Gao Xiaobai said: "Russia and Japan are both nations with unique personalities.
"Russia's geographical location is cold and freezing, so it is particularly aggressive; Japan's land is narrow and prone to volcanoes and earthquakes, so its national character is very delicate and it values mono no aware.
"These two nations are very unique in art. So unique that you can tell at a glance that their works were written by people from their country.
"And Tolstoyevsky and Kawabata Haruki wrote about their national characteristics to the extreme."
Jupiter asked, "What books have they written?"
Gao Xiaobai said: "Kawabata Haruki wrote Snow Country, The Old Capital, Thousand Cranes, Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, The Strange-Bird Chronicle, and... well... there are more..."
Yu Hua said: "There are also "The Dancing Girl of Izu Short Stories", "Dance! Dance! Dance!", and "The End of the World and Cold Wonderland."
Gao Xiaobai nodded: "Yes, Teacher Yu still remembers it better."
Yu Hua continued, "Tolstoyevsky, as I said earlier, is even more of a heavyweight because he wrote: War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Resurrection, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Possessed, and The Brothers Karamazov."
He went on to say, "Russian President Pushkin said: If you don't know Tolstoyevsky, you don't know Russia. His status in Russia is higher than Hemingway Faulkner's in the United States."
Jupiter asked, "What about Kawabata Haruki?"
"There's been mixed reviews," Yu Hua said. "Kawabata Haruki's early and later works have completely different styles. Works like 'Snow Country' are very 'Japanese' and extremely traditional, while his later works are more petty bourgeois, with a more American style, and less Japanese."
"Oh." Jupiter didn't quite understand.
Yu Hua said: "Also, his mixed reception in Japan stems from his strong opposition to Japan's war of aggression. In his novels, he frequently criticizes unjust wars, which has aroused widespread resentment among right-wing Japanese figures."
Then, he smiled again and said, "However, his later novels sold exceptionally well and were bestsellers."
Jupiter suddenly realized: "No wonder! Because he is Chinese, that's why he criticizes war in his book."
"Maybe."
Gao Xiaobai put away his fan and said, "Actually, I should have realized earlier that these four writers were the same person."
Jupiter turned his head to look at him.
"You see, García Borges' style is strangely similar to Hemingway Faulkner's, and Kawabata Haruki often mentions Hemingway Faulkner's books in his books. They all have the shadow of Tolstoyevsky."
Jupiter nodded: "No wonder!"
Gao Xiaobai paused, then added, "The only thing that's hard to explain is why he created so many pseudonyms? Wouldn't it be better for him to just write his own?"
Jupiter tilted his head and said, "Yeah."
"It's impossible that he is trying to cheat the Nobel Prize money, haha!" Gao Xiaobai joked.
After a moment of silence, Yu Hua, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke:
"It's more like a writer constantly breaking through himself and trying new styles. He travels around the world and interprets different civilizations in his own way."
He closed his eyes, as if thinking about something, and then he opened his eyes again.
This time, there seemed to be something different in his eyes.
Jupiter asked, "What do you mean?"
"The more national the literature, the easier it is to go global," Yu Hua said, "because every nation is unique, and the geographical location and cultural environment of every place are completely different."
"Appreciating cultures that are different from our own will help us better reflect on ourselves."
"It's just like traveling. People say traveling means leaving a place you're tired of living in and going to a place others are tired of living in."
“Often, when you go to a place where others are tired of living and discover the uniqueness of other places, you can better appreciate the uniqueness of your own hometown.”
Jupiter's eyes lit up. "So, that writer with many pseudonyms is trying to understand China by observing other civilizations?"
"Yes," Yu Hua nodded. "He creates works from other cultures with the ultimate goal of extracting the most unique aspects of Chinese culture."
"He kept changing his identity and using sock puppets to hide himself because he didn't want to become famous too early and lose the motivation to make progress."
"He describes the lives of ordinary citizens because he is constantly walking in the streets, which allows him to obtain the freshest materials."
Jupiter held his breath.
This is crazy.
"Does this sound like he lives just to write?"
Yu Hua said: "To be precise, he lived to create the best Chinese works."
Gao Xiaobai was waving a fan beside him, shaking his head and saying:
"What's that saying? For the sake of writing, I won't marry, acquire land, have children, wear a crown, or compete for honors and favors... I'm giving up all my fame and fortune, just for writing!"
Jupiter was shocked. Even the comments were shocked.
Even though the audience who have been watching the Human Observation program have received more baptisms that subvert their worldviews today, they could not help but fall into deep thought after hearing these words.
Compared to this person, more people are thinking about: Who am I? What am I doing? What is the meaning of my life? ...
"I understand now," Yu Hua said. "I used to often wonder what was wrong with my work."
Jupiter sweated: "Teacher Yu, your work is not bad..."
"I'm still one step away from greatness," Yu Hua said, "but I still can't find where I should break through."
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