Chapter 97 Section 4 The literature of the three places across the strait meets again

Since then, I have met Wang Meng five times at international conferences, and we have also had some conversations outside of the topic. Although the mainland literary world is as vast as the land, Wang Meng does have a considerable status and representativeness in the mainland literary world.He not only has natural talent, but also has a calm observation ability and adaptability wisdom, so he was able to survive the earth-shaking years! The second time I met him was in Berlin in 1985, and I was able to talk to him when I served as a judge for the fiction group of the "World Chinese Young Writers Literary Award" at the Chinese University of Hong Kong many years later.At the end of 1993, "United Daily News" hosted the "Forty Years of Chinese Literature Conference" planned by Wang Dewei, Zheng Shusen and I. We invited him to Taiwan to participate. He brought twenty mainland writers to Taiwan for the first time. More than 60 people were invited, including more than 100 people in Taiwan. The event was unprecedented, and there were some sincere conversations inside and outside the meeting.The conference papers were edited by Wang Dewei and me, first published "Forty Years of Chinese Literature", and then translated into English as Chinses Literature in the Second Half of A Modern Century: A Critical Survey.Fifteen essays in the book discuss the literary trends in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and overseas in the second half of the twentieth century.Indiana University Press published the third edition of Xia Zhiqing's "Modern Chinese Novels" in 1999; to strive for this collection of essays is to hope that it will be published at the same time as "History of Modern Chinese Fiction" and give a new chapter to Chinese literature in the 20th century. full review.

In Taipei, Wang Meng invited Taiwanese writers to the mainland for a meeting next time.In 1995, jointly organized by the Chinese Writers Association and the "United Daily News" Cultural Foundation, I invited 14 Taiwanese writers to Weihai, Shandong Province to participate in the "Man and Nature" seminar hosted by Wang Meng.It was also an unprecedented gathering. Taiwanese participants included Liu Kexiang, Hu Taili, Wang Wenjin, Li Fengyan, Chen Xinyuan, Lin Mingde, Walis Nuogan, Jin Hengbiao, and Yang Nanjun. They are all Taiwanese writers who write about nature, and their papers are solid. , I am very proud that the discussion of "man and nature" can be called an international level.

There are more than fifty mainland writers, many of whom I have read.When I changed planes in Beijing to Yantai, Wang Meng introduced some important writers. I saw Zhang Xianliang, whom I admired a lot, and couldn’t help but say like a Taiwanese fan: “Ah! I’m touched by your kindness…” I remember a few mainland writers beside me. The writer smiled slightly in surprise.It was only later that I gradually realized that writers on both sides of the strait had different views on works that reflected the pain of the Cultural Revolution.Even if it is Ah Cheng's "Chess King Tree King Child King" that everyone in Taiwan knows, their evaluation will not be so high.Whenever there is a slight political point of view in everything, a considerable distance should be kept between people immediately.

During the opening ceremony of the conference and many occasions of mutual interviews, we sincerely look forward to the exchange of literary minds.During the whole day when we walked through the Sino-Japanese War Memorial Hall together, Zhang Xianliang, Zhang Xianliang and several other writers talked deeply about the situation of the Chinese people in the past century.The small motorboat slowly made a big circle around Bohai Bay, where the huge navy of the Qing Dynasty was completely wiped out by the Japanese fleet in 1894. The sea was calm and blue, and the clouds in the sky stretched freely.Weihaiwei, a place of national humiliation in history, is now restructured into Weihai City. It has been elected as the cleanest city in the country. There are many new projects, a prosperity of "looking forward", and there are clear moonlit nights for several days. The members who went to Taiwan walk along the seaside every night. The trail is only a few feet away from the sea, and the waves gently lap the shore. There are still some sunken ships and bones buried under the sea... The sea view is so beautiful that I sigh, and I wish I could take it Pack this moonlight and take it home! This moon clearly witnessed the cession of Taiwan a hundred years ago.

A hundred years later, I stand on the shore of the Bohai Bay, and looking north, I should be Dalian in the Liaodong Peninsula. If I take a ferry from here, and take a train ashore, I can reach my hometown Tieling in a few hours.However, I can only stand here for a moment, "Looking forward to Qianqiu and shed tears", and tomorrow morning we will take a plane to "return" to Taiwan via Hong Kong.Getting married, having children, starting a family and starting a business, and living in Taiwan for 50 years, he is still a "outsider" person, like the boat that can never return home, looking at the land that cannot return among the waves.

In Taipei, in the late 1980s, Xindi, Hongfan, Yuanliu and other publishing houses published many works of mainland writers, the first being A Cheng's "Chess King Tree King King of Children", and then Wang Anyi, Mo Yan, Yu Hua, Su Tong, Zhang Xianliang, etc. Have appeared.These writers also came to Taipei to attend large and small conferences. Although they know some friends who can talk to each other, "they" and "us" both understand in their hearts that the road is different.As Foster said at the end of "A Journey to India": Forget all the trauma, "It's not this time. It's not here." (, not now, not here.")