I want to be a good child

Author: Huang Beijia
Publisher:
Publishing Time: 2006-01-01
Features: The "100 Classics of Chinese Children's Literature Series" includes Ye Shengtao's The Weaver Girl, Bing Xin's To Young Readers, Zhang Tianyi's The Secret of the Magic Gourd, Yan Wenjing's "Next Time the Ship Sails to Port", Jin Jin's The Story of the Fox Hunter, Huang Qingyun (Hong Kong) The Strange Red Star, Guan Hua's Little Hero Yu Lai, Jin Jiang's The Crow Brothers, Zi Min (Taiwan) Little Sun, Hong Xunhao's The Magic Brush, Ke Yan's The Secret of the Hat, Qiu Xun's On the Lake of Weishan, Jin Bo's Looking Through the Window, You See Me, Lin Huanzhang (Taiwan) Little Sister's Red Rain Boots, Zhang Luozhi's The Third Army, Dong Hongyou's One Hundred Dreams of Chinese Children, Gao Hongbo's I Like You, Fox, Shen Shixi's The Dream of the Wolf King, Zhou Rui's The Red Plum Prince Who Used a Fly Swatter, Cao Wenxuan's The Cottage, Qin Wenjun's A Boy Called Jiali, Huang Beijia's I Want to Be a Good Child, Bing Bo's The Tree Bark House Under the Window, Chang Xinggang's A Boat Alone, and Peng Xuejun's You Are My Sister.
Each work includes a fine printing of multiple author autographs and photographs from various periods at the end of the book, along with a list of the author's main works, selected excerpts from critical essays, and records of awards. The "100 Classics" is not only a comprehensive publishing project of original Chinese children's literature in history but also a cultural accumulation and inheritance project with significant practical and historical value, as well as a promotion project that reshapes and revitalizes modern Chinese children's literature masterpieces. We firmly believe that the new-century Chinese children's literature, carrying forward the legacy and embracing progress, will play a more positive and profound role in shaping the spiritual character, cultural psychology, and national quality of the future generation of the Chinese nation through continuous artistic innovation and high-quality development.
This series is a shining pearl in the treasure trove of modern and contemporary Chinese children's literature. It presents to the world the great achievements of Chinese children's literature over a century. It is a comprehensive and systematic review and organization of Chinese children's literature over a century. It is a concrete manifestation of the development history of Chinese children's literature over a century and a vivid display of the "Great Wall of Chinese Children's Literature in the 20th Century." This series helps the international children's literature community and readers worldwide understand and appreciate the style and value of Chinese children's literature works.
The Great Wall of Chinese Children's Literature in the 20th Century, a must-read for primary and secondary school students, the most beautiful and valuable New Year's gift for book lovers, and a classic collection for those who enjoy reading. It has moved our parents and will deeply touch you as well.
The authors included in the "100 Classics" cover the great masters of children's literature from various periods over the past century. The selected works are all time-tested masterpieces of children's literature. Some works by young authors, though published more recently, have received unanimous praise from critics and readers and have won national awards. The works include novels, fairy tales, essays, poems, scientific literature, fables, and other genres. In addition to mainland authors, the series also features renowned children's literature masters from Taiwan and Hong Kong.
This book is part of the series, holding profound literary historical significance and substantial cultural accumulation value. As a classic work, it is not only an authoritative text for researchers studying modern and contemporary Chinese children's literature but also an excellent children's literature for minors, providing them with rich spiritual nourishment.
Preface: Modern Chinese children's literature has gone through a full century of tortuous yet glorious development. Looking back at a century of Chinese children's literature, our hearts surge with emotion, and our passion is.
One: In China, the term "children's literature" originated in the May Fourth era (Mao Dun, On "Children's Literature", stated that the name "children's literature" began in the May Fourth era). More specifically, as a new literary genre, children's literature gradually gained recognition and spread among the Chinese people in the early 20th century. When the era entered the May Fourth New Culture Movement, this literary genre with modern concepts and forms developed exceptionally, and the name "children's literature" was quickly adopted by the Chinese. "Child-centered" and "children's literature" became popular topics in literary, educational, and publishing circles ("trendy, fresh, enthusiastic promotion and advocacy," Wei Shouyong et al., Introduction to Children's Literature, 1923 edition).
Although the term "children's literature" appeared in China only in the early 20th century, this does not mean that ancient Chinese children—or our ancestors—had no exposure to literature. Just as each ethnic culture has its uniqueness, under the influence of Chinese cultural and literary traditions, the ways ancient Chinese children received literature and their reading choices also had distinct characteristics, primarily through folk storytelling, elementary education texts, and children's self-selection of reading materials, with folk storytelling being particularly prominent. Historical evidence shows that the literary forms ancient Chinese children received were mainly oral literary works produced by folk groups, with a significant portion being folk fairy tales and rhymes. Scholarly research indicates that the legacy of ancient Chinese folk fairy tales is quite rich, for example, the "Cinderella-type" text Youyang Zazu·Wu Dong predates its European counterparts by several hundred years. Thus, some argue: "Although China was ancient and had no name for fairy tales, it indeed had written fairy tales, as seen in the tales of the Jin and Tang dynasties" (Zhou Zuoren, Interpretation of Ancient Fairy Tales).
Therefore, when reviewing history, claims that Chinese children's literature began in 1909 with the publication of Commercial Press's Fairy Tale Series or in 1921 with Ye Shengtao's creation of Little Boat must be questioned. If we acknowledge that folk literature is literature and that folk fairy tales and rhymes (works recorded by ancient people in writing) fall under the category of children's literature, then it is clear that the origins of Chinese children's literature can be traced back before the term "children's literature" was coined. We believe that adopting a historical nihilist attitude toward national culture and literary traditions needs to be discussed and addressed.
When dealing with history, we must adopt a cautious and "sympathetic understanding" approach.
Two: On one hand, we must respect history, while on the other hand, we must examine and interpret history with a developmental perspective. Although the origins of Chinese children's literature can be traced back before the term "children's literature" was coined, modern Chinese children's literature is the most rich, exciting, and noteworthy chapter in the entire history of Chinese children's literature. Modern Chinese children's literature refers to literature written in modern language and form, starting in the early 20th century, that portrays the real lives, thoughts, feelings, and psychology of modern Chinese people, especially children and adolescents. It is literature that consciously and comprehensively serves and supports the healthy growth of the spiritual lives of Chinese children and adolescents. It has a history of over a century.
In 1902, Huang Zunxian attempted to write children's poems in vernacular Chinese titled School Song for Kindergarteners. In 1909, the Commercial Press published Sun Yuxiu's translated fairy tale The Catless Kingdom. In 1919, the New Youth magazine published Zhou Zuoren's translation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Little Match Girl. These were important literary events and symbols marking the emergence and growth of modern Chinese children's literature.
Especially after being by the May Fourth New Culture Movement, Zhou Zuoren published the paper Literature for Children in 1920, proposing a completely new concept of children's literature. Zheng Zhenduo founded China's first pure children's literature magazine, Children's World, in 1921. Ye Shengtao published China's first original collection of short fairy tales, The Weaver Girl, in 1923. Bing Xin released the original children's essay To Young Readers in the same year. These were symbolic achievements and results in the formation and foundation of new concepts, works, and thinking in Chinese children's literature, with the most significant being Ye Shengtao's The Weaver Girl.
This collection of 23 short fairy tales reflects the idea of "showing children the sorrows of adults" (Zheng Zhenduo, Preface to The Weaver Girl), a child literature that serves life and art. It was highly praised and affirmed by Lu Xun, who called it "opening a path for China's own creation of fairy tales" (Lu Xun, Preface to The Table). The path of "The Weaver Girl" is essentially the path of the growth and development of China's original children's literature that upholds a realistic spirit. This path, pioneered by Ye Shengtao in the 1920s and advanced by Zhang Tianyi's Big Tree and Little Tree in the 1930s, has continued to this day, forming the main current of modern Chinese children's literature and demonstrating its distinct national characteristics, norms, and aesthetic pursuits.
This is primarily: 1) facing reality and life, always staying close to China's land and carrying the hope of the nation. There is a transformation here. The children's literature and concepts of the early and mid-20th century primarily focused on the modern social and historical issues of concern to adults, revolving around adults' revolution, salvation, war, movements, and ideology, and showcasing the living conditions and spiritual appearances of Chinese children. The 1980s and 1990s were the most important transformation period in the history of Chinese children's literature. The most profound change brought by the renewal of concepts was the shift from "adult-centeredness" to a child-centered approach, with the focus shifting from adult reality to children's reality, striving to children's real life and living conditions, their inner world, and their aesthetic awareness and reading psychology, bringing children's literature truly to children. This is the "revolutionary shift" in a century of Chinese children's literature. The spectacular breakthrough, transformation, and development of original production in the new period were the result of this aesthetic evolution.
Second: Emphasizing the cognitive and moralizing functions of literature and the social responsibility of writers and works. From the 1920s, Zheng Zhenduo proposed that children's literature should "show children the sorrows of adults" (Preface to The Weaver Girl). Guo Moruo suggested that children's literature should "guide children to move upward and awaken their" (Views on Children's Literature). In the 1930s, Mao Dun proposed that children's literature should "help children understand life," "shape their future as people," and "promote the natural beauty of children" (On "Children's Literature," Revisiting Children's Literature). Zhang Tianyi suggested that children's literature should tell children "real people, real worlds, and real truths" (Preface to A Strange Place). In the 1950s, Chen Bochu proposed that "children's literature is mainly about children" and that "it is the duty of peers to educate peers" (Issues in Children's Literature Creation). By the 1980s, Cao Wenxuan proposed that "children's literature writers are the shapers of future national character" and that "children's literature fulfills the sacred duty of shaping future national character" (Awakening, Transformation, and Confusion: Children's Literature). In the early 21st century, Cao Wenxuan again proposed that "the mission of children's literature lies in providing humanity with a good foundation for human nature" (Should Literature Give Children What?"). Deeply influenced by these important 20th-century views on children's literature and value orientations, a century of Chinese children's literature has consistently shouldered its cultural responsibility and aesthetic duty for the healthy growth of future generations' spiritual lives, creating its own symbolic system and genre order, in an inextricable connection with society and the times.
Third: Continuously exploring, innovating, and pursuing the unity of nationalization and modernization, as well as the unity of ideological, artistic, and child-oriented qualities, striving for the literary excellence, beauty, and love of children's literature. Compared to traditional literature, a century of Chinese children's literature is a brand-new literature with the quality of "literary modernization." The modernization of children's literature first lies in the transformation of the "child concept." From viewing children as "shrinking adults" in traditional thought to the "save the children" and "child-centered" ideas of the May Fourth era, to the "red children" and "revolutionary successors" after the founding of the People's Republic, to the "children's rights" and "children's survival, protection, and development" in the new century, each historical period of Chinese children's literature is closely linked to the renewal and transformation of Chinese people's child concept. The child concept leads to the construction of the child literature concept, and the child literature concept influences and restricts the creation, criticism, and dissemination of children's literature.
The important literary events and theoretical debates in a century of Chinese children's literature, such as the "debate" in the 1920s, the discussion on whether children's literature should depict the dark side of life in the 1940s, the discussion on the relationship between fantasy and reality in fairy tales in the 1950s, the baseless criticism of "childhood theory" and "ancient animals flying everywhere" in the 1960s, and the exploration of children's literature's educational and entertainment functions, child-oriented and adult-oriented aspects, the specificity and generality of children's literature after the 1980s—all are related to the child concept/child literature concept.
Especially the important theoretical concepts of children's literature that emerged in the new period, such as "the three levels of children's literature," "child de-childification," "the three major themes of children's literature," "the dual logical pillars of children's literature," "the growth theme of children's literature," as well as "cultural criticism of children's literature," "narrative perspective of children's literature," and "childhood memory of children's literature," are all manifestations and products of the renewal of the child concept/child literature concept. At the same time, they have greatly improved the academic quality of children's literature and promoted the liberation of the productive forces of children's literature creation.
A century of Chinese children's literature has developed in a spiral of contradictions and tensions. Chinese children's literature writers and critics have engaged in continuous ideological debates and artistic exploration and practice, while accumulating rich experience and lessons. The "literary modernization" of a century of Chinese children's literature is even more profound in terms of the transformation of literary language and form, as well as the related construction of children's literature genres and aesthetic creation. This is a complex artistic issue related to what makes children's literature truly children's literature.
After a full century of exploration and creation, Chinese children's literature has not only found effective paths in dealing with such artistic challenges as "children's literature and politics," "children's literature and education," "children's literature and childhood," "inheritance and innovation in children's literature," "children's literature and foreign influences," "children's literature and children's reception," "children's literature and the market," and "children's literature and film, television, and the internet," but has also made continuous thinking and choices in these areas. Moreover, in terms of the choice of creative methods, the standardization of literary language, and the construction of internal artistic laws in various genres such as novels, fairy tales, poems, essays, and children's dramas—including coming-of-age novels, animal novels, science fiction novels, the fantasy, logic, exaggeration, and symbolism in fairy tales, and the various types of children's literature such as picture books, low stories, and children's songs—as well as the rewriting of literary masterpieces into "children's editions"—through the creative labor of generations of writers with great artistic ingenuity, it has finally established a magnificent artistic chapter full of vibrant Chinese characteristics and aesthetic tastes in the forest of world children's literature art.
It is precisely in this artistic exploration and aesthetic pursuit that great masters of Chinese children's literature like Ye Shengtao, Bing Xin, Zhang Tianyi, Chen Bochu, Yan Wenjing, Cao Wenxuan, and Qin Wenjun have emerged, capable of demonstrating the level that a century of Chinese children's literature has reached. Alongside them are a large number of renowned children's literature novelists, essayists, poets, dramatists, and theorists and critics of children's literature, each with distinctive characteristics. Their arduous artistic creations have produced a century of children's literature classics, which have become the literary nourishment for the spiritual lives of Chinese children and adolescents, an important resource for Chinese primary and secondary school language education, and have created a new character system of 20th-century Chinese literature (in addition to farmers, intellectuals, and women, there is also a genealogy of child images), greatly enriching the artistic treasure troves of Chinese and world children's literature.
Three: Literature is the study of humanity, and children's literature is the literature of the beginning of life. At the beginning of life, human nature is inherently good. Children's literature is the earliest literature children receive. Those works that have deeply moved young readers will remain unforgettable and beneficial throughout life. In this era of diverse media, we especially need to advocate for literary reading among the young.
Literary reading differs from reading knowledge books, picture books, or textbooks. Literature moves people with its lifelike characters and moving artistic scenes, with the power of aesthetics, emotion, spirit, and language. We believe that nourishing the hearts of young people with excellent literary works and cultivating the healthy growth of the spiritual lives of minors through the social promotion and application of our own original classic children's literature is a culturally significant and timely new-century construction project.
For this purpose, we have specially selected and compiled the "100 Classics of Chinese Children's Literature Series" (hereinafter referred to as "100 Classics") and published it in high quality and precision by Hubei Children's Publishing House, which has always attached great importance to creating high-quality, high-precision book brands. At the same time, the selection and publication of "100 Classics" is also a review, organization, and summary of the century-long modernization process of Chinese children's literature since the early 20th century, serving to carry forward the legacy, learn from history, and promote the development and prosperity of children's literature in the new century.
Classic, authoritative, readable, and open are the main goals locked in by "100 Classics."
First, "100 Classics" is the largest systematic review and summary of Chinese children's literature in history. We will carefully select 100 outstanding original children's literary works by 100 Chinese children's literature writers from the early 20th century to the present. The criteria for selection are as follows: 1) the social impact, artistic quality, popularity among young readers, and breadth of influence on young readers of the works; whether they possess an artistic charm that transcends time and space and a spiritual vitality that breaks through temporal boundaries. 2) their contributions to the development of Chinese children's literature, including unique creative achievements in language, outstanding achievements in genre, distinct characteristics in artistic personality, outstanding contributions in expressive techniques, and their status and significance in the history of children's literature. 3) the creative attitude of the writers, whether they are driven by a high cultural responsibility and aesthetic duty, whether they have long been concerned with the spiritual food of minors, and whether they have long been engaged in children's literature creation.
Second, "100 Classics" is the most complete collection of original works of modern and contemporary Chinese children's literature. This is reflected in: 1) including representative figures from five generations of Chinese children's literature writers since the May Fourth New Culture Movement. 2) the 100 selected writers embody the multi-ethnic characteristics of the Chinese nation, while also presenting a panoramic view of the mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. 3) the 100 works involve all genres of modern children's literature, making it a comprehensive collection of original Chinese children's literature.
Third, the value of a classic lies in its lasting legacy, and the significance of a classic lies in its renewability. We believe that only those works that enter the reading of young readers and are loved and accepted by them possess classic qualifications and significance. We will use an overall design and planning that aligns with the aesthetic habits of contemporary young readers and targeted packaging and marketing to ensure that the young readers of the new century, both young and old, accept and appreciate these classic original Chinese children's literature works that have moved and nurtured generations of young people's beautiful souls.
At the same time, we also regard "100 Classics" as an open-ended brand project for children's literature. We plan to include more excellent works by new talents in the future, striving to make this series a cradle for the creation and promotion of outstanding original children's literature in the new century.
"100 Classics" is not only a publishing project that compiles the great achievements of original Chinese children's literature in history but also a cultural accumulation and inheritance project with significant practical and historical value, as well as a promotion project that reshapes and revitalizes modern Chinese children's literature masterpieces. We firmly believe that the new-century Chinese children's literature, carrying forward the legacy and embracing progress, will play a more positive and profound role in shaping the sound spiritual character, cultural psychology, and national quality of the future generation of the Chinese nation through continuous artistic innovation and high-quality development.
The High-end Selection Committee of the "100 Classics of Chinese Children's Literature Series"
December 16, 2005, Beijing