Chapter 10 "Fire Bath" Preface

As soon as I came back from Fujian, I heard from Comrade Guoyao that "Fire Bath" has been edited and will be released soon, and asked me to write a preface for her.I did not participate in this book from writing to editing, and I am not qualified to make irresponsible remarks, but because it is a collection of reportage that focuses on township enterprises in Ningxia, and I was also invited to interview the township enterprises there when I was in Fuzhou. , and completed an article about Yang Zhenhua's "August 51", so I am really interested in this collection published in our district, and I would like to say a little bit even without Guoyao's instructions.

In the process of interviewing the "August 51" factory in Hongshan Township, Fuzhou City, I was secretly ashamed while talking to the cadres and workers in the factory.Hongshan Township, Fuzhou City has a population of just over 20,000, but its GDP in 1986 exceeded 100 million.In 1991 this year, it was even more than 200 million.In Ningxia, it is said that the GDP in 1990 was only more than 300 million yuan, a province with more than 4 million people, which is equivalent to 15 Hongshan townships.Of course, the inland area cannot be compared with the coastal areas, but considering that we are both Chinese, our contribution is really too low.

Fortunately, regions with low contribution are not generally low in contribution; after all, there are generals among the dwarfs. The Zhongwei County Ferroalloy Factory "reported" in the reportage collection "Fire Bath" finally gives people comfort.This is also a township enterprise, a small factory, and in 1990 it competed to earn two million US dollars, ranking among the top manufacturers of its kind in the autonomous region.Although I have no chance to go to this ferroalloy factory, but I have visited and interviewed such factories, and I can imagine that their difficulties in starting a business and operating them are far worse than those of large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises contracted by the state. I am afraid that this book is not A thin collection of what can be fully reflected.

Since the reform and opening up, the first new things that are worthy of praise in the economy are the rural production contract responsibility system, and the township enterprises that have emerged from it.In 1990, the total output value of township enterprises across the country reached more than 30 billion yuan, playing a major role in the national economy.However, due to the social status determined by such enterprises in the ownership system, they will encounter many difficulties in terms of capital, talents, raw materials, energy, transportation, sales, etc. In Cantonese, it is "a lot of problems".However, it is also in "Many Questions" that talent, that is, human ability, is revealed.It can be said that "the Eight Immortals cross the sea and each show their abilities".China's interpersonal relationships, state of the world, and Chinese people's minds and talents have all reached an unprecedented level of complexity and change, making some people who have not had time to accept new things dizzy and dazzled.

Therefore, I think creative people will gain something by following township enterprises.And, that in itself is an opportunity to experience new things.In my article on the "August 51" factory in Hongshan, I said: "So far, there seems to be some open or implicit controversy over whether socialism is superior and where its superiority is manifested. But I I think that although this system still has various defects and unsatisfactory places, what kind of social phenomenon any social system embodies ultimately depends on people. In the right hands, even a social defect will produce positive results.” The reform and opening-up has led to the rapid growth of newcomers, and it is these newcomers who are the first to feel the flaws in our system, so they are also at the forefront of the reform.In some cases, they can even turn decay into magic, fully embodying the philosophical viewpoint that "human factor" is the first.

The articles in this collection also tell us that the leaders of township enterprises like Lin Xiaofang, director of the Zhongwei Ferroalloy Factory, just because they were born with "mud legs" and just left the land, they seem to be born with a sense of diligence and frugality. characteristic.At the same time, because of the realization of my own weaknesses, I have a strong sense of urgency for the improvement of cultural knowledge.I think this kind of quality will not only motivate ordinary factory cadres, but also inspire government cadres who have been sitting in offices for a long time.

For those of us who engage in literature, the word "education" has not been mentioned for a long time now.Yes, such words are always reminiscent of the "Cultural Revolution" and make people feel sick.But if you think about it calmly, people are actually constantly being educated.Going to a new place, interviewing enterprises such as Zhongwei Ferroalloy Factory, and talking with township entrepreneurs like Lin Xiaofang should also be called an "education".I believe that all Ningxia writers who participated in the creation of this collection, no matter they are professional or amateur, must be different after going there, and their ideological understanding has improved to a certain extent.

Here I would like to take the opportunity of the publication of this book to talk about my point of view.Now, many people think that writing reportage for enterprises and factories is actually "advertising literature" and that it is "degenerate" in the literary world.I thought it was a psychological reflection of not being able to accept new things.Writers writing reportage for enterprises and factories, and setting up monuments and biographies for some outstanding entrepreneurs and factory directors, like the rise of township enterprises in the economic world, should also be regarded as a new phenomenon in the literary world.After the socialist market economy introduces the competition mechanism, the popularity of factories and enterprises has become a part of the vitality of factories and enterprises; whichever factories and enterprises are well-known, the vitality of which manufacturers will be strong.Many people don't know that "advertising" not only stimulates the buyer's market but also stimulates the seller's market, that is to say, it not only wins customers but also enables manufacturers to further improve product quality; "advertising" is not only one-way but two-way.Therefore, it can be said that it has contributed a lot to the development of the national economy.It is not unreasonable that the Western world spends tens of billions of dollars on advertising every year, and it is not a needless consumption of gimmicks.Just imagine, "advertising" has such a big effect, so what about reportage?I believe that manufacturers like Zhongwei Ferroalloy Factory and director Lin Xiaofang will only work harder after writers write reportage for them, and they will not lie down and sleep on these few works.Honor, after all, has an exciting effect on most people.Otherwise, the country would not set up so many model workers and hold so many celebration parties every year.

We often call on writers to closely integrate with real life and to go among workers and peasants, so reportage cannot be treated differently.On the contrary, it should be greatly encouraged.In my opinion, reportage is the only literary genre that is most closely related to real life, can most directly reflect reality, and has the most obvious social effect.This is partly why I am so happy to write a preface to this collection.I hope that the Ningxia Writers Association will continue to organize local writers to go to factories and rural areas in the future to write more works of this kind.

As for the issue of "establishing a stele and setting up a biography", it is even more a remnant of the "Cultural Revolution".At that time, there seemed to be only one Chinese person who was qualified to write a biography, but he forgot the old saying that "history is created by the masses of the people".Think about how bold our ancestors were.The Twenty-Four Histories of China are actually a huge collection of biographies of large and small figures.Our ancestors wrote biographies not only of good men but also of bad men, because they understood that bad men also made history to some degree.What's more, today, the so-called new era is only created by newcomers, so what can be avoided in writing biographies for these newcomers?Moreover, the current reportage is not the conclusion of these people.

American car tycoon Nicoka, oil magnate Hammer and others all invited writers to write their biographies.Their biographies are not only popular in the West, but there are also many people in China who want to learn from them.From the perspective of motivating and exciting, the newcomers who are active around us will of course be more direct.So I'm still looking forward to the emergence of more biographies of such characters. I just want to thank the writers, editors and entrepreneurs in Ningxia for this article.