Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles issued an obituary. Writer Chen Rong died in Beijing on February 4, 2024, at the age of 88 due to ineffective treatment for illness.
Chen Rong is a famous writer and screenwriter. He began literary creation in the 1970s. He has published novels such as "Eternal Youth" and "Light and Darkness". His works include "Middle Age", "Minus Ten Years Old" and "Too Too Lazy to Divorce". and other novels triggered widespread social discussion in the 1980s. In particular, the novella "Middle Age" is still often mentioned by readers.
"Man reaches middle age" was published in the first issue of "Harvest" in 1980. In the novel, Chen Rong successfully created the image of middle-aged intellectuals represented by Lu Wenting and the social dilemmas they face. Ophthalmologist Lu Wenting works hard and has excellent professional skills, but like many middle-aged people today, she also faces the double burden of family and career, and even finds it difficult to survive, eventually leading to tragedy. As soon as the novel was published, it aroused strong social resonance at the time. The social role and practical difficulties of middle-aged people were paid attention to and discussed. Chen Rong said that the reason why the artistic image of Lu Wenting resonated so much and became a friend of readers is that she probably represents them. According to the information, after "Middle Age" attracted attention, Chen Rong's own Life also changed. She was transferred to the Beijing Writers' Association as a resident writer, received back pay, and was also elected as a director of the Beijing Writers' Association.
"Middle Age" also won the first National Outstanding Novella Award. According to the information, on May 25, 1981, the National Outstanding Novella Award, the National Outstanding New Poetry Award for Young and Middle-aged Poets, and the National Outstanding Reportage Award were held in Beijing. At the meeting, a total of 15 works of outstanding novellas were selected, and Chen Rong's "Middle Age" ranked first.
"Middle Age" was later adapted into a movie. The heroine Lu Wenting was played by Pan Hong, an actor familiar to the audience. After the film was released in 1983, it won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film and the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Feature Film. Before being adapted into a movie, in 1981, the comic book "Middle Age" was published in the 11th issue of "Pictures Magazine". These are enough to show the influence of "Middle Age" at the time.
"Middle Age" was rated as one of the "40 most influential novels in the 40 years of China's reform and opening up". To this day, "Middle Age" is still often mentioned by readers. Many of its contents make today's middle-aged people feel understood in the resonance. For example, it writes: "The difficulty of middle-aged people, let alone intellectuals and working people, is that they dare not rest, dare not lose their jobs, and dare not get sick. , dare not have the slightest accident, be trapped by life, unable to accompany parents, unable to take care of children, this is the ubiquitous sorrow of middle-aged people."
References
Liu Yangyang, "Intellectuals and "New Socialist People" - —Before and after the publication of Chen Rong's "Middle Age""
Li Xuan, ""Modern China": A narrative perspective based on social collective psychology - Chen Rong's "current writing" in the 1980s and its significance in literary history"
Reporter: Jiang Dan Editor: Xu Zheng Proofreader: Liu Tian
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