Chapter 55 postscript

As an ordinary member of the third class, I have personally experienced the whole process of the "Cultural Revolution".And because of an ideological persistence, he worked hard to do various social surveys during the "Cultural Revolution".In recent years, more materials and materials about this period of history have been gradually disclosed, collated and published, and there have been more discussions and studies on the "Cultural Revolution", which I have collected as thoroughly as possible. For nearly twenty years, I have always had an idea to write a novel about the "Cultural Revolution".For this reason, I have tried and explored a variety of styles and techniques in art, and I have also made corresponding ideological preparations. I once wrote a theoretical note of "Analysis of the Major Events of the Cultural Revolution" with hundreds of thousands of words.Now, the long-cherished wish of many years has finally come true, and I wrote this "Furong Kingdom".

For this history, there should be written records of them. There are several difficulties in describing the "Cultural Revolution" in novels: First, this period of history is too recent, and the whole society has experienced it. Any work must stand reading and inspection, and any false and perfunctory description will appear artificial ridiculous. Second, this period of historical material is vast, not only witnessed by hundreds of millions of people, but also countless written materials.How to artistically summarize this vast history in the works is naturally a lot of thinking. Third, this history is complex.When a writer tries to describe it, how to avoid being confused by various superficial phenomena requires sharp thinking and keen feeling.

Fourth, in the face of this period of politically charged history, various concepts may entangle the writer's creation.Artists naturally want to summarize history artistically, but it is impossible to abandon ideas.How to sort out the endless stream of ideas and achieve transcendence, and finally liberate the living artistic feeling, and write in the state of artistic creation as free as possible, requires training. During the writing process of this work, I often feel two opposing thinking procedures: one is the artistic and literary thinking procedure.That is to start from the whole process of the rich feelings and psychological activities of the characters, and then the plots and stories formed by the behavior of the characters, and then, the history of these stories.Here, history becomes the backdrop for the arena of the characters' activities.

On the contrary, it is a historical and philosophical thinking process.The first thing to consider is the entire historical background, and then consider the various behaviors, plots and stories that occurred in such a historical background, and then go to explore the psychology and feelings of certain characters individually. I hope that the book "Furong Kingdom" is artistic and literary. It starts from the rich psychological feelings of the characters to unfold the story and outline the history. Everything is displayed and expressed in the psychological feelings of the characters; at the same time, as a book reflecting " The whole process of the "Cultural Revolution" is a work, and I hope it can summarize this period of history. The major events related to the ten years of the "Cultural Revolution" should not be ignored or omitted.

The relationship between historical reality and artistic fiction is a problem that must be resolved in this work. First, in the book "Furong Kingdom", all historical backgrounds and historical events are real; while the storyline is fictional. Second, large spatial environments such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hebei, Jiangxi, Henan, Shanxi, Yangtze River, Yellow River, and Ganjiang River are real; while small environments such as Yanjing District, Beiqing University, Beiqing Middle School, and Riyuetan Park , Xiyuan, etc. are fictitious.Careful readers can find that a virtual Yanjing District epitomizes and condenses all aspects of the "Cultural Revolution".

Third, the historical figures in the works are real, and many other characters from all social classes are fictional. In the process of writing, the author has been facing a problem, which is the sense of distance between the work and life.The eyes of observation and description should neither be too far away from life nor too close.Especially avoid the tendency to get too close.Because a person who has experienced that period of history can easily be confused by his own experience. Readers will definitely notice that when this work describes all kinds of characters in the "Cultural Revolution", it describes those "revolutionary" slogans and political "ideals" that seemed to pervade time and space at the time with a sense of distance and restraint.The author does not intend to repeat and exaggerate the superficial revolutionary fanaticism that overwhelms everything, but tries to express the vital interests and personality psychology covered up by the slogans and behaviors of "absolute revolution".

History did not provide China in the 1960s and 1970s with a basis for the existence of a utopian ideal kingdom beyond the development of the commodity economy. The so-called "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" at that time only mobilized various realistic social contradictions and emotions.As far as history is concerned, it is a retrogression against economic development; as far as living characters are concerned, what we see is the exposure of various human natures of that era. Under the so-called revolutionary torrent, it is of literary significance to reveal and represent living men and women who eat and drink with flesh and blood.

It was on the ruins of the "Cultural Revolution" that the greatest reform movement in modern China was born. The author believes that in the face of this period of history, the artist's artistic creation and sense of historical responsibility should be unified, and the artist's absolute pursuit of art and sense of responsibility to the nation can be unified.I am a Chinese writer, I love the Chinese nation, and I firmly believe that my nation has the courage to face up to all the sufferings I have experienced, and hone the necessary awakening to create a bright future. I write this history with the sincerity of an artist.

I write this history with an artist's conscience. I hope to write a page of history that should not be forgotten for this nation that has experienced vicissitudes and is striving to advance. I hope this book will stand the test of reading more or less as time goes by. This book is written for several generations of Chinese people who have experienced the "Cultural Revolution" for ten years. This book is written for my contemporaries who can be called "old three" and "educated youth". This book is also written for today's young people - don't think that the "Cultural Revolution" that can be linked together is a very interesting time.I hope that our children and future generations can have such books to read when they really want to understand the history of the "Cultural Revolution" that took place in China in the 20th century.

Of course, this book is also written for friends from all over the world who want to truly understand contemporary Chinese history. When I was writing the "Postscript", I also read the description in the manuscript about Liu Shaoqi, a president of the People's Republic of China, who was unable to use the Constitution to protect his basic civil rights at that time.His deeply sympathetic tragic fate is probably the epitome of that period of Chinese history that can be called "catastrophe". I hope this history will never be forgotten and never repeated.