Chapter 38 How I Was Propelled into the Ranks of Children's Literature Writers

Shanghai Juvenile and Children's Publishing House asked me to write an article for "I and Children's Literature". In order to clarify the concept of the term "Children's Literature", I had "Ci Hai" published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1947. It said : "The literature organized with children as the center also... Children's songs, folk songs, myths, fairy tales, animal and plant stories, fables, and riddles all belong to it." I checked again in September 1979 published by Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House "Ci Hai", it said: "Literary works of various genres suitable for children to read, including fairy tales, poems, dramas, novels, stories, etc..."

Comparing the definitions of children's literature in these two paragraphs, I must admit that I have not written any works that can be strictly called children's literature, even if I can barely say that there are, they are very few! I don't know how I was squeezed or pushed into the ranks of children's literature writers! Half a century ago, I wrote works about children, such as "A Year Away from Home", but they were written about children for adults to read, not for children.Only "Send to Young Readers" was written for children. Before I went to study in the United States in 1923, I promised my younger brothers and their children that I would communicate with them frequently. At that time, "Morning News" The Supplement is developing a column called "Children's World". The editor asked me to publish the letters I wrote to children in "Children's World", and I agreed. Although "Send to Young Readers" has written more than 20 articles, but because the distance from the children gradually faded away, the object of the letter became blurred and became something for my own lyricism, and I did not continue after that.

"Resend to Little Readers" was written during the period of the Great Leap Forward in 1958. At that time, writers challenged each other to say how many scripts and novels they wanted to write in a year. I said I couldn't write. When something came out, some comrades suggested to me that I could write "Resend to Little Readers".In those years, I often went abroad or visited the country, and I wrote down some of my experiences at home and abroad for young readers. Most of them are lyrical scenes. "Three Letters to Young Readers" was written after the "Gang of Four" was overthrown and "Children's Times" resumed publication. During the period of rectifying the chaos, I picked up the pen again and wrote what I saw and thought, which was beneficial to the physical and mental health of young readers. things, tell them.

After checking, I have never written fairy tales, children's dramas, or children's poems... I just squeezed into the ranks of children's literature writers with dozens of letters written for children. This really makes me ashamed!I have to "explain" this fact clearly to relieve my "guilt"! However, as a person who loves children, cares about children, loves to listen to children's stories, and loves to read children's literature, when I talk about "I and Children's Literature", my interest is high.Before I knew how to read, I had heard many children's stories, such as "Aunt Tiger", "Snake Man", "Grandma Wolf", etc. Whether they were told to me by southerners or northerners, the plots of the stories were all similar and different. very funny.The terrible "aunt" or "grandmother" is "wolf" in the northern population, and "tiger" in the southern population.These terrible animals are always killed in the end, or escape with their tails between their legs, and the story ends triumphantly.

As for nursery rhymes or folk songs, I have heard more.Most of the words sung in Fujian dialect cannot be written, because most of the dialects in Fujian Province have sounds but no characters, and the translated meanings cannot match the rhyme when written down.for example: or: I can still sing Peck Bobo, the real bird, but I can't write it. It’s not the case when singing in northern dialect, such as: grandma’s family sings big operas...Golden scorpion sticks, silver scorpion sticks, grandpa and grandma sang until dawn...the life is very interesting, the rhyme is good, and we all love to listen to it , but there are also sad to hear, such as:

Little cabbage, yellow in the field, seven or eight years old, no mother... The voice of singing is desolate. At this time, I covered my ears and begged her not to sing any more. After I was able to read books, I read a lot of books written for adults, among which only and Some of the stories in the book, I think, can still be shown to children after processing.I came into contact with literature written for children at that time when I was about ten years old.My uncle bought several small books from Shanghai, such as "No Cat Country", "Thumbs", etc. Among them, I especially like "Thumbs". I think that little man is very clever and cute. Listen to the brothers and children, they all love this story.

As for children's plays, I only came into contact with them around 1920.In the year of the North China flood, the student union of our university performed "The Blue Bird" written by the Belgian writer Medrink to raise funds for disaster relief. The script was translated from English. I participated in the work of translation and performance. I like this script very much, and the audience also appreciates this children's play. In the following decades, I read some children's literature works written by foreigners, such as: Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, American writer Mark Twain's novels written for children... But what excites me is ours. Works written by their own writers, such as "The Scarecrow" written by Ye Shengtao, and "The Secret of the Precious Gourd" written by Comrade Zhang Tianyi.Among Comrade Tianyi's works, I especially like it, because it closely follows the school life of children at that time, and is full of fantasy and humor.

After that, I read Comrade Keyan's children's poems, which were indeed my own feelings and ideals sung from children's mouths. Comrade Gao Shiqi has tirelessly written wonderful scientific poems for children for decades with a disability. I am impressed by his spirit! I can't stop writing here!The faces and names of the authors of our own children's novels, plays, and poems flooded into my pen!These names are familiar to us and young readers, so I won't list them one by one.As a reader, here I would like to wish them good health and a happy spirit as they enter the 1980s!I hope that through their hard work, the new stage of our children's literature, which will flourish and compete with each other, will be presented to us as soon as possible.January 3, 1980