Chapter 5 1951 "Who Is the Cutest Person"

Genre: Newsletter Feature Author: Wei Wei Original publication: "People's Daily" Published: April 11, 1951 On April 11, 1951, "People's Daily" published a 3,500-word "communication feature" article on the headline of the first page.After reading it, Mao Zedong commented: "Print and distribute the whole army." After reading it, Zhu De repeatedly praised: "Well written! Very good!" On September 23, 1953, when Zhou Enlai gave a speech at the second literary conference, he pushed away the speech. He said loudly into the microphone: "Who here is Comrade Wei Wei, are you here today? Please stand up, I want to meet this friend (At this time, the audience looked at Wei Wei who stood up from his seat and applauded enthusiastically) , I thank you for giving our soldiers the title of 'the most lovable person'." In the following written speech, Zhou Enlai praised it for "moving millions of readers and inspiring the soldiers ahead".Since then, the work "Who Is the Cutest Person" has become a household name and spread both at home and abroad.It was logically selected into the national middle school Chinese textbooks, and for more than 40 years, it has become a must-read article for countless middle school students to recite their hearts; "Who is the cutest person" published in 1951 has been printed 22 times , issued hundreds of thousands of copies.

So, why did a short newsletter produce such a huge response?Why did it get such great praise? From the perspective of artistic form, "Who Is the Cutest Person" is actually nothing special: the language is plain and belongs to a well-regulated news style; there are neither very personalized rhetorical skills nor flexible and diverse narrative methods .Whether it is "Who Is the Cutest Person" or the other 16 articles included in the collection of essays of the same name, the most commonly used means of expression are nothing more than questioning, parallelism, discussion and lyricism.In particular, asking questions is the most frequently used and most successful rhetorical device in "Who Is the Cutest Person?"This kind of lyrical questioning rhetoric not only helps to attract readers' attention, shortens the distance between them and the work, but also helps to strengthen the appeal of lyricism and the persuasiveness of arguments.From the point of view of the narrative style, Wei Wei’s close-ups show the characteristics of a pattern, that is, firstly, the “point of view” is shown by asking questions or other methods, and then it is proved by the facts composed of “stories” one by one, and finally, the A combination of lyricism and argumentation is used to highlight the theme to be expressed in the work.

The reason why "Who Is the Cutest Person" has become the most influential text of an era is firstly because it shows a strong "timeliness" in content, which greatly satisfied the urgent realistic needs at that time.According to the popular literary values ​​in the 1950s, the value of a literary work is first determined by its social value and its role in reflecting social life.Ding Ling spoke highly of Wei Wei's "Who Is the Loveliest Person" and "Winter and Spring" in "Reading Wei Wei's North Korean Newsletter" ("Literary News" Volume 4, Issue 3, May 25, 1951), and aimed at "Some people think that although the writing is good, it can only be called a communication, not a literary work." Ding Ling's answer is: "The value of our literature today depends on whether it reflects our country under the leadership of Chairman Mao. The face of the times. Whether it perfectly and brilliantly expresses the great cause of the newborn people in our country, the loveliest people for the motherland. Therefore, we think that these two short articles by Wei Wei are not just communications, but literature, the best literature Works." Here, the literary value is entirely determined by the content of the work, especially whether it expresses the "great cause" of the moment.Undoubtedly, Wei Wei's newsletter feature perfectly and brilliantly expresses the "newborn person", and his "excellence" lies in his creative construction and expression of the words "the cutest person". "Most" is an adverb indicating a high-level form, and "cute" is an adjective expressing heartfelt love and joy, generally used to refer to beautiful people or things such as children and women.Wei Wei creatively synthesized these two words into one phrase to express his feelings for Kong Wu's powerful soldiers. Strong love, but also contribute to the final formation of a "national moral standard."That's why Ji Ticai said in "Fighting Passion is the Most Valuable - Talking about Comrade Wei Wei's Essays During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" (Liberation Army Literature and Art, No. 8, 1960):

"The Loveliest Man" is the brilliant visualization of our zeitgeist. Through Comrade Wei Wei's articles, the revolutionary spirit, fighting spirit, and heroic spirit of our era have been further carried forward. "Support the cutest person, learn from the cutest person, and be the cutest person!" has become the slogan of our whole people. "The most lovable person" almost became the moral standard of our entire people during the historical period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.In our volunteer army, the harshest criticism is no more than "Are you worthy of the loveliest person!" person!"

Only works that truly express and carry forward the spirit of the times can reach such a high level of power.Its impact is so profound. Indeed, it is precisely because of "expressing and carrying forward the spirit of the times" that "Who Is the Cutest Person" can "reach such a high level of power. Its influence will be so profound". Strong lyricism is undoubtedly a feature of Wei Wei's "Correspondence Close-up" writing, and it is also a reason why his works are well received.His lyricism not only shows strong contemporary characteristics in content—praise for heroes, worship for leaders, hatred for enemies, optimism for the future, gratitude for happiness, but also presents a kind of sympathy in form. This is a brand-new feature—this is an enhanced lyrical way, which belongs to the direct, unrepressed, and even slightly exaggerated expression:

Friends, you don't need to use cumbersome examples, you can already understand what kind of people our soldiers are.What a quality this kind of people are, how beautiful and broad their souls are.They are the first-class fighters in history and in the world, the first-class people!They are the outstanding flowers of all kind-hearted and peace-loving people in the world!It is the flower of our motherland that we should be proud of!We are proud that our motherland has such heroes, and we are proud to be born in this heroic country! Dear friends, when you take the first tram in the morning and walk to the factory, when you carry the plow and go to the field, when you drink a cup of soybean milk and walk to school with your schoolbag, when you sit quietly When you go to your desk to plan your day at work, when you stuff an apple into your child's mouth, when you take a leisurely walk with your lover, friend, do you realize that you are in happiness?You may look at me in surprise: "This is very common!" However, people who have returned from North Korea will know that you are living in happiness.Please realize that this is a kind of happiness, because only if you realize this, you can have a deeper understanding of the reasons why our soldiers are desperate in North Korea.friend!You already know to love our motherland and our leaders, please love our soldiers deeply, they are really our most lovely people!

Wei Wei's works are strengthened to extreme propaganda and agitation, which undoubtedly meets the needs of the times for war mobilization and fighting spirit.He was therefore regarded as "the agitator of the revolution".Ji Ti affirmed this point with appreciation as early as the early 1960s: “There used to be some people who were afraid that they would not be great artists, and were unwilling to be ‘agitators’ who resolutely served the revolution. Obviously, Comrade Wei Wei was not Such a person. Comrade Wei Wei is an agitator serving the revolution, or an agitation propagandist under the leadership of the party... When Comrade Wei Wei felt that the newsletter feature was faster, more direct, and more illustrative Comrade Wei Wei resolutely seized this weapon when he was able to meet with the readers in time and thus play a more inspiring role." He also accurately summarized the basic characteristics of Wei Wei's "news features": "Comrade Wei Wei's War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea Prose is a perfect combination of political theory, close-up and lyric poetry. What combines the three is the surging fighting enthusiasm. Comrade Wei Wei’s every article has something to do and a purpose. They are all about solving a problem; when he thinks he needs to explain the truth, he presents the truth without hesitation; When he wants to pour out his feelings, he will pour out his feelings in his pen without hesitation." It can be said that it is this kind of "political commentary" that combines extreme pride and infinite gratitude. "Agitation" greatly satisfies the spiritual needs of an era, making it a model for countless readers and young students to learn.However, the advantages of a style of writing may also be its disadvantages.A serious problem in the aesthetics of Wei Wei's "Correspondence Close-up" is that it can be seen at a glance, bland and tasteless, and cannot withstand the leisurely reciprocation.

From the perspective of war narrative, the real feature of Wei Wei's "Who Is the Cutest Man" lies in the almost naturalistic presentation of the brutal scenes of war (this became a crime he was later criticized for).Due to complex reasons, in many cases, our war literature narratives often avoid overly detailed descriptions of death and sacrifice scenes, and often show a romanticism that avoids reality.However, Wei Wei's description of the war shows a journalist's sense of presence and instinctive loyalty to authenticity: In order to escape for their lives, the enemy used 32 planes, more than a dozen tanks and groups to charge towards the company's position.The entire mountain top was knocked over.The flames of the petrol bombs burned the position red.But the warriors shouted slogans on this hill of smoke and fire, and beat the enemy to death in front of the position time and time again.The enemy's dead bodies were piled up in front of the mountain like grains, and the blood also made the mountain red.But the enemy still has to fight desperately so that their main force will not be destroyed.The fierce battle lasted for eight hours, and finally, the warriors ran out of bullets.The enemies who swarmed up occupied the top of the mountain and crushed them to the foot of the mountain.The petrol bombs dropped by the plane set their bodies on fire.At this time, the warriors will still not retreat. They throw their guns, and the flames on their bodies and hats are whistling towards the enemy. burn to death. ...According to the battalion commander of this battalion, after the war, the guns in this company's position were completely smashed, and machine gun parts were thrown all over the mountain.The corpses of the martyrs were in various poses. Some hugged the enemy's waist, some hugged the enemy's head, some grabbed the enemy's neck, and knocked the enemy to the ground. They fell together with the enemy and burned on the ground. Together.There was another soldier, who was still holding a grenade tightly in his hand, and the body of the bomb was covered with brains. The American devil who died with him had his brains burst and smeared all over the floor.Another soldier still had half of the enemy's ear in his mouth.When burying the remains of the martyrs, because they clasped their hands and hugged the enemy so tightly that they couldn't separate them, some fingers were broken. ... Although this company suffered heavy casualties, they killed more than 300 enemies. In particular, they allowed the main force of our troops to catch up and massed and wiped out the enemies.

Many years later, the author's arguments and lyrical words will be forgotten by people due to the passage of time, but you will never forget these nightmare-like scene descriptions, just like the slender and sharp words pierced into the depths of memory. prickly pear.From the perspective of expressing the brutality of war, these details in "Who Is the Cutest Man" are reminiscent of the description of war scenes. Although similar details express different emotional attitudes, the description of the scene itself Looking at it, it is just as shocking. In 1957, the Moscow State Art and Literature Publishing House published a Russian translation of "Who Is the Loveliest Person". C. Markova wrote in the preface: "These feature works of Wei Wei have now attracted widespread attention from readers. In these works, he sincerely praises and sings praises to the Chinese People's Volunteers on the Korean front. Every feature of his , are imbued with an irresistible belief in ordinary people and the bright future of the people. These close-up works have not lost their charm.” However, in the new century, this work by Wei Wei has been published by the newly edited middle school Chinese The textbooks were brought out.Surprisingly, this did not attract too much attention and noise, and it did not become a topic of news events and debates. It was not until after his death in 2008 that there was a little debate on the Internet-some Some said that "Who Is the Cutest Person" withdrawing from middle school Chinese textbooks marked the progress of life in the times, and some said that it should be reintroduced into textbooks. However, no matter the former or the latter, it seems that neither a lot of.

More than seventy years ago, when Edmund Wilson talked about the influence and vitality of literature, he used the two concepts of "long-acting literature" and "short-acting literature".It is hard to say whether "Who Is the Cutest Person" belongs to long-term literature or short-term literature, but it is indeed a work with a strong "correlation" with the life of the times - the reason why it has caused such a big response is that The reason why it has received such a high evaluation is precisely because it meets the "relevance" requirements of the times for literature.Under special conditions of the times, especially when reflecting serious social events such as wars and disasters, literature often has a huge social influence just because of its "relevance".However, with the change of life in the times and the transformation of the interpretive context, or, in other words, when the direct "relevance" is replaced by the indirect "historical", the difficulty of interpreting and evaluating such works becomes It will increase, and even have completely different reading feelings and evaluations. Unless these works themselves contain a rich sense of history and universal emotional content, otherwise, it will be difficult to move people in later times and readers in different societies.

(Written by Li Jianjun) Wei Wei: "Who Is the Cutest Person", People's Literature Publishing House, 1951 Edition Wei Wei: "The East", People's Literature Publishing House, 1978 Edition Ding Ling: "Reading Wei Wei's Korean Newsletter—"Who Is the Cutest Person" and "Winter and Spring"", "Literary News", Volume 4, Issue 3, May 25, 1951 Ji Ti: "Fighting Passion is the Most Valuable——On Comrade Wei Wei's Essays During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea", "Liberation Army Literature and Art", Issue 8, 1960 Hua Xuwen: "On the Thought and Art of Wei Wei's Reportage", "Journal of Yangzhou Normal University", November 16, 1962