Chapter 121 Whispers dedicated to the first snowflake in the new winter

Although I have longing for the spring grass, I would like to dedicate my heartfelt words to the first snowflakes in the new winter, because I know that only when the northern land is moistened by auspicious snow, will it be more conducive to the first green buds to sprout brightly. Interviewers often ask me: Which of your works are you most satisfied with?The general answer is that I am not very satisfied with what has been written, and the most satisfied may be the one that will be published or is being written.But I want to say frankly that I am most satisfied with the novels published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House in the first edition in 1993 and the second edition in 2004.I may never be able to write a novel that surpasses it in the future.Reporters often ask me: Do your novels belong to "Beijing-flavored literature"?I always emphasize this: I don't deliberately pursue the "Beijing flavor", especially I don't deliberately show the so-called "old Beijing flavor". What my novels show is more of the present tense in terms of time; in terms of characters, I always want to discover new life phenomena that appear in this space, and I pay more attention to this.I am not a writer who specializes in writing, for example, "Children of the Eight Banners" or the old customs of old Beijing.These things are also very important life resources and writing resources for me, and I also use them.But the main people, protagonists illuminated by the light on my stage are some new lives.I am writing these words now, not to sum up any writing experience, but to sort out my own attitude towards life - I know that I have limits, and what supports me to continue my journey is not a new commanding height, but a new life The unabated interest in observing new life.

Each writer's writing has a different resource orientation.For example, some young writers can write about the life of prostitutes in the old society; they have never experienced the situation of warlords at all, and they can write a story about the joys and sorrows of warlords.That is his creative freedom.My writing, the characters and stories in my works are basically in the same time and space as me. For example, in my latest collection of novels "Standing on Ice" published by People's Literature Publishing House, the longest novella in it is called "The Shrew Chicken" "Ding", is to write about the demolition of the Beijing courtyard, where did these residents go?They arrived in new places, some of which belonged to the junction of urban and rural areas, or in those real estate buildings at the junction of urban and suburban areas.I wrote about the survival of those people, about some migrant workers from outside, including some young security guards recruited from other places, or actively or passively participated in their lives.I write about a new and lively state of life, so I don’t stick to the old traditions of Beijing. Every work must go back to the historical level of Beijing culture. I am not like that. I keep tracking the new Beijing. New development, new expanded living space and new life, new life and death.I don't want history to be the volute of my soul, I always hope that I can enter the light and shadow of "this moment".

My writing resources are still abundant.I think that a writer’s writing resources are exhausted, probably because he has cut himself off from the direct connection with the social life of this time and space, and only through books, newspapers, media, conferences, documents, and listening to other people’s narration, To obtain writing resources, in this case, it will be isolated from the real new growth point of social life.I am not like this. I seldom participate in meetings and activities on various occasions. Instead, I go directly to mingle with these ordinary people, with these migrant workers, or foreigners, such as these security guards, or It is the residents of some new residential areas who live together.So now I feel that my resources are very rich and I can't finish writing.I have so much to write that I don't know which part to let go.My struggle so far is this.

When the "Contemporary" magazine published my "Shrex Chicken", there was an editor's note, to the effect that people of my age now generally--of course he has a bit of humor--or play tricks It's gone, or Han Yi Nong Sun has gone, and he doesn't play with this anymore.Many people who were my age, or who started literature together, basically stopped writing novels, or even wrote novels, and the number is getting smaller and smaller.And since I wrote "The Class Teacher" to the present, I have gone through the alternation of the 20th and 21st centuries.Up to now, I have published short novellas, and they are all about the most vivid contemporary life. The novella "Shrex Chicken" has 50,000 words.Taiwan has already published a booklet, and because the traditional characters are arranged vertically, it can form a booklet.

"Contemporary" encouraged me to say that people like me can still write novels, write about the latest life, and new characters appear, and the novels still have changes in the pursuit of the text. Readers should I can also read something beyond the novel itself from my novel.Another example is the Taiwanese poet Jiao Tong, who set up his own publishing house and included my novel "The Shrew Chicken" in his "Food Culture" series. He also published a long paper in Taiwan, " On Liu Xinwu's Food Writing".Because the title of "The Shrew Chicken" is a diet, every topic in each section of the novel is also a diet.Food literature is considered quite new in Taiwan.This shows that I am constantly updating the text, instead of sticking to one state and constantly entering new areas for new explorations.So I think I should be constantly surpassing.This kind of self-evaluation is also to encourage yourself to be more diligent.I also want to say to those who read this whisper: Always affirm and encourage yourself, as long as the affirmation and encouragement are in line with the facts, then don't be afraid that others will use the stick of "Why are you not humble"--put that stick stop, and said aloud to him: "I affirm myself, therefore I exist!"

I also do architectural criticism, which is a kind of fringe hybrid text.There are connections between literary and architectural criticism, but there are certain differences.I have already published a book "Architecture and Environment in My Eyes" in China Building Industry Press, which has been printed five times.Recently, another book was published by China Building Materials Industry Press, called "The Beauty of Materials".I started writing architectural reviews in 1995, almost 10 years now.Writing architectural reviews is not a whim, first of all, it is the external and powerful factors that touch me.The rapid development of the city is an external factor.Many new buildings have been built in Beijing now, forming a kind of obsessive aesthetics for everyone in them. You can’t do without looking at them, and you can’t hide from them.Most of the new buildings have to be demolished first. The old courtyards and hutongs in Beijing are constantly being demolished, and the development continues to spread.As a citizen, I have something to say.In addition, I am personally interested in architecture for a long time.When I was in middle school, I often painted watercolor paintings. Architecture was the subject of my watercolor paintings, because I lived in the city, and there could not be many natural scenery. Basically, it was architecture, first of all, ancient buildings, such as painting the White Pagoda, Paint the Palace of the Forbidden City, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the Temple of Heaven, and the gates of the city towers.My interest in architecture has also been in ambush for a long time. The external stimulation and my own foundation, once stimulated, my architectural criticism comes out.

An interviewer asked me: From the perspective of architectural layout, which city in China do you think is your favorite, and its overall architectural layout is the best?I think this involves the overall and large-scale planning of a city.The architectural pattern should have two meanings. China is an ancient country, and many cities are famous historical cities with a lot of historical heritage.Is it the foundation that survived?Or is it a new development?Because this city is constantly updating and developing.If I look at a city purely from the remains of history, then of course I like Beijing the most.

Architecture has big concepts and small concepts.The big concept is that it has been extended to urban planning, the entire layout of a city, including its roads, are buildings; in addition, it is a single building or a single group of buildings.These are two concepts, and there are many problems in Beijing's planning that have not been resolved.In single buildings, there are far more failure examples than in Shanghai, Shenzhen and other places.So both aspects make me anxious.I have many articles exploring this issue. Interviewers often ask me, among the foreign cities I have been to, which city do I think has the deepest impression and the most beautiful purely in terms of architecture?I always answer without hesitation: Paris of course.I have also been to Rome, and Rome has done a lot of work on the preservation of historical sites.But about 300 years ago, the city of Rome was not planned like Paris, which made you think it was so perfect.Paris is almost perfect. Although Rome has many historical sites, it is not as good as Paris in terms of the overall concept of the city.Paris also has failures, such as the Montblais Tower, an American-style skyscraper built in the city.

People especially like to ask a writer who influenced his writing?Actually my influence mainly comes from my family, my parents, my brother and sister.The family I live in has a very strong literary atmosphere or literary atmosphere, which is the biggest influence on me.I embarked on the road of literature inseparable from the influence of this family, as my mother said, she is like a treasure.She can tell you about the connection between Zhou Rui's family and Wang Shanbao's family.This is generally not paid attention to by those who engage in "red studies".Another example is the role of Siqi, her family background, blood background, etc., read very carefully.For example, my older brothers and sisters all read Western classics, Russian classics, and some modern Soviet novels very early on, and they had a great influence on me.In addition, our family, like my parents, like Peking Opera, and my brother later became a famous fan.He was once all the rage at Peking University and became the "Mei Pai Tsing Yi".There is also music, which had a great influence on my literary path.

Of course, there are also indirect influences, through the text, or through the influence of a writer I haven't met, I haven't met.If you want to talk about the influence of writers and works, there are many.I can cite an example, that is, it may not have such a great influence on others, that is, Li Jie, who is from Sichuan, when I read it, I think it is a kind of enlightenment for me.I was surprised that he was able to see the changes of the whole era through such a vivid description of personal fate, especially the "Baolu Movement" in Sichuan, the different social forces between Jiaomin and Paogeer Agitation, wait.My ancestral home is Sichuan, and my parents are both from Sichuan. Some of my family members are also related to Jiaomin and Paogeer.I knew these things in the elder's narration, but I didn't expect him to be able to make me, a junior like me, gain a perspective on society and life so vividly.This work by this writer played a great role in enlightening me on the path of literature.

I wrote an essay "Adversity and Creation".People always say that the formation of a writer is related to his suffering experience, but I just said in this short article that a writer has too many ups and downs, which can easily inhibit his creative inspiration.I think for a writer, the most important thing is to give him a good creative environment.If the society fails to provide it for him, then he should work hard to create it himself. Take Cao Xueqin as an example. At that time, the society didn’t give him enough, and the general environment was dangerous for him, so he moved to the foot of Xishan Mountain, alienated from the lively scene, and only kept close contacts with close friends like Duncheng, Dunmin, and Zhang Yiquan.He also has some folk friends, such as Obi.He created a small humanistic environment for himself.Of course, more importantly, there are collaborators like Zhiyanzhai.That's why he can leave it to us. Although it is an incomplete manuscript, it is a treasure house after all.Therefore, I can’t completely complain that this society didn’t give me a good opportunity, or didn’t give me a good environment. Life is inevitably bumpy and adversity is inevitable. I have to create a humanistic environment for myself to write quietly.I feel like I am creating it myself.Because the competition in the whole society is very fierce now, and the competition in literature is also very fierce. Sometimes a vanity fair is formed. Rankings, leaderboards and other things, as well as things like best-selling or not, sensational or not, it's quite annoying.I basically live in the countryside now, and my small cultural environment is very good.This spring, my folk friend gave me two peonies. After transplanting, they survived and bloomed brilliantly.I looked at peony flowers, listened to the CD that another friend gave me, Shostakovich's "String Quartet", and flipped through old books that others thought were outdated, such as Chekhov's 27 volumes translated by Ru Long When I listen to music and read books, I just sit in the arms of the big willow tree outside the window and conceive new articles while sitting on a small chair.In this way, I created my own creative environment, which is characterized by grassroots atmosphere and tranquility of mind and body.I don't want to win any more awards, and I don't want to be in the rankings. I don't want to be the focus of attention, I don't pursue sensational sales, and I don't care about the titles.I feel very happy. Of course, some writers prefer another environment, where there are many people who praise and support him, so that he always shines in the spotlight.That's fine too.I will never use my own choice to deny other people's preferences, everyone has their own way of living.I mentioned Goethe’s example in that essay. Goethe’s life had no ups and downs. He said “traveling thousands of miles and reading thousands of books”. It is doubtful whether he has read thousands of books. Only been to Italy.He has had no ups and downs in his life. He lived to be in his 80s, and his lust is still very strong, and he can still fall in love with little girls.The Weimar regime at that time was neither good nor bad.He has no conflicts with politicians, and politicians are very polite to him and raise him well, and he also accepts this kind of politeness and pampers him.His writings are also great! Many people noticed that I declared that among all the characters, I like Miaoyu.This surprised many people. Miaoyu is withdrawn and eccentric, and is hated by others.I think the benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom.My personal character and Miaoyu have a lot of similarities, sometimes I am really too outlier.It's not a virtue, but it's hardly a sin, is it?The world should be diverse, and people's personalities should also be diverse. There can be all kinds of people!It's not that my personality is particularly good, or that I ask others to be like me, I don't have that reason.But I think that a person can live like this, if conditions permit, he can live like this, maintain his own dignity with self-respect, he does not enter other people's domain casually, and he cannot tolerate others entering his domain casually.Miaoyu attaches great importance to keeping the environment clean, and even more to keeping the heart clean, as well as keeping the interpersonal relationship clean.She is very straightforward and likes Jia Baoyu.It's not that she wants to love Baoyu, but she thinks that Baoyu is a "person with a little knowledge". Among so many people in Jia's house, Baoyu can be seen to be more sensible. , Jia Baoyu is more capable of Zen enlightenment.So when Jia Baoyu celebrated her birthday, she posted a greeting card.I appreciate and like all these places, and I think it's very interesting for her to behave like this. In a person's life, birth, career success and death are three very heroic scenes.Birth is passive, and death is more or less passive. Only the success of career has some initiative.Birth and death are a big subject. In fact, we should have the feeling of life, but we forget it quickly and cannot form a memory.The experience of death, each of us living people can't express it now.In the process of survival, it is a big thing to gain value for yourself, that is, to succeed in your career.I think the so-called success is measured by two more important criteria besides money and reputation.One criterion is: whether his personal dignity is guaranteed, which is very important; the other criterion is: whether he is beneficial to others, whether he has even benefited a second person other than himself.Money, reputation and these two points are the values ​​he created.I think these are very important to life. My hobby is painting. I started painting when I was in junior high school, and now I still have a few works from middle school.I usually do watercolor sketches.Now I often go to the Wenyu River near my study in the countryside, in a somewhat wild space, to paint watercolor sketches, which is one of my great pleasures at present.In addition, listening to music, Western classical music is my preference. Another hobby is to go shopping with my lover.In my opinion, going shopping is a great joy that cannot be given up in life, especially for those who have a spouse.And, man, it’s not just me, of course I’m a typical one. When I’m shopping, I think one of my most common behaviors is secretly looking at mirrors and looking in mirrors, which is very strange.I've found that other men have this problem too.Ma'am, she looks in the mirror when picking out cosmetics, and she doesn't pay much attention to the public mirror in the mall.But for me, whenever I go to a place with a big mirror, I can't help but look at myself.What kind of psychology is this?I offer it here as a piece of uncultivated virgin land for the study of psychologists.But I found out that I have this problem, and I don't regret it, and I won't change it. Interviewers often ask me, do I pay attention to the creation of writers who are a generation younger than me?I can't pay attention to all of them, and I have no obligation to pay attention, but I should admit that I pay attention to the ones that interest me.For example, the novelist Qiu Huadong, I like him very much. I think he has amazing potential and is a writer who can achieve great achievements.There is also Zhu Yong, an essayist who engages in prose, I also like him very much.They were all born in the late 1960s and are currently in the period of creative eruption.I sometimes invite them to dinner.I have a lot of private dinners.Many people say that Wang Xiaobo is a great writer, but unfortunately, when they said this, Wang Xiaobo was already dead.And I invited Wang Xiaobo to dinner, no one invited him, and all the invitations would not reach his desk.All kinds of "celebrity" dinners in the literary world do not have him.I took the initiative to contact him, and I tried my best to contact him, and asked him to come and have dinner in the small restaurant downstairs.Both of us were impatient when we ate in the restaurant, because the waiters had to set up chairs to sleep there at night.Boom the two of us to go, we are still chatting.It's a pity that when I asked him out again, he said that someone asked him out just at noon, and it was his "Fa'er" who asked him out, and he couldn't come because he was drunk.Did not come at night.A few days later, I got the news of his sudden death.I am very sad. Some interviewers asked sharply: Seeing the emergence of many rising stars in the literary world, have you ever experienced even a momentary psychological imbalance?Do you have the feeling of "Lian Po is old"?I answered: Why should it be unbalanced?In a society, if you don't let the younger generation surpass yourself, you still have it.If you say that your peers surpass you, it’s okay for you to be jealous, but your juniors surpass you, and you become jealous, then this society will be destroyed, this society has no future, and you must not do this.The younger generation must surpass the older generation, and the older generation must take the initiative to create conditions for the younger generation to surpass. This is an ABC that our nation must adhere to. Malaysia's "Sin Chew Daily" Group launched a "World Chinese Literature Award". They said that the purpose of setting up this award is to fight against the injustice of the "Nobel Prize for Literature".I was also hired as a judge.Therefore, some interviewers asked me to express my views on the "Nobel Prize for Literature". The "Nobel Prize in Literature" lasted for a long time.After a thing has existed for a long time, it will attract people's attention, just like a time-honored brand, it is always more attractive than a newly opened store, so its influence is great, this must be admitted.Among them, because of "World War I" and "World War II", it was suspended for several sessions, but it has always persisted. This is a reason for gaining prestige.The second reason is that the prize money is getting bigger and bigger, and once you win the prize, you will make a fortune.Publishers in various places will not let go of this business opportunity, and when it becomes a business opportunity, they will immediately buy copyrights.Because people want to read it first, and read it quickly, so it has a great impact, including our country. Although our country has announced that the "Nobel Prize for Literature" was awarded to Gao Xingjian in 2000, it is a big failure. , lost its authority. But now every year about the "Nobel Prize in Literature", our Xinhua News Agency always solemnly reports, and newspapers everywhere always publish news, showing that its influence is an objective existence, and this must admit the fact.So I also look at it in this way, it is an award with great influence.But the "Nobel Prize for Literature" is not the highest award for world literature, and they themselves didn't say so, so let's not think about it that way. Literature cannot engage in the "Olympic Games." The "Nobel Prize for Literature" is not the world's literary "Olympics." , You can't think that whoever is awarded the "Nobel Prize for Literature" is the greatest writer in the world. You can't have such a view.He is a lucky one, he was valued and won a prize, like winning a lottery with a lot of money, his work was translated into many languages, and it was recorded in the annals of history. History is selective, and historical records cannot record everyone.It only records the highest frequency and loudest. The "Nobel Prize in Literature" is an award with a relatively large impact, so it is unquestionable and reasonable that it should be recorded.However, he is not necessarily the greatest and the best.And there is a statement that I agree with. A Westerner said that the judges of the "Nobel Prize for Literature" are only Swedish, which is a very narrow-minded award.Some people say that the "Nobel Prize in Literature" is "the award of the Western literary world." No, it is not a jury formed by some Western literary critics to evaluate this award, no, it is an institution of the Swedish Academy of Letters.I visited that institution, it was a very small institution, there was only one person, a secretary, and another one who went to work on time every day in that institution, in fact, it was only half. I asked the secretary, and he said, yes Well, that one works half shift, comes half a day, earns half of the wages, and the other half goes to other places to work, and goes to other places to earn again, that seems to be an accountant. I visited Sweden in 1992, and was invited to listen to the award-winning speech of that year's winner Walcott, and also had a brief conversation with him.It was the Swedish Academy that was invited by the evaluation institution of the "Nobel Prize in Literature", so I have seen it before.There were only a dozen Swedes commenting there, so they didn't regard themselves as sacred.If you check the information, you will know that when Nobel left a sum of money to set up the prize before his death, this person was very funny. Because he was not good at math since he was a child, the math teacher always scolded him, and he hated the math teacher, so the Nobel Prize No math prize, no math prize.It is a very personal award, and it is also a very broad statement to say that literature should be idealistic.The Swedish Academy at that time rejected the job. They said that Nobel, a man who invented dynamite and made a fortune, you asked us to judge the prize. Why should we judge the prize for you?There is no door, so I don't take this job.Later, after persuasion, the judges in the first group reluctantly took over the job and judged.Who would have thought that it would have such a big impact later on.Several of the 18 judges do not participate in the awards, some because they are old and sick, and some think that the awards are just nonsense.Of course, there are also some who are very angry at the fact that a writer he admires can't win the award, and feel that something is wrong, so they go on strike and don't participate in the awards. The 18 judges themselves had internal strife. Now the whole world, the whole human being, lacks tolerance the most.Why such sharp opposition?Why is it always tense?Why is anxiety the most prevalent state of mind?Why are you always unwilling to make moderate concessions in negotiations?I'm not advocating self-preservation. I have an ardent social concern, and it's a universal concern. My hope is to resolve the hatred and suspicion among human beings through a rational, gentle, and gradual approach. In fighting with and fighting, I advocate deconstructing the passion that easily leads to extreme thoughts and behaviors into the tenderness of tolerance and tolerance, moistening things and silently improving the world and human beings. Being tolerant, you are blessed, others are blessed, and mankind is blessed.