A brief introduction to Lao She:

Lao She (1899～1966), a modern novelist and playwright. His original name was Shu Qingchun, with the courtesy name Sheyu. Lao She is his most commonly used pen name, and there are other pen names such as Qingqing, Honglai, Yu, She, and Feiwo. Manchu, Zhenghongbanner people.

Life experience and creative path Lao She was born on February 3, 1899 in a poor family in Beijing. His father was a guard guarding the imperial city. He was killed in a street fight against the invasion of the Eight-Power Allied Forces in 1900. From then on, the family relied on the meager income earned by the mother sewing clothes and working as a handyman. Lao She spent his difficult childhood and adolescence in a large courtyard. The daily life in the courtyard made him familiar with the urban poor who struggled at the bottom of society, such as rickshaw pullers, handicraft workers, small vendors, low-level entertainers, prostitutes, etc. since he was a child, and he was well aware of their joys, sorrows and joys. The artistic influence of Dazayuan made him love traditional arts (such as folk art and drama) spread in the streets and alleys since he was a child, and he was attracted by their charm. From such an environment, he received a different life education and artistic enlightenment from most writers in modern China. These all had a great influence on him and left a distinctive mark on his creations.

In 1906, with the support of others, Lao She entered a private school; three years later, he transferred to a new school. In 1912, after graduating from primary school, he attended an ordinary middle school for half a year; the following year, he was admitted to Beijing Normal School, where all board and lodging expenses were provided by the state. In 1918, after graduating with honors, Lao She served as the principal of the No. 17 Public Primary School and National School in Beijing. In September 1920, he was promoted to a student counselor in the suburbs of North District. He also successively served as a private elementary school teacher and a manager of a Chinese tutoring club.

The May Fourth Movement broke out in the second year after Lao She became the principal of the primary school. He claimed that he only "saw the May 4th Movement, but was not part of it, and... was a bystander to this big movement" ("How I Write "Zhao Zi Yue"). This indeed caused him to have some estrangement and misunderstanding about young students and their activities for a period of time. However, the new trends of the times that emerged during the May Fourth Movement, including the literary revolution, still impacted his soul. It turned out that the corruption of the grassroots institutions of the warlord government and the hypocrisy of the defenders who were involved in it were all flaws and ugliness in the eyes of this young man who had just come from the bottom of society, and it was difficult to get along with them peacefully. When the "May Fourth Movement" called for democratic science and individual liberation, he was awakened from his life creed of "run a primary school conscientiously, serve his mother submissively, get married and have children, that's all" ("May Fourth Movement" What did you give me?"), he made a new choice. In September 1922, Lao She resigned from all his posts and went to work as a Chinese language teacher in the middle school department of Nankai School in Tianjin, which was known for its liberal new school. There he wrote his first new literary work "Little Bell". Before that, she had resolutely canceled the engagement arranged by her mother. Returning to Beijing the following year, he served as a clerk for the Beijing Education Association chaired by Gu Mengyu. At the same time, he taught part-time at the No. 1 Middle School and went to Yenching University to audit English in his spare time. At one time he also believed in Christianity. Although the road was not without twists and turns, the May Fourth Movement pushed him to further break away from feudal and secular fetters and seek a life that was more meaningful than what he had already obtained.

In 1924, Lao She went to England to serve as a Chinese lecturer at the Oriental College of the University of London. In order to improve my English level, I read a lot of English works. Both life and books opened up to him a wider and more colorful world than he had previously seen. Reading works further stimulated his literary interests. The loneliness of living in a foreign country and the increasingly strong homesickness require sustenance and venting. Several factors intertwined together, prompting him to write down the people and things he had seen in literary and artistic form. The novel "Lao Zhang's Philosophy", written in 1926, is based on what he saw while working in the education field that year. Then he wrote the novels "Zhao Zi said" (1926) and "Two Horses" (1929). The three works were serialized in the "Novel Monthly", a publication of the Literary Research Association. They immediately caught the attention of readers with their relaxed and smooth writing style, full of Beijing's local flavor, and good at portraying the lives and psychology of citizens. His creations have shown the characteristics of realism from the beginning, and have a distinct artistic personality from language and style to content and theme.

In 1926, Lao She joined the Literary Research Association. He finally found a job worth devoting himself to and a fulfilling life in his literary career.

Lao She has lived in the UK for 5 years. In the summer of 1929, he returned to China via France, Germany, Italy and other countries. During the trip, in order to raise travel expenses, he taught in an overseas Chinese middle school in Singapore for half a year. While in England, he was excited about the advance of the Northern Expedition at home. When I arrived in Singapore, I felt the climax of the national liberation movement from the revolutionary enthusiasm of young students. As a result, he interrupted the writing of a novel describing the love between young men and women, and wrote another fairy tale "Xiao Po's Birthday" (1930), which reflects the awakening of the oppressed nation.

In March 1930, Lao She returned to his motherland. In July of the same year, he went to Jinan Qilu University to teach. In the summer of the following year, she married Hu Qing, who later became a Chinese painter. In 1934, he was appointed professor at Shandong University in Qingdao. At these two universities, he successively offered courses on "Introduction to Literature", "European Literary Trends of Thought", "History of Foreign Literature" and writing courses. After school, he continued to write novels. "Cat City" (1932) exposes the corruption of old China in the form of a fable, criticizing the conservative and ignorant national habits and the slave mentality of fearing foreigners. At the same time, it reveals pessimism about national affairs and misunderstanding of the revolution. It is a work with many flaws and many controversies. "Divorce" (1933) describes the mediocre life of a group of civil servants, mocking and ridiculing it. It fully demonstrates his characteristics as an expressor and critic of Beijing civil society and as a humorist. It is a novel that is very representative of Lao She's style. works. "The Legend of Niu Tianci" (1934) and the novella "Crescent Moon" (1935) and "In This Lifetime" (1937) all captured the life scenes of ordinary people from the streets. The former is a mockery of secular life and citizen psychology, full of jokes; the latter two are criticisms of injustice in the world, full of resentment and mourning, and the tone of the work also becomes heavy.

Soon after returning to China, Lao She began to write short stories, most of which were included in "Going to the Market" (1934), "Collection of Yinghai Sea" (1935), and "Collection of Clams and Algae" (1936). In the first few articles, there was a tendency to "write random jokes" ("How I Write Short Stories"). Some of them were humorous sketches that were almost funny. Soon, there were more chapters with serious and social significance. He wrote humorous poems and essays for "The Analects of Confucius" edited by Lin Yutang, and was one of the important contributors to the journal. He also published essays in "Shenbao·Free Talk". These poems, with light and playful words, reveal the writer's concern and anxiety about the fate of the motherland under the Japanese invasion conspiracy. Some of them were included in "Lao She's Collected Humorous Poems and Essays" (1934). Starting from 1935, he also wrote articles reviewing and summarizing his creative experience, and later compiled these articles into the book "Lao Niu Breaks the Car" (1937). In the mid-1930s, Lao She wrote a large number of works in various genres, and his style became increasingly mature. These works were published in newspapers and periodicals of different tendencies, and he became an active writer in the literary world.

The most important achievement of this period was the novel "Camel Xiangzi" which was serialized in "Cosmic Wind" from September 1936. The novel tells the story of a young, strong and energetic rickshaw driver who hopes to change his humble status through personal struggle. He tried his best and struggled several times, but what he got was failure and blow. As his illusions were shattered, his faith and pursuit of life were also lost. The writer uses a severe realism method to describe his process from self-respect and self-confidence to self-destruction, that is, his destruction by life. Xiangzi's personal unfortunate fate is a profound social tragedy. The novel prominently displays the writer's sincere sympathy and profound understanding of the urban poor, and has become Lao She's main masterpiece. "Camel Xiangzi" is one of the best works in China in the 1930s and an outstanding novel in modern China; it established Lao She's important position in the history of modern Chinese literature. After being translated into English in the 1940s, it also won the favor of foreign readers.

The Anti-Japanese War drew Lao She into the whirlpool of the times. In October 1937, Lao She, who returned to teach at Qilu University, rushed to Wuhan alone on the eve of Jinan's fall.

In March 1938, the All-China Literary and Art Circles Anti-Enemy Association was established in Wuhan. He was elected as a director and director of the General Affairs Department, in charge of the daily affairs of the association, and became the actual main person in charge of this group. In June 1939, he participated in the North Road Condolence Group of the National Condolence Federation to express condolences to the soldiers and civilians during the Anti-Japanese War. In the past six months, he traveled more than 20,000 miles, passing through eight provinces: Sichuan, Hubei, Henan, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu, and Suizhou, including Yan'an and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Anti-Japanese Democratic Base Area. These have broadened his horizons and enriched his life. In the past, due to some distance from the revolutionary forces and revolutionary movements, misunderstandings arose. At this time, through contact and working with colleagues, their understanding was enhanced, and his political attitude became obviously radical. In 1944, Mao Dun once pointed out: "Without Mr. Lao She's hard work and hard work, this major event - the great unity of the writers and artists of the Anti-Japanese War - might not have been completed so smoothly and quickly, and I'm afraid it would not have been able to sustain it with difficulty until today." ("Mr. Lao She who has worked gloriously for twenty years") In order to implement the anti-Japanese united front policy proposed by the Communist Party of China in the literary and art circles, to eliminate the sabotage and interference of the Kuomintang die-hards, and to protect the legitimate rights and interests of writers, he did countless things Work less. In the late period of the Anti-Japanese War, he joined the growing democratic movement. In April 1944, people from all walks of life in Chongqing and other places held activities to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Lao She's creative life, and spoke highly of him from different aspects. Lao She was no longer a writer who simply immersed himself in writing. He became an organizer and social activist in the literary and art circles, and a fighter against Japan and for democracy. The Anti-Japanese War caused profound changes in Lao She's thoughts and actions.

The above changes are also clearly reflected in his creations. As soon as the war broke out, he immediately gave up the two novels he had written tens of thousands of words, and became the most enthusiastic advocate and practitioner of popular literature and art. In Jinan, Wuhan, Chongqing and other places, he discussed the writing of Anti-Japanese War drum lyrics with folk singers. He also used various old forms to write many popular works to promote the Anti-Japanese War, including Peking Opera, drum lyrics, cross talk, and numbers. Nobles, pendants, etc. are provided for artists to perform. Some of these works are included in "Three Four Ones" (1938). In the discussion about "national form" in the literary and art circles, he wrote the long poem "Jianbei Pian" (1940-1942, unfinished) that "blends the old and the new" ("How I wrote "Jianbei Pian""). Later, he began to write dramas, either personally or in collaboration with others, and wrote more than a dozen scripts in succession, such as "Remnant Mist" (1939) and "Country First" (1940): some called for national unity and some praised patriotic generals. , some expose the corruption and depravity of the "rear area", and resisting the war to save the country are the common themes of these works. He later concluded: "I don't understand the tricks of the stage, so I can't do the tricks of those dramas." There are definite artistic weaknesses. But through these efforts, he was well prepared for his plays in the 1950s. In early 1944, Lao She began writing the novel "Four Generations Under One Roof". The book is divided into three parts: "Confusion", "Stealing Life" and "Famine", with millions of words, describing the suffering and struggle of people from all walks of life after the fall of Peiping. Lao She was familiar with his hometown but lacked the experience of this period of life. His wife Hu Qing, who had just arrived in Chongqing from Peiping, provided him with a large amount of material about the suffering and struggle of the people in his hometown under the rule of the enemy and puppets, which made up for this shortcoming to a certain extent. Although the clues of the anti-Japanese struggle in the book are still a bit thin and vague, the strong oil paint paints out the life and death of this ancient city at the critical moment of national survival, and meticulously depicts the inner conflicts and freedoms of the middle- and lower-class residents who are deeply bound by traditional concepts. This budding awakening contains lashings and expectations for them, adding many colorful and thoughtful pictures to his many depictions of Beijing citizens.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, in March 1946, at the invitation of the U.S. State Department, Lao She went to the United States to give lectures. After the one-year period expired, he continued to live in the United States, completed "Four Generations Under One Roof", created another novel "The Drum Calligrapher", and also assisted others in translating these two novels into English. "Artists of Drum Calligraphy" tells the story of old-style artists pursuing a new life in the storm of the Anti-Japanese War. It presents the true image of revolutionaries and calls for the arrival of New China.

On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded. On the 13th, Lao She set off back to China, passing through Japan, the Philippines and other places, and arrived in Tianjin on December 9th. "It has been fourteen years since I left North China. When I suddenly saw the ice and snow and the yellow land on the river bank, I couldn't help but shed tears in my eyes" ("From San Francisco to Tianjin"). This writer who was born in Beijing and has always been famous for his depictions of Beijing had not settled down again in his beloved hometown until this time after leaving home in 1924.

The prosperous atmosphere of New China immediately aroused Lao She's new creative enthusiasm. In January 1950, less than a month after returning to China, he published his first work praising New China - Dagu Shu "Celebrating the New Year". He once again engaged in the reform of traditional art with great enthusiasm, including the work of transforming old-style artists. The play "Fang Zhenzhen" (1950) is based on the experience of artists before and after liberation. The first half of the content is somewhat similar to "The Drum Book Artist". A year later, the drama "Longxugou" was staged, which aroused strong repercussions in the literary and artistic circles and society. The script is based on the true story of the people's government who first vigorously improved the living conditions in the slums in the early days of liberation. Lao She combined his familiarity and love for Beijing and the urban poor with his excitement and joy for their new life, and wrote about the profound changes that are taking place in ancient Beijing and the urban poor who have experienced hardships. This is an ode to the new Beijing and new China. An old writer from old China could write such an excellent work praising New China in a short period of time. Its success aroused widespread admiration, and Lao She was awarded the title of "People's Artist".

Since the early 1950s, Lao She has successively served as a member of the Cultural and Educational Committee of the Government Affairs Council, a member of the Beijing Municipal People's Committee, vice chairman of the Chinese Federation of Literary and Art Circles, vice chairman and secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Writers Association, and a member of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Research Committee. He holds the positions of vice-chairman of the association, director of the Chinese Dramatists Association and Chinese Folk Art Workers Association, and chairman of the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles. He is also in charge of minority literature work and pays attention to the training and guidance of young literary workers; he has been elected to the National People's Congress many times. Representative to the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, etc.; has visited North Korea, the Soviet Union, India, Czechoslovakia, Japan and other countries. He devoted more time and energy to political, social, cultural, and friendly foreign exchange activities than during the Anti-Japanese War; he also wrote more diligently, and new works continued to come out. As he said, "I look at society and always want my pen to catch up with the current in front of me" ("Ten Years of Pen and Ink"). He strives to understand and experience new life, and this is reflected in his works. Naturally, not every attempt is successful. For example, the novel "The Nameless Highlands Got a Name" (1954), which describes the combat achievements of the Chinese People's Volunteers, and the drama "Youth Commando" (1955), which praises the labor competition of construction workers, lack artistic power due to the lack of real life experience. Well-written works express the joys and sorrows of Beijing citizens' lives, such as the drama "Shopgirl" (1958), "Family Portrait" (1959), etc. They can all be regarded as sequels to "Longxugou": they depict ancient Beijing and how the conservative citizens who have experienced hardships move towards a new life. The writer is familiar with these characters and their changes. With tears and laughter, he writes about the historical leap forward through the comparison before and after liberation, allowing people to realize a little bit of the true meaning of life amidst laughter. The play "Looking West to Chang'an" (1956) was written based on the Li Wanming case that shocked the country. Li Wanming was able to cheat and cheat everywhere, exposing the serious bureaucracy and unhealthy tendencies of some cadres, which the play exposed and ridiculed. How to write good satires about the new society is a topic that has been discussed a lot but not practiced much. This attempt by Lao She, who is known for his humor and satire, is particularly eye-catching.

In his later creations, the most successful ones were the drama "Teahouse" (1957) and the novel "Under the Red Flag" (1961-1962, unfinished). The former uses a teahouse in Beijing as the stage, using the characteristics of "a big teahouse is a small society" to unfold the life scenes and life scenes in three different eras after the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898 in the late Qing Dynasty, the period of the Beiyang warlords' separatism in the early years of the Republic of China, and the eve of the collapse of the Kuomintang government. Historical trends, half a century before and after.

There are more than 60 characters in the play. There is no central story clue in the whole play, and there is no plot connection between each act. However, it can be tightly structured and completed in one go, reproducing the sharp conflicts and rich social life, and through the increasing trend of old China. Decline, the end of the road, reveal the truth that we must find another way out. The latter is autobiographical in nature, but it describes the colorful social scene when the Qing Empire was about to collapse, especially the differentiation and decline of the banner society as a special pillar of Qing rule in the great turmoil. Both works give full play to Lao She's expertise as a painter of Beijing folk customs. "Under the Red Flag" involves writing and becoming interesting, once again showing the humorous style, laughing and cursing, which can be chewed, indicating that his humor has become deeper and more subtle. Although they all describe old China, and "Teahouse" still has a strong sense of tragedy, they all jump with the pulse of the times, show the power of the people and the trend of historical progress, and have an inherent spirit of historical optimism. This marks another important development in the writer's thoughts and realistic creative methods. "Teahouse" is one of the most outstanding plays on the contemporary Chinese drama stage. When it was performed in some Western European countries, it was hailed as "a miracle on the Eastern stage." (See color pictures of stills from Lao She's play "Teahouse" (performed by the Beijing People's Art Theater))

The mid-1930s was the first peak of Lao She's creation, and the 1950s to 1960s was the second peak, with numerous works. , there are also new developments in thought and art. Writers who started writing in the 1920s and 1930s still maintained strong artistic creativity in the 1950s and 1960s and continued to achieve new results. Lao She is one of the outstanding ones. For this reason, it is particularly regrettable that he died unfortunately on August 24, 1966, in the early stages of the "Cultural Revolution".

Literary achievements Lao She is first known for his novels. When he started writing, there were few new literature writers writing long novels. He was one of the earliest authors of modern Chinese novels and contributed to the development of this genre. Later, he became famous for his plays, with a large number of works, and became one of the most important playwrights in the 1950s and 1960s. He has only a few short stories, but there are also excellent works that are colorful and meaningful, such as "The Soul-Destroying Gun", "Taking Office", "Liu Family Courtyard", etc., all of which are written with their own characteristics. His short stories are often better than his long works in terms of exquisite artistic conception and broad subject matter. He wrote many interesting and witty prose sketches, as well as some old and new style poems. Lao She's novels include novels, novellas, short stories and novels, as well as fairy tales and fables. In drama creation, in addition to drama, there are also children's drama, fairy tale drama, opera, drama, song and dance mixed drama, etc. Unlike most writers after the May Fourth Movement, he also used a variety of traditional forms to write a large number of popular works of various genres, including operas that were transplanted and adapted from different traditional operas. Lao She is one of the modern Chinese writers whose works have the most diverse forms and genres, and he has achieved outstanding results in many fields.

In addition to the writer's diligence and ability to draw nourishment from both traditional Chinese and foreign literature, there are also more profound reasons in terms of ideology and art. When the Anti-Japanese War broke out, Lao She was already a famous novelist. In view of the urgent need to agitate for the Anti-Japanese War in a literary and artistic form that the people understood and loved, he stopped writing novels and devoted himself to exploring the utilization and transformation of popular literature and art, and practiced "bold experimentation" ( Popular) various genres of literature and art" ("Three Years of Writing"). Later, out of the consideration that "the Anti-Japanese War requires drama, and drama must resist the War of Resistance" ("The Development and Difficulties of Anti-Japanese War Drama"), he turned to drama creation. As soon as the People's Republic of China was established, he had just returned to China. When writing "Longxugou", he knew how difficult it was to change from a critic of the old China to a praiser of the new China: "In my life, In more than 20 years of writing experience, writing "Longxugou" was the biggest adventure"; "My gratitude to the government's enthusiasm made me dare to take risks" ("The Writing Process of "Longxugou""). He used his creative practice to answer the new issues raised by the times.

After he achieved success in drama creation, he still continued to make "new attempts, not completely tied up by old clichés" ("Answers to Several Questions About "Teahouse""), emphasizing time, place, character clues and plots. They all require a high degree of concentration to challenge the traditional drama rules and write a unique "Teahouse", which is called "Picture Scroll Opera". In Lao She, "not only the most precious political passion of an artist is expressed, but also the true courage of an artist, which is equally precious" (Zhou Yang, "What can we learn from "Longxugou"?"), and a strong sense of social responsibility. His spirit of artistic innovation has enabled him to tirelessly dabble in various fields of literary creation, and has enabled him to never be satisfied with any achievements he has already made. He has been able to continuously make important progress and breakthroughs in his creative career of more than 40 years.

When Lao She started writing, he had the attitude of "no matter who or what, the writing must be funny and fun" and "the intention must be humorous" ("How I wrote "Zhao Zi said"). His works have a distinct humorous and satirical tone from the beginning. He is one of the few humor writers in the history of modern literature. He was once known as the "Master of Humor" and "The Laughter". His early works contained some interludes that were purely for laughs and lacked ideological significance. His character of "I want to laugh and scold without killing everyone" ("How I Write "Old Zhang's Philosophy"") makes his satire lack the coldness and sharpness of Lu Xun, and is more tender and relaxed, thus forming His unique style of humor. From the mid-1930s, as he had more experience with the country's disasters and the harshness of life, Lao She's writing style became angry and serious. Humor was no longer the keynote of most of his works, and he was no longer praised for all his works. Humorous works, but in most of his works, witty and playful language still often appears, and the pen and ink that combines laughter and curses can make people laugh or dumbfounded, and sometimes can make people cry or make people think. In later works, the writer made many characters say goodbye to yesterday with a smile. All of these have an inherent sense of humor—sublimated humor.

Most of Lao She's works are based on citizens' life. He is good at depicting the life and destiny of the urban poor, especially the conservative and backward middle- and lower-class citizens who are soaked in feudal patriarchal concepts. In the midst of national conflicts and class struggles, and under the impact of new historical trends, he is full of confusion, hesitation, and lonely ambivalence. , and the ridiculous behavior of being in a dilemma and at a loss. He likes to reflect common social conflicts through ordinary scenes, and his brushstrokes often extend to the exploration of the national spirit or the reflection on the destiny of the nation, allowing people to taste the severity and heaviness of life through lightness and humor. The brightly colored rendering of natural scenery and the meticulous description of customs and human feelings add to the life and interest of the work. In the history of modern literature, Lao She's name is always closely associated with themes about citizens and Beijing. He is an outstanding painter of customs and world affairs (especially the customs and customs of Beijing) in the modern Chinese literary world. As a great master, the social reality he reflects may not be broad enough, but within the scope he depicts, he combines history and reality, from the natural scenery of the four seasons, the social atmosphere and customs of different eras, to the three religions and nine streams. The joys, sorrows, joys and subtle mentalities of all kinds of people are combined and condensed into a vivid, vivid and lively world, forming a complete, full and "Beijing-flavored" world. This is Lao She's special contribution in the history of modern literature.

Another characteristic of Lao She’s works is that they express a clear anti-imperialist and patriotic theme. Anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism have been the basic theme of the entire new literature since the May 4th Movement. However, except for specific periods (such as during the May 30th Movement, after the "September 18th" Incident, and during the Anti-Japanese War), there are not many anti-imperialist themes and contents in the creations of ordinary writers. Lao She's works often have obvious expressions. His first composition, "Little Bell", expresses the national consciousness of resisting foreign invaders through the childish actions of primary school students. Mao Dun deeply felt "the deep love and desire for the motherland" from Lao She's earliest works ("Mr. Lao She who worked brilliantly for twenty years").

After that, Lao She wrote many works that directly exposed the crimes of imperialist aggression, as well as works that described from different aspects the various harms caused to the Chinese people by their economic, cultural, religious penetration and racial discrimination. He expressed the national awakening and commended the national integrity, while criticizing the foreign slaves who were groveling in the face of these invasions and infiltrations and working as collaborators. The drama "The Fist of God" (also known as "The Boxers"), written in the early 1960s, reproduces the heroic scenes of Beijing residents fighting against the Eight-Power Allied Forces. Later works strongly expressed the joy and pride of the Chinese people as masters of their own country, independent and self-reliant and stronger than the world. His love for the socialist motherland added new content and brilliance to his patriotism, reaching a new ideological height. A strong sense of national self-esteem and ardent patriotism are Lao She's noble character and a precious spiritual legacy in his works.

The new literature writers after the "May 4th Movement" abandoned the classical Chinese written by feudal literati, and did not adopt the modern vernacular used in scripted novels and operas. Instead, they created from modern spoken language to reflect modern life. , modern vernacular that expresses modern people's psychological activities, as a new literary language - Lao She has made outstanding achievements in this. He is from Beijing and can speak standard Mandarin; more importantly, he strives to absorb and refine literary language from the spoken language of the people. Pay attention to learning to avoid the problems of artificial and over-European student accents; pay attention to refinement, be able to break away from rough natural forms, and overcome the weakness of copying and abusing dialects. What he uses is a truly artistic living language. Lao She's novels and prose are catchy, and the dialogues in his dramas are even more lively and expressive; the language of many characters in his works has their own personality characteristics. He solved the problem of language disconnect very well. In terms of accurate, vivid, expressive and artistic language, and in creating new literary language, he is very outstanding among modern writers. Lao She believes that a writer's style is first reflected in language, and his language has indeed become an important means of expressing artistic style. Even the language of his theoretical articles is very personal. His contribution in this regard also goes beyond the scope of literary creation. As early as the 1930s, some people advocated using his works as "textbooks for promoting pure Mandarin" ("Letter from Lao She to Zhao Jiabi"). His writings have been frequently cited examples in modern Chinese textbooks.

Lao She's creations are influenced by the British Dickens, Conrad and others, and have a deeper connection with traditional Chinese literature and art, which is mainly popular among the people. This makes his works have the characteristics of popularization, popularity, and strong national color, and can be appreciated by both refined and popular people from form to content. Therefore, it broke through the narrow circle where new literature was only circulated among students and educated youths earlier, and became popular among a wide range of readers. Later, it truly and vividly depicted the social landscape and people's psychology of modern China, with distinctive Chinese characteristics. Coupled with standardized modern Chinese, it has attracted attention from abroad. All these have expanded the influence of modern Chinese literature. He drew inspiration from the daily life of little people in Beijing's Hutongs, and skillfully used literary language full of "Beijing flavor", which has been imitated by some newcomers.

Publication and editions of works Lao She was a prolific writer. He wrote more than 1,000 works in his life, with a word count of 7 million to 8 million. In addition to the aforementioned works, the main works published during his lifetime include the novels "Dr. Wen" (also known as "The Chosen", 1936-1937), "Cremation" (1943-1944), and the short story collection "Train Collection" (1939) , "The Anemia Collection" (1944), etc.; the dramas "Zhang Zizhong" (1941), "The Problem of Face" (1941), "The Dragon and the Snake" (1942), "Returning to Come" (1942), "Who Arrives in Chongqing First" "(1942), "Willow Tree Well" (quju, 1952), "Spring Flowers and Autumn Facts" (1953), "Fifteen Guans" (a Peking Opera adapted from the legend of Fifteen Guans, 1956), "Red Courtyard" (1958), etc.; Collection of essays and literary short essays "Collection of Fortune Stars" (1958), "Collection of Little Flowers" (1963), "Export into Chapters" (1964), etc.

In addition, from the 1930s to the 1950s, there were various anthologies selected by writers and compiled by others, which mainly included short stories, novellas and plays. His translation of George Bernard Shaw's play "The Apple Cart" was included in "The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw" (1956).

Lao She did not collect and publish his works at any time during his lifetime. There are many lost chapters. In the 1930s and 1940s, there were many pirated books without the author's consent, containing many errors and occasionally mixed with other people's works. In the first half of the 1950s, writers revised some works (such as "Camel Xiangzi" and "Divorce") to form different versions. Since the late 1970s, the work of collecting and sorting out Lao She's works has attracted widespread attention, and "Selected Poems of Lao She" (1980), "Lao She's Novels" (1982), "Lao She on Creation" (1980), "Selected Poems of Lao She" (1980) and "Lao She on Drama" (1981), "Selected Works of Lao She's Folk Art" (1982), and "Collection of Lao She's Literary Criticisms" (1982), etc. Most of the collections are articles scattered in newspapers and periodicals. The "Collected Works of Lao She", which People's Literature Publishing House began to edit and publish in 1980, collects the writer's literary writings from 1925 to 1966, organized by literary genre classification and writing year, and has been collated according to the first edition or other editions, plus The simple annotations are a relatively complete and accurate compilation of Lao She's works so far.

Critical research texts about Lao She and his works began to appear in the late 1920s, and gradually increased in number from the mid-1930s. By the 1950s and 1960s, every time Lao She’s new work came out, it immediately aroused widespread discussion among critics . Li Changzhi, Zhu Ziqing, Wang Shuming, Zhao Shaohou, Ye Shengtao, Ba Ren, Chang Feng, Xu Jie, Yi Qun, Tian Zhongji, Wu Zuxiang, Zhou Yang, Jiao Juyin, Guang Weiran, Li Jianwu, Mei Qian, Zhang Geng, Fengzi and others all wrote successively. Commented. Since the late 1970s, newspapers and periodicals have published many articles recalling Lao She, and systematic and comprehensive research has been increasingly carried out. In addition to continuing to analyze and evaluate Lao She's representative works, they have also conducted separate studies on his creative path, artistic style, and status in literary history. comprehensive discussion.

The translation, publication and research on Lao She’s works abroad are relatively active. Japan's Keiichi Ito, France's Paul Badi, Poland's Zbigniew Swupski, and the United States' Ranbir Waller have all written papers or books on Lao She.