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Yan Geling: Enquiry through the History and Burning in the Process of Production
“I am sometimes almost in morbid fantasies; I often feel very happy when I have to combine and integrate several materials that are far from enough in writing, and I can make them three-dimensional.”
I never wish literature will come to its end; instead, I hope that it can obtain more and more public attention, which is the soil that carries its life.”
Yan Geling suddenly had a busy life when she came back Beijing from Berlin. At abroad, she could often take a walk in the forest and enjoyed it very much. She usually read book for two hour a day and watched two or three films in a week. She felt happy. However, she hardly had time for reading and films when she came back to China. Yan Geling said, “I can only read books before bedtime at night, and it is really bad.”
Steady Accumulation and Neglect of Ornament and Disguise
Yan Geling always put a collection of Li Shangyin’s poems on the computer desk. She often opened the book and read a short segment before the computer was fully started up. Though the Li Shangyin’s language style was different from that of Yan Geling, but she could feel a very beautiful scene in that way. “The daily language in reading, including English, always offers me nutrition. The writer needs cultivation all the time; the more languages a writer learns, the more benefits he or she gets. Others’ language as well as classic and modern languages can always give the writer much nutrient that he or she does not have.”
As a high-yield writer, Yan Geling defined her creation as the sudden eruption after long-time accumulation. “Now every person can be a man of learning in a minute through Google and Baidu, however, this way of learning does great harm to them. Reading the original works is one way to learn western culture, and after reading those books, such as novels or some political books and philosophical books, one needs to think further. In this way can a writer blend the knowledge into his or her blood. Once his or her life is blended in certain knowledge, the view, thinking pattern and way of expression at some issue are different from those based on temporary information. In short, creation needs long-term and steady accumulation.”
Most stories in Yan Geling’s novels happened in China, but she had an international vision. “If the stories have a wider coordinates, even if the story of a small village can be different.” Yan Geling told a story of salvation in novel The Thirteen Women of Jinling. “Those fallen women were saving themselves during saving young girl students. Those women’s tender lives protected some more tender lives, and those cheap lives commonly deemed in social life became much precious.” The basic spirit in the original work did not change in the film. Yan Geling also pointed out “This kind of spirit is universal.” Nowadays Chinese cultural phenomenon has received so high attention at abroad that the copyright of The Thirteen Women of Jinling had sold to more than 20 countries. A Burning Candle during the Process of Creation
The Writers Publishing House has recently published LU FAN YAN SHI (Story of Lu Yanshi), a new book of Yan Geling. The contents have many connections with Yan Geling’s grandfather. “The first half of Lu yanshi’s life resembles my grandfather's experience. I was fascinated by my grandpa since my childhood and he was the pride of my family. He went to study abroad at such a young age and went to university only at 16. With extensive experiences and a good memory, my grandpa was good at several languages and finished doctorate degree at the age of 25. He ended his own life when he was 40. In my perspective, my grandpa was too shrewd, and as if such a shrewd person could not have a long life. However, later on I found that he perhaps had the same mania and melancholia as me. In this condition, the writer was burning fast and could hardly fall asleep with high creativity. The writer was writing, working and thinking all the time and barely could sleep for a while, and his or her creativity would fall down suddenly after peak-time thanks to the deep degree of burning. The writer would have a chemical transformation in the brain when he or she was awake at night, and some dark thought then was created and inspiration would disappear. Thus, the writer began to be pessimistic.
Yan Geling found out her grandfather’s doctoral dissertation and master's thesis in the Library of Congress of USA as well as studied some biographies written by contemporaries, in order to write this book well whose prototype was her grandfather. Yan Geling also loved The Cambridge History of China compiled chiefly by Fei Zhengqing. “The book has two thick volumes, and the second volume was extremely attractive, for it introduced the Chinese history after the revolution of 1911. I knew what a person my grandfather was at that time after reading these books.”
Nevertheless, Yan Geling still only had little and fragmented memory about her grandfather. Therefore, her novels must be in need of a numerous imagination for description of details. “I am sometimes almost in morbid fantasies; I often feel very happy when I have to combine and integrate several materials that are far from enough in writing, and I can make them three-dimensional. I will feel that I am bound and cannot make choices if I write so specifically.”
When Yan Geling was asked whether there was a big leap or change when she set a man, her grandfather, as the prototype in the novel, for the main characters in her novels usually were females, for example those in An Epic of A Woman, The Ninth Widow, and Aunt Duohe, she gave a negative answer.“I have written novels about men. In the novels in which females predominate, I write men through the perspective of male character and in turn write women by men’s psychology. A writer should have this common skill, be it for a man or woman. Besides, the writer’s comprehension of humanity should both include female and male.” Yan Geling said. The First Theme Is Not to Discover Myself
One of the common traits in Yan Geling’s novels is the involvement of history; she seems to concern little about real life. “I cannot take individual life and discovery of myself as the first theme in writing. My mind has been occupied by so many important and unsolved historical issues, and I always keep seeking answers over and over again. As the language in my works has to be translated for westerners, as well as the cultural background and specific historical environment that need translation, it is not difficult to understand the difficulty in translation under so many invisible barriers.”
However, Yan Geling held that Chinese modern young writers had a big difference. In her view, the current writers, such as Han Han and Guo Jingming, do not have the burdens shouldered by the former generation. The young writers pay much attention to individual lives, individual growth, and individual adversity. One individual is a world, which is commonly concerned and comprehended by the entire world. “Their advantages in writing lie in the exploration and discovery for individuals. All the peers and writers in the whole world are working on this same theme. The young writers jump out of specific terms that confuse foreigners, such as “The Cultural Revolution” or 3-year period of natural disaster. The current issues under young writers’ consideration are similar in literature compared with western writers’ concerns, such as employment, house purchasing, environmental protection and so on. And they have alike ways for expression of emotions, thus literature at home is connected with the outside world. I think the young generation is very lucky.”
Literature Is Not High Up In the Air
Yan Geling was very sensitive to stories, and she liked listening stories, especially folk stories. “I am a very good listener, and I seldom interrupt others.” In those stories, Yan Geling found some unimaginable things: “Many stories and details in life cannot be made up or imagined, and sometimes I will collect those materials. Both The Ninth Widow and Aunt Duohe are from the stories I heard from my friends.”
Yan Geling did not criticize anyone who listened to or read stories. “Nowadays, people only have focused attention on something for one or two minutes, and novels easily lose readers. Therefore, certain skills are needed for writing a story, starting a story, and developing a story. The arrogant attitude that blames the readers for their poor reading ability is unacceptable for current readers. The writer has to write stories in best words and express his or her personal thinking and some information beyond the story to the readers.” Yan Geling loves Lang Lang’s and Ma Youyou’s music. In her opinion, both of the two musicians’ performances integrated popular elements, which added favorable contents and rich emotions into music—such a kind of classic art. Yan Geling was inspired by this way. “Literature is also a kind of classical form of art. Providing the best way of expression and best stories to the readers is required for more attentions from the public, or the literature will be extinct. The writers should not ignore many wonderful folk stories and want to become Joyce or Jorge Luis Borges. The novels should not be high up in the air. Though it is a sort of pursuit, I never hope literature die out; instead, I hope that literature can acquire the soil for its life, namely the public. The path of literature shall not be narrower and narrower after education in middle school and colleges; I hope that literature could maintain where it is though it is difficult enough nowadays.”
Living in Comparative Literature
Yan Geling said that others read comparative literature, while she herself was living in comparative literature. She has lived in many places, such as Beijing and Taiwan in China, Germany, the United States, and other countries in Africa. In many cases, she could not help to compare the differences between herself and others, which in turn deepened her understanding of Chinese language and culture. “The Chinese expression is implicit, for the literal meaning perhaps is not the real meaning. And how could I make other people understand the real meaning?” In her view, the character of implicit Chinese language has both good and bad aspects: “Our beautiful language can be hardly translated. Chinese translation sometimes brings much difficulty compared with English. And the language characters are the signs of Chinese complex psychology. You may find that Americans are quite simple and straight. However, as an ancient nation with abundant culture, all of the expression is so complicated, which brings much difficulty in translation of Chinese works. Nowadays, many translated Chinese works lost their original taste, which could merely convey the basic meaning but hardly deliver the soul of works. If it is possible and my English is mature enough, I shall directly express my thought in English as sometimes Chinese expression is so different.”
However, Yan Geling did not lose faith in the translation of Chinese literature, since the translation of literature is a long-term cultivation, which is not accomplished at one stroke. “There is one example which makes me believe that translation can reach high standard, not only translate the language, but also the culture; this example is the late English translator David Hawks, who devoted his entire life to literature translation. “The Story of the Stone” translated by David Hawks is expressive enough to turn the Chinese version into a symmetric English version; it not only translated the language, but also all the aspects of literature and philosophy. This is the only one successful example of all the translated versions I’ve ever seen. ” When she was asked about future works, Yan Geling said there was still much information in survey and accumulation. It seemed that it was out of confidentiality that she simply expressed the possibilities to prepare for writing something about war. “There will be so many materials to read, such as the New Fourth Army’s military operation journal, which has three thick volumes and must be read thoroughly. This is how research works: read one hundred pages, most of them superfluous words, but on page one hundred and one, you may find a line that is right what you need. It is very interesting. It takes years’ effort to do research like this.”
Although she is busy at work, and she has achieved great success in career, Yan Geling still sees herself as a traditional woman. “Helping husband and teaching child are important, family is important. I cook dinner every day, and I spend the whole Sunday with my child. Before my dad passed away, I spent a long time accompanying him in Beijing, now I think I should spend more time with my daughter. ”
“I am sometimes almost in morbid fantasies; I often feel very happy when I have to combine and integrate several materials that are far from enough in writing, and I can make them three-dimensional.”
I never wish literature will come to its end; instead, I hope that it can obtain more and more public attention, which is the soil that carries its life.”
Yan Geling suddenly had a busy life when she came back Beijing from Berlin. At abroad, she could often take a walk in the forest and enjoyed it very much. She usually read book for two hour a day and watched two or three films in a week. She felt happy. However, she hardly had time for reading and films when she came back to China. Yan Geling said, “I can only read books before bedtime at night, and it is really bad.”
Steady Accumulation and Neglect of Ornament and Disguise
Yan Geling always put a collection of Li Shangyin’s poems on the computer desk. She often opened the book and read a short segment before the computer was fully started up. Though the Li Shangyin’s language style was different from that of Yan Geling, but she could feel a very beautiful scene in that way. “The daily language in reading, including English, always offers me nutrition. The writer needs cultivation all the time; the more languages a writer learns, the more benefits he or she gets. Others’ language as well as classic and modern languages can always give the writer much nutrient that he or she does not have.”
As a high-yield writer, Yan Geling defined her creation as the sudden eruption after long-time accumulation. “Now every person can be a man of learning in a minute through Google and Baidu, however, this way of learning does great harm to them. Reading the original works is one way to learn western culture, and after reading those books, such as novels or some political books and philosophical books, one needs to think further. In this way can a writer blend the knowledge into his or her blood. Once his or her life is blended in certain knowledge, the view, thinking pattern and way of expression at some issue are different from those based on temporary information. In short, creation needs long-term and steady accumulation.”
Most stories in Yan Geling’s novels happened in China, but she had an international vision. “If the stories have a wider coordinates, even if the story of a small village can be different.” Yan Geling told a story of salvation in novel The Thirteen Women of Jinling. “Those fallen women were saving themselves during saving young girl students. Those women’s tender lives protected some more tender lives, and those cheap lives commonly deemed in social life became much precious.” The basic spirit in the original work did not change in the film. Yan Geling also pointed out “This kind of spirit is universal.” Nowadays Chinese cultural phenomenon has received so high attention at abroad that the copyright of The Thirteen Women of Jinling had sold to more than 20 countries. A Burning Candle during the Process of Creation
The Writers Publishing House has recently published LU FAN YAN SHI (Story of Lu Yanshi), a new book of Yan Geling. The contents have many connections with Yan Geling’s grandfather. “The first half of Lu yanshi’s life resembles my grandfather's experience. I was fascinated by my grandpa since my childhood and he was the pride of my family. He went to study abroad at such a young age and went to university only at 16. With extensive experiences and a good memory, my grandpa was good at several languages and finished doctorate degree at the age of 25. He ended his own life when he was 40. In my perspective, my grandpa was too shrewd, and as if such a shrewd person could not have a long life. However, later on I found that he perhaps had the same mania and melancholia as me. In this condition, the writer was burning fast and could hardly fall asleep with high creativity. The writer was writing, working and thinking all the time and barely could sleep for a while, and his or her creativity would fall down suddenly after peak-time thanks to the deep degree of burning. The writer would have a chemical transformation in the brain when he or she was awake at night, and some dark thought then was created and inspiration would disappear. Thus, the writer began to be pessimistic.
Yan Geling found out her grandfather’s doctoral dissertation and master's thesis in the Library of Congress of USA as well as studied some biographies written by contemporaries, in order to write this book well whose prototype was her grandfather. Yan Geling also loved The Cambridge History of China compiled chiefly by Fei Zhengqing. “The book has two thick volumes, and the second volume was extremely attractive, for it introduced the Chinese history after the revolution of 1911. I knew what a person my grandfather was at that time after reading these books.”
Nevertheless, Yan Geling still only had little and fragmented memory about her grandfather. Therefore, her novels must be in need of a numerous imagination for description of details. “I am sometimes almost in morbid fantasies; I often feel very happy when I have to combine and integrate several materials that are far from enough in writing, and I can make them three-dimensional. I will feel that I am bound and cannot make choices if I write so specifically.”
When Yan Geling was asked whether there was a big leap or change when she set a man, her grandfather, as the prototype in the novel, for the main characters in her novels usually were females, for example those in An Epic of A Woman, The Ninth Widow, and Aunt Duohe, she gave a negative answer.“I have written novels about men. In the novels in which females predominate, I write men through the perspective of male character and in turn write women by men’s psychology. A writer should have this common skill, be it for a man or woman. Besides, the writer’s comprehension of humanity should both include female and male.” Yan Geling said. The First Theme Is Not to Discover Myself
One of the common traits in Yan Geling’s novels is the involvement of history; she seems to concern little about real life. “I cannot take individual life and discovery of myself as the first theme in writing. My mind has been occupied by so many important and unsolved historical issues, and I always keep seeking answers over and over again. As the language in my works has to be translated for westerners, as well as the cultural background and specific historical environment that need translation, it is not difficult to understand the difficulty in translation under so many invisible barriers.”
However, Yan Geling held that Chinese modern young writers had a big difference. In her view, the current writers, such as Han Han and Guo Jingming, do not have the burdens shouldered by the former generation. The young writers pay much attention to individual lives, individual growth, and individual adversity. One individual is a world, which is commonly concerned and comprehended by the entire world. “Their advantages in writing lie in the exploration and discovery for individuals. All the peers and writers in the whole world are working on this same theme. The young writers jump out of specific terms that confuse foreigners, such as “The Cultural Revolution” or 3-year period of natural disaster. The current issues under young writers’ consideration are similar in literature compared with western writers’ concerns, such as employment, house purchasing, environmental protection and so on. And they have alike ways for expression of emotions, thus literature at home is connected with the outside world. I think the young generation is very lucky.”
Literature Is Not High Up In the Air
Yan Geling was very sensitive to stories, and she liked listening stories, especially folk stories. “I am a very good listener, and I seldom interrupt others.” In those stories, Yan Geling found some unimaginable things: “Many stories and details in life cannot be made up or imagined, and sometimes I will collect those materials. Both The Ninth Widow and Aunt Duohe are from the stories I heard from my friends.”
Yan Geling did not criticize anyone who listened to or read stories. “Nowadays, people only have focused attention on something for one or two minutes, and novels easily lose readers. Therefore, certain skills are needed for writing a story, starting a story, and developing a story. The arrogant attitude that blames the readers for their poor reading ability is unacceptable for current readers. The writer has to write stories in best words and express his or her personal thinking and some information beyond the story to the readers.” Yan Geling loves Lang Lang’s and Ma Youyou’s music. In her opinion, both of the two musicians’ performances integrated popular elements, which added favorable contents and rich emotions into music—such a kind of classic art. Yan Geling was inspired by this way. “Literature is also a kind of classical form of art. Providing the best way of expression and best stories to the readers is required for more attentions from the public, or the literature will be extinct. The writers should not ignore many wonderful folk stories and want to become Joyce or Jorge Luis Borges. The novels should not be high up in the air. Though it is a sort of pursuit, I never hope literature die out; instead, I hope that literature can acquire the soil for its life, namely the public. The path of literature shall not be narrower and narrower after education in middle school and colleges; I hope that literature could maintain where it is though it is difficult enough nowadays.”
Living in Comparative Literature
Yan Geling said that others read comparative literature, while she herself was living in comparative literature. She has lived in many places, such as Beijing and Taiwan in China, Germany, the United States, and other countries in Africa. In many cases, she could not help to compare the differences between herself and others, which in turn deepened her understanding of Chinese language and culture. “The Chinese expression is implicit, for the literal meaning perhaps is not the real meaning. And how could I make other people understand the real meaning?” In her view, the character of implicit Chinese language has both good and bad aspects: “Our beautiful language can be hardly translated. Chinese translation sometimes brings much difficulty compared with English. And the language characters are the signs of Chinese complex psychology. You may find that Americans are quite simple and straight. However, as an ancient nation with abundant culture, all of the expression is so complicated, which brings much difficulty in translation of Chinese works. Nowadays, many translated Chinese works lost their original taste, which could merely convey the basic meaning but hardly deliver the soul of works. If it is possible and my English is mature enough, I shall directly express my thought in English as sometimes Chinese expression is so different.”
However, Yan Geling did not lose faith in the translation of Chinese literature, since the translation of literature is a long-term cultivation, which is not accomplished at one stroke. “There is one example which makes me believe that translation can reach high standard, not only translate the language, but also the culture; this example is the late English translator David Hawks, who devoted his entire life to literature translation. “The Story of the Stone” translated by David Hawks is expressive enough to turn the Chinese version into a symmetric English version; it not only translated the language, but also all the aspects of literature and philosophy. This is the only one successful example of all the translated versions I’ve ever seen. ” When she was asked about future works, Yan Geling said there was still much information in survey and accumulation. It seemed that it was out of confidentiality that she simply expressed the possibilities to prepare for writing something about war. “There will be so many materials to read, such as the New Fourth Army’s military operation journal, which has three thick volumes and must be read thoroughly. This is how research works: read one hundred pages, most of them superfluous words, but on page one hundred and one, you may find a line that is right what you need. It is very interesting. It takes years’ effort to do research like this.”
Although she is busy at work, and she has achieved great success in career, Yan Geling still sees herself as a traditional woman. “Helping husband and teaching child are important, family is important. I cook dinner every day, and I spend the whole Sunday with my child. Before my dad passed away, I spent a long time accompanying him in Beijing, now I think I should spend more time with my daughter. ”