Chapter 37 Thirty-six, big line

"Gold Line": Tell me, what is the golden thread of literature? In the April issue of the open letter column of GQ, I wrote an article called "The Great Yes", saying that Han Han's novels are not good, and his essays are clever, and that there is indeed a golden line in literature. If a work reaches it, it has reached it. If it has not been achieved, it will be faintly visible to outsiders, and it will be clear to people with discerning eyes.This article attracted a lot of criticism, and helped me revisit many derogatory idioms with four characters in Chinese (literati look down on, add insult to injury, sell fame, talk about honey, etc.). The only one I tend to accept is objectively 'helping evildoers', although I don’t think it’s that serious, Fang Zhouzi and King Zhou seem to be on a different level, right?), it also gave me an extra nickname: “Feng Jinxian”, some people even think that this article created a new four-character Idiom: "Feng Tang Jinxian".Han Han and my co-publisher, Lu Jinbo, said, Feng Jinxian, you should write an article, explaining what you mean by Jinxian, and what good literature is.

First of all, is there any standard in literature? Literature certainly has standards. It is the same as art forms such as music, painting, sculpture, calligraphy, film, drama, etc., and it is the same as beauty, jade, wine, good tea, fragrance, food, etc., and civilization, democracy, human rights, morality, Buddhism, and universalism. Although "literature is not the first, military is not the second", although it is difficult to quantify, although it is subjective, and although there may be serious deviations in certain specific periods, literature has standards. For two or three thousand years, the incense has been passed on. , a golden thread stretches on and on.Under this golden line, try to look as little as possible, otherwise you will ruin your aesthetic taste unconsciously.On this golden line, except for Zhuang Zhou, Sima Qian, Li Bai, and Du Fu, the top code word masters who have emerged in hundreds of years, there is no clear distinction between high and low. Today, the predecessor of Mingyue, etc. are all good, colorful, each flower is in each eye, you can only eat the one you prefer, or you can eat all directions, taste all kinds of herbs, and be poisoned by hundreds of poisons. Take it easy, relax and watch Zhang Ziyi If you can't become Zhang Ziyi, you won't become Kobe beef if you eat Kobe beef. "The article is a matter of ages, and the gains and losses are well known."Unfortunately, like the other things mentioned above, like truth, this golden thread is indescribable and usually in the hands of the few, not the decision of the many. "Er Cao's body and name are destroyed, and the rivers and rivers will not be abolished through the ages."Fortunately, the "principle of large numbers" is still applicable here. Taking a hundred years as the scale, the hustle and bustle at that time has faded away, revealing an immortal article that beats time.If Confucius, Zhuang Zhou, Lu Buwei, Sima Qian, Ban Gu, Prince Zhaoming, Liu Yiqing, Sima Guang, Su Dongpo, Wang Anshi, Zeng Guofan, Wu Chucai, etc. were allowed to live today, let them choose three hundred from 500 BC to 2000 AD. Good Chinese, the Book of Songs, Chu Ci, Han Fu, Tang Poetry, Song Ci, Ming and Qing novels, pre-Qin prose, official history, unofficial history, Ming essays, and Zen lamp records have no taboos. I am willing to believe that the overlap will be more than half.The characteristics of these good articles recognized by discerning people are the golden thread.

Besides, is the standard of good literature important? Standards are of course important. China has always had a large land and rich resources, a large population, and a lack of products. People like to fight, take shortcuts, break rules, fish in troubled waters, and the winner is the king.There is no standard, no bottom line, it is easy to mess around, always slipping to a lower place, easy to be self-satisfied, and easy to make Li Zi famous.However, without standards, it is difficult to improve learning efficiency and create good things continuously.After completely lacking standards, the number of discerning people continued to decrease. They were ridiculed, exiled, castrated, and killed. Li Zi became famous and then became a god (or more precisely, he was pushed to the altar, but he did not refuse) , and after that, there will often be "pointing at a deer as a horse", and the remaining discerning people will collectively silence because of various interests and taboos. Feathers all over the place, the end of the world is coming. "Those who regard Qi as the ancient ones to make words have no hope of quick success, no temptation to snobbery, nourish their roots and wait for their reality, add their anointing and hope for their light." Take your time, walk through the narrow door, and look at it in the long run, but it is the fastest The shortest road to goodness.

Finally, what is your golden thread? Westerners have "Fifty Lessons of Fiction", and Chinese have. These tomes have built quite complicated standard systems.There are also concise versions. Westerners have a 6C standard for good articles, using six adjectives: CONCISE, CLEAR, COMPLETE, CONSISTENT, CORRECT, COLORFUL (concise, clear, complete, consistent, correct, vivid).To put it more simply, the content of the expression should be able to challenge the ignorant and narrow outlook on the world and life, explore the various subtle fires of human nature, and the form of expression should be able to make statements and challenge the limits of language expression ability and efficiency.

To give some examples, there is no distinction between modern people, ancient people, Han people, and Hu people. "I was in the 14th team down the mountain, and she was in the 15th team up the mountain. One day she came down from the mountain and discussed with me that she was not a broken shoe... At this time, Chen Qingyang's groans spread like a flood in the house. Shocked by this, she crouched down and didn't move. But she said, come on, bastard, and twisted my legs. After I was 'fast', the tremors seemed to come from the center of the earth. Later she said that she felt that she had sinned deeply , sooner or later you will suffer retribution.” (Wang Xiaobo)

"It's cold in winter, and the mountains are covered by heavy snow. As soon as you go out, you just leave your footprints. If you follow others, you will often be followed by them. If you don't make it, they will copy the nest and block the cave and eat like guarding the refrigerator." (Wang Shuo "To My Daughter" Book") "After receiving the meal, I started to eat immediately. I ate very quickly. My throat constricted and my face was full of muscles. I often stopped suddenly and carefully removed the rice grains and soup from my mouth or chin. Youhua'er wiped it into his mouth with his whole index finger. If rice grains fell on his clothes, he would press them immediately and put them into his mouth. If one of them didn't hold down, and the rice grains fell from his clothes, he would immediately move his feet. Move again, turn your upper body to look. If he meets my gaze at this time, slow down." (A Cheng)

"They don't lie about eating meat. Pigs are also slaughtered during the year. Pigs are slaughtered in the main hall. Everything is the same as that of lay people, boiling water, wooden barrels, and sharp knives. When tying pigs, the pigs also squawk lifelessly. It is different from lay people. Yes, there is an extra ceremony, to recite a "rebirth mantra" to the pig that is about to ascend to heaven, and the teacher always recites it with a very solemn expression: "...all womb-born, egg-born, and resting-born pigs come from the void and return to the void Go to life and rebirth, everyone should be happy. Namo Amitabha!' The third master Rendu went down with a knife, and the bright red pig's blood spurted out with a lot of foam." (Wang Zengqi's "Amitabha")

"Wake up at night and under the moon, flowers and shadows are messy, full of people's sleeves, doubts like washing souls in a curling pot." (Li Bai) “I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive. A year ago, six months ago, I thought that I was an artist. I no longer think about it, I am. Everything that was literature has fell from me. There are no more books to be written, thank God.” (Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer) “I knew it was my own creature I heard scrabbling, and when Sissel heard it one afternoon and began to worry, I realized her fantasies were involved too, it was a sound which grew out of our lovemaking. We heard it when we were finished and lying quite still on our backs, when we were empty and clear, perfectly quiet. It was the impression of small claws scratching blindly against a wall, such a distant sound it needed two people to hear it." (Ian McEwan, "First Love, Last Rites")

I'm catching an early flight to the airport today.After five o'clock, the sun has come out, not dazzling, not scorching hot, but it exists indisputably, shining golden.On both sides of the airport expressway, rows of locust tree saplings are no thicker than the mouth of a teacup, and the trunks near the surface are pulped white. Near the trunks, above the golden line, the ground is full of February blue. I think, after my creative ability fails, I will spend time compiling an anthology called "Golden Thread". Not one by one. Feng Tang