Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 167 This child must not be kept
After Jia Pingwa comforted the writers at the front desk and finally persuaded them to go back to their room, he turned around and saw Bai Ye sitting on the steps.

He stepped forward and patted Bai Ye on the shoulder, saying, "Old Bai, you have to find a way to make this happen. It seems the situation is worse than we thought. I will contact Xinjiang as soon as possible. You have to work harder, too."

Bai Ye stood up suddenly and said, "Isn't it just a blog? It's not like I don't have an account! I just don't believe that the world revolves around Zhang Chao alone?"

Jia Pingwa: “…” He thought to himself that you seemed to have misunderstood what I meant, but Bai Ye was too emotional now and he couldn’t persuade him.

Bai Ye turned and left. Jia Pingwa could only sigh and watch his old friend disappear around the corner of the stairs.

(At this moment, Han Han, who was in Shanghai preparing for the Jinshan Rally at the end of the month, suddenly felt a stream of luck escaping from his head, rushing straight to Douniu, and then into the Huangpu River...)
At 9 o'clock in the morning, the summary meeting of the "Seminar on the Development of Contemporary Chinese Prose" was held in the large lecture hall of the Chinese Department teaching building of Northwest University.

Meiwen was the organizer of this event, and its editor-in-chief Jia Pingwa made a concluding speech:

"We have achieved fruitful results in this seminar. We have not only clarified the development of contemporary prose and its future direction, but also conducted in-depth comments on new works and new trends in prose creation..."

"Contemporary prose inherits the May Fourth tradition and reflects the characteristics of the times in terms of aesthetics, including the beauty of nature, life, and human nature presented in the works. We have especially noticed that young prose writers represented by Li Juan, with their delicate emotions and keen observations, strive to refine and sublimate real and ordinary life, and incorporate seemingly ordinary life details, local customs, and national customs into their writing, allowing readers to feel the aesthetic pleasure of literary expression."

……

The entire summary is well-balanced and flawless, as if what happened at the "Big Moves in Big Times" seminar yesterday did not exist.

Although many writers left this time, Jia Pingwa used his reputation to temporarily invite many young teachers and graduate students from the Chinese Department to sit in the back row of the lecture hall, so the class looked crowded.

After Jia Pingwa finished reading his summary, he saw the audience nodding frequently and heard the enthusiastic applause, and only then did he put his heart back into his stomach.

The closing ceremony was next. After several cultural department leaders gave speeches, everyone took a group photo, and the event was considered a successful conclusion. As for what would happen next, he had no control over it.

But when the host invited the leader to speak, the leader did not move at all and did not go on stage. Instead, he took the microphone and said, "Today I would like to let President Bai of the Contemporary Literature and Art Research Association speak on my behalf. His theoretical level is very high and I believe it will be more beneficial for everyone."

Bai Ye walked up to the podium expressionlessly, deliberately ignoring Jia Pingwa's resentful eyes, adjusted the height of the microphone, and began his speech:

"…In fact, the achievements of this conference are not limited to what Pingwa just said, nor are they limited to prose. Instead, they are closely related to the entire literary world, the domestic literary atmosphere, and all of you present here."

"I believe that everyone attending the conference has heard about yesterday's incident. First of all, I want to clarify one thing - whether it is me or teachers Yang, Hong, Chang, and Feng, we are speaking with the intention of promoting writers' creation and improving the quality of their works."

"However, our statements have been misunderstood and even deliberately distorted. Someone is deliberately creating a confrontation between writers and critics."

"Mature and rational writers should all recognize this basic fact: literary criticism is also a kind of literary creation and is also a part of the complete composition of a literary work."

"Since ancient times, literary criticism has played an important role in promoting literary creation. The Book of Songs has the Mao Shi Preface, Tang and Song poetry has the Canglang Poetry Talk, and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms we read today is the edited and revised version by Mao Zonggang and his son. If the Water Margin lacked Jin Shengtan's comments, it would also lose a lot of its luster." "...Since entering the new era, our literary criticism community has lived up to the historical mission entrusted to us by the times. We have discovered, promoted, and helped many writers, and strengthened readers' understanding and love of them."

"Of course, there are still many shortcomings in our work - for example, in the face of rapid social and cultural transformation, we failed to capture the readers' literary psychological needs in a timely manner, which led to stagnation and rigidity in literary criticism; for example, we did not pay enough attention to and care about new writers who emerged after 2000."

"We can accept criticism, no matter how sharp it is, as long as it is fair, and we can correct our mistakes if there are any, and learn from them if there are none."

"What we cannot accept is groundless slander, the exaggeration of small issues, and the labeling. This is not a normal literary discussion, but the style of petty hooligans, ruffians, and gangsters."

"Some young writers, relying on a few best-sellers, can speak nonsense and wantonly sow discord between writers and critics, creating trouble and stirring up confrontation. This has already lost the bottom line of engaging in the sacred literary cause."

"As the president of the Contemporary Literature and Art Research Association, a professor at the Institute of Literature of the National Academy of Social Sciences, an executive director of the Literary Theory Society, and a member of the Writers Association, I don't care about personal honor or disgrace, but I am worried that once the bad atmosphere spreads, it will have a devastating impact on the healthy ecology of literature."

"Just imagine, if the literary world becomes all about money and sales, how many of our young writers will have a chance to succeed? We have painstakingly maintained so many literary journals that are no longer profitable in order to maintain a healthy ecology in the literary world."

"I am not afraid to say that this 'young writer' is none other than Zhang Chao, who has been the most popular writer in the past two years! His growth is inseparable from the support of his predecessors in the literary world and the supervision of our literary criticism community."

"Now he has been blinded by money, confusing right and wrong, and making up stories out of thin air. He has gone from being a rising star to a cancer in the literary world!"

"Of course, saving such a young man is the first priority! But if he is stubborn and insists on going down this wrong path, then no matter how much we regret it or how difficult the situation is, we must fight to the end!"

"We must not entrust the future of the literary world to such a person!"

After Bai Ye finished speaking, there was only sparse applause from the audience. Some people looked gloomy, some were at a loss, and some were confused.

Then he added indignantly: "Even if there are dangerous places ahead, even if I am alone, I will never retreat!"

At this time, Feng Zheng, who was sitting in the corner, clapped his hands and said, "Chairman Dayi!"

Only then did more orderly applause break out in the venue, but it was obviously perfunctory and stopped after only a few seconds.

Jia Pingwa thought something was wrong and began to hesitate whether to warn Zhang Chao - even though Bai Ye suffered repeated setbacks yesterday, the experience he had accumulated over the past 30 years and the resources behind him should not be underestimated.

Today, the leader deliberately gave the opportunity to speak to Bai Ye, which is a statement of his stance.

In the end, the "Seminar on the Development of Contemporary Chinese Prose" came to an end in a heavy and weird atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)