What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?
This is the most famous riddle of all time. It is also the core of Yu Hua's writing.
Discussing the morality of good or evil in fictional characters is meaningless. The actions of fictional characters are a reflection of their own will. Self-will is not determined by the environment. On one hand, the environment can influence a person's choices, and on the other hand, regardless of one's background, they can be good or evil. This is what allows for chance and free will.
Contemporary Chinese novels are often extremely brutal, but as long as they are written by top-notch authors and not authors of pornographic crime sensationalism, these moral and ethical elements are not points that an ideal reader should focus on. Pointing at the moon with one's finger, but seeing the moon suddenly pointed at. The style of a novel is a presentation. When you read "Metamorphosis," you shouldn't focus on how he turned into a beetle. When you read "To Live" or "Doctor Zhivago," you shouldn't focus on why there are so many coincidences.
The world depicted by Yu Hua is also extremely brutal, and this brutality itself is not overly exaggerated, but rather a recognition of reality. Yu Hua has always been writing about humans, the kind of animals that walk on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening. Youthful, innocent, brave, and fearless, the prime of life filled with passion and desires, and old age with declining vitality and speechless gazes towards the sky.
In Yu Hua's highly acclaimed novels, after brutality comes emptiness, and anything that carries positive meaning is considered to have lost its purity. Humans have their free will, but in the end, it is all in vain.
Many people may not like "Wencheng." They may wonder what it is about. They may try to find hidden meanings and central ideas. But what he writes is clearly there, without any concealment. He shows more kindness towards individuals thrown into purgatory, even if they will eventually die, he still wants to give them the glory of self-completion, unlike in his earlier work "To Live," where he repeatedly beats down on life as if it were merciless fate.
What Yu Hua writes is tenderness towards humanity. In this cruel and ultimately meaningless world, there are people who are loyal, faithful, trustworthy, and brave, who live earnestly.
Many times, Yu Hua leaves a glimmer of light in this brutal world. Many of the children he writes about are brave, intelligent, pure, and self-sacrificing. They are like superheroes in this brutal world. However, these superhero-like children also grow up and are unable to save this world.
Here, I would like to mention Quentin Tarantino. Many people watch his movies out of curiosity, enjoying the clever narrative techniques and intense climax scenes. But if you look deeper, Quentin is full of tenderness towards people. He loves the people in this world and feels regret for the absurdity, injustice, and brutality of the world. That's why he always tries to make up for it through his movies. So, like Yu Hua and Eileen Chang, he writes legends. He gives tenderness and unwillingness to this brutal world.
Therefore, as readers, we cannot bear their tenderness. When we watch "Raise the Red Lantern," "Red Sorghum," or "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," we clearly know what the true history is like.