The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

April 3rd.

Chaijia Lane, Chongqing, Cathay Pacific Theater.

After dinner, Zhou Hexuan brought Zhang Leyi, Meng Xiaodong and Ruan Lingyu here, accompanied by Anand who came from India for an exchange.

"Oh, Mingcheng is really a compliment!" Guo Moruo enthusiastically came over to shake hands.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Mr. Guo's masterpiece premiere, of course I want to come to appreciate and study."

Today is the premiere of the play "Qu Yuan", and many left-wing writers have come. After greeting Zhou Hexuan and the others, Guo Moruo immediately went to greet other friends. Not long after, Zhou Hexuan was also surrounded, and the writers eagerly discussed "The Little Prince" with him.

When the play was about to start, a chubby smiling middle-aged man came over, shook hands with Zhou Hexuan and said, "Mr. Zhou, I have been reading a masterpiece recently, and I am quite impressed. Your fairy tale is so well written."

Zhou Hexuan laughed and said, "Mr. Sun, you are the little prince in the book, with a patriotic heart, you dare to watch the premiere of "Qu Yuan" even if you lose your job."

"It doesn't matter if you lose your job, you can always find someone to eat." The middle-aged man was still smiling.

The name of this gentleman is Sun Fuyuan, the "Supplement King" during the Republic of China, and "The True Story of Ah Q" is the product of his invitation to Lu Xun.

Sun Fuyuan can be called a maniac to press manuscripts, and he is the shadow in the hearts of many writers in the Republic of China. In Cao Juren's original words: "(Sun Fuyuan) has a round face, a group of kindness, stepping in the door, let you know that it is time to submit the manuscript."

At that time, Lu Xun was tortured by the press for more than two months. He was so depressed that he wanted to end "The True Story of Ah Q" earlier, but Sun Fuyuan insisted on continuing to write. Until Sun Fuyuan went on a business trip, Lu Xun quickly took the opportunity to write a finale. If not, "The True Story of Ah Q" would probably be written as a novel.

Lu Xun had a very good relationship with Sun Fuyuan at the beginning. He traveled around Beiping, Xi'an, Xiamen, and Guangzhou, and Sun Fuyuan accompanied him all the way as a student. It wasn't until Sun Fuyuan joined the Kuomintang reorganization faction that the friendship between the two gradually drifted away.

Even so, Lu Xun never wrote an article to scold Sun Fuyuan, but only complained in his letter to his wife: "He (Sun Fuyuan) seems serious but not serious, seems slick but not slick, walks around vaguely, and will never meet The so-called embarrassment. However, in the past, there will always be a little long-term trouble for others to clean up."

Sun Fuyuan is this kind of person. He always has a smiling face. At first glance, he looks hypocritical, but in fact he is sincere, and in his sincerity, there is a three-point slickness. He is probably still foolish when the sky is falling. He belongs to the kind of optimist who doesn't care about everything, and doesn't worry about troubles, but makes friends come to wipe his ass.

For example, a while ago, Sun Fuyuan served as the editor-in-chief of the supplement of "Central Daily". This is the official newspaper of the Kuomintang, and it dared to serialize Guo Moruo's "Qu Yuan", so angry that Lao Jiang personally ordered Sun Fuyuan to be fired. So Chen Bosheng, the president of "Central Daily", was implicated. Chen Bosheng was Sun Fuyuan's friend and Sun Fuyuan's inviter to join "Central Daily".

Chen Bosheng was devastated by this matter, but Sun Fuyuan slapped his ass and left with a smile. He dared to come to the Cathay Theater to watch the premiere of "Qu Yuan" today.

Sun Fuyuan is familiar with everyone, and his smile makes it difficult to refuse. At this time, he said: "Mr. Zhou, are you free tomorrow? I happen to have nothing to do, and I want to go to your residence and ask some questions about literature. .”

"Another day, I have something to do tomorrow." Zhou Hexuan said.

"Well, how about Saturday?" Sun Fuyuan asked again.

"Yes, I'll wait for you." Zhou Hexuan had no choice but to agree, otherwise this person would continue to choose a date.

...

On stage, late spring.

Qu Yuan, played by Jin Shan, wanders in the orangery and recites lyrically: "A splendid orange tree with many branches and leaves. It grows in the south and is independent...with deep roots and is not afraid of snow and ice. Natural shock absorption, like a man with lofty ideals ..."

"good!"

The audience clapped and shouted.

Anand asked curiously: "Mr. Zhou, what is this play about?"

Zhou Hexuan explained: "It's about Qu Yuan, a patriot in ancient China..."

Under Zhou Hexuan's explanation, Anand enjoyed the drama with great difficulty, while other audiences were already immersed in the plot.

Gradually in the fifth act, Qu Yuan was imprisoned in the East Emperor Taiyi Temple. Suddenly, a symphony sounded on the stage, and Qu Yuan sang "Ode to Thunder" to the magnificent accompaniment, and the furious emotions that had been brewing for a long time gushed out: "Wind! Roar! Roar! Roar as hard as you can! In this dark time , when everything wakes up, sleeps in a dream, and dies, it's time for you to roar, and it's time for you to roar as hard as you can! No matter how much you roar, you can't wake them up from their dreams , can't blow the dead back to life, can't blow away the darkness that is heavier than iron..."

Zhou Hexuan's hair stood on end when he heard it, and Guo Moruo's recitation of the poem on the spot was too terrifying, his emotions were not tactfully concealed, and he vented wantonly like a volcanic eruption.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a spring thunder sounded, and white lightning flashed outside the window.

At this moment, Qu Yuan is shouting on the stage: "You wind, you thunder, you electricity, you roar in this darkness, everything that shines..."

The inside and outside of the theater complement each other, as if the sky has also sensed the darkness of this era.

The all-powerful and overwhelming aura broke through the long-imprisoned spiritual gate, and under the background of lightning and thunder outside the window, it shocked all the audience in the Cathay Theater.

Zhou Hexuan turned his head to look at Sun Fuyuan not far away, secretly admiring this man's courage. This drama almost pointed at Lao Jiang's nose and scolded his mother. Sun Fuyuan dared to serialize the script in the supplement of "Central Daily". What a fool!

When the performance ended, the audience stood up, and the applause lasted for several minutes before it stopped.

Next, "Qu Yuan" was performed at the Cathay Theater for 17 consecutive days. From morning to night, the venue was full and nearly 300,000 people watched it. Moreover, this drama gradually spread from Chongqing to various places, and its social impact far exceeds that of "The Little Prince". Whether it is leftists, liberals, or patriotic officials and generals from the National Party, they all expressed their sincere condolences. admiration.

In June, performances in the main city of Chongqing were directly banned, and "Qu Yuan" could only be moved to surrounding counties.

As soon as the crew of "Qu Yuan" arrived in Beibei, the KMT sent a special agent to find Liu Zhongyi, director of public education in Beibei: "This play is very inflammatory. Performances have been banned in Shangfeng, Chongqing. You should stop it immediately."

Liu Zhongyi said: "This was arranged by the management bureau. I have no right to cancel it. If you don't believe me, go to Director Lu."

Lu Ziying didn't dump the spies at all, and said to Liu Zhongyi under pressure: "Don't care about him, every day when you perform, you sit on the wicker chair at the entrance of the stage. The name is supervision, and it is actually to prevent the spies from sabotaging. If something happens, come to me. I'm always in the theater."

Neither of them are Communist Party members, they are just local officials in Chongqing. They supported "Qu Yuan" out of patriotic enthusiasm, even if they were dismissed afterwards.

Many people from Jiangbei, Baxian, Bishan, Hechuan and other neighboring districts and counties heard that "Qu Yuan" could be seen in Beibei, and they all came together, causing all the hotels in Beibei to be full. Jiangbei County is next to Beibei, and the audience there found that they couldn't find a hotel, so they simply walked home in the middle of the night after watching the show.

In order to watch a play, one can imagine the influence of "Qu Yuan" by walking tens of hundreds of kilometers, and even sleeping in the open.

This is the most sensational event in the literary world this year, Zhou Hexuan and "The Little Prince" have to stand aside.