Zhou Keqin

Zhou Keqin

Zhou Keqin (October 28, 1936 - August 5, 1990), whose real name is Zhou Keqin, is a member of the Communist Party of China and a writer of Sichuan local literature. He is one of the most important writers in the history of contemporary Chinese literature and is known as "a monument of Chinese literature in the new period". His novels face life directly and take farmers as the theme, which has influenced a group of later writers.

Zhou Keqin was born in the countryside of Jianyang County, Sichuan Province on October 28, 1936, and graduated from Chengdu Agricultural Technology School (now Chengdu agricultural science and Technology Vocational College) in 1958. His masterpieces include Xu Mao and his daughters, don't forget grass, and the moon doesn't know what's in your heart. After graduating from the agricultural school in 1958, he went back to his hometown to work as a farmer, a teacher of a civilian school, a production team leader, an accountant of a production team, an agricultural technician, a commune and a district cadre. In 1963, he published his first short story; in 1979, he was transferred to the Sichuan Federation of literary and art circles to engage in professional writing; in 1980, he joined the Chinese Writers Association and published the novel Xu Mao and his daughters, which won the first Mao Dun Literature Award in 1982 and ranked first in the list; the short story "don't forget grass" and "the mountain and moon don't know what's in your heart" won the national excellent short stories in 1980 and 1981 respectively Awards. He has successively served as member of the National Committee of the Chinese people's Political Consultative Conference, director of the Chinese Writers Association, deputy secretary of the Party group and executive vice chairman of the Sichuan Writers Association, and chief editor of modern writers. He died in Chengdu on August 5, 1990.

Zhou Keqin is an outstanding writer who embraces the social life with his own emotion and soul. He has been listed in the international celebrity list by Europa publishing company, and in the world celebrity list and biography of world famous writers by Cambridge University Press.

On September 23, 2019, Zhou Keqin's novel "Xu Mao and his daughters" was selected as "the collection of 70 novels in 70 years of new China".

Life of the characters

On October 28, 1936, Zhou Keqin was born in a mill outside Shiqiao Town, Jianyang County, Sichuan Province. Father Zhou Jinfan, mother Zeng Xiuqing.

In 1943, he went to a private school and read "the beginning of man" and "University". About half a year later, the teacher died and was admitted to a private primary school in the local town. He began to read such novels as the story of embroidered stone, the romance of the Three Kingdoms, the complete story of the water margin, and the chronicles of the kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

In the autumn of 1948, he was admitted to the local Chengming middle school. After studying for one year, he dropped out of school because he couldn't pay the tuition fees and went back to the countryside to study farm work.

In 1950, he took part in the land reform movement and served as the vice minister and young pioneer leader of the Youth Department of the local farmers' Association.

In 1952, he went out of a small mountain village and worked as a shop assistant in a sugar joint store in Chengdu, the provincial capital. His parents wanted him to learn how to earn money, but Zhou Keqin wanted to study and be a knowledgeable person. With no money to study at home, Zhou Keqin, relying on his own efforts, was admitted to Chengdu agricultural technology school in 1953, which "does not pay for meals, does not charge tuition fees.". During his six years in school, he learned the field cultivation techniques of various crops, during which he began to test his writing skills.

In 1954, Zhou Keqin's first novel, old salt worker uncle yuan, was published in Chengdu's business guide.

At the beginning of 1955, he graduated from the junior agricultural class of Chengdu agricultural technology school and was promoted to the senior agricultural class of Chengdu agricultural technology school to study agricultural cultivation. He joined the Communist Youth League this year. I love reading Soviet literature, such as how steel was made, bravery, young guards, etc., as well as 19th century Russian literature and French literature. I also read the novels of Jack London, Dreiser, Maugham, Dickens, Hardy, etc., as well as the works of many Chinese classical and modern writers.

In 1956, under the guidance of Shu cizhang (vice chairman of South Sichuan Federation of literary and art circles and member of Sichuan Provincial Federation of literary and art circles), the library director of Chengdu agricultural school, Zhou Keqin organized the first literary group "honey source" of Chengdu agricultural school and started the school's literary activities.

In 1958, Zhou Keqin graduated from Chengdu Agricultural Technology College (now Chengdu agricultural science and Technology Vocational College). In 1957, Zhou Keqin wrote to the party newspaper to defend some "rightist remarks" and added the "left" ideological line at that time. He mistakenly judged that he "failed in politics and refused to assign work" (this treatment was reviewed and corrected by the Party group of Sichuan Federation of literary, art and literature in May 1983). The school issued three certificates He returned to his hometown from the agricultural school and worked as a farmer in his hometown for 20 years.

In 1959, Zhou Keqin taught in Feima agricultural middle school of Jiangxi commune in Jianyang county. In the following year, the agricultural middle school was closed and dissolved. In the same year, he began to write. Zhou Keqin was engaged in amateur writing while working in agriculture. He wrote his first short story xiuyunhe Zhishu (published in Emei in January 1960).

In the early 1960s, the short stories such as Xiuyun and Zhishu and in Jingtai were published in Sichuan literature.

From 1971 to 1972, he worked as a farmer in Jiangxi commune of Jianyang County, and successively served as an accountant of Shengyang No.5 team, Shengyang No.6 team, and a brigade accountant.

In August 1973, the short story Li Xiuman was published in the first issue of Sichuan literature and art in 1973. He worked as an agricultural technician in Jiangxi commune of Jianyang county with his own allowance, and the state subsidized the living expenses of 19 yuan per month.

In 1975, he was transferred to Hongta District of Jianyang County as an agricultural technician, bringing his own rations, and the state gave him a monthly subsistence allowance of 30 yuan.

During the cultural revolution, Zhou Keqin didn't participate in the organizations and activities of the cultural revolution because he didn't want to waste his time and loved reading too much. Besides literature, Zhou Keqin's reading in this period extended to politics, history and economic theory.

In the winter of 1977, he participated in the working group organized by Hongta District and stayed in the Jinxing brigade of Yangjia commune. In July 1978, with the working group returning to Hongta District, Jianyang County Cultural Center was transferred to work in October.

In January 1979, he joined the Communist Party of China. In March, Jianyang County Cultural Center transferred Sichuan Federation of literary and art to engage in professional creation; in the same year, he published the novel "Xu Mao and his daughters"; he still stayed in Hongta District of Jianyang county and went deep into life, and concurrently served as a member of Hongta District Committee.

In March 1980, the short story "in difficult days" was published in the third issue of "Hongyan" in 1980; in April, the short story "don't forget grass" was published in the fourth issue of "Sichuan literature" in 1980; in May, the short story "lost election" was published in "Sichuan literature"; in June, he participated in the second Sichuan Provincial literature Congress and was elected as a member of the second Sichuan Federation of literary and art circles and joined the Chinese Writers Association.

In 1982, Zhou Keqin won the first Mao Dun Literature Prize for his novel Xu Mao and his daughters, and ranked first in the list. He also participated in the "National Symposium on novel creation" in Beijing.

In April 1983, he was invited to give a report entitled "literary breakthrough and creation" in Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu, and then published in Journal of Southwest University for nationalities, issue 2, 1983; in August, he participated in "the first Youth Literary Creation Conference of Sichuan Province".

In 1984, Zhou Keqin left his hometown, where he lived for more than 40 years, to take a leading position in the Sichuan Branch of the Chinese Writers Association.

In May 1985, he went to Anxian with old writer Sha Ting, critic Deng Yizhong and Zhong Chengxiang; in August, he served as a member of the Party group of Sichuan Branch of the Chinese Communist writers' Association; in September, he participated in the expanded visit of the Chinese writers' delegation to Syria and Algeria through Karachi and Paris, which lasted for 30 days.

Since then, Zhou Keqin has successively served as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese people's Political Consultative Conference, director of the Chinese Writers Association, deputy secretary of the Party group and executive vice chairman of the Sichuan Branch of the Chinese Writers Association, and chief editor of modern writers.

In September 1986, he participated in the "Sichuan short story seminar" organized by Sichuan Writers Association and people's literature.

In January 1990, he was the editor in chief of modern writers; in February, he was the Deputy Secretary of the Party group of Sichuan Branch of China Writers Association; in June, he attended the "Readers' Forum" in Jianyang and Deyang to listen to readers' opinions on modern writers; on July 16, he was admitted to Sichuan Caotang cadre sanatorium due to illness, and then he was transferred to Sichuan provincial hospital and Chengdu Army General Hospital for treatment due to sudden primary liver pain Zhou Keqin, 54, died of liver cancer in Chengdu on May 5.

In 1991, the family moved Zhou Keqin's ashes to the hillside of his hometown Jianyang, next to the graves of his grandparents.

Personal life

School life

On Sundays, Zhou Keqin organized a literary group to go to the quiet lion mountain to hold a literary picnic, recite scripts, sing Soviet songs "night outside Moscow" and "three sets of cars", improvise poems, revise exercises, and talk about their literary aspirations. Zhou Keqin also received the tickets for the literature lecture of Sichuan Federation of literary and art circles through Mr. Shu cizhang. He led the members of the literature group to Chengdu Chengcheng middle school to listen to Yang Yiyan's lecture on the creative process of eternal life in the fire, and to listen to Professor Tan Luofei's lectures on Ba Jin's "home", "spring" and "autumn" at Sichuan University, so as to arouse the students' love for literature. In the summer of 1958, at the graduation party of Chengdu agricultural school, Zhou Keqin also starred in the drama "Suzhou night talk" on the stage of the school cafeteria, dressed in a long gown, elegant, spicy and salty Mandarin, which still lingers in the ears of old alumni.

family life

In 1962, Zhou Keqin married Zhang Yueying in Shengyang fifth team of Jiangxi commune, Hongta District, Jianyang County, with only half a cottage. In an interview with CCTV's "people" program, Zhang Yueying said that before she married Zhou Keqin, she knew that he had been writing and thought that he was a talented person. Although he was a farmer, he had goods. Her father also thought that her son-in-law was a scholar, although he was a poor scholar

Chinese PinYin : Zhou Ke Qin