Chapter 938 Extra: I am studying on the island (3)
Before we knew it, the show "I Read on the Island" has been recorded for several episodes, and the guests have become much more familiar with each other.
For today's recording, the program team invited a group of children, and asked Yu Hua, Su Tong and others to chat with the children and recommend a list of books.
The children stayed on the island for the whole morning and were picked up by a boat around noon.
"I Study on the Island" is a variety show after all, and there is not much to watch for children.
After these children left, Yu Hua and others lamented the huge difference between the living and educational backgrounds of today's children and those they experienced when they were children.
“Did we have the concept of children’s literature back then?”
The speaker was Huang Beijia, a children's literature writer who was visiting the audience. Her words elicited Yu Hua's response: "Yes, there are "The Red Star" and "The Storm in the Mine."
"Yes, yes, yes. There is also 'The Message Tree' and 'The New Little Stone Pillar'."
"Oh, the ones I watched when I was a kid were "Wild Fire Spring Wind Fighting Ancient City" and "Little Hero Yu Lai."
Several writers in their fifties and sixties spoke of the children's books they read in their childhood, their voices became excited, and they discussed enthusiastically.
“Children’s literature is actually a very broad concept. For example, My Memories of Old Beijing is also children’s literature, but it is also very interesting when you read it as an adult.
There are many more, such as Lin Weimin’s “Spirited Away.”
Yu Hua agreed, "Yes, yes, that Spirited Away is indeed very good, not only for children, but also for adults. To be precise, it should be considered a coming-of-age novel."
Huang Beijia said: "It is difficult to define whether it is adult reading or children's literature. Because some adult works are written from a child's perspective, and some are just the opposite.
Like the story of "Spirited Away", it seems to be telling a story about children, but the core is very universal. Love, growth, freedom... these grand propositions are very well expressed in it.
I was particularly impressed. When this novel came out, I had already published several children's literature works. After reading this novel, I felt that I could no longer write. "
Huang Beijia still had some of the frustration she felt back then when she said this. "I feel like I will never be able to write a novel like this in my lifetime. I'm still writing children's literature."
Xichuan said: "You are just being too serious with yourself."
"Yeah, I didn't realize it at the time. It took me two or three years to realize it. Why bother with myself? Didn't Mr. Lin also fail to write the second Spirited Away?"
Yu Hua laughed and said, "Yes, yes, that's right. Teacher Lin only has this one children's literature work."
"But classics are classics. Last year I saw an article in the National Newspaper saying that the total global sales of Spirited Away had exceeded 100 million copies," said Huang Beijia.
Yu Hua said: "The sales of this children's literature work can be regarded as a latecomer and a leader in the series of Teacher Lin's works. I remember that the sales in China exceeded 10 million copies in the first year of its release. It is also normal that the global sales have exceeded 100 million copies in so many years.
Not only the novel, but most importantly the comics and animations of this novel are very popular.”
"Oh, I remember that my daughter followed Red Bean Animation when it was serialized, and it sold millions of copies per issue."
Yu Hua used to work at Tongwen Press and was very familiar with these situations. "Yes, it was really exaggerated at that time. Magazines were calculated by sales of millions of copies."
Xichuan said: "That's the case with Guowenshe's publications. Other publications have long been out of business."
Su Tong sighed, "Guowen Press's publications are no longer doing well. The sales of Contemporary magazine are only 400,000 copies per issue."
"But there is also the Internet. The sales of Contemporary magazine on channels such as Qidian Reading, WeChat Reading, and Tomato Novel are also good. I heard that the total sales volume is also hundreds of thousands of copies." Yu Hua said.
Su Tong joked: "This is all the legacy you left to the National Literature Society!"
Before leaving Guowen Publishing House, Yu Hua had always been the deputy editor-in-chief in charge of online literature. In 1998, Guowen Group first invested in Rongshuxia, and in 2001 it invested in and established Qidian Chinese Network, which specializes in online literature.
In 2002, Rongshuxia and Qidian Chinese Network officially launched the first batch of VIP electronic publications and the VIP membership plan was officially launched. It was a huge success and brought earth-shaking changes to the Chinese online literature market, which was in a confused stage at the time.
In 2006, Guowen Publishing House integrated the resources of its online literature websites and acquired many potential online literature websites in China, officially establishing China Literature Group. Yu Hua became the editor-in-chief of China Literature Group and concurrently the deputy editor-in-chief of Guowen Publishing House.
In 2009, China Literature Group was listed in Hong Kong with a share price of HK$18.50 per share and a total market value of HK$29 billion.
"It has nothing to do with me. That was all Teacher Lin's plan. We, the little soldiers, just need to execute it." Yu Hua said modestly and brought the topic back to children's literature. Today's guest is Huang Beijia. Her main creative direction is children's literature, so they will definitely talk more about this aspect.
"I remember that the animated film "Spirited Away" was very well made. I took my daughter to see it at that time," said Huang Beijia.
"Yes, I remember this. It seemed to be in 2004? Oh, at that time the virus had just passed and the people had been cooped up for more than half a year. They were almost going crazy. When I went to see it, the cinema was full of people," said Nishikawa.
Yu Hua recalled the grand opening of Spirited Away. "Spirited Away made over 100 million RMB in just four days. Two weeks later, it made over 300 million RMB. I told Zhang Yimou at that time that his record was about to be broken."
"Spirited Away was most popular overseas. The final domestic box office was 560 million RMB. It was especially popular in the United States and Japan. I remember the global box office was about 480 million US dollars." Su Tong said.
"Because this novel sold well abroad! I heard that it was because of this movie that the State Council agreed to Guowen Group's acquisition of Shanghai Mei Factory, right?" Huang Beijia asked Yu Hua.
Yu Hua looked at the director team. This kind of conversation should not be broadcast. As expected, he saw the director make an edit gesture, and then he answered with confidence: "Yes. Shanghai Animation Studio is one of the trump cards in the Shanghai film industry. Most of the animation talents of Wenhua Film and Television are from Shanghai Animation Studio."
Yu Hua's words are just to the point. Oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while those grown in the north of the Huai River are tangerines. This is the truth.
Huang Beijia nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Continuing the topic of children's literature, Yu Hua said: "I remember when my son was young, Harry Potter was his favorite. I recommended Dumas's books to him, including The Count of Monte Cristo. After reading it, he said: Dad, there are better books than Harry Potter."
"Hahaha!" Everyone laughed at the childish words.
While everyone was sitting in the library chatting, a man with long hair and sunglasses was walking towards the library.
Su Tong was speaking when Yu Hua, who was standing beside him, saw a figure appear at the door and cried out in surprise.
"Eh? Xiao Quan?"
Everyone turned around and recognized Xiao Quan, one of the most famous portrait photographers in China, and quickly stood up to greet him.
Xichuan was very interested in the photo album Our Generation that Xiao Quan was holding. Yu Hua said, "You haven't given me this book yet?"
"I'll give you one today." Xiao Quan replied with a smile.
"When did you arrive?" Xichuan asked Xiao Quan.
"Last night at midnight."
While the two were talking, Yu Hua was flipping through the book "Our Generation" brought by Xiao Quan.
This photo album is Xiao Quan's representative work, which records the portraits of many artists in the domestic literary and art circles. These people have one thing in common, that is, they were born in the 1950s and 1960s and became famous in the 1980s and 1990s.
Jia Pingwa, Cheng Kaige, Jiang Wen, Cui Jian, Yang Liping, and of course Yu Hua who is here today, and Lin Weimin who is not here.
"Your photo album is now a classic. Look, as soon as Yu Hua took it, he started looking for himself." Xichuan joked.
Yu Hua flipped through the book and said, "I'm not looking for myself. I read everyone, but I haven't read this book yet."
He turned to his own portrait and showed it to everyone. Su Tong recognized him at a glance, "This is you, in Tuanjie Lake, right?"
"Yes, Tuanjie Lake." Yu Hua pointed at the unshaven young man on the page.
Su Tong asked again: "Then why did you go to Tuanjie Lake to take pictures?"
"We are going to Pan Kaixiong's home. His family lives by Tuanjie Lake."
Su Tong naturally knew that Pan Kaixiong was a critic.
"oh."
Yu Hua continued to flip through the photos, "This is Jia Pingwa, this is Teacher Lin, wow, they are so handsome!"
When he got to this point, several people around him became interested and stood up, "Let me take a look!"
The background of the photo on the page was a courtyard, and Yu Hua recognized it at a glance, "This is the courtyard where Teacher Lin lives."
"Yes. It was Yu Hua who took me there at that time. Teacher Lin is a very nice person, and he looks really photogenic," said Xiao Quan.
The man in the photo is wearing a gray sweater with a sweetheart collar. He has a handsome face, sharp features, and an elegant and calm temperament.
"Oh! It's true. Among us literary young ladies at that time, there were few who didn't like him. He is still so handsome now!" Huang Beijia said with emotion.
Yu Hua smiled and said, "Teacher Lin's influence on young literary women is really too great."
Xiao Quan added: "I have a follow-up with Teacher Lin, don't you know?"
"Follow-up? What follow-up?"
"Teacher Lin also sponsored me 2,000 yuan."
When Xiao Quan talked about this, his tone was full of gratitude. Photographers were all poor, especially photographers like him who traveled all over the country to take pictures of people. 2,000 yuan was a huge sum of money for Xiao Quan.
"Later, I used the money to travel across most of China."
Yu Hua said jokingly: "Teacher Lin is not short of money. If you go a few more times, you may be able to beg for more."
As he was talking, he turned the page and saw a shirtless man. There was a woman working next to him in the photo. The woman was Cheng Ximi.
"Tiesheng!"
Yu Hua called out the names of the men in the photos. He first saw Lin Weimin's photo and then Shi Tiesheng's photo. He was suddenly filled with emotion.
"Alas! It has been many years since Tiesheng left."
His words suddenly made the atmosphere sad. Su Tong also said, "It's been 12 years. It's gone by so fast."
"After Tiesheng passed away, Teacher Lin was depressed for a long time," said Yu Hua.
"Their feelings are unmatched by others."
Huang Beijia and Xiao Quan felt a little emotional as they listened to the conversation between Su Tong and Yu Hua. The friendship between Lin Weimin and Shi Tiesheng has always been a legend in the Chinese literary world, and it is still the same today.
(End of this chapter)
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