Such stars and such moons: Qian Zhongshu and Yang Jiang's unparalleled love

Chapter 14 Facing life directly: the tension between dream and reality (1)
In the saddest rainy season

When Qian Zhongshu came back, Yang Jiang took her daughter to the pier eagerly to meet him.After two years, the longing was like a kite with a broken string, running rampant in my heart, but when I really met, I was so distressed that I almost cried out.

Yang Jiang recalled: "Zhong Shu's eyes are dark, his hair is too long, and he wears a linen gown, which looks very rustic and the cloth is very thick." In that remote town of Lantian, he was a big man with rough hands and feet, He doesn't know how to take care of himself at all, with a dark and rough appearance, his daughter Ayuan is suspicious, and only thinks he is a stranger.

Qian Zhongshu got off the boat and handed Ah Yuan a foreign orange.The daughter who stood beside her mother timidly looked at her father, took it and handed it over to her mother.Not seeing each other for two years, she had already forgotten what her father looked like. When Zhong Shu put the luggage beside his wife's bed, the worried Ah Yuan watched suspiciously from the sidelines...

After dinner, Ah Yuan, who couldn't bear it anymore, said, she wanted to drive him out: "This is my mother, your mother is over there."
Zhong Shu laughed, and said very "worsely", "Let me ask you, did I know your mother first, or you first?"
"Of course I got to know each other first. I got to know each other when I was born. You got to know each other when you grew up." Ah Yuan said naturally.

It can be said that children's words are not restrained. After hearing this, Yang Jiang was surprised and remembered her words exactly.Qian Zhongshu was also amused, he whispered a whisper in his daughter's ear seriously, and won her daughter's friendship at once, even Yang Jiang was a little jealous, saying: "Yuanyuan and Dad are always the most "buddies"!"
It's just that no one knows what Zhong Shu said to his daughter, not even Yang Jiang.In her later years, she said sadly: "I didn't ask what Zhongshu said at the time, and I never thought of asking later. Now no one can ask... Among the three of us, I am the most stupid one... I can't guess it, I have to doubt it, I have to remain a mystery forever."
They were naughty together, joked together, and made noise together.After Zhongshu came back, the good girl who used to be by her mother's side suddenly became unbecoming, and got into trouble with this big man who was still childlike.She had just turned four years old at that time, it was just a child's nature, and she came to have a naughty and playful companion, and she was naturally liberated from the confinement of a good girl.

After Zhong Shu came back, they couldn't find a good place, so they had to live temporarily in the living room downstairs of Qian's house on Lafayette Road.At that time, they didn't know that they lived here for eight years.

In December [-], Shanghai was occupied and they were trapped in the occupied area. Qian Zhongshu’s job was also lost. It was because his father-in-law taught him the Book of Songs course at Aurora Women’s Liberal Arts College that he was barely confused. mouth.

The current situation is turbulent, and their lives are miserable and bleak.The branch school of Zhenhua Girls' High School was closed, and Yang Jiang lost her job, so she had to work as a private tutor and a substitute teacher in an elementary school at the same time. After all, it was just for the three buckets of rice every month.

Their home is in the French Concession, and the elementary school that Yang Jiang substitutes for is in the public concession, which is far apart.Every day, Yang Jiang would take a car to the edge of the French Concession, and then take the tram in the public concession.At the beginning, when the tram crossed the Suzhou Creek Bridge, the passengers on the bus had to line up to cross the bridge and bow to the Japanese soldiers stationed there, but she didn’t want to bow to the invaders, so she lowered her head and slunk across.

Later, the passengers no longer got off the bus, and the Japanese soldiers would get on the bus at the bridgehead for inspection.Every time the Japanese soldiers came up, the car immediately fell silent, and all the passengers immediately stood up and waited for inspection.Once, when Yang Jiang stood up late, a Japanese soldier glared at her and raised her chin provocatively with his index finger.

Women don't give in, and our lovely Ms. Yang also glared at each other, not to be outdone, and shouted loudly: "It's unreasonable!"
The friends were all stunned, and the already silent carriage was even more terrifyingly silent.After an unknown amount of time, the Japanese soldier turned around and left, his heavy military boots making dull noises.After the tram drove away, the inside of the car exploded. The stunned colleague next to her stroked her chest and said, "Ah! Aah! You scared me to death! How can you be qualified? Are you crazy?"
Yang Jiang, who was belatedly aware, also broke out in a cold sweat at this moment.She secretly rejoiced that she didn't cause a big disaster, and she would rather take a detour in the future than be so humiliated by the Japanese.

Living in Shanghai, this is the most melancholy rainy season.Under the relentless bullying of the Japanese army, Yang Jiang ran around as a substitute teacher, and Zhong Shu also served as a tutor, but the salary he received was pitifully low, barely enough to get by.

If you can't go around the world with your hands, how can you bear to swim in it?In these days of misery and embarrassment, Qian Zhongshu couldn't help worrying and depressed when he saw the country's land was lost and the people were ravaged.He has deep sorrow and anger, but he is unable to kill the enemy and serve the country, so he has to write poems that are time-sensitive and hurt the world.

Win the children's laughter, Yingying dew washes and hangs in the clouds.

In my life, my head is full of sights, and the four fields are mourning to the bone.

Buildings are hard to return to the wind, which one to borrow, and the mountains and rivers are all illuminated.

When I return, the blue sea, the blue sky and the moon, I can't bear to look at it for many years.

This is his representative "Mid-Autumn Night Moon" at that time.On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the bright moon is shining brightly, and it is the time when thousands of families are reunited, but many people who have left their homes can only look at themselves while wailing in the wild.The country is broken, the mountains and rivers are here, and the birds are frightened when they hate goodbye. How can you bear to look at this blue sea and blue sky?

His poems at this time have meticulous rhythm, melancholy and sorrow, and the style is the closest to Du Fu, the poet saint.If it is said that Du Fu's ups and downs made his realistic poetry, then those unsightly scenes under the iron heel of Japanese militarism also made Qian Zhongshu the hero of the pen.

With whom does the old country talk about robbery and ashes, and steal the raw body and wait for the thunder.

Zhuang Tuxu falsely said that Huanglong was doing something wrong, but the evil prophecy really depends on the white geese.

The bones are all in pain when you step on the street, and the tears pour down to the sea to meet the sorrow of the sky.

When you are hurt, you will care about the hurt and spring habits, and if you embrace next year, it will be better.

The Japanese army's invasion became more and more rampant, but the Kuomintang army did not want to resist the Japanese, and retreated steadily, making the hope of recovering the occupied areas come to naught.Instead, Qian Zhongshu used Yue Fei's allusion of "going straight to the Yellow Dragon", and took Du Fu's meaning of "the white geese came before the frost in the old country", expressing the worrying situation of the family and the country.

The double return of spring is elusive, and Yi Suiqin is startled in the chaos.

I am old and am not alone, who will share all kinds of worries.

Jiao Ya's state of mind is in Mojie, and the dead tree's vitality is in Zhongwen.

The heroic chat is kept for self-warming, Wu Xiaoyan builds up the knowledge.

This situation and this scene, everything is so shocking, but what about a scholar like him who has no power to restrain a chicken?It's just a few sad poems to satirize current events.Si Chuikong wrote to see for himself, he wrote a book behind closed doors, but walked on thin ice, Ke Ling was arrested, Li Jianwu was arrested, will it be his turn one day?
In April [-], two Japanese military police suddenly broke into the house. At that time, Qian Zhongshu was in class, and only the weak Yang Jiang was at home.Fortunately, Yang Jiang was very vigilant, calmly asked the Japanese soldiers to sit down, and took the opportunity of making tea to hide the manuscript of Qian Zhongshu's "Talking about Art" in the pavilion halfway up the stairs, and quietly sent someone to tell Qian Zhongshu Mr. don't go home.

After finishing everything, she returned to the hall with tea, and dealt with the Japanese politely and without condescension. In the end, they only took away Yang Jiang's address book and a pile of newspaper clippings.It is also because of the protection of his wife Zhimin that his precious manuscripts escaped the inspection and damage.

At the end of [-], his essay collection "Writing on the Edge of Life" was published, which included ten "cold house essays" he wrote when he was at the National Southwest Associated University.A thin collection of essays was edited by his wife and handed over to Chen Linrui and Li Jianwu for review.He wrote in the preface: "Life is said to be a big book. If life is really like this, then more than half of our authors can only be regarded as book critics, with the ability of book critics, and we don't need to read a few pages. The discussion has already been published. I wrote a lot, and finished writing a book review and handing in the paper."
He also said: "If life is a big book, then the following essays can only be regarded as written on the side of life." Life is a big book, and he reads it leisurely and enjoys it. Whenever I have any comments, I also write comments in the blank space.

During those days, he also wrote four short stories "God's Dream", "Cat", "Inspiration", and "Remembrance", and named them "Human·Beast·Ghost" for publication as a collection.He is a scholar, a poet, and a writer. This collection of short stories is full of rich book flavor, sharp and humorous, and has a unique style. It is the unique achievement of his first novel.

He wrote humorously in the preface: "I hereby declare that the characters and events in the book are all fabricated out of thin air. Not only are people law-abiding and good citizens, beasts are tame domestic animals, and ghosts are not unruly wild animals." Ghosts; they all only live within the scope of this book, and never deviate from the book."
In this most melancholy rainy season, in the Shanghai literary world controlled by the Japanese and puppets, there are traps and abyss everywhere. If you are not careful, you will be searched and tortured by the Japanese military police.In order to make a living, a literati has to sell his literature to make a living, but he also has to hide his strength and bide his time, be cautious, and wait for the river to be clear.

Of course, Yang Jiang was not idle during this difficult time.In fact, she was more famous than Qian Zhongshu at this time.

In [-], under the encouragement and influence of two well-known playwrights, Chen Linrui and Li Jianwu, she tried her hand at the knife and created two perfectly matched comedies——"Satisfy Your Heart" and "False Reality", which were acclaimed for a while. .

Wen is like a person, her plays are natural and plain, and she naturally reveals a strong sense of humor. She is good at making jokes with the characters in her works, but she does not lose her gentle and honest nature.Li Jianwu said: "Yang Jiang is not the kind of writer who is flying and aggressive. On the contrary, she has silent wisdom. She is a hardworking and virtuous lady, fair and fair... only she has a pure and beautiful woman. Sensitive, when it comes to portraying social figures, she has a unique eye, and she draws the lines very well. Everything is reasonable, everything is easy and natural, and the charm is all in it."
In post-occupied Shanghai, her comedies gave people a space to vent their depression.She said: "If it is said that the common people who fell under the iron heels of the Japanese aggressors, if they do not compromise and surrender, they are considered to be resistant, and if they are not sad or discouraged, they are considered to be strong, then the few laughs in these two dramas can also be regarded as a sign that we are in the long run. In the darkness of the long night, he never lost his confidence, and he always maintained an optimistic spirit in the hard life."
This is her comedy, vivid and lifelike.She spreads optimism to the world with her humorous writing style, and it is this humor and optimism that makes her change from Ms. Ji Kang to Mr. Yang Jiang, who is well-known to everyone overnight.

Facing reality, dream and reality pull.In the most melancholy rainy season, although it is long and bleak, we still have to be optimistic and think seriously.

breed siege
In this world, who looks back at who, who meets whom.They are talented and beautiful, they are created by nature, they are in love with each other, they are like glue, they are a couple in the literary world, like Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng, they only envy mandarin ducks but not immortals.

In his poem to Yang Jiang, Qian Zhongshu once wrote: "Laugh at yourself and strive for fame as a literati, and hate hearing about Qingzhao and Mingcheng." Slightly lost Qingzhao.The unconvinced man thanked the guests behind closed doors and wrote fifty poems in one breath, wanting to compete with his wife.

Since ancient times, literati have competed for fame, like Zhao Mingcheng, and Qian Zhongshu is no exception.Once, they went to watch Yang Jiang's play "True Becoming False". The curtain was drawn, playing, playing and singing, every movement, every line, showed his wife's infinite humor and wisdom.

At the end of the song, Qian Zhongshu said to Yang Jiang: "I want to write a novel." He is proud because he has a talented wife like Yang Jiang, and he is also excited. Like Zhao Mingcheng, he wants to use The pen writes an unprecedented story, conquering his wife and conquering the world.

He told his wife the overall idea, including the name of the novel and the main plot.Yang Jiang was very happy when he heard this, and urged him to write frequently.At that time, Qian Zhongshu was writing short stories and had to revise "Tan Yi Lu", so he didn't have time to write novels at all.In this regard, Yang Jiang also asked him to reduce teaching time and concentrate on writing.

Yang Jiang said: "Our life is very frugal, and we can be even more frugal." She quit the maid and did everything by herself, such as chopping firewood, lighting the fire, cooking, washing, etc. Her eyes were full of tears, and although she would cut her fingers or be burned by hot oil, she was willing to support her husband in writing.

She is a lover, a confidant, and understands what he thinks.During this April, she is looking forward to the birth of "Fortress Besieged" more than Zhong Shu.

In [-], he started writing, and it took two years to write.In these years of worrying about the world and life, he worked tirelessly, and finally completed a masterpiece in history-"Fortress Besieged".This is Qian Zhongshu's first and only novel.

In the preface, Qian Zhongshu said: "This book has been written for two years. During the two years, I have worried about the world and my life, and I have repeatedly wanted to stop. Because of Ms. Yang Jiang's constant urging, I blocked many things and saved money. With time, I was able to finish writing with the accumulation of pennies. It stands to reason that this book should be dedicated to her."
He finished writing it under "Accumulation of Zizhu", and Yang Jiang also finished reading it under "Accumulation of Zizhu".Every evening, he would show his wife the finished manuscript and eagerly watch her reaction.When Yang Jiang laughed, he laughed too, and when Yang Jiang laughed, he laughed too.In this regard, Yang Jiang recalled: "Sometimes I put down the manuscript and laughed with him, because what I laughed was not only about the things in the book, but also about things outside the book. I don't need to explain what the joke is, anyway, we both know each other. Then He just told me what he was going to write in the next paragraph, and I was eagerly waiting to see how he would write it. He wrote about [-] words a day on average. What he showed me was the final draft, and he would not change it."
A couple for life, they are a loving couple, harmonious, how can they not understand the link with reality?
Yang Jiang said: "Zhongshu draws materials from his familiar times, familiar places, and familiar social classes. But the characters and plots that make up the story are all fictitious. Although some characters have a slight shadow of real people, things are non-existent; Some plots are slightly real, but the characters are all fabricated."
Good writers are good at drawing material from life, but higher than life.And a good work is not a romantic documentary, but a realistic fiction.True and false, false and true, but it reads as if there is something real and there is a real person. This is Qian Zhongshu's skill.

In Qian Zhongshu's writing, the protagonist of the story, Fang Hongjian, is a good-natured, but somewhat dissolute son.He is eloquent, a little clever, but ignorant... He dare not resist his father's arranged marriage, and he can't resist Miss Bao's physical temptation, but he is excluded at school...

Some gentlemen who are fond of research always regard Fang Hongjian as the incarnation of Qian Zhongshu. When they see that Fang Hongjian is from Wuxi, he has stayed abroad, lived in Shanghai, and taught in the Mainland, they take him for granted. It is Qian Zhongshu outside the book.What's even more ridiculous is that they also "founded" to infer that Qian Zhongshu's degree is also unreliable!
According to Yang Jiang's records, Fang Hongjian is certainly not Qian Zhongshu, they are all from Wuxi, and their life experiences are far from the same.In fact, Fang Hongjian took the material from their two relatives, "one has great ambition and talent, but is often full of complaints; the other is arrogant and likes to brag about himself", but after reading it, they didn't think they were Fang Hongjian, because they Not that kind of experience.

Naturally, the Sun Roujia who walked into the siege with Fang Hongjian was not Yang Jiang either.Miss Sun and Fang Hongjian went to Hunan to teach together, and then returned to Shanghai together, which Yang Jiang and Qian Zhongshu had never done.Yang Jiang said: "Among the women I know (including myself), no one looks similar to her, but after a little more contact with her, I found that she is the most common in our circle. She is highly educated and has no specialties. , but not stupid; not beautiful, but not ugly; no interest, but has his own ideas."
Fang Hongjian and Sun Roujia are a typical couple among intellectuals.They have nothing to do with love, but they need each other. Just like Yang Jiang's incisive evaluation, Sun Roujia's "greatest success is marrying a Fang Hongjian, and the biggest failure is also marrying a Fang Hongjian".

Fiction is the art of exaggeration, with intense tension.Marriage is a big subject, love or not love, how much freedom you are willing to sacrifice to enter the siege.Qian Zhongshu borrowed from Fang Hung-chien and Sun Roujia's reality to explain the meaning of "marriage is like being in a besieged city". He said that marriage is a besieged city, people outside want to come in, and people inside want to get out.

It is also said that Fang Hongjian's father, Fang Dunweng, was Qian Zhongshu's father.This is not entirely true. Nine out of ten feudal parents are like this. Yang Jiang said with a smile: "If Fang Dunweng is two or three points like his father, then four or five points are like his uncle, and there are still a few points like him. Fabricated, because this kind of feudal patriarch is often seen among relatives and friends."
There are also many scenes that he took directly from what he saw and heard in life.The situation of Fang Hongjian on the return ship, the French police officers flirting with the Jewish women, and the Chinese students playing mahjong are all similar to what they saw and heard on the French cruise ship Ados 2.The trip of Fang Hongjian and his party of five people from Shanghai to Sanlv University is a copy of Qian Zhongshu's journey to Lantian. They are just five people in reality, and none of them are similar to the novel.

Fortress Besieged is a philosophical love story and a cynical satire.Qian Zhongshu uses witty and humorous brushstrokes to create a comedy philosophy with witty words, which always makes people laugh and think in a daze.

He wrote in the book: "A person's shortcoming is like a monkey's tail. When the monkey is squatting on the ground, the tail is invisible until it climbs up the tree, and the rear is for the public to admire. However, this The long tail with red buttocks already exists, it is not a new symbol of rising status."
This is Qian Zhongshu, with infinite wisdom revealed in his harshness.In the book, almost everyone is a clown in a stage play, which makes me and other common people watch it enthusiastically.Some people say that many of his metaphors are strokes of genius, and Qian Zhongshu’s strokes of two irrelevant things appear to be just right. After careful consideration, it will make people feel the novelty and surprise of discovering a new world.

Miss Sun has a long round face, old ivory-colored cheeks with slight freckles, and her eyes are wide apart, which makes her always have a surprised expression; flush.

This is Qian Zhongshu's portrayal of Sun Roujia's appearance, so ingenious and vivid.His language has always been top-notch, and he is good at converting ancient and modern Chinese and foreign witty words into his own whimsical but appropriate metaphors.

(End of this chapter)