About Shen Congwen's "Border Town"

Part 1#

I have seen the "Epigraph" written by Shen Congwen for "The Border Town" a long time ago (as far as I can remember). I will paste it below:

For farmers and soldiers, I have an indescribable warmth and love, which can be seen everywhere in all my works. I never hide this feeling. I grew up in the small town described in the works, and my grandfather, father, and brothers all served in the military; those who died died in their official positions, and those who didn't die would inevitably spend their entire lives in their official positions. From my perspective, I narrate their loves and hates, joys and sorrows, even if my writing may be clumsy or somewhat off-topic. Because they are honest, honest, and in some aspects of life extremely great, and in some aspects extremely ordinary, their temperament is beautiful in some aspects and trivial in others. When I start writing about them, I naturally write honestly in order to make them more human and closer to human emotions. But as a result, this work may become useless. Because it seems too far away for educated people who grew up and were educated in the city. They need a different kind of work, I know.

According to the current trend, literary theorists, critics, and most readers are easily displeased with this kind of work. The former claims that "it is outdated" and tells people that China does not need this kind of work, while the latter is "too worried about being outdated" and is not willing to read this kind of work at present. This is natural. What is "outdated"? A somewhat rational person may never understand, but who isn't afraid of being "outdated"? I have something to say: "This book is not written for the majority." Those who have read three or five books on literary theory and criticism, or have also read a lot of classical and modern world masterpieces, their life experiences often do not allow them to know a little bit about another place in China. Therefore, this work may be in line with certain current literary theories, and critics may praise it in various ways, but this criticism is still an insult to the author. Since they don't want to understand the true loves and hates, joys and sorrows of this nation, they cannot explain the gains and losses of this work. This book is not written for them. As for literary enthusiasts, whether they are college students or middle school students, they are scattered in densely populated cities in the country and often spend a precious part of their time reading newly published literary books in China. They are controlled and dominated by a habit created by some theorists, critics, clever publishers, and gossip writers in the literary world, and their lives are really far away from the world mentioned in this work. They don't need this kind of work, and this book doesn't hope to reach them. Theorists have literary theories in publications from various countries, so they don't worry about having nothing to say; critics have authors and works that owe them a little favor, enough for them to criticize for a lifetime. Most readers, regardless of their tastes and beliefs, have works to read. Because they care about the general public, there are many people who are said to be always spinning like tops in order to cater to the general public. Even if this book is not abandoned by the leading majority of theorists and critics, the majority of readers who are led do not completely abandon it, but the author of this book has long abandoned this "majority".

This book is only prepared for "those who have left school, or have never been able to approach school, know some Chinese characters, live in a certain position in that society, and are extremely concerned about the benefits and disadvantages of the entire nation in space and time". They truly know what the rural areas are like now and want to know what the rural areas were like in the past. They would also like to know a little bit about the rural areas and soldiers in a small corner of the world from this book. The world I wrote about may be completely unfamiliar to them, but their tolerance and enthusiasm for seeking comfort and knowledge from a book will definitely enable them to read this book calmly. I am not going to stop here. I am also prepared to give them a comparative opportunity to mention the civil war of the past twenty years in another work, and to describe the worries of some small characters in the process of change and the ideas and desires of "survival" and "how to survive" that arise from inadequate nutrition. When this nation is led by history towards an unknown destiny, some insignificant people and their worries in the process of change, as well as the "survival" and "how to survive" concepts and desires arising from inadequate nutrition, will be narrated in a simple manner. My readers should be rational, and this rationality is based on their concern for the changes in Chinese society, their understanding of the past greatness and current decline of this nation, and their lonely engagement in the great cause of national rejuvenation. This work may only give them some nostalgic sentiment, or it may only give them a bitter smile, or it may give them a nightmare, but at the same time, it may also give them courage and confidence!
April 24, 1934, Diary Note: "Epigraph" was first published in the 61st issue of the "Literary Supplement" of the Tianjin "Dagongbao" on April 25, 1934, under the name Shen Congwen.

Today I accompanied my grandmother to the hospital and took a look at "WeChat Reading". I found that Shen Congwen had another "Epigraph" -

I will also paste it here:

Note: This article was originally written by the author on the sample book of the first edition of Shanghai Life Bookstore and has never been published in the "Complete Works of Shen Congwen" published by Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House.

When the Tenth Division entered Sichuan, passing through Chayuan, staying for two days, I went from the horse dung city gate to the city twice, and stayed in a small temple for one day. On the day of departure, it drizzled, and it took about four miles to cross the river. I heard the extremely sad cries of cuckoos. On that day, I climbed up the cotton hill, about twenty-five miles high, and saw several dead bodies on the way due to road robbery. The mountain top fort had been burned for many days. From September 22nd to the north of Jiu Shui Road in Qingdao, I saw a procession of family members of the deceased in the village "reporting to the temple", with a little girl leading the way with a spirit banner. Because of the agreement with Zhaohuo, I will introduce a story into what I saw. In September, I got married in Ping, and I lived in a small courtyard in Daziying, writing the first chapter under the shade of a tree with a small square table. It was published in the "National News Weekly". I returned to Hunan in winter to visit my mother, and it took forty days round trip. I stayed in my hometown for three days and returned to Beiping to continue writing. When my mother died twenty-three years ago, I was full of sadness when the book was published. Many of the living for twenty years have turned into dust and soil, and the dead are as faint as smoke in the memory of the living. But the characters in the book are combined with individual lives like a strange combination, as if they can never die. In fact, the work can never die. It is because of the influence of several people in individual lives and several impressions in individual lives. From Wen's thirty-seven years in Beiping

In the words of Shen Congwen in the "New Epigraph", it is "rare".#

I can't remember the first time I read the "Old Epigraph", but I vaguely remember the feeling. However, I just finished the reading comprehension in the first year of high school, so it is still clear.
I have read a few pages of "The Border Town" before, just glanced at the "Epigraph" and then read the main text. So when I read the "Epigraph" carefully and felt very "rare". How could such an elegant and fresh novel have such an intense "Epigraph"? It is also mentioned in the text.

In the eyes of writers like Ba Jin and Cao Yu, Chinese society is too corrupt. After the "midnight", there will be a "sunrise", and the decline of tradition is without suspense, and revolution is bound to come. But Shen Congwen feels that the rural ethical order is still beautiful, but whether it can survive in modern society is a serious question.

Excerpt from Xu Zidong's "Rereading 20th Century Chinese Novels" - "Does Shen Congwen Suspect Modernity in 'The Border Town'?"
I think this explanation makes sense. It can be regarded as the motivation or reason for Shen Congwen to write the "Epigraph" and why this novel is great.

Part 2#

Professor Xu Zidong from Lingnan University#

In fact, even earlier, I have seen Xu Zidong's "Three People Walking Together" and various lectures, which also mentioned Shen Congwen. I vaguely remember a few sentences like "Shen Congwen is a left-wing writer, but he wrote 'The Border Town'" and "the greatest novel (literary work) of the 20th century".
I have a good impression of Xu Zidong and have read a few pages of his book. In fact, I am most excited when I watch his various lectures.
Now, I am ready to watch the video, but I haven't read the novel, so I just glanced at a few pages.
I am ready to watch the video...

Starts talking about Shen Congwen at 39:50.
Actually, this video is a statement about "Rereading 20th Century Chinese Novels".

Part 3#

Let me add a few words as well. I talked to my Chinese teacher, but it was still vague.

chat
Actually, I sent it without organizing my words properly. I'm not good at this. It can be said to be a regret. I don't plan to continue the conversation because there won't be any results or meaning in continuing.

I clicked on the video and found that the first half was about Lao She's "Rickshaw Boy". I read it a long time ago, but I don't plan to skip it. It's better to finish watching it.

Today, I also found "[Denouncing Reactionary Literature and Art] by Guo Moruo](https://site.douban.com/widget/notes/7255476/note/237064366/)" and "On Guo Moruo - Published in the first issue of in 1930".
Since I posted the links, I might as well post a few more.

Wang Zengqi: The Mystery of Shen Congwen's Career Change
Xiao Qian and Lin Huiyin: 65 Years of Written Agreements
While reading Guo Moruo's article, I saw his evaluation of Xiao Qian's "Where is Chinese Literature Going?" in "Dagongbao" - Guo Moruo said that Xiao Qian is a "noble orchid", and there is also "Shen Congwen | General and Special". So I googled it. I found that Nankai University has the Dagongbao (Full-text Retrieval Edition). But the electronic library of Nankai University is only open to internal personnel, so I had to give up. Later, I found the "National Library of China", but it seems that it has two websites, and the accounts and resources are different.
http://m.ndlib.cn/04/html/index.html
http://read.nlc.cn/user/index
In fact, the "Dagongbao resources come from the National Library of China" at Nankai University. It's strange that the National Library of China does not have a complete collection.
Okay, finally finished.

Part 4#

August 12, 2024
I still haven't finished watching that video - I finished watching it in the afternoon, but I just happened to see the part about Shen Congwen. I'm a bit fickle.

In the eyes of writers like Ba Jin and Cao Yu, Chinese society is too corrupt. After the "midnight", there will be a "sunrise", and the decline of tradition is without suspense, and revolution is bound to come. But Shen Congwen feels that the rural ethical order is still beautiful, but whether it can survive in modern society is a serious question.