Literary Master 1978

It is still summer vacation now, Tao Yushu seldom goes out, and most of the time he goes to buy groceries by bicycle, just to save fuel, even if the gasoline is only a little more than one cent per liter, it cannot be wasted.

It fully explains what it means to save what should be saved and spend what should be spent.

Lin Chaoyang goes to and from get off work on time every day, relaxed and comfortable, and Tao Yumo is the busiest person at home now.

It has been a month since the publication of "The Chess Master" and the editorial department of "Yenching Literature" receives hundreds of letters from readers of "The Chess Master" every day.

The number of letters from readers is more than any other publication of works in the past. This is certainly not to say that "The Chess Master" is better than other works, but the novel has aroused too many discussions.

Not only readers are discussing this novel hotly, but also the literary and critical circles are arguing fiercely about this novel.

The article "On the Narrow Nationalism of "The Chess Master"" in "Shanghai Literature" has been published for half a month. Originally, a review should not have much response, but the novel is so popular!

"The Chess Master" sold 1.5 million copies in one month after its release, breaking the sales record of "Yanjing Literature" for many years and also trampling on a number of top literary magazines such as "People's Literature", "Harvest" and "October".

With millions of readers paying attention to it, and the bold views of this article itself, it naturally attracted the attention of many people.

In the past few years after the reform and opening up, domestic public opinion and media have produced a strange rebellion. In the past, you were not allowed to say anything, but now you are allowed to say anything, for fear that someone will accuse them of oppressing freedom of speech.

It is precisely this kind of public opinion environment that has given many strange ideas a market and supporters in China.

After the publication of "On the Narrow Nationalism of "The Chess Master", it quickly won the recognition of a group of elites who think they are sober in the world.

During this period of time, several articles with similar arguments to this article have appeared in newspapers and magazines, causing a lot of discussion.

Of course, there are criticisms and praises.

This month, two review articles appeared in Yenching Literature, one is Tao Yushu's "A Patriotic Hymn - Thoughts on Reading "The Chess Master", and the other is Li Tuo's "Becoming a Saint through Chess - Talking about Jiang Nansheng, the Protagonist of "The Chess Master".

The two articles praised the novel "The Chess Master" from different perspectives, and also won the recognition of many readers.

One month after the novel was published, a number of review articles came out in succession. Regardless of whether the opinions were praise or criticism, they first created a feeling that the novel was popular.

Moreover, the previous issue of "Yenching Literature" was indeed a hot seller. The two complemented each other and further boosted the popularity of the novel "The Chess Master" among readers.

Even though the August issue of "Yenching Literature" has been on the market for a few days, there are still bookstores in various places contacting the editorial department of "Yenching Literature" hoping to reprint it.

The editorial department of "Yenching Literature".

Last month's July issue sold 1.5 million copies, which is naturally related to the novel "The Chess Master". As an editor who collects manuscripts, Zhang Dening can be said to be very proud recently.

The August issue has just been published these two days, and the editors' review tasks are not heavy. She and several colleagues chatted and laughed.

Editor-in-chief Li Qingquan suddenly walked into the office and asked her: "De Ning, how is Lin Chaoyang's new novel going?"

"He just had that idea at the last writing meeting. It will probably take several months to write it."

"Keep an eye on him. People's Literature has some ideas about his new work recently."

Li Qingquan reminded her, but Zhang Dening's focus was off and asked: "How did you know?"

"You are in charge of a lot of things. Do I have to report to you?" Li Qingquan asked back.

"I'm just asking!"

After Li Qingquan left, Zhang Dening whispered to Zhou Yanru: "Have you noticed that Lao Li is a little bit strange recently?"

"What's wrong?"

"He's different from before, a little impatient."

Zhou Yanru joked: "You're quite observant."

Listening to her words, Zhang Dening realized that Zhou Yanru seemed to know something she didn't know, so she asked: "Do you know what's going on?"

Zhou Yanru acted in an unfathomable manner, and Zhang Dening quickly said a few nice words. Zhou Yanru then said: "I heard that People's Literature has extended an olive branch to Lao Li again."

Hearing this, Zhang Dening's eyes widened in shock, "Lao Li wants to return to People's Literature?"

"Keep your voice down!" Zhou Yanru said unhappily.

Zhang Dening knew that he had said something wrong, so he lowered his voice again and asked, "Is he really going back?"

"I don't know. I guess he hasn't thought about it yet, otherwise he wouldn't be so upset every day. It's obvious that he is also very conflicted."

Zhang Dening pondered and said, "A good horse doesn't eat the grass it turns back. It's not a good choice for him to go back now, right?"

Li Qingquan was born in Ya Luyi. In the 1950s, he served as the editor-in-chief of "People's Literature". Whether in terms of professional quality or seniority, he is a very important industry leader.

During the period of Buzz Buzz Buzz, Li Qingquan was shocked and exiled to Harbin. He was transferred back to Yenching in 1978 and served as the editor-in-chief of "Yenching Literature" (then "Yenching Literature and Art").

During the nearly three years when Li Qingquan led the head of "Yenching Literature", the development of the magazine can be said to be booming.

Almost every year, Yenching Literature publishes a number of works with wide influence, and the sales of the magazine have been rising steadily. Now it is no less than several first-line literary magazines.

The only regret is that due to the problem of magazine layout, the works published in Yenching Literature are mainly short stories, so there is still a little gap compared with other first-line literary magazines in terms of magazine influence and the discovery and promotion of new generation writers.

The development of Yenching Literature is of course inseparable from the leader Li Qingquan.

Looking at the history of the magazine for more than 20 years, Mr. Lao She and Mr. Zhao Shuli have high personal prestige, but in terms of the changes brought to Yenching Literature, I am afraid that Li Qingquan's contribution is not as great.

Colleagues in the editorial department, including Zhang Dening, are very recognized for Li Qingquan's leadership, professionalism and character. Now that they heard that he was leaving, their first reaction was that they didn't want him to leave.

The second reaction was that Li Qingquan had made great contributions to the development of Yanjing Literature. It was not a wise move to ignore the magazine he had worked so hard to run and plunge into People's Literature.

"That's the truth, but this person..." Zhou Yanru sighed, "Who doesn't have a knot in his heart? Old Li was kicked out of People's Literature back then, so of course he wanted to go back with dignity."

Zhang Dening couldn't help but sigh, "Twenty years have passed, and things have changed. If Old Li goes back, he may not be able to move those old guys."

While the two were talking, Wang Jie came over, and Fu Yonglin came over, "Dening, take a look!"

He handed over a magazine, which was Tianjin's "Xingang" magazine.

There is an unwritten rule in the Chinese literary world that each province has its own literary magazine. Yanjing has "Yenjing Literature", Shanghai has "Shanghai Literature", Hebei has "Hebei Literature"... Tianjin's is called "Xingang".

"Xingang" was founded in 1956. It used to be called "Tianjin Literature and Art" and "Novel Guide". It was re-published in 1980 and used the name "Xingang". It is one of the most influential literary magazines in the northern literary world.

Fu Yonglin handed her this copy of "Xingang" to let her read an article on it - "Also on the Nationalism of "The Chess Master", signed by Wang Zengqi.

In July, "Yenching Literature" organized a writing meeting. On the return train, everyone found the review article in "Shanghai Literature". Instigated by Zhang Dening, they felt a sense of common hatred and agreed to write some reviews to support Lin Chaoyang.

Wang Zengqi's review was sent relatively late. The August issue had already adopted two reviews by Tao Yushu and Li Tuo. It would be inappropriate to have more, so he turned around and handed the article to "Xingang" magazine.

Since the groundbreaking publication of "The Rite of Initiation" last year, Wang Zengqi has become one of the most sought-after writers in the Chinese literary world in a short period of time, and his manuscripts are naturally very popular among major magazines.

Even if it was just a review, "Xingang" magazine did not neglect it and published it in the new issue of the magazine at the fastest speed, and successfully asked Wang Zengqi to write two more manuscripts.

"…We cannot ignore the fact that heroism in literary works has a positive motivational effect. It has inspired generations of people to face difficulties with perseverance, and has an important positive value in shaping personal character and promoting social righteousness.

When it comes to nationalism, some people will put the word "narrow" in front of it. We should be soberly aware that when the nation is in danger of survival, nationalism has its irrefutable legitimacy.

Strong nationalist sentiment is a natural reaction to resist foreign aggression and safeguard national sovereignty. We cannot look at problems out of touch with the times, and we cannot demonize this patriotic sentiment. Demonization.

Literary creation is done by people, and its creative intention and social impact under a specific historical background deserve comprehensive evaluation from multiple perspectives, rather than simply criticizing its so-called "narrowness"..."

Zhang Dening spent a few minutes reading the article written by Wang Zengqi, and couldn't help but smile, "Old ginger is still spicy! Old Wang's move directly points to the core problem of the article in "Shanghai Literature". Their views are not worth arguing!"

When reviewing the manuscript of "Chess Saint", Zhang Dening once raised the issue of "one against nine" and "excessive sensationalism" to Lin Chaoyang, but it was her own question.

She was not happy that a group of people headed by "Shanghai Literature" wrote articles to find faults in "Chess Saint", not to mention that the angles of these articles were obviously biased.

Fu Yonglin smiled and said: "Old Wang's article is too targeted. I guess there will be a reaction from that side after a while."

"I'm afraid they won't react. They are allowed to do it on the first day of the month, but we are not allowed to do it on the fifteenth?" Zhang Dening said angrily.

Zhang Dening was very upset that the manuscript she had worked so hard to compile was well received by readers and the magazine sales had hit a new high, but some people were trying to make her unhappy.

She thought it would be best if there was a big debate. Wouldn't they be willing to argue? Then let's have a big debate, and it would be best if the name of "The Chess Master" was known throughout the country.

Didn't Chaoyang say that he wanted more people to know about the novel "The Chess Master"?

If that were the case, wouldn't this goal be achieved smoothly?