On November 27,2015, the sixth Members Congress of the Henan Writers Association was held in Zhengzhou. The day also marked the awarding of the Prize for Outstanding Contributions to Literature in Henan Province to Professor Li Peifu, who was presented with RMB 500,000 in prize winnings.
Prior to this, he had won RMB 500,000 for the Mao Dun Literature Prize. It is of little doubt that 2015 is Li Peifu’s year. After many years of struggling, at more than sixty years of age, he has finally received tribute for the greatest moments of his life. He said that it was very hard for people to do one thing well: “Fortunately I chose writing, which is my favorite work.” In the face of social change, he will continue to work hard and think about how to find an accurate and suitable mode of expression.
After the bustling prize ceremony, Li Peifu returned to his quiet study in Zhengzhou. During a phone interview, he said that he was very glad to have chosen writing. He feels that each person should have one thing in their lives that fits them best.
Blow Away the Sand to See the Gold
Li Peifu’s Mao Dun Literature Prize-winning work is the novel Book of Life. The judging panel said the following: The theme of Book of Life is time and people. In the great leap from traditional countryside to modern city, Li Peifu is deeply concerned with the people who still “walk around with soil on their back”. With a focus on classical realism, he believes that the structure of social consciousness can be seen in the character and destiny of a human being. Book of Life creates a series of distinct characters with fluent and seasoned strokes. The transitional traits possessed in the sharp conflicts between fast and slow, losses and gains, the native land and the alien land, the matter and the spirit are echoed in the transformation of society. Book of Life leaves a sincere footprint of the times on the vast and deep land, the very plain that Li Peifu loves so much.
Li Peifu told the reporter that the results of the ninth Mao Dun Literature Prize were announced in Beijing on August 16 and he was informed that he had won the prize by the Henan Writers Association. He admitted that when he got the good news, he was writing, as always. As a celebration, he smoked two extra cigarettes at noon and ate a bowl of Henan braised noodles.“I don’t write to win awards. But after winning the award, I will continue to write.”
Li Peifu started writing in the 1970s and his writing career now spans 38 years. Ten of his novels have won awards, including the People’s Literature Prize. Li Peifu was passed over for the Mao Dun Literature Prize several times. “Although there were several chances for me to win the award, I failed. Someone joked that I am a ‘writer short of one vote’,” Li Peifu said. “Since I hadn’t won any awards before, I didn’t know how to feel. I just felt that I didn’t work hard enough and that is why I hadn’t won the award.” Book of Life is the pinnacle of his “Trilogies of the Plain”, after Gate of the Sheep and Light of the City. It is a panoramic masterpiece showing the fates of the people and the time against the background of Central Chinese Plains.
Book of Life, a 50-Year Work in Progress
Li Peifu’s Book of Life has a good reputation. Compared to the novels such as Flowers in Bloom, written in Shanghai dialect, Book of Life is simple and unadorned, and the story is more populist. The novel’s good reputation also comes from its focus on the problem of rural-urban migration since China’s reform and opening up. The description of the hardships and successes of rural migrants after they enter the cities is likely to appeal to readers who have had similar experiences.
“I myself am a seed transplanted to the city, although I am a mature seed. I matured before the age of 12. I will also tell you that I am a person with a background. I have a lot of teachers, each blade of grass in my hometown is my teacher … Long before the age of 12, I had read 3,000 faces, eaten all kinds of plants in the fields, and seen all manner of life and death. After that, every day is just process that cannot be surpassed.” This is the beginning of Book of Life. Li Peifu told the reporter, “I racked my brains for one year before these words were completed. Each time writing is a new start. Just like building a house, I need to consider the first brick. The first sentence in a work is fatal for me, so I have to find it.”
Book of Life is narrated thus: “I”am a university teacher from the countryside in a provincial capital, hoping to get rid of the countryside and become a complete “city dweller”. However, my old uncle-in-law’s indicative notes which request“me” to handle affairs for the villagers made “me” feel very embarrassed. In the face of love and difficulties, “I” decided to accept the call of “camel”, my classmate from university, and resigned from my stable work to become a drifter in the north. Beijing was not as good as we expected. After digging my first bucket of gold by replacing someone to take their examinations for several months in a basement, for more ambitious ideals, “I” and “camel” went to Shanghai and Shenzhen respectively to step onto a new commercial battlefield … Li Peifu said that Book of Life took him the longest to write of his three novels. “It took about five years from beginning end. It is no exaggeration to say that I prepared for this story for 50 years. I think if you want to write a character with a life span of 50 years, you must have at least 50 years of psychological reserve and preparation progress.”
“Camel” is a Projection of a Real Person
Li Peifu is used to writing about the vicissitudes of the Central Chinese Plains and the many lives living on it. In his works, villages and cities, history and reality, and ideals and desires are juxtaposed. Book of Life not only portrays the villagers’ living conditions and the process of catering for, refusing, or dissociating with the political movements of the second half of the 20th century, but also describe the villagers who have “fled”from the countryside held their dreams and lost themselves to the materialistic lure of the cities.
Li Peifu said that of the many characters created in the “Trilogies of the Plain”, he was most satisfied with Wu Zhipeng in Book of Life. He said that, “Wu Zhipeng has a strong sense of inner self-examination. He was able to avoid many pitfalls that would have led him to ruin because he knows how to look after himself. Although he walks with the land at his back, although there are 3,000 pairs of eyes watching him, he is still walking.” Li Peifu believes that Wu Zhipeng’s living conditions embody a number of current outstanding youths.
When asked whether he himself is reflected in Wu Zhipeng, Li Peifu said that Wu is only artistic creation. Li’s shadow is reflected in the protagonist, but there are more elements drawn from society. He gave “Camel”, another main character in the book, as an example, “In real life, there are many people like Camel, who think they can earn RMB 10 million just from pissing. He bought a bunch of apartments and then he went to piss around. By next year, house prices had risen and he had earned RMB 10 million just for that piss.” In Li Peifu’s view, all kinds of details from day-to-day life can become literary works.
Some critics say that through this novel, Li Peifu had revealed a lot about the life choices of intellectuals and the multiple possibilities of their living conditions during a time of transformation. In the course of infinitely approaching history and human nature, he drew a group picture of the characters with philosophical reflections.
You Have to Find Your Own Space for Writing
During the interview, Li Peifu said that, “I would still like to thank Henan Radio Television University(Henan RTVU). Without the past, I couldn’t get to this present.” Li Peifu was born in a worker’s family. In those days, he wanted to work at the Bureau of Culture because he liked writing. However, due to his lack of academic qualifications, he had no chance. Later, he accepted a suggestion from his co-workers and enrolled in the Chinese Language and Literature major at Henan RTVU. “Frankly speaking, at the very beginning, I just wanted to obtain an academic qualification. But I still learned a lot. That was an interesting time for me,” he said bluntly. “During that time, I kept studying, reading, writing and working, and modifying and adjusting myself constantly. It was indeed a very good process for growth.”
Li Peifu thought it was important for him to find a homeland for his writing, “I am destined to root myself in the plains forever. The plain is my land for writing. Every writer has his own writing territory. I have spent many years trying to find my own place, where I will work throughout my life. It’s impossible for me to plant on other lands. I have only the plain as my land. I dug a well on it and planted my own crops. What I grow is another matter.”
“I was born in Xuchang, Henan Province in 1953 and began to write in the late 1970s. I had been writing for 38 years and have finished writing 10 novels. After the 1980s, I found my writing territory. Gate of the Sheep, Light of the City, and Book of Life all have a common theme, that is, the dialogue between the land and the plants.” Li Peifu said that Gate of the Sheep and Light of the City were published at a relatively early stage when he was young and aggressive. With increasing of age and experience, compared to the former two works Book of Life seems to have a wider, richer, and more peaceful perspective. There is no more anger. Instead it shows more rationality and serenity. So it is a natural conclusion to the“Trilogies of the Plain”.
Li Peifu loves to talk about his father. His father was a shoemaker who went to the town and became an apprentice when he was 12 years old, and later became a worker in a state-owned shoe factory. When talking about his father, Li Peifu became very emotional, “My father was a shoemaker. Before his death, he made a pair of shoes for me. For 22 years, this pair of cotton shoes has been lying in my shoe cabinet. I wear them each winter. I should say my father was a good shoemaker. I don’t know whether my works will still be read by anyone after 22 years.” “There will be someone who will read your works, you can be assured,” the reporter replied, “I think that works related to the soul and the earth will never be buried by time.”
About the Writer: Li Peifu, male, Han nationality, writer and poet. Born in October 1953 in Xuchang,Henan Province. Graduated from the Henan RTVU Chinese Language and Literature major in 1984. Member of the CPC, member of China Writers’ Association, member of the Collective Committee of China Writers’ Association, National First-class writer who enjoys special government allowance from the State Council. Started his career in 1979 and served successively as a writer for the Culture Bureau of Xuchang, an editor of Mangyuan magazine and the director of its second editorial office, professional writer for Henan Provincial Literary Federation and Henan Writers Association, deputy editor of Mangyuan magazine, member of the second session of the Henan Writers Association, vice chairman of the Henan Provincial Literary Federation, and chairman of the Henan Writers’ Association.
Published works since 1978 include The 17th Great-Great-Grandson of the Li Family, Golden House, Urban White Paper, Gate of the Sheep ,Light of the City , Li Family, and Book of Life. Some of his works have been translated in the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
By Cai Cheng,OUC