Chapter 6 1956 "New Young People in the Organization Department"

Genre: Short Story Author: Wang Meng Publisher: "People's Literature" Published: September 1956 issue In 1956, Wang Meng was still a fledgling in literature. Although he attended the first "Youth Entrepreneurship Association" that year, his published works were few and never attracted much attention. "The New Youth in the Organization" changed everything.The title of the novel when it was submitted was changed by the editorial department to "New Young People from the Organization Department" (Wang Meng later restored the original name when it was assembled).After the novel was published, it aroused great repercussions; from the end of 1956 to the first half of 1957, Wang Meng was the most talked about writer.It can be said that he became famous in one fell swoop.But the impact of the novel on Wang Meng's fate is not only that; following the initial popularity, this novel also served as the fuse, which made the author finally fall from the horse in the "anti-rightist" movement, and was labeled as a rightist, reformed through labor, demoted, and never left. The list of writers disappeared for twenty years.

The story begins with an "intruder".His name is Lin Zhen. He was originally a primary school teacher, but now he has been transferred to work in the Organization Department of a district committee in Beijing.The Organization Department had formed its own rules and atmosphere, but everything was destroyed after Lin Zhen arrived.Lin Zhen devoted himself to work based on his historical understanding of the revolutionary cause and party spirit. When conducting research in the sack factory, he found many situations that were contrary to the principle from the factory director Wang Qingquan.He reported these situations to his superior, Han Changxin, who surprised him again with his carelessness.Therefore, he approached Liu Shiwu, the first deputy minister in charge, to further report.Liu Shiwu is a more vivid character in the novel.He is capable, witty in conversation, good-natured, calm and self-possessed, with a sense of calmness and insight into the world;The only thing is that his ingenuity has now all become a strategy to skillfully manipulate the details of the identity, power, and way of doing things of the leading cadres, so that he can easily handle himself in the state of being a vegetarian.It can be seen that Liu Shiwu is the first deputy minister, but he never intends to seriously solve a practical problem.And under the influence of his "leadership art", the organization department seems to be lazy and full of tiredness in the air.However, now a brat broke in, a stunned young man, a person who was still willing to be serious about everything.Liu Shiwu tried to influence him and help him understand the "reasons", but Lin Zhen failed to understand.Finally, when the Standing Committee of the district committee discussed the issue of the sack factory, Zhou Runxiang, secretary of the district committee, personally presided over it.Lin Zhen, who was present at the meeting, summoned up the courage to ask for a speech, told what he had seen and heard, and criticized the two leaders Han Changxin and Liu Shiwu.The story ended in suspense when Secretary Zhou asked Lin Zhen to go to the office to talk, but in fact there was no suspense. The author's wording indicated that it should be a bright ending.

Wang Meng was only 22 years old when he finished this work.However, his creative style is already clear.The words are concise and easy, and the tone is relaxed and natural, but from time to time, a bit of pungentness or playful meanness suddenly flashes; at the same time, the sharp and sarcastic Wang Meng is strangely mixed with another romantic Wang Meng.In terms of artistic sources, the influence of Soviet Russian literature can be clearly seen, especially the faint and unpredictable elegance that Russian literature particularly loves to express when it involves emotional descriptions in characterization.In addition, due to political factors deeply involved in the interpretation, people have not paid enough attention to the fascinating melody of youth and love in Wang Meng's novel, that is, the ambiguous relationship between Lin Zhen and Zhao Huiwen; It is a pen and ink that shows Wang Meng's temperament.In general, under the context of the 1950s, "The New Youth in the Organization Department" is obviously higher than ordinary works in terms of literary quality. Even after 50 years, there is still much to appreciate.

Furthermore, the popular description of the novel's theme at the time as a critique of bureaucracy does not seem accurate.Wang Meng's criticism goes deeper than bureaucracy, and the questions he raises already include doubts from the perspective of social justice.Because Wang Qingquan, the director of the sack factory, made mistakes not only in the way of working, but also in the corruption of quality. The organization department of the district committee turned a blind eye to this and was indifferent. The word is "numb"), this kind of situation where the good can't be used and the bad can't be eliminated, the essence is that good and evil are not distinguished, right and wrong are reversed, and it is far from being explained by "bureaucracy".

Of course, every era has its excitement.As far as the 1950s are concerned, daring to criticize bureaucracy is the most exciting and dangerous move, because according to the basic point of the theory of the proletarian party, from a positive point of view, serving the people is the purpose of the proletarian party, and it is the least likely to produce bureaucratic phenomenon.Now, someone actually shows the existence of this phenomenon in the description of the novel. In the eyes of many people, it is really treasonous.So it immediately sparked heated debate. At this time, I have to mention the publication "Literary Learning". "Literary and Art Learning" is sponsored by the Chinese Writers Association and was founded in 1954. It is aimed at young literature lovers and mainly publishes articles on literary criticism and literary and historical knowledge.The editor-in-chief of the publication is Wei Junyi.Earlier on, Wei Junyi not only didn’t know much about literature and art, but in Huang Qiuyun’s words: “One hundred percent, outright dogmatism.” ) However, after listening to Khrushchev's secret report at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Wei Junyi was greatly shocked.Huang Qiuyun said that she has "completely changed" and "before and after are different people".One of the manifestations of the transformation was her decision to organize a discussion on "New Young People from the Organization Department" on "Literary and Art Learning".

The discussion began in the twelfth issue in 1956, and went on for four consecutive sessions. 25 articles were published before and after, and various viewpoints were brought out.This made Wang Meng famous.In his autobiography (Huacheng Publishing House, 2006), he said in a joking tone that at that time "people were arguing about the 'Organization Department'".At first, he "enjoyed" the situation: Seeing the frequency of the word Wang Meng appearing so frequently in the neatly lined typefaces, I was mainly complacent.I like this, I like being five people, I like being famous, I like being the center of attention, I say this in my mind, rather embarrassed to say it.

But not long after, Wang Meng noticed something strange. The editor-in-chief and deputy editor-in-chief of "China Youth Daily" quietly talked to Wang Meng, "They were very worried. They thought I had made a big mistake. They told me that someone had already compared this article with Wang Shiwei." On February 9, 1957, a long article suddenly appeared in the "Penhui" of "Wen Wei Po", which was Li Xifan's "Comment on "New Young People from the Organization Department"".There are a few things special about this article.First, it is not like the critical opinions in the discussion of "Literary Learning", which is one of the pros and cons, but appears in the form of occupying the discourse space alone, giving the impression that it is not a "discussion", but like Wang Meng said, Take a "critical" stance.Second, the accusations made and worded are harsher, arguing that the novel's depiction of bureaucracy distorts reality, citing Mao Zedong's treatise to define this "notable unhealthy tendency" as "demanding that people follow the appearance of petty bourgeois intellectuals." Come and transform the party, transform the world."Wang Meng said that the critics "made a political point of view, and simply exposed and criticized the novel on the hostile side, with the intention of killing them with one blow."Third, the author's identity is quite special. He is a representative of the "little people" established by Mao Zedong himself after the Hongxue incident. In the past three years, his prestige has grown day by day, and his voice should not be taken lightly compared to others.Since then, "critical" voices have gained the upper hand, including the seminar organized by the Party Group of the Chinese Writers Association on January 29, 1957. 1957-1958), Guangxi Normal University Press, 2000].

However, it never occurred to me that Mao Zedong personally supported Wang Meng. On February 16, 1957, several leaders of the Chinese Writers Association were talking in Zhou Yang's office when they suddenly answered a phone call from Hu Qiaomu and told them to go to Zhongnanhai Yi Nian Hall immediately.Leaders from news, ideology, social science circles, and the Youth League Central Committee were also summoned. The content of the conversation was "mainly about Wang Meng's novel "New Young People from the Organization Department" and its criticism" ("Guo Xiaochuan Complete Works" No. 9 roll).

What is particularly rare is that Mao Zedong gave instructions one after another on this novel.According to the statistics of some researchers, from February to April, Mao Zedong had five conversations on this (Cui Jianfei, "Mao Zedong's Five Talks on Wang Meng's New Young People in the Organization Department", "Great Wall", No. 2, 2006).In such a short period of time, such frequent conversations on the works of the same writer seemed to be unique in Mao Zedong's life.There are three main points in these conversations.One is that Li Xifan's article took Beijing as the place where the story took place but wrote about bureaucracy, and criticized Wang Meng; Mao Zedong questioned: Who said Beijing has no bureaucracy?Second, Mao Zedong emphasized the need to "protect" Wang Meng.The third is that Mao Zedong became very angry with the revision of the original manuscript of the novel by the editorial department of "People's Literature", denouncing it as "immoral".

However, the author doubts whether Mao Zedong ever read the novel itself.Because in all his relevant instructions, there is not a single word that shows that he has read the novel itself; what he talks about, and the starting point for his intervention in the debate, is the problem raised by the novel-whether it is possible to write about bureaucracy.It is true that Mao Zedong read a wide range of subjects, and he often personally discovered little-known "little people", such as Li Xifan, Wang Meng, and Yao Wenyuan; Reports on novels and poems created.However, the discussion in "Literary and Art Learning" attracted Mao Zedong's attention, but there are actual records. Wei Junyi's "Thinking of Pain" (Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House, 1998) said:

None of us thought that this small discussion would attract so much attention from the upper echelons.When everyone knew the words "Who said there is no bureaucracy in Beijing" from above, everyone was encouraged.Especially Li Xinghua, he literally jumped up.In those days, he was in a state of extreme excitement every day, talking non-stop.After a while, he laughed and said: "I never thought that the central government would still read our publications!" After a while, he guessed: "I wonder if he has read such and such an article?" , Blaming the cadres above the "prefect" for not being active.We have basically achieved "communication does not last overnight".I remember that once the communication was over, Li Xinghua heard it, and said emotionally: "Listen! When you talk like this, it feels like you are holding hands beside us and giving instructions. Are we still human if we don't do it?" I noticed this novel through "Learning Literature and Art", and then drew further attention from Li Xifan's article, and decided to intervene-this possibility is more in line with Mao Zedong's reality. In short, from February to April, the incident went through a phase of spiking.The reason is Mao Zedong's intervention and repeated concerns.During this period, "Youth New to the Organization Department" changed from a hot topic in individual newspapers and periodicals to a national ideological and cultural focus, and even party newspapers spared no space to participate. From May 8th to 10th, "People's Daily" published for three consecutive days a forum in the literary circle on the issue of "People's Literature" revising "New Young People from the Organization Department", and "People's Literature" editorial department's detailed explanation of the revision process. It stands to reason that after Mao Zedong's "support", there should be a "determined review", and this novel can be "turned over"-even if it is not highly praised, works that are regarded as "positive" will no longer be a problem. Oddly enough, this is not the case. In Guo Xiaochuan's diary, there is a very thought-provoking and interesting account. On February 19 he wrote: In the morning, Comrade Tsuen Lin conveyed the chairman's instructions to the writers. He was really out of breath, and his conveyance was not clear and forceful enough. He was too scrupulous about anti-bureaucracy. Every word in this paragraph is worth appreciating. "He is too scrupulous about anti-bureaucracy."The root cause is here. As the secretary of the party group of the Chinese Writers Association, Shao Quanlin's performance is a microcosm, that is, despite Mao Zedong's clear statement, the people in charge of the relevant departments below have not dispelled their doubts in their hearts.They are different from the ordinary editors of "Literary and Art Learning", and they will not get carried away and dance around. They are at the upper level, and their familiarity and understanding of "rules" are far more sufficient and in-depth.The responsibilities they shoulder are not comparable to that of ordinary cadres. They will not start from one moment and one place, but must look at the problem from a more overall perspective. thing. None of the high-level leaders in the literary and art circles is hot-headed.Of course, they earnestly implemented Mao Zedong's instructions. For example, when Mao Zedong was furious when "People's Literature" revised the original manuscript of a novel, they unceremoniously held the editorial department accountable, and arranged for the meeting to "don't talk about the joys and sorrows of editing, but only about self-criticism." "A one-sided opinion has formed, as if the editorial department is really the gate of dogmatism and sectarianism" (Qin Zhaoyang's "Situation Statement", written in 1958 and revised in 1978, unpublished).But other than that, they never crossed the threshold; especially for the work "New Young People from the Organization Department" itself, they were cautious in their words, and they were always very careful in their opinions. Lin Mohan's review "About the Novel "New Young People from the Organization Department"" was written after the author participated in Mao Zedong's summons. When the article was published in "People's Daily" on March 12, the title was changed to "A Novel That Aroused Controversy". , There are affirmative words, and there are also "critical" words.If they are affirmative, they are basically repeating and paraphrasing the meaning of Mao Zedong’s speech at the Yi Nian Hall; if they are “critical”, they are all Lin Mohan’s own. This "holds an attitude of sympathy and appreciation". As for the author, his problem is that although he "hates the negative things in life, he has not found the real positive force that can overcome this negative thing".It is said that Lin Mohan was also one of the people who "basically held a negative attitude" at the meeting of the party group of the Chinese Writers Association on January 29 that "generally believed that this novel is poisonous" (Xie Yong's "Revisiting the New Organization Department" Young people who came here>", "Southern Literary World" No. 6, 2002), now, if he all turns to "affirmation", of course it will be difficult.But, I'm afraid it's not primarily a matter of face here.Guo Xiaochuan's situation is very similar to Lin Mohan's.At the party group meeting discussing "New Young People from the Organization Department", he expressed his negation of the novel without exception.On the second day after Yi Nian Tang summoned him, in the morning, Lin Mohan came to talk to him about the novel "New Young People from the Organization Department" that he rushed out overnight. From 4 pm to 6 pm, Guo Xiaochuan himself wrote A short article intended to express his opinion, titled "Fragrant Flowers and Poisonous Weeds"; I want to see the "difficult color" in Guo Xiaochuan's belly.At 8 o'clock that night, he went to Lin Mohan's house to chat for a while, and said in his diary: "He (referring to Lin Mohan) was very disturbed by this job, and he (referring to Lin Mohan) was very disturbed by this job. It was very painful. It was very painful." Pain can be summed up in four words: a dilemma.No left, no right.During the period of "Singing Out" in June, the Chinese Writers Association Zhi attacked him at the meeting for "basically denying Wang Meng's novels." Guo Xiaochuan's response to this was: When I end the meeting, I make it clear that I was in the negative. "The fault of a gentleman is like the eclipse of the sun and the moon", and I don't think there is much fault at all. (Diary, June 3) In addition to being open and aboveboard, what is more important is that we feel that people who say such things seem to have extra confidence in themselves.Although Mao Zedong so unusually showed his intention of "protecting" Wang Meng, somehow, Guo Xiaochuan had a kind of "unmoved" firmness in his heart, and refused to think of "negating" "New Young People from the Organization Department". ""How many mistakes are there". Among those who must grasp the "big picture", how many people have the same idea as Guo Xiaochuan?This is an interesting thing. Or, people who are not responsible for grasping the "big picture", as long as they have a lot of political experience, they will deal with the situation appropriately.We saw a scene in Wang Meng’s pen of that spring at the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles’ symposium on “New Young People from the Organization Department”: The old writers (many of whom are celebrities who work in colleges and universities) talk and laugh happily, with a bright sea and sky, flashing and moving, flowing clouds and flowing water, without splashing water or getting muddy, and keeping an excellent distance from their works and criticism.My impression is that I don't know what to say, but they are very knowledgeable, very professorial, very chic, very sophisticated, very mature, and they are really different from the hairy boys. (, the emphasis mark is added by the citation) It is easy to understand "keeping an excellent distance" from criticism, because Mao Zedong reprimanded "criticism"; what is difficult to understand is, in this case, why is it still "keeping an excellent distance from works"?This is what Wang Meng called "learning", that is, experience.These veteran writers who have rich experience and know how to be responsible for themselves have the same long-term vision as those who have certain leadership responsibilities and must look at the "big picture".They intuitively believed that it would be safer to deal with "The New Youth in the Organization Department"—or, to put it another way, with the issue of anti-bureaucracy. For years, people have been puzzled that Mao Zedong himself came to the rescue, while Wang Meng was not spared his fate.If we only linger between Mao Zedong and Wang Meng, this confusion really cannot be dispelled.But we have mostly neglected that the "scene" is a more open space, in addition to the above two points, there are many other expressions and expressions intertwined.Looking at this wider range, we can read more complex and truer information.When we reconstruct the event in a panoramic sense, it should not be difficult to find that although Mao Zedong stopped the criticism, "The New Young People from the Organization Department" was only temporarily "reversed from danger" in the newspapers, but in people's hearts, it never "turned over" ".All kinds of keeping a distance, being prudent, and contemplating carefully show the general expectation of the "trend" and leave a footnote for what happened a few months later. In a sense, what happened to Wang Meng in the incident is quite similar to Lin Zhen in his own writing, but the ending is quite different. Wang Meng: "The Autobiography of Wang Meng", Volume 1, Huacheng Publishing House, 2006 Edition Wei Junyi: "Thinking of Pain", Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House, 1998 edition Zhu Zheng: "The Summer of 1957: From the Controversy of a Hundred Schools of Thought to the Controversy of Two Schools", Henan People's Publishing House, 1998 Edition Li Zhi: "Reminiscence and Reflection - Chronicles of 1957", "New Literature Historical Materials", No. 3, 1999