Chapter 15 Handy product

Nearly ten years ago, I heard a short story from my friend writer Lei Xiang. The protagonist of the story was Mr. Lei Xiang's uncle (or cousin).Let's just call him cousin.This cousin is from Wuhe County, Anhui Province, and made his fortune operating steamships from Bengbu to Linhuaiguan.Although he is a country bumpkin, he is quite wealthy and well-connected, so he can be regarded as someone who has seen the world.One day, my cousin took the train to Shanghai for business. Before the trip, he deliberately dressed up—a robe, a fedora, a pocket watch on a chain, and a gold cigarette case; Misunderstood as an ordinary country talent.Unexpectedly, as soon as he got out of the car, the cousin took out the cigarette case, lit a cigarette, and after less than three or five puffs, he suddenly found that the cigarette case, pocket watch, and wallet were all missing—the old man knew: this is Got it right.So he immediately approached the police station through acquaintances from the chamber of commerce.Uncle's words are beautiful: "I have heard for a long time that pickpockets in Shanghai have so-called green and white eyes. If you want to steal, you must see that the other party is 'not worthy of the title'. My brother claims that his style is not low, but I don't know how to still get into it." I can't see the eyes of the people on the road here. Therefore, losing money is a small matter and losing face is a big matter. May I ask you to make the decision and ask for my brother: What did my brother do that can't be put on the stage when he is new here? He actually makes people look down on him. Zi Fan, the person who made the attack, can tell a truth, you don’t have to let go of the lost things.” Bao inquired from the arresting room and agreed.Within an hour, all the stolen goods arrived.Uncle admired the tightness of black and white roads in the sea market, but still wondered why the pickpocket had no eyes and dared to offend recklessly, so he went forward to repeat what he had just said.The pickpocket responded to Weiwei, and after hesitating for a long time, he dared to say: "You always show your face when you get off the train." The cousin naturally refused to accept it, and kept asking: "Why do I show my face?" "You always take out cigarettes." Smoking, hit a cigarette on the lid of the cigarette box three times." "So what?" "You always smoke 'Three Fortresses', 'Three Fortresses' are the best cigarettes, the tobacco is dense and easy to wear It is resistant to smoking and does not need to be tapped. But you have been hitting those three times, which shows that you are not usually smoking this kind of good cigarettes, I am afraid that they are loose and low-quality local cigarettes, and the bottom of your hand cannot be changed.” Uncle Cousin He was ashamed at the moment, and of course he didn't have the nerve to get back the stolen goods, so he could only admit it and let it go.

This little story has been stored in my mind for three to four thousand days, and I sometimes pick it up and play with it for a while.On any occasion, a conversation partner mentioned the dangers of the world, tight gangs, country people entering the city, people-watching skills, pretending to be aristocrats, people in the market, heavy promises, gold cigarette cases or even "Three Fortress" cigarettes or a certain brand The shredded cigarettes are poor in quality, so I can't help but want to show off this uncle to share with my friends.In addition, I have another idea: I should extend it and write it into a short story, or find a gap of a suitable size in a long story, and stuff my cousin into it to settle down.With such procrastination and procrastination, only occasionally entertaining people at dinner tables and restaurants, this cousin has never been able to become a character in any work.

In addition, there is a story about sesame seed cakes, which is collected under the volume of "Grand Views of the Unofficial History of the Qing Dynasty·Qingren Yiyuan", one titled "Ancient Ding": I first read this article thirteen years ago, and I can't forget it afterwards.Just like the story of the uncle before, whenever there is an occasion, it reminds me of Tuobei, Zhong Dingwen, ancient seal atlas, antique counterfeiting, late-born rebellion, causing a big somersault for teachers and seniors, or pseudo-knowledge However, serious and lacking sense of humor professors and gentlemen have a hard time and can't solve it. Even a freshly baked biscuit or something like that, I will immediately think of the example of Ruan Yuan's boat capsized in the gutter.Similarly, I have never forgotten to fabricate a name, a life experience, a background for this joking student, and then create a set of stories about a rebellious student-this time it almost succeeded; The "Annual Examination of Wang Mei'an's Birth and Death", which has not yet been completed, has written more than 4,600 words, but it has not been continued.The reason is: it is a unique biscuit, just like the cousin is such a unique uncle, it is better to put it in any other text than to let the people and things stay in the "notes" Fresh and powerful.Perhaps, under the call of a certain opportunity in the future, I finally invited my cousin into the station of the legendary series of "The Wilderness", and put the sesame cakes in the sleeve of "Wang Mei'an's Birth and Death Year Examination"; It can make the novel more interesting, but kills the notes.

How many notes are there in Chinese classics?There are those who narrate history, those who write essays, those who study scriptures, and those who record facts.The anecdotes and anecdotes of different places and customs are often written down; the interesting words and clever deeds of poets and inkmen are written down; there are strange rocks and strange trees in a certain mountain and river, and those in a certain poem and song have other words and sidelines. , I have to write it down.Princes, nobles, scholars and Confucians will inevitably enter their notes, and traffickers, monsters, monks and beggars are often in the toilet, dotted with one after another touching city lights.The notes are so complex and vast, so dazzling and detailed that even the word encyclopedia is not enough to describe them.In general, notes can be said to be a set of life general records in the eyes of Chinese intellectuals in the past dynasties.

Of course, intellectuals have their eyesight on the high amount.From the perspective of some specific cultural criticism, most of the notes actually exposed the class atmosphere that the literati could not get rid of, and also highlighted the profession of writing that was not (or could not be) deeply explored in ancient China Technical details—for example, even pamphlets like "Tiangong Kaiwu" that try to preserve the record of artisan practice often can only know it but can't explain why: "Everything that brews bees is found in the world; only sugarcane If the land is prosperous, the number of bees will naturally decrease.” (Volume 1 Ganji·Honey)

Not only that, there is another disadvantage of notes that makes modern people unhappy: most of them are often impossible to retrieve.The author follows what he hears and notes, and there is no arrangement for the context.Even if some tomes and masterpieces do have "catalogues", they are rough and crude.For example, "Monk Jijiu" in Volume 96 of "Taiping Guangji" is classified as "strange monk", and "Seng Zhitong" in Volume 415 is classified as "wooden monster".These two stories were originally from "Yunxi Youyi" and "Youyang Miscellaneous Zu", and the original books were not classified; once they are classified, readers will first know these two stories by their category names.However, if we use the logic of the establishment of the category of "wooden monster", it is all right to place "Monk Dove" into the category of "birds"; if we look at the logic of the establishment of the category of "strange monk", Therefore, it is not inappropriate to put "Seng Zhitong" into the category of "different monks".On the contrary, from this kind of categorization, it reminds me of an essential attribute of the note-taking system-maybe the author of the note-taking, not categorizing, is just because the note-taking should not be a kind (or should not be just A) Texts that "design their specific retrieval methods for specific reading purposes".Take the two stories mentioned above as an example: the story of my cousin should not be classified as a "thief", "gangster", "hillbilly" or even a "cigarette case"; It is classified into the category of "Art Garden", "Gold and Stone", "Antique" and even "Food".If the content of a note can be imprinted in the reader's mind, it often enables the reader to retrieve it through various parts of the text through its shortness and lightness.To put it more plainly: a short and light note is often easy for readers to remember, so that many elements contained in its content can become an index that can be touched by all kinds of gossip after dinner.When someone talks about cigarette packs or biscuits, the reader can be reminded: "That's right! I have a story."

It is not easy and not suitable for people who have high doubts and aversion to the political correctness of ancient Chinese scholar-officials.People who are strongly disturbed by the scientific and logical nature of Chinese language expressions may still read the superstition and ignorance of the Chinese people and the chaos and backwardness of Chinese civilization from nine out of ten notebooks.Even the professors of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature who have to read and study notes a lot because of their majors can't help but praise its value and misunderstand this kind of writing.A senior scholar I have always admired once encouraged me like this: "You who write novels should read more notes; there are inexhaustible materials in the notes!" The implication seems to be: Those of you who write novels don’t have to make up your own stories. The ancients have left as much material as they can “use” that can be copied, rewritten, and modified to add embellishment...

In one respect, there is nothing wrong with this statement.I read a note describing the "small market" in "Qing Barnyard Banknotes".The small market, also known as the black market, usually appears between the inner and outer walls of a city (clamp city).Stealers set up stalls before dawn on regular days (such as a few days or ten or twenty days of each month), and all transactions must be completed before the cock crows.It is also known as the black market because it is not allowed to light lamps and hold fire because it is in the dark.When I was writing "The Thorn Horse", I "taken" this material, and even secretly manipulated it, claiming that in the small city, there has always been a five-character tactic of "quick familiarity and cheapness", that is, fast hands and feet, and good communication. Ripe and out-of-stock bids cannot be arbitrarily raised, and bargaining is prohibited.Yes, if the "use" is not enough, it can be changed to add oil and vinegar.

On the other hand, however, more and more notes are only as good as they are; Embrace becomes a filler for a novel.There is no other reason for this: whether we call short stories or novels in this world, they are not inherent in our country.Even if the novels written by "we who write novels" are regarded as "modern Chinese novels" and "contemporary Taiwanese novels", the truth is: in fact, most of them are just Western novels made up of Chinese characters.On the system, on the idea, on the type, on the structure, on the layout, on the technology, all come from transplantation.The real Chinese novel has long been buried in the speaker's bookstore, chapters written in imitation of the speaker, and voluminous notes.To put it simply in terms of notes: Once "we writers" regard the notes as "materials" and "take" the notes, we will lose the beauty of the notes as notes.Here is a note, taken from Volume 17 of Song Shenkuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan":

I picked this one out of tens of thousands of notes in order to read Wang Zengqi's novels.The benefits of Wang Zengqi's novels have been pointed out by commentators from time to time, but no one has pointed out so presumptuously: Since the New Literature Movement, Wang Zengqi has been regarded as one of the very few to nearly the only novelists who wrote "Chinese novels", a writer who has won the title of "Chinese novel" Wonderful novelist. Rather than saying that "The Connoisseur" is a short story, it is better to think that it is just a note, and in the fact that it is really different from the common "short stories" nowadays, you can see its "magnificence" .The first two sentences of the opening paragraph plus the first sentence of the second paragraph are based on the traditional "appearance" of notes.

Afterwards, nearly 3,000 words (half of the whole article) were written about how Ye San's fruit business was "before the four seasons", how "original" and "ripe". How capable and neat his son is, Ye San even sent fruit to Ji Taomin and waited on the painter to paint.And "Ji Taomin never paints in public", except for Ye San, because "he thinks Ye San really understands, and Ye San's admiration is from the bottom of his heart, not pretending to be an expert, nor is it flattery."Why Ye San "really understands" constitutes a suspense; let's look at the climax of this short sentence pattern and rapid progress: Comparing with the previously revealed "Mengxi Bi Tan", we can see that Wang Zengqi not only never "taken" the notes, but even "created" the notes.He uses words carefully and concisely, and stops when he clicks."Narrative point of view", "psychoanalysis", "character characterization", "mythological archetype", "national allegory", "political allegory" ... At a loss.This is not to say that all of Wang Zengqi’s novels do not have these skills, or cannot stand the test of these skills, but that Wang Zengqi “such novels break the boundary between novels and prose, and are almost like essays” (see "Zhuyu Collection·Bridge "Three Side Novels" postscript).It was a deliberate effort to find a new field close to the ancient Chinese note-taking tradition for the short stories that people today have long been familiar with. In the old tombs of classical Chinese that have been discarded and not read. A reporter interviewed García Márquez many years ago and asked him whether he was able to manage such rich stories because of his habit of taking notes.García Márquez, who obviously didn't know the tradition of Chinese notebooks, gave an amazing answer: "No. You don't need to write novels when you write notebooks. Notebooks are another kind of literature." Compared with (no matter how avant-garde and experimental) mainstream Western novels, which is also the transplant industry that "us novel writers" are engaged in, how "alternative" can the notes of old Chinese writers be called? "However, if this kind of thing is gone, it will be gone." (Wang Zengqi's "Tea Dried") Unless the novelist and readers have the courage and wisdom to develop alternative writing and reading, regardless of whether it has theoretical support, sponsorship, Critics' initiative vassalization.Wang Zengqi is getting old and young, so he has such great courage--create a masterpiece at will, even if you say it is not like a novel!