Words from the depths of life

Author: Xu Huaiqian
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-06-01
Features: In the winter of 1999, I was invited by Guangdong People's Publishing House to serve as the chief editor of a series titled "Say and Do" (later renamed "Southern and Northern Voices"). I invited my literary friends to join, with the rule that each book title could only be three characters. I have always believed that scholars and writers alike should have book titles that reflect their talent and intellectual depth. I clearly remember that Mr. He Manzi, Mr. Mu Hui, and Mr. Shao Yanyang all immediately and without hesitation reported their book titles—Millennium Bug, Beach Sheep, and Who Cares—over the phone, which impressed me greatly. I called my good friend, literary critic Yan Gang, and he also quickly came up with a title—Echo on the Seat Right—which delighted me even more. Changing one character in the commonly used phrase "motto" to "Echo on the Seat Right" is truly ingenious.
Where is the ingenuity? It lies in its subtle charm. The character "" (to cry out) holds great significance. According to Wang Yinglin, a famous scholar from the Song Dynasty, in his work Notes from a Confined Study, Volume 17, it is recorded that Fan Zhongyan wrote a profound line in his Ode to the Spirit Bird titled Ode to the Spirit Bird: "Better to cry out and die than to remain silent and live." It should be noted that the "" (bird) in Ode to the Spirit Bird refers to "," which is the Censorate. Clearly, Fan Zhongyan advocated the fearless spirit of advising the emperor, which was already rare in ancient times. During his lifetime, Mr. Hu Shi greatly admired these eight characters and published a collection titled Better to Cry Out and Die than to Remain Silent and Live. He also wrote these eight characters on several scrolls and gifted them to friends. I still recall visiting Professor Jin Chengyi of Melbourne University in Australia in the summer of 1992. He is a descendant of the Qing Dynasty prince Dorje and the descendant of Lin Zexu, truly "royal kin." Chengyi had once served as Hu Shi's secretary and had been treasuring a scroll gifted by Hu Shi, which also read Better to Cry Out and Die than to Remain Silent and Live. At the time, he and I spread out the scroll together, admiring Hu's calligraphy, and my son Yurun took a photo of the moment. Time flies, and Chengyi has passed away many years ago. This photo has become a precious memento for me, every time I look at it, it evokes endless longing for my dear friend.
Of course, Mr. Hu Shi used Better to Cry Out and Die than to Remain Silent and Live to encourage himself and others, advocating the spirit of shouting for democracy and freedom at the cost of sacrificing oneself—a significant difference from Fan Zhongyan's era, which is the essence of progress.
This essay and (literary sketches) series published by the Cultural and Art Press includes Literary Miscellany by He Zhenbang, So to Speak by Shan Sanya, Famine in the Wind by Wu Liyang, Words from the Depths of Life by Xu Huaiqian, Reflections on Spring Dawn by Yang Xuewu, and Feeling Outside the Door by Gao Wei. After much deliberation, I named this series Echo on the Seat Right.
Indeed, it is a peaceful era now, and we no longer need to "fan the wind to extinguish the candle and shout wildly" like Lu Xun in his youth, nor do we need to sing "the wind roars, horses neigh, the Yellow River roars" during the Anti-Japanese War. However, in the face of all the fake, ugly, and evil social phenomena—whether from the political, cultural, or business sectors—can we turn a blind eye and remain silent? Writers are the conscience of society and must always speak out against injustice. In fact, most of the essays in this series by the six authors are the fruits of their refusal to remain silent.