What is the difference between Liang Shiqiu and Zhou Zuoren's attitude towards the future of life?

In the history of modern literature in China, there once appeared a school of expressing ambition represented by Lin Yutang, Liang Shiqiu, Fei Ming and Zhong Jingwen. The prose of "Yan Zhi School" emphasizes "no intention, nothing to say" and draws on a wide range of materials, ranging from social criticism and civilization criticism to trivial matters in life. Prose creation takes the pursuit of "interest" as its purport, and strongly advocates the literary proposition of "expressing one's own spirit and not sticking to one pattern" by Ming writers. Regardless of narrative, reasoning, lyricism and discussion, they are immersed in their own temperament and adjusted by appropriate means. From the aesthetic point of view, Yan Zhi School is feminine, and it infects people's hearts with the poetic beauty of "peace and dilution". Judging from the writing attitude of this school of writers, they got rid of the serious state, pursued free and easy, did not fight fiercely, and did not set foot in the political field.

Among the "Yan Zhi School" prose writers, Zhou Zuoren, Lin Yutang and Liang Shiqiu are the most successful. However, their life is full of contradictions and disputes. Some of them have committed treason and kept silent, but many of their works have been washed away by time, showing their artistic charm more and more. Zhou Zuoren is known as the "king of essays"; Lin Yutang is a "master of humor"; Liang Shiqiu also has his "elegant art". Below, let's talk about their respective styles and achievements.

King of Prose-Zhou Zuoren

The concept of essays was first put forward by Zhou Zuoren, who said in "Beautiful Essays": "There are many contents that cannot be regarded as novels and are not suitable for poetry, so it is better to write essays. I have never seen such an article in China's modern literature. Why don't people who treat new literature have a try? " "Isn't it nice to open up a new world for literature?" His so-called "prose", "this kind of article" and "new land" are actually the prose he wants to advocate. It mainly refers to narrative or lyrical artistic prose, and also includes "the bridge between poetry and prose"-prose poetry. Zhou Zuoren put forward a new topic for new literature, that is, to open up the field of prose and develop narrative or lyrical artistic prose.

The greatest aesthetic pursuit of Zhou Zuoren's life articles is peace and dilution, which embodies his aesthetic pursuit and his thoughts. This kind of peace and dilution often shows a kind of leisure, but in this leisure, people can feel that what it writes is really the truth of life, and people can feel the beauty and ugliness of real life; There are many articles, although the content is serious and sharp, but the style of the article is still peaceful. Zhou Zuoren's miscellaneous feelings, literary criticism and essays in other styles are also calm and reasonable, and there are few tense sentences. His plain leisure seems to make people feel that he doesn't need any skills, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't need skills. On the contrary, he is very original. It's just that he has inadvertently used this skill without showing any trace.

Zhou Zuoren's plainness and leisure are mainly manifested in his essays with ordinary themes, plain structure, unpretentious lyrics and leisurely rhythm of words.

For drinking tea, a common thing in life, Zhou Zuoren can find beauty in it, and wrote in his article: "Drinking tea should be under the paper window of the tile house, with clear spring green tea and elegant ceramic furniture. Two or three people can have half a day's leisure and ten years' dream." "I walked on the south side of the West Fourth Pailou and looked at Zhang Xugao's wooden signboard in Yifu Zhai. I couldn't help but be fascinated, because it not only showed that he was an old shop of the Boxer Rebellion, but also gave me an illusion of leisure and prosperity by burning incense and sitting still." "Although it's raining too hard to see, the sky is gloomy and people are very sulky. At this time, it often leads to an illusion that it is quite comfortable to bake a white charcoal fire bowl, drink green tea and chat with friends in a small room in Jiangcun. " This leisurely state of mind in tea tasting is completely a reflection of a traditional thought of China literati, and it is completely a so-called lofty celebrity demeanor. Zhou Zuoren wrote essays because he dismissed his inner loneliness, emptiness and other boredom and "sought solace in literature". He created prose entirely out of his own aesthetic needs and experience, and rarely considered complex issues such as the times and society. In that era full of heat and struggle, he was calm and composed, and wrote essays that were so light and humorous, so peaceful and diluted, which was in sharp contrast with other contemporary writers who sang the tone of enlightenment. Zhou Zuoren was also very radical in his early years, but why did he indulge in playing antiques, eating tea and talking about the life of a fox in the colorful, clean and elegant "Kuyu Building"? Perhaps he lost more and more confidence in his own nation after the failure of the literary revolution, was afraid of the revolution, and even dared not complain, because he deeply understood that being a friend of the * * * party was easy to be suspected, and Zhou Zuoren made such a choice for "risking his life in troubled times".

Zhou Zuoren's pursuit of plainness is his ideal. However, Zhou Zuoren's prose is as full of contradictions as himself. Just as he is willing to put himself between a traitor and a hermit, he may be more willing to put his prose between plain and non-plain. Therefore, it is not good to summarize the style characteristics of Zhou Zuoren's essays with a "harmony" or synonymous "plain" and "gentle dilution". Zhou Zuoren has repeatedly said that his articles cannot be laid back. In fact, dullness may be just a superficial phenomenon, just an external form, because anxiety about reality and hedonism based on pessimism about life make it impossible for him to be truly dull or leisurely. For example, Wild Vegetables in Hometown is one of his early masterpieces. The full text is full of deep affection for my hometown, but in the first paragraph, I strongly declare that I have no special feelings for my hometown: "There is more than one hometown, and all the places I have lived are hometowns, and my hometown has no feelings for me. Just because of fishing in Sri Lanka, I get along with him day and night, and get acquainted with him, just like a neighbor in the village, although not a relative. I have lived in eastern Zhejiang for more than ten years and in Nanjing and Tokyo for six years. These are my hometown. Now I live in Beijing, so Beijing has become my hometown. " What Zhou Zuoren really wants to do is to downplay his feelings in the article and melt them into every detail of the article. His article is like a cup of green tea. The first bite tastes faint, but after the second and third bites, you can gradually taste the taste of deep burial. He inadvertently expressed his touching feelings. Don't the words "parting" and "missing" in the article prove his spiritual attachment to his hometown? This emotional connection cannot be forgotten or forgotten by the author.

Sometimes, Zhou Zuoren also expresses serious events by trying to downplay his feelings, so as to create a strong contrast effect. This sharp contrast method is used in Qianmen Cavalry: "Although those people are riding horses, they should still have their own thoughts and ideas. Why do they let horses trample on our own people? I shouldn't have run away then. I should talk to that person at once. I believe that he must be kind, understand the truth and protect us. " The more generous, the more incomprehensible, the more insipid and the more helpless. There is no tense words in the article, and there is no direct criticism and accusation against the enemy, but the author can see at a glance what he likes and hates.

The above passage also reveals another feature of Zhou Zuoren's prose, that is, he likes to use humor, and there is humor and wit between the lines, which is natural and by no means artificial banter. Zhou Zuoren's pursuit of dullness is his ideal, and he will naturally reflect this dullness in his humor. Therefore, his prose is not as spicy and crisp as some essays, but has the demeanor of a celebrity, and all kinds of satire are only shown in a peaceful pen and ink. The reactionary warlords "wounded" petitioners and teachers; The theory of "seeing horses at the front door" hopes to be on an equal footing with the people at once; To get a good way to die, we should leave the "way to die" and look for a new way to die ... In these essays, Zhou Zuoren tried his best to satirize and put forward his own views on all kinds of society. In addition to this ironic humor, he also has a lot of humor full of life. For example, "Wild vegetables in my hometown" quoted a children's song about Huanghuamaiguo: "Huanghuamaiguo has a hard knot, and you have to eat it as soon as the door is closed. Don't take out half a piece, but eat a word. " Humorously speaking, Huanghuamaiguo is delicious. I am embarrassed to give it away without fruit, but I am reluctant to give it away if there are too many. The Art of Elegant RoomLiang Shiqiu

In the late 1930s, both Zhou Zuoren and Lin Yutang gradually moved from "traitors" to "hermits". From criticizing society, criticizing civilization gradually fell into a cold silence. From talking about current affairs to talking less about current affairs until not talking about current affairs, they are keen on "leisure", and almost all their attention has shifted to writing about plants, insects, fish, love affairs and anecdotes. "The size of the universe and the size of the flies can all be derived from it." Later, Lin Yutang was forced to resign as the editor-in-chief of The Analects of Confucius because of the split of the critical school, and later his family settled in the United States. At the same time, Lu Xun severely criticized the essay, so the essay fever characterized by "expressing ambition" and "leisure" became increasingly cold.

Liang Shiqiu, on the other hand, thinks that writers have no fixed class concept. Great literature is based on a fixed universal humanity, and it defends the purity and eternity of literature. Therefore, in his essays, although Zhou Zuoren and Lin Yutang don't talk about politics and avoid major social contradictions, there is no confusion of small intellectuals. But to explore the true meaning of life in the description of daily life and social world.

In the early forties, Liang Shiqiu devoted himself to the creation of essays during his ups and downs of "elegant house" life, and formed a unique phenomenon of "elegant house essays", which may be a beautiful beacon when Zhou Zuoren and Lin Yutang's essays of "expressing ambition", "leisure" and "humor" gradually declined. Liang Shiqiu's prose creation since then has always retained the legacy of "Yan Zhi School" prose.

Liang Shiqiu's "Elegant House" is a classic of "Essays on Elegant House": the basic purpose of ordinary houses is to shelter from wind and rain and prevent invasion, while elegant houses are "weak walls, lax doors and windows", "holes like pavilions when the wind comes" and "rain like drops". A famous academic figure in this humble room is a microcosm of the profound disaster that imperialism has caused to our nation, but Liang Shiqiu did not stand up and shout for saving the country and rebuke the invaders like most writers. But he chose a unique expression angle-looking for poetry from suffering. For example, the location of "Yashe" is desolate, but it shows the friendship between friends. In "Elegant Room", mice swarm and mosquitoes gather into thunder, but the author is safe and sound. What's more, when it rained heavily, the author thought that the roof had cracked and the wonderful flowers had opened. Although some people may say that Liang Shiqiu doesn't care about national peril, he still enjoys himself in such a bad environment. But what I see from it is something that transcends secular interests and national narrowness and pays attention to all mankind, making people adopt an attitude towards life in adversity. In other words, it is a narcissistic philosophy of life and a super-utilitarian aesthetic mentality of "wandering outside things and being tireless in the world". Many essays since then are the continuation of this "elegant house" spirit.

Liang Shiqiu, like Zhou Zuoren and Lin Yutang, is also good at extracting small topics of interest in life, covering all kinds of worlds: men, women, children, middle age and old age; Pigs, dogs and birds; Clothes, cars, crutches, books, pickles; See me off, take a walk, go to the opera, take a shower, queue up, fly a kite ... and then describe it from the perspective of human nature and culture.

At the same time, Liang Shiqiu described the object in detail when describing the characters. When he wrote about women, he wrote about all the characteristics of women: lying, fickle, crying, talkative, timid and clever? When writing clothes, you can write Tang suit, formal dress, men's wear, women's wear, robes and mandarin jackets. List the top ten arts when swearing; About bargaining, four secrets are summarized. In a word, Liang Shiqiu's prose can take a glance at all the characteristics of people and things, and describe them in great detail, so that people still stand at the height of the creator, look down on all beings and gain insight into the world, with a condescending momentum.

Although Liang Shiqiu's prose covers a wide range, he tries his best to focus on the length and will never tolerate redundant words. He once said: "Although prose is wonderful, the highest ideal is simply the word' Jane'", which is in line with the writing standards of Zhou Zuoren and Lin Yutang. Zhou Zuoren once said in "True colors": "There is no other trick to writing an article, only one word" Jane "."Lin Yutang also talked about this issue: "The most important thing in writing is to know the taste. Dull is the most mellow, lovely and difficult. Why? There is only a slight difference between plain and superficial ... A good writer, such as Yang Guifei's sister, can see the emperor even if she doesn't draw her face, and other beautiful women in the palace have to draw her face. This is why few writers dare to use simple words. " It can be seen that all three writers were deeply moved by the artistic principle of "giving up love" and tried to simplify their writing. Although their prose works seem to belong to "gossip" and ramble at will, there is not a word of gossip in the text. Every word has been carefully scrutinized, but it is natural and inadvertently sees the real merit.

In the history of China literature, Lin Yutang is regarded as a master of humor, and Liang Shiqiu appreciates his humor very much. However, Liang Shiqiu's humor is different from Lin Yutang's caring humor and Zhou Zuoren's "Zhan Ran is kind and ironic" humor. Liang Shiqiu's humor is displayed through one example after another, which runs through the whole text. And these examples are very typical and witty and humorous. Therefore, in Liang Shiqiu's prose, the humor of wise men often runs through, which is more like a kind of "gossip" humor.

For example, when he said that men were dirty, he wrote: "Some men, despite their straight suits and pants, are often suitable for growing wheat because of the fertile soil behind their ears;" I don't know how to wash socks and handkerchiefs at any time, but they often accumulate over time and are stuffed everywhere. When they are useless, I will choose a cleaner emergency from that pile of dirty things. Some men's handkerchiefs look like a hundred fruit cakes made of gray powder. They are black, sticky and rich in content. Men's feet, to a great extent, seem to have the natural smell of kimchi, dried vegetables, sugar and garlic ... "This essay even lists four things of men's pants, socks, handkerchiefs and feet to show some men's" dirty ". Moreover, when writing socks and handkerchiefs, I also subdivided several types with rich examples. These examples are all from life, but they are typical. The key is that Liang Shiqiu is good at discovering these typical cases in life and expressing them in humorous language. This kind of distance approach, which is close to the "stacking" of materials, aims to let readers see a normal life and psychological feeling of all beings, themselves and the people around them, so as to reflect on their daily behavior, achieve a humorous effect at the same time, and also allow readers to reflect on and correct their accustomed mistakes. In addition, it can be seen that Liang Shiqiu added a little exaggeration when enumerating such examples of daily life, which further strengthened the humor of the article, as can be seen from the above examples. There are many examples in other places. For example, a woman is weak: "Two feet can't be warmed up overnight in the quilt, and the hot water bottle is held in both hands. From August to May next year, they are still reluctant to let go. "Slow chess player:" When you see the other side leading, think about it. I don't know whether to jump on the left horse or the right horse. I can't decide after thinking for half an hour, so I'm worried that the other party will give up. "Talking about the hotelierization of hospitals:" The most similar to hotels is that there are many people and noise. Patient 4 is dying, which doesn't prevent the guests in ward 5 from talking loudly. Patient 6 just swallowed sleeping pills, which did not prevent the patient in ward 7 from screaming at the top of his lungs. "Although these distances are extremely exaggerated, we don't think they are absurd. On the contrary, they are for the needs of artistic effects. Liang Shiqiu used this exaggerated and reasonable life representative example to express humor. The weight and expression of this humor in the article are beyond the reach of Zhou Zuoren and Lin Yutang.