Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 126 Cao Yu Literary Award?
At the entrance of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, there are hand-painted posters of the play "Mr. Donkey." Several posters are hanging there, and the characters' actions and even the level of artistry vary from one to the other.

The posters hanging outside cinemas and theaters now are all drawn by staff members of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, so there are big differences between the ones drawn by different people. The three characters "Donkey Water" are written in the middle, and below them is a picture of a classroom with several actors sitting or standing on the stage.

Zhu Lin, playing a supporting role, stood at the very edge, a smile in her eyes as she looked directly at the audience. The posters were prominently displayed; anyone passing by the entrance could see them.

On May 25th, Liu Yimin visited the Beijing People's Art Theatre to watch the final rehearsal of "Mr. Donkey".

Today, not only Lan Tianye is present, but also Cao Yu, Ouyang Shanzun (deputy chief director of Beijing People's Art Theatre), and several other directors including Su Min, making for a strong lineup.

As one of the few new plays currently being performed, the Beijing People's Art Theatre attaches great importance to it; otherwise, it wouldn't have taken six months to polish. According to the theatre's plan, this is the only new play to be staged in the first half of the year.

Cao Yu's new play "Wang Zhaojun" has finished rehearsals, but as a gift for the 30th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, it will not premiere until October.

After the rehearsal ended, Cao Yu was the first to clap, followed by bursts of applause from the seats below the rehearsal hall.

"Yimin, does this performance meet your expectations?" Cao Yu looked at the actors on stage and turned his head to ask Liu Yimin.

"Teacher, no doubt about it, I'm sure I can give the audience a surprise!"

As soon as Liu Yimin finished speaking, Lan Tianye reached out his hand to Liu Yimin and shook it tightly, which meant that this version of "Mr. Donkey" was finalized, and the following performances would proceed according to today's rehearsal.

“Yimin, I think our collaboration is seamless. You write the script and I direct. With such close cooperation, we will definitely be able to continue to contribute excellent stage plays to the audience.”

Before Lan Tianye could finish speaking, Su Min hummed in agreement. Lan Tianye was implying, both openly and subtly, that he would direct all of Liu Yimin's scripts from now on. Their collaboration became a celebrated story in the theater world.

Ouyang Shanzun interjected, "Old Lan, there's a difference between directing a big production and this."

Cao Yu glanced helplessly at the three of them, said nothing, and got up to walk towards the stage. The stage was filled with all the actors who had participated in the performance, and "Donkey" also stood up.

"Comrades, you've worked hard. In a couple of days, it will be time to test your true training level. New actors, don't be nervous. You've all practiced very well. I believe that you will definitely contribute a good theatrical work to the people of Yanjing and the people of the whole country."

After shaking hands with everyone, Cao Yu looked down at Lan Tianye and said, "We need to practice more these next two days. I'll take responsibility for any complaints!"

The Beijing People's Art Theatre gave Liu Yimin six tickets to a play, which he could give away. Liu Yimin looked at them; they were all good seats in the first tier. Having received the tickets, he already had his plans in mind.

After giving Zhu Lin an encouraging look, Liu Yimin followed Cao Yu to his office.

"I really like the song 'The Wanderer's Song' that you gave me. It's both epic and melancholic, just like the first half of my life. I've put it in my office now and listen to it whenever I have time."

Cao Yu walked into the office and immediately turned on the phonograph to play "The Wanderer's Song".

However, the voice was low, so it didn't affect their conversation.

Liu Yimin said, "I happened to be in France and thought you liked records, so I went to check them out during my break."

"Thank you for your kindness!" Cao Yu said affectionately.

Cao Yu walked to the desk, pulled out a document, and handed it to Liu Yimin, who took it and glanced at it. It was a document jointly issued by the Ministry of Culture and the Dramatists Association, outlining plans to establish a national-level script award.

"This was prepared by the comrades from the Ministry of Culture and the association after discussion based on your suggestion. They asked for my opinion, and I naturally agreed. This will greatly help encourage scriptwriting."

Cao Yu explained with a smile.

"The leaders in the ministry acted so quickly?" Liu Yimin put the document back on the table. Although it only contained a draft of the establishment plan, and the specific details and regulations had not yet been released, it had only been less than half a month since he returned to China, which greatly exceeded Liu Yimin's expectations.

"Comrades Zhou Yang and Xia Yan both attach great importance to this, and they discussed your opinions with the central leadership. Everyone agrees that the prosperity of literature and art is crucial for the future development of the country, and they proposed that a charter be drafted immediately. Do you have any specific suggestions? Please share them!"

At the meeting, Liu Yimin only emphasized the importance of establishing literary awards and did not offer any specific suggestions. The attendees were all prominent figures; it would be risky for him to personally offer advice, appearing as if he were giving instructions, and he didn't want to offend them.

"Teacher, I think screenplays are different from novels. There are far fewer screenplays created than novels. Therefore, the selection period for screenplay awards should be longer than that for novel awards. At the very least, it shouldn't be like short story awards, which are given out once a year, with a whole bunch of them at once."

Scarcity increases value; the more award-winning works there are, the more authors will have the title of award winner, which inadvertently diminishes the importance of the award.

"Oh? A longer timeframe?" Cao Yu repeated, then said, "You're right. The longer the timeframe, the more works we can choose from, and the more good ones we'll have. I'll bring this up. Anything else?"

Liu Yimin took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued, "Teacher, I have another suggestion. You may not agree with it, but I think you can consider it carefully. I suggest naming this literary prize after you."

"No, this won't do!" Cao Yu interrupted Liu Yimin before he could finish speaking, his voice trembling with emotion.

Looking at the agitated Cao Yu, Liu Yimin knew this would be the outcome even before he spoke. Cao Yu would definitely think that naming it after him was against the rules and also seemed to excessively "deify" him.

Most importantly, as the director of the prestigious Yanjing People's Art Theatre and a leader of the Dramatists Association, his proposal to establish the "Cao Yu Script Award" would be seen as self-aggrandizement.

Even though people might not think that way about him, or even think he deserves it, he doesn't think so!
"Teacher, please listen to me first. Naming the award after you is actually a way for the award to leverage your fame to enhance the reputation of the screenplay award. You have a great reputation in countries all over the world, and your every move will naturally attract the attention of your peers around the world, which will inadvertently spread the reputation of the screenplay award abroad."

Cao Yu is known as the "Shakespeare of the East." This title is not because Cao Yu is trying to ride on the coattails of the screenwriting award, but rather because the screenwriting award is trying to capitalize on Cao Yu's popularity.

Why did China later change the names of its literary awards, which were originally quite conventional, to names based on people? Besides the so-called recognition of literary contributions, there was also the idea of ​​using people's names to increase their own fame.

The same applies to literary awards abroad. For example, the Hugo Award, the Goncourt Prize, the Kafka Prize, the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and so on.

Taking the opportunity, Liu Yimin again used foreign literary awards as an example to explain. Sitting in his chair, Cao Yu's expression kept changing. He had listened to Liu Yimin's explanation, but the worry in his eyes only increased. There wasn't a first award in China named after a person yet; it was a difficult title to accept!

"After thinking about it, it's still not a good idea!" Cao Yu said in a low voice.

As Liu Yimin walked out of Cao Yu's office, he sighed. In the end, he still couldn't persuade Cao Yu. Since he couldn't convince Cao Yu, he, as his student, would have to think of a solution himself!

Of course, as Cao Yu's student, he couldn't just write a letter to leaders like Zhou Yang or Xia Yan, suggesting that a script award named after his teacher be established!
It's better to do it this way from the beginning than to change the name later. Why go through all that trouble?

Liu Yimin stood at the entrance of the Beijing People's Art Theatre for a moment, then made up his mind. He rode his bicycle northward to find his way around the area and headed towards the editorial office of the China Youth Daily.

The editorial office of China Youth Daily is located in Haiyuncang Hutong, Dongzhimen, about three kilometers away from Beijing People's Art Theatre, a twenty-minute bike ride away. This was Liu Yimin's first time visiting the editorial office of China Youth Daily. An old gatekeeper sat dozing in the guardhouse at the entrance.

"Hello, old comrade, I'm looking for Yu Jiajia!" Liu Yimin called out several times before the gatekeeper finally managed to open his eyelids a crack, glance at Liu Yimin, and then closed his eyes again.

Liu Yimin said again, "Old comrade, I'm looking for Yu Jiajia, the reporter from China Youth Daily."

"What's so great about Yu?" the gatekeeper asked loudly, putting his hand behind his ear.

"Yu Jiajia!"

"play house?"

Liu Yimin:
He took a cigarette out of his pocket and handed it over. Before he could even light it, the security guard said, "Oh, it's Yu Jiajia! Jiajia is a good comrade. I'll give you a call."

The old gatekeeper picked up the phone next to him, shook it a few times, and shouted into the phone, "Jiajia, someone called you... what was your name again?"

"Liu Yimin!"

"Someone named Liu something-min is looking for you. Do you know him? I feel like I know this guy. Hey, I told you, this young man looks really energetic. I'll have him wait for you here!" The old gatekeeper hung up the phone, sat down next to him, and started smoking a cigarette, while also inquiring about what Liu something-min did.

"Let me tell you, this is the China Youth Daily. Don't mess around at such a young age. Don't underestimate me just because I'm old; I'm still got plenty of strength!" The old gatekeeper warned, then ignored Liu Yimin.

Yu Jiajia ran downstairs quickly and, upon seeing Liu Yimin, asked excitedly, "Comrade Liu Yimin, it really is you! I knew it! No one else came looking for me. What brings you here?"

Seeing how enthusiastic Yu Jiajia was, the old gatekeeper completely let down his guard and dozed off again, his legs swinging back and forth on the rattan chair beneath him.

"The play 'Mr. Donkey' is about to premiere. The Beijing People's Art Theatre gave me a few theater tickets. I don't have many good friends in Beijing, so I'll give you one. Go and support them!" Liu Yimin handed the theater ticket to Yu Jiajia from his bag.

Yu Jiajia was first surprised, then delighted: "Comrade Liu Yimin, how can we accept this? This is too precious. Only one comrade in our editorial department has a ticket, and even Editor-in-Chief Xu doesn't have one if he wants to see it."

"Then you'd better take it carefully, don't let Editor-in-Chief Xu see it! It's a pity there aren't many, otherwise I would have given you one to give to the editor-in-chief," Liu Yimin said with a smile.

After chatting for a while, Liu Yimin suddenly asked, "Comrade Yu Jiajia, is the interview from last time ready to be published?"

“No, the editor-in-chief attaches great importance to this report, saying it is a rare achievement in the literary world. He has been asking me to revise the manuscript, and I only finished revising it yesterday. It still needs to be sent to the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Ministry for review. It will probably take another three or four days to be published. What’s wrong?” Yu Jiajia said.

Liu Yimin breathed a sigh of relief and said inscrutably, "It's nothing. I just suddenly remembered that I forgot a few things during the interview. If I don't write them down, this report will seem thin!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Jiajia immediately became anxious and prepared to go upstairs to get her notebook so that Liu Yimin could explain it again.

Liu Yimin didn't go inside. Instead, he stayed in the reception room and wrote down his suggestion to name the literary award after himself, along with his reasons. He planned to present the suggestions in a question-and-answer format in the news reports.

"I'm sorry to trouble you, Comrade Yu Jiajia, I've made you revise the manuscript."

"You're too kind. This is my job, and I'd love to make the report as exciting as possible. Even if it's just for the sake of the theater tickets, I have to revise the article today."

A dozen or so young faces came out of the newspaper office. As they passed by the two, they greeted Yu Jiajia. Liu Yimin asked them and learned that they were all students from the Yenching Broadcasting Institute, which later became the Communication University of China.

"I'm here for an internship!" Yu Jiajia raised her eyebrows and gave Liu Yimin a knowing look.

After leaving the China Youth Daily, the old gatekeeper peeked out at Liu Yimin's retreating figure. "A cigarette, huh? I won't recognize you next time I come!"
"Jiajia, who is this?"

"Liu Yimin is a very famous writer now!" After saying that, Yu Jiajia put the theater ticket in her pocket and skipped back to revise the manuscript.

Upon hearing this, the old gatekeeper quickly walked out of the guardhouse, looked at the corner where Liu Yimin had disappeared, and sighed with regret.

Liu Yimin, isn't that the name my eldest grandson talks about the most? We have to come again next time!

When we passed by People's Literature and Art magazine, I gave one ticket each to Zhang Guangnian and Cui Daoyi, since it was the first issue of the magazine "Donkey Water".

I also mentioned the novella literary prize.
"Comrade Zhang, why don't we combine the novella and short story and name it after Mr. Lu Xun? Look at what's happening abroad."

It was the same advice Liu Yimin and Cao Yu had given each other. Zhang Guangnian was more receptive to this suggestion.

"Yimin, what you said makes some sense. I'll exchange opinions with the comrades at the Federation of Literary and Art Circles. When you leave, stop by the publishing house. Your royalties for the standalone book have been paid out; go and collect them first."

Zhang Guangnian reminded them that since Liu Yimin was in Beijing, sending money would be troublesome. The publishing house knew that the editorial staff of *People's Literature and Art* would occasionally meet with Liu Yimin, so they called Zhang Guangnian and his team to pass on a message.

(End of this chapter)