Shi Tiesheng is known as "the most humanistic writer", and "Me and the Altar of Earth" is his masterpiece of precipitating life thinking.
It doesn't talk about ups and downs, and it doesn't attract attention with twists and turns.
The charm of this collection of essays is hidden between the lines, and it is a symphony of life played by Shi Tiesheng on the stage of the desolate altar of earth.
Talk to the desolation and find solace in loneliness
The Temple of Earth is an ancient garden in Beijing, but few people visit.
It's dilapidated, lonely, and forgotten by the world.
However, it was in the unattended Temple of Earth that Shi Tiesheng was alone with his soul and obtained a peace that others could not imagine.
Twenty-one years old, like a flower, the years suddenly dimmed.
The cruel reality of paralysis of both legs ruthlessly drove Shi Tiesheng into the dark night.
Faced with an irreversible fate, he once beat his chest in a wheelchair and screamed where no one was.
No one responded, only the ruins of the wall and the ancient trees and crows witnessed the storm in his heart.
The altar of earth has become an outlet for his emotions, accepting and enveloping his despair and cries again and again.
In this barrenness, Shi Tiesheng completed the initial struggle and reaped the initial reconciliation with the world.
The hustle and bustle of the crowd could not heal the pain, but it was this quiet place that unexpectedly reached a tacit understanding with him.
Face suffering head-on and realize the tenacity and compassion of life
The suffering in "Me and the Altar of Earth" is not a whitewashed pale, but a bloody heart.
The long-term physical disability is a lingering scar for Shi Tiesheng.
At the same time, the author also portrays his mother with emotional brushstrokes.
As the closest person in the blood, the mother witnessed her son's misfortune and silently endured the unspeakable torment.
Shi Tiesheng loved his mother, but he felt indebted and sorry for his inability to be able.
This remorse that cannot be compensated for by relatives is the pathos that is difficult to get rid of under the predicament of life.
Shi Tiesheng unreservedly exposed it, which resonated with countless readers.
However, he did not stop at the pain, but also understood the pain, exploring the tenacity and meaning of life.
Helen Keller once said, "The world is beautiful, even when it is dark and silent." It is in the continuous torture of life that Shi Tiesheng completes the transcendence of suffering.
Beyond the body, the soul is sublimated in thought
The struggle stories of disabled writers are easy to draw attention to, but they are not all that "Me and the Altar of Earth" brings us to think about.
In Shi Tiesheng's writings, we see the philosophical inquiry of "who am I", the calmness of life and death, and the repeated exploration of the value of life.
The body may have boundaries, but the soul always has the right to choose.
In Stetson's world, love is salvation and support.
The mother gave the child the greatest courage with silence, and Shi Tiesheng repaid this heavy love with gratitude in the transformation of his mind again and again.
This kind of pain that transcends the individual, and the deep understanding of the emotional connection between people, is the inspiration of life left to us by "Me and the Altar of Earth".
Conclusion
Covering the volume and contemplating, "Me and the Altar of Earth" is a sad song in suffering, but it is also a reflection and praise of the meaning of life.
In Shi Tiesheng's simple and sincere writing, what we read is the love of life and the transcendence of suffering.
The altar of earth is like the barren land in everyone's heart.
There, we can be lost, helpless, and struck by reality.
However, it is also in that corner where no one is disturbed that we have the opportunity to be honest with our truest selves.
Just as the altar of earth in the barren can give birth to gorgeous flowers, the fragrance of the soul can also be refined in the tribulations of life.
Shi Tiesheng and his "Me and the Altar of Earth" tell us:Even if there are too many impermanences in fate, even if life is full of regrets, we must still keep the seeds of love, the courage to think, and the endless vitality. This is the most touching light after passing through the darkness.
2024 Book of Answers