The author of this book, Mr. Ichiro Song, was born in a scholarly family, and his grandfather, Song Chunfang, made extensive friends and was knowledgeable. My father, Song Qi, is well versed in Chinese and Western culture, and has profound attainments in drama, film, literary criticism and redology research. He has a deep personal relationship with Qian Zhongshu, Zhang Ailing, Fu Lei, Hua and others in the history of modern literature in China. The author's parents are the heirs of Zhang Ailing's legacy specified in the will, so the author became the actual execution agent of Zhang Ailing's literary legacy after his parents died. This book is an old letter compiled by the author from his parents and cultural celebrities such as Qian, Zhang, Fu and Wu, so that readers can appreciate the feelings of these literary masters at the beginning of the last century. ?
1. What is the "Song Family Living Room"?
In the preface, Mr. Chen Zishan (researcher and doctoral supervisor of Chinese Department of East China Normal University, director of China Modern Literature Information and Research Center of East China Normal University —— data comes from 360 Encyclopedia) first made an understanding of the so-called "living room" culture, such as "Lin's living room" (Liang Sicheng and Lin's mansion in Beiping) and "cultural salons that actually existed and had a great influence on China's modern literary and art circles." Although this book "Song Family Living Room" has this significance, it refers to the close intersection of three generations of Song Zhu, Song Chunfang and Song Qi, up to the author Song Yilang, down to Qian Zhongshu, Fu Lei, Hua, Zhang Ailing and other four giants in China's literary history in the 20th century. 1933, Bing Xin published a novel "Our Wife's Living Room", which implicitly satirized Mrs. Liang Sicheng's Lin, and there was quite a sigh of "I don't know how to hate my motherland". Speaking of these resounding names, many readers will have a strong interest, such as me. It is true that the troubled times of the Republic of China, which was politically ups and downs, was an era of bright stars in culture; Talents who are proficient in China and the West emerge in an endless stream; And these original rigid and abstract writers' names, through this book, present one original letter after another, showing their joys, sorrows and fresh emotions to readers. ?
2. The language style of this book
As the author has said many times in the book, his major is applied mathematics and statistics; Therefore, this book has been written all over my grandfather, father, Qian Zhongshu, Zhang Ailing, Fu Lei, Hua and other literary masters, but the language style is refined and rational, crisp and neat: it is not easy to judge controversial topics in the history of literature, nor is it far-fetched; Instead, the letters and conversations of the parties are made public for readers to judge and associate. For example, is the heroine prototype of Lust, Caution a national hero Zheng? The author's brushwork is objective, and his argument is based on the correspondence between Zhang Ailing and the author's father, which inspires readers to think for themselves. ?
3. The main content of this book
The first half of this book introduces readers to the life of the author's father and grandfather. The author's grandfather, Mr. Song Chunfang, who is familiar with seven languages, is a pioneer, bibliophile and drama theorist of marine science in China. He comes from a noble family, and all the people in "Spring Runlu" are "great scholars who are talking and laughing, but there is no Ding Bai". There are thousands of western drama books in the "brown wooden house" in Qingdao. British playwright Mao Mu, the author of The Moon and Sixpence, visited China on 1920. One of his trips, on the screen of China, was to discuss the anecdote of the play with the author's grandfather, Mr. Song Chunfang. Song Qi, the author's father, has a wide range of hobbies and is quite accomplished in drama, film and criticism of a dream of red mansions, which has a great influence on Hong Kong Dianmao Film Company and the famous Shaw family. Many movie stars we are familiar with, such as Ceng Jiang and Qin Yu, have played with the author's childhood friends, which makes people smile when reading.
The second half is the sincere friendship between the Song family and four literary masters: Qian, Fu, Wu and Zhang. During this period, a large number of letters were disclosed, which made me have great interest in reading. Qian Zhongshu used "hehe" when writing letters! Is it a surprise? In addition, this master, who is proficient in China and the West, uses allusions and poems in his letters, changes many languages at will, and uses puns freely. In the book, the author specifically mentioned that after the author's father left the mainland to work in Hong Kong, he always asked Qian Zhongshu of the "Beijing Supreme Court" to make a final decision if he had any problems with his colleagues at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Regarding Steven Wu, many scholars once thought that Steven Wu's English level was higher than Qian Zhongshu's, at least as good as Qian Zhongshu's. However, how high Xing Wu Huaneng achieved, with his painful death, can only be a question mark for readers and history.
In the correspondence between Zhang ailing and the author's parents, we can see the creation process of some well-known masterpieces-one paragraph says that Zhang ailing had planned to write a novel "Curtain Call" based on Cao Yu, but it was not completed; It is said that Cao Yu felt the threat of the waves behind the Yangtze River pushing forward, and as a result, for some historical reasons, the waves turned into glaciers! Zhang Ailing's coldness and sharpness are just an armchair strategist!
Because the author's parents have a close personal relationship with Zhang Ailing and have maintained a friendship for nearly half a century, almost half of the book is devoted to Zhang Ailing. From acquaintance to literary communication, I talked about Zhang Ailing's life in the United States in her later years and the process of publishing her works. After 1990s, the popularity of TV dramas adapted from Zhang Ailing's works (such as Lust, Caution by Ang Lee) made Zhang Xuecheng an "outstanding scholar". However, it is undeniable that some studies are not objective, such as paying more attention to the love history between Zhang Ailing and Hu Lancheng, rather than the literary value of her works. Paying attention to Zhang Ailing's family background (Li Hongzhang's great granddaughter) is better than evaluating her contribution in the history of literature. But in this book, the author's description of Zhang Ailing is very rational and objective. For example, when it comes to Zhang Ailing's lonely death in the United States, "dozens of biographers learn from each other and all think that Zhang Ailing's" Nightscape is bleak "; However, the author cited detailed evidence to list Zhang Ailing's royalty income in that year, and explained that Zhang Ailing didn't "leave sadly" because of the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Hong Kong dollar. Someone outside saw the description of Zhang Ailing's death and felt that Zhang Ailing was very sad in her later years. However, I think as long as Zhang Ailing likes it, why should she be asked to live in a garden house, drive a sports car, have a dog, eat abalone, wear famous brand fashion, carry noble handbags, wear a diamond ring and have plastic surgery? ..... Without these things, it must be very bleak, right? "I really appreciate this writing attitude-I don't bring my feelings into the article, and I don't understand other people's feelings with my own joys and sorrows.
4. How to "learn from China and the West"?
When I was studying, I kept sighing, why were there so many people learning Chinese and Western at that time? Why are we still "dumb English" after studying for more than ten years now? The answer in the book is:
During his study in Europe, Mr. Song Chunfang thought that the fastest way to learn a fluent and pure local language was to learn drama language. Mr. Song Qi mentioned in Mao Mu and My Father: "He (Song Chunfang) thinks that my English is not good enough, mainly because I only read textbooks and designated reference books, so my vocabulary is too rigid ... He especially wants me to read the works of two people: Wilde and Mao Mu ..." Guys, how can I learn English? Read famous books!