inside are very realistic, as if the author had personally experienced them. Could it be that Comrade Xu Lu once lived in that place?"

Of course, not everyone thinks this way.

Some readers opened the book with high expectations, only to find it to be such a "boring" story, and immediately expressed their dissatisfaction.

"No way, this kind of meaningless article that expresses nothing can actually be published in Yanhe and even appear in the 'Newcomer Featured' section. This is just too outrageous!"

The threshold for publishing "Yanhe" is getting lower and lower these days.

Seeing this, some people stood up to argue their case, while others lowered their heads and silently turned to the page of "My Distant Qingping Bay".

After reading "Receiving the Precepts," everyone's curiosity about the author's other article has risen to a new level.

However, after realizing that this was a piece of "educated youth literature," everyone's expectations inexplicably dropped a bit.

After all, everyone basically knows what kind of things educated youth literature writes about; it's always the same few things over and over again.

Reading one or two articles might be okay, but after reading too many, everyone gets tired of it.

After all, who wants to spend money to listen to someone complain?

As usual, the "Editor's Note" is written before the main text, so everyone glances at it first.

"When I wrote this title, what echoed in my ears was not the famous second movement of Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 1—that deep and beautiful Russian folk song melody, but the moving melody of our nation's 'Andante Cantabile'—the long and broad Shaanxi folk song."

This article describes the rural life and daily routines of the villagers in Qingpingwan, on the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi.

Unlike similar works that often focus on hardship and indignation, this piece uses a calm and gentle style to depict the joys and sorrows of the land, and the kindness and resilience of ordinary villagers. The emotions are genuine and enduring, and it has the power to move people's hearts.

We are pleased to see young authors' sincere exploration on their creative path, and we look forward to the emergence of more works by young people that are rooted in life and full of genuine emotion.

Ok?

This article doesn't describe the hardships and anger, but instead focuses on the joys and sorrows, kindness and resilience.

real or fake?

Everyone looked surprised.

After all, the literature about educated youth and "narratives of suffering" are now basically locked together. It's hard for people to believe that someone would write about educated youth without writing about suffering!

However, considering the special and interesting "Receiving the Precepts" that we just read, everyone had a bit more confidence in it.

Then I started reading the main text.

……

Although our area is still considered part of the Loess Plateau, it's mostly loess; there are no truly flat plateaus anymore. Because of annual floods, the plateaus are constantly collapsing, and the debris flows into the Yellow River via ditches, canals, and small streams.

The fiery sun cast long shadows of cattle and people onto the hillside. Behind the plowman followed those spreading manure, behind those spreading manure followed those spreading seeds, and behind those spreading seeds followed those threshing clods of earth. The group moved forward slowly and rhythmically, accompanied by the long, drawn-out calls of the oxen.

Zhang Qiao'er kept asking me about Anxi.

"Is Makoto watching a movie in a kiln?"

"It's not a kiln, it's a movie theater."

"You said it was in the kiln last time."

"Oh, that's a television. A square box, like a movie set." She tilted her head, trying to imagine it, but couldn't quite picture it, and then asked something else.

As for the origins of folk songs, let musicians and aestheticians investigate. I simply often recall the image of cattle licking the salt seeping from the earth, which reminds me of the old man's leisurely mountain song: "Flowers bloom on the cliff, red flowers bloom on the cliff, the suffering people are living a good life..."

Nowadays, "good times" are no longer just a hope for those who suffer. The old man wasn't singing about the red glow of the setting sun on the cliff, but about a wildflower that grows on the cliff, called the mountain lily, which is red and blooms every year.