Chapter 71 Postscript - The Beauty of Ji Xianlin's Prose

Mr. Ji Xianlin is 95 years old this year.As someone who has benefited from the grace of my husband's moral articles for many years, while I am happy for my husband, I always want to do something for him.This idea coincides with the thinking of the leaders and editors of China Youth Publishing House.After obtaining the approval of Mr. Ji Xianlin and the support of Ms. Li Yujie, they entrusted Ms. Zhuang Wei to go to Tianjin to discuss the planning plan of the book with me, and I will complete the matter.I am honored and excited and glad to say yes.In my sixty Jiazi years, I did this for Mr. Ji, and I was really satisfied and my wish came true.

The editorial idea of ​​the publishing house is to adopt the method of chapter-by-chapter editing, and collect and organize the articles written by Mr. Ji Xianlin on life experiences, life experiences and life memories in different periods under the title of "My Life Insights", and the content focuses on " "Life" to guide today's young generation to establish a lofty outlook on life, correct values ​​and beautiful ideals of life.After reading through almost all of Mr. Ji’s related articles and books, I organized these writings by Mr. Ji under the titles of “self-cultivation”, “study”, “expression”, and “broad-mindedness”, and I felt that they showed profound knowledge. Field, rigorous and realistic academic attitude, tolerant and tolerant moral cultivation, etc., can be regarded as a kind of backlash against the current social impetuousness, moral loss, and behavior anomie. , a cynical attitude towards life, etc. A kind of whipping and condemnation.Reading Mr.'s "Sentiment on Life", there is really a kind of longing like a drought and a suddenness like enlightenment.

All the articles collected here are literary articles written by Mr. Ji Xianlin, which should be classified into the prose category.Whether these literati's proses are recalling the past, describing teachers and friends, or writing lyrically, feeling the time and expressing aspirations, each piece is full of deep true feelings, and every word reveals the ingenuity of deliberation, so it is touching.But the beautiful writing and the ease of brushwork make it hard to put it down.These proses, which are based on real people and real events and contain true feelings and true meanings, do not deliberately pursue the integrity of the plot and the clarity of the structure. Instead, they show eclectic spirituality with varying lengths and free forms, and demonstrate Mr. Ji's spiritual personality. .

The prose in this book not only makes people see Ji Xianlin as an essayist, but also makes people discover the living soul of a scholar.These proses are thick in thought and light in writing, integrating history, knowledge, talent and emotion, and can be called the masterpieces of "old students" prose.Based on the things he has personally experienced and the feelings he has felt, he highly summarizes and condenses the most unforgettable living experiences and insights in his 90-year long life journey.Because of his scholarly experience, this collection of essays goes beyond personal life history records, and has a humanistic spirit after deep thinking about life and society, showing the nature of the living archives of a generation of intellectuals in the 20th century.From the life case of a scholar, what people discover is the spiritual history of a representative group of old intellectuals.As it says on the cover: "This is a book bought with blood and written with tears. This is the best gift left by a generation of masters to future generations." On the ground, you will never be able to stand up. After the "Cultural Revolution", did he come to great peace and obtain double liberation of body and mind.Elderly people in their eighties recalled this unforgettable history, and they felt too much regret and confusion.

With full self-awareness, self-examination and introspection, Mr. Ji presents his true self to the world.He has no intention of portraying himself as a "gentleman" who does not eat fireworks in the world, a "sage" who worries about the country and the people all the time, but uses the original ecology of life to write how he became a complex and multi-faceted real person. .In the "Preface", he wrote: "Am I a great, tolerant and honest gentleman? No, no, absolutely not. I have love, I have hate, I will be jealous, and I want revenge. My tolerance is no better than anyone else. He is tall. However, as soon as I thought of revenge, I immediately thought that under the circumstances and atmosphere at that time, everyone, no matter which hilltop or faction he was, would be as alienated as if he had drunk the ecstasy soup. people.” This kind of honesty and frankness makes his prose full of scholars’ rational judgment and sense of justice.The truth of life in prose is not at the price of exposing privacy, nor is it grandstanding for the sake of sacrificing oneself. It is a kind of spiritual questioning that scholars want to express their pursuit of life value and a sense of responsibility to society and history. A complex spiritual characteristic embodied in a generation of intellectuals.When Mr. Ji described his personal life circumstances, many memory fragments were about humiliation and persecution, but what people saw was not personal sorrow and anger, but the misfortune and humiliation suffered by the country and the people.Therefore, when he pursued the past in a leisurely manner, he was already in another higher realm of life, with the occupational height of "not afraid of the clouds to hide his eyes, only because he is at the highest level", which is a kind of transcendence beyond the individual. The narration of vision and social scenes already has the pursuit of the universal significance of human beings.Mr. Ji wrote clearly and thoroughly in the "Preface": "If there is no record of this unprecedented disaster, our children and grandchildren will not learn from it. Once the climate is suitable in the future, there will be people Go crazy and do the same atrocious stupid thing." How wise and far-sighted this is! This kind of writing concept is undoubtedly more unique to scholarly essayists like Mr. Ji.Their worries and awareness of the social reality and the future of the world also made them complete a self-"purgatory" and formed a narrative expression filled with righteous indignation, "If I don't go to hell, who will go to hell", this is Mr. Ji's last One of Flash's narratives.

The prose in the book not only expresses Mr. Ji's thought exploration of a scholar-type essayist, but also reflects the openness of a wise man who expresses his love and ambition, and the kind of insight that takes history as a mirror.The implicit and profound philosophical speculation and endless charm in the prose make people feel moved by the wise rhythm of life and the vicissitudes of history.It comes from the enlightenment and enlightenment given by the rich life experience in the proses, from the astonishment that the personal legendary tortuous life history overlaps with the people's suffering history, and from the bone marrow spiritual height of facing adversity and facing life directly. and charisma.Mr. Ji does not need the evaluation of a hero, but in-depth analysis and inspection of his prose shows that his ideological character and cultural standpoint are extremely clear, and the firmness of a wise man is highlighted through the appearance of weakness.His life consciousness shows such a strong resilience due to the mixture of national genes, and his way of thinking also forms a kind of persistence in the pursuit of life because of the incorporation of wisdom. His prose writing will not lack wise thinking.

In Ji Xianlin's collection of essays published by the Writer's Publishing House, there is no lack of wise thinking and insights.From the beautiful and moving memories of oleander, to the gorgeous and eye-catching colors of the friendship between the Chinese and Burmese peoples, the author's love is more reasonable. "Reminiscence of Xifu Begonias" associates the Xifu Begonias that were cut down in the ten-year catastrophe to "all beautiful flowers and trees, like some people, were knocked to the ground, with a thousand feet on their bodies, and they will never stand up again." .Xifu Begonia was endowed with human life, and cherished each other with the author.The article developed from the author's concern and appreciation for the Er Yuelan in Yanyuan to "I suddenly realized clearly that this very ordinary wild flower actually occupies such an important position in my life. I was a little surprised myself."As one of the few academic masters in the Chinese academic circle, Mr. Ji still has a clear understanding of himself.In "New Year's Expressing Feelings", I said: "I am by no means a genius. I evaluate myself as a mediocre talent. If there is any merit in myself, it is that I am hardworking. Masturbation." What a rational judgment, what a wise statement, there is neither hypocrisy nor hypocrisy, which is admirable.

Mr. Ji's prose reveals a lot of the thinking of the wise and the thinking of the enlightened.He has developed a wise man's way of thinking and cultural heritage through his own practice. He often starts from the subtleties, evaluates and judges the right and wrong in the details of real life from a unique perspective, and the pen he uses is so brisk and accurate. Easy to handle.Proper and realistic judgments enable him to examine the details of reality from an angle that is difficult for ordinary people to perceive, so that people can discover the beauty of life and touch the fresh soul through his wise pen.As a wise man, Mr. Ji dared to be the first in the world under the current situation of cultural fast food, and opened windows of wisdom for people with his pen like rafters in obscurity. The holy light of thinking shines into people's hearts without refraction.

There are quite a few of my own life experiences, and the writing is like the earnest teachings of the old people. It is not lukewarm, and has the demeanor of a benevolent man, so it can be said to be the prose of a benevolent man.The benevolent evaluation is quite appropriate for Mr. Ji.His prose has the characteristics of "old school" character prose. Although he is in the world, he is full of tranquility, indifference, solemnity and serenity.In the prose, there is neither lyrical expression and aspirations that show mountains and dews, nor tense and exciting feelings.He tries his best to find the beauty of life and the poetry of life that are worn out and covered by time and secularism in the current environment with an extremely pious heart to life, and examines the beauty of the rainbow presented by the moment of history with a discerning eye. The broad mind and detached spirit have created the benevolence and righteousness of the benevolent, showing the style of the elders.

Mr. Ji's "Eighty Shuai" is quite representative.In the article, he not only vividly described his state of mind when he slipped to the age of 80 like a spring dream, but also vividly expressed his optimism in conformity with the laws of nature; The last four lines of a poem end the whole piece: "Amidst the great transformation of the waves, neither joy nor fear. Whatever should be done, there is nothing to worry about alone." In the endless changes of all things, express your attitude, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, and have no fear in the face of life and death.This is the spirit of benevolence and the feelings of benevolent people.Mr. Ji is not lacking in the love of the benevolent. In the article "Ninety Shuhuai", he generously wrote: "The things I crawl out are not necessarily pure gold and jade, but nectar, which can make people ascend to heaven and become immortals. But there is absolutely no poison in it, and there is absolutely no fake or shoddy. After reading it, at least it can give people some enjoyment, and it can make people love the country, the hometown, the people, nature, children, and all good things.” Facing the current people. Too much obscenity, too much utilitarianism, and the 90-year-old man can still think of benefiting others with his own labor. How can this state not be the embodiment of the benevolent spirit of benevolence.

Mr. Ji commented on his life in the article "Recalling Mr. Chen Yinke": "Although I have encountered disasters, large and small, such as the ten-year catastrophe, which is unprecedentedly stupid, barbaric and incomprehensible to the Chinese people, I also Misfortune—or “fortune”—in this period of prosperity, I almost lost my old life; however, I still feel that I am lucky, and I have caught up with many unexpected opportunities.” There is no personal grievance here, There is no self-sorrow, only transcending historical changes, transcending the changing horizons of time and space, looking at many misfortunes and fortunes from a rational and detached standpoint, and treating things around you with a benevolent heart.His life situation can be said to be a hundred flavors of life, his life experience has gone beyond the seven emotions and six desires.All this has finally achieved the bitter journey of a benevolent man's life. The prose in the book has beautiful lyricism and soothing narrative, and the randomness of the eloquence is quite ingenious.The author writes with a peaceful mind, containing praise and criticism but not bluntly speaking, forming the writing characteristics of being implicit but not revealing, tactful but full of irony, and sublime.The lyricism of Mr. Ji's prose comes from the profound thoughts and sophisticated language expression contained in the prose.Both the content and the form of the prose give people a kind of beauty that is easy to come by and natural to carve, so it has the characteristics of essays, written with a pen, eclectic.This kind of author's individual thought is expressed in the way of reflection and memory, which will form a way of social collective memory and narrative in the current literary world.The randomness and carelessness of the essays are actually the author's ingenuity.Although it is the maximum opening of the author's mind, it is built on the recognition and resonance of the public.It relies on the free closure of the tension of individual life, but extends to all areas where all living beings may live, linking individual memory fragments into a social panorama.Mr. Ji's personal traces of life, through the spring and autumn brushwork, spread his judgment to others, mobilizing a wide range of social memory.From this casual narrative, people feel the emotions of being led into the aesthetic level. It is a sad but not sad masterpiece.Mr. Ji places his permanent regret at: "I shouldn't have left my hometown and my mother." He wrote a wanderer who has been away from home for many years in a straightforward style. , Miss the mother's true feelings, revealing the regret of lack of mother-child affection.This sincerely recalled essay won the Lu Xun Literature Award in 1997, bringing Mr. Ji the honor of a famous essayist.Similar in nature to this prose is "The Meyer Family", which describes the emotional entanglements between Mr. Ji and a neighbor during his stay in Germany. The description of family and love in it contains both the European atmosphere of freedom, equality, and fraternity, as well as the Chinese culture. The charm of ethics and morality.An old couple had "two beautiful daughters", and the eldest daughter was very kind to him because she often typed his papers.He wrote in his diary: "She persuaded me not to leave Germany. She is very lively and lovely tonight. I am really reluctant to leave her. But what can I do? A person like me is not worthy of loving a beautiful girl like her. "Mr. Ji, who was married at the time, was unable to accept this love. When life could not bear the weight of love, he wrote very easily, but the complex emotions in his heart must be unspeakable.This is the only time Mr. Ji wrote about his relationship with the opposite sex in all his nostalgia and memories. In the article "Crying for Mr. Feng Zhi", the author expresses his friendship with Mr. Feng Zhi for many years freely, with bitterness and sadness mixed with melancholy.He detailed his many "regrets", so that he "has a lot of hatred" because he failed to have a long talk with Mr. Feng Zhi.In the article, he recalled that Mr. Feng Zhi, who was six years older than him, celebrated his 80th birthday, which made him "overwhelmed with mixed feelings".At the end of the article, Mr. Ji said emotionally: "For Mr. Feng Zhi, I am willing to lift all the tears in my tear bank and make it the last cry in my life." Along with these emotions, what came to my heart was The friendship between Mr. Ji and Mr. Feng Zhi that lasted nearly half a century, that kind of friendship like an "intriguing lyric poem", is really "beautiful and unforgettable for a lifetime".Such lyrical prose whispers like songs and sighs like singing; such emotions are as sincere as fire and affectionate as burning.With talent and diligence, the author makes the friendship between himself and Mr. Feng Zhi flow into people's hearts like a trickle of water.This kind of prose language is colloquial, relaxed and full of charm. The beauty of Mr. Ji's prose really makes people read with all kinds of flavors and no thoughts.At the beginning of the new year, it is the severe winter in the north, reading these essays carefully in front of a desk with bright and clean windows is really the most pleasant pleasure in life.These words, written intentionally or unintentionally, are like moistening things and silent spring rain. With spirituality, it inspires people's understanding. It turns indescribable trifles of life into unforgettable moments The truth, kindness and beauty of people are shown to the world.People will definitely feel once again that the 95-year-old century old man is dedicated to the readers with a red-hot and sincere heart. Meng Zhaoyi On January 8, 2006 at Gongyuzhai