Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 206 There are many famous people and right and wrong

With the completion of his undergraduate graduation thesis defense in the Chinese Department of Yanzhou Normal University, Zhang Chao also welcomed the review of the graduation works of the "Writer Graduate Class" of Yanzhou Normal University.

Although the graduation defense at Yanda University ended up being a live broadcast drama, the overall difficulty was not high. The focus was only on Zhang Chao, and the other students went through the normal process.

Yanshi University is different. In addition to Zhang Chao, there are other "lively treasures" in the "Writer Graduate Class". Among them, the most controversial one is the Yunnan writer and poet Lei Pingyang.

In October 2005, he published a highly experimental poem titled "The 10 Tributaries of the Lancang River in Lanping County" in Poetry Magazine. The content of the poem is roughly as follows:
[The Lancang River flows southward from Weixi County into Beidian Township, Lanping County
Flowing southward for 1 km, the East Natongdian River

Flowing south for another 6 km, the Sina De Qing River
Flowing south for another 4 km, the East Nakzhuo River
It flows south for another 3 kilometers and then flows east to the Zhongpai River.
…………

Flowing south for another 48 kilometers, the Lancang River
The water flows southwards, and reaches Huoshaoguan.
Completed 130 kilometers of flow in Lanping County

Flows southward into Yunlong County, Dali Prefecture.

Except for the beginning and the end, the whole poem lists the "33 tributaries of the Lancang River in Lanping County, Yunnan" according to their geographical locations as indicated in the title.

It is said that Lei Pingyang was inspired by the way of describing geography in "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and wrote this with the aim of arousing people's attention to the excellent literary traditions of ancient China.

Soon after the poem was published, it aroused a lot of discussion, and some people posted it on several famous forums. Everyone said that they could not understand it and were shocked. At the same time, it also confirmed that modern poetry can be written by pressing the Enter key, and it was named "Pingyang style".

However, Zhang Chao was attending IWP in the United States at that time and was neither aware of nor involved in this small incident.

So when Yu Hua placed Lei Pingyang's poem in front of Zhang Chao, Zhang Chao was confused and asked, "What did Lei Pingyang write? This is obviously an experimental poem. He doesn't write prose like this."

Modern poets are eager to break free from the shackles of existing writing rules and explore the deeper secrets of language, so this kind of "strange poems" are often produced. For Yu Hua or Zhang Chao, this is "nothing strange".

In fact, when these poets are "normal", most of their poems meet people's expectations of "poetry" or "modern poetry". For example, this poem by Lei Pingyang:

[I only love Yunnan, where I live, because other provinces
I don't like any of them; I only love ZT City in Yunnan

Because I don’t like other cities; I only love Tucheng Township in ZT City

Because I don’t like other towns...
My love is narrow and biased, like honey on the tip of a needle

If one day I can no longer go on

I will only love my loved ones - this gradually shrinking process

Exhausted my youth and compassion]

For a poet, such expression may gain him worldly praise, but it cannot satisfy his ambition for poetry.

Zhang Chao sighed and said, "What kind of graduation project did he hand in to you?"

Yu Hua said: "Don't mention it. Didn't he go to the forest farm in Xiaoxing'anling to experience life? He came back and wrote a long poem, dozens of pages, more than a thousand lines, I was dizzy after reading it."

Zhang Chao said, "If the outside world sees it, won't it cause more controversy?" Yu Hua frowned and said, "That's why a reporter said last year that they want to see our show this year."

Zhang Chao asked, "Good show?"

Yu Hua explained: "Last year, the media finally defined the controversy caused by Lei Pingyang's poem "Thirty-three Tributaries" as "contemporary literary creation has become divorced from the masses and has entered a dead end of mystification and pretense".

I looked at the graduation works you submitted this year. Not only you and him, but also several other students chose a more modernist creative approach, which is indeed at odds with the public's aesthetic taste.

In fact, in March and April this year, I hesitated whether to remind you to write something that is easy for everyone to understand, but after thinking about it, I decided not to interfere with your creation and try to ensure the purity of your work. However, this time your defense live broadcast at Yanda also attracted some media reporters to focus on the evaluation of our graduation works.

You know, when we reopened the 'Graduate Writers Class' two years ago, we publicly promised that these works would not only be subject to professional evaluation, but also be published publicly to give a report to the general public.

But now... look at this newspaper, from yesterday."

After that, he opened a copy of Huacheng Evening News and handed it to Zhang Chao. Zhang Chao took it and saw a report occupying half of the page -

"The 'Enter Key Poet' is about to graduate. What kind of writers is Yanshi University cultivating?"

[It is reported that in June this year, the "Writers Graduate Class" of Yanshi University will welcome the first batch of graduates after the resumption of school. Among this batch of graduates, there is a young writer Zhang Chao who is very popular with readers, but there are also students who are quite "puzzling" to readers, such as Lei Pingyang, who is called the "Enter Key Poet" by netizens...]

[Art can be derived from life and be higher than life, but if artists feel that they can be higher than the general public, it is not only a terrible illusion, but also a moral degradation...]

[The masses are not hooligans. We have both the aesthetic needs and the aesthetic ability to appreciate excellent literary works. Mystification and pretense are not only an insult to the glorious titles of "writer" and "poet", but also a contempt for Yanshi University, an institution of higher learning...]

[We are delighted to see that the young Zhang Chao can not only walk between art and business with ease and dedicate one wonderful work after another to us, but also rush to the forefront of revitalizing the literary cause with his young and fresh personal image...]

[But are Zhang Chao's "big brothers" and "big sisters" still immersed in the fantasy of 20 years ago, using "pure literature" and "serious literature" as an excuse to keep readers away? Let us wait and see. ...]

[Of course, perhaps we should not demand that the "Writers Graduate Class" must be fruitful. I think that having only one "Zhang Chao" is also a qualified and even good result.]

[I just hope that our "graduate writers" will write more carefully and use the enter key less! ]

"This is just to sow discord and put me on the spot!" Zhang Chao angrily slammed the newspaper on the table and asked, "Teacher Yu, whose pen name is 'Guan Hai' who wrote this report? Judging from his writing style, he must be a habitual offender of fanning the flames!"

Yu Hua said: "Who knows? Which newspaper doesn't have a group of such 'habitual offenders'? The media will grab the news when there is news, and will also make up the news when there is no news. Even if the news is found out, the article has been published and the newspaper has been published, can it be taken back?"

Although Huacheng Evening News is a local newspaper, it has considerable influence. Such specific praise and criticism has attracted widespread attention.

Yu Hua said to Zhang Chao: "I originally thought that the incident was over after a while last year, but I didn't expect it to be brought up now. I came to you to discuss how to make our 'Postgraduate Writers Edition' have a beautiful ending.

I didn’t expect the fire to burn you… Now you should think about how to put it out.”

Zhang Chao was really helpless. People say that the more famous you are, the more gossip you will have. But he himself had too much gossip!
(Try to write another chapter)
(End of this chapter)