Chapter 31 Lyrics and personal reflections of the first section

After a series of political movements in the 1950s, the spiritual tradition formed by the "May 4th" New Literature Movement among intellectuals was basically in a state of atrophy. Dissenting opinions were expressed on the literary and artistic policy.This state of mind is obviously not conducive to the development of socialist cultural undertakings under the banner of "letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend". Therefore, it has also aroused the concerns of some senior leaders of the Communist Party of China.Marshal Chen Yi said frankly at the Guangzhou Conference held in 1962: "I was so worried that I dared not say anything. I cried and said: If this style of work does not change, it is very dangerous! We must improve this serious situation. The situation It’s very serious, maybe I overestimated it, it’s so serious that people don’t talk, it’s so serious that everyone can only speak well, this is not a good sign. In the future, only a voice of praise can be formed...it’s very dangerous!” 1 Chen Yi’s words also It represents the psychology of some high-level leaders in the CCP. Therefore, under the political background of "adjustment, consolidation, enrichment, and improvement" proposed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to reverse the economic difficulties caused by the "Great Leap Forward" policy mistakes, Zhou Enlai The Prime Minister gradually began to adjust the policy on intellectuals and literature and art.Since 1959, Zhou Enlai has participated in various conferences and activities in the literary and art circles, and personally made a series of reports, such as "On the Problem of Walking on Two Legs in Cultural and Art Work" at a symposium held in Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai in 1959 , Speeches at the National Symposium on Literature and Art Work and the National Conference on Feature Film Creation held in Beijing Xinqiao Hotel in 1960, and two speeches before and after the symposium on dramas, operas, and children's plays held in Guangzhou in 1962, especially at the Guangzhou Conference The title of "On the Issue of Intellectuals" written above, its core is to re-evaluate the definition, status, and role of intellectuals in the socialist period, in order to correct the party's views on whether intellectuals belong to the "bourgeoisie" or "petty bourgeoisie". He has repeatedly encouraged writers to emancipate their minds and create active creations, asked leading cadres to change their rough work styles, promote democracy, and took the initiative to support some wrongly criticized Works (such as the movie "Horizontal Blowing") were rehabilitated.At the Guangzhou Conference, Chen Yi further developed Zhou Enlai's point of view, and proposed to "take off the crown" for intellectuals, that is, take off the hat of "bourgeoisie" and add the crown of "working people".

The speeches of central leaders such as Zhou and Chen had a certain encouraging effect on intellectuals at that time. The active creation of historical themes in the 1960s was related to this slightly relaxed background, but the more important influence occurred in some leaders of literary and art work. among party officials.At this time, after a series of political campaigns, Zhou Yang felt deeply the serious consequences of the ultra-left line he pursued after fully mastering the leadership of the literary and art circles. So he, encouraged by Premier Zhou Enlai's speech, began to formulate the The "Opinions on Current Literary and Art Work (Draft)" ("Ten Articles of Literature and Art"), which was rectified in the literary and art circles, was revised repeatedly and then issued and implemented with the "Eight Articles of Literature and Art" as an official document. The "Eight Articles of Literature and Art" include further implementing the "Double Hundred Principles", striving to improve the quality of creation, criticizing and inheriting national heritage and foreign culture, correctly conducting literary and art criticism, ensuring time for creation, cultivating and rewarding outstanding talents, strengthening unity and continuing to reform, improving leadership methods and leadership It can be seen as the concretization and policyization of Zhou Enlai’s thoughts on how to lead literary and artistic work, and it can also be regarded as the attempt by the leaders of the literary and artistic circles represented by Zhou Yang to save the literary and artistic cause that has been seriously damaged by political movements. effort.Other sober-minded leading cadres in the literary and art circles in the party also paid attention to the problem of correcting the left at this time. In the editorial, he openly advocated that literature and art should "serve the broadest masses of the people" in order to replace the narrow concept of "serving the workers, peasants and soldiers" in the past; The theories of "deepening realism" and "writing intermediate characters" put forward by the representatives of the "Short Stories Symposium on Rural Themes" (Dalian Conference) hosted by Shao Quanlin can be regarded as the leftist corrections in the literary and art circles of that period. effort.

However, judging from the history of subsequent development, these efforts have actually not had much effect.From the Central Work Conference held in Beidaihe in July and August 1962, Mao Zedong began to focus on class struggle, and then he put forward the slogan "Never forget class struggle" at the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Beijing, sharply He pointed out: "Anyone who wants to overthrow a political power must first create public opinion and do ideological work first. The revolutionary class is like this, and the counter-revolutionary class is also like this." Literary and artistic work that has always been included in the ideological category suddenly In tension again.The novel "Liu Zhidan" was convicted of "using novels to carry out anti-Party activities", which obviously did not refer to general "anti-Party", but involved line struggles within the Party.Immediately afterwards, Mao Zedong issued two instructions on the literary and art circles in 1963 and 1964, which almost completely negated the work of the Central Propaganda Department led by Zhou Yang and others. At the same time, he personally intervened in the ideological and cultural fields. The critical movement also included the criticism and negation of Tian Han, Xia Yan, Yang Hansheng and other core forces of the left-wing literary movement in the 1930s.The intensified ultra-left line finally approached the "Cultural Revolution" in 1966. The background of literary creation in the 1960s was developed on the basis of a series of political movements in the 1950s. The construction of socialist culture has a deep sense of urgency. Even if Zhou Yang and others tried their best to make literature and art flourish, but due to the lack of enthusiasm for the sincere cooperation and participation of the majority of intellectuals, it has been impossible to fundamentally change the overly rigid culture. Cultural patterns and thinking patterns.The characteristics of the cultural form of war discussed in the previous chapters of this book have been fully expanded by this time, and they have begun to move towards the opposite.The relationship between the entire literary creation and political ideology has become a rigid mechanical operation, and it is completely divorced from the constraints of real life.The so-called "writing center, acting center, and singing center"3 slogan was born under the circumstances at that time.In terms of literary aesthetics, the mainstream ideological discourse has solidified the common name of the era, and published literary creations can only become publicity materials of the common name, and personal thinking and experience are completely replaced by the common name of the era.At that time, it was manifested in two creative tendencies, one was the emergence of a large number of eulogizing lyric works, and the other was the emergence of narrative works illustrating the theory of class struggle.

The former kind of lyrical works are mainly manifested in the creation of poetry and prose. In general lyrical works, the subject of lyricism is indispensable. It can only be a certain defined essence of the times.Among the lyrical works at that time, He Jingzhi's poems should have achieved relatively high achievements. His "Singing Loudly", "Returning to Yan'an", "Sanmenxia-Dressing Table", "Song of Guilin Landscape", "Song of Lei Feng" and so on To a certain extent, he still inherited the strong artistic characteristics of the "July" school of poetry, and he praised the state power with a heroic, generous, passionate lyric style and direct and enthusiastic lyrical gesture-- Includes its various symbols: People, Fatherland, Revolutionary Era and Heroes.Because he fully integrated himself into the common name of the times, it is difficult to distinguish the boundaries between individuals and times in his poems. The singular lyric hero "I" in his works can be replaced by the plural "we" without exception, and The object of praise, "people" -- such as Lei Feng, is the "capitalized person" who represents the essence of the times. According to the aesthetic standards of the time, He Jingzhi was the most mature political lyric poet of that time.In the field of prose, eulogizing lyric works also account for the vast majority.Liu Baiyu's prose is similar to He Jingzhi's, that is, he uses the "big self" who "jumps with the pulse of the times" as the sustenance of the main body to express emotions, but he does not use direct expressive methods, but uses the majestic scenes of nature and The way of blending the fighting passion of the big self has obtained a "sublime" lyrical style with a distinctive color of the times, such as his prose, etc.Yang Shuo provided a unique form of lyrical structure. In his "Xiangshan Red Leaves", "Sea City", and other works, he borrowed the techniques of borrowing scenery from classical poetry to express emotion, expressing his will through objects, and sought the artistic conception of poetry in modern prose. , forming the "Yang Shuo mode" that was praised at that time, that is, "starting from the description of the scenery, then drawing out the ordinary characters moving in the scenery, and finally connecting the scenery with the characters through the metaphorical symbols, and sublimating the carol of the people's nature." A lyrical theme". 4 Qin Mu's prose incorporates historical knowledge, natural knowledge, customs, etc. into prose writing, and expresses emotion by directly discussing abstract concepts such as history, people, and life. "Spring Dawn on the Ancient Battlefield", "Land", "Lyric on the Altar of Sheji", "Flower City" and so on.Noteworthy prose writers include Guo Feng, whose prose poetry has a strong earthy flavor and pastoral flavor that were rare at that time.In the lyrical chorus, a kind of "people's nature" is often promoted, but this "people's nature" is covered with a layer of hypocrisy because it echoes the needs of the common name of the times, such as Yang Shuo's "Penglai Wonderland", "Sea City " and other essays describe the beautiful "new life" in the countryside and use them to express emotions, but the background of their production is the period of great famine in the late 1950s and early 1960s, which is rare in China's history of nearly a hundred years. The irony is that the lyricism of the times has become a terrible inertia, and individuals have only become parts and functions of this lyrical machine, and can no longer express their true thoughts and feelings, and even use this lyricism of the times to cancel their true thoughts and feelings.Under such circumstances, literary creation covers up and obliterates the righteous voice of "I drum and shout for the people" in an attempt to create a flourishing scene of singing and dancing everywhere, which is what those who study literary history should pay attention to today.

The latter kind of narrative works are mainly manifested in the creation of novels, and some are also reflected in the creation of dramas and movies. After the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee held in September 1962, Mao Zedong magnified and absolutized the classes and class struggles that existed within a certain range in socialist society, and raised their seriousness to inappropriate heights. Misdirection has had a great impact on literary creation.In order to cooperate with the anti-revisionist and anti-revisionist movements, socialist education, and the rural "four clean-ups" campaigns at that time, literary creation also closely followed the situation and fabricated a large number of legendary stories of class struggle, thus covering up the real contradictions and conflicts in real life. and the suffering of the people.The most typical work is Haoran's novel "Sunny Sky".Haoran has lived in the northern countryside for a long time. Since 1956, he has published many short stories reflecting the new people and new things in the countryside. Although the writing style is fresh and lively, and the descriptions of rural life scenes are also readable to a certain extent, they lack the depth of thought and realism. His sincere attitude is an obvious shortcoming. In the 1960s, he created a multi-volume novel "Sunny Sky", which used the thrilling story of class struggle in an agricultural cooperative in the suburbs of Beijing during the fifteen days before and after the wheat harvest in 1957 to prove that "don't forget the class struggle". "Party line.The novel adopts the structural model of "two armies against each other" in the war culture, and describes an extremely fierce battle between the poor and lower-middle peasants headed by Xiao Changchun, the branch secretary of the cooperative, and the rich landlords and rich middle peasants headed by Ma Zhiyue, a degenerate member of the party. In the contest, the good guys in the novel are absolutely good, and the bad guys are absolutely bad. The two sides dispatch troops and generals, swords and swords, and finally develop to the landlord murdering and murdering, and the bad guys are finally wiped out in one fell swoop.This kind of work was very popular among readers because of its tense, popular and fascinating stories, coupled with Haoran's fluent and clear language and good use of simple sentences. However, its description of the rural living conditions at that time was incorrect. It just used the countryside as a stage to fabricate the myth of class struggle, and created public opinion for the upcoming "Cultural Revolution" to brutally persecute the "five black classes" and anti-"capitalist roaders".No wonder this "specimen" of class struggle can still stand alone in the era of the "Cultural Revolution" when all the flowers in the literary and art circles withered.

However, in the first half of the 1960s under the common name, due to the existence of leftist corrective forces within the Communist Party of China, the wrong line has not yet reached the level of dominating the overall situation, and there is still a gap between different understandings and valuations of intellectuals. This shows a trace of vitality in the ideological and cultural circles, which is reflected in the creations published before September 1962. There are still some dissonant voices mixed in the lyrical chorus of the times.In addition to the creation of historical novels, such as the prose work "Ami" published by the old writer Feng Zikai, it is both solemn and humorous, showing the old layman's euphemistic and cynical attitude.At the second literary conference held in Shanghai in May of this year, Ba Jin published the essay "Courage and Responsibility of Writers", which echoed the speeches made by Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi and others to adjust the policy on literature and art.Among the creations of essays, the most notable ones are the essay column "Yanshan Evening Talk" written by Deng Tuo, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, under the pen name of Ma Nancun, and Deng Tuo, Wu Han, and Liao Mosha under the pen name of "Wu Nanxing". The essay column "Notes of Sanjia Village" co-founded.At that time, these three authors were all in leadership positions in Beijing, and they had a clear understanding of the serious situation since the "Great Leap Forward". At the same time, they also had the identity of left-wing intellectuals. The latter made them unconsciously embody the tradition of intellectuals' conscience in their speech. For example, in their articles, they repeatedly mentioned the Donglin party members and Hai Rui in the late Ming Dynasty. , Kuang Zhong and other upright officials can be regarded as a kind of metaphorical sustenance to some extent.Their essays use profound knowledge to tell the story of the past and the present, and some of them can quite grasp the disadvantages of the times, such as criticizing the trend of the times and the wind of bragging and big talk at that time. The styles of the "Three Family Villages" have their own characteristics. Deng Tuo's articles are strongly targeted and critical, Wu Han's articles are scholarly and bookish, and Liao Mosha's articles are gentle and friendly.Their essays seemed somewhat out of place amidst the carols, so after September 1962 the column ceased to exist.When the Cultural Revolution broke out, the "Sanjia Village" was the first to bear the brunt. Yao Wenyuan viciously called it in his "Comment on the "Sanjia Village"" a black shop that "continues to attack the party step by step and in an organized manner after "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office", "is the capitalist An important lair of the Restoration has poisonous snakes inside, and it must be thoroughly identified and destroyed!" 5 As a result, they were severely persecuted: Deng Tuo committed suicide, Wu Han's whole family was persecuted to death, and only Liao Mosha, after suffering all the brutal persecution, Waited until the rehabilitated after the Cultural Revolution.

It seems difficult to find the independent spirit of intellectuals in the public readings in the first half of the 1960s, but after we introduced the concept of "potential writing" in literary history, this traditional image of literary history was broken. The letters and notes of some writers published in the 1980s let us see that the spiritual world of intellectuals is still multifaceted. Published newspapers, periodicals, books, etc. have shifted to the marginal, folk, and even underground private areas, and exist in the form of private discourses such as letters, notes, and diaries. These private things rather than publicly published things truly represent the height of people's creation and thinking in that era.Works in this area include "Gu Zhun's Diary", Zhang Zhongxiao's and so on.Private writing generally keeps a certain distance from the common names of the times, and analyzes, dissects and criticizes them.Contains the family letters written by Fu Lei and his wife to Fu Cong brothers from 1954 to 1965 (most of them are letters written by Fu Lei to Fu Cong), in which he educates his son to treat life and art with a serious attitude, and to exercise his Personality, the seriousness with which he treats art is quite different from the frivolous attitude of belittling the laws of art itself at that time. The pre-revolutionary part of "Gu Zhun's Diary" truly records the miserable life of the people at the bottom of the "Great Famine", the mentality of intellectuals being "reformed" and their thinking about myths such as the "Great Leap Forward". In comparison, the authenticity of the works is judged.Zhang Zhongxiao recorded his thoughts on the propositions of the times, history, national culture, national personality, human nature, and conscience after he was tried as an important member of the Hu Feng case, and based on extensive reading of historical, philosophical, and religious works in his hometown during his recuperation period.In this kind of thinking, personal encounters have become an important background for reflecting on the myths of the times and national history, so his thoughts and sensibility have a sense of pain and depth connected with flesh and blood.These personal writings were not for the public to read at the time, and their authors "all had a rough fate, and they did not write books for the sake of passing on the word, but only for the sake of their conscience", but today, after they are made public, But it allows us to see the other side of the culture of that era, giving it a shocking strength and depth, and changing our usual superficial and frivolous impressions of the literature of that era. It can be said that this This is the irreplaceable meaning of these personal words.