Yan Chen nodded and said with great approval.
"Then I will write to him in the name of Poetry Magazine to tell him about the great success of Facing the Sea, Spring Blossoms and this good news?"
Li Ying was also an impatient person. She felt that she had to tell Zhong Yuejin the good news as quickly as possible so that he could be happy.
"Yeah! No problem.
However, our on-site inspection of him may have to wait until after the New Year.
After all, it is less than ten days away from the Chinese New Year, and the editor-in-chief of the People's Daily has just read the poem "Facing the Sea, Spring Flowers Bloom".
And I could feel the enthusiasm of young literary people for this poem near the Xinhua Bookstore.
He specifically told me that he wanted to send a reporter to interview Comrade Zhong Yuejin in person.
So, after the New Year, a reporter from the People’s Daily will go with us to the Red Star Commune in Jilin Province in the northeast…”
With the editor-in-chief's words, Li Ying felt relieved, knowing that Zhong Yuejin's joining Poetry Magazine as an editor was almost a done deal.
So, she happily spread out a piece of letter paper and began to write a letter to the poet Comrade Zhong Yuejin, whom she "admired".
Comrade Zhong Yuejin:
It’s a pleasure to read your letter!
When you receive this letter, you may be able to imagine the boiling scene in the editorial office of Poetry Magazine at this moment.
The north wind is howling outside the window, but our hearts are filled with spring breeze because of your poem "Facing the Sea, Spring Flowers Blooming".
As the first reader of this poem, I pick up my pen with excitement to convey to you this joy that belongs to all young literary people.
1. The shock and resonance of poetry
Since this issue of Poetry Magazine was released, your poems have been like a spark, igniting the hearts of millions of educated youth.
The grand occasion at Xinhua Bookstore: the first print run of 50,000 copies sold out within an hour, and an order for an urgent print run of 100,000 copies has been placed.
The salesman sighed: "I have never seen such a scene since the resumption of publication!"
Readers' Tears and Recitation: At the Youth League Center in the suburbs of Beijing, a female comrade said with tears in her eyes after reading the poem: "It turns out that happiness can be so simple - feeding horses, chopping wood, and caring about food and vegetables."
Some comrades even copied the poem on the newspaper on the kang, saying it was "a bowl of hot soup in the cold winter."
Letters are coming in like snowflakes. In just half a day today, the editorial department has received more than 300 letters from readers.
A comrade who worked in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia wrote: "I have never seen the sea, but your poems make me believe that there will be spring flowers blooming at the end of the grasslands."
2. Your Path and the Invitation from Poetry Magazine
Editor-in-Chief Yan Chen has formally proposed and invited you to join the editorial team of Poetry Magazine, and will begin preparing the procedures and processes after the new year.
Just as you mentioned in your letter of submission, "I am willing to use pen and ink as plows to cultivate the fertile soil of poetry," we believe that your participation will inject vigorous vitality into Chinese new poetry.
The editor-in-chief specifically asked: "Please tell Comrade Yue Jin that his writing style does not need to be confined to 'high-rise building', and keeping the simplicity of 'chopping wood and feeding horses' is the poetry that the people need."
3. An editor’s personal words
As the person who discovered this poem, my colleagues often joke that I am "lucky".
But I know that what is truly lucky is this era - when the haze dissipates, people really need a poem to wipe away their dusty hearts.
You use the image of "facing the sea" to not only outline individual aspirations, but also express the collective desire of a nation.
An old comrade wrote after reading it: "This poem reminds me of the tears I shed when I first read Lei Feng's Diary 20 years ago."
IV. Future Expectations
Attached to this letter are excerpts from readers’ letters to this issue of Poetry Magazine, as well as the “Suggestions on the Direction of Poetry Writing” collectively discussed by the editorial department.
I hope these “echoes from afar” can illuminate your way forward.
The letter is short but my feelings are deep. I hope you take care of yourself.
We look forward to traveling side by side with you on the train to spring!
Sincerely,
Revolutionary salute!
Li Ying, editor of Poetry Magazine
February 9, 1977
Attachment:
1. Twenty selected letters from readers
2. The inscription written by Chief Editor Yan Chen reads: "Starting from the sea, heading towards the people".
…
It was this reply letter from the editor that was full of the flavor and style of the times. It can be said that Li Ying spent two full days writing it.
During this period, she not only read hundreds of letters from readers in the capital and surrounding provinces, but also selected twenty very valuable and inspiring letters.
After writing this letter, editor Li Ying was still overwhelmed with emotion and felt that she had a lot to say in her heart.
Even her mother made fun of her, saying that she seemed to have lost her soul these past two days.
As the letter was sent to the Northeast, editor Li Ying's heart seemed to fly there as well.
…
And in the far northeast, Red Star Commune, Linjiagou Production Brigade.
After two days of overtime work, more than twenty craftsmen and laborers gave their all.
The Lin family's dilapidated courtyard has been completely renovated and there is no trace of its original dilapidated appearance at all.
The beams and columns were replaced with new ones, and the roof tiles were reinforced and re-applied.
The walls and windows were also renovated and repaired.
More importantly, the kang and stove in the house, as well as the division of the space in the house, were changed according to Lin Huowang's requirements.
even……
In order to make it convenient for them to defecate in the house in winter, Lin Huowang had them build a toilet at the back of the house according to the style and standards of later toilets.
Although it was just a squat toilet leading to the septic tank outside, there was no modern toilet or water supply.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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