Back to 80: My Literary Life

Shang Zhongmin is really here.

Came here overnight by train.

Travel thousands of miles for poetry.

In later generations, this person would be considered sick, but in this era, it was too common. Now there are many poetry societies all over the country, and the entire poetry world has become a kind of rivers and lakes. Each poetry society leads the way and forms its own school, and poets spread all over the country. "Serial connection" between them.

"Poets", especially those who are somewhat famous, are a passport that can travel freely between major universities and even cities, just like the folk singers in the 1990s, traveling around the world carrying a guitar.

After riding the train for a day, Shang Zhongmin got off the bus and bought a map of Xijing. He took the bus and went straight to the "Yanhe" magazine without even eating.

At this time, Fang Minghua was riding his bicycle and getting ready to go to work.

Usually when he is writing, he stays in the work dormitory at night, mainly to keep quiet. He hasn't written much recently, so he goes home to stay at night.

In the morning, I first had a bowl of spicy soup at a snack bar near Xincheng Square, and then biked to work.

To be honest, he wasn't interested in this stuff when he first traveled through time. However, the more he ate it over the past few years, the more delicious it became. He would feel panicked if he didn't eat it for three days, especially the one next to the square called Xing Lao San Hu Spicy Soup. Shop, delicious and rich.

After a bowl of spicy soup and a fried pancake, his stomach immediately felt much better, and Fang Minghua swayed towards the unit on his bicycle.

It doesn't matter if you are late. Fang Minghua is not strict with his subordinates. The work must be completed according to quality and quantity. He turns a blind eye to everything else.

By the way, why do you have the nerve to accuse others of being late?

Fang Minghua rushed to the magazine office on his bicycle, and saw someone arguing at the door from a distance.

"Let me in, I want to see your editor-in-chief!"

Hey, why is it the Sichuan dialect of Henan province?

"No, the leader told me that if you want to submit an article, please send a letter or give me your poem, and I can forward it to you. If there is no appointment, the editor will not see the author." Zhang Baofu spoke righteously.

Looking at this college student who claimed to be from Chongqing, Zhang Baofu felt a little regretful.

"Hey, brother Minghua should just write another poem and put it here for me, just like that time, to scare away these poets who don't know how high the sky is!"

Zhang Baofu blocked the boys from entering. When he saw Fang Minghua coming slowly on his bicycle, he hurriedly shouted: "Brother Minghua, this man doesn't listen to advice and insists on looking for you."

Fang Minghua got out of the car and saw the young man wearing a wrinkled shirt and having long hair that was a bit unruly.

He is younger than himself, probably around twenty years old.

The young man also looked at him.

Is he the deputy editor-in-chief of Yanhe Magazine?

So young, he looks a few years older than me.

Shang Zhongmin was secretly surprised.

"Classmate, which university are you from and what's your name?" Fang Minghua asked while pushing his bicycle.

"My name is Shang Zhongmin, great one."

Ah?

This guy actually came from Chongqing?

"Why are you looking for me? I read the song you wrote. I'm sorry, it doesn't meet the conditions and cannot be published." Fang Minghua spoke straightforwardly.

Shang Zhongmin's face suddenly turned red and he said, "Editor Fang, I'm not here to submit a manuscript today, but to argue with you about what real poetry is!"

oh?

"Let's go to my office." Fang Minghua pushed his bicycle towards the office.

Shang Zhongmin followed, and as soon as he entered the office, he couldn't wait to say: "Editor Fang, I think you have a prejudice against colloquial poetry! Colloquial poetry is not the same as oral poetry."

"Wait a minute." Fang Minghua interrupted him and said with a smile: "Did you come by train? Have you eaten in the morning?"

"No, but I'm not hungry." Shang Zhongmin said quickly.

The somewhat excited emotions just now began to calm down.

Well, Editor Fang is quite kind and seems to be a nice person.

Although I don't agree with his views on poetry.

Fang Minghua nodded after listening to his words, and then said: "Shang Zhongmin, I know it's not easy for you to come all the way. You must have a lot to say about poetry. How about we discuss it in a bigger place?"

"Where?"

"How about going to Western University, finding a classroom, and inviting some students to listen?"

"Okay! I agree!" Shang Zhongmin agreed immediately without any hesitation.

It’s true that a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers.

Fang Minghua secretly praised the situation, and without saying anything, he picked up the phone on his desk and called Liu Jianjun, the director of the Chinese Department of Western University.

"Hello, Director Liu, I am Xiao Fang from Yanhe Magazine. I have something to ask you for help. I want to have a poetry discussion with a student from the major, and talk about modern poetry. I want to put it in your Western University .”

"Okay, thank you. When will the lecture start? The sooner the better, tomorrow afternoon, right? This guy probably skipped class."

"Okay, okay, see you then."

Fang Minghua put down the phone and said to Shang Zhongmin with a smile: "Okay, at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon, in the lecture theater on the first floor of the third floor of Western University.

"Okay, Editor Fang, I'm leaving without interrupting your work." Shang Zhongmin stood up.

"Hey, do you have a place to stay tonight?" Fang Minghua asked with concern.

"Editor Fang, don't worry about this. I'm going to Western University now. It's no problem to find a dormitory to hang out for one night." Shang Zhongmin sounded a little arrogant.

I think back when I was in Chongqing, I went to Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Sichuan International Studies University, Southwest Agricultural College, or to Chengdu, Sichuan University, School of Telecommunications Engineering, etc. As long as I was a poet and could produce a few decent poems, I would have no worries. No place to live and no place to eat or drink.

This time he was going to do the same thing.

"Okay, let's go slowly. See you tomorrow." Fang Minghua greeted.

After seeing Shang Zhongmin off, Fang Minghua went to the office next door and told him that he would go to Western University to discuss poetry with Shang Zhongmin tomorrow.

After hearing this, Zhao Muchun immediately said: "Editor Fang, this is a good move. How about I find a way to contact a few reporters to expand the influence of our special account in disguise?"

The head rotates very fast.

Fang Minghua agreed.

After hearing this, Zhang Yanqian asked: "Is this Shang Zhongmin so brave? A student actually debates with you in public? He's not afraid of being embarrassed."

"Yan Qian, don't underestimate Shang Zhongmin, he still has a lot of skills." Fang Minghua replied leisurely.

"I saw the poem he submitted, and it was very ordinary."

Fang Minghua did not answer.

Shang Zhongmin not only writes poetry, but also pays attention to the discussion of poetry theory. He has written important poetry theories such as "A Destructive Breakthrough of the Existing Aesthetic Concepts of Poetry", "Against Modernism", and "Defense of Spoken Poetry".

The eloquence is absolutely top-notch.

By the way, after the 1990s, he went into business and became a rich man.

Fang Minghua felt that Shang Zhongmin had come prepared this time. Which paper he wrote would be used?

In the evening, after dinner, Fang Minghua went to Houzaimen to find Song Tangtang.

During this period of time, I wasn't writing. As long as Song Tangtang didn't go to college at night, the two of them basically spent time together, watching movies, walking around on the street, and so on.

Today the two of them were just blocking the road.

It is May, early summer, and the breeze blows very comfortably at night.

The two of them walked hand in hand on the New Town Square.

In this era, there are no square dances performed by aunties and uncles in the square, but there are ballroom dances and disco. Since the end of the movement last year with thunder and rain, various dance parties have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

Of course, commercial dance halls haven’t emerged yet—the state doesn’t allow it.

While walking and chatting, Fang Minghua told Song Tangtang what Shang Zhongmin had asked him to debate today.

The girl listened carefully.

During this period, every time the two of them went out for a walk, Fang Minghua told the girl some things about the editorial department, so Song Tangtang knew the ins and outs of the matter very clearly.

After listening to Fang Minghua's words today, she thought about it and said, "Minghua, I feel that your attitude towards novels and poetry is different."

"Huh?" Fang Minghua turned his head and looked at him.

"You are relatively optimistic about novels, but pessimistic about the future of poetry. But you seem to be changing everyone's understanding of poetry."

"In fact, I have a feeling that you seem to want to find a more suitable path for the future of poetry, otherwise you would not be so proactive in having a public debate with a college student."

"Tangtang is the one who knows me." In front of his girlfriend, Fang Minghua didn't need to hide anything.

"But I'm not as great as you think. I just want to share my superficial views on the development of poetry, and I hope someone will listen."

real.

Forget about colloquial poetry.

Otherwise, a few years later, other novels by Mo Yan and Yu Hua would be published on the Internet talking to young people, and they would be deeply loved by those born in the 2000s.

Which poet dares?

Because only the pear-shaped body, the black-green body, the lamb body, the shallow body, are admirable.

After lunch the next day, Fang Minghua and all the members of the poetry group went out, leaving only Liu Weimin to guard the office. Even Dong Mo came with great interest.

The magazine office didn't have a car, so the four of them squeezed into the bus and rushed to Western University. When they entered the school gate, they saw a large group of people surrounding the newspaper column on the roadside.

"Editor Fang, I guess this is your debate with Monk Zhongmin." Zhang Yanqian said with a smile.

Fang Minghua guessed so. When they walked to the newspaper column, they saw an announcement issued in the name of the Western University Literary Society. At 2:30 in the afternoon, a poetry theory debate was held in the lecture hall of the third teaching building. The two sides of the debate were "Yan Yan" Fang Minghua, deputy editor-in-chief of River magazine, and Shang Zhongmin, a student at Chongqing University, welcome literature lovers to participate. "

But what everyone is looking at is not this, but another notice with black characters on a red background posted next to it - no, it should be called Combat Payment.

""Farewell, Shu Ting Beidao"!"

The title is eye-catching and the content is even more popular:

"I think it's time to say goodbye to you, Shu Ting Beidao.

You were once hazy, and we were also hazy.

But soon we suddenly discovered, what are we confused about?

You don’t believe everything, but it’s not that you don’t believe everything.

You are dim for the lost dandelion.

You are far and near hazy.

The voices you make are unique and brave. Maybe you have a market in salons, or you can be more obscure among students who are not familiar with the world.

As soon as we entered real life, we found that you are too beautiful, too pure, and too romantic.

It’s us who reluctantly give up our love. Farewell, Shu Ting Beidao. We want to move from haziness to reality.

Author: Shang Zhongmin of Chongqing University.

Damn it! sharp!

Fang Minghua was secretly surprised when he saw it.

This guy actually used this method to build momentum for himself.

Fang Minghua and others did not go directly to the classroom but first went to the office of Liu Jianjun, the director of the Chinese Department.

Liu Jianjun warmly received them.

"Xiao Fang, your opponent should not be underestimated." Liu Jianjun said, "Did you read the one posted at the school gate?"

"Look, it's quite eye-catching."

"Haha, this important student is really talented. Yesterday he went to Western University. Do you know what he did?"

"What did you do?"

"I found the president of the literary club of our school, and after some convincing, I gave a lecture on poetry theory in a lecture theater in the evening, which won a round of applause. I only rushed over after hearing what the students said, and stood outside for a while. Not to mention his views, but his logic and eloquence are very good and he is your opponent."

"Director Liu, then you won't care about it?" Zhang Yanqian muttered.

"What do you care about? Why do you care about whether Shang Zhongmin said anything reactionary? Allowing people with different views to speak is the most basic spirit of tolerance in universities!"

Zhang Yanqian lowered her head in embarrassment after hearing this.

Of course, this was just a small episode. After chatting for a while, a few people left the teaching building together. The lecture theater on the third floor was full of people. Fang Minghua saw Shang Zhongmin chatting with a group of students.

Seeing Fang Minghua and the others coming over, Shang Zhongmin also came over quickly, said hello to Fang Minghua, and then greeted Liu Jianjun respectfully.

"Which one of you two will go up first to talk?" Liu Jianjun looked kind and took on the role of referee.

"Shang Zhongmin, Western University is my home court, you speak first." Fang Minghua said with a smile on his face.

Shang Zhongmin was not polite and said: "Okay, Editor Fang, if you come to Chongqing, I will definitely let you speak first."

At around 2:30, the president of the literary club made an opening statement as the host, saying that the exchanges would be based on the principles of academic freedom and candid communication.

"You can argue with each other, but you can't attack each other personally, and you can't criticize others and invite Shang Zhongmin, a student from Chongqing University, to give a speech!"

There was warm applause in the classroom.

Fang Minghua took the opportunity to look back at the audience and found someone he was familiar with.

Song Tangtang is here, and his sister Fang Mingli is here too! The two girls gathered together and muttered something.

Seeing Fang Minghua looking at them, Song Tangtang just smiled and said hello, but Fang Mingli waved to her brother excitedly.

"Come on!" The girl clenched her fist and waved it again.

Shang Zhongmin on the stage has already started his speech, and it is indeed the article "A Destructive Breakthrough in the Aesthetic Concept of Existing Poetry"

As soon as you get up, you're on full fire.

To oppose modernism, we must first oppose symbolism in poetry.

Against metaphor!

Against the imagery!

Against the sublime!

Against history and culture! It is ultimately implemented as oppositional language in the act of writing.

Because language is a prison, it often seems to congenitally restrict the speech act itself through many assumed ideologies and cultural models...

"Please allow me to take a poem by Teacher Bei Dao as an example." Shang Zhongmin suddenly said: "That is "Answer""

"answer"?

That is Bei Dao's representative work. The poem is full of symbols, metaphors, metaphors, etc. with various semantic twists and turns. It is one of the representative works of Misty Poetry.

The students below immediately started talking.

All this was in Shang Zhongmin's eyes, and he was very satisfied.

The target of this public speech was not Fang Minghua.

He was just an editor who wrote a few poems, not really a poet.

He wants to point his sword at Beidao, which is far away in Yanjing! A representative figure of misty poetry.

"Despicableness is the passport of the despicable,

Nobility is the epitaph of the noble."

These are two popular lines from "Answer". But what I want to ask Teacher Bei Dao is:

What do these two sentences say? There are despicable and noble people. Who has whose pass?

Who is whose epitaph? What are you dissatisfied with?

Origin? Ingredients? Then the reflections of the dead floated in the gold-plated sky, this constant sadness, green in fighting, shooting, and the death of a large number of people?

"Wow..."

As soon as Shang Zhongmin said this, there was an uproar inside and outside the classroom, and people were even more angry outside. Fang Minghua was secretly worried for Shang Zhongmin.

There are many die-hard Bei Dao fans here. Will someone break in and drag this guy out for a group fight?

Sure enough, a boy burst into the classroom with an enamel bowl and steamed buns in his hand. He pointed at Shang Zhongmin's nose and cursed:

"You idiot, you can't even understand Bei Dao's "Answer". Are you a Hammer poet?! Get out of here!"

After speaking, he raised his hand and something flew towards Shang Zhongmin.

Not eggs.

Not steamed buns either.

But a bowl of porridge!

When it was poured on Shang Zhongmin's head, his face was suddenly covered with rice dregs.

The classroom suddenly became chaotic, and the members of the literary club who were responsible for organizing the lecture quickly pulled the student who caused the trouble out.

Fang Minghua also walked up to the stage and asked Shang Zhongmin with concern: "Are you okay? Are you feeling burned?"

"It's okay, Wen."

Shang Zhongmin wiped the rice residue from his face and said with a smile.

This kid is so nervous. How can he still laugh?

"Then do you rest or continue?"

"continue!"

Shang Zhongmin didn't go down to wash his face. He just found some paper to wipe off the rice soup on his face. He continued his speech regardless of the rice residue on his head:

"Poetry, we must shift from escape to intervention, from books to reality, from imitation to creation, from the sky to the earth, from reading the works of masters to reading our own lives - testing the purity of poetry with the concentration of blood..."

"To this end, we must abandon the obscure writing form of Mengwu poetry with changing themes, and vigorously promote the oral language of poetry, that is, spoken poetry!"

Civilian consciousness, spoken language, downplaying. Shang Zhongmin began to explain his understanding of spoken poetry at length. It took a full forty minutes to finish. When he bowed and sat down, the venue burst into warm applause.

A man at the back of the classroom listened quietly. He did not clap along, but he had an appreciative smile on his face.

His name is Han Dong, a teacher at Xijing Finance Academy. The author of the song "About the Big Wild Goose Pagoda".

I heard that Western University was going to hold a symposium on poetry theory, so I rushed over.

The student named Shang Zhongmin just spoke really well, and Han Dong was very impressed.

Spoken poetry is also something I advocate and pursue, but no one has considered it so deeply that it has even become a theory.

I wonder why the editor named Fang came up with tit-for-tat poetry concepts?

Han Dong felt a little hopeful in his heart.

"Now, I would like to invite Comrade Fang Minghua, deputy editor-in-chief of "Yanhe" magazine, to speak!"

There was warm applause from the audience.

Fang Minghua walked to the podium and did not start a long speech directly. Instead, he smiled and said: "Dear teachers and classmates, I have three poems here. I will read them out and encourage everyone."

"The first song was written by a senior, and I will read it to everyone.

So, he read in a cadenced and affectionate tone:

Yangtze River Bridge has two floors

Cars run on it,

Run the train below

Liu Jianjun, who was sitting in the front row, smiled slightly after hearing this.

As an old man who is almost sixty years old and has experienced ups and downs in the literary and educational circles, he naturally knows which great poet wrote this poem.

Many young people present did not know this.

Fang Mingli is one of them.

She was confused. Is this called poetry?

I couldn't help but ask Song Tangtang next to me in a low voice: "Sister Tangtang, do you know which senior wrote this?"

Song Tangtang frowned slightly. She seemed to have heard her mother once say this poem while eating, and her tone was full of sarcasm.

A great writer with strong bones.

"I remembered it!" Song Tangtang replied in a low voice: "Mingli, have you heard of the song "Sky Market in the Sky"? It was written by the same person."

"What?!"

Fang Mingli was stunned.

Actually from the same hand? !

This this.

Fang Mingli wanted to ask more questions, but saw that Song Tangtang was listening intently to her brother's speech, so she held back.

Some of the students in the classroom had heard of this poem and knew who the author was. Word quickly spread, and the whole classroom was in an uproar.

At this time, Fang Minghua looked calm and did not comment on the poem, and then read out the first poem.

"A Man Comes to Tennessee":

"no doubt

The pie I made

It’s the whole world

the most delicious

After Fang Minghua finished reading, the audience was stunned again, and one girl couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Gosh

Is this also poetry?

continue…..

Fang Minghua coughed twice, stopped the discussion in the meeting, and continued to read the third poem.

"Snowy Day"

Let's go pee together

You peed a line,

I peed in a pit.

….

……..

After Fang Minghua finished reading this poem, the whole audience was in an uproar again.

There is shit and urine everywhere, and this vulgar thing is actually poetry?

Shang Zhongmin, who was sitting in the front row, suddenly turned ugly.

He understood why Fang Minghua read these verbal poems on such a serious occasion!

It turned out to be for the spoken poetry style I mentioned in the morning!

He couldn't help but stood up and said loudly: "Editor Fang, you are misinterpreting my meaning. What I advocate is oral poetry, definitely not the verbal poetry you read!"

At this point, he simply turned to the students behind him and continued: "In some spoken poetry, it is true that it is too straightforward, superficial and vulgar, and becomes saliva poetry, just like the examples cited by the editor-in-chief Gangfang. "

"But please note that this is just an exception. It is and will be in the future. It is definitely not the mainstream of spoken poetry!"

individual?

Fang Minghua smiled.

In later generations, it can be found everywhere on the Internet!

Some people even tout it and are complacent about it...

Because of this, poetry and poets have become the laughingstock of people!

But Fang Minghua didn't want to get entangled with this, but retorted:

"Since you said that those simple and vulgar poems just now do not represent spoken poetry, then I would like to ask, are the so-called hazy poems that some people write that are too obscure and intentional are the real hazy poems?! Also, Teacher Bei Dao's That song "Answer", do you really not understand the first two sentences?"

"Despicability is the passport of the despicable, and nobility is the epitaph of the noble. I dare say that it will still shock people in a few years! Maybe some people don't know the name Beidao, but they definitely don't know the poem!"

The venue was quiet.

Whether you like Mongwu Shi or not, whether you like Bei Dao or not.

But not only do they not acknowledge the power of this poem, it is a microcosm of an era.

After a pause, Fang Minghua softened his tone and continued:

There has been a huge break between new poetry and tradition since the May 4th Movement. The key is that the unique charm of ancient Chinese poetry cannot be expressed in new languages. Spoken language is like boiled water and has not been transformed into true vernacular. "

"I am not disparaging the non-nonist spoken poetry advocated by Shang Zhongmin. There are indeed many problems in Mengwu poetry, and it is time to change. The title of my talk today is: "Poetic Imagery in the Post-Mongwu Poetry Era"

The awakening of subjective consciousness…..

The shift in poetic pursuits…

The carnival of language ontology…..

Fang Minghua talked about the characteristics of post-Mongwu poetry from three aspects.

"We must insist on the rhythmic beauty of poetry itself. If there is no rhythm, it is prose, maybe a novel or even a paragraph, but it is definitely not poetry!

Also, it is important to say three times that colloquial poetry definitely does not mean vulgarity, and it must not be written with the lower body! "

"Bah bang bang" there was warm applause in the classroom.

After the exchange, Liu Jianjun said to Fang Minghua: "Xiao Fang, your speech today is very theoretically profound. Do you want to sort it out and publish it?"

"Yes, it will be published in the poetry journal."

"Editor Fang, can you publish the content of my speech just now on your poetry account?" Shang Zhongmin, who was standing next to him, suddenly said.

Everyone was stunned and looked at Fang Minghua again.

Fang Minghua smiled slightly: "Why not? Publish two articles at the same time! Let the world comment!"

Today is also 10,000 words