The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Pearl Buck had already begun writing the first part of the "The Good Earth" trilogy, which described the Chinese countryside. Her father is a missionary and took her to preach in the rural areas of China since she was a child. Her husband is a professor of agronomy and often takes her to conduct research in rural areas.

Pearl S. Buck and his wife originally lived in the apartment assigned by Jinling University, but the xenophobic riots of soldiers in the Northern Expedition broke out suddenly. The couple fled in a hurry, taking only the first draft of "The Great Earth" with them, and the translation of "Water Margin" was left in the Xiaoyang Building. inside.

"Mr. Zhou, this is a novel written by me. Please correct me." Pearl Buck spoke in a purely Chinese style, even with a Zhenjiang dialect accent. She took out the manuscript of "The Earth" with a very sincere attitude, completely asking for advice.

Pearl Buck's current situation is very embarrassing. The novels she wrote are not interesting to Chinese people, and they are often rejected when they are sent to the United States. She belongs to the kind of relatively unsuccessful small writers.

Zhou Hexuan had read "The Great Earth" before crossing over, and the first draft was similar at this time. After roughly reading twenty or thirty chapters, he closed the manuscript and said, "Want to hear my objective evaluation?"

"Of course." Pearl Buck nodded.

Zhou Hexuan said unceremoniously: "The writing skills are very ordinary, and the writing is not brilliant, but it is plain and sincere."

"That's all?" Pearl Buck was a little disappointed.

Zhou Hexuan added: "Chinese people won't like your book, but Americans might be interested."

Pearl Buck was puzzled, "Why?"

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Because you are showing the Chinese countryside from the perspective of an American. The whole novel has a warm tone, full of sympathy for Chinese farmers and love for Chinese rural areas, and also exposes the darkness of Chinese rural society. But you are an American, so it is inevitable that you are suspected of watching the fire from the other side, and your views on practical issues are only on the surface, like a glimpse of the surface, and it is difficult to go deep into it. For Chinese people, this novel has no reading value."

"Perhaps." Pearl Buck nodded.

Zhou Hexuan changed the subject and continued: "However, if there is a publisher to help operate, "The Great Earth" may sell well in Europe and the United States. Because your position is American, Americans do not have dyslexia in this regard, and at the same time can I feel an unknown mystery from the East. This book can serve as a window for the Western world to understand China."

Pearl Buck reassured: "This is enough."

"However, this book will also deepen Westerners' misunderstanding of China," Zhou Hexuan said, "because what you describe is a deformed Chinese rural society, which is just the Chinese countryside in your eyes."

The future Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and Nobel Prize for Literature works were criticized as useless by Zhou Hexuan.

Pearl Buck smiled wryly, shook her head and said, "Zhou, I really shouldn't ask you to comment on "The Great Earth". You have dampened my enthusiasm for writing."

Zhou Hexuan smiled and comforted: "Don't be too disappointed, it is still very good, but I am too picky."

"I think Zhou's point of view is very accurate," Booker said suddenly. "After all, we are outsiders. It is difficult to understand the thinking of Chinese people, and it is also difficult to understand the real China. On the contrary, Mr. Zhou is a real scholar. He "The Rise of Great Powers" is amazing, and it analyzes the rise and fall of world powers in a comprehensive and profound way."

"Mr. Booker has also watched "The Rise of Great Powers"?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

Booker said: "Of course, "The Rise of Great Powers" has caused a sensation in the European historical circles, and has a certain influence in the United States. However, it is only limited to the academic circle for the time being, and ordinary people do not know about it. They have not even heard of it. A masterpiece of history."

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "It's normal, ordinary people prefer popular books."

"This is what amazes me," Booker said. "Chinese students and intellectuals seem to be more interested in understanding the world than Westerners. Academic works like "The Rise of Great Powers" can actually sell well in China."

Zhou Hexuan lamented: "The Chinese have been closed and backward for too long, and if they don't open their eyes to see the world, they will be completely hopeless."

Booker said with a smile: "So I am very optimistic about the future of China. I have lived in the United States and Europe, and I have also been to Japan and India. It seems that only the Japanese have the Chinese enthusiasm for knowledge and culture. And India It is very bad, the intellectuals over there are a little... how should I put it, a little bit unprogressive."

"Mr. Booker studies agronomy?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

"Yes," Booker said, "China's agriculture is still very backward, and like the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River and the mountainous areas in the southwest, there are no conditions for mechanized farming. I have visited the Chinese countryside for many years, and I have never even seen a single agricultural tractor."

Zhou Hexuan said: "That's because tractors use diesel. Not only are the machines expensive, but the fuel costs are also unaffordable. The big landlords are rich, but they would rather hire a few more long-term workers, which is more cost-effective than using machines."

"That's true." Booker smiled wryly.

Zhou Hexuan asked: "Why not make a machine with the main structure made of wood, supplemented by a small amount of steel parts, and powered by human power? For example, small rice harvesters and corn threshers."

Booker thoughtfully: "Your idea seems to work."

Zhou Hexuan immediately took out a pen and paper, drew a human-powered harvester based on his impression, pointed to the machine and said: "This is a human-powered pedal, which is driven by the pedals with your feet to drive the crawlers to run the machine. Farmers only need to put the ears of rice on the threshing wheel, The rice can be easily harvested. Moreover, this machine is so light that two adults can lift it, which is very suitable for China, which is a small-scale peasant economy."

"A genius idea!" Booker's eyes lit up.

Zhou Hexuan suddenly fell silent, because he thought of the current situation in rural China. Once the manual harvesting machine is popularized, the work that used to require six long-term laborers can now be done by two people. Landlords save money and time, but poor peasants become poorer, because the use of machinery will inevitably cause some people to lose their livelihoods.

In the long run, this is the pain of social development. But it's shocking to actually be there.

Take the handicraft industry in the Republic of China as an example. Due to the impact of Western industrial products, a large number of handicraft practitioners fell into poverty. This is a very serious social problem.

Booker didn't care so much, and caught Zhou Hexuan and asked about the details of the manual thresher.

Zhou Hexuan is just following the gourd, only knows the general working principle, specific details and accessories, and needs help from mechanical experts. Especially for the design of the threshing wheel, the installation of the iron ring is too thin, which will cause the ears of rice to fall off endlessly, and the installation is too dense, and the machine may be stuck, so it must be adjusted through repeated trials.

For the next three days, Zhou Hexuan stayed in the hotel. Discussing agriculture with Booker and literature with Pearl Buck, they didn't take the train back to Shanghai until the riots in the city had completely subsided.