Literary Master 1983

Chapter 273 Several Moments in History (Part Two)
The commentary by Japanese writer Kenzaburo Oe was published last, but it was the most important.

This future Nobel laureate in Literature, a renowned writer, currently serves as a columnist for the "Literary Commentary" section of the Asahi Shimbun. He has long been concerned with the development of literature in mainland China, and he commented:

"If we divide literature into ancient, modern, contemporary, and contemporary periods, then in ancient times, Chinese literature far surpasses that of any other country or region. In modern times, Japan was the first to complete the Meiji Restoration and was the first East Asian country to integrate with the international community. During this period, its literary achievements were also quite remarkable, and I personally believe they are greater than those of China."

"Since the modern era, Japanese literature has continued to flourish. The works of modern Japanese writers, represented by Kawabata Yasunari, have maintained a high standard in Japanese literature and profoundly influenced the Chinese literary scene at that time. However, Chinese literature has also shone brightly and gradually prospered. There are outstanding writers in drama, prose, poetry, and novels, which are probably no less than, and perhaps even slightly better than, Japanese literature."

"So, how is contemporary literature developing? This question used to be beyond question. The formulaic and conceptualized nature of Chinese literary creation led to a period of stagnation. However, this situation has been greatly reversed in recent years. Judging from the Japanese translations of novels by writers such as Yu Qie, there is already a hidden force that is destroying the old literary style."

Kenzaburo Oe said, "Yu Qie's articles are good at observing the changes of the times among people from all walks of life. His works are profound yet humorous, and his writing is quite vivid. He is highly readable in any country. He is the destructive dragon of China. He has the ruler and measuring instruments in his hands. He shoots arrows into the sky, and no one knows where the arrows will fall. He makes others have to act according to the norms he left behind."

This assessment is undeniably high! Kenzaburo Oe compared the mainland Chinese literary scene to the Japanese literary scene, something mainland writers at the time dared not imagine. In Japan, this assessment drew criticism, with the public believing that "the destructive power beyond what is yet to be seen" was yet to be realized.

Wang Meng, editor-in-chief of People's Literature, was delighted to see this evaluation and said: "I never expected that the Japanese would think so highly of our literary scene. The mainland's literary world has truly entered a golden age."

He was naturally pleased. Wang Meng had keenly sensed the evolving trend and made arrangements in advance through People's Literature.

Yu Qie was also surprised when he saw Kenzaburo Oe's evaluation. This old guy had great foresight. No wonder he won the Nobel Prize in Literature later.

Ironically, Kenzaburo Oe himself was the one who undermined this reputation. And that's because Oe later won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

History played a little joke here: the golden generation of writers born in mainland China in the 1980s was the last peak before the decline of traditional literature. It was a time of great intellectual ferment and flourishing, with a variety of styles emerging, such as scar literature, root-seeking literature, new realism, and avant-garde literature.

Many people believe that this period surpassed Japanese literature of the same era. However, the mainland has always suffered from the fact that while it has famous writers, it lacks true masters and has no particularly outstanding ones. On the other hand, Japan has Kenzaburo Oe, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, in serious literature, and Haruki Murakami, whose novels have readers all over the world in popular literature.

This creates a huge regret: in the literary palace composed of mountains and rivers, the length and breadth of the river may have surpassed others, but no highest peak that can be seen at a glance has been born, so it is naturally at a great disadvantage in the competition.

In some areas of human society, there is often this phenomenon: there are always a few exceptional individuals who stand out and elevate the level of the entire country, making it impossible for anyone else to match them.

That month, several other significant events occurred. The first China-Japan Go Tournament, lasting over half a year and featuring 16 players, concluded in Beijing. To everyone's surprise, the Chinese Go team staged a remarkable comeback in the final stages, and the moment Nie Weiping was announced as the winner of the decisive game, the entire arena erupted in cheers.

Prior to this, Chinese Go players had never defeated Japan in any team competition, and the huge gap in strength was an indisputable fact. The Go Association's internal goal was "to bring out Kobayashi Koichi, which would be considered passing; to defeat Kobayashi Koichi, which would be considered a victory."

The Japanese believed the match could end when Ishida Akira advanced past Kobayashi Koichi. The media sensationalized this, claiming the Japanese were deliberately belittling Go and were going too far… However, the Go community itself knew that Japan's arrangement was perfectly fair.

Two years ago, before the tournament was held, someone inside lamented, "Why are we holding this competition? We're most likely to lose, and we'll embarrass the whole country!"

The person in charge then approached Nie Weiping, because he was the only one with a relatively high winning percentage against Japanese players. Nie Weiping said, "I think we can give it a try."

And that's how the competition started.

The tournament is now drawing to a close. A few days ago, on November 20th, the final match took place at the Beijing Gymnasium between Chinese head coach Nie Weiping and Japanese head coach Fujisawa Hideyuki. The tournament originally planned to sell 1200 tickets, but due to overwhelming demand, an additional 300 tickets were sold at the last minute.

Yu Qie was also inside the venue, sitting right at the front. He could easily spot Old Nie with his fan if he just peeked out.

“Nie Weiping, you’ve already won the blessings of those girls from the Japanese countryside. They’ve even betrayed their country for you! Keep it up, just do it!” Yu Qie said.

Nie Weiping came specifically to shake hands with Yu Qie: "I want to share in your good fortune."

Why are you trying to share in my joy?

"Kill them!"

Nie Weiping was menacing. "You've scored six goals on the football field, I only need to beat three people."

Nie Weiping became the only remaining Chinese player, and he was drenched in sweat. So far, the course of this Go competition has been quite dramatic. Jiang Zhujiu won five consecutive games in the tournament, directly bringing out Kobayashi Koichi to achieve his original goal.

Then, Kobayashi Koichi came out and defeated all the Chinese Go players, leaving only Nie Weiping.

Old Nie was left alone, facing two top-tier players, Kobayashi Koichi and Kato Masao. It was a situation reminiscent of the "Four Great Masters, Purple, White, Gold, and Blue" (referring to the four legendary masters of Go).

After defeating those two, there's Fujisawa Hideyuki, a legendary figure in the Japanese Go world, similar to the great Tenryuji Kurei. Regardless of his skill level, without getting past the first two, you can't even touch the hem of his coattails.

These three players had never lost to any Chinese player at the time, including Nie Weiping himself. The names of these three Japanese players were legendary among Go fans; they were truly god-like figures.

The feeling of defeating Japan was like storming the summit of Mount Guangming. First, you had to break the Five Elements Flags, then break through the four gates of Heaven, Earth, Wind, and Thunder, then take down the Five Wanderers, followed by the Four Great Dharma Kings, and then the Left and Right Envoys of Light…

Therefore, Nie Weiping specifically sought out Yu Qie to leverage his influence. Because only Yu Qie had accomplished this feat alone.

The delegation's visit to Japan even had a negative effect, increasing the pressure on Yu Qie. In the end, he comforted his fans, did the pre-competition analysis, and went up to the podium all by himself.

Only now do I realize what kind of thing Yu Qie did.

Before the match began, Nie Weiping said, "I feel like this is like a Brazilian coming to play table tennis against a Chinese player. We have Jiang Jialiang, Guo Yuehua, and the young Qin Zhijian... I don't know how a Brazilian can win."

Yu Qie said, "As long as you have the heart of a champion, carry a racket and a bag, how can you not dominate?"

Nie Weiping laughed, "If I win, you have to come play bridge with me. Let me win a few games, that would be double the joy." "It's a deal! Old Nie, I brought all the cards!"

The entire match was broadcast live by CCTV, and the whole country saw Nie Weiping and Yu Qie whispering to each other, discussing what they were talking about. Unfortunately, the picture quality at that time was poor, and there was no lip-reading expert, so no one knew what they were saying.

CCTV invited Go players Wang Runan and Hua Yigang to provide commentary. While both are Go players and highly sensitive to game situations, they lacked experience in television programming, resulting in poor improvisation and a tendency to stray from the topic.

Wang Runan couldn't help but ask, "What was Yu Qie saying to Nie Weiping?"

If Yu Qie were on the studio, he would definitely say: We are talking about playing bridge.

Unfortunately, he wasn't there. Hua Yigang said, "We all know that Yu Qie won the Akutagawa Prize in Japan last year, beating out all other writers in Japan. He should be passing on his successful experience to Nie Weiping, asking him to be patient and wait for the right opportunity."

"Yes, dear viewers, Fujisawa Hideyuki is a renowned figure in the Japanese Go world, known as 'invincible in the first fifty moves.' To play this game well, the key is not to fall too far behind in the first fifty moves. The reason the Japanese side sent Fujisawa Hideyuki to hold back is because he has a very stable mindset. In this tournament, the average age of the Japanese side is between thirty and forty years old, while our oldest player, Nie Weiping, is only thirty-two."

Hua Yigang then said, "So, we have a chance. Mr. Fujisawa Hideyuki is over sixty years old and has just recovered from his illness. He may make mistakes in his game, which is unavoidable... Our game is a rapid chess match. In rapid chess matches, players are greatly affected by their own condition. This is an opportunity we can seize."

Wang Runan added: "Many comrades are paying attention to this competition. Among those present today are Leader Pengcheng and Fang Yi, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He promised to present Nie Weiping with a traditional Chinese painting after the competition. However, as far as I know, President Fang had already given Nie Weiping the painting before the competition started, as an encouragement to him!"

"Comrades in the literary and artistic circles also expressed their concern. Martial arts novelist Cha Liangyong sent a telegram to wish Nie Weiping a resounding victory. Dear viewers, Nie Weiping enjoys reading martial arts novels, and Cha Liangyong also enjoys playing chess. It is said that Cha Liangyong once tried to become Nie Weiping's apprentice, but Nie Weiping was unwilling to accept... Ah, we see that Yu Qie seems to have given Nie Weiping something as well..."

The camera then focused on the two people. In the frame was a deck of cards.

Wang Runan asked blankly, "This is a... deck of cards? What's the significance of that?"

Another commentator, Hua Yigang, although a Go player, had worked as a training host. He immediately took charge of the discussion, saying, "It was probably to encourage Nie Weiping. Yu Qie and Nie Weiping are also good friends. They participated together in a football match organized by the Japanese literary and art circles and a Chinese delegation visiting Japan in Tokyo. Yu Qie scored six goals, almost single-handedly deciding the outcome of the match."

"It's probably like giving him good luck in advance. We know that in playing cards, some cards represent luck."

In fact, Yu Qie gave Nie Weiping four Aces, which was all the Aces in a deck of cards.

In bridge, the Ace is the highest rank. During the bidding phase, the Ace can be used to assess the strength of one's hand. During the play phase, the Ace can be used to control the situation and seize control of the game—the meaning of the Ace is similar to that of Nie Weiping and Fujisawa Hideyuki in the Go team.

Since both players are playing bridge, the meaning of Yu Qie giving these four Aces is very clear: you have gathered all the high cards, and your opponent can take whatever they want from you.

Nie Weiping's hands trembled, his face flushed, but he dared not accept the gift. "Don't celebrate my victory in advance, I'm not in the right frame of mind."

“Are you still afraid of this? You accepted the traditional Chinese painting that the president of the Academy of Sciences gave you ahead of time,” Yu Qie said.

Nie Weiping said, "Because although I play chess, paint, and practice calligraphy, I don't care about these things, so naturally it has no impact. Let me tell you, before the competition, I went to play cards with Mr. Qiao, and he suddenly raised a toast to celebrate my victory, which I politely declined. Do you know why?"

Holy crap, Lao Nie, you've got guts! You even declined the boss's celebratory drink...

Nie Weiping revealed a bridge enthusiast's deep superstition: "Because I don't paint much, but I really do play bridge."

Yu Qie suddenly remembered that, according to later records, the Japanese Go player opposite him, Fujisawa Hideyuki, was also a gambling addict. He was known as someone who "only won four games a year," because he only needed to win four games to defend his title as the Kisei (a title awarded through a challenge system) and claim the 2200 million yen prize. However, due to his insatiable gambling addiction—particularly to horse racing and car racing, and his penchant for hiring hostesses for drinks—Fujisawa Hideyuki often quickly squandered his prize money. Creditors were frequently waiting outside the game room, demanding repayment as soon as the game ended.

Due to the information gap between China and Japan, and the Japanese Go Association's intention to maintain the industry's image, Fujisawa Hideyuki, a gambling old man who resembles Kogoro Mouri, is portrayed as a wise and elegant figure in China, speaking in Japanese haiku.

This is utterly ridiculous! Fujisawa Hideyuki, a gambling addict, is trying to act like a cultured person.

Bridge is a popular game worldwide and a universally applicable social game. As one of Japan's elite Go players, Fujisawa Hideyuki must play bridge.

Then, Nie Weiping stepped onto the ring.

The game started off very slowly, lasting three hours and ending at lunchtime with only 49 moves played. Nie Weiping went back to eat watermelon to replenish his energy, avoiding rice for fear of feeling sleepy. Fujisawa Hideyuki, on the other hand, seemed particularly relaxed, eating dumplings and two slices of cantaloupe with a good appetite and appearing very energetic.

Around 2 PM, Nie Weiping became increasingly tense. His oxygen supply couldn't keep up with his mental processing, so he started using supplemental oxygen. While using oxygen, Nie Weiping continued playing chess. Fujisawa Hideyuki asked him, "Nie Weiping, how are you feeling?"

Nie Weiping felt ashamed: Fujisawa Hideyuki was almost thirty years older than him, yet he wasn't nervous at all, and his body was in excellent physical condition. This shift from fast to slow chess not only failed to outlast the old man, but it seemed to be wearing him out.

Suddenly, Nie Weiping inexplicably remembered the four Aces Yu Qie had given him.

Nie Weiping asked, "Sir, do you play bridge?"

"Of course I played bridge, so what?" Fujisawa Hideyuki replied matter-of-factly.

Nie Weiping was curled up in his chair, breathing oxygen, when suddenly a deck of cards slipped out of his suit pocket. Feeling apologetic, Nie Weiping picked them up one by one.

Fujisawa Hideyuki looked at the cards Nie Weiping had turned over; the face-up was an Ace. His gambler's instincts kicked in, and he started counting:
One, two, three... four cards in total. In bridge, the probability of having four Aces is 1/256. Because the probability is extremely low, the hand is extremely powerful, similar to football, and is called a "Big Four". With such a starting hand, it is almost impossible to lose.

Fujisawa Hideyuki's eyes widened in shock, and he subsequently lost his composure, his calculations collapsing in the latter half of the game. Historically, this match lasted seven hours, with Fujisawa Hideyuki ultimately losing by 1 and 3/4 points. The situation was extremely tense, and although it was the dead of winter in Beijing in November, Nie Weiping was so anxious that he took off his clothes.

It only took three and a half hours that day, that is, half an hour after the afternoon started, for Fujisawa Hideyuki to resign.

(End of this chapter)