Old things in the south

Chapter 82 On Lao She and His Style
Lao She's original name was Shu Qingchun, and the word "She Yu" was to separate the surnames, so "Lao She" was used as a pen name.Lao She was originally from Shandong and settled in Beijing. He was born in Beijing in 1898. By last year (1966), it was widely rumored that he committed suicide and died. He was already 68 years old.The final confirmation of his death was sent by Radio Moscow. Not long ago, the musician Ma Sicong mentioned Lao She in this way:

... This continuous campaign against artists and intellectuals has either silenced writers or made them write propaganda works. Anyone who has style and personality, His work will be banned.One example is Lao She, a famous novelist and playwright known for his sympathy and description of the lives of ordinary people in Peking. (I heard that Lao She died of illness last summer. Another report said that he committed suicide by throwing himself into water. There is another legend that he was beaten to death in his house when he tried to resist Harassment by a group of Red Guards)...

No matter how Lao She died, it is needless to say that Lao She was one of the countless cultural people who were punished to death during the rage of the "Cultural Revolution".

In the Chinese literary world, Lao She is known for the characteristics of his writing. This characteristic is to write novels in pure Peking dialect, which is not limited to the dialogue of characters, but is thoroughly used.This certainly gave his works an unprecedented personal style, but in order to use this method to write novels, the choice of the subject matter of the novel must be in line with that kind of text, which is also limited so that he cannot write in some novels. Writing outside the subject matter.Although Lao She has already written many works on the subject matter that can use this kind of writing.

Lao She's novel, the most famous "Camel Xiangzi", is well known to everyone, but it was not published until 1928 when he wrote several novels and short stories after his first novel "Lao Zhang's Philosophy" in 1938.Judging from the publication order of his novels, it is as follows:
"Lao Zhang's Philosophy", "Zhao Zi said" (1928), "Cat City", "Divorce" (1933), "Xiao Po's Birthday", "Going to the Market" (1934), "The Collection of Cherry Sea" (1935) ), "Biography of Niu Tianci", "Clam Collection" (1936), "Camel Xiangzi" (1938), "Train Collection", "Wei Shen Collection", "Crescent Collection" (1939), "Cremation", "Donghai Bashan Collection", "Four Generations Under One Roof" (1946), "Two Horses" (1948)...

In addition to novels, Lao She also wrote the plays "The Problem of Face", "The Country Is Supreme", "The Remnant Fog", "Zhang Zizhong", and his works include "Old Niu Broken Cart". After 1949, he also wrote two plays, one is "Fang Zhenzhu" and the other is "Longxugou".

Lao She studied at a normal school in Peking, and later entered Yenching University. Before he came to England in 1925, he taught at Tianjin Nankai Middle School.He came to the UK for five years to investigate British education, and taught at the Institute of Oriental Studies, University of London, teaching Chinese language and literature.During his stay in England, he read many English novels for learning English, among which he admired Dickens the most; so his first novel "Lao Zhang's Philosophy" imitated Dickens' "Mr. Pickwick" Amusing tone.Later, Xu Dishan also traveled to England to study. After reading his manuscript, he admired it very much and introduced it to the magazine for serialization.Following Lao She wrote the same type of "Zhao Ziyue". The technique of "Zhao Ziyue" is much more advanced than that of "Lao Zhang's Philosophy".

On the way back to China in 1930, Lao She stayed in Singapore for some time and completed "Xiaopo's Birthday", which is an interesting book written for children. After returning to China in 1931, he taught at Qilu University in Jinan for three years, and then at Shandong University for another year. In 1935, he resigned from teaching, concentrated on writing, and became a professional writer.Magazines pulled drafts from him, and he had to rush to deal with them.In his self-confession of "Old Bull and Broken Cart", he said that the novels he wrote after that were not very good, but when his "Divorce" and "Camel Xiangzi" appeared, it can be said that as a novelist, he position is affirmed.

Lao She's works are written in a humorous and funny style. Sometimes he would like to be serious, but it is impossible.He himself said: "I am a straightforward person. When I tell a joke, my imagination is fully active, and whatever I write, it is naturally interesting. Tell me to talk about serious problems and things with a sad face. My My heart sank, and my words stopped.” He added: “My friends often advise me not to be humorous, and I am grateful, and I also know that I am often disgusted because of humor. . . . It has a certain shape. But this kind of thing always lacks natural interest.” This is his nature, and he created his own style of writing. With this style of writing—the spoken language of Peking and the humorous style of writing—he won most of the Readers, but there are also many readers who hate his style of writing, saying that he is "spoofing" and that his works only have a lively surface and no profound content.

Speaking of Lao She's masterpiece "Camel Xiangzi", there was talk of a movie being made in Hollywood many years ago, and the news had been spread to the world, but somehow, it didn't continue.The characters in Lao She's works in this book are almost all male, so there is no sissy at all. "Camel Xiangzi" is a rickshaw driver. Regarding this novel, I once read Mr. Lin Shujiao's article "About Camel Xiangzi Counting Points", and talked about it like this:

The characters in the book "Camel Xiangzi" are very successful, and the image of the protagonist Xiangzi in the book is very real and vivid. "He has no appearance. What makes him cute is the spirit on his face. His head is not very big, his eyes are round, his nose is fleshy, his eyebrows are short and thick, his head is always shaved and shiny. There is no excess flesh on his cheeks, The neck is almost as thick as the head; the face is always flushed red, especially bright is a big scar between the cheekbone and the right ear - when I was a child, I slept under a tree and was bitten by a donkey." This passage describes Xiangzi The appearance is depicted.His appearance is so ordinary, there is nothing amazing about him, except for the scar on his face, there is no feature.But it is a typical image of the working people in the north.

There is nothing outstanding about Xiangzi's character.Xiangzi, who had just entered the city, retained the character of a hardworking, frugal and taciturn peasant.He saved money little by little, with the goal of buying his own car.With a car, he feels very satisfied and happy.He is happy to help people, but not to please people.Sometimes he is greedy for petty gain, and he has a conscience not to do bad things.This kind of resigned, contented and easy-going character can be found everywhere in rural areas of our country.But the ruthless social reality even drove him into the dark abyss even for such a good person.His car was robbed, Huniu who had helped him a little died, and his beloved Xiao Fuzi hanged himself.He couldn't bear the blow of this continuous application, he gave up on himself, and he went to degeneration.A tough guy who thinks he's invincible becomes a shameless, soulless liar who spends his life doing the worst things he can.Readers can see from the book that this is not just the tragedy of the rickshaw pullers, not just the tragedy of the toiling people, but the tragedy of the Chinese society and nation.

The author describes an extraordinary era with ordinary characters and ordinary stories.An era of alternation between the old and the new, full of blood and tears, and full of contradictions.In the mediocrity, in the slang, we feel the painful convulsions of our nation's soul.

Lao She's success in "Camel Xiangzi" is that he truly understands the lives, thoughts and feelings of the characters he writes about.I don't know if Lao She actually experienced the life of a rickshaw driver, but his description makes one suspect that he is writing about himself.He knew so clearly and so much about the rickshaw driver's appearance, posture (including movement and stillness), thought, speech, and even expert terms.These are living things from real life, with flesh and blood, which are different from those works made behind closed doors.

Lao She's works have a strong local flavor, and "Camel Xiangzi" is no exception. It describes the environment of the characters in Beiping City, and the people in the book also speak the Peking dialect.People who are used to reading foreign books may find it rustic.But these simple, earthy things are indeed Chinese things.Don't try to please the public, don't pretend to be astonishing, and see innocence in simplicity, this is Lao She's style.

Regarding the style and humorous tone of Lao She's Peking dialect, people have different opinions, some say it is good, some don't like it, but no matter what, it is always different from other writers' exclusive style.As mentioned earlier, his style of writing limits the subject matter of his writing, so the characters in his works are mostly vulgar, so that they can suit his style of writing, and the writing can be comical and suitable for his identity.And these vulgar characters are mostly men, so it is easier to describe.His novella "Crescent Moon" uses the No.1 name to describe a tragic story of a girl from the death of her father at the age of seven to her becoming a prostitute because of her life. It is in the dialect of Beiping, but when she and When a man is in love, the passage "The spring frog sings a love song, and the scent of tender cattails disperses in the heating of the Spring Festival Gala..." is not appropriate if it is not in Peking dialect, because it cannot be described in a vulgar way when describing a female student's love. The words and sentences are written, which also proves that the style is limited.Readers can take a look at Lao She's style from the novel "Crescent Moon", and study and compare it. Does this description feel "poor" or does it have its merits?Wouldn't it be better if it wasn't written in this style?
(End of this chapter)