According to the auction information related to the 2023 autumn auction of China Trade Shengjia, which will start auction today, the famous writer Wang Xiaobo once wrote to Zhao Puchu, then president of the Buddhist Association of China, in the early spring of 1984, writing that "I think Buddhism is a valuable cultural heritage that always needs someone to inherit it", and "I ask the layman to be merciful and introduce the Qingjing Mountain Field to let me become a monk." He expressed his desire to become a monk.
Once this letter was disclosed, it attracted widespread attention in the community, and there is no lack of reference value for us to understand Wang Xiaobo's mental journey.
At the time of writing this letter, Wang Xiaobo was still a young man who had just passed his prime. Ten years later, he is not confused, and he has a better understanding of life and events. This year, he published an article in Sanlian Life Weekly, which was later recited, describing how he persuaded his nephew Yao Yong, who had just been admitted to the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of Tsinghua University, not to play rock and roll. Of course, the nephew not only didn't listen to his uncle's words at first, but also played ** a lot for a time and became a member of the famous "Shuimu Nianhua" group. However, later Yao Yong gave up the path of professional ** person and successively devoted himself to software and game development.
Today, we are at the same time ** Wang Xiaobo's letter to Mr. Zhao Puchu and his article "Me and the Rock Youth" (the title was changed to "How I Do the Ideological Work of Young People" when included in the anthology). The spiritual trajectory of the two generations of young people seen from it is quite interesting.
Letter to Zhao Puchu
Text |Wang Xiaobo.
* |Zhongmao Shengjia.
Elder Zhao Jushi:
I am a young teacher at the first branch of the National People's Congress. The mountain wife went to the United States to study and was very difficult to separate. Recently, I suddenly realized that I felt that my children were long, and my eyes were empty. Wouldn't it be nice to leave everything clean and escape into the empty door? I resolutely support the four principles and support the party's leadership. I think Buddhism is a valuable cultural heritage that needs to be inherited. In my case, I don't dare to say that I can magnify the Buddha after leaving home, at least not indiscriminately. Although I graduated from science and engineering in college, I still have a foundation in Chinese studies, and I am not stupid since I was a child, which can be interviewed. I asked for great mercy from the layman and introduced me to the quiet mountain field to let me become a monk. If you don't think I'm good enough, please point me to a way to get started, I'd rather practice at home for a while.
In addition, please ask your elderly family to inquire about the procedures to be done for ordination, such as whether you need to divorce or retire first. If you think fit, please introduce a Master to talk to me. Please send a reply to Unit 205, 11th Floor, People's ** Dormitory, Chaowai Xiaozhuang, Beijing.
I wish you good health.
Wang Xiaobo (1984) 27
And: I have been in the queue and can endure hardships.
Zhang Fanzhong) instructions are as follows:
1.The reason for the intention to become a monk stated in this letter is absurd and is intended to be ignored. Zhang Fanzhong. February 8.
2.Bingzhi (read). 6/3。
How do I do ideological work for young people?
Text |Wang Xiaobo.
* |1996 No. 14 "Sanlian Life Weekly".
The original title is "Me and the Rock Youth".
I have a nephew who is very talented, and although he doesn't work very hard, he was also admitted to Tsinghua University - I explain this from his maternal line, as one of his uncles, I am extremely smart.
This kid loves rock and roll**, takes classes during the day, plays guitar and sings at night, and gathers a few like-minded people, claiming to be "rehearsing", but making the neighbors feel sad and angry;This is mainly because he has a device called a noise generator on his guitar that pops the sound of smashing an iron pot. If you want to talk about Tsinghua's homework, it is not a joke, every time the exam deadline is approaching, he has to stay up all night to prepare for his homework;This makes it impossible to find time to sleep. After a few semesters, I saw the sharp-beaked monkey's gills, his eyes were blue, and he was so thin that he could float. He also wants to make a living as a rock after graduation. Not to mention that his parents felt that disaster was coming, even I didn't think it would be a viable way to live by rock and roll – unless he learned how to drink the wind and smoke.
Wang Xiaobo and his nephew Yao Yong (right), a former member of Shuimu Nianhua.
As a young rock 'n' roll, my nephew might be able to find a weekend to play and sing in a bar, but he won't make much moneyIf you quarrel with a neighbor at a bar, or if you encounter something that needs to be "rectified", you may even be invited to the police station - I have heard of this kind of thing. Such young people often squat in a row under the wall of the police station, as if in a public toilet, and make casual jokes with police comrades. Of course, in the end, the parents have to take them out. The child's parents, my sister and brother-in-law, were deeply concerned about this prospect, they were decent people and could not afford to lose this face. So the elders often wanted to say a few words about him, but he wouldn't listen. Most unfortunately, I was one of his role models. I didn't squat at the police station, I was just a freelance writer, but for some reason, he felt that my profession was similar to that of a rock 'n' roll youth, and he kept saying: Uncle can understand me!For this reason, whether I want to or not, I have to take responsibility and persuade my nephew not to be a rock musician and to become an electrical engineer according to his major.
Yao Yong with his uncle Wang Xiaobo, his aunt Li Yinhe and his parents and grandmother.
Although within the family, this is also a matter of ideological work. It is said that we should start with ideals and morality, but because it is between nephews and uncles, we can avoid it and go straight to the topic: "Boy, it's not easy for your parents to raise you, finish your studies well, find a serious job, don't let them worry about it." The answer, of course, was: he wanted to, but he couldn't. He loves his **.
I said: it's good to have hobbies. You earn some money to support yourself first, and then it's not too late to start hobbies. I don't know rock and roll**, but I've heard a "Nothing". The song is quite good, but on this subject, it doesn't seem to be a happy life.
My nephew immediately picked up and said, "Uncle, why be happy?"Pain is a source of inspiration. Didn't the predecessors say: If there is no pain, what kind of poet is called?
I remember that this is a verse from Lermontov. Even he knew that things were going ...... a little bad
Pain is the source of art, which seems irrefutable: on the stage, people sing "Loess High Slope" and "Nothing", and on the screen, they see "Old Well", "Ju Dou", and "Qiu Ju Fights a Lawsuit". Not only China, but also foreign countries, let's just say **, Tchaikovsky's "Song Like a Song" is a swan song for the ages, and it is said that the material is the Russian folk song "Little Ivan", which is also the voice of the people's pain. American female singer Marie Carey sang in the style of a black spiritual song, which was the ...... of songs sung by black slaves back thenIn this light, my nephew was right to choose a life of misery in order to purify his soul and reach the heights of art.
But I said he was not right, because he was my nephew, and I had to give an account to my sister. So I said:Yes, pain is the source of art;But it doesn't have to be your ...... of pain
Tchaikovsky himself was not little Ivan;Mary Carey also did not harvest cotton on the plantations in the South;Those who sang "Loess High Slope" were dressed up in jewelry;Acting Qiu Ju is not miserable at all when she takes off her makeup, she has money ......I heard that she also wants to marry a big money. These facts illustrate a truth:The pain of others is the source of your art;And if you suffer, you will only become a source of art for others.
Because my nephew was a smart boy, he immediately thought that it was not worth it to dig out the source of art, but it was not his own—although I didn't really think so, but I convinced my nephew. He agreed to study hard, not to engage in rock and roll after graduation, and to make a lot of money in the company. After this success, I am fluttering these days and feel that I have a skill. Whoever has a disobedient child can be persuaded by me, and I am also ready to charge a fee to open up a second career in addition to writing-professional ideological worker. But the purpose of this article is not to boast that I have this ability to advertise myself. Rather, it is necessary to explain that there are various practices for ideological work. This article shows one of them: combining positive persuasion with black humor immediately breaks new ground ......
Young Wang Xiaobo (right) poses with his younger brother and uncle, all three of whom have now died.