Literary Master 1983

Chapter 439 Our Dreams Shattered!

In class, students angrily criticized foreigners for not appreciating the good things Chinese people make; in the office of the School of Literature, the department head Sun Yushi also said: "Professor Yu, why don't you take a break for a while, I will cover your classes."

Li Yining from the School of Economics angrily retorted, "Your literary prize selection is completely unfair. You might as well focus on our economics—China will inevitably become the largest market in the future, leading the largest poverty alleviation campaign in human history, and becoming the first truly market-oriented red superpower! If your research can play a role in this matter, I think ten Nobel Prizes would be enough!"

“I told you long ago, you should focus on your job. You’re an excellent economist! Now you’ve gone too far in your side hustle.”

These things certainly moved Yu Qie, but they also reflected the fact that Chinese people know nothing about the Nobel Prize. In their eyes, the Nobel Prize is sacred, or at least should be fair, but in reality, it is not.

Just two days after Yu Qie lost the Nobel Prize, on October 8th, the Beijing Evening News published a modern poem that read, "Our dreams are shattered!"

The author is the poet Zha Haisheng. Late on the night of the 6th, Zha Haisheng sat by the radio, excitedly awaiting the arrival of "a milestone moment in Chinese literature." When he heard the host mention an Arabic name he did not recognize, Zha Haisheng felt his heart break.

Yu Qie is Zha Haisheng's faith, the perfect literary object in Zha Haisheng's conception. A student from a small county who repeated his studies, he reached an internationally renowned status within a few years with his talent. He is the miracle that millions of young literary enthusiasts see in reality and a source of psychological sustenance.

But this person actually failed.

At that moment, Cha Haisheng even wanted to lie down on the railway tracks and give up his life!

Throughout the 1980s, the Chinese people experienced an era in which idealism was largely satisfied. Whether in the economy or in terms of goodwill on the international stage, people believed that as long as they embraced the world and liberated their minds, those rewards would come after hard work.

However, this time it didn't happen.

If even Yu Qie cannot gain recognition, then who can?

Yu Qie's failure to win the award was a landmark event; like a nuclear bomb, it shattered the dreams of many. Some people truly matured at that moment.

That night, Cha Haisheng suddenly ran away from home, hallucinating in his mind! "It's all fake! These people want to harm us! They want to harm Yu Qie! They want to destroy Chinese literature!"

"I am perfectly lucid. Most of the dark things I hear in my mind are indoctrinations from the Nobel Prize committee. They threatened and humiliated me with words, and said that if I die, they will be held accountable! I repeat, I am perfectly lucid!"

Cha Haisheng left this passage in his diary.

He then wrote to his family: "If I suffer from schizophrenia, commit suicide, or die suddenly, I must seek revenge on those foreigners! But you must first learn kung fu, otherwise you will not be able to defeat them!"

Cha Haisheng also wrote a letter to Luo Yihe, "Brother Yihe! I'm finished! My world has collapsed! I will never be able to repay the money I owe you, I'm so sorry! Please ask Teacher Yu Qie to tell him that I died for him, I can't accept what happened to him! Because his defeat is the time for me to leave!"

However, thanks to Yu Qie's reminder, Cha Haisheng's friends had already noticed that he seemed to have a mental illness and took great care of him.

Cha Haisheng was quickly found by his friends as soon as he left home. Luo Yihe hugged him tightly upon seeing him, then slapped him across the face!

"Cha Haisheng! Yu Qie hasn't given up yet. He wants to destroy all prejudice and burn it all down!"

"Great!!! That's great!!!" Cha Haisheng shouted like he was having a manic episode, completely forgetting why he had run away from home before. He said, "Yu Qie still wants to fight! What will he rely on to fight?"

“Of course it’s because of his pen!” Luo Yihe said.

"Then I can't die! I want to watch him burn everything!" Cha Haisheng said excitedly.

After being persuaded to stop by Luo Yihe, the editor of "October", Cha Haisheng angrily wrote down the poem again!
"Our dreams are shattered! The literary achievements of the Golden Age suddenly seem insignificant, like molten iron exploding and melting; our dreams are shattered! The fantastical apocalyptic world composed of '2666' and 'Metro' has collapsed before our eyes! I know our dreams are shattered! I must burn myself, otherwise I cannot live again!"

The poem written by Cha Haisheng did not exist in the original timeline, but it resonated with the angry feelings of literary youth, so it quickly gained popularity.

Most Chinese people believe that the Nobel Prize selection process was unfair, or that the brilliance of Chinese literature was not appreciated by the Swedes. Some are even outraged, believing that the Nobel laureates have discriminated against Chinese people and deceived their feelings.

During this period, the Chinese people were extremely eager for honors on the world stage. Fortunately, Yu Qie had won many international awards; otherwise, even he would have been questioned about whether he was truly welcomed on the international stage.

This time, the rage came even earlier. Following Cha Haisheng's expression of anger, Li Ao from Taiwan also wrote an article:
Why did Yu Zheng, a writer from mainland China, lose the Nobel Prize in Literature? Was it because his novels were not good enough, or because his talent was not recognized?

“I checked the best-selling Asian authors in serious literature worldwide over the past two years, and it’s not Murasaki Shikibu, nor Kawabata Yasunari, but a Chinese name, Yu Qie! There’s also a foreign name, ‘Hugo,’ but that’s not the great French writer. His full name is ‘Y. Hugo,’ which is also Yu Qie.”

"He is such a great figure! There are several Chinese abbreviations in the world now, and you can tell what they represent at a glance! They are popular all over the world! One is Mao, another is Yu, and there is Confucius! It is a fixed term. There are so many people with the surname Yu in the world, but there is only one person named Yu!"

Li Ao's comments were even broadcast on a Taiwanese television program. He gestured wildly and exaggeratedly, saying, "We saw the Yu family, in a less developed region, run against the grain and get ahead of everyone else! It's like in a 100-meter race, someone has sandbags strapped to their body, and they still win first place, but the gold medal isn't awarded to them! It's awarded to an old Arab man!"

"What does this mean, friends?" Li Ao took a deep breath.

"This shows that the Nobel Prize committee is utterly despicable! They have no sense of propriety! I can tell you why! Because Yu Qie doesn't betray his motherland, nor does he betray the Chinese people. He promotes to the world that we Chinese are smarter and more moral than them! But without betraying his motherland and the Chinese people, he could never have won the Nobel Prize! That's where Yu Qie went wrong!"

Li Ao's words won the approval of many people across the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong.

Yu Guangzhong, Lin Qingxuan, and wuxia novelist Wen Ruian all wrote articles in protest. Even Cha Liangyong, who was at odds with Yu, felt it was a pity and expressed his opinion in Ming Pao: "Ever since my wuxia novels became popular in the Chinese world, there have been rumors that I have been nominated for the Nobel Prize. It's true, I have been nominated many times! But I know I can't win it because I am a popular novelist!"

“I know! My novels haven’t revealed the truth of this world, nor have they triggered any major international events! I’m not a great writer in the traditional sense!” Jin Yong wrote these words bitterly. “But Mr. Yu is more than qualified to meet the most stringent selection criteria. Whether viewed from a modern or traditional perspective, as a writer, he has done things that conform to social moral values! But he didn’t receive this honor, and I think it’s because he didn’t conform to Western values… Actually, what’s the huge difference between me writing martial arts novels and Westerners writing chivalric novels? They (Westerners) are being unfair to us, but I will never change my principles for the sake of winning an award.”

The fact that Yu Qie did not receive the Nobel Prize in Literature was a far more impactful event than he had imagined.

In his imagination, he couldn't achieve success overnight; he was mentally prepared and had accepted this rule. But in the eyes of the Chinese people, he went straight into the top five, then the top three, and suddenly it all came to an abrupt end—that beautiful dream shattered! The honor that generations of Chinese people had longed for since the advent of vernacular Chinese had slipped away just like that.

The reason given is ridiculous: Najib Mahfouz, a writer who is virtually unknown in the world of literature, has taken away the honor from the Chinese.

Is Najib Mahfouz really a minor writer?
Of course not. This person is highly experienced, having devoted decades to creative writing. Naguib Mahfouz was also Egyptian, and at that time, Egypt was ostensibly the leader of the Arab world. Therefore, it can be said that Naguib Mahfouz was a great literary figure of the Arab world.

As someone who truly understands how the Nobel Prize is awarded, Yu Qie has many theories to prove that Najib Mahfouz deserves the prize. The Western world is mired in an oil crisis, and this year is a time for the Arabs. But the Chinese don't agree; they feel their feelings have been hurt.

The emergence of a new school of thought inevitably leads to interpretations of that school of thought.

A wave of reflection quickly emerged in literary circles, spearheaded by Nie Hualing, a writer still active overseas. On the very day the prize was announced in Stockholm, Nie Hualing wrote an article explaining why everything had happened:
Because Yu Qie was not humble enough.

“In 1979, my husband Paul and I organized the ‘China Week’ event. We invited about twenty writers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and overseas. At that time, we had not had any writers from the mainland for thirty years. Later, we invited Xiao Bingqian, a writer from Beijing.”

"This is the first time that mainland writers have come into contact with the world."

“He was very cautious and composed after he arrived, and dared not speak casually. But we had never met any mainland writers before, so we all had to talk to him and greet him. He didn’t answer the more sensitive questions, he just smiled.”

"Why was he so shy? Then I thought about it. It was his first time on this stage. If he acted like he was the best in the world, he would be a disgrace to Chinese writers."

"Friends! As we ascend to this grand stage for the first time, we should be more humble, for this is our first time setting foot on this land (referring to the Nobel Prize). Listen more, speak less; we still have much more time to learn."

Many writers responded to Nie Hualing's call. Some writers who have long admired foreign literature believe that "the Nobel Prize is still too far away for modern Chinese people, and we should instead learn from it ourselves."

That's utter nonsense!
But many honors in the world are like this: once you receive them, you can say whatever you want, and everyone will listen attentively.

Before you have achieved it, any words are just empty excuses.

Yu Qie found Xiao Bingqian himself and asked him, "Is what Nie Hualing said true?"

Xiao Bingqian immediately denied it, saying, "When I was in contact with overseas writers at the time, I did speak very little, and of course I was being humble. But I absolutely did not do anything 'humble'. Nie Hualing has over-interpreted me!"

Nie Hualing's commentary had a significant impact, drawing support from overseas Chinese writers who had previously been suppressed by Yu Qie. Xiao Bingqian was terrified and published a notice in Hong Kong newspapers severing ties with Nie Hualing.

In the month since Yu Qie lost the Nobel Prize, he has been almost overwhelmed by these annoying voices.

Essentially, the Chinese at this time did not understand the Nobel Prize; they did not understand that a failure could actually be beneficial to Yu Qie.

Spanish agent Carmen's phone call was very direct: "Yu! You know I'm not here to express my regret, I'm here to celebrate for you!"

"Celebrate what?"

"I don't have concrete evidence yet to congratulate you on winning the Nobel Prize next year, but I believe you will face the same situation as Márquez did... You lost the year before and announced your ranking in a high-profile manner, and the following year no one could stop you."

That was indeed the case for Márquez back then. The censorship initiated by the Chilean government, along with his masterpiece "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," became stepping stones for Márquez to the top, leaving the Nobel Prize committee speechless.

Yu Qie said, "I really need an international-level work, and an event that surpasses Márquez's iconic works. This time I must seize the opportunity."

“You should do that!” Carmen said. “By the way, long-distance calls in China are such a hassle! I have to wait three or four hours! If Márquez had moved that slowly back then, he would have been shot dead in the street!”

Yu Qie defended his country, saying, "This is a country that is still opening up. Colombia is too open, so Márquez was wiretapped and assassinated."

"Can't you do that in China?"

"Nothing in this world is absolute. I can only say that this place is safer for me than anywhere else."

"Japan is very safe! And they respect you!"

"It won't be like that in a few years."

Carmen's eyes darted around, and she suddenly understood: "You're going to write a non-fiction novel like 'The Lisbon Maru'? To tell you the truth, the jury loves that kind of novel! It has a real social impact and satisfies their ridiculous moral fastidiousness."

“It may not be Japan, it may not be Britain, I am waiting for an opportunity,” Yu said. “I will definitely wait for this opportunity, because many things will happen next year.”

"I can promise you that by this time next year, our business will have reached new heights."

(End of this chapter)