On November 6, the "Eighty Springs——Feng Jicai and Tianjin" International Symposium, sponsored by Tianjin University and undertaken by Feng Jicai Institute of Literature and Art, concluded.
In the closing speech of the symposium, Mr. Feng Jicai said that he does not have the sense of age of 80 years old, but he has a sense of urgency, "I didn't sleep at noon today, but I was touched by a topic and wanted to write a book called "Principles of Intangible Cultural Heritage" " booklet."
Mr. Feng Jicai was born in spring, on the ninth day of the second lunar month.
In the early spring of March this year, he made two wishes before his 80th birthday: one wish was to eat a bowl of noodles with his 105-year-old mother on his birthday; the other wish was to hold a seminar on his relationship with Tianjin. As a starting point, discuss the blood relationship between the city and the writer from an academic point of view.
Both wishes, spanning three seasons, finally come true in 2022.
Writing "The Stranger of the World" is addictive
Although he is 80 years old, Mr. Feng Jicai has continued to write, except for the two new books "Feng Jicai Cultural Heritage Protection Library" and " In addition to "Strange People in the World: Hand-painted Collector's Edition", "Wonderful People in the World (4)" has also been recently published by Writers Publishing House.
Feng Jicai said that "Strange People in the World: Hand-painted Collection" is a unique kind of writing for him, "Because I draw, I will always outline the characters that pop up in my mind in the manuscript when I write. This kind of impromptu drawing of characters Inspired, pleasant, and helpful to the completion of my text image, I did not expect it to gradually form a unique way of creation, and I did not expect the Humanities Society to see that this is a very unique kind of writing, a kind of Writing is rarely used, so they asked me for manuscripts, edited and published these manuscripts, and showed readers a brand-new text, picture book, and version that had never been seen before. It shows the publisher's I admire them for their insight and discovery. This book is also a special gift that the Humanities Society helped me give to readers."
"Strange People in the World (4)" is the latest episode of Mr. Feng Jicai's classic series of novels "Strange People in the World". As usual, it consists of 18 short stories, accompanied by selected illustrations from "Xingsu Pictorial".
The characters portrayed in the novel are mostly strange men and strangers in Tianjin Wei in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.
Compared with the previous three episodes, this time Mr. Feng's writing style is more indulgent, and the plot is ups and downs and unexpected.
There is profoundness in banter, and solemnity in lightness.
A long scroll of Tianjin Wei regional customs, scenery, people, and life is slowly unfolding, and the strong, crisp, funny, competitive, and flavorful Tianjin energy is vividly displayed on the paper.
Referring to the creation of "The Stranger of the World (4)", Mr. Feng Jicai called it "writing addiction". This text is too different."
Mr. Feng Jicai said that he would never do this when writing other novels. As long as he wrote "Strange People in the World", he would immediately fall into the old Tianjin in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. A set of various colors, and all of them are lively and eye-catching, making me fall into it beautifully. Some people will say, isn’t it the same when other people write? Isn’t it also plunged into a specific time and space in their own imagination? But " Ordinary People is a little bit different."
Mr. Feng said that the temptation of "Strange People in the World" to him is not only the various appearances and strange things in the novel, but also an extremely cool regional temperament, an irresistible local spirit, and a unique aesthetic.
"In such novels, the personalities of the characters are important, but their common collective character is even more important. Therefore, my characters, whether male or female, old or young, rich or poor, high or low, elegant or vulgar, good or bad, are like cats and dogs. , and all of them have the unique temperament of the creatures here. For example, aggressiveness, humor, loyalty, reasonableness, etc., where else can this kind of aesthetics be found in novels?"
Not only the story and characters, but also the language of the novel.
Mr. Feng emphasized that what he wants in the language of "Strange People in the World" is not Tianjin flavor, but Tianjin energy, "It must also be strong, crisp, funny, competitive, and interesting. My other novels have never been like this. I never use this kind of language when I write about characters. As long as I start writing "Strange People in the World", this set of ideas, energy, feelings and language will all come. Isn't this kind of writing addictive or addictive?"
A Man and a City Explore the Responsibilities of Intellectuals to Their Homeland
The source of Mr. Feng Jicai's addictive creation of the story "Strange People in the World" is inseparable from his love for Tianjin. As the hometown of Mr. Feng Jicai, Tianjin is the place where he was born, grew up, studied, fell in love, stepped into the literary world of the new era, and shouldered more social responsibility. The blessed land of responsibility.
He not only engraved the time and memory of this city in many literary works, but also initiated cultural actions such as the protection of Tianjin urban cultural heritage, the rescue project of Chinese folk cultural heritage, and the protection of traditional villages. At the same time, he devoted himself to the establishment of humanities education in Tianjin University , Create the subject of intangible cultural heritage.
Tianjin can be said to be the birthplace and gathering place of all his thoughts and actions.
As the educator Zhu Yongxin said in the congratulatory video, there are two possibilities for a person to truly establish a connection with a city. One is to leave some works for the city that future generations will continue to read and praise. He has made an indelible contribution to the construction and development of this city. "In contemporary China, Mr. Feng Jicai is probably the only one who can do both."
Feng Jicai described his relationship with Tianjin as "deep". "I have been in Tianjin all my life. I have never left Tianjin. Tianjin is by no means just my birthplace and place of residence. Tianjin has given me everything in my life. everything; I'm not going to just use it and be a guest of it."
Looking back on his extraordinary relationship with the land of Tianjin, Mr. Feng Jicai said that his four novels and more than a hundred novelettes and short stories were all written in Tianjin. "There are also a lot of prose, essays, and TV literature scripts. My The protection of cultural heritage started in Tianjin. I have protected many historical buildings and districts in Tianjin, including Wudao Minyuan Stadium, Gulou Cross Street in the center of the old city, and Guyi Street. There are too many. I brought my team to Tianjin Numerous intangible cultural heritage archives, oral histories for inheritors, and one by one intangible cultural heritage have been sent to the national list. I have done two relatively long jobs in my life. One is in the Tianjin Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and I have done it for 26 years One is in Tianda, and it has been 20 years. I have come to these two places with a characteristic, they both built a building first, and then went in to work. The work of the Tianjin Federation of Literary and Art Circles is related to the inheritance, development, and development of a city's culture. Improve. Tianjin University is the first modern university in Chinese history, and it is a blessing to be able to work for the culture of this city.”
In Mr. Feng Jicai's view, as long as you love your city, you don't need others to tell you what to do, you naturally want to do something for it, "No one asked me to do it, I want to do it myself." Deeply connected, Mr. Feng was full of emotion, "Once I met some Tianjin cultural people at the Drum Tower, and we had a heated discussion about what we should do for Tianjin. After the chat, someone brought a large rice paper notebook and asked me to write a few I took the opportunity to write a song "Song of Selling", which is not a poem, but four emotional lines: "I was born and raised my land, and I will never end my love. There are all kinds of good things in the world, and the most beautiful is Tianjin.""
Mr. Feng said that there are still many interesting and meaningful topics about Tianjin, such as the relationship between an intellectual and his own land, and the feelings, life, and responsibilities between an intellectual and his land, his hometown, his old friends, and his homeland. "I think these are big and profound topics. Therefore, I don't want to simply celebrate my 80th birthday, wearing Tang suits and waiting for everyone to come to pay my respects. I hope this day is a kind of discussion, a time of thinking, and I hope everyone will take advantage of it. My birthday platform, think about the relationship between each of us and our city, and think about what we should do for it. I want to inspire the scholars who participated in the seminar, and of course I really hope that the scholars can give me To be inspired. The best minds are inspired."
If I were given another 20 years, I would still do cultural heritage protection work
The ten-volume "Feng Jicai Cultural Heritage Protection Library" released at the seminar made Mr. Feng Jicai say that he had a kind of "enrichment of harvest". It’s exhausting. There are no novels of mine in this book, they are all cultural heritage salvage texts, but it contains more than 20 years of my time, and it is the best long time of more than 20 years in my life.”
Someone once asked Mr. Feng Jicai, if he had to start his life again, would he spend more than 20 years on cultural heritage protection, or would he be willing to do these things that are full of hardships and have no money?
"He asked me if I would still do this kind of thing with enthusiasm? He said that I could write at least 10 to 20 novels in more than 20 years. I said, you put the diversity and splendor of our Chinese nation into commercialization at the same time. In the age of entertainment, the culture that is under various threats and is gradually disappearing, and my own personal works, which one is more important? You will definitely think that the 5,000-year culture of the Chinese nation is more important. Then, if Give me 20 years, and I will still put these times into it. So I admire Xueyuan Publishing House for having such a vision, knowing the significance of the book "Feng Jicai Cultural Heritage Protection Library", and knowing that this book is not only about me , but the footprints of our generation, our thinking, our foresight, our difficulties, our pursuit, and our values. So they helped me publish this book, and I am deeply grateful to them.”
As an ancient civilization with the largest number of intangible cultural relics in the world, China has always been at the forefront of the world in practice and theoretical research on intangible cultural heritage protection.
However, because the discipline system of intangible cultural heritage has not yet been established, intangible cultural heritage majors can only "bypass" the enrollment of other first-level disciplines. At the moment when intangible cultural heritage urgently needs a large number of professionals for scientific protection, this undoubtedly restricts China's intangible cultural heritage protection and even cultural undertakings development of.
Tianjin University was approved to establish the country's first interdisciplinary master's degree center in intangible cultural heritage in October last year. The enrollment of the first batch of master's students is of great significance to the cause of China's intangible cultural heritage, so it has attracted attention from all walks of life.
Mr. Feng Jicai said that he felt the warmth from Tianjin University, "I have done a lot of things in Tianda these years, such as the establishment of intangible cultural heritage subjects. Why can I do it? Naturally, it is inseparable from the support given to me by Tianda. If If you dig deeper, you will know that support is not easy to achieve, and behind support is understanding. Spiritually, ideologically, and theoretically, only he really understands what you want to do, why, and understands the necessity of what you do , importance, and profundity, his support is the really strong support in place and makes one thing blossom and bear fruit. So, understanding is a kind of warmth.”
Deeply feel the warmth from friends, students and family
Understanding is a kind of warmth. Mr. Feng Jicai said that this warmth comes from his friends, students and family. "Many things I have done in the past 80 years may not be so easy in ordinary families. For example, I sell my paintings batch by batch. Exchange money to support the rescue of folk cultural heritage. Can ordinary people not hear a single objection at home? I have never heard of it. Not only did I not hear it, but my wife and my children also supported me and helped me. This It is also a kind of warmth. Human warmth mainly comes from family and society. For me, warmth comes from society and family twice.”
Although the seminar was held at the end of the year, the word "spring" itself is a metaphor for life. Mr. Feng Jicai has been living in the spring of vigorous vitality and creativity for 80 years, and his friends feel very much about it.
Wang Meng, Han Meilin, Liu Shikun and nearly 40 old friends in the literary and art circles sent "Cloud Blessings". An evergreen tree, artistic creation is still in a state of blowout.
Wang Meng lamented that his brother "creation is constantly blooming like spring flowers, and painting is constantly unfolding like spring scenery".
Liu Heng recalled that when he went to see Mr. Feng Jicai with a watermelon in his arms in the early 1980s, he was very surprised to learn that he was writing short stories in the morning, medium ones in the afternoon, and long novels in the evening. "How can a person have such vigorous energy?" Han Meilin We welcome him to join the "post-80s" team, and compare his works with him to see how much he has contributed to the Chinese nation when he was 100 years old.
Friends all hope that in the years to come, he will be like an evergreen tree that does not shed its leaves, dedicating more works and creating more "spring" in life.
Talking about old friends, Mr. Feng was full of happiness, "I am not dating ordinary celebrities, they are all my old friends for decades. When I met Wang Meng, my first novel had not yet been published. When I met Wang Liping, his song "Dream of Red Mansions" had not yet been written. It was the 1980s, we were both in our 40s, he was a deputy to the National People's Congress, and I was a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He often wore Shirt, wearing a tie, driving an old car, from the residence of the National People’s Congress to the residence of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference to come to chat with me. He once called and sang to me the song he wrote "Dream of Red Mansions" to listen to my opinions, of course He also showed off his pride to me. The story between me and Han Meilin is enough to write a book, and the content is touching enough. I wrote his oral history "Purgatory Paradise" and the English version will be published in London next month. Because These friends are sincere, which is why Tan Lihua knows what Feng Jicai, 80, needs—fraternity, a kind of great compassion, strength, broad vision, and passion. So he asked me to listen to Beethoven’s " The Ninth Symphony". Today, I still hear it with passion and passion. This is a friend. Didn’t you tell the story of Yu Boya throwing the piano and thanking his bosom friend? Bosom friend."
Now there are two things that must be done
Mr. Feng Jicai said that the biggest feeling he has when he is 80 years old is that he has no sense of age, "I don't feel that I am 80 years old, I don't know how I am 80 years old all of a sudden?" Although there is no sense of age, there is already a sense of urgency.
"The most important thing for me now is to choose what I want to do in the future. There are two things I must do. One is to continue to create beauty, whether it is literature or painting, because this is my vocation and my nature .I said that the best way to preserve grapes is to turn grapes into wine; the best way to preserve time is to turn time into eternal poetry.”
After the age of 80, Mr. Feng Jicai will spend more time on literature, because literature is still his most important thing.
Mr. Feng originally approached the protection of cultural heritage from the standpoint of a writer, and used literary criticism to open the way for the protection of cultural heritage.
The cultural perspective formed after engaging in cultural heritage protection also prompted him to consciously write about Tianjin's cultural personality through works such as "Strange People in the World".
However, just like the old Tianjin, which is full of Huayang, half is the old city, and the other half is the concession, Mr. Feng Jicai actually has two sets of pens and inks.
He said that the set of pen and ink writing about life in the old city has formed a unique aesthetic and language sense, "but my literature still owes me the other half of life, which is the life related to myself and the era I have experienced. I want to I belong to this era's life destiny, views on the world, unique feelings and aesthetics, written with another set of pen and ink."
Returning to literature does not mean giving up the protection of cultural heritage. Mr. Feng said that another thing he must do is the academic research and discipline construction of intangible cultural heritage. "In order to preserve the culture of the Chinese nation permanently and intact, we must We must think of various solutions for the country, for the society, and for the culture itself.”
Mr. Feng Jicai, the "old horse" who pulls the "four carriages" of literature, painting, cultural heritage protection, and education, will still take root in Tianjin in the future, look at the world, and run around the world .
(New Beijing News/Reporter Zhang Jia)