Chapter 4 Literature in an Age of Revolution

—— Lecture at the Whampoa Military Academy (2) on April 8 What I want to say today is to take this "literature of the revolutionary era" as the title.This school has invited me several times, but I always hesitate to come.why?Because I think, the reason why you invited me is probably because I have written several novels and am a writer, so I want to listen to literature from me.In fact, I am not, and I don't know anything.The first thing I seriously studied was mining. It may be better to talk about coal mining than to talk about literature.Naturally, because of my hobby, I also read literature books from time to time, but I have no experience, and I can say something useful from you.In addition to the experience I have gained in Beijing in the past few years, I have gradually become suspicious of the literary discussions that my predecessors have always known.That was the time to shoot and kill students (3), let’s say, the ban on literature has also been tightened, I think: literature and literature are the most useless, people who have no power speak; People who are oppressed will be killed if they speak a few words or write a few words; even if they are lucky enough not to be killed, they still cry out, cry out, and complain every day, while powerful people still oppress, abuse, and kill, and there is no way to deal with it They, what good does this literature do to people?

The same is true in nature. When an eagle catches a finch, it is the eagle that makes no noise, and the bird squeaks; Those who speak are eaten by those who do not.If a writer does a good job and writes a few articles, he may be praised at the time, or gain a reputation for many years. For example, after a martyr’s memorial service is held, the martyr’s story has long been forgotten, and everyone is going to talk about who the martyr is. The elegiac couplet is well done: this is really a very safe business. However, writers in this revolutionary place may always like to say that literature and revolution are closely related, for example, it can be used to propagate, advocate, instigate, promote and complete the revolution.However, I think such articles are powerless, because good literary and artistic works have always been mostly things that are not ordered by others, regardless of interests, and are naturally revealed from the heart; He is different from stereotyped writing (4), which has no value in literature, let alone whether it can move people.

For the sake of revolution, there must be "revolutionary people", and there is no need to rush "revolutionary literature". Revolutionary literature is revolutionary literature when things are produced by revolutionary people.So, I thought: the revolution has something to do with the article.Literature in revolutionary times is different from literature in peacetime. When revolution comes, literature changes color.But a big revolution can change the color of literature, but a small revolution cannot. Because it is not a revolution, it cannot change the color of literature.People here are used to hearing the word "revolution". When the word "revolution" is mentioned in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, people who listen to it are very scared, and those who talk about it are also very dangerous.In fact, "revolution" is not uncommon. Only with it can society reform and human beings progress, from protozoa to human, from barbarism to civilization, because there is never a moment without revolution.Biologists tell us: "There is no big difference between humans and monkeys. Humans and monkeys are cousins." But why do humans become humans and monkeys finally become monkeys?This is because the monkey refuses to change - it likes to walk on four legs.Maybe there was a monkey who stood up and tried to walk on two legs, but many monkeys said: "Our ancestors have always crawled, so you are not allowed to stand!" They were bitten to death.They not only refuse to stand up, but also refuse to speak, because they are conservative.Human beings, on the other hand, finally stood up, spoke, and it turned out that he was victorious.It's not over yet.Therefore, revolutions are not uncommon. All nations that have not yet perished are still striving for revolution every day, although it is often only a small revolution.

What influence did the Revolution have on literature?It can be roughly divided into three times: (1) Before the Great Revolution, most of the literature was about complaints and grievances when people felt injustice and pain about various social conditions. There are quite a lot of literature about this kind of literature in the world.But these cries of suffering and injustice have no effect on the revolution, because complaining about suffering and injustice has no power, and your oppressors still ignore you. Although the mouse squeaks, even though it screams good literature, the cat eats it. It's coming, you're welcome.Therefore, when there is only literature that complains about suffering and complaining about injustice, this nation has no hope, because it stops at complaining about suffering and complaining about injustice.For example, when people go to court, when the party that loses comes to hand out the injustice list, the opponent knows that he has no strength to go to court again, and the matter is over; so literature that complains about suffering is tantamount to crying out for grievances, and the oppressors feel relieved about this.Some peoples stopped crying because it was useless to complain, and they became a silent nation, gradually becoming more and more decadent. Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and India have no voice!As for the people who are full of resistance and strength, because it is useless to cry, they wake up and change from mourning to roaring.As soon as roaring literature appears, resistance is imminent; they are already very angry, so literature close to the time when the revolution broke out often has the voice of anger; he wants to resist, he wants revenge.When the Russian Revolution was about to start, there was some literature of this kind.But there are exceptions, such as Poland, although there has long been a literature of revenge (5), but its recovery depends on the European War.

(2) In the era of the Great Revolution, there was no literature, no voice, because everyone was driven by the revolutionary trend, everyone turned from shouting to action, everyone was busy with the revolution, and there was no idle talk about literature.Another layer is that people's livelihood was poor at that time, and it was too late to find bread to eat. How could they have the time to talk about literature?The old-fashioned people have been blown away by the revolutionary trend, and they can no longer sing their so-called literature.Some people say: "Literature is done when you are poor." In fact, it is not necessarily true. When you are poor, there must be no literary works. When I was in Beijing, when I was poor, I borrowed money from everywhere and did not write a word. Come down and make a fuss.When you are busy, there are bound to be no literary works. Those who bear the burden must put down the burden before they can write articles; those who pull the cart must also put down the cart before they can write articles.The era of the Great Revolution was very busy, and at the same time very poor. When some people struggled against others, they had to change the state of modern society first, and they had no time or thought to make a fuss;

Therefore, the literature of the era of the Great Revolution had to be silent for a while. (3) After the success of the Great Revolution, the state of society eased, and everyone's life was more comfortable, at this time literature will be produced again.At that time, there were two kinds of literature: one kind of literature praised the revolution, praised the revolution, and eulogized the revolution, because progressive writers thought of social change and society moving forward, and they felt both the destruction of the old society and the construction of a new society. Meaning, on the one hand, we are very happy about the collapse of the old system, and on the other hand, we praise the new construction.There is another kind of literature that mourns the demise of the old society - elegy - which is also literature that will exist after the revolution.Some people think that this is "counter-revolutionary literature", but I think there is no need to charge it with such a serious crime.

Although the revolution is going on, there are still many old people in society, and they must not become new people for a while. Their minds are full of old ideas and old things; The old society is so nostalgic and reluctant to part, so it speaks very ancient words, old words, and forms this kind of literature.This kind of literature has a sad tone, which means that he is uncomfortable. On the one hand, he sees the victory of the new construction, and on the other hand, he sees the destruction of the old system, so he sings an elegy.But for nostalgia, singing elegy means that there has been a revolution. If there is no revolution and the old people are gaining power, they will not sing elegy.

However, China does not have these two kinds of literature—an elegy for the old system, and a eulogy for the new system; because the Chinese revolution has not yet succeeded, it is a time when people are busy with revolution.However, there is still a lot of old literature, and almost all the articles in newspapers are old-fashioned.I think this shows that the Chinese revolution did not change much of the society, and did not have much influence on the old-fashioned people, so the old people can still stand aloof.The literature in Guangdong newspapers is all old, and there is very little new, which also proves that Guangdong society has not been affected by the revolution; there is no eulogy for the new, and there is no elegy for the old. Guangdong is still Guangdong ten years ago.Not only that, but there was no complaining, no grievances; I only saw trade unions participating in the parade, but this was allowed by the government, and it was not a rebellion due to oppression, nor was it a revolution by order.Chinese society has not changed, so there are no nostalgic dirges and no brand-new marches. Only in Soviet Russia have these two kinds of literature been produced.Their old writers fled abroad, and the literature they wrote was mostly mourning for the old; the new literature is trying to move forward. Although there are no great works, there are many new ones. They have left the roaring period. And it's time to transition to Acura.Praising construction is the impact of the revolution. It is not known what the situation will be in the future, but inference, it is probably civilian literature, because the world of the common people is the result of the revolution.

Naturally, there is no civilian literature in China now, and there is no civilian literature in the world. All literature, songs and poems, are mostly for the upper class;A gifted man meets a beautiful woman when he goes out. The two are very close, but an unwitted man makes trouble and is late on a business trip, but they are finally reunited.Look at it like this, how comfortable it is.Or talk about how funny and happy the upper class is, and how ridiculous the lower class is.A few years ago, "New Youth" (6) published several novels describing the lives of sinners in cold regions. University professors were not happy when they read them, because they didn't like to read such lowly people.If the poem is about the coachman, it is dirty poetry;

If there is a crime in a play, it is an indecent play.The characters in their plays, there are only talented scholars and beautiful ladies, the number one among talented scholars, and the first-rank wife. The talented scholars and beautiful ladies are very happy in themselves, and they are also very happy when they see it. The inferior people have no choice but to be happy for them.Now, some people refer to the common people—workers and peasants— As materials, novels and poems are also called civilian literature, but in fact this is not civilian literature, because the common people have not yet opened their mouths.This is another person who saw the life of the common people from the sidelines and said it in the tone of a commoner.Although some of the literati in front of me are poor, they are still richer than workers and peasants, and only then can they have money to study and write articles; it seems to be spoken by common people, but it is not; this is not a real common people's novel.The folk songs and wild songs sung by the common people are now written down, thinking they are the voices of the common people, because they are sung by the common people.But they were greatly influenced by ancient books indirectly. They admired the gentlemen in the country with three thousand acres of land. They often took the ideas of gentlemen and made them their own. Gentlemen used to recite five-character poems and seven-character poems; Most of the songs are five or seven words.This is also very trite in terms of metric and conception, and cannot be called real civilian literature.Today's Chinese novels and poems are really inferior to those of other countries, so we have no choice but to call them literature; we cannot talk about the literature of the revolutionary era, let alone the literature of the common people.Today's writers are all scholars. If the workers and peasants are not emancipated, the thinking of the workers and peasants will still be the thinking of the scholars. Only when the workers and peasants are truly liberated can there be real civilian literature.Some people say: "China already has civilian literature", but this is actually wrong.

You gentlemen are actual fighters and revolutionary fighters. I think it is better not to admire literature now.Studying literature is of no benefit to war. It is best to write a war hymn, or write it beautifully, so that you can read it when you rest after the war. It is also interesting.To put it more grandly, it is like planting a willow tree. When the willow tree grows up and the sun is covered with thick shade, the farmer can plow until noon, or he can sit under the willow tree to eat and rest.In China's current social situation, there are only real revolutionary wars. A poem can't scare Sun Chuanfang away (7), but a cannon can blow Sun Chuanfang away.Naturally, some people think that literature has great power in revolution, but I personally always feel skeptical that literature is always a product of surplus, which can express the culture of a nation, but it is true. People are probably dissatisfied with what they are doing now. I have always only done a few articles, and I am tired of doing it, but the gentlemen who hold guns still want to listen to literature. As for me, I would naturally like to listen to the sound of cannon, as if I think the sound of cannon is much better than the sound of literature.There are only so many speeches I can give, thank you all for your kindness! ---------------------------------- (1) The transcript of this article was originally published on June 12, 1927 in the fourth issue of the "Huangpu Life" weekly magazine published by the Guangzhou Whampoa Military Academy. The author made revisions when it was included in this volume. (2) Whampoa Military Academy Sun Yat-sen founded the Army Military Academy after the reorganization of the Kuomintang. The school is located in Huangpu, Guangzhou. It officially opened in June 1924.Before the counter-revolutionary coup by Chiang Kai-shek on April 12, 1927, it was a cooperative school between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Zhou Enlai, Ye Jianying, Yun Daiying, Xiao Chunv and many other Communists had held responsible positions in the school. (3) Refers to the March 18 tragedy. (4) A formulaic style stipulated by the eight-legged Ming and Qing imperial examination systems.It uses Chinese sentences in the "Four Books" and "Five Classics" to make propositions, and each article consists of eight parts: breaking the topic, inheriting the topic, starting the lecture, starting, starting the section, middle section, back section, and binding the section.The last four parts are the main body, and each part has two parallel characters, making a total of eight parts, so it is called eight parts. (5) Revenge literature refers to the works of Polish patriotic poets Mickiewicz, Slovakia and others in the first half of the nineteenth century.At that time, Poland was partitioned by Russia, Austria, and Prussia. After World War I, Poland regained its independence in November 1918. (6) The university professor mentioned below in "New Youth" refers to Wu Mi, a professor at Southeast University.The author said in "Two Hearts Collection: A Glimpse of Shanghai Literature and Art": "At that time, Mr. Wu Mi once published an article, saying that he really didn't understand why some people like to describe the low society." (7) The main force of Sun Chuanfang's army was defeated by the Northern Expeditionary Army in the winter of 1926 in Nanchang and Jiujiang, Jiangxi.