The Pursuit of Original Intentions and the Return Journey of a "Son of the People" 

— From "Human Realm" to "Black and White"

By Sishui Farmer, 10-21-2023

Being naturally slow-witted, my earliest encounter with Teacher Liu Jiming's works was "Human Realm." Upon first reading this book, I was immediately attracted by its overflowing idealistic sentiment and serious realistic style. In my limited reading experience, literary works possessing these two characteristics have been, if not entirely extinct since reform and opening-up, then extremely rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, so I couldn't help but feel my eyes light up.

Because I enjoyed reading "Human Realm," I became interested in the author himself and sought out Teacher Liu's other works, reading them one by one. Only then did I learn that Teacher Liu had once been a member of mainstream avant-garde writers in his early years, later achieving a transformation from avant-garde to grassroots writing, becoming a typical representative of grassroots writers. "Tea Eggs," "Between Us as Husband and Wife," "Singing Aloud," and "Life and Death Knot" are representative works from this period.

Looking back at "Human Realm," I felt there was an inevitability to it. Just as today, having first read "Human Realm" and then "Black and White," I don't find it abrupt—there's a sense of natural progression. Some critics believe that "Black and White" and "Human Realm" are sister works, with the latter being an extension and expansion of the former, and moreover, the latter completes themes left unfinished by the former. This assessment is indeed precise. In the history of literary creation, this is actually a regular phenomenon—as a writer's thinking matures and expands, their works correspondingly mature and expand. Lu Yao's "Life" and "The Ordinary World" have this same relationship.

With the foundation of the turn toward grassroots writing, "Human Realm" was able to extend one step further on the basis of grassroots writing, while "Black and White" reaches an even higher level based on "Human Realm." It can be seen that these two works are not only a continuation but also a progression, or rather, an advancement.

Having the foundation of grassroots writing, looking at "Human Realm" again, I felt there was inevitability. Just as today, having first read "Human Realm" and then "Black and White," I don't find it abrupt—on the contrary, there's a sense of natural progression. Some critics believe that "Black and White" and "Human Realm" are sister works, with the latter being an extension and expansion of the former, and moreover, the latter completes themes left unfinished by the former. I think this critique is quite accurate. Below, I'll discuss three preliminary observations around this topic.

I. In the shaping of central characters, "Black and White" is an extension and progression of "Human Realm."

Generally speaking, central characters are the typical among typical characters, the soul of a novel. Analyzing from the central characters grasps the consistent thread running through the entire work. The central characters in "Human Realm" are Ma La and Murong Qiu, while "Black and White" depicts numerous typical characters, yet in a certain sense, Wang Cheng and Gu Zheng can be called the central characters among these typical figures. We'll begin our analysis from these two pairs of central characters.

First, let's look at Ma La and Wang Cheng.

The protagonist Ma La in "Human Realm" was born into a peasant family. Although he became an intellectual through study and examinations, his peasant origins left an indelible mark on the depths of his soul. Despite being tempted and influenced by his spiritual mentor Lu Yongjia during his maturation, having experienced the ups and downs of worldly affairs, he didn't lose his true nature. Especially under the spiritual inspiration of his elder brother Ma Ke and the teachings and personal example of old-generation Communists like Da Wan Bo and Ding Changshui, he achieved class consciousness awakening. His leading the farmers of Shenhuang Island back onto the path of collectivization, determined to build an ideal world, was precisely the concrete practice following his ideological transformation. It can be said that Ma La's actions on Shenhuang Island implicitly continued the unfinished work of Ma Ke, Da Wan Bo, Ding Changshui and others. That is to say, if we compare Ma Ke to Liang Shengbao in "Entrepreneurial History," then Ma La is Liang Shengbao's rebirth, and his organizing cooperatives on Shenhuang Island was, in a certain sense, continuing the once-interrupted "Entrepreneurial History." However, with changing times and shifting circumstances, the modern Liang Shengbao could no longer independently resist the rolling tide of the times. In an era where marketization and capitalization comprehensively occupy and control all domains, the modern Liang Shengbao, like Don Quixote fighting windmills (the windmill metaphor in the novel), appears anachronistic yet filled with tragic heroism. Finally, under the conspiratorial oppression of capital and power, Shenhuang Island was flooded, Ma La's utopia became a bubble, and the enterprise of continuing "Entrepreneurial History" also ended in failure. When times favor you, heaven and earth lend their strength; when fortune abandons you, even heroes lose their freedom. The glory of Liang Shengbao and "Entrepreneurial History" was no more, society had a new batch of people (former old people from "Entrepreneurial History"), who began their new "entrepreneurial history." The great stage of society no longer belonged to the "Liang Shengbaos," who retreated dimly, like the final disappearance of "Da Wan Bo" and the "commune members." At the end of "Human Realm," Shenhuang Island is flooded, Ma La's social reform ideals are shattered, and his own final destination is like the vast flood, flowing toward an unknown direction, symbolizing the uncertainty of the future with a profound sense of desolation.

The protagonist Wang Cheng in "Black and White"—his father Wang Shengli was a revolutionary soldier born to peasants who, after the revolution's victory, never considered himself a hero based on his merits, always maintaining a style of hard struggle, connecting heart to heart with the people, sharing joys and sorrows, leading workers to self-reliance and creating the brick and tile factory. Therefore, Wang Cheng's background, while being from a revolutionary cadre family, was essentially working-class and peasant. Under his father's and family's influence, Wang Cheng developed revolutionary heroism complex from childhood, which can be seen from his name being identical to the volunteer army soldier Wang Cheng in "Heroic Sons and Daughters." However, when Wang Cheng grew up and entered Chu Prefecture Teachers' College, it was precisely the early period of reform and opening-up, when historical nihilism was rampant, and social currents of de-revolutionization, bidding farewell to revolution, and even denying revolution were clamorous, which inevitably plunged young Wang Cheng into a crisis of faith. Just as Ma La encountered Lu Yongjia, at this time Wang Cheng also met his spiritual mentor Professor Lang Yongliang, causing his thinking to reverse, even changing his name from "Wang Cheng" to "Wang Sheng," representing a gesture of bidding farewell to the past. However, in his heart's depths, he often fell into contradictory struggles, with two kinds of thinking constantly pulling at him. After university graduation, he went to work at the provincial writers' association and was sent down to teach at the Women's Normal School, where he met young female teacher Tian Fang and the old principal of Phoenix Island. In his interactions with them, Wang Cheng was infected by Tian Fang's kindness, simplicity, and spirit of dedication, and was also inspired by the old principal's persistent perseverance. His once-dormant idealistic faith quietly revived. Wang Shengli and Luo Zheng played decisive roles in his complete ideological transformation. Wang Shengli fought resolutely to defend workers' interests until his death, and Luo Zheng, together with the old principal, led Phoenix Island masses in rights defense movements. He said to Wang Cheng: "Child, seeing you is like seeing your father. Remember, you are a descendant of revolutionaries, and you must never surrender to evil forces at any time!" Wang Cheng's spirit was baptized again, and he began to break with that so-called new world in the depths of his heart. Due to having such a psychological development process, when Zong Tianyi entrusted him with the important task of reporting Phoenix Island's criminal forces before his death, Wang Cheng risked destroying his own future, sternly refused Du Wei's threats and inducements, and bravely launched an assault against criminal forces. Under the manipulation of Du Wei and the forces behind him, Wang Cheng's report failed, and he was sentenced to three years in prison. But he didn't surrender; instead, he continued appealing in prison, and ultimately, with Gu Zheng's help, the criminal and corrupt forces were contained and dismantled.

From the experiences of these two protagonists, we can see that both their backgrounds, characters, growth, and trajectories of ideological transformation are extremely similar—they resemble each other both in form and spirit. However, upon closer examination, differences still exist between them. For example, Ma La likes the character Levin in "Anna Karenina." "Levin's clumsy practitioner character, his weariness of Moscow aristocratic life, the series of reforms he implemented on his farm... all had an unprecedented attraction for Ma La." As critics have noted: "Ma La's awakening was mainly completed through Levin-style solitary contemplation and self-reflection, while Wang Cheng was planted in various intricate contradictions and conflicts." Therefore, Ma La, who tended toward inner self-reflection, could only pursue Levin-style social reform after awakening, organizing Shenhuang Island farmers to return to the path of collectivization, while Wang Cheng, who awakened through contradictory conflicts and struggles, was more driven by social environment, making his resistance more intense and more revolutionary. It can be seen that although both Ma La and Wang Cheng went through left-right-left ideological transformations and both returned from individual to class under the call of revolutionary original intentions, Ma La took the path of reform, which was destined to fail, while Wang Cheng took the path of resistance, which, though more dangerous, has dawn ahead. Around him gathered more and more like-minded comrades, with successors like Zong Xiaoxiao and Tian Qingqing among the younger generation, symbolizing where hope lies.

Both Ma La and Wang Cheng in the novels aspire to write a book. Ma La's book theme concerns his own life experiences, which can be seen as a kind of searching for roots regarding his origins. Wang Cheng's "Biography of Zong Da," while superficially appearing to clarify historical fog, actually contains the pursuit of Communists' original intentions and the rectification of revolutionary faith, thus can also be understood as a kind of spiritual root-seeking. Spiritual root-seeking is broader and more essential than origin root-seeking, possessing more compelling inspirational power.

Now let's look at Murong Qiu and Gu Zheng.

The novel "Human Realm" is structurally divided into two major parts that seem independent yet form a unity. What connects them is not only the story plot but more importantly the thematic ideas the work wants to express. The protagonist of the novel's first half is Ma La, while the second half is Murong Qiu. Murong Qiu has dual identities: one is university professor and intellectual elite; the other is former educated youth and the former lover of fire-rescue hero Ma Ke. Back then, as a sent-down educated youth, Murong Qiu fell in love with production team leader Ma Ke, a Liang Shengbao-type socialist new person. However, a sudden fire separated them forever. Under the circumstances of her former lover sacrificing himself for the public good, Murong Qiu left the countryside and, decades later, became a renowned scholar and professor. However, her personal life was quite unfortunate, suffering abandonment by her ex-husband Gu Chaoyang. With her emotions wounded, she never remarried, always depending on her daughter for company. Compared to the awkwardness in personal life, the dissatisfaction in her career was even more troubling. The mainstream academic circle she belonged to was seriously detached from reality, heavy with academic atmosphere and full of bureaucratic flavor. Her new work "The Changes of He Family Village," which used sociological research to study rural problems and conduct field research in rural areas, couldn't get recognition and support from academic circles, and when author He Wei spoke at meetings, no one responded. Murong Qiu greatly appreciated He Wei's viewpoints, defended him, and reflected on the dull, bureaucratized academic atmosphere. To realize her unfinished ideals, she also encouraged her daughter Lu Lu and Kuang Xibei to jointly establish "People's Livelihood Net," guiding them to go deep among the people, measuring the earth with their feet and seeking China's way forward. She herself abandoned the academic circle that reeked of decay, broke through spider-web-like imprisonment, and once again walked toward a broader real world: "She couldn't continue staying in the 'academic circle' that reeked of decay. She suddenly had an idea: next semester she would take graduate students to Yanhe, to Shenhuang Island, back to that village where she had once lived and worked, to conduct truly meaningful field research."

Gu Zheng in "Black and White," in the author's original design, was only meant to serve as a foil to protagonist Wang Cheng. However, in the novel, because she gained "the power of self-growth," she ultimately became a central character alongside Wang Cheng. Just as "Human Realm" has two central characters, Ma La and Murong Qiu, "Black and White" also has two central characters, Wang Cheng and Gu Zheng. If Wang Cheng is a projection of Ma La, Gu Zheng is also a projection of Murong Qiu. Unlike Murong Qiu, who came from a high-level intellectual family, Gu Zheng's background is more complex and special. Her maternal grandfather bore the identity of "traitor," her father mysteriously disappeared, her mother unfortunately drowned after mental breakdown, and with her brother's flight and family's dissolution, she could only live with her maternal grandparents from childhood, shaping her sensitive and solitary character. Family misfortune left wounds and shadows deep in her soul, giving her intimate experience of human suffering, thus also developing her instinctive resistance consciousness toward all ugly people and things. This laid the foundation for her resolute involvement in decisive struggle against criminal and corrupt forces. Seeing Wang Cheng framed and imprisoned by criminal forces, she stepped forward, parted ways with lawyers who were spokesmen for criminal forces, took on Wang Cheng's case, and together with Li Hong, jointly brought down Wu Bozhong, Du Wei, and the corrupt group behind them. At the novel's end, Gu Zheng transformed from a previously aloof and proud cold beauty into a steely-boned female hero. No wonder critics consider Gu Zheng one of the most successfully portrayed characters in the novel.

It can be seen that both Murong Qiu and Gu Zheng are intellectual women with pure hearts and persistent ideals, even possessing a kind of spiritual cleanliness in character, radiating from inside out an idealistic temperament incompatible with reality, like two white lotus flowers emerging unstained from mud. However, compared to Murong Qiu, Gu Zheng is more action-oriented, thus her spirit of resistance is more manifest. Finally, she would rather lose her career and future than fight criminal forces to the end, achieving great sublimation in her entire ideological realm. If Murong Qiu moved from study to society, then Gu Zheng moved from society to the battlefield of struggle against criminal forces. Gu Zheng went further than Murong Qiu and was more resolute. Here we can see that Gu Zheng almost continued the path Murong Qiu didn't complete; the former is entirely the spiritual descendant of the latter. Murong Qiu's daughter Lu Lu founded People's Livelihood Net to speak for the people, while Gu Zheng also established Tonggu Net to help masses defend their rights. Could this merely be coincidence?

Due to worldly vicissitudes and changing circumstances, the path of socialist revolution and construction in Mao Zedong's era came to an abrupt halt, but that period of history didn't drift away with the smoke—its spirit has subtly influenced later generations. The most representative spiritual inheritors fall into two categories. One category is represented by Ma La and Wang Cheng—they were originally born into the working class and peasantry, possessing the true character of working people, inherited from the lineage of socialist new people like Liang Shengbao and Xiao Changchun. The other category is represented by Murong Qiu and Gu Zheng—they were originally born into elite or intellectual families but ultimately took the path of combining with workers and peasants, embodying the continuation of the spirit of older-generation revolutionary intellectuals like Ding Ling and Liu Qing. In "Human Realm," Murong Qiu's romance as an educated youth sent to the countryside with production team leader Ma Ke metaphorically represents the revolutionary concept of intellectuals combining with workers and peasants. Murong Qiu's spiritual attachment to Ma Ke also reflects that "accepting re-education from poor and lower-middle peasants" indeed changed her soul, enabling her not to lose direction amid great social changes but to firmly stand with working people, drawing clear lines with those intellectuals who, after reform and opening-up, sided with privileged elites and the bourgeoisie. Her attachment to Ma Ke was also attachment to faith and adherence to original intentions. Similarly, in "Black and White," Wang Cheng and Gu Zheng, having experienced cruel realistic struggles, became like-minded comrades—this cannot help but be a profound metaphor.

II. In thematic expression, "Black and White" is an elevation and transcendence of "The Red and the Black."

In "Black and White," Wang Cheng and Gu Zheng, as inheritors of revolutionary faith and guardians of revolutionary original intentions, engage in life-and-death decisive struggle with criminal and corrupt forces, embodying the profound meaning of the title "Black and White." We can understand this as black and white life, black and white society—in any case, it's a clearly oppositional summary and metaphor. Then there are other characters in the novel, such as Du Wei and Ba Dong, in whom we can clearly see the shadow of "Julien." "Julien" is the protagonist of French novelist Stendhal's "The Red and the Black," a typical figure of bourgeois individual struggle. As a classic image in literary works, he reflects the consciousness of bottom-level intellectual youth during Europe's bourgeois ascendant period. The era that produced "Julien" seems to have some overlap with the present era, so it's not surprising that this era produces a batch of "Julien"-type Du Weis and Ba Dongs. Although both advocate unscrupulous individual struggle and share common character traits, they also differ. Du Wei's characteristic is never concealing his ambitions and being able to find high-sounding reasons for any despicable and shameless behavior. He appears to be a chivalrous person but is actually a ruthless character who will do anything to achieve personal goals—truly the incarnation of a devil. Ba Dong, in order to get ahead, though also using every means to curry favor and please, still retains some small-town youth's self-respect and self-love in his bones, unlike Du Wei, whose entire soul has been twisted and alienated.

It can be seen that Wang Cheng and Gu Zheng take the "black and white" path, moving from individual to class, thus taking the path of class struggle, while Du Wei and Ba Dong take the opposite "red and black" path, unable to extricate themselves on the road of bourgeois individual struggle. Similarly, "Black and White" belongs to people's realist works, while "The Red and the Black" only belongs to critical realist works that emerged hundreds of years ago. "Black and White" has obvious progressive advancement with the times and is the "Human Comedy" of today's era, a masterwork that bears witness to the times and speaks for the people.

III. The artistic world depicted in "Black and White" and the real world, the protagonist images in "Black and White" and the author's characteristics merge seamlessly.

In the "Afterword to Black and White," Teacher Liu Jiming wrote: "This novel is an 'unexpected harvest' for me. Without the experiences of recent years, there would be no 'Black and White.' I created an artistic world richer, broader, and more complex than 'Human Realm.' When I wrote the last word and realized I would have to bid farewell to the characters in the novel, I felt reluctant to part with them. I created them, and they also created me. I considered myself one of them and experienced tremendous joy. For a writer, this is undoubtedly the best reward, once again proving that 'social life is the only source of literature and art' is an unshakeable truth. Therefore, I want to say: thank you, life." He also wrote in "'Black and White' Afterward, Writing Another Word of Fiction Would Be Superfluous—Response to 'Mars' Editorial Department": "I once said: 'Black and White' is an unexpected harvest for me. For a long time after completing the work, I was immersed in a tremendous sense of happiness. Please note, I said happiness, not satisfaction. This is a state of free writing that has broken away from the pure literature tradition formed since the New Era. Through this novel, I constructed an artistic world that belongs entirely to myself. At that moment, I felt that I and 'Black and White' had become one."

Teacher Liu repeatedly emphasizes that "Black and White" is an unexpected harvest, implying that because of real-life experiences, he was given creative inspiration and material—this is the original meaning of art originating from life and transcending life. Regarding that special period of life experience, Teacher Liu once solemnly declared in "To You": "When my enemies threw buckets of dirty water and poisoned arrows at me, I knew the time had come to part ways with their 'literary world.'" He also issued a declaration: "A few years ago, when I finished the novel 'Human Realm,' I had the idea of stopping writing permanently. But now I've changed my mind. Because, since writing is a battle for me, I have no reason to flee from the battlefield." Thus, Teacher Liu, like the characters in his works, achieved complete transformation, from an institutional professional writer to a leftist intellectual with distinct political orientation. More precisely, he has become a brave warrior like Mr. Lu Xun, using his pen as a weapon for battle.

Although in some people's view, writers are merely storytellers, true writers must not only know how to tell stories but should also be brave and skilled at dissecting themselves. This self-dissection is not wallowing in the small self but achieving the greater self, connecting "I" with the people and masses, just as Mr. Lu Xun said: the infinite distance, countless people, all are related to me.

The artistic world displayed in "Black and White" corresponds one-to-one with the real life the author experienced, and the growth process of the protagonists in the novel almost completely merges with the author's ideological journey. Such a work is undoubtedly a soul work watered with the author's passionate blood. Looking at the author's background and experience, he bears both the class imprint of working people's origins and the social identity of an intellectual, thus embodying both the character of Ma La and Wang Cheng and the temperament of Murong Qiu and Gu Zheng. The fusion of both constitutes the author's unique artistic style and ideological inclination. As critics believe, marked by "Black and White," Teacher Liu Jiming's creation and life have entered a new realm, transforming him from a traditional writer into a steadfast action intellectual and "son of the people."

Precisely because there was first the author's complete transformation to a people's position, there could be such outstanding people's realist works as "Black and White." Teacher Liu uses literary and artistic forms to call forth the soul and forge the soul for a sleeping class, calling for the return of revolutionary spirit and inspiring the rise of revolutionary fighting spirit. The appearance of "Black and White," in the current situation where privileged elites reside high in the clouds while workers and peasants have become bottom-tier vulnerable groups, undoubtedly has realistic significance that strikes at people's hearts.

Ideals never die, original intentions never perish, revolution is immortal, and the people are eternal.