Integration Into The Wilderness

This paper tries to analyze the folk tropism displayed in Zhang Wei'sstory-writing. The analysis is done in three aspects discussed in three sections.Section I tries to show the writer's passion of intimity with the countryside lifeby generalizing his stories on an overall basis and also divide his story-writing intothree stages according to his shift of point of views in each of the stages. So far therehasn't had such an angle-based clear division. At the earliest stage, Zhang Wei wrotefrom his own life experiences and feelings rather than from consciousness, so heunconsciously stepped into the countryside. He displayed the beauty of thecountryside by portraying female farmers and maintained civil morality and justice bymales' thinking.. Never before did the critics classify and comment on A Pool of ClearWater, Autumn series together with the Lu Qing River series. Beginning with thewriting of The Old Boat, Zhang Wei started to explore the countryside consciouslyand roundly. The writer, at this stage, stipulated people's ideas and deeds with civilmorality on the one hand and on the other hand he did lay bare the ugliness, and evilthere. He was sentimentally attached to the traditional agricultural civilization and atthe same time he had to admit its weakness and fragility confronted with modernindustrial civilization. The novelty of the paper lies in its generalization of the writer'sstories at this stage as the stage of his unsteadiness and hesitation about thecountryside life. Yearn and Retrospection indicated his breakthrough into a new stage:seek a spiritual homestead on the farmland. The novelty in generalizing and analyzinghis writing of the later stage lies in pointing out that his exploration of the paradise inhis later stories experienced a transitional process of looking for his "father" to thekindred and finally to the nature and the land.Section II tries to analyze Zhang Wei's original creativity embodied in his uniquefolk standpoint. The novelty can be seen in putting, first of all, Zhang Wei's writing inthe background of all the writings of the farmland life in the new era and then displayshis unique standpoint, that is, the standpoint of intimating the land with hisfolk-passion. Then by comparing with Mo Yan, his contemporary writer who alsowrites on country life , further displays his uniqueness: his standpoint is but thespiritual one of the intellectuals who surpass the real folk world. It is the land spiritsupported by intellectual's morality that controls Zhang Wei's story writing. He sparesno efforts in bestowing the country life with ideal and spiritual pursuit and clinginglyseeking a way out for the wronged, the deprived and the oppressed who never give uptheir ideals;the paper goes on to analyze, in 4 aspects, Zhang Wei's folk standpointappearing intellectual's consciousness .Section III tries to probe, from the angle of the writer himself, the four causes ofhis "integrating with the field" : firstly the writer's affectionateness toward the folklife, the affectionateness originating from his childhood memories ,his unique view onmother nature, his simple morality and his passionate devotion to the farmland;secondly the writer's view on literature, the view rooted in the soil;Zhang Weibelieved that once literature comes from and integrates into the folk life it becomesgreat and free. "integrating with the field" has always been his ideal and pursuit in hisstory-writing and he holds that literature should show great concern about the folk;thirdly the writer's absorption and heritage of traditional cultural spirit;he concernsabout the folk from his na?ve humanitarianism and the ideology of Confucianism,Taoism can be easily seen between the lines, in the characters' words and deeds,inaddition,he possesses atistic conception towards folk;finally the writer's infatuationtoward the nature, the land the folk life, his efforts in constructing the spiritual Utopiain the countryside and influences from other writers, home and abroad,characteristically, culturally and spiritually. There has not had any systematic andmulti-sided comment on Zhang Wei's "integrating with the field" from the angle ofthe subjective writer and has no wide analysis and explanation of the writer and hisstories from the point of view of the writer himself.