The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

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

The literature in the enemy-occupied areas is non-political, specializing in popular novels, emotional literature and essays. Representatives include Zhang Ailing, Qin Shoujuan, Zhou Zuoren, Hu Lancheng, Mei Niang and so on. Purely from a literary point of view, the works of Zhang Ailing, Zhou Zuoren and Hu Lancheng are all of very high value. It's a pity that the latter two are cultural traitors, and Zhang Ailing is too close to the traitors.

The literature in the Kuomintang-controlled areas and the Liberated Areas is just the opposite. Whether it is poetry, novels, dramas, essays, reviews, essays... All kinds of themes are mainly about the Anti-Japanese War. Even if it does not directly involve the content of the Anti-Japanese War, it will express a kind of love for the hometown and the motherland, or reflect a profound realistic problem.

Especially the literature in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, it was mostly about generosity and blood to save the nation, but in the middle and later stages it became more realistic-describing war scenes, describing displaced lives, reflecting social ills, or lamenting and laughing at oneself, and making fun of suffering.

It seems that there were no great writers who wrote fairy tales during the Anti-Japanese War period. Even Zhang Henshui rewrote Anti-Japanese War novels. So Liang Shiqiu stood up and poured cold water on it, saying that literary creation does not have to be linked to the War of Resistance, but was sprayed bloody by various literati.

As soon as "The Little Prince" was published, it immediately caused huge controversy. From the perspective of reactions, there are mainly four types:

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

The second is to analyze and praise the artistic achievements of "The Little Prince" from the perspective of pure literature, and think that it is a work that praises friendship and love.

The third type is sarcasm and criticism.

The first person to criticize Zhou Hexuan was Ye Zhiqiu, director and deputy director of the publishing department of the Association of Literary and Art Anti-Artists (Federation of Literary and Art Circles). He commented in the "Literature Monthly" edited by him:

"The literature during the Anti-Japanese War should be young, fighting, healthy, solid, realistic, and progressive..."The Little Prince" obviously has nothing to do with fighting, and has nothing to do with reality. It is not in line with the standpoint of popular literature and anti-Japanese war literature..."

"As a great writer with international influence, Mr. Zhou Hexuan's book has brought a very bad example to young people and cultural scholars... In peacetime, "The Little Prince" is naturally an excellent work, but it Now is really not the time.”

"A soldier cannot be a deserter on the battlefield, and literary creation is the battlefield of a writer, and a writer cannot be a deserter when the country is in crisis. We can't escape from reality, but face it bravely, or save the nation to survive, or reflect the society... …For writers, the pen is the gun, and the ink is the bullet. We cannot shoot the gun at 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 write fairy tales during the Anti-Japanese War, thinking that Zhou Hexuan was avoiding difficulties and responsibilities in his works.

In fact, Ye Zhiqiu was already very polite to Zhou Hexuan, and the article was written in a more sensible way. Two years ago, he scolded Liang Shiqiu for being ruthless, ridiculed Liang Shiqiu for "beating the unpopular in the casino and being in favor of others", and to put it more directly, he thought that Liang Shiqiu was "sensational".

The fourth type is support.

Liang Shiqiu didn't seem to have learned the lesson from last time, and was the first to stand up and publicly support Zhou Hexuan, and once again had a pen fight with Ye Zhiqiu. In his article he wrote:

"There are always some people who destroy literary creation in the name of literature. "The Little Prince" presents the praise of truth, goodness and beauty. Don't we need truth, goodness and beauty when we persist in the war of resistance? Since it is healthy and positive, why is it Accused of escapism?"

"Literature is the writing of human nature. This is the case with popular literature and anti-Japanese war literature. True revolutionaries and true patriots infiltrate the burning enthusiasm into literature, often unintentionally forming extremely touching works. This is the expression of human nature. If Blindly emphasizing the content of literary creation and treating literary creation as anti-Japanese stereotypes, how can there be any humanity in such works? How many readers can it move?"

"Literature is a tool to promote the war of resistance. 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 victorious, literature will lose its role. After all, war is temporary, but literature is permanent. We want to Do a good job in the temporary work now, and you can't abandon the eternal value of literature!"

After the last debate, few people dared to openly 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 full month, involving dozens of writers in a melee.

The two sides discussed the literary creation during the Anti-Japanese War. At the beginning, they discussed facts, but 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 and old grievances, and finally even personal attacks came out.

The last time left-wing literati besieged Liang Shiqiu, Zhou Gong personally stood up to persuade him to fight, and it ended with Liang Shiqiu's voluntary concession. This time, Zhou Gong felt that the influence was not good, so he also summoned Ye Zhiqiu in private, hoping that the "Literature Monthly" edited by him would stop biting.

But before Ye Zhiqiu could make any changes, "Fei Gong" magazine published a review article by Ma Jue titled "On Patriotic Literary Creation——The Little Prince's Deep Image":

"I read the manuscript of "The Little Prince" a year ago. At first I thought it was a fairy tale written for adults, praising friendship and love, and discussing loyalty and responsibility. I told Mr. Zhou about my own story. Understood, Mr. Zhou said, think about it in a big way."

"Mr. Zhou didn't elaborate, nor did he force me to understand it. But reading "The Little Prince" now, I did find something different..."

“Every character in The Little Prince has metaphors. The narrator, the fox, the rose, the snake, the astronomer, the king, the drunkard, the businessman… can actually find their prototypes in contemporary China. Please allow me to elaborate on them slowly. "

"First of all, let's talk about the 'narrator', that is, 'I', this is a pilot. The pilot is a fantasist. He doesn't like those adults who pay attention to practicality. Instead, he likes to get along with children. Children are natural and pleasant. I I think the pilot is the incarnation of the author Mr. Zhou. He doesn't like practical people, but likes to get along with children. "Practical people" can be traitors, corrupt officials and profiteers. They make a lot of money and even betray the country, Mr. Zhou I don’t like it. The innocent ‘children’, including the little prince, refer to patriots and heroes who sacrificed their lives for their country!”

"If we follow this way of thinking, let's take the little prince as a typical patriot, and let's talk about the fox. The fox has clever knowledge, he let the little prince understand the essence of life, he asked the little prince to domesticate him, and told the little prince The prince has a secret: You can only see clearly when 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 be responsible. The little prince's domestication of the fox is mutual, and it is the mutual belonging of patriots and Chinese civilization."

"Continue to talk about roses. From the perspective of ordinary readers, roses refer to 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. He used the only four thorns to protect himself ridiculously. He also asked the little prince to praise himself, and told the little prince not to leave him. Isn’t the rose just the lovely China with many problems? The little prince is a patriot, He loves his country. Although his country 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 country. The little prince is angry Rose is ignorant and resents Rose, but after leaving, she finds that Rose is her true love. This is like a patriot who is angry at the weakness and ills of the motherland, complains, is angry, wants to change, and even leaves, but in When the motherland was invaded, boundless love and nostalgia broke out."

"And astronomers..."

Once Ma Jue's review article was published, the writers who were in the melee were dumbfounded.

It's just a fairy tale, how can it be interpreted like this?