Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 401 Look, these crap things Zhang Chao wrote are already outdated! (Seeking votes at the end of the month)

Zhang Chao's point of view is somewhat shocking. After all, no matter whether you criticize society or not, you can't say that "rampant materialism" and "restless people's hearts" are good things, right?
All the viewers were confused. What were CCTV and Zhang Chao trying to do? You have to know that programs like "Face to Face" are not live broadcasts, but recorded broadcasts. Everything that can be shown to the public has been strictly reviewed and edited.

What's more, unlike programs like "Focus Interview", it also represents the media's value orientation to the general public to a certain extent.

But Dong Qian on the screen remained calm and composed, her voice as steady as ever: "I'm afraid many people will misunderstand if you say that."

Zhang Chao said: "It is precisely because of the misunderstanding that I have this opportunity to let literature intervene in reality and attract more people's attention.

As for what I just said, many people will indeed feel confused or even angry. But in fact, this emotion is more due to cultural inertia - by the way, this cultural inertia is common in almost all civilizations - a simple value system born out of material scarcity.

After all, in ancient society, resources were limited, so people had to be advised to take less and eat less to maintain a fragile balance of resources. But even so, we can see from history books the changes in values ​​brought about by material abundance.

The so-called "eight delicacies" eaten by the Zhou emperor were mostly rice with gravy and barbecue; in the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Zhuang of Lu was said to be "undisciplined" and "extravagant" for painting the pillars in his home.

These enjoyments are not excessive, not to mention compared with modern times, even compared with the Han Dynasty. We cannot be so naive, on the one hand, hoping that our material life will continue to be enriched, and on the other hand, hoping that everyone will be pure in their desires when facing material things.

The emergence of any new consumer product corresponds to some specific material desire of ours.”

Dong Qian smiled and said, "It seems that you are going to subvert this value today?"

Zhang Chao replied: "Of course not, I am just a repeater. In fact, since ancient times, no matter how philosophers and religious figures advocated purity of mind and few desires, social practitioners both in China and abroad have doubted this.

That is why Guanzi said, "When the granaries are full, people will know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they will know honor and disgrace." Marx believed in "Critique of the Gotha Program" that in order to realize communism, material wealth must be extremely abundant.

Our society is now in a period of rapid economic growth, but the accumulation of material wealth has not yet benefited the grassroots. Now we are afraid of "material desires" and "people's restlessness". This reminds me of Chekhov's novel "The Lottery" -

A well-off couple bought a lottery ticket. As soon as they got half of the numbers right, they started imagining the wonderful life after winning the lottery. The husband even began to dislike his wife for being ugly and old, and they had a big fight.

Finally, they checked the remaining half of the numbers and found that they did not win the prize. Their lives were not changed by the lottery, but their lives were changed forever by the lottery.

We Chinese are still so poor, can you wait until we cash in our 'lottery' before criticizing us for our 'materialism' and 'impulsiveness'? "

Dong Qian thought for a moment and said, "So your novel is not criticizing 'Xiao Yang' or 'society'?"

Zhang Chao said frankly: "Of course not. I think in the future - not too long - even marginalized people like 'Xiao Yang' will not sell their organs for a mobile phone.

However, in the transition period between the two eras, when commodities such as the iPhone appear, which symbolize a higher social class, marginalized groups may resort to extreme means, such as selling kidneys, to fill the gap between material and identity in order to gain social recognition.

If society truly achieves universal material abundance, such identity markers will lose their scarcity, and people like Xiao Yang will not need to take risks; if society becomes more open to diverse values, young people at the bottom of society will not be held hostage by a single consumer symbol. "

Dong Qian showed a look of realization and said, "So we always criticize 'material desires', but in fact it is a misunderstanding of 'Xiao Yang'. 'Xiao Yang's' tragedy actually exposes the serious lack of accumulation of material wealth in our society.

You hope that through this novel, you can call on us to speed up the development of our economy and promote the progress of society, so that the "transitional stage" you think of will pass sooner and will not cause the "tragedy" you predicted, right?"

Zhang Chao nodded in agreement, "Some people may ask, 'Isn't the iPhone a symbol of material abundance?' That's wrong. Real material abundance should be as accessible as running water, rather than making a mobile phone a 'status symbol' that requires mortgaging one's life.

The iPhone hype that I wrote about in "Damn Zhang Chao!" proves that our materialism is still at a primitive stage - when goods need to rely on hunger marketing to maintain their scarcity, it shows that the entire society is far from reaching a healthy consumption level.

And we are still experiencing the pain of this unfinished modernization!"

Dong Qian asked: "What about impetuousness? Why do you think that 'impulsiveness' is also a 'good thing'?"

Hearing this question, the audience's interest was aroused again. Everyone can still accept the explanation of "material desire" just now. After all, although economic development in recent years has been accompanied by various problems, most people have still received real rewards.

If the price of avoiding "material desires" is to return to the era of "material scarcity", almost no one would be willing to do so.

But "restless" is different. This word is inherently derogatory. "Frivolous" and "impatient" are not good things no matter how you look at them. How can Zhang Chao defend this?
Zhang Chao, who only watched the TV, said leisurely: "'Impulsive' is certainly not a good word, but it does not mean that the context in which we use this word today is correct. We are too easy to define all behaviors of 'pursuing but failing' as impulsive.

Just like the archers in the pre-Qin period who could see a louse hanging on the door beam until it was bigger than a wheel, archery could be learned without a teacher - we have heard too many such idealistic and decadent stories since childhood, which sound great but are quite different in practice.

To quote a line from Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman: Life is not like cooking, where you can wait until all the ingredients are ready before putting the food in the pot.

How many goals are worth pursuing in this world? Can you wait until you are fully prepared before setting out to pursue them? The luck of having everything ready and flowing into a natural way in life is always rare, so it is worth recording and praising.

We are always in a rush to get into battle and face the gains and losses in a hurry. In this respect, I and most people are essentially no different from Xiao Yang. "

Dong Qian showed a surprised expression and asked, "Do you think you and 'Xiao Yang' are the same kind of people?"

Zhang Chao calmly replied: "Why not? Was I well prepared when I wrote those three articles? No. I couldn't predict the subsequent developments. No one came to guarantee that I would become famous, but I had to write first.

Because at that time, the "New Concept Essay Contest" was in full swing, if I was even a week late, the window would be closed to me. So I had to risk being punished and sneak into the school computer room in the middle of the night.

Isn't it the same for Xiao Yang? He just wants a mobile phone that he can show off to others, and he can't wait to work on the assembly line in the factory for a year to save money. If he buys it three months later, many people will have it, and he won't be able to enjoy the happiness of being the center of attention.

In fact, in most cases, what we criticize as "impulsiveness" is nothing more than having something that we want right now - a mobile phone or fame - and we are willing to take risks for it. "Dong Qian asked: "So is it worth taking such a risk?"

Zhang Chao said: "Different people have different values ​​for what is worthwhile. But we should pay attention to what limits our values. I think it is not worthwhile to exchange a kidney for a mobile phone, but 'Xiao Yang' thinks it is worthwhile.

Can we criticize this behavior as "frivolous"? This is undoubtedly a great disregard for their living conditions and a great disregard for their spiritual needs. In essence, this is an attempt to gain identity through extreme means.

We always like to criticize young people's choices with the word "impulsive", but we selectively forget the restless instinct of history itself. Su Qin said, "If I had two hectares of land in Luoyang, how could I wear the seals of the six countries?"

If the values ​​of the Warring States period were stable enough, shouldn't this impoverished scholar have resigned himself to his fate and started farming instead of stirring up trouble in the world by becoming the prime minister of six countries?

So back to director Ang Lee's analogy, many people neither have the courage to admit the reality that "all the ingredients are never available", nor are they willing to give up their obsessive pursuit of the "perfect recipe".

When all attempts to survive outside the norm are nailed to the cross of "impetuousness", there are only two kinds of people left in this society: one is the "sharpshooter" who kneels down and sees lice as wheels, and the other is the blind drifter who cannot even see the lice.

Is this the kind of society that everyone wants? I don’t want it anyway.

Just like the carnival caused by me cursing myself anonymously. The public needs the trash can of "impetuousness" to transform all institutional dilemmas into individual moral defects. But everyone might as well think about it -

If our society can provide more abundant material goods and a more tolerant mentality, then Xiao Yang's kidney and Xu Lizhi's poems may find a more respectable destination. "

Dong Qian sat opposite Zhang Chao, her eyes thoughtful, and continued to ask: "Then can I understand that you never wanted to criticize 'Zhang Chao' or 'Xiao Yang' from the beginning to the end.

On the contrary, you actually have great hope for them - this hope is not that their tragedy will unfold as you expected, but that it will disappear as soon as possible in the process of social development.

You can even say that you hope your own 'predictions' fail - because only when they fail can you achieve your ideal society. "

Zhang Chao quickly waved his hands and denied, "I'm not so arrogant as to think that two novels can change anything. That's too optimistic. From the beginning to the end, I just hope that people who pay attention to this discussion may change their views a little bit.

Like I said at the beginning, if even one 'Xiao Yang' sees this discussion and knows that body organs are important and cannot be sold casually, I think it is worth it.

I hope that people like Xiao Yang can be more impetuous and pursue consumer goods that are more expensive than a mobile phone. Some of them will still go astray, but I also believe that the vast majority of them can return to the right track of life in their pursuit.

After all, I am still quite confident in the development of our society.

If I have to say what I criticized in these two novels, it is myself. This is the novel I should have written, but it was written a few years late. But fortunately, I remembered to write it, maybe it’s not too late. ”

In fact, Dong Qian and the audience did not really understand the meaning of Zhang Chao's words. They just felt that this was because a writer had too high expectations of himself.

However, Zhang Chao has explained the controversy caused by the novel and the shocking remarks made during the interview very completely and clearly. Although it is not what some people wish, it has led people's thinking to a deeper level.

Dong Qian took the opportunity to ask the last question: "For 'Xiao Yang', oh, and all the readers and viewers who have criticized you for this matter, do you have anything else to say?"

Zhang Chao was silent for a while, and then said in a serious and calm tone: "I want to say to the 'Xiao Yang' in front of the screen - please live a better life than my novels.

When you are eating the 3-yuan set meal, remember that you can add an egg for another 1 yuan; if you get off work for a day job, don't always go to the Internet cafe, go to the park for a walk and bask in the sun; if you can't find your mother for the time being, be your own parent first.

Keep your kidney. Someone will pay a reasonable price for it in the future. It is more important than you think."

When he said the last sentence, Zhang Chao, Dong Qian, and the audience in front of the TV couldn't help laughing.

After laughing, Zhang Chao continued: "As for those readers and viewers who have scolded me, if your children want to be poets, couriers or other professions that you think are unreliable in the future - don't rush to throw things, take him to eat a pig's trotter meal first, and let him see how solid the dignity that can be bought with eight yuan is.

I think sooner or later everyone will understand that true material abundance does not mean that everyone can afford an iPhone, but that the story of selling a kidney to buy a phone becomes an absurd old legend. The so-called "restlessness" does not need to be used to criticize young people for being restless. The world must be able to accommodate some people who want to write poetry while standing and some who want to lie down and watch the clouds.

By then, you can point to my novels and say, 'Look, these crap things Zhang Chao wrote are outdated! '"

This episode of "Face to Face" has ended.

All the audience who watched the show felt that they were still not satisfied - Zhang Chao said a lot, and everyone could not digest it all at once, but the kindness in his bones towards ordinary people, even people at the bottom of society, was really felt.

The public has also begun to reflect: our lives clearly lack all kinds of material things, so why are we criticized for "rampant materialism" all day long?
Can't we wait until this happens?
There is also the issue of “people’s restlessness”. How can the pursuit of progress and success be considered “restlessness”? Isn’t the reason why our society is so vibrant because everyone is “restless”?
Yu Hua and Su Tong, who were watching TV in Shenzhen, saw it more clearly. Yu Hua said, "Isn't Zhang Chao's last sentence a replica of Lu Xun's famous saying?"

Su Tong said: "Lu Xun hoped that his articles would 'quickly decay', while Zhang Chao hoped that his predictions would 'come to naught'. In essence, they are indeed the same thing. However, Lu Xun's articles did not 'quickly decay', but instead became more and more vital.

Then what about Zhang Chao's prediction? ..."

At this point, Su Tong shut up, and the two smiled at each other, but with bitterness in their expressions.

However, some sharp-sighted people suddenly reacted and scolded: "This little idiot, he is avoiding the main point and did not explain at all that he would make a fortune by developing an Apple mobile phone application!
No, we can’t let him go!”

(End of this chapter)