The literary era since 1979

Less than five minutes before the opening ceremony of Lu Xun Academy of Literature, the invited guests arrived one after another.

Ding Ling, Feng Mu, Shi Tiesheng and others also rushed to the school gate from Juya Pavilion, talking and laughing along the way.

"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you two, but nonfiction is not my forte."

Fang Yan said: "For the novel I write for Chinese Writers, I plan to start from the direction of realism."

“Realism is good, too.”

Feng Mu glanced at the rows of relief portraits and said, "Mr. Lu Xun and your teacher are both masters of realistic literature."

Ding Ling nodded and said, "Xiao Fang, you have inherited his legacy. In today's situation where realism is declining, you should really stand up."

Under the eager gazes of the big guys, Fang Yan smiled and said:

"That's what I was thinking, but I don't have any idea how to write it."

"There's no rush for this, take your time."

Feng Mu encouraged him with a few words, and then he saw benches placed on the open space behind the school gate.

The place was bustling with people, and it was very lively. Suddenly, a fierce quarrel broke out from inside.

After asking Fangyan, I found out that it turned out that there was a quarrel between different factions of the Redology Society due to disagreements.

"Comrade Xinwu, it is clearly written in Dream of the Red Chamber that Qin Keqing was the daughter adopted by Qin Ye from Yangshengtang. Yet you say that she is the daughter of the deposed Crown Prince Yinreng and was adopted by the Jia family at birth as a political investment. This statement is simply nonsense!"

"What is Yangshengtang? It was an orphanage during the Ming Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty inherited the old system of the Ming Dynasty and renamed it 'Yingyangtang'."

"What is Qin Ye's official position? He is just a clerk. As an adopted daughter with such status and background, do you think she is worthy of being the legal wife of Jia Rong, the eldest grandson of the Ningguo Mansion? Can she be the future grandmother of the Ningguo Mansion and inherit the fourth-class title?"

"This is all your conjecture. Zhi Yanzhai's annotations clearly state that it is unknown to whom the Ming Qin family came from. This is what is meant by praising and criticizing, distinguishing good from evil... We also know that the author wants the world to cry together over this word of love. It is obvious that she is the embodiment of 'love' and is destined to die because of love."

"That's right, Qin Keqing, 'Love can be lost', and her verdict is 'Love is the sky, love is the sea, love is the illusion, and when love meets, it will lead to lust'."

"........."

Seeing a group of commentators besieging a person who was interested in the hidden meaning, Feng Mu shook his head and laughed, "This Liu Xinwu!"

No wonder it looks so familiar!

Looking at Liu Xinwu who was arguing with the crowd, Fangyan couldn't help but think of his outrageous and conspiracy theories about "Dream of the Red Chamber".

In particular, he was the first to propose the unfounded statement that "Qin Keqing is the daughter of the deposed Crown Prince Yinreng."

"You could say he is a man of the School of Esoteric Mythology, but he always makes rash and absurd arguments, and many of his views cannot stand up to scrutiny."

Feng Mu said helplessly: "Although his interpretation of Dream of the Red Chamber is a bit unconventional, this person's novel is still well written."

Fang Yan said: "I have read his "Class Teacher" and "Bell and Drum Tower"."

"what do you think?"

“Although Class Teacher is very famous and is a representative work of scar literature, I think Bell and Drum Tower is his mature work.”

"Yes, The Bell and Drum Tower is a realistic work full of the regional characteristics and life atmosphere of Yanjing."

Feng Mu grinned and said, "It is precisely because of this that I was able to be included in the candidate list for this year's Mao Dun Literature Prize."

“Has the selection for the second Mao Dun Literature Prize begun?”

Fangyan raised his eyebrows.

Ding Ling said that the selection committee for the Mao Dun Literature Prize has been established, with a total of 18 judges including herself, Zhang Guangnian and Feng Mu. The chairman of the jury is Li Yaotang. The preliminary list selected by everyone currently includes 7 novels, but none of them are works in dialect.

But this is not a shady deal, nor is it that the works in dialect are not good enough, but the Mao Dun Literature Prize has an unwritten rule:

The same author should not win the award consecutively.

As a result, a writer may only win the Mao Dun Literature Prize once during his or her peak creative period.

"Several of your works in the past two years are worthy of being shortlisted for the Mao Dun Literature Prize."

Feng Mu comforted him, "But this time, I may make you suffer a little." "Without rules, there will be no order. I understand."

Spoken in a serious dialect tone.

"In fact, we hesitated and debated for a long time. Many comrades felt that you should at least be included in the preliminary list."

Ding Ling patted him on the back.

"Let's just follow the rules. Don't let my efforts ruin the teacher's efforts in establishing this award."

Fang Yan shook his head and said, "As long as the Mao Dun Literature Prize can get better and better, I can accept any grievances I suffer."

Feng Mu, Ding Ling, Tang Yin and others had gratification in their eyes, and couldn't help but sigh that Shen Yanbing had accepted a good disciple.

Fangyan smiled without saying anything. Although he swallowed the grievances, what he fed was his vision!

Besides, there is still the next session. My own "Farewell My Concubine" can be registered for the third Mao Dun Literature Prize!

…………

After the group photo was taken and the opening speech was delivered, the opening ceremony of Lu Xun Academy of Literature was coming to an end.

But Liu Xinwu's debate with the critics was not over yet. It had just been a truce, but now it had started again.

"What evidence do you have to prove that Qin Keqing is the daughter of the deposed Crown Prince Yinreng?"

"The couplet in Rongxi Hall in A Dream of Red Mansions is 'The pearls on the seat shine like the sun and the moon, the brocade in front of the hall shines like the mist and clouds', which comes from Yinreng's famous couplet, 'The drinking in the building is inspired by the bright moon, and the poetry on the river is inspired by the sunset'. From this, we can infer that the 'moon' here refers to Yinreng. The prototype of Qin Keqing is naturally the daughter of the deposed crown prince Yinreng, who was raised at home by the Cao family, the prototype of the Jia family."

"Then what is the basis for keeping him in the Cao family?"

"Well..."

"You can't tell, right? These are all your groundless conjectures. There is no documentary evidence to support them. The most ridiculous thing is that you say the Cao family is the prince's party. According to historical research, the Cao family was loyal to Emperor Kangxi. How could they be the party of the deposed prince?"

Just as the two sides were confronting each other, Feng Mu could no longer bear it and called the crazy Liu Xinwu over.

"Mr. Feng."

"Haven't you always wanted to meet Fangyan? He's here now. Let me introduce you to him."

"Really?!"

Liu Xinwu was extremely excited, especially when he stood face to face with Fang Yan, he became even more excited.

"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you!" Fangyan could clearly feel that his handshake was very strong.

"Teacher Fang, it's my honor to meet you!"

Liu Xinwu said: "I really like your interpretations of Dream of the Red Chamber, especially the magical realism article."

Fang Yan loosened his hand and said, "You are too kind. This is just my personal opinion. I will just say it casually."

"You are being modest!"

Liu Xinwu said that there has always been a rumor in the literary world that Mao Dun memorized "Dream of the Red Chamber" so well that he could recite any chapter at random. Since Fangyan learned from Mao Dun, the research and interpretation of "Dream of the Red Chamber" must have been passed down from one school of thought.

Fang Yan explained: "Although my master is Mr. Mao, my instructor in "Dream of the Red Chamber" is actually Mr. Wu."

Liu Xinwu was stunned: "Mr. Wu!?"

Fangyan nodded. Mao Dun and Wu Zuxiang had very different directions and theories in their research on "Dream of the Red Chamber".

Then he said meaningfully: "If we must talk about the similarities between the two elders, I'm afraid it can only be that they are both members of the social analysis school and part of realistic literature, just like you and me, we are both good at realistic novels."

"Teacher Fang is right!"

When Liu Xinwu mentioned "realism", his eyes lit up, but soon dimmed. "It's a pity that realism has declined..."

"I don't agree with this." Fangyan said firmly, "I always feel that realism still has strong vitality!" (End of this chapter)