The literary era since 1979

October 3th, Sunday.

Bai Ruoxue took out a stack of newspapers and several letters from the mailbox outside the yard and walked quickly back into the house.

"Teacher Fang, there is a letter for you!"

"Who sent it?"

"It's Ms. Nie."

"Really!"

Fangyan was very surprised. After receiving it, he immediately opened the envelope. It was filled with traditional Chinese characters.

Bai Ruoxue, Gong Xing and others stared at him together, and saw his expression change, with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Ms. Nie invited me to visit Iowa. The local Chinese are planning to hold a meet-and-greet event to see the Oscar statuette."

Fang Yan said: "I also hope that I can hold a lecture at the University of Iowa and give students a good talk about the creation of film scripts."

Bai Ruoxue asked curiously: "Teacher Fang, will you go?"

"I'm afraid it won't work this time."

Fangyan shook his head. Random House had packed his schedule with several reader meetings and TV interviews.

"Speaking of interviews, a reporter from Asian Weekly called the foundation yesterday and also wanted to schedule an interview."

Li Zhi blinked and said, "How should I answer him? Should I refuse or..."

"No, let Asian Weekly go to the 'China Film Week' and I will be interviewed on site then."

Fangyan rolled his eyes, "It's the same with other Chinese newspapers. If you want to interview me, you have to go to the 'China Film Week'."

"Yes! Just do it!"

Gong Xing and Bai Ruoxue looked at each other, surprised and happy.

The "Chinese Film Week" to be held by the Shanghai Film Studio in the United States is like throwing a small stone into the ocean. It does not cause much waves. Almost few media outlets are willing to invest their energy in it. Even the local Chinese newspapers and TV stations in Los Angeles do not take it seriously.

But if there are people from other dialect groups present, the attention paid to "China Film Week" will immediately rise to several levels!

After all, the heat for the "Oscar Best Screenplay" award has not completely subsided.

What's more, "A User's Guide to the Hero with a Thousand Faces" has now entered the top 20 of the New York Times bestseller list. Although its sales volume is not as good as "Saving Private Ryan", it has surpassed "Saving Private Ryan" in terms of topic popularity due to the unremitting publicity by the film and media industries.

"Teacher Fang, I still don't understand."

Li Zhi asked in confusion: "Why is "A Guide to Using the Thousand Faces of the Hero" more popular than your other works?"

Gong Xing and Bai Ruoxue were equally puzzled. They couldn't understand why Hollywood would so highly praise a mere seven-page booklet.

Fangyan smiled and said, "The reason is actually very simple, because whether it is the 'single myth model' or the 'hero's journey', they are very much to their liking. Specifically, they conform to the aesthetic level, thinking logic and ideology of Europeans and Americans."

Bai Ruoxue seemed to understand: "Are you referring to 'personal heroism'?"

"Heroism is only one of them." Fangyan said seriously, "The more important thing is religion."

"religion?!"

The three were greatly surprised and looked at each other.

"The Hero with a Thousand Faces involves not only literature, mysticism, and anthropology, but also comparative religion," Fang Yan said, "and the one that has the greatest influence on Western civilization is the 'Greek-Greek civilization'."

"What is Shuangxi civilization?"

There was a look of confusion in Li Zhi's clear eyes.

Bai Ruoxue explained: "It is the Greek and Roman civilization and the Hebrew Christian civilization. The two Greek civilizations are called the source of European civilization."

The dialect shows an attitude of "a teachable child". The representative works of the two Greek civilizations are "The Iliad" and "The Bible". The former is an important document of ancient Greek religion, and the latter is a religious classic that runs through the entire Western civilization, whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament.

“The heroes in Homer’s epics have no growth process.”

"For example, Odysseus went through untold hardships and a long journey of ten years before returning to his hometown of Ithaca. During his long journey, he experienced countless events and adventures, which could have been opportunities to show Odysseus' growth, but the work did not give any description."

"The Bible makes up for the process of a hero's growth. For example, King Saul in the Old Testament experienced many ups and downs and misfortunes until he was old and frail. He developed a unique personality and can be regarded as a model chosen by God. He has a more complex character than David."

"Such examples abound in the Bible. Almost all characters have an elusive inner world and complex interpersonal relationships, and they grow up gradually under the guidance of God. God not only created them, but also nurtured them from beginning to end..."

"It can be said that the 'hero worship' in Homer's epics has made Western culture advocate individual heroism."

"The 'heroic concept' in the Bible has made Western authors and readers love the 'journey of becoming a great hero'."

"So that's how it is. No wonder those Hollywood producers, directors, screenwriters, and critics praise your booklet so much!"

Bai Ruoxue suddenly understood.

"I have talked to Liang Suming and Ji Xianlin before."

Fang Yan said: "We all have a common view, that is, the 'two Greeks' are like the 'two wings' of Western civilization, helping it to move forward."

Although Li Zhi didn't understand, she was greatly shocked, and her dull eyes were filled with admiration and worship.

When she looked at Gong Xing, her envious eyes were mixed with a hint of inexplicable jealousy, and she smiled and said:
"You talk so eloquently, why don't you write this in the booklet?"

"I just remembered it because you asked me."

Fangyan spread his hands, "But it doesn't matter. I still have an interview coming up. I will say this in front of all the media at the China Film Week and bring some popularity to the China Film Week!"

Seeing him winking at her playfully, Gong Xian smiled brightly: "Virtue! You're really the one who could come up with this idea!"

"Cough cough!"

Bai Ruoxue pretended to cough, "Sister Gong Xian, the two of you should stop flirting in front of us singles." Then she turned her head to Fang Yan, "Teacher Fang, how should we respond to Ms. Nie's letter?"

"That's easy. Although we can't visit them in Iowa, we can invite them to Los Angeles."

Fang Yan asked Bai Ruoxue to invite Nie Hualing, Pan Yaoming and others to participate in the "China Film Week" in her own name.

Therefore, Wu Yigong, Bai Chen and other leaders of Shanghai Film Studio had expected that "China Film Week" should be an unknown and ignored small exhibition. However, on the opening day, not only Steven Spielberg, Lucas and others came to support the event, but also Nie Hualing, Pan Yaoming, and many international students, overseas Chinese and Chinese media came to the scene. For a while, the scene was bustling with people and was quite spectacular.

All that’s missing is “the sound of loud gongs and drums and the blast of firecrackers”.

The North American Daily News and Asian Weekly in San Francisco rushed to report this grand event, highly praising the "China Film Week" and Fang Yan, the new "pride of the Chinese", while also not forgetting to recommend works such as "The Ring" and "Artificial Intelligence" to their readers.

Soon after, Chinese newspapers such as Seattle's West China News, New York's China News and Chinese Express also began to offer free publicity.

The news spread further and further, even across the ocean to Hong Kong, far across the ocean. (End of this chapter)