Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 520: Fragments of Civilization

After finishing writing and revising it carefully, Fang Minghua was ready to publish it, naturally in Yanhe magazine.

After breakfast this morning, Fang Minghua drove to Yanhe magazine with four essay manuscripts.

The car stopped across the street. As Fang Minghua entered the magazine compound, people passing by greeted him with a smile.

Fang Minghua went straight to the third floor and knocked on the door of the office with the signs of president and editor-in-chief hanging on them - this used to be his office, and now Bai Miao was working there.

"Minghua!"

When Bai Miao saw that it was him coming in, he quickly stood up and greeted him.

"Come and sit down. Since you were transferred away, you haven't come over often. Everyone misses you." Bai Miao complained while pouring tea.

"It's coming." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

Since he resigned from the position of editor-in-chief last year, he seldom came to the magazine except for a few close friends who occasionally contacted him privately.

Don't come here for no reason, so as not to disturb other people's work.

In fact, if you think about it, the phrase "people leave and the tea gets cold" is not so derogatory, but rather true.

"Bai Miao, I went to the Tianhan area with Lu Yao some time ago and wrote some travel essays. What do you think of them?"

Fang Minghua said this as he took out a stack of manuscripts from his briefcase and handed them to Bai Miao.

"You wrote prose?" Bai Miao was a little surprised: "Just drink your tea first, I'll take a look."

Bai Miao took the manuscript and looked at it carefully for a long time before looking up: "Minghua, is this prose?"

"What? Not like?" Fang Minghua asked after taking a sip of tea.

"Not really. I thought you were going to write a prose book like Jia Pingwa did, similar to Shangzhou Chulu. I didn't expect it to be the same thing."

"Yes, they are different. Pingwa wrote 'Shangzhou Chulu'. I can't write a similar 'Tianhan Chulu', right?" Fang Minghua joked.

"Minghua, your essay reminds me of the essays of two veteran scholars, Jin Kemu and Zhang Zhongxing, one wrote "Swallows Pecking at Spring Mud" and the other wrote "Miscellaneous Talks in the Sun," Bai Miao expressed his point of view.

"They both incorporate academic knowledge and rational thinking into their essays. They do not pay special attention to the "norms" of essay titles, but regard them as another form of self-expression or attention to reality besides professional research. I think the approach you took in writing this article is very similar to theirs."

"You're right. I borrowed their writing style. I call it cultural prose."

"Cultural prose? This name sounds fresh. I'll call Muchun and ask him to come over." Bai Miao picked up the phone on the desk.

Muchun is Zhao Muchun, deputy editor-in-chief of the editorial department and head of the prose and poetry group, and was also promoted by Fang Minghua.

Zhao Muchun came over and greeted Fang Minghua when he saw her. When he saw the article written by Fang Minghua, he was surprised and happy.

"Chairman Fang, it seems you haven't forgotten our poetry and prose group."

"Look at what you said. I've been thinking about it all the time." Fang Minghua replied, but with a little guilt.

To be honest, during the time he was the editor-in-chief, his work focus had always been on novels, and he occasionally paid attention to poetry, mainly because of his close contacts with Nishikawa and his gang.

As for prose, I rarely ask about it.

"Chairman Fang, we want all four essays. We will publish two in this issue and keep the remaining two for the next issue." Zhao Muchun immediately decided: "Chairman Fang, do you want to write more?" "If it is appropriate, I plan to write a series." Fang Minghua expressed his idea.

The more Zhao Muchun listened, the happier he became.

Oh my god.

If this series of essays is published, wouldn’t it create a new genre of essays?
Yes, I have already thought of the name, Cultural Essay!
After Fang Minghua finished speaking, Zhao Muchun said, "In this case, I am going to open a special column in our magazine to publish your essays! By the way, what is the name of your series?"

"It's mainly about what I saw and felt during my visit to Tianhan and Baiyin areas, so let's call it Northwest Travels." Fang Minghua expressed his thoughts.

Zhao Muchun pondered for a moment before speaking, "Editor-in-Chief Fang, I have a suggestion. Based on what you just said, it is basically cultural relics, the humanistic atmosphere against the natural background, and the vicissitudes of life against the background of life. How about calling it "Fragments of Cultural Civilization"?
Oops
You are following Yu Qiuyu's path, which will leave Yu Qiuyu with no way to go in the future.

"Okay, do as you wish." Fang Minghua agreed.

"Since this is a series, Editor-in-Chief Fang, you'd better write a preface and briefly introduce your trip to Tianhan and Baiyin." Zhao Muchun reminded again.

"Okay, let me think about it." Fang Minghua agreed.

Soon, a preface came out:
"I am Han, I speak Chinese and I write Chinese characters because we have a great dynasty - the Han Dynasty. A very important city in the Han Dynasty is Tianhan. This is the hometown of the Han people.

Last month, my good friend Lu Yao and I, accompanied by Xu Yue, the editor-in-chief of "Chinese and Foreign Documentary Literature" magazine, went back to our "hometown" together.

Thousands of years of historical changes, in the blink of an eye, past and present lives have already intertwined into dreams. Let us approach it and have another dream of returning to the Han Dynasty.

The May issue of Yanhe magazine officially published the first two articles in Fang Minghua's Fragments of Civilization series of essays: The Awakening Age and Columbus of the East.

As an author, Fang Minghua certainly wanted to know what readers thought of these two essays. Bai Miao also said that he would sort out the relevant letters from readers and have someone send them to his home.

However, before Fang Minghua received any letters from readers, she received a call from Liu Jianjun of Xida University.

"Minghua, please take some time out these two days to come to Xida."

"Principal Liu, is there anything wrong?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Giving a lecture."

"Didn't I just finish talking about it last week? Why am I going to talk about it again so soon?" Fang Minghua felt surprised.

From last fall to now, Fang Minghua has talked about two important schools of avant-garde novels popular in the literary world in the 1980s: stream of consciousness and magical realism.

According to his plan, the next series is going to talk about postmodern novels represented by Ma Yuan, but it is scheduled to be released in a month. Why is he in such a hurry?
"I read two essays you published in the Yanhe magazine. They are very interesting. Please tell the students about the characteristics and writing techniques of this type of essay. I also want to listen!"

ah? this?
"After this, you don't have to come to class this semester." Liu Jianjun said with a smile on the phone.

Well, that's good advice.

"Okay then, let's set it for next Tuesday. I need to prepare." Fang Minghua said.

"Okay, next Tuesday, 2:30 pm, in the school auditorium." Liu Jianjun spoke crisply.

Why is it put in the auditorium again?

Wouldn’t that turn it into another lecture for thousands of people?

(End of this chapter)