The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China - Chapter 1009

   Later generations divided Chinese literature during the Anti-Japanese War into three categories: literature in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, literature in liberated areas, and literature in occupied areas.

   Literature in the occupied areas is non-political, specializing in popular novels, emotional literature and essays. Representative characters include Zhang Ailing, Qin Shoujuan, Zhou Zuoren, Hu Lancheng, Mei Niang and so on. From a purely literary point of view, the works of Zhang Ailing, Zhou Zuo and Hu Lancheng are all of very high value. It is a pity that the latter two are cultural traitors, and Zhang Ailing is too close to the traitors.

  The literature in the Kuomintang-ruled areas and the liberated areas is exactly the opposite. Whether it is poetry, novels, dramas, essays, reviews, essays…all kinds of themes are mainly based on the Anti-Japanese War. Even if it does not directly involve the content of the war of resistance, it will express a love for the hometown, the motherland, or a real problem that reflects deeply.

   Especially the literature of the Kuomintang areas, in the early stage of the Anti-Japanese War, it was mostly about generosity and blood saving, but in the middle and later stages, it became more realistic—depicting war scenes, describing displaced life, reflecting social ills, or lamenting and laughing at oneself.

   Great writers who wrote fairy tales during the Anti-Japanese War seems to be rare, even Zhang Henshui rewrote the Anti-Japanese War novels. As a result, Liang Shiqiu stood up and poured cold water, saying that literary creation does not have to be linked to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and was sprayed with blood by various literati.

  The publication of “The Little Prince” immediately caused great controversy. From the point of view of the reaction, it was mainly divided into four types:

  The first one, because of Zhou Hexuan’s affection, because of Zhou Hexuan’s status, and because of Zhou Hexuan’s contribution, many people choose to keep silent.

  The second, from the perspective of pure literature, analyzes and praises the artistic achievements of “The Little Prince”, and considers it a work that celebrates friendship and love.

  The third type, sarcastic criticism.

   The first person who stood up to criticize Zhou Hexuan was Ye Zhiqiu, director of the Anti-Arts Association (Literature and Art Association) and deputy director of the publishing department. He commented on the “Literary Monthly” edited by him:

“Literature during the Anti-Japanese War should be young, fighting, healthy, solid, realistic, and progressive…”The Little Prince” obviously has nothing to do with combat or reality. To sing praises of friendship and love, this is not in line with the position of popular literature and anti-Japanese literature…”

“As a great writer with international influence, Mr. Zhou Hexuan’s book has brought a very bad example to the vast number of young people and cultural scholars… In peacetime, The Little Prince is naturally an excellent work, but it is now It’s really inappropriate.”

“Soldiers can’t be deserters on the battlefield, and literary creation is the battlefield for writers, and writers can’t be deserters in the face of national disasters. We can’t escape reality, but we must face it bravely, or save the nation for survival, or reflect society… For writers, the pen is the gun, the ink is the bullet, we can’t shoot the gun in the sky, but choose the right target to aim at the enemy…”

   Ye Zhiqiu’s argument immediately attracted the response of many patriotic writers, who commented that Zhou Hexuan should not have written fairy tales during the Anti-Japanese War, believing that Zhou Hexuan was escaping difficulties and responsibilities in his works.

   In fact, Ye Zhiqiu has been very polite to Zhou Hexuan, and the article is written more rationally. He scolded Liang Shiqiu two years ago for being ruthless. He ridiculed Liang Shiqiu for being “unpopular in casinos and appealing to people”. To put it more directly, he thought that Liang Shiqiu was “grandfather”.

  The fourth type, support.

  Liang Shiqiu did not seem to have learned the lesson of the last time, and was the first to stand up to publicly support Zhou Hexuan, and fought with Ye Zhiqiu again. In the article he wrote:

“There are always some people who destroy literary creation in the name of literature. “The Little Prince” presents the praise of the truth, the good and the beautiful. Don’t we need the truth, the good and the beautiful when we insist on the War of Resistance? Since it is healthy and positive, why do we Accused of escapism?”

“Literature is the writing of human nature. This is true of popular literature, and this is true of anti-Japanese literature. Real revolutionaries and real patriots infiltrate fiery enthusiasm into literature, often unintentionally forming extremely moving works. This is the expression of human nature. If Blindly emphasizing the content of literary creation, and treating literary creation as eight parts of the Anti-Japanese War, what human nature can such a work have? How many readers can it touch?”

“Literature is a tool for propagating the War of Resistance, and I strongly agree. But if literature can only be used as a tool for the War of Resistance, then when the War of Resistance is won, literature will also lose its role. War is temporary, but literature is permanent. Do a good job in the present moment, and you can’t abandon the eternal value of literature!”

   Originally, after the last debate, few people dared to publicly support Liang Shiqiu for fear of being besieged by rats crossing the street on the spot. But the object of this discussion was Zhou Hexuan, and many die-hard supporters immediately stood up and cheered for Liang Shiqiu.

  From late February to mid-March, this debate lasted for a whole month, involving dozens of writers in a big melee.

  The two sides discussed the literary creation during the Anti-Japanese War. At the beginning, they were discussing matters, which gradually turned into sarcasm. Even Zhou Hexuan and “The Little Prince” were thrown aside, and the focus of the debate became the attitude and bottom line of literary creation, mixed with the writers’ past personal grievances and old grudges, and finally even personal attacks came out.

   The last time the left-wing literati besieged Liang Shiqiu, Zhou Gong personally stood up to persuade him to fight, and ended with Liang Shiqiu’s initiative to retreat. This time, Duke Zhou felt that the influence was not good, and he also summoned Ye Zhiqiu privately, hoping that the “Literary Monthly” edited by him would not bite anymore.

   But before Ye Zhiqiu made a change, the magazine Fei Gong published a review article by Ma Jue, titled “On Patriotism Literary Creation – The Deep Image of the Little Prince”:

“I read the manuscript of “The Little Prince” a year ago. At first, I thought it was a fairy tale for adults. It praised friendship and love, and discussed loyalty and responsibility. I told Mr. Zhou about my own. Understand, Mr. Zhou said, think about the bigger picture.”

   “Mr. Zhou didn’t elaborate or force me where to understand. But reading The Little Prince now, I do find something different…”

   “The characters in The Little Prince have metaphors. The narrator, the fox, the rose, the snake, the astronomer, the king, the drunkard, the businessman… In fact, they can all find their prototypes in the current China, please allow me to elaborate.”

“First of all, the ‘narrator’, which is ‘I’, is a pilot. A pilot is a fanciful person who doesn’t like practical adults, but likes to get along with children, who are natural and enjoyable. I He believes that pilots belong to the incarnation of the author Mr. Zhou. He does not like practical people and likes to get along with children. ‘Practical people’ can be traitors, corrupt officials and profiteers. I don’t like it. And simple ‘children’, including the little prince, refer to patriots and heroes who sacrificed their blood for the country!”

“If we follow this line of thinking, let’s take the little prince as a typical patriot, and let’s talk about the fox. The fox has intelligent knowledge, he makes the little prince understand the essence of life, he asks the little prince to tame him, and tells the little prince to tame him. The prince has a secret: you can only see clearly if you look at it with your heart. Love is responsibility. I think the ‘fox’ should be Chinese civilization, Chinese culture and morality. He teaches patriots how to face life, and teaches patriots to take responsibility. The little prince’s domestication of the fox is mutual, and it is the mutual belonging of the patriot and the Chinese civilization.”

“Continuing to talk about roses, in the eyes of ordinary readers, roses refer to the first love. But what I want to say is that the roses here should be China. Roses are arrogant, hypocritical, thorny, condescending, self-righteous… He has all kinds of shortcomings, in the face of powerful The enemy, ridiculously protected himself with only four small thorns. He also let the little prince praise him and let the little prince not leave him. Isn’t the rose just the lovely China with many problems? The little prince is a patriot, he Love his motherland. Although his motherland has all kinds of shortcomings, there are five thousand roses in the garden, and he only loves his own one. Just like there are countless countries in the world, patriots only love their own motherland. The little prince is angry with roses The ignorant, resentful towards the rose, but found that the rose is his true love after leaving. This is like a patriot who is angry at the weakness and ills of the motherland, complaining, angry, wanting to change, and even leaving, but in the motherland When he was invaded, he burst out with infinite love and nostalgia.”

   “Astronomers again…”

  Ma Jue’s review article was published, which immediately dumbfounded the writers in the melee.

  It’s just a fairy tale, how could it be interpreted like this?