Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 209: Do we have to divide into factions and mountains?

Li Hanxiang had just received investment recently and successfully withdrew from Shaw Brothers to make time to shoot a movie. He was in a good mood when he saw Lin Chaoyang, but his mood was ruined by his words.

"You really stink of money!"

"I earn all my money through hard work. You, the great Director Li, would not deduct my royalties, would you?" Lin Chaoyang said sarcastically.

"Here, here, here. I'll have them remit the royalties to you today."

"No, don't transfer it to me directly." Lin Chaoyang said quickly.

According to domestic regulations, foreign remittances can only be remitted to the Bank of China at this time, and ordinary people cannot directly receive foreign exchange remittances from abroad, so they must be forcibly settled in the Bank of China and the equivalent RMB must be calculated according to the official exchange rate.

Li Hanxiang listened to his words and smiled. He had traveled back and forth between the mainland and Hong Kong in recent years and had some understanding of the situation in the mainland. "Then I'll give you foreign exchange certificates?"

Lin Chaoyang smiled, "Director Li is wise!"

After chatting and laughing for a while at the door, Lin Chaoyang and Li Hanxiang entered the house. There were already several guests sitting inside, two of whom were familiar faces.

One was Shi Kuan from the co-production company, whom Lin Chaoyang had met before, and the other was Wang Yang, the director of Yanying Studio. Lin Chaoyang did not know the other two.

Wang Yang was not surprised to see Lin Chaoyang. He already knew that Lin Chaoyang was the screenwriter of Li Hanxiang's new movie. However, it was still a bit awkward to meet him today.

Lin Chaoyang shook hands with him without any hesitation and greeted him warmly.

Li Hanxiang also introduced the other two guests. One was Zhu Jiajin, an associate researcher at the Palace Museum, and the other was Yang Lin, a photographer whom Li Hanxiang brought from Hong Kong.

Several people were discussing the issue of set design. The movie is divided into two parts: "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Imperial Court", which can also be said to be two independent movies.

Among them, the role of the Old Summer Palace is naturally the most important, but this garden of gardens has been burned down many years ago, and now there are only ruins next to Shuimu University.

It would definitely not work if it were used for filming, and there is no digital simulation technology now. The only solution now is to rebuild a scene for filming.

But the Old Summer Palace had been burned down, and its true original appearance is hard to see. Restoring it is a very difficult task in itself, not to mention that such a large-scale construction project would definitely cost a lot of money.

"I remember there are several paintings by Lang Shining in the Forbidden City that specifically depict the Old Summer Palace," said Lin Chaoyang.

"I just mentioned this. It is a very important reference," Zhu Jiajin replied.

He was a historical consultant invited by Li Hanxiang and had a deep knowledge of Qing history.

"When I was writing the script, I found out that our Yenching University Library had a set of Jiang Youren's Western Building design drawings," Lin Chaoyang added.

Upon hearing this information, Zhu Jiajin's eyes lit up, "You still have this?"

Li Hanxiang also said happily: "It would be much simpler if we had a design drawing."

Shi Kuan and Wang Yang, who were standing by, knew little about Qing history and didn't know what they were so happy about.

Zhu Jiajin explained: "Jiang Youren was a French missionary who came to China during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. He was highly regarded by Emperor Qianlong and was one of the important designers of the Old Summer Palace.

He was responsible for the construction of the Western-style buildings in Changchun Garden, as well as many of the water conservancy projects in the garden."

One of the most important elements that made the Old Summer Palace world-famous is its water system, or fountains.

Many water features such as the Harmonious Fun, Water Storage Tower, Bird Cage, Yellow Flower Array, and Haiyan Hall are ingeniously designed and are truly a wonder when looking at the ancient Chinese palace architecture.

There was no Internet at that time, and people had to rely on people with extensive knowledge and good memory to look up information. Lin Chaoyang's two sentences saved the crew a lot of effort.

Movie shooting does not pursue realism, as long as the appearance is similar, if there is a design drawing, it will be a huge help to the crew's set design work.

They talked for more than two hours about all aspects of the filming. With Lin Chaoyang and Zhu Jiajin's advice, Li Hanxiang was in a good mood.

During lunch, Li Hanxiang mentioned the issue of the location for the Old Summer Palace set again. The co-production company was communicating with the Yanjing Municipal Government and was preparing to select a site in Changping.

According to the estimation of the co-production company, to recreate some scenes of the Old Summer Palace in Changping, an investment of at least 1981 or yuan would be needed, which was undoubtedly an astronomical figure in China in . The investment of just one set might be equivalent to the investment of two ordinary films. In the words of later generations, this was called a blockbuster.

After finishing the meal, they had almost finished talking about business. Thinking about Du Feng, Lin Chaoyang asked Li Hanxiang for a minor role, and Li Hanxiang readily agreed.

Before Lin Chaoyang left, Li Hanxiang pulled him back to the room and said he wanted to give him a gift.

After returning to the room, Li Hanxiang took out a magazine from his luggage. The cover of the magazine was all in traditional Chinese characters.

Li Hanxiang explained, "I met Dai Tian and talked about you being my screenwriter the other day. He said Xixi had just read your novel and wrote a review article. This magazine, Suye Literature, was founded by Xixi, Dai Tian and others last year and is very popular in the Hong Kong literary world."

Lin Chaoyang opened the magazine and saw a line of words in the table of contents - "Reading Modern Literature - Reading the Mainland Work "The Death of Van Gogh""... Xixi.

"I didn't expect that there are people reading my novels in Hong Kong." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

Li Hanxiang's visit to the mainland was considered as entry, and all the publications he brought with him had to be reviewed. Although there were certain restrictions on entry and exit, these restrictions did not bother cultural figures who frequently traveled between the two places, otherwise the martial arts novels from Hong Kong would not have been so popular in the mainland in recent years.

“The Hong Kong literary community has paid a lot of attention to the mainland, especially after the reform and opening up in the past few years, when your scar literature emerged, this attention has become even more obvious.

I haven’t learned about it myself, but according to Dai Tian, ​​after Xixi published this article, many Hong Kong writers and literary critics were very interested in you.”

Lin Chaoyang is not unfamiliar with the name Xixi. She is considered one of the representative writers of Hong Kong. If we make an analogy, her status in the Hong Kong literary world is probably equivalent to that of Eileen Chang in the Chinese literary world. These few years should be her most popular time.

Hong Kong literature has never had much presence in the Chinese-speaking world, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been glorious. The 1940s and 1950s were considered a glorious period for Hong Kong literature, because many mainland writers came to Hong Kong at that time, which promoted the development of Hong Kong literature.

The period from the mid-to-late 1970s to the mid-1980s was considered a revival period, with many local writers emerging.

But in comparison, the development of Hong Kong literature is still far behind that of the mainland and Taiwan. "So, I have some fame in Hong Kong?" Lin Chaoyang asked with a smile.

"He is only famous in the literary circle. If you ask ordinary citizens, no one knows him. He still has to work hard!" Li Hanxiang said sarcastically.

Lin Chaoyang nodded, "I see, it's about the same as your reputation in the mainland."

Li Hanxiang was speechless.

The next day at work, Hong Zicheng went to the library in the afternoon and asked Lin Chaoyang, "Chaoyang, what do you think of the article criticizing The Death of Van Gogh in the Journal of Literature and Art?"

"What do you mean?" Lin Chaoyang looked confused.

"You haven't watched it yet?"

Lin Chaoyang shook his head. "Just criticize me if you want to. Isn't that normal?"

Seeing that he didn't understand the situation, Hong Zicheng said, "This criticism is different..."

"How is it different?"

Hong Zicheng then explained the situation, which was a long story.

In February this year, aesthetics scholar Li Zehou published an article in the Literary Gazette titled "Galleries Talking about Beauty."

The main content of the article is to defend some literary and artistic forms and literary youths that have emerged in recent years. The article says that the thoughts and emotions of these young people are the products of the times, and their works also convey their own emotions and voices to a certain extent.

As far as the content of the article is concerned, there is not much problem.

However, combined with the various signs after Today magazine was suspended the previous year and the Stars Art Exhibition was criticized, this article aroused dissatisfaction among some conservative figures in the cultural circle.

Whether it is Today or the Stars Art Exhibition, many people in the cultural circle regard them as spiritual WRs that spread all kinds of bourgeois and decadent ideas. This article by Li Zehou is undoubtedly an attempt to vindicate and reverse the verdict of these people.

After the article was published, someone quickly criticized it, which then sparked a heated discussion.

Originally, this matter had nothing to do with Lin Chaoyang, but this month, China Youth Daily suddenly published an article titled "Looking at the Openness and Inclusiveness of Art from "The Death of Van Gogh"."

The article lists some plots in "The Death of Van Gogh" to illustrate the author's own point of view.

The article says: Although Van Gogh's madness for art in the novel is only an isolated case, it also illustrates the effort and energy that creators need to pay and consume in the process of artistic creation. It is irresponsible to easily attribute it to spiritual WR.

The author believes that no matter what kind of art it is, there should be a broader creative space and it should not be subject to excessive political interference. The development and prosperity of culture requires diversity and openness.

Overemphasizing the spiritual pollution brought to the masses by literary and artistic works is likely to inhibit the modernization of culture and economy, and is not conducive to the overall progress of the country and the enhancement of national confidence.

In discussions in the cultural community, we should follow scientific principles and artistic creation norms, and avoid exaggerating or over-interpreting issues that infringe on individual freedoms and rights. We should learn from history and not go back to the old ways.

The two sides were debating, and if one side mentioned Lin Chaoyang's work as an argument, the other side would naturally refute it.

"The Death of Van Gogh", which was highly praised in the literary world, was suddenly criticized by some people since last month. Most of these critical articles gave a pan-politicized interpretation of the novel, and were labeled as "liberal" by many people.

After listening to Hong Zicheng's description of the specific situation, Lin Chaoyang suddenly felt a sense of grievance, as if "the pot is poured out from the sky while you are sitting at home."

"Are these people idle and have nothing to do?"

Seeing his innocent expression, Hong Zicheng laughed and said, "Don't feel wronged. People talking about your novel proves that your novel is well written. Why didn't they mention other novels?"

"So, I have to thank them?" Lin Chaoyang asked in a sarcastic tone.

Hong Zicheng did not answer his question, but asked: "Aren't you going to respond to them?"

For university teachers like Hong Zicheng, because of the Buzzing, most of them have become tired of the past model based on politics, and their hearts are more or less inclined towards the liberals.

Lin Chaoyang looked at him and asked, "Are you from the Y side?"

Hong Zicheng felt a little guilty and nodded hesitantly.

"Where are you from?" he asked.

"I am not on either side. I don't agree with either side."

When Lin Chaoyang was listening to Hong Zicheng's statement just now, he knew that this was the embryonic stage of the famous "Anti-Spiritual WR Movement" in later generations.

Right now it is just a debate in the literary and art circles. Once powerful figures express their views, this movement will continue vigorously for three years, and the domestic cultural circle will be in a state of panic.

Lin Chaoyang asked himself whether his stance was different from that of either side. If he had to say, he would still be on the conservative side.

But the problem is that he disagrees with the views of both sides, so he can't express his opinion because he would easily be accused of being a fence-sitter.

Two years ago, he published an article entitled "The Inevitable Rise and Fall of Scar Literature", inadvertently getting involved in the dispute in the literary world. This time he learned his lesson and decided not to get involved in such meaningless debates.

"I don't like pan-politicization, nor do I like excessive freedom. We Chinese always talk about moderation, but this group of people always like to go to extremes."

Hong Zicheng probably understood Lin Chaoyang's attitude, "You belong to the moderate conservative faction!"

"Do we have to divide into factions and cliques?" Lin Chaoyang said speechlessly.

His words stunned Hong Zicheng for a moment, and he looked guilty.

(End of this chapter)