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Striving for better literature

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Authors of children’s literature in China such as Zheng Yuanjie – who joined The Script Road last year – seem to have a smile on their faces all the time, as if they are always prepared to tell their young readers stories that tug at their heartstrings.
 
The same can be said of Qin Wenjun, who will be one of the Festival guests this year.  Like  another famous previous Festival guest, Wang Anyi, Qin Wenjun grew up in China during the era of the ‘Down to the Countryside Movement’ in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. While Wang chose to join the Zhiqing (educated youth) literature, Qin chose children’s literature due to some “special circumstances”.
 
When she was sent to Heilongjiang, Qin did not acclimatize well to the new environment, and was in poor health for a period. The young Qin later recovered and started picking up different tasks. Since she liked reading so much, she was asked to help out at a local primary school as a teacher. 
This experience brought back her childhood memories that she had almost forgotten, and impacted her greatly. Regardless of the political unrest of the outside world, Qin could always find the good nature of humanity in the hearts of the children.
 
“The sensitivity towards love, feelings about colours, beauty and the aesthetic of stories – all these can be found in children. And the fact is, every child is different and irreplaceable. This is what I firmly believe,” she says.
 
 
At the age of 26, Qin returned to Shanghai to work, while at the same time studying a degree in literature. One day, she walked past a school and heard the sound of the bell ringing, which reminded her of her time in Heilongjiang. That night she went home and wrote the story《甜甜的棗兒》 The Sweet Jujube and submitted it to a newspaper. The story was immediately published.
 
“The editor told me, after publishing the story, that what I wrote was children’s literature,” she recalls. “That was really an awakening, and made me realize that I had already entered the field of children’s literature.”
 
Qin’s stories put children at the centre, seeing the world through their eyes. But this was not the initial style of her stories. 
 
From 《十六歲少女》The Sixteen-year-old Girl to 《閃亮的螢火蟲》The Shiny Firefly, the stories from the early stages of her writing career were more about life and her experiences, displaying a more in-depth literary skill. 
 
Later, when she was writing 《男生賈里》Jia Li and 《女生賈梅》Jia Mei, she integrated her literature with a childlike nature, making them very appealing to children.  In fact, this transition was triggered by the difficulties facing the children’s literature genre in China at that period of time.
 
“Children’s literature in China hit an all-time low in the late 1980s.  At that time it emphasized rich emotions, deep thoughts and the need to be hugely artistic; younger readers thus abandoned them due to their inability to connect with the stories”. 
 
“I, however, believe that children’s literature should centre on children. While discussing moral issues or expressing emotions, we should do it in an interesting manner. Children’s literature should not ignore aesthetic and the diversification of styles.”
 
Jia Li and Jia Mei, both humorous and full of wisdom at the same time, were hugely popular among children. They also made adults realize that the aesthetic values of children were different from theirs. The two books signalled the beginning of an era of humorous coming-of-age stories in China, providing a breakthrough in children’s literature, and reigniting interest and sales. 
 
Today, these books by Qin are still hugely popular even after all these years, mostly because of their sharing common concepts of human nature.
 
“For example, Jia Li (the protagonist in the book of the same name) has a brave heart, which will never disappear from human nature. Likewise, Jia Mei’s pursuit of beauty is shared by children from all generations. These stories have a lot in common with human nature, that’s why children can find themselves in the stories, and are attracted to them.”
 
Luckily, Qin has a perfect tool that allows her to keep in touch with the minds of different generations of kids: letters from her young readers, telling her their thoughts and ideas.
 
“Once I publish a book, I will receive a lot of letters from children detailing their lives,” she explains. “I carefully read through all of them, which allows me to understand the life of kids nowadays, their thoughts and troubles.”
 
While she is an idol for many, Qin herself is a big fan of legendary American writer, Mark Twain.
 
“His depiction of teenagers in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was really remarkable. There are very few writers who can surpass him. I have been to his former residence three times, and talked to the people there.”
 
Qin has always insisted on the pursuit of great literature, and continues to seek and explore new writing styles.
 
This drive has kept her at the forefront of Chinese children’s literature, publishing new works as well as combining the “two wings” of children’s books, namely “literary value and imagination”.
 
“I hope I can create this literature and become the writer of all writers,” she concludes.
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