Chapter 13 Language, Intonation and Others of "A Sky Full of Shining Stars"

"Sparkling Stars in the Sky" and "Autumn Thoughts" immediately before it are the two shortest articles in the book, neither exceeding 5,000 words.However, these two articles also have the same characteristics as a whole, with both vivid social realism and profound symbolic meaning. The article "A Sky Full of Shining Stars" may confuse many readers.Some of the more difficult articles in the novel, such as "Forever Yin Xueyan", "The Rhododendron as Red as Blood", etc., are difficult to find in the complex inner meaning; At the same level, there is nothing difficult to understand in these novels.On the contrary, the main obstacle to understanding the article "Sparkling Stars in the Sky" is the realistic part presented on the outside.Many readers probably didn't realize that there was also a social realism aspect in this article, and they only thought it was an "Impressionist" work that the author was dreaming about.Such readers do not need to feel ashamed and blame themselves for not knowing how to appreciate literary works, because this has nothing to do with literary appreciation.

In fact, even the most brilliant literary connoisseur, if he does not have a considerable degree of understanding of the general scene of the "homosexual" world, will also find this novel a bit baffling and incomprehensible, because from the beginning to the end of the article, the hook What this painting presents is the world of gay men today, and the characters in it are all gay men.In the novel, the descriptions and narratives that make many readers feel mysterious and empty, if viewed from the perspective of this special world that is not well known to everyone, are concrete, realistic and lifelike social realism.

This article uses the first-person narrative method, but there is one point worth noting: this first-person is plural, not singular.The narrator says "we" over and over again, without mentioning "I" once.It can be seen from this that the narrator of this novel is a representative of a group.The personality of this representative has nothing to do with the novel, so the author does not give him any personal characteristics or name, but only the typological characteristics of the group to which he belongs. The type or group represented by the narrator is the younger generation among the homosexuals who reverberate by the lotus pond in the new park at night, exploring and seeking temporary partners.The protagonist of the novel is an old man with a "reference"—the red star Zhu Yan of the Shanghai Star Company in the 1930s.The narrator tells how one day there was a dance party at the house of Hei Meilang (a gay guy who "thought he was a big beauty"), and everyone danced naked for the "sacrificial spring dance". "like" voice, shouted and announced: "We are Jichunjiao!" So the narrator, the group, chose Zhu Yan as the "leader" of Jichunjiao among the group of "night wandering gods" in the park, because his "origin After all, it is different", and has "a little style of convincing the public".

According to the narrator's account, especially according to the drunken words of the "religious leader" he relayed, we can get a glimpse of the general story of the protagonist's life in this novel.The leader of the silent film era was "popular in half the sky", and he played Tang Bohu in "Three Smiles", which caused a sensation.But as soon as the sound film came out, he declined. In fact, he only became popular in the 19th, 20th, and 21st years of the Republic of China, a total of three years.His last performance in "Luoyang Bridge" was a crushing failure, and he was "buried alive" by the critics, referring to him as "an actor whose artistic life died".Later, he changed to be a director, but because he often drank too much and was in a bad body, he offended the stars, so it was never his turn to direct top-notch movies.Then he falls in love with a teenage star named Jiang Qing and suddenly feels himself resurrected from the dead.He went bankrupt and remade "Luoyang Bridge". When he was directing Jiang Qing, because of his deep love and responsibility, he once had five blood marks on his face.Everyone called Jiang Qing "Zhu Yan's Prince Charming".Jiang Qing is talented and has aura, "He was born to be a big star", Zhu Yan gritted his teeth and said to him, "Son, you must fight for me!" As a result, "Luoyang Bridge" was a big success , On the day of the performance of Da Guangming in Shanghai, the traffic on the road was cut off.

However, shortly thereafter, Jiang Qing fell in love with an actress named Lin Ping, ignored Zhu Yan's "advice" and dated her.One day, he traveled with Lin Ping in the sports car that Zhu Yan gave him, but there was an accident. Lin Ping was thrown to the ground without hurting a single hair, but Jiang Qing was burned into a piece of black charcoal in the sports car.Jiang Qing was not the only one who was burned to death: the revived Zhu Yan seemed to be burned out together. The "Master" apparently never came back from this second "death". Today in Taipei, Zhu Yan with disheveled white hair, drooping back, and lost youth, career, and love, apart from those memories that he would never forget, there is only an old, meaningless, inescapable sensuality left. body of.When night fell, he, like many other homosexuals, sought sensual satisfaction by the lotus pond in New Park. "Until the last pair of eyes full of desire disappeared in the dark grove", the priests of Jichun Sect began their "gathering" and listened to the past stories told by the leader (this group of people still meet after satisfying their carnal desires) linger, and sometimes hold dance parties, obviously "like flock together" and pity each other with "sickness").

For a period of several months, the leader did not appear in the park.It turned out that one day when he was drunk, he chased a male student on the street, mumbled "Luoyang Bridge" and "Prince White Horse" in his mouth, and forced the male student into his arms.Finally, he was caught by the police and sent to prison.On a hot and humid summer night, he suddenly came to the park again, wearing a new suit and neatly dressed, but he was beaten by the criminal police in prison, and his steps were staggering with injuries.He was alone, leaning against the railing by the pool, standing tall, as if he didn't hear the whispering and laughing around him.After standing for a long time, until late at night, he took a good-looking but lame young male prostitute, "kicking into the dark green coral".

For those who are trapped in the gay world involuntarily, or who know the scene of the gay world through observation and reading, the novel "Sparkling Stars in the Sky" very vividly and powerfully outlines this society that is ignored by normal society. Or the netherworld of contempt.Among homosexuals (this refers to gay men entirely. According to social research reports, lesbians have different lifestyles), although there are some who can quietly lead a life like a couple with a regular same-sex partner, but most of them are Unable to settle down, unable to control myself, trapped in the samsara of lust and love, always moving and wandering, eager to explore, constantly pursuing, but like a circle, from youth to old age, never finding relief exit.Check out the author's description:

Maybe it was a hot day in July and August, wandering people stayed in the park for a long time, so we were all on the steps by the pool, walking around the pool, stepping on shadows one by one, busy going around .In the hot darkness, a lock of white hair floats here, a bald head dangles there, a hunchbacked figure, eager, exploring, passing through, passing through. This large group of people (according to the American Social Survey, one out of every six men in the United States has a homosexual experience), young and old, are "busily going around" around the lotus pond.Their "current task" is to explore each other and find "objects". Once the wandering people leave, they can start their "activities".However, the author's text descriptions also appropriately allude to the entire living conditions of these people.

For most gay men, youth is the biggest "capital".So they are particularly afraid of old age.They worship the youthful body, so of course the religion they believe in is the "Spring Festival Religion".In addition to this common "belief," however, this homosexual type group can be divided into many subtypes, or "classes."The first classification method is based on age: generally speaking, the older the age, the lower the class.In this way, the younger generation represented by the narrator of the novel is separated from what he calls "our grandparents" by a certain distance, and they do not mingle with each other.In addition to the "religion leader", because of the "origin" and the "past", he has won the respect of the younger generation (although it may be half-jokingly respected), and the narrator group is very respectful to those with "a lock of white hair", Aged homosexuals with "a bald head" and "a hunchbacked figure" obviously don't think much of them.The narrator says:

Among the night wandering gods in the park, there are many who are older than him (the leader).Yet they are obscene. Another classification method is according to each person's sexual orientation and clothing.The same is gay, but there are several different types of sexuality.There are people like Hei Meilang who "think they are a great beauty", when they are tired, they "stand on tiptoes, open their arms, stretch their waists, and yawn a few times"; they wear scarlet tights and black shorts , sitting in the middle of the steps, swinging a pair of bare legs in sandals, "showing off like a little peacock that just opened its tail".But there are also those who are as primitive and wild as the mountain man A Xiong, who dance the mountain people's spring festival dance naked, or wear tight white canvas sausage trousers, "exposing a saturated man all over his body."However, most of them, especially those who are married or have no youth to show off, often look and dress like ordinary people.Like the fat, bald foreigner in a "checkered Hawaiian shirt" or the guru in "a new shiny light blue sand market suit," we don't find it strange at all when we meet on the road .

Another category of gay men is based on each person's occupation or interest.For example, in the novel, the old man Mo, the director and professor, and Ah Xiong, who is "born a martial arts star", and Hei Meilang, who "must break into Hollywood in the future", belong to the same category because of similar ambitions and interests, and transcend age boundaries.Another professional group is "the gang of young men in Sanshui Street".These "younger children" are actually male prostitutes, who usually "solicit customers" from married or unmarried middle-aged and elderly homosexuals, and charge each time like ordinary prostitutes.The group represented by the narrator does not include these male prostitutes who mainly deal with money, but instead confronts them and looks down on them.But the gang of little boys, "didn't lose the upper hand because of this. They were in groups of three or four, with their shoulders hooked and their backs hunched, their clogs beating reverberatingly, on the steps, like a demonstration, swinging back and forth. , humming a very coquettish little tune." The world of gay men is based on the youthful body. The biggest fear and most embarrassing sorrow of ordinary gay men is that youth disappears, the body is no longer pursued by people, but the lust does not go away.When discussing "The Blood-Red Rhododendron", I mentioned that Bai Xianyong often used the humid and hot summer night to symbolize the saturation of carnal desire. "A Sky Full of Shining Stars" is a good example.In the novel, there are two realistic scenes about homosexuals eagerly exploring and seeking "objects", and the backgrounds are "hot days in July and August" and "hot darkness".Especially the two paragraphs of descriptive text at the end of the novel are full of "meat".Here are some of the lines recorded: It was an unusual summer night. There was not a drop of rain in Taipei for more than two months.The wind is hot, and so are the stone steps in the park. Those fertile tropical trees are luxuriant and steaming, and they are all emitting warm smoke. The lotus in the pond has a strong fragrance, so sweet that it makes you feel tired.In the dark sky, that moon—have you ever seen it?Have you ever seen such an obscene moon?It's like a big meat ball, full of blood, and the flesh is red and floating there.There are people in the park, like a revolving lantern, turning in a hurry. Immediately afterwards, the author describes in detail how Hei Meilang shows off his body posture, how the primitive man Ah Xiong exposes saturated men, and how the little girl in Sanshui Street seduces and seduces like a demonstration.The sudden appearance of the leader "frightened" everyone, but this attention only lasted for a moment. "In an instant, the previous busyness resumed on the steps. The night gradually deepened, and the footsteps on the steps became more and more urgent. Every footstep was chasing, probing, and longing. "The leader stood alone, "until the ball-like red moon" sank from behind him, and then he left with a young child named Xiaoyu. Judging from the leader's actual actions today, he is a typical tragic figure among homosexuals who has lost his youth and still has his carnal desires.But why is he not "wretched" but "so convincing"?Why do spring worshipers who worship youth think that such an old man who has long lost his youth is qualified to be their "leader"? This involves the consistent theme of a series of works: a person with a glorious past, even if this "past" has been turned into an empty memory, knows how to retain a kind of temperament, a kind of dignity, which makes him different and nobler than some People who have never or have no chance to enjoy the glorious past. Let us see how the author uses the language of the narrator to express vividly and powerfully the "temperament" or "dignity" that is old and depraved, and miraculously preserved by the leader: His gray hair was disheveled in locks and trembled in the wind. He frowned tightly, and the three wrinkles on his forehead became deeper and deeper.Have you seen?A person's wrinkles can be so deep!It seemed to have been cut out with a sharp knife. Three straight stripes, so dark that they were black, lay across his broad forehead.Tall, with broad shoulders, he must have been handsome in the past, but his back has slumped, and he is wrapped in his old herringbone gray autumn jacket all the way. When he walks, he flutters, revealing It means infinite decay.But his strange eyes—what were they like?In the darkness, the two clusters of green lights, like the long-lived lamps in the ancient tomb, burned the flame that would not be extinguished. Even in the end, he was "repaired" by the criminal police, limped out of prison, and came to the park to pursue the satisfaction of his desires - in such a pitiful and despicable situation, the leader still managed to retain a certain kind of pride and dignity: He stood alone, leaning against the railing, raised his white-haired shaggy head, his tall and thin figure, very emaciated, very proud, standing there, facing a wave of whispers around him Whispering and laughing, he pretended not to care. The reason why the leader is different from other "night wandering gods" is that he enjoyed three years of brilliant artistic life in the 1930s.One day, at a spring worship gathering, he said drunkenly: "Zhu Yan? Zhu Yan?——He's already dead!" He also said: "Zhu Yan only lived for three years." It is the leader, as well as the author of the novel, who divides artistic life ("spirit") and physical life into two. With the former, one is "alive", without the former, the latter alone is equal to "dead". Zhu Yan, who was "dead" at the end of his artistic life, was once "resurrected" because of his love for Jiang Qing.In Jiang Qing who possessed "that aura", he regained his lost self.So he pinned his new life on Jiang Qing's genius and Jiang Qing's success.Because he had personally tasted the pain of "being buried alive" and "being strangled by someone's neck", he insisted that Jiang Qing "fight for this breath for me".By the way, it may be mentioned that the film critics back then "Pushed him into the well, and even threw stones down. Bury him alive!" etc., seems to imply that "normal society" treats homosexuals with different behaviors. Sanction attitude. Zhu Yan's homosexuality with Jiang Qing back then was true love—a love in which the soul and soul melted into one.This kind of fiery and dedicated love forms an obvious and sharp contrast with today's homosexual love chasing after sensual satisfaction in the new park. When the leader talked about his "Prince White Horse" in the "Jichunjiao" gathering, he pointed at the narrators one by one, and said, "Jiang Qing was born to be a big star, and the things in him That aura—little brother, don’t think that you are handsome—you don’t have any!” Hei Meilang disapproved, “pulls his mouth and sneered.”Here, the author obviously intends to make a comparison between Jiang Qing, who represents the "past", and Hei Meilang, who represents the "now".But Jiang Qing is pure, typical of ancient China (riding a white horse and wearing a water-green silk robe is a hint), with "that aura" in her body, she is a real "genius".What about Kuro Miro?But in the Taipei New Park, she is posing, showing off her body, "thinking she is a great beauty", and she is obsessed with foreign countries, wanting to break into Hollywood.I am afraid that my figure is too short, so I consider custom-made a pair of high heels, so that I can play with foreigners!In addition, Ah Xiong, who was "born to be a martial arts star", is also in contrast to Jiang Qing, who was "born to be a big star". The "Luoyang Bridge" mentioned by the author in the novel does have its own movie, which is a mythical movie.And Jiang Qing, a young man, is really elegant like a mythical figure, and his symbolic meaning is obviously more than realistic.What Jiang Qing symbolizes, of course, is youthful vitality and the brilliance of the "spirit".Therefore, Zhu Yan's love for him has another abstract meaning. Zhu Yan "knows that Lin Ping is an ominous thing at first glance".His jealousy of the female star Lin Ping is of course the strong jealousy of homosexuals on the one hand.But he obviously really had a premonition that she would eventually "ruin" Jiang Qing's genius.Sure enough, in a car accident, Jiang Qing was burned into a piece of black charcoal, but "that little witch" was not injured at all.Lin Ping not only ruined Jiang Qing's genius, but also seemed to steal his success, and later became Tianyi's big star. Since Zhu Yan completely relied on Jiang Qing's genius and success for his new life, Jiang Qing's death also destroyed his chances of resurrection.He died again.Many years have passed, and when I recall it today, the leader still murmurs like "the neck is choked" and "the breath is about to be choked" again, "like a bone is choked" in the throat Muttering: "Burn to death—we all burn to death—". But is he really "dead"?The author means, is he really dead?But not so.Otherwise, the leader's "those green eyes" would not "sparkle like sparks".It is because he retains an "unyielding" temperament, "burning a flame that will not be extinguished" on the dark ruins of life, so even if he is in the most embarrassing and embarrassing situation, even if his leg is injured and he can't walk. Staggering and unsteady, he is surprisingly able to "stand proudly" instead of being "obscene" (of course, the great incompatibility between his proud look and his humble purpose of coming to the new park is also the author's intention. A bit of irony). From here, we can turn to talk about the symbolic meaning of this novel.Although the subject matter of this novel is limited to the special scenes of homosexual love and the homosexual world, we can extend its meaning and interpret the novel as a projection of the general phenomenon of the whole human being.Really, is it only homosexuals, which one of us does not lament the shortness of youth and the limited lifespan?Which one of us, before our final death, is not for our current affairs, "busy going around" in the circle of life with no exit, how we human beings, in the eyes of gods who have no life limit, should look like Poor and contemptible! "Like a revolving lantern, turning in a hurry", so "busy", so "urgent", but for what?It's just greed for the satisfaction of a little desire!The satisfaction of such a humble desire for life! And time, never waits for people, never stops passing.The body that was once full of youthful vigor suddenly asked, "The pulse is getting slower and slower, and the nerves are numb one by one, and you watch your hands and feet rotten one by one."Life is slowly corroding like this, and finally dies. In this way, people, what is the point of living such a scene?It is almost as if it is no different from animals.But the author thinks there is a big difference.Or, should make a big difference.The difference between humans and animals is that humans not only have "meat", but also "spirit".Art, ideals, and love are manifestations of the "spirit".Real life and sexuality, is the expression of "meat".Ordinary people grow up with age, their physicality gradually increases, and their spirituality gradually loses.The author obviously believes that under the control of this helpless law of life, a person who has lost his youthful ideals or artistic life can only rely on a memory, a memory of the former "spirit" to redeem the life that only has "flesh" , keep a little bit of human dignity. In this way, the story of the leader is no longer just the story of a poor gay old man, but also a tragic story of the entire human being.And the author's extended intention, we can feel it from the very special tone or tone of this novel. I have already said that the narrator of this article is the spokesperson of a group, always using the plural "we", without any individual characteristics.Like the shining stars in the sky, there is no difference between one and another.It's just that after shining for a while, it will "gradually dim down".Even Zhu Yan, a big "star" in the era of silent films, "gradually fades away", the fate of life gradually dimming, and finally disappearing, is of course not limited to homosexuals, but universal to all human beings.So, in this sense, each of us is a member of the narrator's community. And this narrator, who secretly represents all human beings, does convey the vicissitudes of the world and the desolation of human destiny with his special tone.This narrator seems to have no face, no form, but only a voice—a lingering, strange, hollow echo that seems to come from the dark twilight or the ghostly valley.Appreciation of this novel seems to be mainly by hearing rather than vision. One of the main reasons for this tone like an echo in the valley is that the author sometimes inserts some short, sometimes repeated or repetitive rhythmic interrogative sentences in the narrative text.Such as: Zhu Yan?Zhu Yan? —he was dead long ago! Have you seen?A person's wrinkles can be so deep! But his strange eyes—what were they like? Do you think you can live a long time? ...do you think your body is great?Do you think your face is pretty? ... Do you think you can all live to forty?Fifty? "Tang Bohu"?They all rushed to call him. what about you?Your pulse beats slower and slower. But why?Why? ...why don't you listen to me? That moon—have you ever seen it?Have you ever seen such an obscene moon? Again, let us look at the opening paragraph of the novel: It’s always like this every time, and every time he waits until the bright stars in the sky gradually dim one by one, he leans on the stone railing beside the lotus pond in the new park and begins to tell us about the his stories. The words "always" and "always" in this paragraph, in addition to the reverberation effect caused by the repetition of words, also imply a constant state in meaning.We noticed that the narrator of the novel only stated that the story took place in a thick and hot night ("perhaps it was a hot day in July and August"), but did not specify a fixed time.This makes people feel that the background of the story is a ghost world without time.And in the middle of the night, the meeting of the bishops of the "Sacrificing Spring Sect" reminds people of heresy, cults or gatherings of wizards and witches; the words of the leader become like oracles or spells; all of which greatly add to the darkness of the novel. Eerie atmosphere.In addition, "gloomy groves", "dark green coral", tropical trees that are "steaming... with warm smoke", the fragrance of lotus flowers that are "so sweet that they are greasy", and "red flesh" The obscene moon", the eyes of "biyingying... like a long-lived lamp in an ancient tomb", these, and a lot of descriptions with endless examples, all create the same atmosphere, which makes people suspicious. Fairyland, or a place haunted by elves and ghosts.The combination of these factors creates a "surrealistic" temperament in the novel. Originally, the homosexual world, which was completely isolated from normal society, looked a bit like such a tricky and weird fantasy world in the eyes of ordinary people.Therefore, it is not a misunderstanding that readers who do not understand the realism of this article think that it is an empty and grotesque impressionist novel. The narrator of "Sparkling Stars in the Sky" outlines the life style of a group of homosexuals who have been rejected by society.But the "those stories" told by the Hierarch leaning on the stone railing with his back against the dark sky—or, to be more precise, the stories of the Hierarch elicited by the narrator with his peculiar ethereal tone-tell not only The doomed sorrow of homosexuals is the inevitable sorrow inherent in all human beings.That's an old story.eternal story.A long and never-ending tragic story that began in primitive times.