My era, 1979!

Chapter 142 specifically invites Xu Chengjun as an expert representative! (Seeking monthly votes!!)

The reason why "Red Silk" was not selected is—

The National Award for Outstanding Long Novel was not established in 1979.

After the "beep beep" incident, the first award established for full-length novels was the Mao Dun Literature Prize.

The first Mao Dun Literature Prize was awarded in 1982, with the selection scope being works published between 1977 and 1981. Works such as Zhou Keqin's "Xu Mao and His Daughters" (published in 1979) were among the winners.

After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1978, literary creation was liberated from the constraints of political discourse. In 1979, the Writers Association held its first national selection of outstanding short stories, aiming to promote the return of realism in literary creation.

According to data published by People's Literature.

In the preliminary selection, more than 25 reader votes were received nationwide, and more than 2000 works were recommended as candidates.

The judging panel was chaired by Mao Dun and consisted of 24 writers and critics, including Ba Jin and Ding Ling. After initial screening, 100 works were selected as candidates.

It is worth mentioning that.

"The Fitting Mirror" topped the list with 2.9 votes.

In the original historical account, Jiang Zilong's "The Appointment of Factory Director Qiao" topped the list with 2.7 votes, portraying Qiao Guangpu as a bold and decisive reformer, and becoming the pioneering work of "reform literature".

The work once sparked heated discussions across the country, with the Workers' Daily reporting that worker readers "hope you will come to us soon."

Ru Zhijuan's "The Story That Was Edited Wrong", Bai writer Zhang Chang's "Orchid in the Valley", and Kazakh writer Aikbermijiti's "Old Man Nurman and His Hunting Dog" are also among the top-ranked works.

Of these works, 25 will be selected as winners.

Based on current data, it's practically a certainty that Xu Chengjun's "The Fitting Mirror" will win the National Excellent Short Story Award for its unique neo-realist style.

Unless Xu Chengjun brings disaster upon himself.

The National Excellent Novella Award will be announced in 80, so this selection is only of representative works from 79 and is not the final list, so Xu Chengjun didn't pay much attention to it.

However, the impact of being nominated for an award is already brewing.

The Shanghai Writers Association invited Xu Chengjun to join the association at Fudan University.

Upon learning that Xu Chengjun had joined the Anhui Writers Association, he looked regretful and said that he would often visit the Writers Association to gather material and participate in salons.
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As November arrived, Xu Chengjun's research on Song Dynasty literature was progressing smoothly.

Chinese academia is awakening from the past decade, and the study of Song Dynasty literature has just broken free from the shackles of political interpretation, standing at a critical juncture of "re-examining materials" and "breaking the ice of concepts".

In order to bring knowledge from the previous life back to the present day in 1979.

Xu Chengjun aims to achieve a precise fit between a future vision and the contemporary context.

In human terms, that is—

It is necessary to both conceal the "incongruity" of advanced knowledge and highlight academic value through solid preparation. The core lies in making up for the shortcomings of the times, anchoring academic gaps, and conforming to research paradigms.

To avoid being used as a guinea pig.

The most important part of doing all this well is to lay a solid foundation of literature.

In 2024, research on Song Dynasty literature relied on digital databases and well-organized collections of literature, but in 1979, the academic environment was still centered on original printed texts and early collated editions, and many ancient book collation projects had not yet been launched.

Both "Complete Poems of the Song Dynasty" and "Complete Prose of the Song Dynasty" were compiled successively after the 80s.

Xu Chengjun must prioritize completing his understanding of the literature and return to in-depth study of print literature, moving away from digital retrieval.

The content of the literature research is further divided into original texts of Song Dynasty literature, collated classics, and academic history documents.

For the past two months, Xu Chengjun has been working diligently with his senior, Chen Shangjun, to complete the study of classic texts on the history of Tang and Song literature.

There are several authoritative editions of Song Dynasty literature research published in 1979 that are generally recognized by the academic community.

In the field of poetry, essential reading includes Zhu Zumou's "Qiangcun Series" (a pinnacle of modern textual criticism of ci poetry, containing many finely collated and rare editions of Song dynasty ci poetry collections, which Xu Chengjun can use to conduct textual research on variant readings) and Tang Guizhang's "Complete Collection of Song Ci Poetry" (the 1965 revised edition was the most complete collection of ci poetry at the time and is a fundamental document for the study of ci poetry).

In the field of poetry, one should carefully study Chen Yan's "Selected Essence of Song Poetry" (praised by Zhu Ziqing as "a unique selection," representing the core perspective of traditional Song poetry research) and Qian Zhongshu's "Selected Annotations of Song Poetry" (1958 edition). Although influenced by the times, its textual interpretation and background research are still of benchmark significance.
In the field of prose, the focus is on the facsimile editions of "Song Wenjian" and "Zouyi of Famous Officials of All Dynasties", supplemented by the selection and annotation logic of the Song Dynasty section of Zhu Dongrun's "Selected Works of Chinese Literature Through the Ages".

Because of his previous research experience, Xu Chengjun was able to classify and organize the information relatively quickly.

This left Chen Shangjun dumbfounded.

Chen Shangjun had just finished organizing the index of ci (lyric) titles in Volume Three of the Qiangcun Series when he looked up and saw Xu Chengjun walking over with a stack of manuscript papers. The edges of the papers were stained with ink, indicating that he had just finished writing them not long ago.

"Chengjun, how's your collation of the variant texts in 'Shangu Collection' coming along? Last week, I compared it with the Yuan edition and found that the Yuan edition mistakenly wrote 'far away' as 'wide' in the line 'fallen leaves cover a thousand mountains and the sky is vast.' I was just thinking of comparing it with you."

As Chen Shangjun spoke, he reached out to take the manuscript from Xu Chengjun's hand. He had assumed it was just a routine list of variant readings, but when he touched the pages, he was stunned—

The first page of the manuscript is printed with “A Comparative Table of Variant Texts in the Song and Yuan Dynasty Editions of the Collection of Valley Studies (with Collation Notes)”.

The table not only lists the differences in wording, but also clearly indicates the source of the version in the remarks column: "Fudan University Special Collection Song Dynasty Edition (formerly in the collection of Fu Zengxiang)", "National Library of China Collection Yuan Dynasty Dade Edition", and "Ming Dynasty Jigu Pavilion Manuscript".

Even the page number and the basis for the collation of each variant text are clearly written down.

No, pigeons?
What are you rolling?

You're even more stubborn than me, aren't you?
"You...it's only been two weeks, right?"

Chen Shangjun flipped through the manuscript, his finger pausing on the page titled "A Study of Variant Texts of 'Dengkuaige'".

Alongside the analysis of “vastness” and “far-reaching vision”, Xu Chengjun also included Huang Tingjian’s letter to Wang Guanfu from the same period, “When observing things, one should observe their grandeur,” to prove that “far-reaching vision” is more in line with Huang Tingjian’s poetic proposition of “observing the small from the large.”

"When I was compiling the variant texts of Su Shi's Yuefu, I made three trips to the Shanghai Library just to find the versions. Not only are the versions complete, but you've also supplemented the supporting materials in such detail?"

Xu Chengjun sat on the wooden chair next to him, picked up the "Selected Annotations of Song Poetry" on the table, and pointed to the annotation of "Written in Anger": "Senior brother, look, Mr. Qian's annotation of 'Warships in the Snow at Guazhou Ferry' mentions the background of the Song-Jin war, but he didn't mention that when Lu You wrote this poem, he was looking at the 'Map of the Southern Song Dynasty' that he kept at home—"

I found his record of "exposing the map and sighing" in Volume 26 of the *Weinan Anthology*, and I've added it here to make the origin of his "indignation" more specific.

Chen Shangjun leaned over to take a look and saw that Xu Chengjun had made annotations in red pen in the blank spaces of the book pages, and even marked it as "Weinan Collection, Fudan Collection Ming Dynasty Manuscript, Volume 26, Page 14". He even noted the ink stains in the manuscript as "suspected to be the broken strokes of the character '渡'".

He suddenly remembered that he had come across this record when he was organizing Lu You's poems last month, but he hadn't connected it with "Shu Fen" (Letter of Indignation). Now that Xu Chengjun had pointed it out, he felt enlightened: "Your associative ability... How come I didn't connect the letters and the poetry collection?"

Xu Chengjun: You're a time traveler!
What surprised him even more was the other stack of manuscript paper that Xu Chengjun handed him.

"Three lost poems not included in the Selected Annotations of Song Poetry (compiled from fragments of the Yongle Encyclopedia)."

One of the poems is Yang Wanli's "Quatrain on Passing Taihu Lake." Xu Chengjun not only copied the poem but also verified that it was written by Yang Wanli when he was the prefect of Changzhou, with the background being "disaster relief after the Taihu Lake flood." He even included a contemporary record from the "Changzhou Prefecture Gazetteer."

This fragment of the Yongle Encyclopedia has been kept in the rare book room for almost ten years. Apart from the occasional mention by the gentleman, very few people have actually gone to look through it page by page. How did you find it?

Chen Shangjun's voice rose slightly, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Last year, he had already done some research with Zhu Dongrun.

I also tried to compile lost entries from the Yongle Encyclopedia, but I gave up after flipping through three volumes because the entries were "scattered and disorganized".

"I was organizing the stylistic evolution of the Chengzhai style a while ago, and thinking that Yang Wanli had written a lot of poems about Taihu Lake, I went and looked through the relevant volumes."

Xu Chengjun said it casually, “Look at this line, ‘The water recedes and the fields emerge green like a felt carpet,’ and his ‘The little lotus just shows its pointed tip’ in ‘Small Pond’. They both use ‘common and plain imagery to express refined taste’, which can fill in the trajectory of the changes in his middle-aged poetic style.”

In fact, many documents from this era were either scattered or too fragmented to be collected.

Many of these were later academic achievements, which he followed by reverse reasoning.

If he can't succeed, who can?

Chen Shangjun held the manuscript paper and looked at it repeatedly. Suddenly, he noticed that although Xu Chengjun's handwriting was fast, there was no correction in it, and even the punctuation in the version annotation was correct.

He recalled that when he was compiling the "Collection of Lost Song Dynasty Lyrics" last year, he had to correct the source of the wrong version three times. Looking at Xu Chengjun's progress, he realized that Xu Chengjun was making a different impression.

In two weeks, he completed the variant readings of "Shangu Collection," supplemented the background of "Selected Annotations of Song Poetry," and also compiled three lost poems.

This level of efficiency and meticulousness is something that even some lecturers might not be able to achieve, let alone first-year graduate students.

"Chengjun," Chen Shangjun put down his manuscript, his tone filled with genuine admiration, "you're not only fast, but incredibly meticulous—"

Take, for example, the postscript in the "Collection of Huang Tingjian" that reads "Proofreading books until late at night". You actually noticed that "lamp ash" was written as "lamp ash" in the Song edition, and even checked the "Shuowen Jiezi" which says "ash means candle residue", proving that it was Huang Tingjian's original writing, and that the Yuan edition mistakenly wrote "ash".

When I proofread it last time, I didn't even notice the difference between these two characters.

"Senior brother, men shouldn't talk about such things."

"You kid!"

Chen Shangjun is three years older than Xu Chengjun.

Xu Chengjun smiled and picked up the "Qiangcun Series" on the table: "It's also thanks to the rare book room that we can directly compare it with Song Dynasty printed editions. By the way, senior brother, you mentioned before that in the 'Complete Collection of Song Dynasty Lyrics,' Liu Yong's 'Rainy Night Bell' has 'the sudden rain has just stopped,' but a Ming Dynasty manuscript has 'the sudden rain has just ceased.'"
I checked the Song Dynasty woodblock print fragments of the *Yue Zhang Ji* (Collection of Musical Movements), and it actually contains the character '歇' (xiē). The Ming Dynasty copy was copied incorrectly—I've attached a photo of the fragment to the end of the manuscript.

Chen Shangjun quickly flipped to the last page and, sure enough, found a black-and-white photograph with blurry Song Dynasty inscriptions; the radical for "rest" was still discernible. He suddenly felt a pang of shame!
He was a victim of PUA!
I spent two years at Fudan University, but I only saw the Song Dynasty woodblock print fragments in the Rare Book Room once. Xu Chengjun has only been here for half a year, yet he has made such thorough use of these treasures.

"With your level of knowledge, it's hard to believe you've only been studying Song Dynasty literature for a short time."

Chen Shangjun leaned back in his chair, his tone full of emotion, "The master asked me to organize the versions of 'Dongpo Zhilin,' and it took me a month to figure out the main points. You've produced such solid work in just two weeks..."

"From now on, I'll probably have to consult you on matters of Song Dynasty literature."

“Senior brother, I’m a researcher of Tang Dynasty literature, so I still have to learn from you.”

Tang and Song literature are inseparable, and it was only this October that Chen Shangjun made the decision to study Tang literature.

It's possible that she was tortured by Xu Chengjun.

A Song Dynasty literary study version of "Since Zhou Yu was born, why was Zhuge Liang born?"
The warm sunlight outside the window shifted again, landing on the books the two had spread out.

Chen Shangjun's praise was genuine, but Xu Chengjun felt no pride whatsoever.

He was able to work faster only because he had a foundation in research from his previous life and a precise adaptation of the 1979 documents.

In Chen Shangjun's eyes, this "speed" and "meticulousness" far surpassed the academic abilities of his peers, especially his sensitivity to the details of different versions and his ability to connect documents, which even he, an "old researcher," had to admire.

"Senior brother, please don't say that,"

Xu Chengjun handed over a cup of freshly brewed tea, "I still have a lot to learn from you about how to combine literature and poetic history—"

Your analysis of the "Wutai Poetry Case" background in Su Shi's "Ode to the Red Cliff" last time was much deeper than I thought.

Chen Shangjun took the tea, but shook his head: "I can't teach you that kind of meticulousness. Next time the teacher asks about the progress of the collation of the *Shangu Collection*, I'll have to praise you to him."

"In our Chinese Department at Fudan University, we haven't seen such young people who can so immerse themselves in research and do it so well."

"Yes, you are one!"

"Hahahaha, Cheng Jun, you really know how to talk."

"You'll be covering for Senior Brother Huang's classes starting next week, right?"

Xu Chengjun looked helpless. "Yes, I haven't even finished the teacher's lessons yet! Besides, I'm still a beginner in Song Dynasty literature!"

Chen Shangjun curled his lip: "Are you a beginner?"

He pointed to the pile of references and annotations: "Who does this for a beginner?"

"And how many papers on Song Dynasty literature have you written in the last two months?"

"Three or four articles?"

"Did you complete the genealogy chart that Professor Wang asked you to work on?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Chengjun slapped his forehead: "How could I possibly have that time! I'm too busy to be in two places at once!"

Clubs, Song Dynasty literature, new works, working as a teaching assistant, dating
He thought of the Shadow Clone Jutsu from Naruto. He had wanted to create one when he was in graduate school, and now his desire for it had only intensified.

The sound of pages turning gently filled the rare book room, and dust motes drifted slowly in the sunlight.

Chen Shangjun looked at Xu Chengjun's profile as he looked down and marked something.

Oh shit!

The professor's decision to admit Xu Chengjun as a graduate student despite his exceptional background was truly remarkable.

You have such excellent taste!
This kid's academic foundation is so strong that it won't be long before he catches up with or even surpasses his senior classmates.

Zhu Bangwei hasn't been coming here much for the past month!

She goes to the Langchao Literature Club every day. In her words: "Chengjun, I'll be your mentor. Remember to help me with my classes later!"

If your paper is bad, add my name to it!

"Chengjun, show me the academic history documents from the Song Dynasty that you've compiled, I'll refer to them."

Xu Chengjun handed over a notebook without even looking up.

It says:

Foundational works of the 30s and 40s: Wang Guowei's "History of Song and Yuan Drama" (a paradigmatic work in drama studies) and Chen Yinque's essays on Song Dynasty literature and culture (embodying the research approach of "mutual verification between literature and history").
Representative works from the 50s-70s: Cheng Qianfan's chapters on Song Dynasty poetry in *A Study of Ancient Poetry* (continuing the textual analysis tradition of classical scholarship); Zhu Dongrun's *Biography of Lu You* (demonstrating the biographical research method of "using poetry to verify history and using history to interpret poetry")
In the evening, Xu Chengjun's latest paper was completed.

Since the publication of "A Study on the Literary Implications and Life Consciousness of Song Dynasty Literati Inscriptions", Zhang Peiheng has been keeping a close eye on him.

The paper is due as if I'm on a death knell.

This is a real exposé!

Fortunately, Xu Chengjun was quite adept at this research after he had sorted through the literature materials of the Song Dynasty.

While I wouldn't say I can produce a paper every three to five days, I can certainly produce some output every two weeks.

The senior professors and masters at Fudan University praised him repeatedly, saying, "Comrade Cheng Jun has great potential in the study of Song Dynasty literature. He needs to be pushed a little. Maybe Fudan can produce a Chen Yinque and a Wang Guowei!"

Stop fooling around, Master!

Outside of Peking University, the most authoritative scholar on Song Dynasty literature is an acquaintance—

Wang Shuizhao.

He graduated from the Chinese Department of Peking University in 1960 and then worked at the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In March 1978, he transferred to Fudan University to teach.

He has made fruitful achievements in the study of Song Dynasty literature, and has authored monographs such as Selected Annotations of Song Dynasty Prose, Biography of Su Shi, Selected Works of Su Shi, and Collection of Essays on Tang and Song Literature.

The propositions put forward, such as "Song-type culture," "literary groups," "cultural character," "breaking the form into literature," and "the theory of the pivotal relationship between the mid-Tang and Northern Song dynasties," have had a wide academic impact.

Since then, Xu Chengjun's research on Song Dynasty literature has gradually shown signs of developing a self-proclaimed systematic and unique research approach.

Wang Shuizhao regretted not insisting on accepting this "talented disciple"!
However, the two were also like teacher and friend, often discussing Song Dynasty literature together in private.

Xu Chengjun's views inspired Wang Shuizhao, and Wang Shuizhao's familiarity with Song Dynasty literary classics enabled Xu Chengjun to more quickly complete the work of collecting documents from this era.

They can be said to complement each other.

However, after the publication of "A Study on the Literary Connotations and Life Consciousness of Song Dynasty Literati's Colophons", it did indeed set off a trend of studying and promoting literature in Shanghai and even the whole country.

In 1979, the understanding of colophons in Song Dynasty literature research circles was almost fixed as an academic appendix, and no one ever regarded them as a "literary genre" with independent aesthetic value.

Xu Chengjun's paper is the first to propose that "postscripts are not 'attachments,' but rather the freest spiritual carriers of Song Dynasty literati," directly overturning this understanding.

It is well-reasoned and difficult to refute.

Behind him is a bunch of big shots backing him up.

A rising star in the field of literary studies.

Its status has even gradually surpassed that of its literary creation!

In his literary research commentary, renowned historian, educator, and poet Tang Guizhang praised Xu Chengjun's research, stating that Xu Chengjun broke down the hierarchy of literary styles and reconstructed the spiritual landscape of Song Dynasty literature.
By closely reading Su Shi's postscript to "After Writing on Yuanming's Drinking Poems," which includes the lines "I admire Yuanming not only for his poems, but also for his character," this paper argues that Su Shi's postscript is free from the constraints of classical prose's "carrying the Way" and the constraints of classical poetry's "expressing emotions." The paper points out that the "colloquial sincerity" and "fragmented state of mind" in the postscript are a direct representation of the "true self" of Song Dynasty literati.

This made the academic community realize that literary studies should not only focus on the three major literary forms of "ci, poetry, and classical prose," but that those "niche literary forms" actually contain more vivid details of human nature.

Among the letters received by the editorial department of "Literary Heritage," an elderly scholar even remarked: "When I read Huang Tingjian's postscripts before, I only thought they were his miscellaneous notes on calligraphy and painting. Only now do I realize that behind his saying 'A scholar should live like an orchid growing in a secluded valley' lies a literary expression of the integrity of a literati."

Before November 5th, Xu Chengjun published three more papers in top journals such as the Fudan Journal, Peking University Journal, and Literary Studies!

In no time, Xu Chengjun's name resounded throughout the country.

The mention of "Huang Tingjian's lost postscript in the Huang family genealogy of Yiwu, Zhejiang" in several academic papers has made the academic community realize that "literary lost texts are hidden in folk genealogies, contracts, and inscriptions".

In early November, the Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences, in conjunction with Fudan University, launched a general survey of family genealogies in Yiwu, Shaoxing and other places.

It was explicitly stated that Xu Chengjun was invited as an expert representative!

Expert representatives of first-year graduate students!
Later, in just six months, more than 30 lost works by literati were compiled from 12 Song Dynasty genealogies.

This approach of "excavating folk documents" also spread to other dynasties. For example, the family letters and postscripts of Qing dynasty literati and the lost poems in local gazetteers of the Ming dynasty began to receive attention, forming a shift in the "organization of documents from 'institutional collections' to 'folk' sources".

That's a story for another time, so let's leave it at that!
But the students at Fudan University are having a tough time.

(End of this chapter)