Shi Guangrong and His Children

It is the sequel to Years of Passion Burning, tells the story of the Shi Guangrong family’s life in 1980s and 1990s. The old revolutionist Shi Guangrong, hopes that the children continue his military ideal, inherits the glorious tradition of military family, and coinciding with the era of reform and opening up great waves, three children conform to the times development and have independent ideas. The contradiction between the parents and children has appeared, and at the same time the contradictions and conflicts are surrounded by the deep family affection. Shi Guangrong’s family affection, comrade-in-arms affection, nostalgia, as well as his personality in the treatment of life contradiction, displays a typical revolutionist’s ideals and feelings.

The Continuous Cultural Creativity

Book Reviewer:He Shaojun

Shi Guangrong becomes a living character through the TV play Years of Passion Burning. From then on, the literary writing of Shi Zhongshan is closely bound together with cultural industry (mainly TV play), such as one of his novel A Clarion Army Song. Undoubtedly, Shi Zhongshan belongs to mass culture. When many writers feel perplexed and uneasy in the face of popular culture in the rapid development of confusion, Shi has actively involved in and assented in the culture. When we have repeatedly stressed that the cultural industry will be a new industry in the future, should we not forget that literature is an important source of cultural industry to inject vitality. These years of literary practice of Shi Zhongshan has fully proved this point.

Recently, a new novel Shi Guangrong and His Children was published. Shi Zhongshan really devoted a lot of time and energy to the protagonist Shi Guangrong. Shi Guangrong is a very successful cultural creative, then this time the new novel is derived from the creative ferment of this cultural phenomena. Shi Guangrong spent his whole life of a revolutionary soldier; he has entered the new era of reform and opening up with us. He looked forward his soldier ideal is to be extended in his sons and daughter, who, however, the practical problems are more difference from the father’s "years of passion burning”. Shi Lin, the eldest son of Shi Guangrong, had demobilized under the disarmament situation. The younger son wanted to do a job as a writer; he pretended sickness to achieve the goal of leaving army. The daughter also did not choose to continue soldier career, but in a dangerous occupation of criminal policewoman. Would Shi Guangrong understand the choice of his sons and daughter? Would the kids like to inherit the father’s revolutionary tradition in the era of peace-building? This work will lead readers to find answers.

In Shi Guangrong and His Children, Shi Zhongshan saves space leave out superfluous words and sentences for writing how the sons and daughter gradually understand their father, and how to carry forward the spirit of their father's new life, firmly towards the new era.

Shi Hai, the younger son, is a bit like the author himself.

In fact, Shi Zhongshan summed up the harvest in the reflection on the revolutionary history of the idea since he engaged in literary creation through the image of Shi Hai. So he let Shi Hai to observe the father of a writer's eyes, a step by step into the father's inner world, and write the works of "Father" series. Shi Zhongshan more or less felt a little apprehensive in face of his father in writing Years of Passion Burning, and now he has the confidence to fully understand his father's world. The author expressed his understanding process of thinking through the character of Shi Hai: “I suddenly felt abandoned since high school that father's world was so moved and inspired and shocking!”

Good cultural creativity should be allowed to continue to ferment, and this is a basic law of cultural industry.