Literary Personality - Baijia

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: Host: Hello, friends, and welcome to the Literature Museum. Today, we gather here to commemorate a deceased writer through a speech. Eleven years ago, he passed away at the young age of 42, yet his artistic life did not fade with his physical absence. On the contrary, amid the booming hype in the literary world today, he still enjoys a vast readership. It can be said that his literary works and artistic life continue to extend his youth and creativity. He is Lu Yao, the writer who penned Ordinary World and Life, and was awarded the highest literary prize in China, the Mao Dun Literature Prize. Today’s "Lecture at the Literature Museum," I have invited Mr. Guo Xiaocong, a professor from the School of International Relations. He is deeply devoted to Lu Yao and has conducted extensive research on him. Today, the topic of his lecture is "The Poetic Essence of Lu Yao." Please welcome Guo Xiaocong.
Guo Xiaocong: It has been over a decade since Lu Yao’s passing, and the changes in Chinese society over these years are undeniable to all. People are becoming increasingly pragmatic. It would seem unlikely that anyone would dedicate effort to promoting or hyping a deceased writer who depicted past life, as if it were a bygone era. Yet, I was surprised to find that a decade later, many people, especially the younger generation, still read Lu Yao’s books silently. A youth newspaper conducted a survey and discovered that many young people still regard Life and Ordinary World as the most influential literary works in their lives. Moreover, all of this is happening quietly, without any organized effort or hype. It seems to prove yet again that true respect often stems from silent reading.
Strangely enough, why do characters in Lu Yao’s works, dressed in the clothes of the 1970s and 1980s and speaking the language of that era, resonate with today’s young people? After all, society changes so rapidly that a generation gap can emerge between different age groups in less than a decade. Additionally, young people today tend to seek idols and sources of excitement among their peers. I remember an overseas scholar once said this, and I wholeheartedly agree. He argued that a writer’s literary merit and enduring impact should be equated. We shouldn’t ask whether a writer is talented; instead, we should ask: Are people still reading this writer’s works?
Regarding Lu Yao’s background, we know very little. Most people only know that he lived in poverty. He grew up in the countryside, endured many hardships, and later attended university to become a writer. As a writer with a keen sensibility, Lu Yao must have been a prodigy from a young age. This is evident in an early incident he described, which left a lasting impression on him throughout his life. Lu Yao narrated a deeply unforgettable experience from his childhood: His family was extremely poor, and when he was around seven or eight years old, his father took him on a hundreds-of-li journey to his older brother’s place, intending to give him away but without telling him. One morning, his father secretly left. However, the perceptive and mature Lu Yao had already grasped the situation’s implications. He said he hid under a large tree at the village entrance, watching his father walk away. At that moment, he had two choices: one was to scream and run as fast as he could to return, no matter what. The other option was…