Chapter 13 Section 2 Contemporary Evolution of Fate and Spiritual Pursuit of Intellectuals

At first glance, this is a false proposition, because writers are intellectuals and have been called free intellectuals since ancient times, but in fact, writers, like other intellectuals, have a different spiritual dimension.The writer's knowledge structure, personal experience of knowledge and attitude towards knowledge itself make writers different types of intellectuals.For example, Qu Yuan was an elite intellectual group, while Li Bai was more of a free intellectual. Since 1976, the image of Chinese writers as intellectuals has undergone many changes and differentiations.This is related to the special status of intellectuals in China since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In the history of the Communist Party of China, the debate on intellectuals has always been an important and sensitive focus.The theoretical basis of socialism is that the working class is the master of the country, so when the leftist faction headed by Wang Ming initially took power, they always regarded intellectuals as the most dangerous enemy and rejected them. It was not until 1938 that the decision was made again: "Without the participation of intellectuals, the victory of the revolution is impossible", "The correct policy for intellectuals is one of the important conditions for the victory of the revolution." Mao Zedong wrote in "Yan'an Literature and Art Work" in 1942 The speech at the symposium" was a watershed moment.Who was Mao Zedong's speech aimed at?A literary worker, obviously an intellectual.The crux of the problem lies in Mao Zedong's positioning of himself.Obviously, he positions himself as an intellectual, but what kind of intellectual is he?A transformed intellectual.This is a problem that has been ignored by people for a long time, and it was not clarified until the chaos was rectified later.Mao Zedong said: "At that time, I felt that the only clean people in the world were intellectuals. Workers and peasants were always dirty. I could wear the clothes of intellectuals and think they were clean; I would not wear the clothes of workers and peasants." Willing to wear it, thinking it was dirty. Revolution, with workers, peasants and soldiers of the revolutionary army, I gradually got to know them, and they got to know me. Then, and only then, did I fundamentally change my assets The feelings of the bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie that class school taught me. At this time, if I compare the unreformed intellectuals with the workers and peasants, I feel that the intellectuals are not clean. The cleanest are the workers and peasants, although they With black hands and cow dung on the feet, they are still cleaner than bourgeois and petty-bourgeois intellectuals." (3)

Here, we can clearly see that intellectuals who have not been reformed are "unclean", and intellectuals who have been reformed have also become part of the proletariat.This is the most critical link in understanding the Chinese Communist Party's policy on contemporary intellectuals. However, the purpose at that time was for struggle, "to make literature and art a good part of the entire revolutionary machine, as a powerful weapon for uniting the people, educating the people, attacking and destroying the enemy, and helping the people unite with one heart and one mind to fight against the enemy." Fight against the enemy.” [1] For this purpose, “Our literature and art are, first, for the workers, the class leading the revolution. Second, they are for the peasants, who are the largest and most resolute in the revolution. The Allied Army. The third is for the armed workers and peasants, namely the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army and other people's armed forces, which are the main force of the revolutionary war. The fourth is for the urban petty bourgeois working masses and intellectuals, who are also revolutionary Allies, they are able to cooperate with us for a long time. These four kinds of people are the largest part of the Chinese nation and the broadest masses of the people." (4)

In that era, Mao Zedong, as a poet, undoubtedly represented the standpoint of the elite intellectuals. The issues he was trying to solve were the issues of the nation and, of course, the issues of a political party.Here, we see that what Mao Zedong was trying to answer and solve was that the problems belonged to the masses, and his "more than 90 percent" meant this. Therefore, he still had the position of a public intellectual. In fact, this also This is the standpoint of elite intellectuals.However, with the heavy burden of politics, Mao Zedong gradually lost his position as a public intellectual, forming a political dictatorship.This is the era of collective aphasia of intellectuals

This situation was not corrected until the new era.At this time, it was clear that intellectuals were part of the working class, their treatment was gradually improved, and their status in society was also increasing day by day.Of course, it is worth noting that the intellectuals mentioned here are a very general concept. By the time of the "Three Represents," the status of intellectuals had been given the highest respect.The holders of the so-called "advanced culture" are actually intellectuals.During this period, intellectuals were treated far more than other social strata.Of course, the intellectuals mentioned here are still a very broad concept, which includes all people who have received secondary and higher education.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the three stances of the Communist Party towards intellectuals have determined the political fate of Chinese intellectuals in different periods, as well as the intellectual stance of contemporary Chinese writers and the fate of intellectuals in contemporary literature. During the Ching Ming Festival in 1976, the people of the capital broke through the bans imposed by the "Gang of Four" and wrote thousands of revolutionary poems, deeply mourning the beloved Premier Zhou, and angrily denouncing the evil "Gang of Four".These poems posted in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes or recited in Tiananmen Square embody people's blood and tears, love and hatred, and are a battle cry from the heart.This is the background of "Tiananmen Poems".Looking at "Tiananmen Poems" again today, its artistic power is of course not enough, but from the perspective of historical environment, it is a big turning point.In that event, intellectuals played an important role.Using poetry as their banner and voice, they vented their anger against dark politics (Mao Zedong's dictatorship and the "Gang of Four") and their praise of ideal personality (memory of Zhou Enlai).This is the first collective appearance of Chinese intellectuals since the founding of New China. However, those poems are mostly poems of unknown persons, which can be called the unknown period of intellectuals.

Before and after this period, the speech of intellectuals, especially the trauma of writers, was recessive, that is, secretly.Between 1975 and 1976, Mu Dan wrote nearly thirty poems.Among them, in "Meditation", he wrote "But now, suddenly facing the grave / I look back at the past with cold eyes / only to see the sorrows and joys watered by it twists and turns / all disappeared in an ancient desert / only then do I know all of me Efforts / but accomplished ordinary life".Here, the humanity of intellectuals is revived, and they begin to speak secretly.The poems of Mu Dan, Niu Han, Cai Qijiao, Index Finger, Mang Ke, Duoduo, Bei Dao, etc. are all circulated underground in this period, and there are also Zhang Yang's "Second Handshake", etc., which were published in the 1980s .The most valuable thing is that at the time when intellectuals were collectively aphasic, they were able to consciously reflect on their current existence and write their own independent poems, in contrast to the popular model literature at that time.Rather, they belong to a liberal intellectual position.

If "Tiananmen Poems" still has a strong political consciousness, then the folk magazine "Today" edited by Bei Dao and others is a tragic and high-pitched cry of humanity.This is the emergence of the earliest misty poetry. "In an era without heroes/I just want to be a person" (Bei Dao, "Declaration"), poets no longer want to be heroes, no longer want to live in the shadow of heroes, but just want to be a real person.This is a deep and powerful callback from the Chinese who have just stepped out of the collective aphasia era of intellectuals.The position of liberal intellectuals is beginning to take shape.However, after all, we lived in that era dominated by politics, and the intellectual positions of the Misty Poets were always oscillating between elites and liberals.Gu Cheng's "The night gave me black eyes / But let me use them to find the light" (Gu Cheng, "One Generation"), Bei Dao's etc. all show that they are accusing, blaming, and at the same time not lacking in responsibility (if the ocean is destined to Dike/Let all the bitter water pour into my heart/If the land is destined to rise/Let human beings choose the peak of existence again).

During this period, "scar literature" appeared in the novel world, and its appearance also showed intellectuals' reflection on the history of the past two decades.With the change of the whole social situation, the Misty Poetry School began to be rectified, and the "scar literature" also expanded in depth. Therefore, these writers and poets who were originally marginal, folk, and free intellectuals began to move towards the mainstream and became The main force of the elite intellectuals at the time. The transformation of roles made them gradually lose their critical awareness of the present, and began to advance into the depths of history and explore human nature.The emergence of root-seeking literature also began under such a cultural background.

During this period, Zhang Xianliang was an outstanding representative.His series explores the distortions of intellectual humanity over the past two decades.He is different from other writers in that in his novels he deeply explored the materialism of history through the thinking of the protagonist, and he was one of the few writers with philosophical awareness at that time.In Zhang Xianliang, the attitude and standpoint of an elite intellectual is shown.He beats at the same time as the pulse of the times. In the era when political life was still the main background, writers at that time basically held an elite consciousness, but this elite consciousness was multi-layered, that is to say, there were not many writers who truly possessed the qualities of elite intellectuals. Most still present themselves as mediocre popular intellectuals.

It is those thinkers and critics who can truly embody the temperament of intellectuals, and they are the ones who make the position of intellectuals very clear.Confucius wrote "Spring and Autumn", flogging current affairs, traveling around the world, returning without success, and finally compiling it, so all of this is nothing more than showing the position of an intellectual to the times.Zhuangzi couldn't understand Confucius's ostentatious appearance in the world, so he ridiculed him, and then discussed the Tao, so he had it. In literature, it is those texts with valuable tendencies that can really highlight the position of intellectuals, perhaps novels (critical realism or romanticism), perhaps poetry, and more reviews and essays (especially cultural essays).In the 1980s and 1990s, there were two major discussions on humanitarianism in the literary world, which concentrated on the spiritual dimension of writers as intellectuals, which led to a natural separation of writers. The first time was in 1978.Zhu Guangqian took the lead in revisiting "humanitarianism and the theory of human nature" in an article [1], and later pointed out in the article "On Human Nature, Humanism, Human Beauty and Common Beauty" that the so-called "human nature" "is the natural nature of human beings" , "The general core idea of ​​humanitarianism is to respect human dignity and put human beings above everything else" (5).It can be said that Zhu Guangqian's views are a powerful criticism of Mao Zedong's "Speech at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art" and rebelled against the class theory of human nature.With his appearance, in March 1979, Chen Gongmin published "Theory of Tools or Reflection——On the Relationship between Literature and Art and Politics" ((6). It can be said that this article directly aimed at Mao Zedong's view of literature and art. They Not only to rectify the name of literature and art, but also to rectify the name of human nature, more importantly, it shows the critical spirit and commitment spirit that intellectuals should have. In 1980, Qian Gurong further put forward the proposition that "literature is humanism" (7), which opened up a broad horizon for contemporary literature to move toward humanism.The most noteworthy thing is that Dai Houying directly recorded the awakening or rebirth of an intellectual in his "Postscript": "It turns out that I am a person with flesh and blood, love and hatred, and the ability to think. I should have my own value, and should not be degraded or degraded as a 'tame tool'. A capital text quickly moved to my eyes: 'Man!' A long-spoiled, forgotten song rushed out of my Throat: humanity, humanity, humanitarianism!" At the same time, more in-depth discussions were carried out in the philosophical circles, among which Li Zehou's philosophical thoughts had a great influence at that time.His volatilization of "human subjectivity is human nature" made the literary theory circle find a more solid theoretical foundation. In 1985, under the influence of Li Zehou's philosophical thought, Liu Zaifu published a series of articles discussing "the subjectivity of literature", pushing the discussion of this proposition to a climax. If it is said that literary works more concisely express the author's intellectual standpoint by describing phenomena, then critics are direct and essential.In this sense, the representatives of the intellectuals mentioned above can be said to be elite intellectuals in the entire literary world at that time.Of course, the identities of such elite intellectuals are established on the basis of their critical standpoint of liberal intellectuals. Xu Jingya's poetic theory "The Rising Poetry Group" (8) is not so much a tribute to poets and their poems in the 1980s as a description of the spirit of intellectuals at that time.In any era of change, it is not others but poets who blow the horn first, so poetry is called "the horn of the times".Poets are the most sensitive nerves of an era. If we say that the poets of the Misty School have been recognized by the entire literary world and naturally endowed themselves with a mission (this is obvious in the poems of Bei Dao and Shu Ting, on the one hand Bei Dao is trying to restore human dignity, on the other hand They have also naturally become heroes in poetry since the new era, and their heroic complex is obvious, similarly, Shu Ting's poems also have an epic temperament), so that they naturally replaced their identities as free intellectuals with elite intellectuals , on them, the burden is the complex of the times, the history of the nation and the dream of the entire republic.In this case, the more marginal and freer intellectuals naturally separated from them.Although "Down with Bei Dao" is just a poet's crazy cry, it is actually a spiritual resistance to Bei Dao and other Misty poets. Thus, in the mid-1980s, poets known as the "new generation" or "third generation" or "avant-garde" stood up like a forest.They edited and printed their own poetry newspapers, showing themselves to the world in the form of private magazines.Between September and October 1986, "Poetry News" and "Shenzhen Youth Daily" jointly held the "Modern Poetry Group Exhibition", and published dozens of "poetic schools" manifestos, poet resumes and masterpiece.This is an overall appearance of the poet.In this grand exhibition that shocked the world, people saw that the "heresy" of intellectuals finally appeared on a large scale. "Afroism", "Dadaism", "Recklessism", "They", "We" and other liberal intellectuals different from the hazy elite intellectuals and even anarchists have appeared.At the time, these were not only non-mainstream, but also extremely dangerous.Their remarks are deconstructing mainstream values.From another perspective, it is they who are restoring the theme of man.Yu Jian said that one of the purposes of his creation is to "be a real person". "In his eyes, the so-called 'real person' actually requires a person's spiritual world to maintain a real, ordinary and everyday state. He is an 'outsider of the world, an outsider of himself. Observe the world and himself. Enter the world , into oneself also.'”(9) Judging from today, or from the perspective of cultural studies, the emergence of these "heresy" is extremely valuable.Although their levels are different and their artistry is questionable, they nevertheless express the position of liberal intellectuals.Since the beginning of Confucianism in the Han Dynasty, Chinese culture has always regarded Confucianism as the orthodoxy, and all of them are Confucian classics. However, Cao Xueqin, who has a position of liberal intellectuals, appeared to oppose the position of elite intellectuals.From the perspective of cultural growth, this is gratifying. During the "May 4th" period, if there were no free intellectuals' speeches imported from the West, it would have been impossible to revolutionize the decadent Confucian culture. Disappeared, this is the tragedy of Chinese culture.In the anti-spiritual pollution movement, although those folk journals were closed down, and some poetic schools have not given due evaluation, we should be clear that they have enriched the cultural connotation of Chinese literature in the new era, and they are also responsible for A critical duty of the liberal intellectual.It can be imagined that if they were missing in the turbulent literary movement of the 1980s, the entire poetry world would not be able to move forward, and the entire literary world would suddenly become mediocre.At the same time, we should also admit that their influence is not limited to the poetry world. It is the poets Haizi, Xu Chi and others who fully express the liberal standpoint of this intellectual.Throughout the literary world, their speaking and writing are increasingly marginalized, and their spirit is more lonely.These poets all grew up receiving the nourishment of world culture, but they were lost in this vast ocean, and they had nowhere to go in the metaphysical cultural vision.What they have been focusing on is spirit and belief. What they are trying to find is the way out for the whole Chinese people in the perspective of world culture. However, if this way is broken, they don't want to go on.Their suicide was a thunderbolt in the literary world at that time, and it was the end of a sudden encounter.Haizi's pain, melancholy and despair were exactly the state of mind of Chinese culture when it faced world culture. It can be said that it was Haizi who led the avant-garde poetry to the peak and stopped this endless experiment. In fact, the definition of "avant-garde" is vague and extremely inaccurate for the poetry of the new era that has been experimenting, but it is relatively accurate for novels.In that era, the avant-garde first showed to the entire literary world a position of liberal intellectuals, opposed to the already successful elite consciousness.They do not fight from a one-way spiritual perspective, but from the form, that is, the text they have been emphasizing.In fact, this so-called text does not only represent the form of literature, it inevitably carries the writer's consciousness of existence and attitude towards life.Yu Hua, Ma Yuan, Ge Fei and others wanted to deconstruct the tradition from the perspective of method.They don't want meaning, they don't tell stories, they don't write characters, "no" is their attitude.This was the position of the liberal intellectual, and while the methods were borrowed, it changed the attitude of the traditional writer elite.Of course, no one would have thought that they would become the mainstream of literature not long after, and they would also replace their identities as free intellectuals. In the theoretical circle, the critical consciousness of intellectuals has been fully awakened.They got rid of the political evaluation standards of the 17th century, re-understand the literature of the 20th century, and proposed to "rewrite the history of literature".Huang Ziping, Chen Pingyuan, and Qian Liqun put forward the concept of "twentieth-century Chinese literature". Chen Sihe and Wang Xiaoming's new trend of "rewriting literary history" has been deepened. They hope to bring a "diversified study of literary history". Trend” (10).Gao Xingjian's "Preliminary Exploration of Modern Fiction Technique" leads the research perspective to the world. It should be said that the rise of these spiritual intellectuals and free intellectuals presents a spirit of enlightenment, which is a continuation of the enlightenment spirit of the "May 4th Movement".But "the ones who really push the enthusiasm of writers in the new era to the extreme" are a group of reportage writers represented by Zhao Yu, Hu Ping, Zhang Shengyou, Han Yi, Mai Tianshu, Li Yanguo, Jia Lusheng, etc. Crazy' unabashedly criticizes reality, and its anxiety about China's fate is palpable." (11) They embody the critical spirit of elite intellectuals. In the 1980s, root-seeking novels that were written in parallel with or slightly earlier than the avant-garde took on the mission of “seeking roots” at that time, but, in today’s view, this is a position of pseudo-elite intellectuals.In fact, in this great root-seeking operation, these so-called elite intellectuals never got rid of the small traditions since the "May 4th Movement". . The same is another literary trend, that is, the "new realism" developed later. "Neo-realism" actually borrowed some avant-garde methods (from the text) to carry out some personal descriptions of reality, and neutralized the avant-garde and realism. This is also a pseudo-elite intellectual. position.Most of these writers were later popular among popular intellectuals.Their literature lacks the critical awareness and spiritual dimension of realism. Since the 1990s, it can be said that elite intellectuals and free intellectuals have temporarily entered a stage of collective silence.During this period, popular culture came and popular literature rose. The expansion of university enrollment, the warming up of discipline construction, and the enthusiasm for academic degrees and professional titles all began in the mid-1990s. What it brought about was a large amount of literary garbage produced by university teachers and graduate students. For literature, the most important thing is to copy literature frantically. history.University teachers began to intervene in the current literary world as researchers, but most of the researchers were only for the purpose of research and lacked the necessary criticism.In the words of Lu Yang: "The teaching and research of modern and contemporary literature in colleges and universities 'lack of blood and life'". Desireization has been the main trend of literature since the 1990s, and there are many literary works and theories that describe or justify desire. "Neo-realism" and popular literature at this time undertook the interpretation of "human nature", and "human" was reinterpreted. Words such as "writers are human beings" and "intellectuals should also become rich" have become mainstream discourses in society, and such words can be seen in newspapers and periodicals of all sizes.It is worth analyzing some "alternative literature": "beauty writers", "body writing", "lower body writing" and so on are the main trends in the literature at that time. They flaunt novelty and appear in a way that is opposed to orthodox literature On the surface, it seems to be the standpoint of liberal intellectuals, but in essence, it still belongs to pseudo-liberalism.Their main purpose is to hype and want to occupy a place in the sluggish literary market, but they lack the necessary construction in terms of literary ideals, or in other words, lack the necessary metaphysical good will. "80s" is another craze that started in the late nineties and continues today.A group of children with little cultural accomplishment, under the influence of their rebellious personalities, instigated by the media, manipulated by market black hands, and eager to become famous, finally made their collective appearance.Han Han, Guo Jingming, Chun Shu, etc. are their main representatives.Most of their works are very simple, without much cultural accumulation, and most of the readers are middle school students. During this period, the most important thing was the indiscriminate bombardment of film and television art and the sweeping of Internet literature, which made elite literature and marginal liberal literature in a state of forbearance.An era of hype and control by the media has come, and an era when everyone can become a writer has come.With the rise of various websites, desire-based writing has been exaggerated again. This is an era known as "the noise of all beings".The mainstream language is desire and deconstruction.A phenomenon worth paying attention to is the literary journals that call themselves "pure literature" and "elite literature". On the surface, they are still sticking to the serious position of literature, but in fact, they have become accomplices of popular literature.Zhu Wen said: "The Chinese Writers Association is a carrion that holds meetings and takes notes at a desk." What he is criticizing is a group of officials, editors, writers and critics who control the literary world who think they are "pure literature" and "elite literature" .What is pure literature?What is elite literature?In an era of imitating desire, desire is the banner.The belles-letter or elite literature is nothing more than a reinterpretation of desire.From the perspective of the deep connotation of culture, what is still lacking is the profound humanistic spirit and metaphysical philosophical construction.It is no wonder that the most authoritative "Mao Dun Literary Award" award-winning works soon became unreadable, and the "Mao Dun Literary Award" was gradually questioned by people.Han Dong said: "'Mao Dun Literature Award' and 'Lu Xun Literature Award', if they are the awards for the worst novels today, their fairness is obvious to all." This period is called the "post-new period" by Xie Mian (12), which is specifically manifested in "(1) The subject of 'human' has been lost, and literature has become more and more concerned with the superficial play of formal skills, which is intended to dismantle To understand the deep structure of literature in the new era, many texts not only oppose the traditional aesthetic principles, but also mock or parody the aesthetic principles of "modernity"... The anti-functionalism in literature has reached a certain extreme; (2) The rise of the new novel sublates and surpasses the traditional principles of realism, promotes a kind of 'popular consciousness' at the end of the century, and to some extent fills the gap between elite literature and popular literature" (13). Since the 1990s, when intellectuals were collectively silent on major events in Chinese politics, they showed relative enthusiasm for some themes in literature, and produced several influential discussions: The big discussion covered the confrontation between "two kings" and "two Zhangs", the criticism of Yu Qiuyu, the opposition between intellectual writing and folk writing, etc. These discussions pushed the theme of intellectuals to a new climax, and also made intellectuals A series of questions gradually became clear: What is an intellectual?What position should intellectuals stick to? The academic circles all believe that the great discussion on the "humanistic spirit" in the early 1990s originated from a group of Shanghai scholars headed by Wang Xiaoming, who believed that they put forward the "crisis of the humanistic spirit": "Literary magazines have turned to each other, and the quality of new works is generally low. decline, the number of appreciative readers is decreasing", "the tide of commercialization is almost uprooting literature", "we must face up to the crisis and work hard to bear the crisis".But in fact, this crisis has already begun to be seen in the creative world.As early as March 21, 1993, Zhang Wei published "The Habit of Resistance" in "Wen Wei Po". Later, Zhang Chengzhi published a more intense "Taking the Pen as a Banner" in "October". It was the Chinese literary world at that time: "It was almost convincingly true that the excitement ended abruptly. The new era that was cheered by colleagues eight years ago or earlier was not only old but also entered the antique shop. People who cheered the golden age disgustingly , solemnly summed up the people of the new era, 'Dong Shi' has put on magic lipstick, and is selling literature with 'Xi Shi'." "The rabble in the literary world has disappeared." (14) Subsequently, from the third issue in 1994, "Duoshu" published five dialogues from scholars from Shanghai, Nanjing, etc. Newspapers such as "Literary Theory", "Oriental", "Shanghai Culture", "Exploration and Controversy" relatively concentratedly published articles discussing "humanistic spirit", forming a massive discussion. The discussion of "humanistic spirit" is actually a discussion of the nature of intellectuals, and it is also a big move to find intellectuals.Who are the intellectuals in this discussion?It becomes clear at a glance who the real elite intellectuals are.The discussion lasted for nearly four years before subsiding in 1996.Not only literary critics and writers participated in the discussion, but also many scholars, even multidisciplinary scholars.When discussing intellectuals and humanistic spirit, Chen Sihe said: "Humanistic spirit means the 'orthodoxy' of intellectuals." The overall thinking on how to combine the social responsibility that can be assumed with the professional position", "the humanistic spirit is only a symbolic symbol, and it is impossible to have a definite answer to it" (from Said's standpoint of intellectuals, Chen Sihe's This intellectual position is a conciliation, not a real intellectual position).Zhang Rulun believes that "the core of the humanistic spirit is 'freedom'" in the ultimate sense of philosophy.In "What Kind of Humanistic Spirit Do We Need", Wang Binbin and others emphasized "the critical and negative spirit of humanistic spirit at the level of transcendence of religious spirit".Yan Weishi synthesized the academic discussion on the concept of "humanistic spirit".He put forward that "the humanistic spirit has the following five elements: attach importance to the ultimate pursuit; promote the value of people; pursue the perfection of human beings and the realization of ideals; seek the liberation of individuality; insist on rationality." Lu Yingping said: "In my understanding, the so-called humanistic spirit, It is the principles and spirit of intellectuals, or humanistic intellectuals who study and conduct themselves in the world.” When editing the book "Thoughts on the Humanistic Spirit", Wang Xiaoming summarized this discussion in seven aspects: "First, the cultural reality we are in today is far from satisfactory, and it can even be said that it is in the midst of Second, as an important aspect of this crisis, contemporary intellectuals, or to a larger extent, contemporary cultural people are generally in a bad state of mind, with atrophied personality, poor taste, and lack of imagination. Lack of thought and academic "aphasia" are the striking manifestations; third, the reason for this is that intellectuals or cultural people have lost their grasp of the meaning of existence of individuals, human beings and the world. In terms of basic beliefs and identities, they are empty-handed, and they don’t even realize that they are empty-handed; 4. The general spiritual loss of intellectuals or cultural people is not only caused by themselves, nor is it only caused by the past ten years. It was caused by various political, military, economic, and cultural factors in the course of history since modern times; fifth, it was not a one-day freeze. It is definitely not something that can be achieved in a short period of time, and it may require the continuous efforts of several generations; Sixth, as the beginning of this effort, the discussants are particularly willing to advocate a kind of basic meaning that pays attention to the existence of life and the world, and continuously cultivates and develops Inner value needs, and strive to practice the spirit of this need in all aspects of life, they use a word to summarize it, is 'humanistic spirit'; 7, since it is such a spirit, its practice will naturally It has become a process of continuous growth and enrichment, a process of embodying universality through individuality and diversity, which truly embodies the vigorous vitality of the humanistic spirit." (15) Obviously, Wang Xiaoming's position is that of elite intellectuals.He separated the intellectuals from the cultural people, and made the intellectuals invisibly undertake a mission, that is, the mission of "practicing" the "humanistic spirit". Few writers seem to be able to live up to this mission.Zhang Chengzhi, Zhang Wei, Li Rui, Han Shaogong, etc. are the morning stars who emerged in this discussion, and they are also defenders of the position of elite intellectuals.They have successively written "Taking the Pen as a Banner", "Clean Spirit", "The Thought of Helplessness" (Zhang Chengzhi), "Integrating into the Wild", "The Habit of Resistance", "Returning with Worry and Anger" (Zhang Wei),, (Han Shaogong) ), "Difficult Ideals and Difficult Ideals", "Whose Humans", "Protracted Suffering", "Sorrow of the Silent" (Li Rui) and a series of articles, openly clarifying their positions as elite intellectuals. On the contrary, Wang Meng, Wang Shuo, Zhang Yiwu and others questioned the humanistic spirit.As an advocate of Chinese postmodernism, Zhang Yiwu once questioned the advocacy of the humanistic spirit, thinking that it was the self-abuse of intellectuals (16).Wang Shuo's language is very sharp, and he made a "ruffian" mockery of the intellectual standpoint and humanistic spirit.It is not difficult to see that the world in Wang Shuo's mind is one in which money dominates.The debate between Wang Binbin and Wang Meng was also a focus in this discussion.In Wang Binbin's "Too Smart Chinese Writer" (17), Wang Meng was directly criticized as a case of adapting to the situation and being both right and left. He also cited another example, Xiao Qian, saying, "In Mr. Xiao Qian's view, the principle Morality and morality are secondary to one's wealth and life."Obviously, Wang Binbin placed Mr. Wang Meng, who has an important influence in the history of contemporary literature, in the ranks outside of intellectuals.Wang Meng's move to provoke public outrage was published in the "Dhuo" magazine titled "Farewell to the Noble", which praised Wang Shuo's blasphemous ruffian literature, which attracted numerous criticisms.In order to respond to the criticism, Wang Meng published an article "Occasional Feelings of the Humanistic Spirit" in the "Oriental" magazine, expressing his thoughts on the loss of the humanistic spirit. He asked the loss: "What was the situation before the loss? China used to be a planned economy, but , the tragedy of the planned economy lies precisely in its pseudo-humanistic spirit, so I don’t understand, how can something that has never been owned be lost?” As Li Yang said in his book "History of Contemporary Chinese Literary Thought Trends": "This discussion is reflected in the literary world as a confrontation between two creative positions: one writer adopts a creative attitude that adapts to the times, whether it is Both the determination of the standpoint and the choice of subject matter must change with the changes of the political situation. Therefore, no matter how the times change, this type of writer is always following the trend;的故有行为逻辑前行，尽管在前进的道路上充满了荆棘，但他不为所动，自始至终坚守着自己对现实的批判态度。”(18) 在这场讨论中，鲁迅又被拿来成为知识分子的参照系。鲁迅究竟是一个精英知识分子还是一个自由知识分子？这是一个需要理清的问题。在第一节里就已经论述过，真正的知识分子首先是以自由知识分子的身份出现的，但是，在他们的言论及知识分子精神得到主流的承认和拥戴后，这种自由知识分子的身份便变了，或者说他们的自由知识分子的精神主流化了，于是，他们也成为精英知识分子的象征。如早期的孔子，是冒着天下之大不韪逆流而上的，是知其不可为而为的，但是，在儒家思想得到封建帝王的重视和独拥后，儒家便成为主流精神，同时，孔子也便成为主流精神的象征，成为精英知识分子的一部分。老子也一样，他一直站在社会的边缘，道家思想也便一直是一种边缘思想，成为整个中国传统文明的真正的自由精神，也就是自由知识分子精神，但是，在不同的时代，道家精神也会有不同的角色，特别是在明清时代，在儒释道合一的时代，道家精神实际上也成为精英知识分子的一部分。西方的苏格拉底和耶稣也一样，在他们生活的时代，他们都与孔子、老子一样，是自由知识分子，但是，在他们死后，他们的精神整个地复活，并得以发扬光大，他们也自然成为精英知识分子的象征。鲁迅事实上与他们有着共同的命运，在生前，他是一个自由知识分子，他“没有丝毫的奴颜媚骨”，冷酷地批判着当时的社会和整个中国的文明，他成为被打击的对象，孤立无援，而在他死后，他又成为中国共产党所拥戴的知识分子，于是，他便成为精英知识分子的一部分。 为何他们会成为这样一种既可以是自由知识分子又可以是精英知识分子的人呢？原因其实也很简单，那就是他们身上毫不妥协的对社会的批判精神、超越个人得失而为真理献身的精神。如果用这样一种精神来判断当代作家中知识分子时，我们就会发现几乎难有真正的知识分子。就连一直对知识分子持讽刺态度的王朔在后来也说：“说到知识分子，我认为鲁迅可以算一个，我认为他有自己的见解和想法，并且可以颠覆现存的整个文化秩序，那才叫知识分子。至于那些只是念过一大堆书的人，我觉得那叫'知道分子'，我攻击的知识分子就是这帮人，只不过那时，我没有想到'知道分子'这个词，所以用知识分子这个词把他们混为一谈了”，“我愿意今天更正”。(19)这种转变与认识其实也是有赖于那场关于人文精神的大讨论，它使人们真正地认清了什么是知识分子的立场：这种立场并非简单的批判的态度，知识分子也并非是那些博士教授们，知识分子是一种精神向度。 如果说，九十年代那场关于人文精神的大讨论只是精英知识分子一次内省的话，那么，发生在稍后的诗歌界的关于知识分子写作与民间写作的争论便更进一步了。在这次争论中，自由知识分子的身份开始被认同，知识分子的精神向度也逐渐被理清。 由于1996年之前的人文精神的探讨，使当代作家和评论家逐渐理性起来，1997年夏天在福建武夷山召开的“当代汉诗国际讨论会”便带有了浓厚的“学术”色彩，当然，参加这次会议的主要与会人员大多也是批评家或大学教师，带有明显的对当代诗歌的批判意味。也许正是这次会议埋下的伏笔，在1999年4月北京平谷县召开的“盘峰会议”上，发生了“民意立场”与“知识分子写作”的争论。 什么是知识分子写作？按照西川、陈东东早在1988年刊印的《倾向》1期编后前记中所说：知识分子写作主要是指一种“精神”，它应该建立在“理想主义信念”、“使命感”、“责任感”和“少数”等思想基础上。显然，这是一种精英知识分子的立场。而在九十年代后期的知识分子写作的论述中，这种立场更为学理化了。他们对朦胧诗歌、平民诗歌产生了不满，同时也对九十年代诗人所面临的不同境遇进行了更为理性的分析，指出，“知识分子精神与写作之间很大程度上实际是一种'互文性'的关系”，“这就是为什么在我们时代恰恰是诗人担负了知识分子复杂的文化使命的主要原因”。 (20) 要论述清楚什么是知识分子写作，恐怕还得先说说流行一时的“个人写作”。持此论点的是欧阳江河、王家新、肖开愚、程光炜、崔卫平等人。崔卫平认为：“个人化的写作意味着写作不再依据任何外部的指令，意味着不再配合什么。”它“标志着独立作家、独立诗人的成长、形成。这种独立也不是不加限制的。”王家新提出，个人写作应该建立在“差异性”之上，要求诗人经以个人方式来承担人类的命运。(21)肖开愚说个人写作应该在“个人和世界之间”，强调“理想的诗歌形式，自我探索，社会责任感”三个方面。似乎是在讨论个人写作时，知识分子写作的精神已然确立，这种写作的精神已经与八十年代的群体写作有了明显的区别，而且也对八十年代以来的平民化写作保持了距离，提倡精英知识分子的“社会责任”。将这一倾向充分表达则是1998年3月程光炜编选的《岁月的遗照——90年代诗歌》一书的出版。它似乎也是知识分子写作群体的一次划定。它的出版使很多诗人不满。按照后来于坚的批评，很多诗人如北岛、周伦佑等诗歌被遗漏了，而且他极其不满程光炜等对“90年代诗歌”秩序的排定。与此同时，由杨克主编的《1998中国新诗年鉴》出版，形成了对立。这就自然导致了1999年的“盘峰会议”，从而引发了“知识分子写作”与“民间立场”的争论。 那么，“民间立场”到底是一种什么样的立场呢？难道它与知识分子真的是两相对立的吗？为民间立场而摇旗呐喊的有诗人于坚、韩东、沈浩波及评论家谢有顺等。于坚还是为其“口语诗”进行新的清理，他强调一种“神性写作”，并认为所谓知识分子写作是一种西化的结果。韩东说：“民间立场就是坚持独立精神和自由创造的品质”，“民间的概念是自足的和本质的”，类似于笛卡尔的“我思故我在”的经典命题。(22)对知识分子写作与民间立场进行更进一步分离的是谢有顺，他把“知识分子写作”过多地归结为一种“虚构的经验”和“永远不触及生活本身的边界”，而把“民间立场”描述成既关注“形而上的问题”，又(而且是重点)关注最琐细的日常生活。 针对上述“民间立场”的论述和对知识分子写作的批判，王家新、西川、唐晓渡等又提出了批判与质疑。西川指出，“民间立场”并不存在，于坚所谓的“独立写作立场”是我早已解决了的问题，所谓“民间”是最没有独立性的场所，民间心理就是从众心理，看热闹心理。(23)张署光在批评中重新强调：“独立品质或独立人格，如果说不是知识分子所特有的，也正是知识分子所必须具有的。强调写作中知识分子身份，也许正是要力求突出独立品质，正是力求关注人类命运，关注时代与当下经验。更为重要的是，知识分子精神的强调，从诗坛目前的现状看，这一点更显得十分必要了。”(24) 其实在这场讨论中，我们已经能发现，无论是坚持知识分子写作的诗人，还是坚持民间立场的诗人、评论家，他们的讨论都已经比1996年之前发生的人文精神大讨论更为深入，他们都强调了一种品质：独立精神。而这，正是精英知识分子与自由知识分子必备的精神。如果我们再作进一步的分析，就会发现，其实这场讨论是一场虚拟的讨论，有诗人之间的意气之争。“民间立场”根本就是一个伪命题。什么是民间？从韩东等人的论述中我们可以看出，所谓民间其实不过是一种自由知识分子的立场，是与精英知识分子相对立的一种立场。而所谓的知识分子写作也不过是精英知识分子的一种立场。 事实上，在这场讨论中，我们已然发现，知识分子已经与国家主流话语保持了一种距离，都强调“独立品质”，这表明知识分子真正理性的时代才到来，但是，真正的自由知识分子并没有产生。于坚、韩东、谢有顺等还只是停留在与精英话语保持距离上，还没有产生真正独立、自由、完整的思想，而且他们对这个时代的独立批判精神也常常以沉默来显示。2006年5月份，在武汉发生的“思想界炮轰文学界”现象明显是人们对作家知识分子集体沉默的不满。 至此，在当代，“知识分子”从无名到隐性发言，再到崛起，再到其内核的认识，最后到神与形的追求和分离，虽然真正具有划时代意义的精英知识分子和自由知识分子还没有出现，但是，我们已经渐渐能看出其端倪来。