Back to 80: My Literary Life

"Minghua, I'm going to visit Xidian University and NPU." Dong Mo volunteered: "I know a cadre from the Propaganda Department of NPU. He is responsible for the club work of their school."

"Editor-in-Chief Dong, thank you for your hard work."

"Alright, let's all go our separate ways. One thing to note is that all authors who submit papers must indicate in their letters which university they are from, what degree they were majored in, and which department they are from, to prevent anyone from pretending to be a college student and adjourning the meeting!"

After the meeting, Minghua was busy publishing a call for poetry submissions from college students in Guangming Daily. At the same time, he did not forget to write a letter to the directors of the Chinese departments of Lanzhou University and Xiamen University, explaining his ideas and asking them to help contact the literary departments of their schools. Club, students are encouraged to contribute.

Suddenly, poetry manuscripts from college students from all over the country came in like snowflakes.

"Editor Fang, this is the manuscript of your poetry group." Xiao Yang from the mailroom of the editorial department on the first floor said, pointing to a large pile of envelopes on the table.

Fang Minghua took a look.

Damn it!

so much!

It's like a hill.

"Is there a sack? I'll put it back." Fang Minghua said.

"No, how can I usually have so many letters?" Xiao Yang replied, but he couldn't help but rant in his heart.

Oh shit.

worn out.

His job is to register and classify submissions from all over the country one by one: letters from readers belong to letters from readers. The submissions are also divided into three categories: novels, poetry and prose, novel reviews, and literary theory discussions, and sent to three groups respectively.

There has been a surge in submissions to the poetry group recently, and he is extremely busy.

Fang Minghua didn't say anything, and ran to the guard room to find Zhang Baofu and asked for a sack. The young man heard that he was going to pack manuscripts, so he found one for him without saying a word and personally carried a sack of letters to Fang Minghua's office on the third floor.

Something happened again today.

Fang Minghua smiled bitterly when he saw the big sack.

It's your own sin.

The editors of the poetry group have been working overtime recently to review manuscripts.

Fortunately, "Crossing Guandong" has been handed over to "Contemporary" for publication, and I have nothing to do now.

Fang Minghua made himself a cup of tea, took out a letter from the sack, opened it and read it carefully.

Poetry manuscripts are mixed in quality.

Some are indeed very good, but some are very unsatisfactory.

Check out this one:

"singing"

I want to sing to the children crying on the roadside

I don’t know whose child it is

The face is dirty and rich

When I cry, my whole body moves

Alas, you are so small

I can hold you in my hand

Is this also called poetry? !

What a vernacular.

It's just better than the shit and urine of later generations.

Fang Minghua looked at the author again and found that it was written by a student named Shang Zhongmin from the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of Chongqing University.

oops

This is no unknown person.

Fang Minghua heard this person's name before traveling through time.

One of the founders of the "Fei Fei Poetry School", he was the first to propose the writing of "spoken poetry" in China, and analyzed and criticized the new poetry since the May Fourth Movement, especially the "Misty Poetry". He is a major critic and theorist of the "third generation" poetry movement.

Spoken poetry, isn’t it just vernacular?

You can criticize the shortcomings of Bei Dao and his generation's hazy poetry - they are obscure, too abstract, and incomprehensible, but you won't go from one extreme to the other. Why not just speak in the vernacular?

Hey. Poetry is ruined by you guys.

Fang Minghua unceremoniously passed the poem.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and Zhao Muchun excitedly walked in with a few manuscripts in his hand.

"Editor Fang, my senior classmate responded to the letter and sent several poems at the same time. I think they are all very good." Zhao Wuchun looked excited.

"Let me see."

Fang Minghua took over the poem manuscript, and the first poem was called "In the Mirror":

Dangerous things are beautiful

Why don't you watch her ride back?

A mirror is always waiting for her

Let her sit where she always sits in the mirror

Looking out the window, I just think of the things I regret in my life

Plum blossoms have fallen all over Nanshan

Damn it, I really met a great person.

Zhang Zao from Sichuan International Studies University!

This guy is awesome.

One of the "Five Gentlemen of Bashu" in poetry in the early 1980s (Zhang Zao, Ouyang Jianghe, Bai Hua, Sun Wenbo and Zhai Yongming), he challenged the "Three Musketeers of Poetry" in Yanjing.

Especially Zhang Zao, although there are not many poems circulated, his poems are a perfect combination of traditional poetry and modern poetry. He inherits the tradition of "wind and coquettishness" from the lyrical source of poetry, and perfectly displays this tradition. in the current context.

For example, the song "In the Mirror" is very beautiful to read.

"This poem has been accepted as a key recommendation!" Fang Minghua said immediately.

hey-hey

If there are a few more excellent poems like Zhang Zao's, this special issue will be worthwhile.

Fang Minghua wanted to continue reading the poem manuscript. Is there still this poem?

"I want to take a slow boat to Paris"

I want to take a slow boat to Paris

Go see Van Gogh, see Baudelaire, see Picasso

This poem is very, very angry.

Author: Hu Dong.

from Sichuan University.

He is also a very famous poet.

In the 1980s, there were two major groups of college poets: one in Yanjing and the other in Chongqing, Sichuan.

"Okay, publish all these songs!" Fang Minghua made a decision immediately.

What about our Chang'an? Are there any great poems?

Fang Minghua wanted to ask Zhang Yanqian how the situation was going over there.

"Luchun, could you please call Yan Qian over and take a look at the poetry manuscripts she has collected?" Fang Minghua said.

"good"

Soon, Zhang Yanqian came over with several poem manuscripts.

"Editor Fang, I went to the Finance Institute, and a teacher from Han Dong gave me a poem." Zhang Yanqian said.

Fang Minghua took it and took a look.

Ah?

Writing about the Big Wild Goose Pagoda:

About the Big Wild Goose Pagoda

What can we know

let's climb up

Look at the scenery around you

then come down again

Damn it!

Is this also poetry?

Is this the original source of the saying in later generations: "The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a fool, what's there to see?"

You could call it colloquial banter, but this is poetry.

Poetry is the crown jewel of literature, so it shouldn’t be wasted like this, right?

"This poem cannot be requested, not just because the author is a teacher and does not meet the requirements of this special account." Fang Minghua refused without hesitation.

I don’t care what others say or praise. I am now the deputy editor of "Yanhe" and I have the final say here!

In fact, this Han Dong is still very awesome.

Poet, writer, director, and later co-produced movies with Jia Zhangke.

However, his poems were basically in vernacular, and Fang Minghua really couldn't appreciate them. Although this buddy later founded the "They Literary Society" in Nanjing, he was considered the most important representative of the "third generation poetry".

Now both Zhao Muchun and Zhang Yanqian could see it.

Fang Minghua doesn’t want any of the “colloquial” poetry that has become popular among college students!

The leader's ideas are the will of his subordinates. The two generals immediately followed her idea and began to re-examine the submitted poems and let them out.

"Dear students, we don't want the so-called "spoken poetry". Our editor-in-chief said it is vernacular! Don't waste the name of poetry!"

Somehow this sentence reached the ears of Shang Zhongmin of Chongqing University. When the young man heard this, he became angry!

I won’t be in class anymore!

Rush to Xijing immediately and argue with this turtle son!