Chapter 1 preamble
〖This book includes eight novels written by the author from 1922 to 1935.It was first published by Shanghai Cultural Life Publishing House in January 1936, and was listed as one of the "Literature Series" edited by Ba Jin. 〗
This very small collection, from the time it was written to the time it was compiled, can be counted as a very long time: a full thirteen years.
The first piece "Mending the Sky" - originally titled "Buzhou Mountain" - was written in the winter of 1922.At that time, my opinion was that I wanted to use both ancient and modern themes to make short stories. "Buzhou Mountain" was the first story that took the myth of "Nu Wa refining stones to mend the sky" and tried it out.First of all, it is very serious, although it is just taking Frott's theory to explain the origin of creation-human and literary.I don’t remember why, I stopped writing halfway and went to read the daily newspaper. Unfortunately, I saw someone—I forgot the name now—criticizing Mr. Wang Jingzhi’s "The Wind of Hui". He said that he would beg with tears, please Young people should stop writing such words.This pitiful insidiousness made me feel funny. When I was writing a novel again, no matter what, I couldn't stop a little husband in ancient clothes from appearing between Nuwa's legs.That's where the seriousness fell into slickness.Slickness is the enemy of creativity, and I'm very dissatisfied with myself.
I am determined not to write such a novel again, and when it is published, I will attach it at the end of the volume, which can be regarded as a beginning and an end.
At this time, our critic, Mr. Cheng Fangwu, was swinging an ax under the banner of "Adventure of the Soul" at the gate of the Creation Society.On the charge of "vulgarity", he killed it several times, and only recommended "Buzhou Mountain" as a good work-naturally, there are still some bad things.Frankly speaking, this is what made me not only unconvinced, but also despised this brave man.I don't care about "vulgarity", and I am willing to be "vulgar". As for historical novels, I think that those who have studied extensively and have evidence, even if some people ridicule them as "professor's novels", it is actually very difficult to organize. Just take a little reason, dye it at will, and spread it into an article, which doesn't require much skill; besides, "like a fish drinking water, it knows its own temperature", in vulgar words, it means "you know when you are sick": "Buzhou Mountain" The second half is very sloppy and can never be called a masterpiece.If the readers believed the words of this adventurer, they would be mistaken, and I also became a mistake, so when the second edition was printed, this article was about to be deleted; a slap in the face was paid to this "spirit"——My Collected Works Here, only "vulgarity" remains domineering.
Until the autumn of 1926, I lived alone in a stone house in Xiamen, facing the sea, flipping through ancient books, almost lifeless around, and my heart was empty.However, the Weiming Press in Beijing received a constant stream of letters, urging articles for the magazine.At this time, I didn't want to think about the present; so the memories were unearthed in my heart, and I wrote ten articles "Collected from the Morning and the Evening"; and I still picked up ancient legends and the like, and prepared eight articles.But as soon as I wrote and published—it was titled "Mei Jian Chi" at the time—I rushed to Guangzhou, and this matter was completely put on hold again.Later, although I occasionally got some subject matter and made a sketch, I never sorted it out.
Only now has it finally been compiled into a book.Most of them are sketches, not enough for the so-called novels called "Introduction to Literature".The narrative sometimes has a little basis in old books, and sometimes it is just a slap in the face.And because my sincere respect for the ancients is not as good as for the present, so I can't help being slippery from time to time.After thirteen years, there is still no progress, and it seems that it is really "nothing more than "Bu Zhou Shan" and the like"; but it does not write the ancients more deadly, but there may be room for existence for the time being.
December 26, 1935, Lu Xun.
① Frot said Frot, see note (14) on page 241 of this volume.The "Frott theory" mentioned here refers to Freud's psychoanalytic theory.Although the author once paid attention to this theory and was somewhat influenced by it, he later adopted a skeptical and critical attitude; This doctrine. ② Refers to Hu Menghua's criticism of Wang Jingzhi's poetry collection "Hui's Wind". After "The Wind of Hui" was published by Shanghai Yadong Library in August 1922, Hu Menghua, a student of Nanjing Southeast University, published an article "Reading the "After the Wind of Hui", attacked some of the love poems as "degenerate and frivolous" works, "suspected of immorality".Lu Xun once criticized Hu Wen.See "Hot Wind Against Critics With Tears". ③Cheng Fangwu, a native of Xinhua, Hunan, was one of the main members of the Creation Society, a famous literary group during the "May 4th" period, and a literary critic.After the May 30th Movement in about 1925, he began to lean towards revolution.From 1927 to 1928, he launched the revolutionary literature movement with Guo Moruo and others; later entered the revolutionary base area, participated in the 25,000-mile Long March, and engaged in revolutionary education for a long time.Shortly after the publication of Lu Xun, Cheng Fangwu published the article "Comments on "Scream"" in the second issue of the second volume of "Creation Quarterly" (February 1924). Starting from his literary opinions at that time, he believed that Chinese "The True Story of Ah Q" and so on are "shallow" and "vulgar" "naturalistic" works, only "Buzhou Mountain" "Although there are still unsatisfactory places", it expresses The "masterpiece" of the author "to enter the court of pure literature and art".In this comment, Cheng Fangwu quoted the French writer France in his book "Literary Life" as saying that literary criticism is "an adventure of the soul in a masterpiece" and said: "If criticism is an adventure of the soul, this A loud cry, is it not worth the adventure of the soul?" ④When the second edition was printed for the thirteenth time in January 1930, the author extracted the article "Buzhou Mountain". Because the contents of the article were different from those published in the past, it became a new edition, so it is called "Second Edition" here. Version". ⑤ The stone house in Xiamen refers to the "Jimei Building" where the author lived when he was teaching at Xiamen University. ⑥The Weiming Society Literary Group was established in Beijing in 1925. Its main members include Lu Xun, Wei Suyuan, Cao Jinghua, Li Jiye, Tai Jingnong, Wei Congwu, etc.Disbanded in 1931.The agency focuses on introducing foreign literature, especially Russian and Soviet literature, and compiles the semi-monthly "Wei Ming" magazine, "Wei Ming Series", "Wei Ming New Collection", etc.
① Frot said Frot, see note (14) on page 241 of this volume.The "Frott theory" mentioned here refers to Freud's psychoanalytic theory.Although the author once paid attention to this theory and was somewhat influenced by it, he later adopted a skeptical and critical attitude; This doctrine. ② Refers to Hu Menghua's criticism of Wang Jingzhi's poetry collection "Hui's Wind". After "The Wind of Hui" was published by Shanghai Yadong Library in August 1922, Hu Menghua, a student of Nanjing Southeast University, published an article "Reading the "After the Wind of Hui", attacked some of the love poems as "degenerate and frivolous" works, "suspected of immorality".Lu Xun once criticized Hu Wen.See "Hot Wind Against Critics With Tears". ③Cheng Fangwu, a native of Xinhua, Hunan, was one of the main members of the Creation Society, a famous literary group during the "May 4th" period, and a literary critic.After the May 30th Movement in about 1925, he began to lean towards revolution.From 1927 to 1928, he launched the revolutionary literature movement with Guo Moruo and others; later entered the revolutionary base area, participated in the 25,000-mile Long March, and engaged in revolutionary education for a long time.Shortly after the publication of Lu Xun, Cheng Fangwu published the article "Comments on "Scream"" in the second issue of the second volume of "Creation Quarterly" (February 1924). Starting from his literary opinions at that time, he believed that Chinese "The True Story of Ah Q" and so on are "shallow" and "vulgar" "naturalistic" works, only "Buzhou Mountain" "Although there are still unsatisfactory places", it expresses The "masterpiece" of the author "to enter the court of pure literature and art".In this comment, Cheng Fangwu quoted the French writer France in his book "Literary Life" as saying that literary criticism is "an adventure of the soul in a masterpiece" and said: "If criticism is an adventure of the soul, this A loud cry, is it not worth the adventure of the soul?" ④When the second edition was printed for the thirteenth time in January 1930, the author extracted the article "Buzhou Mountain". Because the contents of the article were different from those published in the past, it became a new edition, so it is called "Second Edition" here. Version". ⑤ The stone house in Xiamen refers to the "Jimei Building" where the author lived when he was teaching at Xiamen University. ⑥The Weiming Society Literary Group was established in Beijing in 1925. Its main members include Lu Xun, Wei Suyuan, Cao Jinghua, Li Jiye, Tai Jingnong, Wei Congwu, etc.Disbanded in 1931.The agency focuses on introducing foreign literature, especially Russian and Soviet literature, and compiles the semi-monthly "Wei Ming" magazine, "Wei Ming Series", "Wei Ming New Collection", etc.