Chapter 62 2009 "Little Reunion"

Genre: Novel Author: Eileen Chang First publication: Crown Culture Publishing Co., Ltd. (Taipei) Published: March 2009 Mainland First Edition: Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House Published: April 2009 (Written by Yang Zao) The "entanglement" between the two books may have been doomed many years before the publication of the two books.At least when Zhang Ailing was writing, she always had a "scrupulousness" in her heart.This point can be confirmed everywhere in Zhang Ailing’s letter to Song Qi and his wife. For example, when Zhang Ailing talked about rushing to write, one of the motives was Zhu Xining’s letter saying that she would write her biography based on Hu Lancheng’s words (Zhang Ailing’s letter to Song Qi and his wife Letter, quoted from Song Yilang's "Preface").Interestingly, because Zhang Ailing seldom talked about her personal affairs before, many readers could only "combine" Zhang Ailing's impression based on Hu Lancheng's description, and the "rush writing" at this time seemed to be competing for the "right to speak" , obviously dissatisfied with Hu Lancheng's unilateral narration of the history between them.It is conceivable that when writing, Zhang Ailing, who had already read it, had an "opponent". What she wanted to subvert in the text was the woman of the Republic of China described by Hu Lancheng; Worry about "hype"; further, due to Hu Lancheng's special status, she must also worry about the possible adverse political influence of this book after it is released.All of these have become important reasons for repeated changes and delays in launching.

Some critics said that the publication of Zhang Ailing will cause a lot of headaches for those who study Zhang Ailing: many previous descriptions and conclusions about her will have to be rewritten.In the end, Zhang Ailing chose to construct herself in the form of "novels", adding a veil to her most daring and straightforward "whispering". Even if the publication time is delayed again and again, until the main characters in the book, including the protagonist himself, have passed away, a controversial fate is still inevitable.It is said that after reading this book, Wu Xiaoru said that she was too "unbearable", that is, Gou Hua in the book, who is considered to allude to Ke Ling.Wu Xiaoru believes that this description does not match the historical facts, which shows the author's "boring" (Yuan Liangjun, "Mr. Wu Xiaoru Talk", "China Reading News", June 17, 2009).

This is a very representative way of reading - read it as Eileen Chang's autobiography.Since it is an autobiography, of course the characters in it can correspond to those in reality one by one, so there is a debate about the "true and false" elements in Eileen Chang's self-narration.However, its self-positioning is much more ambiguous, and this deliberate "ambiguity effect" has had an effect on its first readers.According to the correspondence between Zhang Ailing, Song Qi, Li Oufan and others, it can be seen that the first batch of readers of this novel obviously read it as an "autobiography".That's why Song Qi persuaded Zhang Ailing in the letter to change the identity of the heroine to "double agent" (double agent), and to die unexpectedly. In this way, Hu Lancheng had nothing to say.Fortunately, Eileen Chang did not accept this suggestion, because the idea was a bit naive. Even if a major change was made according to this plan, readers would still find countless legal evidence from the novel to prove that the hero is Hu Lancheng, and "Nine Li" is Eileen Chang herself. The reason is that Zhang Ailing herself left a lot of evidence in the book without any scruples.Readers who are familiar with Zhang Ailing can compare it with her "Whispers", "Contrast Notes" and other few works about her life experience, and it is easy to draw the conclusion that this book is Zhang Ailing's self-portrait.There are many details in the book, how Jiuli's father recited ancient poems in circles at home, stories about Jiuli's grandfather and grandmother, how her stepmother gave Jiuli her old clothes when she came home...and the content in "Comparison Notes" Exactly the same, even the words used are quite close.For example, when writing about her grandparents, in "She loves them. They don't interfere with her, they just lie quietly in her blood and die again when she dies"; while in "Comparison Notes", it is "They just lie quietly in my blood, waiting to die again when I die. I love them".Because of this, readers can confidently regard it as Zhang Ailing's autobiography. Who can say that "Contrast Notes" is not about Zhang Ailing's own history?

However, if you really read it as an autobiography, there is a problem. This seems to be a trap set by Eileen Chang.There are obviously some fundamental differences between autobiography and autobiographical fiction.As Le Gennes repeatedly emphasized in "The Autobiographical Contract", the reason why an autobiography is an autobiography is because it is "a 'credit' genre. Therefore, the autobiographical writer strives at the beginning of the text to use apologetics, explanations, preconditions , statement of intent to establish an 'autobiographical contract'". (Le Gennes "Autobiographical Contract", p. 14, Beijing: Sanlian Publishing, 2001) After comparing autobiography with a series of other literary genres, Le Gennes pointed out that the biggest difference between autobiography and autobiographical novels lies in the author and narrator. Is it the same as the protagonist.Obviously, autobiographical novels can only satisfy part of it, that is, the identity of the author and the narrator, but we cannot say that the protagonist "Jiuli" and the narrator are the same, no matter how close the distance between them is.

From this definition, it can only be an autobiographical novel rather than an autobiography.The characteristic of autobiographical novels is that readers can "identify" the author and the characters as the same person according to a series of clues or materials they find in the text, but the author does not admit, or even deliberately denies this identity, making the text The "fiction" is obvious.That is, autobiographical fiction contains some personal narratives (the narrator and the characters are the same person) and some "impersonal" narratives (the characters are referred to in the third person).It is this characteristic which distinguishes it from autobiography: there is clearly a difference of degree between the two.The blurring of some of the lines between fiction and autobiography, perhaps on purpose by Eileen Chang, creates a distinction between "true and false" between readers and reviewers.Generally speaking, the degree of difference between autobiographical novels and autobiography can be divided into light and heavy. The light one makes readers feel that the characters and the author vaguely resemble one person; It undoubtedly belongs to the latter category.

Writing is clearly a construction of Zhang Ailing's self-history in her later years, but she refused to sign her name on the autobiographical contract.Analyzing from the theory of autobiographical contract, since this contract determines the attitude of readers, it is actually an indispensable and important one. "If the identity of author and character is not affirmed (the case of fiction), the reader strives to find similarities between the two, despite the author's denials; errors, distortions, etc.)". (Le Gennes's "Autobiographical Contract", p. 219) Therefore, in the face of such a seemingly autobiographical narrative, the reader can be motivated to respond as a detective, trying to find the violation of the work.Paradoxically, this creates the myth that novels are "more real" than autobiography, because people always feel that the clues they discover through texts are more real and profound. "Really" reading experience.

Perhaps this is the effect Zhang Ailing deliberately pursued, and this treatment method is likely to be due to various realistic pressures that the author must consider when writing.In addition, there may be other explanations.In Zhang Ailing's letter to Song Qi, we can find a simple but meaningful sentence: "...Fortunately, novels and biographies are unclear now." (Preface) Does Zhang Ailing want to conduct a stylistic experiment?Judging from the rather special narrative style, this possibility is not insignificant. Furthermore, Zhang Ailing, who has always emphasized "uniqueness" throughout her life, is just as some researchers have said: "From the collection of short stories, the essay "Rumours" to the final "Contrast Notes", Zhang knows all kinds of techniques and methods to seduce readers, and also She knows better than anyone else the delicate connection between art and life, between truth and falsehood. After reading "Contrast Notes", we understand that Zhang may be more keen on playing herself than anyone else. She repeatedly crosses the line between life and art, creating The astonishing effect is almost kitsch, but consciously maintains the fantasy distance between the public and the readers." This passage is really appropriate, and it can be said that this is another and last gorgeous performance of Eileen Chang.

It is said that it is Eileen Chang's stylistic experiment, of course, not only because Eileen Chang deliberately chose a narrative style between "truth" and "fiction". "Yet? Zhang fans who like style may be a little disappointed.Wang Dewei once used "Zhang Qiang" to refer to Zhang Ailing's unique writing style.But even if the "Zhang Qiang" we used to be familiar with can't be said to cease to exist, at least it has been cut by half.Zhang Ailing’s writing style formed during the Occupation Period can be labeled with a series of labels such as complicated imagery, novel metaphors, gorgeous rhetoric, and “desolate” aesthetics. would deny the uniqueness and maturity of her writing skills.Compared with the "Zhang Qiang" in its heyday, many readers will feel "insipid", which seems to confirm the sentence Zhang Ailing and Hu Lan said when they broke up: I will just wither. (Hu Lancheng, p. 307, Yuanjing Publishing Company, 1996) There are not a few people who hold this point of view. The writer Jiang Yun complained for Zhang Ailing in this way: "Yes, she withered in her own way, no matter in terms of creation, in terms of In terms of dealing with people and dealing with the world, this kind of decline is confirmed." (Jiang Yun, "Aggrieved for Zhang Ailing", "Rereading Zhang Ailing", p. 330, Shandong Pictorial Publishing House, 2004) But taking a step back, even if Zhang Ailing is " Withering", that is by no means the beginning of "withering".If we admit that there are differences in Zhang Ailing's writing in the early and late stages, and temporarily put aside the question of which is good and which is bad, we can look at Zhang Ailing's characteristics and innovations in her later writing through waiting for her works.

The beginning of the book is quite modern. After restoring the horror mood before the big exam, Zhang Ailing suddenly wrote: When Jiuli was almost 30 years old, she wrote in her notebook: "The sound of the rain is like living by the stream. I would rather it rains every day, thinking that you don't come because of the rain." On the day of my 30th birthday, I saw the moonlight on the balcony at night in bed, and the concrete railing lay there like a collapsed stone tablet, bathed in the blue moonlight of the late Tang Dynasty.The moonlight was more than a thousand years ago, but thirty years has been too much for her, and it weighs heavily on her heart like a tombstone.

After reading the last chapter, readers will find that the sentence written when they were thirty reappeared. It was written by Jiuli and Yanshan when they were dating, and this is the "present continuous tense" of this sentence .That is to say, at the beginning of the novel, Zhang Ailing reversed the narrative time and disrupted time and space.People who have been baptized will find this method a bit familiar, but those who are familiar with Eileen Chang know that the influence may be more obvious without going back so far.Zhang Ailing once analyzed the "modernity" of this novel in detail, and one of the manifestations is that according to the author's own statement, he believes that the whole book's brushwork comes from it, and it is not new. (Zhang Ailing's "Postscript of the Translation of the Mandarin Version", "Complete Essays of Zhang Ailing", p. 452, Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House, 1992) This method of "interspersed with hidden flashes" was used on a large scale throughout the book. From the beginning, Zhang Ailing obviously I am not satisfied with stating my own history in chronological order in reality.For example, the first chapter of the novel starts from the morning of the exam, and flashes back to her mother visiting her at school, bringing out the relationship between Jiuli and her mother, which also constitutes a major theme of the book; the second chapter returns to the day of the exam, writing about Hong Kong. The third chapter is about Jiuli returning to Shanghai, interspersed with her own childhood memories, and then the writing turns to her parents' divorce, which constitutes a chapter of "memory".

This kind of "interspersed with hidden flashes" makes it not as clear as Zhang Ailing's early novels. Compared with a modern narrative time, Eileen Chang uses a rather simple "line drawing"-based text style in the novel.This style of writing is far from the gorgeous "Zhang Qiang" in the readers' impression, but it formed another style in Zhang Ailing's later creation.From the straight forward, it is not difficult to find that from the late 1940s to the early 1950s, from writing to later, this "line drawing" style of writing has been widely used in Eileen Chang's creation.Subsequent important novels such as , , "May 4th Remains" and "Lust, Caution" and so on, including rewritten from expansion, the language and characters are quite different from the previous works.If only "regression" is used to explain, this "regression" is too sudden, it seems difficult for people to understand.In particular, rewriting what has always been regarded as Eileen Chang's best work with such a bland language can only be done intentionally by Eileen Chang. I am afraid that the source of this change must be traced back to Eileen Chang’s obvious preference for this novel. Knowing that this novel may not be well received by modern readers, she still spends a lot of time translating and researching it overseas.In addition to the above-mentioned narrative style, the writing style of this book is also a major factor that attracts her: "Developing the tradition to the extreme, it is less like a Western novel than any classical novel-more loose, more concise, with only one name There are more characters in the book", such "subtle prosaic nature makes the bird fade out of people's mouth". (Zhang Ailing's "Guoyu Version Translation Postscript", "Complete Essays of Zhang Ailing", p. 471) In Zhang Ailing's view, this loose, simple, and plain style of writing is just a unique Chinese novel generated from traditional Chinese culture. Payroll.Does Eileen Chang intend to continue this legacy, thus changing her mature "Zhang Qiang"?This change happened just when Shanghai, the city she "depended on", was undergoing earth-shaking changes, and caused an obvious "fracture layer" in her writing career. Judging from the overall appearance of her later creation, this inference should be established. Unlike Hu Lancheng, Zhang Ailing kept a distance from politics—neither did she have close relations with the puppet government or the Japanese military because of her relationship with Hu Lancheng; nor did she agree with Ke Ling’s advice to persuade her to publish her works after the war.But this is not to say that she is completely ignorant of politics. What is special is that the way she perceives politics is unique to women: for example, after liberation, she would keenly feel that she would ask for a bowl of noodles when she traveled to Hangzhou. The strange stares they received while eating noodles; or the incongruity caused by their own cheongsam in the all-plain attire during the meeting.Just these most direct and subtle life feelings are enough to make her feel that she cannot adapt to the new environment, so she chooses to exile herself. Although she has a relationship with Hu Lancheng, Zhang Ailing has been trying to make the world agree with her concept: private emotions can have nothing to do with political beliefs.In the movie, Shao Zhiyong kissed Jiuli for the first time, and Jiuli's reaction was: "This person really loves me."These words are familiar to people, and it is natural to think of her another controversial work "Lust, Caution".When Jiazhi suddenly changed her mind and let Mr. Yi go, the only reason was: "This person really loves me." If Jiazhi could sacrifice her "life" and "body" for the "true love" she felt at that moment and "belief" are enough to prove that in Eileen Chang's value system, personal emotions can at least have nothing to do with politics or even surpass politics. This point has been consistently shown in the book, and it has been revealed in her correspondence with Song Qi: "I don't write to vent my anger. I always think that the best material is the material you know best, but for the sake of nationalism. I have never been able to write about the sanctions imposed on me....In recent years, I feel that monolithic nationalism (meaning rock-solid nationalism——author’s note) has been loosened. I wrote it out, which made me wrong.” (Letter from Zhang Ailing to Song Qi and his wife) Because of this, although Zhang Ailing wrote about the bombing of Hong Kong and the fall of Shanghai, she seldom directly commented on current affairs and politics.Of course, there are exceptions. Some problems she cannot solve or avoid by herself. For example, when writing about the Japanese bombing of Hong Kong, Jiu Li hopes that the war will end as soon as possible. There is such a comment: Hope to surrender?Hope the Japanese soldiers come in? This is not our war.Is it worth dying for the British colonies? Of course this is a evasion.It was our war that was fought against Japan. Nationalism is a common religion of the twentieth century.She is not religious. Nationalism is nothing but a process.We used to have it in the Han and Tang Dynasties. This is always a shameful thing to hear.In the world, your culture of 3,000 to 5,000 years is useless. You have to be able to fight and be willing to fight to value you. But what are you talking about if you are dead?You have to live like this. She didn't figure it out, but fortunately, her greatest ability is to keep the case as an unsolved case forever.Maybe it's not until I'm old that I get an epiphany. At the juncture of national survival, is individual life experience or collective national belief more important?This long paragraph is Zhang Ailing's debate with herself, but there is still no result. "Keeping it as an unsolved case" is of course one of the solutions. There are not a few places involving Shao Yongzhi's sensitive political identity, but they are all dealt with with a calm attitude, only stating facts and not making value judgments.After all, Zhang Ailing declared that what she wanted to write was "a passionate story. I wanted to express the endless twists and turns of love. After it was completely disillusioned, there was still something left." Besides love, the other main line in the novel was Jiuli and her mother. The two main lines intersect in the second half of the book—in order to repay her mother's money, Jiuli accepted the money Shao Zhiyong gave her.Eileen Chang does not evade the embarrassment, utilitarianism, and suspicion in love—even the "golden" love—but she does not vent her dissatisfaction with Hu Lancheng through the book: "The ridicule of Hu Lancheng in it is not the same as later." (Letter from Eileen Chang to Song Qi and his wife), she still ended this past emotion with a warm dream at the end.The attitude towards love, family affection, and politics is consistent in the book: although you may not be completely relieved, at least you can face it calmly. Therefore, traitorous wives, abortion, sex, betrayal, and various dark areas of human nature... can all be presented in the book. In "Eileen Chang and the Leftists", Hu Lancheng once used Eileen Chang's writing to criticize the left-wing ideological trend. At the beginning, he quoted a small poem by Eileen Eileen Chang: "There is no me in his past; the tortuous years, the deep courtyard, and the sun in the empty room. The sun has become the sun in ancient times. I want to run in all the time and shout: I am here! I am here!" Hu Lancheng made a "political" interpretation of this little poem, thinking that it shows people's attitude toward life. The unbearable life experience of "not being able to live" is the driving force behind institutional and political revolutions.This little poem had never been seen elsewhere before until it appeared.Zhang Ailing also quoted this little poem, but the use and interpretation obviously have nothing to do with politics.It appeared during the time when Jiuli and Zhiyong were in love. Jiuli dreamed that his face was engraved with the word "Swastika" (which not only represents the core country, but also represents the tattooing of the army). At this time, she wrote this song poem to him.However, "he didn't say it, but he obviously didn't like it. His past was colorful, not so empty, waiting for her to come." (, p. 190) Hu Lancheng made a political interpretation of the same poem, while Zhang Ailing made a "love-style" interpretation that the other party obviously did not understand. of various differences.Facing the big history, Zhang Ailing is unwilling to make rational analysis and judgment, but insists on writing the most direct life experience of "individuals" in the big era.In other words, the construction of Zhang Ailing's self-history is feminine, self-centered, introverted, and transcends her background—it is her first and last unscrupulous "look" at "I". Zhang Ailing: "Collected Works of Zhang Ailing" (four volumes), Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House, 1992 edition Hu Lancheng: Vision Publishing House (Taipei), September 1996 edition; China Social Sciences Press, 2003 edition Edited by Chen Zishan: Zhang Ailing's Ethos—Comments on Zhang Ailing before 1949, Shandong Pictorial Publishing House, 2004 edition Wang Dewei: "Wheat that falls to the ground never dies——Eileen Chang and the successors of the "Zhang School", Shandong Pictorial Publishing House, 2004 edition Edited by Yang Ze: "Reading Zhang Ailing", Guangxi Normal University Press, 2003 edition Jin Hongda: "Light View of Zhang Ailing", Culture and Art Publishing House, 2005 Edition