In 1985, Zheng Yuanjie, dubbed the Chinese “King of Fairy Tales” established a monthly publication of the same name, which features only his stories. Since then, it has published hundreds of millions of books, with the highest publishing record of one million in one month, which could well be a world record. At the Macau Literary Festival this year, the organizers invited the King himself, and I was fortunate to be the host at one of his talks.
This was such bliss for me because I am exactly the generation that grew up with his magazine. I remember reading a story in The Adventures of Shuke and Beita that talks about the two mice Shuke and Beita. One time, they found a toy tank and tried using nuts as bombs. Now that I think about it, Zheng’s fairy tales were liberating and outside the box (toy tank, nut bombs), as well as defying stereotypes (mice, which as always associated with sleaziness and laziness, can take a major role in a story). These might have influenced my writing too.
Since his first fairy tale Heihei on the Island of Honesty, Zheng has published a series of stories including The Story of Pipilu, The Story of Luxixi, The King of Fairy Tales and The Adventures of Shuke and Beita. The characters Pipilu, Luxixi, Shuke and Beita have entertained children of different generations, and Zheng’s fairy tale series have formed a huge world of imagination. His total number of publications is probably uncountable, and his royalties may even put him among the richest writers.
For this rare opportunity, I did some serious preparation and wrote questions like “How do write?” and “Where do your ideas come from?” and was anticipating the master to answer all of them.
But surprisingly, what Zheng talked about most at his session at the Old Court Building was how he keeps himself healthy. He shared with the audience his methods and experience, and gave them suggestions, with interesting stories inserted in between. I was so mesmerized by him and did not want to interrupt, and by the time I realized the session was almost over, I looked at my notes and found that all my questions had somehow been answered.
For me, the biggest thing that I learned from this session with Zheng is the realization that creation is everywhere. When writers are writing, it seems that they are just making up stories. But the truth is, writing can well become part of the writer’s life. To create is like attending a lesson that will never end, a lesson of life. Your observations and appreciation of your surroundings, your cares and sympathy for the world are all in yours words, your creations, your every sentence and every breath.
For me, this is exactly the greatest meaning of writing.
