The hero Zhou Rui writes about China’s Yiqin. Thoughts after reading it.

Every time I read Zhou Rui’s new work, I always think of the time when a group of us worked together to create the Chinese version of Sesame Street more than ten years ago. That was the first time I met Zhou Rui. He was taller than I thought, so much so that I felt that the horse approaching me was a very tall horse, and he looked very kingly. Although Zhou Rui also experienced a serious illness later, this did not seem to diminish his inner strength and momentum. Every time I read his words, I lament their existence and transcendence. His novels seem to have become more humorous in recent years. He is free and easy, and his fairy tales are even more unrestrained, which makes me have a deeper respect for him personally and his writing.

Zhou Rui is the kind of writer who is extremely serious and persistent about writing. He talks about writing in such a high and selfless way, full of intoxication and childishness. I think this is the reason why he writes so well. It is not so rare that a person can be so absorbed in writing as to be a kind of innate happiness. A typical example is that no matter where Zhou Rui goes, you can see the laptop he carries with him. He can control his writing inspiration as freely as turning on a tap. This is really enviable. At a children's literature conference last year, Zhou Rui arrived at the venue half an hour early because he heard the wrong time. And he didn't bring his laptop that day. He said with regret, "I would have arrived half an hour late." In hours, I can still write a few hundred words. When I heard what he said, I felt really shocked and ashamed, for his boundless talent and diligence, and for my own ignorance and laziness. It was during this meeting that we once again talked about some issues about nationalized creation. I remember we talked about the current focus on a nationalized factor in our original children's literature. We all felt that it was very necessary to find a nationalized element. Sexual things are used to support works, and such attempts or explorations are worth practicing by writers. I also talked about my worries, which are the contradictions and integration issues in the creation of our written words and the symbols of oral folk culture. Zhou Rui was deeply moved after hearing this. He was very happy to talk about the writing plans and ideas he was currently working on. It was a huge writing series. It could also be said to be an ambitious and ambitious tree that Zhou Rui wanted to plant. Fairy tale tree - and the books "Qin" and "Chess" spread out in front of me at this moment are already the fruits of this writing tree. Although this is only a small part of this plan, you can't help but admire Zhou Rui It is so fast, and after reading his preface, you can also understand more about his grand fairy tale tree concept——

I imagine a school with literary classes and martial arts classes, with various classes. A variety of courses related to culture and martial arts. There are company white-collar workers, police officers, reporters, doctors, chefs... there are alumni of this school from all walks of life in society, and they are good at each in my story and take turns to perform. Each of the music, chess, calligraphy and painting that are often mentioned in Chinese culture can be told in a story. It contains both stories and knowledge.

The overall title of this set of books is "The Hero Zhou Rui Writes about China". Some people do call me "hero", although I don't know martial arts, just like the hero Jin Yong also doesn't know martial arts. What Jin Daxia inspired me is that the soul of martial arts stories is imagination. To show superb skills between tofu and ham, it does not necessarily require the light of swords and shadows. In "Painting", the girl Qiu Danbing can throw flower petals to paint on spider webs. In "Chess", the master Mei Shuying performs "Three Plum Blossoms" in a tea bowl - playing with ice, playing with snow, and playing with wind. (This detail is related to my friend Professor Mei Zihan. Every time he goes to KTV, he sings "Three Plum Blossom Lanes".) In "Book", the monk on the first floor of the Biancai Pagoda created the "Tiao Tiao Stick" , I transplanted it from the bamboo pole dance of the Li people in Hainan Island. The various martial arts in my writing are actually some fantasy gymnastics, which exercise the imagination of readers and myself.

In my opinion, it is Zhou Rui’s Chinese-style fairy tale world, a fairy tale that combines the spirit of martial arts, humorous temperament, wild game fantasy and other characteristics. It is Zhou Rui’s time-travel and fantasy world. It's funny, and it fully demonstrates Zhou Rui's accomplishments and skills in classical literature. For modern children, historical materials and allusions may be relatively distant and heavy, while fashionable slang and even Internet vocabulary that children love to hear and hear can appear relatively light if not used well. How to combine them, there is a question of degree. Among Zhou Rui's previous similar works, I think "Humorous Liaozhai" is Zhou Rui's best grasp, and the "Qin" and "Chess" he has created so far are also quite imaginative, and there are many wonderful touches in them. The extended narrative of "Qin" and the suspenseful and unrestrained "Chess" both have the charm of martial arts. Especially the appendix at the back, which contains many allusions, is worth reading. It has the feeling of a book inside a book and a book outside the book. The structure is innovative and at the same time does not reveal any traces. This is very skillful. You can often feel the gurgling water of inspiration in the works, just like the saying in the works, "A light effort is a heavy effort." That is really Zhou's writing style. It reminds me of what Zhou Rui said about children's literature many years ago. Theory, "is a climb from high to low." This sentence of his is so vivid and profound that I quoted it more than once.

What is also worth mentioning about these books is Zhou Rui's writing style and state. He adopts a very modern "network serialization method", which is like connecting with his own story, and then... Coupled with the active participation of children, this kind of participation enables the birth and continuation of a new story. I call it a "word workshop", which is similar to the collective creation form of workshops currently popular in the theater world. But here, the writer becomes the director and the one who controls the situation, so the naughty game heart of Zhou Rui is fully displayed——

Readers will ask: What will you write next? I said: If everyone likes it, maybe I will write other stories related to Chinese culture, such as "Food", "Drama", "Medicine", "House", "Mystery"... There is a reader Question: Can you write "Poison"? I thought about it and realized that this is indeed part of Chinese culture. Empress Li who wrote "Ask How Much Sorrow I Can Have" was poisoned to death by Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. The "trigger medicine" used was the traditional Chinese medicine Nux vomica. After taking it, it destroyed the central nervous system, caused convulsions all over the body, and the head and feet shrank together. …But I don’t like bleak writing. But I didn’t definitely say that I wouldn’t write “Poison”. Maybe we can find a non-cold angle, such as fighting fire with fire, and get a comedic effect?

The four words "comedy effect" exactly express the writing state and realm that Zhou Rui has been pursuing these years. It is a heroic spirit, a pair of naughty wings, and a fairy tale king. The most shining and unique charm in Zhou Rui's works.

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