Literary Master 1978

Li Hanxiang had just received investment recently, and he had successfully taken time off from Shaw Brothers to make movies. When he saw Lin Chaoyang, he was in a good mood, but was put off by his words.

"You really smell like copper!"

"Everything I earn is hard-earned money. You, the great Director Li, won't deduct my royalties, right?" Lin Chaoyang said sarcastically.

"Here, give it, I'll ask them to remit the royalties to you today."

"No, don't remit it to me directly." Lin Chaoyang said quickly.

According to domestic regulations, foreign remittances can only be remitted to the Bank of China at this time, and ordinary people cannot directly receive overseas foreign exchange remittances, so compulsory foreign exchange settlement must be carried out at the Bank of China, and the equivalent RMB value is calculated according to the official exchange rate.

Li Hanxiang smiled lightly as he listened to his words. In the past few years, he has been traveling between the mainland and Xiangjiang, and he has learned a lot about the situation on the mainland. "Then I can exchange it for you into a foreign exchange coupon?"

A smile broke out on Lin Chaoyang's face, "Director Li is brilliant!"

After chatting at the door, Lin Chaoyang and Li Hanxiang entered the room. At this time, several guests were already sitting inside, including two familiar faces.

One was Shi Kuan from the co-production company whom Lin Chaoyang had met before, and the other was Wang Yang, the director of Yan Film Factory. Lin Chaoyang did not know the other two.

Wang Yang was not surprised to see Lin Chaoyang. He had known that Lin Chaoyang was the screenwriter of Li Hanxiang's new movie, but it was still a bit awkward to meet him today.

Lin Chaoyang shook hands with him without any worries and said hello warmly.

Li Hanxiang also introduced the other two guests. One was Zhu Jiajin, an associate researcher at the Palace Museum, and the other was Yang Lin, a photographer brought by Li Hanxiang from Xiangjiang.

A few people were discussing the setting. The movie is divided into two parts: "Burning the Old Summer Palace" and "Understanding the Government Behind the Curtain". They can also be said to be two independent movies.

Among them, the play of the Old Summer Palace is naturally the top priority, but this garden of ten thousand gardens has been burned down for many years, and now it is only a few ruins located next to Shuimu University.

If it is used for shooting, it will definitely not work. There is no digital simulation technology now, so the only solution for now is to rebuild a scene for shooting.

But the Old Summer Palace has been burned down, and its true original appearance is difficult to see. Restoring it is a very difficult task, not to mention that such a large-scale construction project will inevitably burn money.

"I remember that there are several paintings by Lang Shining in the Forbidden City that are dedicated to the Old Summer Palace." Lin Chaoyang said.

"I mentioned this just now. It is a very important reference." Zhu Jiajin replied.

He is a historical consultant invited by Li Hanxiang and has a deep foundation in Qing history.

"When I was writing the script before, I found out that our Yanda Library has a set of design drawings of Jiang Youren's Western-style building." Lin Chaoyang added.

Upon hearing this information, Zhu Jiajin's eyes lit up, "Do you still have this?"

Li Hanxiang also said happily: "It would be much simpler if there were design drawings."

Shi Kuan and Wang Yang on the side didn't know much about Qing history, so they didn't know what they were happy about.

Zhu Jiajin explained: "Jiang Youren was a French missionary who came to China during the Qianlong period and was highly regarded by Qianlong. He was one of the important designers of the Old Summer Palace.

He was responsible for the construction of the Western-style buildings in the Changchun Garden, as well as many water engineering projects in the garden. "

A very important element that makes the Old Summer Palace world-famous is its water method, that is, the fountain.

There are many water features such as the Xiququ, Water Storage Building, Bird Cage, Yellow Flower Formation, Haiyan Hall and many other exquisite designs. Looking at the ancient Chinese palace architecture, it is a wonder.

There was no Internet at this time, so searching for information relied on knowledgeable and memorized people. Lin Chaoyang's two sentences saved the crew a lot of effort.

Film shooting does not seek to replicate the real thing, as long as the appearance is similar. If there is a design drawing, it will really be a huge help to the crew's set work.

After chatting for more than two hours about all aspects involved in the filming, with Lin Chaoyang and Zhu Jiajin making suggestions, Li Hanxiang was in a good mood.

During lunch, Li Hanxiang mentioned the issue of location selection for the Old Summer Palace setting. The co-production company was communicating with the Yanjing Municipal Government to select a location in Changping.

According to the estimates of the co-production company, in order to restore some scenes of the Old Summer Palace in Changping, it would cost at least five to six million yuan. This was undoubtedly an astronomical sum in China in 1981. Just one set might cost an ordinary two yuan. Investment in movies, in the parlance of later generations, is called blockbusters.

After dinner, the business talk was almost done. Lin Chaoyang was thinking about Du Feng and asked Li Hanxiang for a supporting role. Li Hanxiang agreed wholeheartedly.

Before Lin Chaoyang left, Li Hanxiang pulled him back to the room and said he wanted to give him a gift.

After returning to the room, Li Hanxiang took out a magazine from his luggage. The cover of the magazine was all in traditional Chinese characters.

Li Hanxiang explained, "I met and chatted with Dai Tian that day and mentioned that you would be my screenwriter. He said that Xixi had read your novel some time ago and specially wrote a review article. This "Suye Literature" was published by Xixi and me last year. Dai Tian and others founded it together, and it is very popular in the Hong Kong literary circle. "

Lin Chaoyang opened the magazine and saw a line of text in the catalog - "Reading Modern Literature - Reading Mainland Works "The Death of Van Gogh""... Xixi.

"I didn't expect that my novel would still be read in Xiangjiang." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

Li Hanxiang's visit to the mainland is regarded as entry, and all publications he brings need to be reviewed. Although there are certain restrictions on entry and exit, these restrictions do not hinder cultural figures who often travel between the two places. Otherwise, Hong Kong's martial arts novels would not have become popular in the mainland in recent years.

"The literary circles in Xiangjiang pay a lot of attention to the mainland, especially after the reform and opening up in the past few years and the rise of your scar literature, this concern has become more obvious.

I haven't learned about it myself, but according to Dai Tian, ​​after Xixi's article was published, many writers and literary critics in Hong Kong were very interested in you. "

Lin Chaoyang is no stranger to the name Xixi. She is considered one of the representative writers in Hong Kong. If we want to make an analogy, her status in the Hong Kong literary world is roughly equivalent to Zhang Ailing's status in the Chinese literary world. She should be in the right position in recent years. It was when she was at her hottest.

Hong Kong literature has always had little presence in the Chinese-speaking world, but that does not mean that it has never had its glory days. The 1940s and 1950s were considered a glorious period for Hong Kong literature, because many mainland literati came to Hong Kong at that time, which promoted the development of Hong Kong literature.

The period from the mid-to-late 1970s to the mid-to-1980s was considered a renaissance stage, with many local writers emerging one after another.

But comparatively speaking, the development of literature in Xiangjiang is still far behind that of the mainland and the Bay Islands.

"So, I am still somewhat famous in Xiangjiang?" Lin Chaoyang asked with a smile.

"It's just that the literature circle is somewhat famous. If you ask ordinary citizens, no one would know about it. You have to work hard!" Li Hanxiang said sarcastically to him.

Lin Chaoyang nodded, "I understand, it's almost the same as your reputation in the mainland."

Li Hanxiang suddenly stopped speaking.

When he went to work the next day, Hong Zicheng ran to the library in the afternoon and asked Lin Chaoyang: "Chaoyang, what do you think of the article criticizing "The Death of Van Gogh" in "Literary Research"?

"What do you think?" Lin Chaoyang looked confused.

"You haven't watched it yet?"

Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "Criticize as long as you criticize. Isn't this normal?"

Seeing that he did not understand the situation, Hong Zicheng said: "This criticism is different..."

"How is it different?"

Hong Zicheng explained the situation. It was a long story.

In February this year, aesthetics scholar Li Zehou published an article in "Literary News" titled "Gallery Talks about Beauty."

The main content of the article is to defend some literary and artistic forms and literary youths that have emerged in recent years. The article says that the thoughts and emotions of these young people are products of the times, and their works also convey their own emotions to a certain extent. and voice.

As far as the content of the article is concerned, there is not much of a problem.

However, combined with various signs after "Today" ceased publication the previous year and the Stars Art Exhibition was criticized, this article aroused dissatisfaction among some conservatives in the cultural circle.

Whether "Today" or the Stars Art Exhibition, many people in the cultural world regard it as a spiritual WR that spreads all kinds of bourgeois and decadent ideas. Li Zehou's article is undoubtedly an attempt to rectify the names of these people and reverse the verdict.

After the article was published, someone quickly criticized it and sparked a heated discussion.

Originally, this matter had nothing to do with Lin Chaoyang, but just this month, "China Youth Daily" suddenly published an article titled "The Openness and Tolerance of Art from the Death of Van Gogh."

The article lists some plots in "The Death of Van Gogh" to explain the author's own views.

The article said: Although Van Gogh in the novel went crazy for art is just an example, it also illustrates the effort and effort that the creator needs to put in and consume in the process of artistic creation. It is irresponsible to easily attribute it to spiritual WR. behavior.

The author believes that no matter what kind of art it is, it should have a broader creative space and should not be subject to excessive political interference. The development and prosperity of culture requires diversity and openness.

Overemphasis on literary and artistic works brings spiritual pollution to the people, is likely to inhibit the modern development of culture and economy, and is not conducive to the overall progress of the country and the improvement of national self-confidence.

In discussions in the cultural circles, we should follow scientific principles and artistic creation guidelines, and avoid over-interpretation or over-interpretation, which will infringe on personal freedoms and rights. We should learn from historical experience and not follow the old path or go back.

There is a debate between the two sides. If Lin Chaoyang's works are mentioned by one side as an argument in the debate, then the other side will naturally refute it.

"The Death of Van Gogh", which was originally highly regarded in the literary world, has suddenly been criticized by some people since last month. Most of these critical articles gave a pan-political interpretation of the novel and were labeled as "The Death of Van Gogh" by many people. The “liberal” brand.

After listening to Hong Zicheng describe the specific situation, Lin Chaoyang suddenly felt a sense of grievance in his heart that "when people sit at home, the pot comes from the sky".

"Do these people have nothing to do?"

Looking at his innocent expression, Hong Zicheng laughed and said, "Don't feel wronged. If someone talks about your novel, it also proves that your novel is good. Why didn't they mention other novels?"

"So, I still have to thank them?" Lin Chaoyang asked in an ironic tone.

Hong Zicheng did not answer his question, but asked: "Aren't you going to respond to them?"

For Hong Zicheng and other university teachers, because of the buzz, most of them are tired of the past model of politics as the key link, and their hearts are still more or less tilted towards liberals.

Lin Chaoyang looked at him and said, "Are you from Y side?"

Hong Zicheng felt a little guilty and nodded hesitantly.

"Which side are you on?" he asked.

"I'm not on either side. I don't agree with either side's views."

Lin Chaoyang knew when he was listening to Hong Zicheng's statement that this was the embryonic stage of the famous "Anti-Spiritual WR Movement" in later generations.

At present, it is just a debate in the literary and artistic circles. After the powerful figures express their views, this movement will continue vigorously for three years, and the domestic cultural circles will be in a state of panic.

Lin Chaoyang asked himself that his position is different from both sides. If he had to say, he is still conservative.

But the problem is that he disagrees with the views of both sides, so he can't express his position, because it is easy to be accused of being a fence-sitter.

The year before last, he published an article "The Inevitable Rise and Fall of Scar Literature", and accidentally participated in the dispute in the literary world. This time he learned a lesson and resolutely did not participate in such meaningless debates.

"I don't like the practice of pan-politicization, nor do I like excessive freedom. We Chinese always talk about moderation, but this group of people always like to go to extremes."

Hong Zicheng probably understood Lin Chaoyang's attitude, "You belong to the moderate conservative faction!"

"Do we have to divide into factions and mountaintops?" Lin Chaoyang said speechlessly.

His words made Hong Zicheng stunned for a moment, and he looked ashamed.