The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China - Chapter 1010

  Nankai Middle School.

   Early in the morning, Zhou Weilie came to the classroom with a heavy suitcase, dragged him to the podium and shouted, “Come and get the autograph book!”

   The iron buckle of the suitcase was opened, and there were more than 40 copies of “The Little Prince” inside, and each title page had Zhou Hexuan’s autograph.

  Lu Wanzhen and a few other classmates rushed over immediately, happily found their copy, and said with a smile, “Thank you, little brother Zhou.”

   “Nothing.” Zhou Weilie wiped the sweat from his forehead.

   After getting the book, the classmates in the class got together and continued to read the newspaper, and argued about the different interpretations of The Little Prince in the newspaper.

   “Hey, “Literature Page” (supplement of “Xinhua Daily”) and “Pingming” (supplement of “Central Daily”) have different interpretations of the image of ‘alcoholic’, which one is more in line with Mr. Zhou’s original intention?”

“I think “Ping Ming” is more reasonable. The ‘alcoholic’ should refer to the traitor. The reason why the alcoholic is drunk all day is to forget the embarrassment of alcoholism. This is undoubtedly a satire of the traitor Wang Zhaoming and his henchmen , betrayed the country under the slogan of saving the nation and trying to survive, and deceived himself and others.”

   “No, no, “Literary Pages” is more reasonable. ‘Drinkers’ generally refer to people who are unwilling to face reality. They can be traitors, bureaucrats, or peacemakers trying to negotiate for survival.”

  “…”

  Since Ma Jue published that interpretation comment, various related comments have emerged one after another, and often the same novel character has multiple different interpretations.

   Regarding the “desert flower”, some people say that it alludes to the capitulators, while others think that it refers to the pessimists who do not give hope in the war of confrontation.

   Regarding the “lamplighter”, the Kuomintang literati thought they were praising the great leader Chang Kaishen, the left-wing literati thought they were praising all the heroes who died in the war of resistance, and the liberal literati thought they were praising the ordinary people who made contributions to the war.

   The interpretation of “King” is even more disparate. The National Party newspaper thought it was satirizing Japanese fascism, and the Communist Party newspaper thought it was exposing the dictatorship of the National Government.

   Almost all the images in the book “The Little Prince” have been interpreted over and over again by people, and the situation is the same as the study and analysis of “A Dream of Red Mansions”.

   No one criticizes Zhou Hexuan anymore, and “The Little Prince” is recognized as a patriotic literary work. Because the novel is originally written very movingly, once it is interpreted in the direction of patriotism, it can substitute for the reader’s national emotion in minutes.

  A fairy tale that made countless people cry.

   Undergraduate students of the Department of Literature in the 21st Century have a compulsory course called “History of Modern Chinese Literature”, from the late Qing Dynasty to the founding of New China.

   In this professional course, Zhou Hexuan received the same treatment as Lu Xun, Mao Dun, and others, and they all had an exclusive chapter. And Zhou Hexuan’s chapter has as many as five sections, “Goddess”, “Gouguan” and “Gouguan Biography” are all in one section, while “The Little Prince” is a separate section.

   The following is excerpted from “History of Modern Chinese Literature” – Chapter 10 Zhou Hexuan – Section 5 The Little Prince:

   “The Little Prince was published in February 1942. It is a fairy tale and fable novel written by Zhou Hexuan during the Anti-Japanese War. It is also a patriotic literary work with outstanding achievements and great influence in the history of modern Chinese literature…”

“The Little Prince can be interpreted in two ways: one is from the perspective of a child, which shows the emptiness, blindness, ignorance and dogma of adults, and uses simple and innocent language to write about the loneliness of human beings and the fate that floats with the waves, and at the same time criticizes The second is from the perspective of a patriot, reflecting the Chinese society in a time of national crisis, using metaphors to praise the anti-Japanese heroes, criticize the fascist aggression forces and traitors, and condemn the dictatorship and brutal rule of the Nationalist government… “

“This dual emotional expression reflects the author’s love for truth, goodness, beauty and the motherland. It is unique among Chinese literary creations during the Anti-Japanese War and has always been a key research object in the field of literary criticism. “The Prince” has a wide range of interpretations, and these interpretations even contradict each other. In the eyes of a thousand readers, there are a thousand Hamlets. Zhou Hexuan later said: The little prince can be anyone, it’s you, it’s me, it’s him, every reader is right The imagery in the book is correct…”

   In any case, The Little Prince became one of the favorite works of literature students in the 21st century. Because there are often subjective questions in the final exam, one of the characters is listed for students to interpret, with a high degree of freedom, as long as they do not scribble, they can basically score.

   Let’s go back to 1942. The sales of “The Little Prince” were so good that many students even bought a copy to save money. It can meet the readers’ dual needs for personal emotion and patriotism, and it can also be bought by parents and told to their children. It belongs to love novels and fairy tales, and it is also a patriotic literature of the Anti-Japanese War.

   Just as the French regard “The Little Prince” as a classic, and even print the author, the little prince and the star on the 50-denominate franc, Chinese readers also regard “The Little Prince” as a classic. Ordinary people love it far more than novels such as “Goddess”, and it is recognized as Zhou Hexuan’s representative work.

   At the same time, “The Little Prince” also triggered a wave of fairy tale creation trends. Some writers used fairy tales as metaphors for some content that the Nationalist government did not allow to be written, so that Lao Jiang didn’t know how to ban books.

   As far away as the United States and the United Kingdom, although there is no aura of patriotism, “The Little Prince” also detonated the book market in both countries.

   There is a saying that the sales volume of The Little Prince is second only to the Bible. This is hard to say. Several books claim to be second only to the Bible in sales. Strictly speaking, the second best-selling book in the world should be “Mao Language”, the third is “Xinhua Dictionary”, the fourth is “Mao Poetry”, and the fifth is “Mao Selected”.

   However, The Little Prince definitely made the top 20, outselling the Harry Potter series by a wide margin.

And because the original French author died too early, piracy is rampant in various countries, and it is difficult to count the sales of this book. It is conservatively estimated that it has exceeded 80 million copies, and some people say that it is 200 million copies. If it is 200 million copies, then it will exceed 200 million copies. “A Tale of Two Cities” and “Lord of the Rings” ranked in the top six, making them the second-best-selling non-Chinese books after The Bible.

   Because this book is so beautifully written, there is a power that touches the soul.

   Zhou Hexuan’s version of “The Little Prince” was released only a month ago, and the cumulative sales in the United Kingdom and the United States reached 400,000 copies, and then the Indian market contributed another 30,000 copies. I heard that the English version has been quietly spread to France, and the French writers have given high praise to Zhou Hexuan.