Modern And Contemporary Chinese Literature

In the history of contemporary Chinese literature,Shi Tie Sheng is an extremely unusual writer.It is difficult to categorise his literary works into any particular"school".Maybe we can classify his writings as "Life Literature"-a type that broadens from life theme into literature,representing another peak in moderm time Chinese literature.As his "complicated" method of writing and his thinking process were not favoured among the literary mainstream,there has not been much research on him or his writings.His life experience as a disabled,and his familiarity with the disabled,have developed in him a unique and serene approach to life-a pragmatic life and spiritual world.His early writing was mainly of straight-line narrative method,although some novels like My Distant Qing Ping Bay and Destiny of Love recounted his life reflections.In his middle-period writings,his starting point was mainly his experiences and disability.Arising out of his own misery,he thought deeply about human handicap and deformity in general.He developed a very artistic and innovative way of presenting them in his works.If the crippling of both his feet had "destroyed" him,then his marriage must have "rescued" him,both physically and mentally.He increasingly believed that every human life was a happy story born out of "accidental chance".By the nineties,Shi’s inquiry into human existence had entered a higher level.As a kind-natured disabled writer,his creative spirit of humanism permeates throughout his novels.He has fused his thought and care for the disabled into these novels.Prominent among the core themes of his novels are physical defects,love and courage,the strength of love,crime and repentance and how to face death.To him,the disabled endure not only physical but also mental handicaps,among which are sensitiveness and deep sense of loneliness.Into his novels he has woven his real life sufferings,exquisitely depicting his complicated mental state of mind and his desire to die so as to end his miseries.At the same time,one can sense the calmness and dignified manner in which he accepts and faces such miseries.A point that he repeatedly stressed:deformity in body does not mean deformity at heart.To him,love itself is life’s eternal hope.The essence of love is the pursuit of love;faith is not a destination,but an endless journey of conversions.If one were to seek salvation with love,then one has to persevere and proceed along a path eternally in a state of uncertainties.It is a process along which one can encounter beauty,passionate emotions and truth.From human reverence of "God",Shi sees an awakening of human dignity,from human resistance to destiny he sees the greatness of man.This mental linkage of his thoughts on the meaning of life and religious faith gave birth to his so-called "religious spirit" which revolves around his increasing questioning of life and its meaning."Death" was a topic that Shi repeatedly expounded.In his early days of writing,while in a gloomy state of mind,death may be expressed in the form of facing life as a disabled.But as he matured into a writer of fame,writing became not only the"reason" for living but also a pleasure of life."Death" then turned from gloom to joy and dance on the journey to death.There are some specific individualistic features in his novels.He did not like the traditional pattern of telling "whole" story,or the over characterisation of characters.He promoted writing of simple daily life,wide-ranging events,and discovery of inner feelings of characters.His writing is charateristically in prose-essay form,though many of his novels are difficult to categorise.He was equally adept in most forms of writing:symbolic,absurd,maze-style,fable and others.His simple and plain form of writing seemed to be able to "over-step" standard "writing rules".His overwhelming writing skills are evidently displayed in the simplicity,straight forwardness and truthfulness of his works.He liberally made use of materials from literary allusions,philosophical thoughts,drama and newspaper in his works.This is a break-through from the conventional writing norm.His natural and simplistic "narration" style of expression are abundantly tinged with compassionate and sympathetic feelings.Is this his writing skills or purely a writier’s artistic and compassionate temperament?There is a subtle distinction his readers have to make.In Shi’s novels,the "spirit of philosophy" is his important "trade-mark".His indepth probing into many life aspects such as "egotism",human predicaments,the meaning of life and spirit of God has reached a philosophically metaphysical level.Some critics have labeled him as "the writer with best spontaneous philosophical thought" in contemporary literature.While most writers were happy to be immersed in reality subjects of society,Shi was a loner in probing the spiritual and "Godly"worlds.His strong emphasis on "process" is enlightening.To him,"destinations"(more appropriately "arrivals")are not important,but "processes" are.This is true irrespective of whether it is life’s existence or religious beliefs.His readers are all familiar with his famous saying:"process is destination".Thus,in the "process" of living,it is the journey that is important.Humans have to die,no matter what their aims("destinations")are.But the beauty and splendour along the journey cannot be taken away.In the history of modern and contemporary Chinese literature,Shi Tie Sheng’s literary position has been "embarrasingly" unconventional.His way of writing can be considered a restoration to ancient writing form,renewing a close instinctive relationship of man-language,language-thoughts and author-existence.From the viewpoint of modernism,Shi appears very humanistic.In relation to post-modernism,he rejects commercialism and meaningless writings.Compared to realism,he is more inclined towards introverted self-possessed form of writing,not in favour of repeating real life scene.Certainly,Shi’s creative work has its limitations.One could be a Taoist or a Confucianist.There is still no easy way of spiritual transcendence.Even with the help of ancient cultural strength,one cannot expect constant extrication from deep human miseries.