介绍:
Sitting at a distance of 35 kilometers northwest of Yinchuan, capital city of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Zhenbeibu China West Film Studio is Hollywood, Universal Studios and Monument Valley all wrapped into one.
From the Golden Bear Award winning film "Red Sorghum", to the young adult cult classic "A Chinese Odyssey", numerous well-known films were made here. But few know that the site and film studio were both discovered and founded by Zhang Xianliang, one of the most influential Chinese novelists in the world.
In 1936, Zhang was born to an upper middle class family in Nanjing of eastern China's Jiangsu Province. At a tender age of thirteen, he started to pursue a literary career by writing poems.
"Since I read different types of poems, I know a little about classical Chinese poetry while take a strong interest in modern ones. By writing poetry, I enter into the literature world. Until 1957, when I published a verse called 'Song of the Great Wind' on the Yanhe magazine, I was accused of being a rightist. Since then I was put into labor camps to reform myself for more than twenty years. "
From a vigorous and promising poet to an inmate behind the bars, 21-year-old Zhang had undergone the biggest upheaval of his life. Struggling to survive, the novelist experienced the decades-long ordeal and hunger-related traumas. In 1979, he was rehabilitated after almost 20 years of imprisonment. Once released, this resilient writer started to put pen to paper again. But this time, instead of poetry, he turned to fictions, which were mainly inspired by his time spent in labor reeducation camps.
From the diary-like book "Grass Soup" to the autobiographical fiction "My Bodhi Tree", Zhang illustrated the heartbreaking vignettes of those tumultuous years and explored the complicated relationship between individual and society, kindness and evil, dignity and subsistence. By doing this, the writer was recognized as one of the representative figures of Scar Literature, a genre that focuses on the miserable calamities befell on intellectuals from 1960s to 1970s.
However, in the eyes of Zhou Zhiqiang, a professor who specializes in literature studies at Nankai University, Zhang's writing has already surpassed the genre.
"To some extent, 'Scar Literature' represents a writing mode of incrimination. So people could blame the grim period of their history to others, which will help them to ease the burden of their own consciousness. But Zhang Xianliang didn't allow himself to do so. In his own 'Scar Literature', Zhang blamed himself. Moreover, he reflected on some more abstract questions, such as: why we suffered such havoc, and what we should hold on to during the suffering."
Among a dozens of Zhang's published works, "Mimosa" and its companion volume "Half Man is Woman" are the most famous ones. Both written in a semi-autobiographical style, the former portrays the struggle of a young educated prisoner during the time of a famine; while the latter focuses on the protagonist's sexual difficulties after his release from the camp.
In the late 1980s, Zhang's bold convergence of sensuality between man and woman created controversy. But Professor Zhou says it is exactly the reason that makes his novels stand out.
"Unlike the other writers of 'Scar Literature' who focus on depicting the grand narrative of historical events, he was the first one to pen down the reflection on carnal love and personal love affairs of his period."
Through these books, the author unfolded the inner frustration of an intellectual in the face of extreme tribulation. Written in a lively and vivid manner, Zhang exposed how a sensitive soul is plagued by hunger, loneliness, humiliation and sexual repression. Meanwhile, he questioned the meaning of dignity and existence through times of suffering and spiritual struggle. For readers, the horrible torment of one's spirit could be overwhelmingly sad, but the author also attempted to infuse some heartwarming moments, by exploring the possibility of resurrection and the unity of body and mind.
Since 1980s, Zhang Xianliang received several Best Novel of the Year Awards. His works have been translated into 30 foreign languages. Some were even made into movies, such as "A Herdsman's Story." Adapted from Zhang's first fiction "Soul and Body", the film became a national sensation since its debut.
However, just at the peak of his literary career, Zhang decided to found a film studio in Zhenbeibu, a dry and dusty site that he found during his exile in Ningxia.
"I don't think being a professional writer is a good way to develop literature. Writing should be a part-time job and a hobby, instead of an occupation. "
Following the economic reform in China, Zhang built up his film studio from nothing to an enterprise worth of two hundred million yuan, or 32 million US dollars. With an ancient fortress, ruins, and barren landscape, the primitive filmmaking site has fascinated a large number of movie industry experts, including directors Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar Wai, and actor-turned-director Stephen Chow.
Famed scriptwriter and film critic Shi Hang says Zhang's life story has enlightened him.
"Just like his peers, Zhang Xianliang went through great pain. These experiences could transform men into people with diverse personalities and different types of writers. Zhang extracted wisdom from his sufferings. Some of them could be shared with readers; and the rest of his wisdom became a tool to establish his business. For me, he was an incisive torchbearer. He showed me what hunger feels like and helped me to understand pain and tribulation through literature. "
Throughout the 78-year span of his life, Zhang Xianliang guided us with his unfailing human spirit and indomitable willpower. And he will always be one of the literary giants that helped us understand complexities of human nature.
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