Not long ago, Xie Mian, a poet in his 90s and a professor at Peking University, disappeared from the daily record list of the WeChat movement.
120 sent him to the emergency room of the hospital.
In the short article "Bone Change", Xie Mian recorded the accident: "As the saying goes, I have not been reborn, but I have been reborn." With the help of modern medical technology, a tough artificial bone was implanted Body, he said: "I need a pair of unyielding 'hard bones'."
Imagine Xie Mian enduring the pain to rehabilitate and exercising, and imagine that he uses a walker to move his "hard bones", and is moved by his strength and optimism.
Even more emotionally, he wrote at the end of the essay: Personal distress and misfortune are nothing.
I'm still concerned about a war somewhere in the world.
I am troubled by this.
At the beginning of the year I prayed that Picasso's Dove of Peace would live forever, and I still do.
Xie Mian doesn't like to sing old songs, talk about old things, or ramble on.
He likes the title of "twenty-year-old professor" and admires the joke of "old urchin", but he is not a shallow optimist, because he has long been aware of the suffering of the world.
dreamed of being a poet
When he was a child, Xie Mian's family was very poor.
He had to go on outings during the student holidays, but he couldn't afford the toll, and his clothes were torn and he couldn't tell his family, so he didn't go because he was sick.
He reads Bai Juyi's poems at home to forget the pain outside.
Such was the initial comfort that poetry gave him.
"My grades in school were mediocre, and I was not good at mathematics, physics and chemistry, but I was biased towards literature. I was often praised for my composition, and I liked to write poetry. I learned from He Qifang, Lin Geng, Xu Zhimo, and Dai Wangshu, and I wrote a sentence with my classmates, and I wrote a sentence and sang poetry. I didn't study very well in my homework, and my hobby of poetry increased day by day, and I began to publish works at the end of 1948." Xie Mian likes poetry and once dreamed of being a poet.
But fate took him to another path.
At that time, the tuition fee for Xie Mian's Trinity School in Fuzhou was to pay 100 catties of rice.
His tuition depends on two people: one is Li Zhaoxiong, a primary school teacher, and his brother is the manager of the school. With his help, Xie Mian can be reduced by one-third of the rice; the other is his sister, who sells dowry and jewelry to finance Xie Mian.
That summer, Fuzhou was liberated, and the troops came in.
It was very hot in Fuzhou in August, and it was the rainy season. These soldiers carried all their luggage and weapons, as well as mud, sweat, and even blood, and slept on the street with their clothes on.
Xie Mian was moved, and followed the school with water to condolences to the troops.
The light, ideals, and hopes that he had known before were all abstract, and they were not as good as the scene he witnessed on the streets of Fuzhou.
Later, the army went to the school to mobilize, hoping that intellectuals could join in. Xie Mian did not seek advice from his parents and made up his mind to join the army.
In the "Xingmin Daily" on September 16, 1949, Xie Mian used Xie Yuliang as a pseudonym and published "I entered the ranks of the revolution": "I am not alone, because I live with the people. I also I will not be disappointed, because, I have faith! I have courage, so I can move forward with determination."
During his six years in the army, Xie Mian spent most of his time in the grass-roots company garrisoned on the island, marching, training, garrisoning, building fortifications, and preparing for battle. Life in the army made Xie Mian change his previous free and loose habits and become punctual. Be disciplined, do not procrastinate, bear alone no matter how much pain, do not give in and do not fear, always overcome the difficulties of life with tenacity and perseverance.
In the following years, Xie Mian has always maintained this quality.
Because of the "overseas relationship", Xie Mian was ordered to demobilize before the formal implementation of the military rank system.
While waiting for the Civil Affairs Bureau to assign work, Xie Mian reviewed all the homework in high school.
He filled in three choices: the first choice was Peking University, the second choice was Peking University, and the third choice was Peking University.
After only three or four months of study, after passing the college entrance examination, Xie Mian entered Peking University as she wished.
From enthusiast to researcher
From Cai Yuanpei to Ma Yinchu, Peking University has a long list of shining names.
Xie Mian is fortunate to be in the environment and atmosphere in which they live.
What Peking University brings to Xie Mian is the psychological inheritance of national worries and the sense of mission of modern Chinese intellectuals.
In the Chinese Department of Peking University, Xie Mian participated in the Peking University Poetry Society, and later edited "Red House" as the leader of the poetry group.
In his junior year, he and his classmate Sun Shaozhen wrote "An Overview of the Development of Chinese New Poetry", which was an important turning point for Xie Mian from a reckless and naive poetry lover to a researcher.
"Before this, not only my own understanding of new poetry was partial and fragmented, but there was no history of new poetry in the academic world. We want to sort it out as a whole through our own efforts."
"It has been integrated with my life, and it is my belief." The youth that really belonged to Xie Mian began in the late 1970s.
Although he was middle-aged at this time, he still felt the brightness of the new sun above his head.
On May 7, 1980, Xie Mian published "In the face of a new rise" in Guangming Daily, which caused great repercussions in the poetry world.
He said that when he read the poems of young people, he was full of joy and knew that this was the hope of poetry.
Misty poetry developed from the underground to the ground, and many people thought it was weird poetry.
Xie Mian also did not agree that the poems could not be understood by people, but he advocated that some poems should be allowed to be difficult for people to understand.
The world is diverse, and the art world is even more complex.
Even bad art should allow exploration.
After the trend passed, everyone believed that misty poetry had promoted the development of poetry to a certain extent and changed the original pattern of poetry.
Xie Mian has always believed that literary hobbies and writing are diverse, and all kinds of writing, schools, and doctrines should be respected. As long as they have made contributions to literature, they should be respected and not stick to one corner.
Literary workers should respect the wishes and feelings of writers and poets to express their own feelings, and choose the way of writing.
"I respect the free creation of every writer, and do not influence judgment because of what I personally like or dislike. I advocate tolerance." Xie Mian said.
Xie Mian used to be at the forefront of contemporary Chinese literary criticism.
Zhang Jie's "Children from the Forest" was published in "Beijing Literature and Art" in July 1978, and he wrote a commentary "The Late No. 1" in the 10th issue.
However, his light on the theoretical study of new poetry overshadowed others.
Poetry in sync with the changes of the times
On April 26, 1980, Xie Mian recorded in his diary his initial thoughts on a future publication with his colleagues: "On the car, I studied "Poetry World" (tentative name), or "Poetry Research". Candidates for the editorial board. Gao Hongbo participated in the discussion."
The publication was later titled "Poetry Quest".
The incident started in the spring of 1980 at the Nanning Conference during a heated debate about the new wave of poetry.
Everyone revolved around the evaluation of the misty poems that appeared at that time.
Two completely different viewpoints have produced sharp confrontations, which have aroused people's alertness and attention to the research and construction of poetry theory.
Afterwards, the poetry critics excitedly embarked on the broader poetry scene of the Guangxi Folk Song Association with anticipation of the upcoming poetry climax.
Walking all the way from Nanning to Guilin, I see the vigor and vitality of the early spring in the new era, and I talk about the wishes and thoughts about the revival and reconstruction of Chinese poetry.
At the end of 1980, the first issue of "Poetry Exploration" was published, with Xie Mian as the editor-in-chief.
"Poetry Exploration" and Misty Poetry have naturally become the spring swallows of China's new renaissance era, testifying to the age of dreams and passions, and the rebirth and rise of new Chinese poetry.
As a research publication on Chinese new poetry theory, "Poetry Exploration" has carried out a planned review and research on many important poets since the 1940s, with forward-looking and problem awareness throughout.
All the trends and phenomena in the poetry world for more than 40 years have been witnessed and voiced by "Poetry Exploration", which is knowledgeable, stance, controversial, and can be consistently united. Behind this is the editor-in-chief Xie Mian and fellow poets. Sincere and sincere love is the tolerant heart of academic supremacy, and the style of a gentleman who is harmonious and different.
In Xie Mian's critical style, reflection is a particularly important and respectable feature.
"As long as I make my own voice, I don't care about the consequences. There may have been some criticisms at the time, but I may be right after a long time." He once said frankly, "I am dissatisfied with the status quo of poetry. Poets whisper, Self-stroking, I'm not satisfied with poetry that has nothing to do with us, social progress, and the uplifting of people's hearts."
Xie Mian felt that he was right.
He doesn't care if others approve or not.
Some people see Xie Mian's surface and think that he speaks with enthusiasm and is a person full of passion, but they do not see his calm side and serious thinking side.
"I am a comprehensive person. I am very open to communication. I drink, eat meat, eat delicious food, and enjoy beautiful scenery. The reason why he dares to express his views on the new poems is because he has read a lot.
He has read a lot of things in the corner of the new poems, so he has the right to speak. "Scholars also need to love themselves, and they should not talk nonsense about what they don't understand. I also have a lack of knowledge, and I am very grateful for others to point it out. I don't understand. I can’t pretend to understand. I don’t dare to say it when I encounter classical literature. I dare not say it’s right, nonsense is a taboo for scholars.”
Xie Mian rarely sings praises to contemporary literature.
He believes that there are several important points in current poetry creation: First, the scale is too small and the style is too low.
Little sorrow, little joy, little realm, but also quite self-appreciation.
He expects a kind of poetry to have great atmosphere.
He is not opposed to expressing the ego, on the contrary, he believes that personal emotions are very cherished, and the more delicate the expression, the better.
But poets can't be like this all the time. The reason why Du Fu is called "Poem Sage" is because he has "Spring Hope", "Three Officials and Three Farewells" and "Northern Expedition". His poems contain personal emotions and more There is family care.
More on Critics Weekend
At Peking University, Xie Mian established the "Critics Weekend" literary and art salon which lasted for more than ten years. The way of this academic salon is that students conduct academic exchanges and academic research under the guidance of teachers: teachers guide, plan, publish Topic (or students think about several topics to be judged and decided by the teacher), assign reading materials and scopes related to topic selection to students.
Then the designated students will make the theme report, the teacher will comment, and the students will discuss.
There are standards and thresholds for the selection of topics in the salon, which are determined according to the degree of academic importance, the strength of academic rationality, and the degree of relevance to reality. to discuss.
This method is also an academic training and scientific research attempt in which students independently undertake academic research tasks under the guidance of teachers.
"From a certain point of view, this is also a continuation and development of the great tradition of Peking University." Xie Mian said that the spirit of Peking University originated from the great "May Fourth", and its purpose or essence is academic independence, freedom of thought, and courage to eat. Crabs are adventurous and committed to innovation. As Mr. Lu Xun said, "Peking University is always new".
"Academic communication is carried out in this way, which is actually more of a communication of ideas and hearts. It seems that we are talking about academic issues, but in fact it is a communication of ideas and beliefs. In this form of free discussion, Teachers and students get to know each other better." Xie Mian felt that for teachers, every "Critics Weekend" gathering was an inspection of students' recent learning situation, and for students it was almost a face-to-face test, but this test was very important. It is easy and very comfortable, and it is carried out in the exchange of knee-to-knee conversation, equal freedom, and free speech.
Through the on-site barrier-free communication of "Critic Weekend", teachers will be very aware of students' thinking characteristics, academic attainments, and the degree of intellectual acuity.
This is an era of "feedback".
In this way, teachers will also find their own shortcomings in the process of communication, and find that they have to make up for some "classes" of works. These works may have become very popular among students, and teachers should be like young people. Learning, in order to maintain a young mind and academic vitality.
At the same time, this process is also a process for students to learn from each other and learn from each other.
The students got to know each other's learning situation, and recently paid attention to the issues that they were thinking about. What good books, works, movies, performances, exhibitions, etc. are there recently.
This is a kind of collision and exchange of information, knowledge, ideas, and wisdom, and this kind of discussion and exchange is a realm of "like learning, like grinding," "talking and laughing".
"Critic's Weekend" to guide students to pay attention to the actual trend of literary and artistic development is just one example.
"At Peking University, we should express our voices and the voices of our scholars, especially our young scholars today and the mainstays of the academic world tomorrow. We should speak out about the current status of the literary and art circles," Xie Mian said.
Whenever he pays close attention to the current state of creation, commentary, and audience, he always grasps the fresh things, the living reality, the status quo of the development of literature and art, which is a matter of time and mentality. "present tense".
“Only poetry and food not to be missed”
Rejecting boredom is Xie Mian's attitude towards food and his attitude towards life.
On January 10, "Only Poetry and Food Don't Miss: The New Book Sharing Session of "Foraging Food" was held both online and offline, with a total of 300,000 views of the live broadcast.
"Foraging" records the stories and experiences of Xie Mian's journey to the south and the north, the east and the west, and the delicious food. Interest and love also reflect Xie Mian's life concept and attitude towards life.
Xie Mian said in his own words: "Fools are also dull, their nature may be peaceful, and their actions may be graceful, but their hearts are full of raging flames—passionate, resolute, and even fierce. Is this a taste for food? No, maybe they are pursuing life. a limit."
Sun Shaozhen, an old classmate, discovered very early that two strings were beating in Xie Mian's heart: one played a childish fairy tale variation, while the other played a mature and full of mission. A thoughtful subject for scholars.
Regarding Xie Mian's "Foraging for Food", he commented that "I am greedy and sincere, I am greedy and knowledgeable, I am greedy and foreign, I am naive, I am greedy, and I am fragrant." , sexuality. Scribes of all dynasties, focus on color, light food, Xie's focus on food and light color. Contribute new themes to Chinese prose. Open up a new category of 'review' in aesthetics".
"It should be salty or not, so don't eat it; if it's sweet or not, don't eat it; it should be oily or not, so don't eat it." This is Xie Mian's gourmet motto. What he likes is the taste of the food itself.
He does not seek how "noble" the food is, nor does he pay attention to "prestigious", but only cares about whether it is authentic and authentic.
Every time I go to Chongqing, I always dine in a hotel. "It's the same, but I'm unwilling. I decided to 'rebel'. I made a private appointment with two or three friends and found a noodle restaurant, a bowl of Chongqing noodles, three yuan, a little more luxurious, plus one more A bowl of 'pea fried' is only a few yuan. Overjoyed, shouted, this counts as Chongqing!" He wrote in "Noodles Jifeng".
Xie Mian is a scholar, but he has more human feelings.
The text is like the person, the food is like the person.
Focus, serious, live up to all the food.
Mr. Xie Mian's student Meng Fanhua recalled an experience in the mid-1980s: "At that time, I accompanied him to various places in Fujian. On the streets of Fuzhou, he bought fish balls with ease, and stood with me on the street leisurely. eat."
There is a widely circulated "pie contest" initiated by Xie Mian. The fixed place of the competition is the pie shop in Changping Sun City. The event has been held for three or four years. But when they got to the table, the gang only ordered pies, spicy soup, and garlic.
It is said that Xie Mian's highest record was eight and a half, and Hong Zicheng, a professor of Peking University, also participated in six of them and won the "Rookie Award". After the competition, he refused to eat pie again.
Xie Mian wrote in "Foraging Food": "We can learn from food: diversity, compatibility, synthesis, complementarity, priority, sequence, speed, depth, overlap, and all aspects of intersection."
He is recording "the way of taste", but also the way of tastes the state of the world, the way of life, and the way of realm.
The way of eating is variety.
A table of feasts, sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty, with mixed flavors, let everyone taste a hundred flavors, so as to change people's taste prejudice and accumulated habits.
And sometimes when he reads a literary work or some other works, he wants to read the taste of it.
Regarding the connection between food and learning, Xie Mian advocated: "To learn is to experience, to experience life, to experience academia, then you need to be meticulous, to understand its source, understand its personality, understand its many changes and creativity, It has to do with our diet."
"For critics and scholars, where does the taste to be sought come from? What is 'flavor', and how can it be embodied as a 'Tao'?" Xie Mian said, eating seems very vulgar .
The enjoyment of everyone’s appetite may seem vulgar, but in fact there are many truths in it, and these truths cannot be understood by ordinary people. We must strive to understand these truths, where is the “taste”, and what kind of “dao” does it reflect .
The principles of life, diet and learning are the same, and they are the same here in Xie Mian.
Therefore, Wu Sijing, a professor at the School of Literature at Capital Normal University, said that "Foraging Food" is also "a special poetic work".
end
At Peking University, Xie Mian was well-known for his willingness to work hard to prepare for his lectures.
"Many people don't know how hard it is to be a teacher. Unlike ancient Chinese, in teaching contemporary literature, in order to teach a class, read materials, and write manuscripts, the content of a single lesson preparation is more than 10,000 words." Xie Mian said that contemporary literature is changing with each passing day. The disciplines that are constantly "growing", especially after the 1980s, the degree of freedom of creation has increased, and relevant publications and literary materials have "flooded".
Xie Mian was very distressed, and he couldn't do it, so he didn't do it.
The basic rule of literary history research and literary criticism is "subtraction" rather than "addition", and it is necessary to constantly select valuable things from those mixed states.
The difficulty of these jobs is often difficult to understand without being there.
Poetry criticism is what Xie Mian insists on doing all the time.
When his energy is better, he writes a comprehensive review a year.
"I am a volunteer of poetry. I follow it all the way, keep close contact and contact with the creation of new poems, and recommend and comment on the poetry of young poets. Some of them are not meaningful, but they consume a lot of energy." Xie Mian said, a person You can only do one thing in your life, except for outstanding people, such as Wang Guowei and Wen Yiduo.
The knowledge they have done is too great, and Wang Guowei has studied it all the way from Oracle.
Wen Yiduo is proficient in everything from The Book of Songs, Songs of Chu, and Zhuangzi to stamps and painting, which is amazing.
The average person can only do one thing.
"I only do literature all my life, literature only makes poetry, poetry only makes new poetry, and new poetry only makes contemporary poetry. My talent may be in other aspects, I am interested in gardens, clothing, food and so on. But a few Ten years later, I have only done one thing."
comfortable