Come back

Author: Han Shao Gong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-03-01
Features: The entire village made me feel suffocated inexplicably, and I had to escape. Looking back, I saw the old tree at the village entrance that had died from lightning, its withered branches stretching like spasming fingers. The owner of the hand had fallen in battle and become a mountain, but it was still struggling to raise this hand, trying to grasp something. Mr. Han Shao Gong once wrote in an essay titled "Voices of the Soul" about novels: "Novels only mean a spiritual freedom, providing and protecting various possibilities of space for the spirit for modern people. Including novels, literature can bring people closer to the divine. That's all." People without a homeland have nothing behind them. Han Shao Gong's fictional world begins with seeking roots, creating a textual space full of complex humanity and bizarre wonders. For example, in his early award-winning novel "Westward Gazing at Mao Cao Grassland." The author attempts to depict the complexity of life and the multifaceted nature of characters. When Han Shao Gong consecutively released such masterpieces as "Returning Home," "Dad Dad," and "Woman Woman Woman," a mature writer stood before the readers. "Dad Dad" is a fable narrating the failed history of a tribe, a call for the lost paternity and masculinity, and at the same time, a curse on the "maternal nature." Humor is intertwined with desolation. "Woman Woman Woman" is a call for natural human nature and an exploration of female spirit, a hair-raising journey for readers, and a dual performance of the beautiful "woman" and the strange "beard." Critic Wu Liang believes: "Han Shao Gong's novels during this period are unparalleled in contemporary times; their value does not need to wait for future recognition. At the turn of the two centuries, Han Shao Gong's novels perfectly express the intellectual dilemmas of the time; it is unsupported on both sides. Literary theorist Liu Zaifu then believes: 'I believe the fame of Bing Zai (the protagonist of "Dad Dad") will continue to grow. People will realize that Han Shao Gong discovered Bing Zai, which is an important artistic discovery. Han Shao Gong helped us discover human nature, discover ourselves.'" In the 1990s, Han Shao Gong moved from Hunan to Hainan Island. After experiencing a series of ups and downs, he quietly released his "fantasy self-narrative" novels, such as "Death of the Leader," "A Thoughtful Smile," "Prophecy at North Gate," "Red Apple Exception," "Shoe Addiction," and "Something Really Going to Happen." These novels roughly contain three types of stories: 1. Autobiographical memoirs; 2. Chaotic urban experiences; 3. A magical reenactment of the Cultural Revolution era. In such writing, Han Shao Gong seems to have shed some of the ideals from his "root-seeking" period, beginning to experience memories, life, and the past with a secularized emotion. Yet in the midst of the supernatural narration, there is always a rational resistance of a wise mind. The language of the novels is calm and natural, interspersed with a touch of irony, as if there is a profound enlightenment about the world. In the novels "Nosebleed" and "Embers," Han Shao Gong re-cuts time and space with fantasy, breaking through various barriers, allowing the past, present, and future to coexist, and allowing the dark and the light to permeate and transform. This fantasy has reached a level of obsession—everyday reality has sunk, lost, like Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly. As literature becomes increasingly marginalized, Han Shao Gong, in addition to his novel writing, has published a large number of thought-provoking essays, which have caused a great response. Perhaps essays can more directly express the author's thoughts.