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

Chapter 484 Golden Lion Award: Awarded to the most outstanding Chinese literary figures

Lianhe Zaobao is a comprehensive Chinese-language daily newspaper in Singapore. Its predecessor was Nanyang Siang Pau, founded by the famous patriotic overseas Chinese businessman Tan Kah Kee, and Sin Chew Daily, founded in 1929 by the brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Pau.

After Singapore and Malaysia gained independence, the Singaporean portion continued to operate independently. In 83, the two merged to form Lianhe Zaobao, officially known as Nanyang-Singapore Lianhe Zaobao.

Lianhe Zaobao has a significant influence not only in Singapore, but also in Southeast Asia, mainland China, Taiwan, and other places with large Chinese communities around the world.

The news content mainly consists of breaking news from Singapore, Southeast Asia, mainland China, and areas with large Chinese populations. It generally represents the position of the Singapore government and its coverage of China is relatively objective and neutral.

Internationally, many newspapers and countries that demonstrate an objective and neutral attitude towards China are labeled as pro-China by many people.

In order to expand the influence of Chinese-language literature in the world and enhance its own status in the Chinese-speaking world, Lianhe Zaobao began to hold Chinese Literature Training Camps and established a Golden Lion Literary Award to award the most outstanding Chinese writers.

This Golden Lion Award has absolutely no connection to the Italian Golden Lion Award for Film or the Chinese Golden Lion Award for Drama.

When Liu Yimin arrived at the entrance of the Writers Association, he saw staff members cleaning the dirt off the building's pillars and sweeping with brooms.

Upon seeing Liu Yimin, the staff all stopped what they were doing: "Congratulations, Comrade Liu Yimin, you've won another award this year!"

"What are these?" Liu Yimin asked with a smile, pointing to the tools in their hands.

"Let's clean up a bit and get ready to put up a banner to celebrate." After saying that, the staff member pointed to a spot where Liu Yimin had parked his motorcycle: "Secretary Tang Dacheng is waiting for you upstairs!"

As Liu Yimin walked inside, he ran into Chen Jiangong, a student from the class of '77. Chen was a full-time writer for the Writers Association, but full-time writers for the Writers Association were similar to full-time writers for the Cultural Center; they didn't often stay in the Writers Association building.

"Yimin, congratulations on winning another award!" Chen Jiangong praised sincerely.

Liu Yimin said politely, "Senior Brother Chen, I believe you will win more literary awards in the future. However, for us writers, literary awards are not the standard of judgment; what is more important is the influence of our works on readers."

Chen Jiangong nodded upon hearing Liu Yimin's words, then shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Even if you stagnate, I still can't catch up with you. I published my works when I was working in the coal mine, and won a short story award during my university years. I originally thought that even if I wasn't a literary genius like you, I still had some literary talent."

Now I understand, my literary achievements were a gift of the times. Almost everything I wrote before could have made me a writer, but with the development of domestic literature, everyone's level has improved extremely rapidly.

Chen Jiangong's life trajectory began with joining the Writers Association and becoming a full-time writer. He became increasingly integrated with the system and later became an official within the cultural system, like Tang Dacheng and Zhang Guangnian.

After chatting with him for a few minutes, Chen Jiangong urged Liu Yimin to go upstairs to find Tang Dacheng and Wang Meng.

Tang Dacheng's office door was open. He and Wang Meng sat on the sofa next to the reception table, chatting and laughing while waiting for Liu Yimin to arrive.

Tang Dacheng recalled how Liu Yimin could get an American to spend $100,000 on a piece of clothing and a million dollars on a trophy.

Wang Meng, standing beside her, kept exclaiming in admiration. She had heard the story many times, and the more she heard it, the more she felt that it was too magical.

“This is true magical realism! I think even One Hundred Years of Solitude can’t compare.” Wang Meng clicked her tongue again.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Tang Dacheng said with a smile, "These powerful footsteps mean that our Chinese Gabriel García Márquez has arrived."

The two men got up and went to the door to greet Liu Yimin. Upon seeing him, they immediately said loudly, "We knew it was you! Yimin, come and see!"

Tang Dacheng and Wang Meng warmly escorted Liu Yimin into the office, and Tang Dacheng handed Liu Yimin the invitation letter on the table.

The invitation letter was printed with the four characters "Lianhe Zaobao" in large characters. Two copies were sent in total, one to the Writers Association and one to Liu Yimin personally.

The notice invited Liu Yimin to participate in a week-long Chinese arts camp held at the Apollo Hotel in Singapore. Following the camp, the International Chinese Golden Lion Literary Award ceremony would be held, and Liu Yimin would win first prize in the fiction category of this year's Golden Lion Literary Award.

Seeing Liu Yimin deep in thought, Tang Dacheng said, "Comrade Yimin, the training camp is at the end of April. I remember your twins' birthdays are coming up soon, right?"

"Mid-month," Liu Yimin sighed, "that's when I'll be gone. The two little ones will be even harder to take care of. My wife and I both have to work, and it's exhausting for the nanny to look after two two-year-olds all by herself."

Tang Dacheng and Wang Meng exchanged a glance and immediately became anxious: "Comrade Yimin, do you not want to go? Although this literary award does not have a great influence worldwide, it represents Chinese literature around the world."

Moreover, renowned Chinese-language writers will be attending the arts camp, making it a rare platform for exchange and an opportunity to showcase the talent of outstanding mainland writers.

“Yimin, if you’re worried about no one being home, I’ll have my wife take care of your two little ones. She loves kids,” Wang Meng said hurriedly.

Liu Yimin laughed and said, "Don't be in such a hurry, I didn't say I wouldn't go."

Tang Dacheng is right. It doesn't matter whether it's a literary award or an arts training camp. What matters is that it provides a platform for Chinese literature to exchange ideas, and writers from the island will also go there.

"You startled us." Tang Dacheng's expression immediately softened.

Then Tang Dacheng discussed with Wang Meng who should accompany Liu Yimin on this trip. In addition to Liu Yimin, the Lianhe Zaobao Arts Training Camp also invited Jiang Zilong and Wang Anyi. They also invited the Writers Association to send a delegation of writers to participate, with the selection to be made by the Writers Association.

Liu Yimin walked out of the Writers' Association with the invitation letter in hand. The members of the delegation can be discussed by the Writers' Association, the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the Ministry of Culture.

When I walked into the courtyard of the Writers' Association, a banner congratulating Liu Yimin on winning the Golden Lion Literary Award had already been hung on the Writers' Association building.

Reporters who rushed to the scene happened to stop Liu Yimin. They had originally wanted to take pictures of the banners on the Writers' Association building, but they ended up running into Liu Yimin instead.

"Comrade Liu Yimin, could you say a few words to us?" a reporter from the Yanjing Daily asked with a smile.

"can."

"What are your thoughts on winning this award?" the reporter asked quickly.

Liu Yimin calmly stated, "Winning awards is not important to me; I believe communication is more important. Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao provides a platform for exchange, allowing me to chat with outstanding Chinese writers from all over the world."

"When you arrive in Singapore, what do you most want to talk to them about?"

Liu Yimin laughed and said, "Of course we'll talk about Chinese culture and Chinese literature. We are all Chinese, and Chinese culture and Chinese literature are the greatest common denominator between us."

"Are there any writers you'd like to meet?"

"I am very interested in the works of Sanmao, the writer from the island. I hope readers can also learn about her and her relationship with her husband and the exotic atmosphere of the Sahara Desert."

After chatting in the courtyard for about ten minutes, Liu Yimin rode away on his motorcycle. Reporters from small newspapers are quick to leave; most of the reporters gathered there were from local media. If central media outlets like the People's Daily or China Youth Daily wanted to interview Liu Yimin, they would definitely arrange an interview in advance.

After leaving the Writers Association, Liu Yimin took the invitation letter and went to the Beijing People's Art Theatre to tell Cao Yu the good news.

Cao Yu said with a smile, "When you arrived, I had already received a call from Lao Shen. Lao Shen said that the ministry attaches great importance to this award, even more so than the Italian Nonino Award and the American Book Award."

This is a literary exchange within the Chinese-speaking world, and the fact that a mainland Chinese writer won a literary award signifies that mainland China is gradually taking a leading position among Chinese writers. The synergistic effect of this spotlight will be enormous.

Cao Yu took the invitation from Liu Yimin, looked at it for a while, and then handed it back to Liu Yimin.

“I understand,” Liu Yimin said.

This literary forum wasn't being held for the first time; Yao Xueyin had attended once before, but unfortunately, he only watched others receive awards, and the impact was incomparable.

After discussing the literary prize, Cao Yu pointed to "Brotherhood of Blades" on the table: "It's interesting, but it's a pity it can't be adapted into a stage play."

“Teacher, ‘Brotherhood of Blades’ is indeed not suitable. There will always be a suitable one in the future. This is a script written for the August First Film Studio,” Liu Yimin said. Cao Yu nodded and said, “‘Huo Yuanjia’ sold more than two thousand copies. The August First Film Studio is also in a hurry. The subject of the Ming Dynasty’s Embroidered Uniform Guard is very interesting.”

However, Cao Yu discussed the history of the Ming Dynasty with Liu Yimin with great interest, especially Huang Renyu's book "1587, A Year of No Significance".

"The idea that the Ming Dynasty actually perished during the reign of Wanli is quite interesting. Ming emperors relied on eunuchs and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to check and balance the ministers. Wanli, though living deep within the inner palace, could still control the court. Yimin, who do you think had a greater influence on the Ming Dynasty's demise: the eunuchs or the Donglin Party?" Cao Yu asked.

"Since ancient times, selfishness has often been the hardest thing to overcome. Feudal dynasties all ruled the country together with the scholar-officials. Zhu Yuanzhang claimed that he wanted to share the country with the people, but in the end, it was the scholar-officials who shared the country. The scholar-official group had some people with great righteousness, but at the same time, they were also the spokespersons of the landlord class."

The Donglin Party in the Ming Dynasty was more complex. In the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, capitalism was emerging in the south, and they were a combination of landlords and merchants. The south was also the rear area for the Qing Dynasty, and the war relied on the south's silver. The south inevitably felt somewhat innocent, since the Qing Dynasty's iron hooves couldn't reach the south, and they wanted to protect their own interests.

Liu Yimin analyzed the politics of the late Ming Dynasty, stating that Wei Zhongxian held immense power, but he was also aware of the importance of the situation in Liaodong. Most importantly, he was dependent on the imperial power, and with the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he also perished.

The scholar-official class desired to control the emperor in order to protect their own interests.

Liu Yimin stated his conclusion: "If Wei Zhongxian were still alive, the Ming Dynasty might have been able to survive for a few more years. The Donglin Party, which controlled the government, did not understand military affairs. The Southern Ming Dynasty was in turmoil and was still embroiled in internal strife."

Liu Yimin's final conclusion was that while there might be good people and literati who cared about the country and its people within the Donglin Party, the group was corrupt.

Just like the landlord class, there may be some who truly became landlords through hard work and treated their tenants relatively well, but the landlord class as an exploitative group is inherently wrong.

The true representatives of the landlord class were not the small landlords, but the gentry. In an era when governance did not extend beyond the county level, they controlled grassroots administrative power. Even larger were the bureaucratic landlords whose families held high-ranking official positions.

After listening, Cao Yu said, "Yes, selfishness is the hardest thing to overcome."

After leaving Cao Yu's office, Liu Yimin went to meet Zhu Lin, who was rehearsing a program with Lan Tianye.

Around noon, Liu Yimin returned to the Overseas Chinese Apartment.

Back at Yenching University in the afternoon, Yan Jiayan and the professors of the Chinese Department congratulated Liu Yimin.

The next day, the newspaper published the news that Liu Yimin had won the Golden Lion Literary Award, claiming that this was an important symbol of Liu Yimin establishing his position in the international Chinese literary world.

For a time, the discussion surrounding Liu Yimin completely overshadowed the discussion surrounding "Brotherhood of Blades," and almost no one in the literary world talked about this popular novel.

On April 3rd, a group of people came to the Overseas Chinese Apartment to congratulate Liu Yimin, who invited them into his apartment to watch the TV series "Huo Yuanjia".

When there are many people, the room feels small.

Liu Zhenyun said with a smile, "The premiere of 'Huo Yuanjia' is today. Tickets sold out a few days ago and were impossible to get. Well, we can watch it today without tickets."

This copy was a gift from Beijing Film Studio to Liu Yimin for his collection, and it became the best choice to entertain them at this time, since everyone wanted to see it, but no one had a ticket.

Cui Daoyi told Liu Yimin about the grand scene at the cinema he passed by on his way here. The Yanjing area had the most copies, and the Beijing Film Studio was also selling tickets to make money, so tickets were still hard to come by, let alone other places.

“There are few good kung fu movies in China. The mainstream market is monopolized by Hong Kong film companies. Audiences are eager to see what our own film studios are like.” Liu Yimin didn’t show much joy on his face.

After that, everyone focused intently on the movie, and no one spoke again, except for the occasional applause and exclamation at an exciting part.

Even after the movie started playing, Liu Zhenyun and his friends were still reluctant to leave. No one could resist the charm of this kung fu film, which cost two million to make.

People continued to arrive one after another, and the projector, just like those in a movie theater, was running 24 hours a day without a break.

Around 9 PM, after the last group of guests left, Liu Yimin stretched wearily. Zhu Lin and Xi Mei also looked exhausted; they were simply too tired from constantly greeting guests.

"Let's tidy up the living room together," Liu Yimin said helplessly.

Just as Liu Yimin picked up the broom, the phone in the study rang again. Zhu Lin smiled and said, "Go ahead, Teacher Liu. Ximei and I can manage here."

Liu Yimin strode to the study, picked up the phone, and said, "Hello, this is Liu Yimin."

"Comrade Yimin, congratulations! You must have had a very busy day."

The old leader's voice came from the other end of the phone. Liu Yimin replied with a smile, "It's alright, it's still a bit short of the Italian Literature Prize."

"Haha, I just came back from Zhonghai. I watched 'Fearless' at the Zhonghai Cinema. The comrades were very enthusiastic, and the applause was wave after wave. When we are making patriotic films, we should also meet the diverse entertainment needs of the masses. Gang Gong praised you very much, believing that you have captured the spirit of the Chinese people who are not subservient to any race."

After chatting for about ten minutes, Liu Yimin heard the voice on the other end of the phone saying, "Please go and rest, old leader." He quickly found an opportunity to hang up the phone.

Zhu's mother took leave from work to take care of the two little ones while Liu Yimin was in Singapore. The hospital approved her request immediately, fully supporting her decision to care for her grandchildren.

"Comrade Fang Zhen, this is also a contribution our hospital has made to the cause of literature in China!"

Seeing how understanding the dean was, Zhu's mother changed her limited return-to-hospital dates into holidays that she could adjust according to the actual situation.

"Dean, Yimin is supposed to be in Singapore for a week, but as you know, he's very popular abroad, and everyone wants him to stay a few more days, just in case something happens."

"Perfectly accurate!"

Upon hearing the dean's words, Zhu's mother left the dean's office with a smile on her face.

When Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin learned that Zhu Lin's mother's leave request had been approved, Zhu Lin breathed a sigh of relief, as she had originally planned to request leave herself.

Soon, the list of the delegation organized by the Writers Association was released. There were three people in total. Yao Xueyin, who had been to Singapore before, was on the list. The second was Qin Mu. Qin Mu's original name was Lin Juefu. He was born in Hong Kong and lived in Singapore with his parents when he was a child. He is currently the vice chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the director of the Chinese Department of Jinan University.

I met Liu Yimin once at a forum hosted by the Chinese Department of Fudan University. The main purpose was to promote textbooks, and we didn't have a deep conversation. His writing range is very wide; like Liu Yimin, he is proficient in poetry, prose, novels, and fairy tales.

The last member is Zhang Leping, the author of "Sanmao Joins the Army," whose character Sanmao is a household name, and who is also the godfather of the writer "Sanmao."

Sanmao changed her pen name to Sanmao after reading Zhang Leping's works.

The reason for having him go along this time was also to allow him to meet Sanmao and increase his influence.

The three of them, scattered across the country, immediately began preparations to come to Beijing after receiving the notice from the Writers' Association. On April 17, they all boarded a plane together to Singapore.

In the Writers' Association's meeting room, Yao Xueyin first shook hands with Liu Yimin and congratulated him, then introduced Qin Mu and Zhang Leping to him.

Qin Mu held Liu Yimin's hand tightly and said, "Comrade Yimin, your speech at Fudan University last time really impressed me. With young people like you in our country's literary world, there is hope for a flourishing future!"

"You're too kind. Under your leadership, the Chinese Department of Jinan University has made steady progress, and I must thank Jinan University for its support."

“Brother unit, let’s move forward hand in hand. You are a junior to me, but the Chinese Department of Yenching University is the senior brother of Chinese departments nationwide. Your Institute of Literature’s training program for young teachers is very good. I will recommend a young man to receive training there this September.”

Liu Yimin agreed to arrange a spot for them, then shook Zhang Leping's hand and said, "I used to love reading your 'Sanmao Joins the Army' the most."

"now what?"

"Now I'll learn from you and see how to create classic characters."

P.S.: The next chapter is under review!
(End of this chapter)