Chapter 211 To Yuan Zongxian

Comrade Yuan Zongxian: I have received the letter you asked Mr. Lao She to forward to me.What should I say to you?You are now obsessed with the title "writer".I can't say that it is wrong for you to have this ideal, but the specific method you proposed has caused serious problems, which is simply absurd. Writing is a very hard labor. A writer must have a Marxist-Leninist world outlook, rich life experience, the ability to observe, analyze, and generalize life, as well as writing skills and so on.But it is mainly life experience and the world outlook of the working class, which need to be obtained from labor training.You are nineteen years old, and when you write a letter, there are many unreasonable sentences and typos. You don't want to work hard in the countryside and at the same time study hard to improve your culture, but think of Beijing.What are you doing in Beijing?

You should now be practicing labor in the countryside.You are only nineteen years old, you should work hard for seven or eight years, and then talk about being a "writer".Now many famous writers (more than twice your age, with much richer life experience and achievements in writing) have gone to the countryside to work and exercise, and they are planning to settle in the countryside for a long time.But you, a nineteen-year-old youth, want to be a "writer", but you want to come to the city, this is really absurd idea.I advise you to quickly discard these ridiculous ideas and work in the countryside with peace of mind.

In a hurry, I wish you health! Shen Yanbing December 1957