Chapter 2 sequence

Mr. Hu Shizhi wrote an article "Chinese Literature in the Past Fifty Years" in March 1922. At the end of the article, he discussed the achievements of vernacular literature. The third item said: Vernacular prose has improved a lot.The progress of long argumentative essays is obvious, so it can be ignored.In the past few years, the most noteworthy development in prose is the "small prose" advocated by Zhou Zuoren and others.This kind of skits use plain conversation to hide deep meaning; sometimes they look like clumsiness, but they are actually funny.The success of this type of work can completely break the superstition that "beautiful writing cannot be written in vernacular".

Mr. Hu cited a total of four.The first item of vernacular poetry, he said, "can be regarded as being on the road to success"; the second item of short stories, he said, "has gradually established itself"; the fourth item of drama and novels, he said, "the results are the worst". .He didn't say which one had the best grades; but judging from the tone of voice, the sketches and prose were at least as good as the vernacular poems and short stories.It is now six years later, and the situation is different: although vernacular poetry has made some progress, such as adopting the rhythm of Western poetry, it needs to be slowed down; the literary world is no longer as lively as before.Mr. Hu predicted at that time that "within ten years, there will be a bright period in the Chinese poetry world"; looking at it now, it seems that he is not sure at all.The situation of short stories is better than before, and the situation of novels is almost the same as before.It is pleasing to see that there are two aspects of acting in drama, but there have been noteworthy results.The most developed is sketchy prose.In the past three or four years, various publications that have been surging, have published a lot of prose intentionally or unintentionally, and there have been more such publications in the past year.There are also many collections of essays published by various bookstores. From the 22nd volume (1925), "Oriental Miscellaneous" added a column of "New Language Forest", which also contained many short essays.Xia Mianzun and Mr. Liu Xunyu edited "Article Practice", except for narrative essays, narrative essays, explanatory essays, and argumentative essays, there is a special chapter for short essays.Last year, the "Creation Issue" (No. 7) of "Fiction Monthly" also had a special column for sketches.Essay prose, so it was very popular for a while.In his "Letter to Hu Shih" (Volume 12 of "Truth, Beauty and Goodness"), The Sick Man of East Asia said, "The first is short essays, ironic, psychological, and written. Naturally, there is often not much ink, but aftertaste. The second is short stories. ... The third is poetry.

..." This observation is generally good. But it is not enough to cite "laziness" and "haste" as reasons for the development of essays and short stories.Now let’s put aside short stories and talk about short essays: the so-called "laziness" and "haste" are only one aspect of its essence; its historical reasons are actually more important.We know that Chinese literature has always been generally based on prose①; the development of prose follows the trend.And the system of short prose is also found in old prose, but the spirit is quite different.Try to take Yao Nai's thirteen categories as the standard, such as prefaces and postscripts, inscriptions, gift prefaces, biography, epitaphs, miscellaneous notes, and mourning sacrifices. If edicts and mottoes are included, it would be too extensive.When I say historical reasons, I just mean the historical background, not to point out the source of modern prose.Mr. Hu said that the short essays advocated by Mr. Zhou "can break the superstition that 'beautiful writing cannot be written in vernacular'".The positive side of the "superstition" he mentioned is naturally that "beautiful writing can only be done in classical Chinese"; that is to say, beautiful writing has existed since ancient times, and only Mr. Zhou and others advocated writing in vernacular.Mr. Zhou himself said in the preface to "Miscellaneous Children":

① Read like prose - literature is opposite to pure literature, and has a wider meaning than the so-called prose - parallel prose is also included. ... The literature, art and fine arts of the Ming Dynasty were relatively vigorous, and their literature was quite innovative. People of the Gong'an school could ignore the orthodoxy of ancient prose and write all articles with a lyrical attitude. Although later critics decried it as shallow and empty, In fact, it is the expression of true personality, and its value is higher than that of Jingling School.The previous literati’s attitude towards writings can be said to be dualistic, but they are one-dimensional. In this regard, they are exactly the same as those who write articles in modern times.... People in the past thought that writing was “to express the way” However, there is another kind of article that can be written for entertainment; now it is unified, writing or reading can be said to be for entertainment, but at the same time it is preaching or hearing the Tao. . ...This can also be said to be similar to the new writers of the Ming Dynasty—it is not surprising that they are somewhat similar to those of the Ming Dynasty. The writing is very Europeanized, and the thinking has naturally changed significantly compared to four hundred years ago.

This section talks about the historical background of modern prose, which is quite concise and very clear.Among the old prose, the essays of the famous scholars of the Ming Dynasty are indeed the closest to modern prose.But we have to know that the direct influence of modern prose is still foreign influence; Mr. Zhou never explicitly stated this level.We can see that the articles in Mr. Zhou's own books, such as "Alisma Collection", whether in terms of thought or performance, can be found in the articles of those famous scholars? ——At least there are some similarities in the "taste".I would rather say that he has more "foreign influence" than China.As for the rest of the writers, there are sometimes more foreign influences, such as Mr. Lu Xun and Mr. Xu Zhimo.The historical background only refers to a trend, and the detailed programs are originally determined by each individual; so when we talk about foreign influences, the historical background does not obliterate it.But you have to ask, since prose has such historical advantages, why did poetry, short stories and plays prevail in the early days of new literature?I think that might be a reaction.This reaction is good, but the power of history is too great. You see, they supported it for several years, and finally relaxed, allowing prose to restore its original position.But this phenomenon is unsound; to understand this layer, it is necessary to talk about the essential reason.

Distinguishing the system of literature, and discussing its value, such as what Aristotle did in "Poetics", is a great undertaking of criticism, which contains all kinds of arguments and conflicts; Kudos.It seems to me only that although the distinctions of institutions are sometimes difficult to determine, in general, each body has its own characteristics; these characteristics have different values.This difference can be seen when comparing lyrical prose with purely literary poems, novels, and plays.We can say that the former is more free, while the latter is more rigorous: the words and syllables of poems, the description and structure of novels, the cutting and dialogue of dramas all have various laws (in a broad sense, not limited to classical ones), and must be carefully Only by compiling can there be success.Prose is different, the selection of materials and presentation can be more casual; the so-called "gossip" is, in a sense, a very good interpretation of it.It cannot be regarded as a pure work of art, and it is different from poetry, novels, and dramas.But for "lazy" and "hasty" people, it is indeed a more suitable system.This is another reason for its development.I think that the real development of literature should start with pure literature, and prose literature alone is not enough; therefore, the current phenomenon is not sound. ——I hope this is only a temporary transition period, and soon pure literature will develop again, at least as good as prose!But as far as prose is concerned, the development in the past three or four years has been extremely splendid: there are various styles, various genres, expressing, criticizing, and explaining all aspects of life, moving from place to place, changing with each passing day: there are Chinese celebrities Feng, there are foreign gentlemen, there are hermits, and there are traitors, so in thinking.Or description, or irony, or condescension, or meticulous, or vigorous, or gorgeous, or cleansing, or flowing, or implicit, this is the case in performance.

I am a pawn in the great era, an ordinary person.Needless to say, my talent is weak, so I have never been able to write anything good.I have written poetry, novels, and prose.Before the age of twenty-five, I liked to write poetry; in recent years, my poetry has dried up and I have been writing for a long time.The year before last, a friend read "War" which I wrote by accident, and said that I could not write lyric poems, but only epic poems; this actually meant that I could not write poems.I felt the same way myself, so I became more and more lazy.I have written two short stories.Looking back now, "History of Laughter" is just a vulgar thing, the material is crowded, like a shopkeeper with a big belly; the words and sentences in "Farewell" are so awkward, like a paraplegic patient, it is really strange to read Not good.I think novels are very difficult to write; not to mention long novels, but short ones, I will never be able to learn that kind of economical and rigorous structure in my life!I don't know what to do with my materials so they all go where they belong.As for drama, I still dare not get involved.Most of what I write is prose.Since I can't use the laws of pure literature, but I can't help but have something to say, I have to say it casually; no matter whether you say "lazy" or "haste", I naturally adopted this system.In this small book are the essays written in the past four years.There are two of them, which may be a bit like novels; but you'd better read them only as prose, which are mutually beneficial.As for dividing into two volumes, the reason is that the text and style of the two volumes are somewhat different; I will know the difference after reading it.Concerning these two types of articles, my friends have opposing opinions.Ying had read "Travel Miscellaneous Notes", and wrote to say that he didn't like my writing this kind of article, because I was imitating someone;This is actually a bit unfair, I really have no intention of imitating anyone.After he watched "Wandering", he wrote again, saying that this is my other side, and he likes it.Not so with fire.He finished "Traces" and said he only liked "Civilization in Ships"; that was something like "Travel Notes".This is an interesting comparison.I don't have any fixed opinions, I just write whatever I feel at the time.I intend to express myself, and I will do my best; the view of benevolence and wisdom lies in the readers.

Zhu Ziqing On July 31, 1928, Tsinghua University in Peking. (Originally published in Issue 345 of "Literature Weekly" on November 25, 1928)