Jiang Yang, a literary theorist, playwright and translator, is also known as "an outstanding female essayist in Chinese mainland in recent decades". Although studying in Britain, I have been engaged in the research and translation of foreign literature all my life, but Jiang Yang's prose shows a kind of indifferent and harmonious beauty, which is unique in China's modern prose and sincerely and calmly touches readers. From her prose, we can see the tenacity of not speaking lightly, the calmness when fate overturns, and an admirable female writer.
First, head-up cordial and realistic attitude.
In the 1940s, Jiang Yang became famous for his plays, such as A Comedy with Two Walls, Satisfying Your Desire, and Creating a False Reality. Later, he took translation as his profession. However, her prose creation is fruitful. In the collection of essays such as Six Chapters of Cadre School, Drinking Tea, Miscellaneous Notes and Miscellaneous Notes, she recorded the beauty and ugliness in cloudy days by means of recollection, and wrote down the bland warmth and joy between the lines. Jiang Yang's prose has distinct personal characteristics, and there is no magnificent debate or sharp satire. It seems that "a hermit in the mountains has turned around for a hundred years and talked about the past with the younger generation leisurely", showing a kind of indifferent and harmonious beauty. However, if we compare Jiang Yang's prose with Zhou Zuoren's, we will find that there is a strong sense of grief and indignation behind her prose, which is the same as Jiang Yang's life.
Yang Jiangben was born in a noble family with scholarly family. After studying in Britain, she returned to China to study, but the sudden labor reform drove her to a hard and poor rural area, and the double torture of spirit and body left an indelible scar in her heart. The turbulence and frequent "movements" in the 20th century constitute the important background and indelible life memory of Jiang Yang's creation. As an intellectual, she was passively involved in all kinds of storms. This "protagonist" status in history enables Jiang Yang to touch the details of history more truly, think deeply about history, and present unknown historical scenes with interesting language.
For example, some seemingly ordinary things in Six Chapters of Cadre School were explained by her in clean words, and through the lines, we saw the painful experience that Jiang Yang experienced. The husband was sent away, the son-in-law died unjustly, the house was occupied, the head was shaved, the toilet was cleaned and marched. Jiang Yang didn't gnash her teeth to complain about these painful experiences, but played down her anger and expressed her depression in simple and clear language. Whether it is "attacking war with words", her study and life, and the kindness, simplicity or cunning of local farmers, she has faithfully written "nothing is empty, nothing is hidden." For readers, this kind of equal and cordial tone, viewed from the distance of time and space, is like being with good friends and treating each other sincerely. In his prose, Jiang Yang held up a mirror for readers: "Show yourself to virtue, show your posture to absurdity, and show your image and imprint to the times and society."
Second, the starting point of people-centered creation
The serenity in Jiang Yang's prose is the natural result of her love of life. In the essay selection, "people who miss you are from very close to very sparse;" Memories from deep affection for me to indifference. "She described all kinds of life in a relaxed style.
Prose is true and lyrical. The reason why Jiang Yang described those relatives and friends was "recalling and thinking, feeling a lot", trying to do his best to understand and write the true face of those people. Generally speaking, it is easy to write about celebrities, but Jiang Yang's article is a successful work of Huairen's prose, which is simple, unpretentious and tacky, and exudes an elegant and natural style. As we all know, Mr. Qian Zhongshu is a rigorous and wise scholar, but in Jiang Yang's works, he is kind, humorous and lovely. She wrote: "I think the authors of Guan Cone and Lu like to think about poetry, while the author of Huai Ju Xu Cun is a clock book that worries about the world and hurts the world. What about the author of Fortress Besieged? This is just a crazy clock book. Jiang Yang only wrote some trivial things, showing the real life hidden under various labels and awakening a warm human feeling.
Jiang Yang also writes about little people who are not familiar with them. She puts herself in their shoes and has a sense of head-up about the role. "When I read Don Quixote, I always feel the saddest thing is what he said when he woke up at the end of his life:' I'm not Don Quixote, I'm just a good man.' "For example, in Zhao Peirong and the Strong Man, Zhao Peirong, a porter, has an unremarkable life, but likes to show off his heroic behavior to others. Jiang Yang didn't despise such people, but said: Probably romantic stories are always based on folk facts, and even the most ordinary people have extraordinary minds. She has a clear observation of human nature, with an equal attitude, complete understanding, and seriously wrote down people's pursuit in life difficulties.
In her prose, Jiang Yang tries to construct a unique humanistic spirit position, in which there is both a sincere description of the real world and an active exploration of the value of life. In the ups and downs, she has always maintained a calm and calm attitude. In this paper, she integrated into the exploration of the survival dilemma of individual experience, and conveyed her life feelings to the world in a roundabout way, so that people can understand the meaning of life and find a suitable lifestyle. Therefore, in Jiang Yang's prose, there is the realistic concern of the traditional literati in China. For example, in Six Chapters of Cadre School, many people went abroad on the eve of liberation, and Jiang Yang recorded a conversation with Qian Zhongshu: I asked,' Do you regret staying?' Qian Zhongshu said,' Time goes back, I am still the same. He also wrote that Qian Zhongshu often quoted Liu Yong as saying: "I don't regret my clothes getting wider, because Iraq is haggard." On Qian Zhongshu's "Iraq" that he can't leave behind is the motherland. In these words, Jiang Yang truly conveyed the sincere patriotism between husband and wife. In turbulent times, even if life is hard and the dignity of intellectuals is gone, they still shine with the light of human nature, still have good conduct and pure personality, and show unyielding life force.
Third, the aesthetic charm of harmony and indifference
Almost all Jiang Yang's essays are based on the remaining memories. Six Chapters of Cadre School, Young Ding and Drinking Tea all describe daily life closely related to political struggle. These are extremely harsh and cruel, but in Jiang Yang's works, they gurgle with a very cold rhythm and are expressed in a humorous way through chewing pain. In the subdivision of family life and communication with friends, deconstruct serious life with emotional pen and ink.
China's literary tradition has advocated the beauty of "gentleness and gentleness" since ancient times, and we seldom feel the venting at the top of our lungs in China's prose. Jiang Yang's prose coincides with this background. Probably because of his open-minded, elegant and calm attitude, his prose exudes an indifferent aesthetic charm. Harmony is an important aesthetic principle. In Ding's young life, she developed a strong interest in writing and found the beauty of life in that tragic experience and absurd years. "Six Chapters of Cadre School" has the charm of "a grain of sand sees the world, and half a petal of flowers expresses human feelings", and consciously gets rid of the burden of "grand narrative"; The invisibility cloak, the last article in Tea, was called "nonsense" by Jiang Yang in a low-key way, but as a member of the world, we should be familiar with the world, keep our true colors, put on the invisibility cloak for ourselves, and do our own thing well without interference from external objects.
Ms. Liu Meizhu, a French scholar, once said: "After several years of thinking and research, I finally summarized your life as: take Confucianism as a person, take Tao as a way of life, take carrying forward humanistic thoughts (self-knowledge, self-love and self-improvement) as your own responsibility, and work in a scientific and pragmatic spirit (your notes in literary criticism are very accurate)." Jiang Yang's prose is full of human emotions. She calmly wrote the historical shadows drifting away, and sympathetically recorded the touching details of some historical figures near or far away. Jiang Yang wrote the goodness and truth of human nature with historical truth and artistic beauty, adding warmth to the world.