Chapter 32 The third part opens up the soul of the new land and new moon of literature and art

In 1927, Xu Zhimo was about to have a new start.In the new year, we must show some achievements. In the spring of this year, Xu Zhimo, Hu Shi, Wen Yiduo, Yu Shangyuan, Ding Xilin, Liang Shiqiu and other friends gathered together, and they unanimously proposed to carry out literary activities.After discussion, they decided to open a Crescent Bookstore first, and then a monthly magazine. On July 1, the New Moon Bookstore, which Xu Zhimo, Hu Shi, Wen Yiduo and others prepared, officially opened in Shanghai.After Xu Zhimo's contact, coordination, and running calls, on March 10, 1928, the monthly "New Moon" edited by Xu Zhimo was officially launched. The inaugural issue of the monthly magazine "New Moon" published "The Attitude of "New Moon"" written by Xu Zhimo and signed "editor".This article is considered to be the manifesto of the "Crescent School".

At the beginning of the article, Xu Zhimo quoted two sentences, one is from the Bible "Old Testament? Genesis": "God said, let there be light, and there will be light." The other is Shelley's famous verse: "If winter comes, will spring be far behind?" This shows Xu Zhimo's hope and confidence in the "New Moon" monthly magazine. At the beginning of the text, Xu Zhimo explained the monthly magazine "New Moon" as follows: The title of their monthly magazine "New Moon" is not because there used to be a Crescent Club, which has long since dissipated; nor is it because there was a New Moon Bookstore, which is a separate business, and its relationship with the monthly "New Moon" is only Responsible for printing and distribution. The monthly Crescent is independent.

They are reluctant to bear the name "Crescent Moon", because although it is not a powerful symbol, its slender bend clearly implies and embraces the fulfillment of the future. Xu Zhimo said that he and his friends had no organization, except for the monthly magazine "New Moon"; no combination, except for literary and academic efforts; no unity, except for a few common ideals. With the power of this collection, Xinyue Tongren hopes to add some body to the thinking of this era, and add some glory to the life of this era. But, unfortunately, they were facing a barren and poor harvest year, and the hope of harvest was bleak.This is another chaotic year, and the standards of all values ​​are reversed.

To find out the reason for the desolation and poor harvest and give it a proper remedy, to tidy up a market that was once ravaged by the great panic, and to go further to sweep away all the forces of demons, to regain the clarity of the sky, to dredge the source of vitality, and to To liberate the unstoppable creative activity—this gigantic undertaking is certainly not something that a few, least of all these few, dare to dream of fully undertaking. But they felt there was still something they could do.Along with other things, they want to contribute an attitude of humility.On the positive side, this attitude has its special emphasis; on the negative side, it also has its solemnity and reserve.

Let me first talk about what our attitude does not tolerate.If ideas are a market, what are there in the modern market for ideas?Like other markets, the Idea Market is also full of stalls, shops, signboards, banners, and advertisements. It seems that there are at least a dozen industries, each with its own temptations. , They are the sentimentalists, the decadentists, the aestheticists, the utilitarianists, the moralists, the offensiveists, the radicals, the petites, the obscene, the fanatics, the barnyards, the catchphrases, and the doctrines. Freedom in business, yes.It is not bad that there should be full freedom of thought and speech.But freedom is conditional.The two most important conditions are the principle of not harming health; the second is the principle of not insulting dignity.Xu Zhimo clearly put forward two principles of literary creation, health and dignity.The buying and selling of poisons, the buying and selling of bodies, deserves to be interfered with, because such buying and selling directly violates the two principles of health and dignity.However, these illegal or improper businesses are still openly carried out in the modern metropolis - opium, poison, prostitution, which one is not a good business that is three times the profit?But just because they exist, they cannot be said to be justified, and their right to exist cannot be acquiesced.The principles of commercial liberty cannot be applied to such transactions.People should be ashamed to see these harmful and obscene trades openly taking their place in the society in which people live,

At the same time, in the market of ideas, there are also various special industries, such as the many categories and factions listed above.Xu Zhimo said that he does not mean that these are all "improper" industries, but many of them are incompatible with the two principles he cites - health and dignity.Xu Zhimo concludes that this phenomenon is new because, like everything else, the idea of ​​freedom of thought is itself new.This is a reactionary phenomenon, therefore, Xu Zhimo believes that this is temporary.Previously, there was absolutely no freedom of thought, and the result was slavish silence; now, there is absolute freedom of thought, and the result is anarchic chaos.It is not a bad thing to have more ideas, and it can often be seen in a vibrant cultural society, with tall and straight tree trunks, overwhelming green shade, many tangled side branches and vines growing.It doesn't matter at all, but the worry of modern times is precisely because of an upside-down situation, twisted and overgrown, here and there, but the upright and overwhelming ones are missing.This is like a commercial society where there are no authentic companies, but only various illegitimate businesses occupy the entire market. Wouldn't that be a joke?

Among the more than ten kinds of industries in the so-called modern thought or speech market written in the above essay, except for the aggressive, delicate, and obscene, which are the result of the indulgent development of human beings who are not so good, the others are speculative businesses that are more or less transported from foreign countries. .This is not to blame people in this era for not doing business seriously, but these transactions themselves are suspicious.Obstructed by a concept of freedom and the good name of tolerance, people often forget that thought is a garden, its beauty depends on people planting and eradicating it at any time; thought is a stream of water, its infinite effect Sometimes it can turn into an unmanageable disaster.

Xu Zhimo said that they dare not go along with the aesthetic and decadent, because they do not want to sacrifice the grandeur of life in order to carve a wine glass inlaid with gold and jade.They respect and love beauty, but, instead of chewing on the beauties of evil, they should miss the eternity of virtue, and instead of collecting coral-colored bliss in the cavity of Hydra, it is better to be in the troubled world and listen to the quietness of humanity. The sad voiceless sound. They dare not approve of sentimentality and enthusiasm, because they believe that the irrational filtration of emotion is a foul spring, and its directionless spurt is at least a waste of energy.They may not know that setting fire is a new skill, but they can't bear to cause uncontrollable disasters for temporary pleasure. "Storm" is coming sometimes, but they are also willing to guard against the unexpected changes of the weather in calmer moments, and they are not willing to give up the hope of a clear wind and a bright day with the excuse of the rampant wind and rain.They are not opposed to the liberation of emotion, but on the back of this mighty wild horse, the saddle of reason cannot be carelessly installed.

They don't worship any extremes, because they believe that the discipline of society is maintained by positive emotions.On the balance of a normal society, the weight of love must outweigh the weight of hatred, and the spirit of mutual assistance must outweigh the motivation of mutual harm and mutual killing.They are unwilling to put on colored glasses to arbitrarily judge the situation of the universe.They want to see the truth and the truth. They cannot attribute utilitarianism, because they do not believe that price can confuse value, and material can replace spirit, and they must stop their overturning steps on the precipice of all commercialization and deterioration.They can't rely on morality, because they don't believe that ready-made moral concepts can be used as evaluation criteria, and they can't let the rigidity of thinking become rigid and bloated.Standards, discipline, and norms are indispensable, but each era must independently discover its needs and maintain its health and dignity.The laziness of thought is the main root cause of subversion of all norms.

And slogans and doctrines.This is a road that the angels of heaven fear to tread.Pity the time and space, which one is not called the slogan and the thorn of the doctrine to give a bright color!The eyes are dazzled, the ears are deafened, and the mind is in a state of confusion. It is difficult to identify, and it is even more difficult to judge.They do not deny that there are intriguing places and labyrinths of temptation in these gracious sales and colorful posters.Therefore, they have to be prudent and have to sharpen their reason, the sharp edge that dissects all disputes, and clarifies hope.

Life is the root of all ideals, and its infinite and regular creativity is a powerful inspiration for spiritual activities.It not only hints at us, compels us, makes us move forever in the direction of creation and life, but also enlightens our imagination. The goal of our efforts is to extend with the body of life, to surpass the dead line, and to be inspired by the stars outside the sky.For this reason, although the power of life is unavoidable to be relatively weak sometimes, at a certain time, people have to wake up, we have to wake up, and we have to struggle, especially in the days when the dignity and health of life are humiliated and attacked!Come on, isn't the faint line in the sky the forerunner of the climax of "creative idealism" in this era?Come on, isn't the flickering like dawn in our imagination another herald of life's sunny Qing Dynasty? Xu Zhimo's fanciful and exaggerated opening words reflect the positive attitude of Xinyue Tongren to open up a new road in the dark age and chaotic literary world.However, Xu Zhimo's naive, detached, and unrealistic crescent attitude soon attracted joint criticism from the literary and art circles, especially Lu Xun's sharp criticism.