The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Shen Yanbing read "Dog Officer" two months later. He went to Wuhan to be an instructor at a military academy at the beginning of the year, and in April he was the editor-in-chief of "Republic of China Daily" in Hankou. When Zhou Hexuan was writing this novel, Shen Yanbing was blocked on the way from Wuhan to Nanchang, and then he heard the news of the failure of the Nanchang Uprising, and he lost contact with the party organization.

At the beginning of September, Shen Yanbing returned to Shanghai and wrote a novel called "Disillusionment", which was officially named "Mao Dun".

"Fiction Monthly", Editor-in-Chief Office.

When Ye Shengtao saw Shen Yanbing, he was startled: "Brother Yanbing, why are you back at this time? Everywhere in Shanghai is arresting the Red Party!"

Shen Yanbing smiled wryly: "As long as no traitor betrays me, who knows my identity? To be honest, I have lost contact with the organization, and I can't even prove that I am a party member."

Ye Shengtao felt a little relieved: "That's good, that's good, I have to keep a low profile recently."

Shen Yanbing asked: "Where is Brother Xidi (Zheng Zhenduo)?"

"You don't know?" Ye Shengtao asked back.

"I just returned to Shanghai, so I don't know anything," Shen Yanbing took out her novel, "I'm here to contribute this time, so I can meet old friends by the way."

Ye Shengtao said: "Zhen Duo has gone to France, and now I am the editor-in-chief of "Novel Monthly". As you know, he has translated the lyrics of "The Internationale". The Kuomintang rebelled against the revolution, and was wanted as a result, and had no choice but to go abroad to seek refuge."

"well!"

Shen Yanbing let out a long sigh.

Ye Shengtao took the manuscript and asked, "What novel did you write?"

Shen Yanbing said: "I plan to write down my revolutionary experience."

"Are you crazy?" Ye Shengtao looked at him in surprise.

Shen Yanbing smiled and said: "Don't worry, I'm not that stupid. The plot has been dealt with, and it won't offend the reactionaries. But now the situation is serious. I originally wanted to write the plot of the novel until this year, but it seems that I can only write the May 30th tragedy at most. , you can’t even mention the past two years.”

"It's good that you know." Ye Shengtao said.

Shen Yanbing asked: "What good novels have you read recently?"

Ye Shengtao took out a stack of manuscripts from the drawer, handed it to Shen Yanbing and said, "You can read it yourself."

Shen Yanbing flipped it over and said with a smile, "Yo, it's Zhou Hexuan's again, he's very fertile."

Ye Shengtao said: "You read "The Dog Officer" first, and I will read your novel to see if there is anything that needs to be covered up."

The two opened the novel manuscript and read it carefully. Half an hour later, each of them finished reading the manuscript in their hands.

Shen Yanbing said with a smile: "This "Dog Official" reminds me of "The Metamorphosis."

"What "Metamorphosis"?" Ye Shengtao asked.

Kafka was not well-known in China at this time. Even well-known writers and editors like Ye Shengtao had only heard of Kafka's name, but had no idea of ​​his works.

It was Shen Yanbing who first introduced Kafka in the Republic of China. He wrote an article about Kafka four years ago, but it did not attract any attention.

In fact, this is quite normal. Kafka’s novels are too obscure, and readers in the Republic of China are not interested at all in what he wants to express in his novels.

Shen Yanbing explained: "The Metamorphosis is a novel by Franz Kafka, and the hero turns into a beetle. However, the two are only similar in form, and there is still a big difference. "The Metamorphosis" uses expressionism, The whole story is full of cryptic metaphors; while "The Dog Officer" is more straightforward, like a "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" of Chinese society."

Ye Shengtao laughed loudly, and said, "The Dog Official is so straightforward that it aroused the dissatisfaction of those reactionaries. Especially since the protagonist is from the Revolutionary Party, all the officials thought they were satirizing themselves."

"Did you cause any trouble?" Shen Yanbing asked worriedly.

"There are a few minor troubles, but nothing major," said Ye Shengtao. "Someone suggested that the Nanjing Nationalist Government ban this book, so I quickly asked someone to call to explain the facts. The protagonist of the novel is Gu Wangzhi, who is actually just a 'little man who listens to nothing'." , it’s just for jokes, don’t take it seriously. There are also mentions in the book of “pot donation” and “stove donation”, which are exorbitant taxes invented by Zhang Zongchang in Shandong. Revolutionaries in the South don't matter."

Shen Yanbing asked with a smile: "Do they believe it?"

"I don't care if he believes it or not, as long as he doesn't make trouble." Ye Shengtao said.

"Having said that, I'm afraid this novel still makes some officials uneasy." Shen Yanbing said.

Ye Shengtao said: "That's not true, I heard that a certain high-ranking official in Zhejiang who likes to read novels, after reading two serialized "Dog Officials", ordered all the dogs in the mansion to be killed, and he also killed the divorced wife. Take him home and take care of him.”

"Hahahaha, this is great." Shen Yanbing laughed.

How sensational is "Dog Officer"?

Under normal circumstances, the works serialized in "Fiction Monthly" are only read by literary youths and progressive students. However, "Dog Official" was reprinted by several popular magazines, and the common people clapped their hands and applauded after reading it, wishing that all the villainous bureaucrats in the world would turn into dogs and taste the evil they had done.

In the novel review column of the supplement of "Shenbao", this work was introduced as follows: ""Dog Officer" gave readers an opportunity to deeply experience the cruelty of the society of the Republic of China, and also brought a literary vocabulary called "alienation". Shocking is not that people do bad things to become dogs, but through the dog's perspective and mentality, the people's suffering and social chaos are described without panic. Buddhism talks about karma, and "Dog Officer" is a living According to present reports, all the sufferings that Gu Wangzhi suffered after he became a dog are mostly the root of his own troubles, and this book is full of Buddhist karma."

In the 21st century, in the modern literature history textbooks of Chinese universities, Zhou Hexuan's "Goddess" and "Dog Official" were evaluated as "the pinnacle of the May Fourth New Literature problem novel" and "the final masterpiece of the New Literature Movement", and He praised: "If you want to understand the social outlook of China in the 1920s, you can read "Goddess" and "Dog Official". These two works are equivalent to the two Ukiyo-e paintings in the early years of the Republic of China. They directly and sharply exposed the Reality is dark. They are not only the final works of the May Fourth New Literature, but also the beginning of the wave of magical realism in the world."

Marquez, the future Nobel laureate in literature, mentioned many times in interviews that when he was still studying law at university, a friend lent him Zhou Hexuan’s collection of translated works, including "Goddess" and "Dog". Official" two novels.

Marquez told reporters: "I never knew that novels could be written like this! If I could write like this, I could write too." There is a world beyond the normal and pedantic descriptions I get. My grandmother told stories in this way, and she told me many creepy stories in a calm and vivid way, as if she had seen it with her own eyes. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was created using my grandmother's method."

The middle school students in New China hated Zhou Hexuan deeply.

Since the 1990s, excerpts from "Goddess" and "Dog Officer" have been compiled into Chinese textbooks for junior high and high school respectively, and it is fatal to memorize and understand. The reading comprehension of the high school entrance examination and the college entrance examination is so often tested, and it is the kind of excerpts that have not been studied. The writers that the students hate the most are Zhou Hexuan and Lu Xun. The former writes articles full of obscene words. .