Original title: Understanding the Poetry and Poetry of a City: A Review of Beijing in a Century of Literature

Beijing in a Century of Literature: Zhang Li, editor-in-chief; Published by Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House.

Beijing is the birthplace of the New Culture Movement, a tradition that has had a profound impact on Beijing writers, who have a strong sense of family and country, and whose Beijing is also grandiose. At the same time, whether they are local writers in Beijing, or writers who have visited Beijing or have worked in Beijing for a long time, they also write about another style of Beijing, that is, the customs, the fireworks in the world, the food and daily life, and even the daily life of the neighborhood.

It should be said that we are no strangers to Beijing's narrative, but they are all scattered and fragmented, and it is difficult to exhaust Beijing's richness and its extraordinary charm. The five-volume "Beijing in a Century of Literature" is like a literary building, which constructs a literary Beijing city through the intuitive feelings and inner understandings of writers in different periods. Even if it is an "essay on the same topic", each writer's gaze and inner feelings are very different. This is the long-standing charm of literary students. This series of books brings new inspiration and inspiration to our understanding of Beijing, and makes us realize that with the continuous enrichment of experience, we can see the new meaning of life that we have not seen and discovered in the past.

Novels, poems, and essays have shaped different images of Beijing in different ways. "Beijing in Prose" is the most intuitive to write about Beijing, which is related to the genre of prose. No matter how prose is remembered, what you see and hear must be experienced. Moreover, this kind of experience and history, there is no need to shout tsunamis and angry eyes, and the mentality and penmanship that come from the way of doing things make people feel close and understanding. "Beijing in Prose" includes the excellent works of Xu Dishan, Yu Dafu, Zheng Zhenduo, Lao She, Yu Pingbo, Lin Haiyin, Wang Zengqi, Shi Tiesheng and other 27 authors, some of which are famous such as "Thinking of Beiping", "The Four Seasons of Beiping", "The Snow of Taoranting", "Me and the Temple of Earth", etc., have long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

"Beijing in Poetry" expresses the poetry and poetry of Beijing, which is Beijing's "breath, waves and sparkling waves of a century-old river". It includes the poems of modern poetry giants such as Shen Yinmo, Liu Bannong, Xu Zhimo, Bian Zhilin, Feng Zhi, Zheng Min, etc., as well as the poems of Xie Mian, Shu Ting and even post-90 and post-0 emerging poets. Through representative scenes such as "Spring Scene of the Ancient City", "Late Autumn Evening in Beijing", "West Mountain Like Hidden", "He Wakes Up Alone in the Early Morning in Beijing", etc., he expresses his feelings for Beijing.

Novels are the largest part of this collection, which is stylistically determined. "Morning with Light Snow", "Ninety-Nine Degrees", "Broken Soul Gun", "Red Beans", "No. 9 Hutong", "Anle House", "The Happy Life of Poor Zhang Damin", "Starlight in the Hand", "If the Snow Closes the Door", etc., through these works, we not only see the life context and style of Beijing, but also perceive the ups and downs and social changes of the past century.

The centennial Beijing literature can be regarded as a microcosm of the centennial Chinese literature since the May Fourth Movement. This is the Beijing of palace wall alleys, common people in the market, and bustling fireworks, and it is also a Beijing with affection, righteousness, sound, color, and interest. This set of anthologies not only highlights the vicissitudes of Beijing in the past century, but also shows the vision and sense of history of the candidates. (Meng Fanhua)