Chapter 28 "1959-1961 Anthology of Children's Literature"

preamble I re-read the catalog of the three-year selection of children's literature (1959-1961), and I couldn't help but feel happy.If this is the table we throw for our dear little readers, it is not too poor a table. When it comes to the creation of children's literature, we must first figure out what is children's literature.On this point, everyone has no objection, that is: children's literature has all the characteristics of literature, the difference is that our readers are young children.Therefore, the creation of children's literature must take into account all the characteristics of children, such as age characteristics, intelligence characteristics, interest characteristics, etc., and everyone has no objection to this.

Vigorously strengthen the ideological education of our teenagers and children so that they can encounter turbulent waves on the road of building socialism and communism in the next few decades or more, withstand risks, and encounter difficulties. It is the glorious mission of our children's literature to be a brave and firm successor in the dense fog and dark clouds. The bourgeoisie competes with the proletariat for the next generation through their children's literature.They use comics and comic books to instill in their children the idea of ​​exploitation at the expense of others, selfishness, and laziness.Just to take a little comic drawing: Henry's mother, paying him a dime to push grass in her yard.But Henry took five cents to buy popsicles, and used the rest of the five cents to hire a neighbor's child to push the grass for him. He ate popsicles in the shade of a tree leisurely, and watched them happily under the scorching sun. He works.This kind of child is what the bourgeoisie advertises as being smart and capable!There are also comic strips about so-called knights, which also encourage children to take risks for personal money, reputation, and status, to plunder others, oppress others, and serve as minions and tools for aggressive groups.We must wage a tit-for-tat struggle against the poisoning of children by the bourgeoisie.

Pull the question back to our children's literature creation today.The more than 100 million young readers we face today are very different from when we were young.They have seen many new things, they have learned about many major international events, they have received meticulous care from the Party and the government in all aspects of life and study, their world is vast, and the air around them is fresh and free.However, the vast majority of them were born after liberation, and they either have very little impression or are completely ignorant of the exploitation and oppression suffered by the working people before liberation, as well as the cruel class struggle in history.I don't know the difficulty of creating a revolution, and I don't know the value of life now.At the same time, the remnants of old ideas and bad habits left over from the old society will inevitably erode and attack them.In view of these situations, we must first help them understand what class is, what is exploitation, who is friend and who is enemy, what is the difference between the old and new societies, what kind of ambitions children in the new China should have, and so on.We must educate them to learn the excellent qualities of the proletariat: solidarity and friendship, bravery and honesty, caring for the collective, love of labor, love of public property, observance of discipline, hardship and simplicity, etc.We also need to guide children to care about international affairs and the lives of children in capitalist countries, and use the current facts of international class struggle to inspire their patriotism, internationalism, love of friends, and determination to oppose our common enemy—the imperialists .

The generation of our young readers grows up to embark on the great and glorious road of socialist communism construction. They urgently need easy-to-digest and nutritious spiritual food so that they can grow and grow well.Those who prepare spiritual food for children must cook carefully, so that the food served is not bad in color, aroma and taste.It will cause them to have an appetite when they see it, and they will happily hold up their chopsticks and spare no effort.Therefore, in order for children to love to eat their spiritual food, we must pay attention to our cooking art, that is, we must pay attention to our creative art.

We believe that the only way to promote the creation of art is to get into the group of children with a heart that loves our career and loves children, become one with them in thought and emotion, know their wishes, and get acquainted with them When you are with them, carefully observe, experience, study, and analyze all characters and all environments, and extract higher, stronger, more concentrated, more typical, and more ideal stories from real life. .Such works must have a strong and fresh flavor of children's life, take care of all the characteristics of children in New China, and be appreciated and accepted by children, and will never be formulaic stories, conceptualized characters, "adults say small People's language" or "children speaking adult language" are "dry, rough, and sloppy" unkind and unreal things.

We are not talking about the forty-four works selected in the past three years (the order under each column is arranged according to the order of publication. There are: eleven novels, essays, and close-ups; five revolutionary struggle stories; sixteen poems; four folk tales; three fairy tales and fables; three plays and folk art; In line with our ideal standards, we dare not say that the themes of children's literature in the past three years have been broader than before, and the content has been deeper than before.However, these forty-four articles were determined after primary selection among more than 300 works recommended by various literary newspapers and periodicals across the country, especially children's publishing houses and children's newspapers.

The work of the primary election is done by the People's Literature Publishing House.This is a very arduous task of selection and screening, and we would like to express our deep gratitude here! Among the forty-four works, let's start with novels, essays, and close-ups.Among them, there are still quite a few who write about school life and rural life. "A Small Tea Bowl Turns into a Big Basin" and "A Group of Teenagers in Our Building" use the theme of school life. The previous article was about how children who have no perseverance, see things differently, and are lazy and mischievous get help from teachers and classmates to correct their shortcomings.The last one is after the school holiday, the captain of a Young Pioneers was still thinking of various ways to stay with his classmates and maintain the order and cleanliness of the building where they lived.In the chapter "Mom is Going to Harvest Wheat", the mother does not appear on the scene, but it describes the meticulous care of the two children who cannot go home because of the mother's absence. It illustrates the direct and indirect support of everyone in the new society for agricultural production.

"A Whip", "By the Small River at the Head of the Village" and "Rong Rong" are also about rural life. The little shepherd in "A Whip" has learned from a whip, and will always remember the fine tradition of their club director's hardworking and thrifty running of the club. "By the Small River at the Head of the Village" describes a child who goes to school in the countryside with his father who supports agricultural production, and how he is welcomed by the local children, which makes him love the rural environment even more. "Rong Rong" is about a child who puts collective interests above personal interests. In order to protect the sweet potatoes in the commune, he dug out the unripe sweet potatoes in the private plot and gave them to his younger brother to eat.and "Three Little Companions" are about the lives and struggles of children overseas.Under the racial discrimination of the imperialists, Abdullah, a child of the United Arab Emirates, was bullied, teased, and suspected by white people, but he stood upright under the vicious eyes, showing his good qualities of righteousness and bravery . Under the oppression of the American capitalists, the three children from China, India, and Malaysia in "Three Little Friends" united firmly and fought indomitably against the violent forces.From the descriptions of the French child Pierre in the novel and the American child Jones Jr. in "Three Little Companions", we can see how the bourgeoisie's treacherous, vicious, bullying class nature erodes their children. "I Miss You, Xenia" is about the warm friendship between a Chinese writer and a boy in the Soviet Uzbek Republic. "Son of the Prairie" and "The Robber's Daughter" both describe the brutal class oppression before liberation and the teenagers who grew up in the struggle. "The Robber's Daughter" is particularly vivid and vivid.

Stories about revolutionary struggles with fiery emotions and tense plots are always children's favorites.The "Watching Post No. 3" selected here is about how children in the enemy's rear during the Anti-Japanese War bravely did intelligence work and helped the guerrillas in their struggle. "Looking for the Red Army" tells the story of the son of a guerrilla, whose mother died, and he and his father went through all kinds of hardships tenaciously and bravely, and finally found their relatives - the Red Army. "Loach Watching Melon" is a story written during the Anti-Japanese War, a brave, vigilant and swift boy like a loach, who dragged a puppet soldier into a reed pond. "Youth Iron Blood Team" is about the team of teenagers and children who followed General Yang Jingyu to the Northeast and insisted on resisting Japan. The story is full of brave and optimistic spirit. "Growing Up in the Wind and Storm" is about a family of revolutionary heroes who work underground in Shanghai. After their parents were arrested, this child who had received revolutionary education from an early age, despite being intimidated by the enemy, never revealed his friends. He also tried every means to deliver news to his parents in prison.The children in these stories are those who have clear love and hate, stand firm, and are not afraid of difficulties and threats. They are the most envied and loved characters by our young readers.

There are sixteen poems in total, with different lengths and extensive content, but they also have the same features, that is, most of them are fresh, lively, musical, and easy to catch. Even the longer ones are also very suitable for children's reading.There are stories in the poem, such as "A Girl in Plovdiv", which is about a girl in Bulgaria. After visiting a Chinese exhibition, she aroused her love for distant China. "Aunt "Little Confused"" is one of the author's many good children's poems. She vividly describes how a confused child got help and inspiration from a children's play. Ten years later, he again I went to visit the actor's aunt whose hair has turned gray, and thanked her. "Electric Girl" anthropomorphizes electricity, and tells the children about the various uses of electricity. As long as she can make good use of her, communism will be realized early. "Liu Wenxue" is a long narrative poem, praising the nationally known young heroes who sacrificed their young lives in order to protect the property of the commune and fight to the death against class enemies.The last paragraph emphasizes that the struggle has not stopped, and it is a verse that our children and teenagers should always remember.

Folktales are often a literary form between novels, fairy tales, and fables, expressing the wishes of the working people and their nostalgia for their beloved characters.The Nian Army Uprising in the middle of the eighteenth century in our country inspired the oppressed masses.The failure of the Nian Army also caused endless grief and indignation among the people, who will never forget the heroes of the uprising. "The King of Lu and the Little Yellow Horse" is the most widely circulated passage among many legends about the Nian Army.It is mentioned in the story that not only the heroic King Lu, but also the little yellow horse under his seat is also majestic and unyielding until death. "Fish Lifting the Beam, Mound Pavilion" is selected from many Luban legends.The working people always have infinite respect and love for the ancients who have done good things for them in real life, and they also attribute many new creations to these characters.The image of Lu Ban in the story is always a "true person" who is "faceless", silent, humble, and simple, but he can create miracles. "Ling Dang'er" is a very typical Chinese folktale: a pair of half-brothers, like-minded, love each other, the fierce stepmother, but do everything possible to frame the elder brother, the kind-hearted younger brother, magpies, and red fruits all help him, and the result is It was the stepmother who was influenced. "Rabbit" describes a rabbit who thinks he is smart and wants to deceive the chicken, the old cow, the lamb and the tortoise, but instead turns his mouth into a triangle, his ears become longer, his tail becomes shorter and so on. Fairy tale is a unique literary form of children's literature, and its characteristic is full of fantasy.The method of creating fairy tales is being discussed enthusiastically, and everyone is also enthusiastically creating it. This is a welcome phenomenon.We believe that fairy tales are the most imaginative form of children's literature, and their range of subjects should be very broad. As long as they have the basis of real life and the thoughts and feelings of the new era, ancient people, animals, workers, farmers, and soldiers are all suitable. It can be written into fairy tales.Here we have selected three articles: "Owl" is a story developed from the folk proverb "I think of a thousand roads at night, and become a lazy owl during the day", which satirizes lazy people who just want to get by without doing anything. "The Little White Goose is Here" is about a little white goose cherished by a primary school student. It ran far mischievously, encountered a series of unexpected things, and was finally adopted in a pasture.When the elementary school student visited the ranch, he was pleasantly surprised to find his beloved friend, but he didn't want to take it back because "it has lived a good life here, so let's stay here."It shows that in the big socialist family, there is sympathy and care everywhere. "Pig Bajie Learns Skills" is selected from several stories about Zhu Bajie written by the author.It is a story familiar to most children, and Zhu Bajie is also an image that most children are familiar with and love to see.Developing a story from him has the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort, and it is a valuable attempt. The script includes "Uncle Changhe", which describes the construction of the reservoir, the glorious image of the workers, and the loyal and brave young pioneers. The plot has twists and turns, suspense, and the dialogue is concise and powerful. "Treasure Ship" is a children's comedy written on the basis of folklore, with songs, dances, and class struggle.Especially in the dialogue, it shows the author's unique humorous and pleasant style.Crosstalk is the most popular form of music for children. The compact and comical dialogues can always grab their attention, and the vivid and prominent visual language will remain in their memory for a long time.It started with a letter that was full of typos and could not be sent. To educate children to learn Chinese well, otherwise they would not even be able to write a letter. The creation of science fiction stories must have both rich scientific common sense and rich fantasy, so that they can be fascinating. "The Guest from 50,000 Years ago" uses the real records about astronomy in Chinese history, and connects the rocket science that children are most interested in. It is a very novel and interesting story. "Big Whale Ranch" uses interesting plots such as fishing by plane and raising whales in the sea to bring children into the big whale factory, introducing the scientific knowledge that the whole body of a whale is a treasure, and the effect is good. One very interesting thing should be mentioned here, that is, in the past three years, our relatively large gains are still long works that cannot be collected in this collection. out of urgent need.Here we mention the titles of these books, that is: "Bonfire in the Forest" is about the life of Tibetan children in mountainous areas. "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" is about the anti-Japanese story of children in Baiyangdian. "I'm Guarding the Bank of the Peach Blossom River" is about the growth of a new soldier. "Mother and Son Making Revolution" is about the memories of mother and son participating in the revolutionary struggle together. "The Adventures of a Little Raghead" is about a rag doll's experience from the city to the countryside. "Little Hero Eighth Road" is a script about young people on the front line of coastal defense supporting coastal defense fighters to fight against the enemy bravely. "Li Shizhen" is a biography of Li Shizhen, a famous scientist in my country in the 16th century. "Battle in the Great Northern Wilderness" is the story of the Mudanjiang youth reclamation team.These are relatively political and artistic works, which are good materials to enrich children's bookshelves. We must also solemnly mention that the famous writers, poets, and scholars in our country do not specialize in writing children's literature. Guo Moruo, Zang Kejia, Li Ji, and Ruan Zhangjing all wrote poems for children. Li Siguang and other 14 scientists wrote poems for children. Wrote "Scientists Talk about the 21st Century", Yang Shuo, Yuan Jing, etc. wrote novels and essays for children... We cannot nominate them one by one, but only take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude to them on behalf of the children, and warmly request More and more they write for children. Looking forward to the future, we feel that the existing children's literature works are far from meeting the needs of our great age in terms of quality and quantity.We still have to put forward several requirements that have been continuously put forward by everyone over the years, namely: we must have broader and more diverse themes; we must have more works that reflect life and struggle in all aspects of our times; we must have larger The contingent of children's literature authors—professional and amateur—is coming to the great cause of children's literature creation; we welcome more critics, and pay more attention to our new children's literature works. With encouragement and care, on the one hand, give children the guidance of reading. The prosperity of children's literature is related to the growth of our communist successors and the final victory of our communism. Only by working together from all aspects of society can we achieve greater results. Here we once again make a warm and sincere appeal! December 26, 1962 (This article was originally published in the fourth issue of "Literary News" in 1963, and later included in "Selected Children's Literature" from 1959 to 1961, first published in October 1963 by People's Literature Publishing House.)