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 mankind. It is also the core of Yu Hua's writing.
Discussing the morality of whether a novel's characters are good or evil is meaningless. The actions of novel characters are a reflection of their own will. Self-will is not determined by the environment. On the one hand, the environment can influence a person's choices, and on the other hand, regardless of one's background, one 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 erotic crime sensationalism, these moral and ethical elements are not points of concern for an ideal reader. Pointing at the moon with one's finger, one should see the moon, not the finger. The writing 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, but this brutality itself is not excessively exaggerated, but rather a recognition of reality. Yu Hua has always written about people, the kind of creatures 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 vigor and desires, and old age, silent and looking up at the sky.
In Yu Hua's highly acclaimed novels, after brutality comes emptiness. Anything that carries a positive meaning will be considered impure. People 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 wants to give them the glory of self-fulfillment, unlike in his earlier work "To Live," where people were repeatedly beaten by life as if it were 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 children in his writing are brave, intelligent, pure, and self-sacrificing. They are like superheroes in this brutal world. But these superhero-like children will also grow up and be 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 climactic scenes. But if you look deeper, Quentin is full of tenderness towards people. He loves the people in this world and feels regret for its absurdity, injustice, and brutality. So he always wants to make up for it through his movies. 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 know what the true history is like.