Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 549: Give him what he likes?
Chen Yingzhen founded the "China Unification League" in 1988 and served as its first chairman. In July of the following year, he established Renjian Publishing House. As a literary theorist, Chen Yingzhen is best known for his "Chinese Literary History and Theory" and is known as the "Lu Xun" of Taiwan.

He advocated that Taiwan's modern literature is the extension and development of Chinese new literature in Taiwan, and is an integral and important part of Chinese literature. He is a very staunch patriotic writer who often visits the mainland, and this time happened to be in Yenching.

In a guest room of the Jianguo Hotel, Fang Minghua met Chen Yingzhen and talked about inviting him to serve as a member of the jury of the World Chinese Literature Award. The other party readily agreed and took the initiative to contact Yu Guangzhong and Lin Haiyin to invite them.

Fang Minghua quickly expressed his gratitude.

After visiting Chen Yingzhen, Fang Minghua prepared to visit Qian Zhongshu, and first went to Yenching University to meet Xu Yuanchong.

Xu Yuanchong is already seventy years old this year. When Fang Minghua saw him in the teacher's office of the Department of International Politics at Yan University, he knocked on the door and introduced himself. Xu Yuanchong greeted him with a smile.

"Are you Fang Minghua? Sit down, sit down."

Fang Minghua sat on the chair very properly.

"In her letter to me, Li Li praised you very highly and even sent me a copy of your collection of essays that she had just translated into English but had not yet published."

Xu Yuanchong said as he took out a stack of manuscripts from the drawer. "I read them carefully. Of course, I mainly looked at how well she translated them."

“Overall it’s pretty good. I think Li Li has mastered the ‘Three Beauties of Translated Poetry’ and the ‘Theory of Taking Advantage of the Target Language’ proposed by me in literary translation very well.” Xu Yuanchong said at last.

"Li Li is a top student you brought up." Fang Minghua said with a smile, "I have also read your book The Art of Translation, and heard Li Li talk about your theory of three beauties, which are beauty of sound, beauty of form, and beauty of meaning." Fang Minghua continued, "In fact, I think that not only translation, but also the poetry we write should respect this principle."

"Oh?"

"When I was the deputy editor-in-chief and editor-in-chief of Yanhe, I dabbled in modern poetry and wrote a theoretical article titled "Poetic Imagery in the Post-Misty Poetry Era," some of the content of which was based on your views."

"Modern poetry is free, but that doesn't mean that phonology is unimportant. The changes in sentence length or neatness, and the harmony of rhyme and rhyme are part of the beauty. This is the wealth gained from old poetry."

The length of sentences in poetry makes the poetry rhythmic. Even if the lyrics are no longer sung, it is still catchy to read. This is the beauty of art. "

After hearing what Fang Minghua said, Xu Yuanchong smiled, and the wrinkles on his face immediately smoothed out:
"If you hadn't mentioned this, I would have forgotten it. I have also read the theoretical article you wrote. Although I mainly study the translation of ancient poetry, I also pay attention to modern poetry. I think what you said makes sense. Look at what modern poetry is about. It's heartbreaking."

Having said that, Xu Yuanchong sighed.

“But there are also some better ones that follow your principle, like Haizi’s poems and the poems written by Sichuan poet Zhang Zao a few years ago. They can be considered the ‘three beauties.’ ” Fang Minghua said.

The two chatted about modern poetry. After a while, Xu Yuanchong suddenly said, "Look at my memory. I forgot why you came here."

"Xiao Fang, Li Li also told me about your situation in the letter. You want to visit my teacher Qian Zhongshu. I can help you call my teacher in advance to tell him, but my teacher has been living in seclusion for many years and rarely pays attention to the affairs of the literary world. And because of his temper, as a student, I may not be able to ask him to come out."

Hearing this, Fang Minghua hurriedly said, "Mr. Xu, I am very grateful that you can help me with the recommendation, but whether it can be successful or not depends on human effort."

After leaving Yenching University, Fang Minghua did not rush to visit Qian Zhongshu, but returned to the General Political Department compound. If he wanted to visit these people, he had to do some homework in advance. Of course, he did not need to give any gifts, which did not need to be particular, as long as he did not come empty-handed with some fruit.

At least after they go there, the two of them will have some common topics, just like with Mr. Xu.

Most people are familiar with Qian Zhongshu through his novel Fortress Besieged.

As a realistic satirical novel, "The Fortress Besieged" is called the "New Scholars" of the 1940s.

The work is centered on Fang Hongjian, who returned from studying abroad in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan. It depicts the struggles and intrigues of a group of intellectuals who were far away from the times and the people in love, marriage, career, and life during the war-torn era. It reveals their inner poverty, emptiness, and humility, criticizes the dark reality of the traditionally ruled areas, and reveals the crisis of modern civilization and the predicament of modern life.

Last year (1990), Fortress Besieged was adapted into a TV series, starring Chen Daoming, Yingda and others, which attracted widespread attention.

This book includes Qian Zhongshu, a person that ordinary people are beginning to become familiar with.

In fact, this book "Fortress Besieged" is just Qian Zhongshu's amateur work. His real work is literary research. He has a deep understanding of traditional Chinese scholarship, modern Chinese scholarship and modern Western scholarship. He has studied Chinese history, philosophy and literary classics in depth, and has never stopped reading and studying Western new and old literature, philosophy, psychology, etc. One of his representative works is "Guanzibian".

"Guanzibian" is a huge work in the form of notes written by Mr. Qian Zhongshu during his lifetime. The scope of discussion ranges from the pre-Qin period to the pre-Tang Dynasty, and is written in the form of reading notes in classical Chinese. The book quotes tens of thousands of book evidences from tens of thousands of works by four thousand writers. In addition to literature, it also covers almost all social sciences and humanities. This book can be called a "national studies classic" and is an academic work that Mr. Qian Zhongshu has poured a lot of effort into.

The word "管摘" comes from "Zhuangzi·Autumn Water". In "Han Shi Wai Chuan", it says: "It is like looking at the sky through a tube, or piercing the earth with a needle - what you look at is big, what you see is small; what you pierce is huge, but what you hit is small."

At night, Fang Minghua was in the living room reading the first volume of this set of books, "Guan Zhui Bian: Mao Shi Zheng Yi", which is an interpretation of "Mao Shi Zheng Yi".

"Maoshi Zhengyi" is a research work on "The Book of Songs", also known as "Kong Shu". Fang Minghua is more interested in "The Book of Songs".

Unfortunately, the traditional Chinese version published by Zhonghua Book Company is in vertical format, which is a bit difficult to get used to.

The problem is that there is no simplified version of Qian Zhongshu’s Guanzibian!
This set of books was collected by Song Tangtang's grandmother. She would take it out and read it whenever she had time.

Grandma was knitting a sweater. Seeing Fang Minghua reading the book, she smiled and asked, "Xiaohua, why are you suddenly interested in this book?"

"Aren't you going to visit Mr. Qian Zhongshu? Pick up a book he wrote and read it first," Fang Minghua replied.

Grandma laughed after hearing this, "Xiaohua, you are planning to give in to him."

Fang Minghua chuckled twice and didn't answer.

"Actually, Xiaohua, I don't think it's necessary. Maybe Mr. Qian doesn't value these things." Grandma replied slowly.

(End of this chapter)