"The Question of Developing Overseas Chinese Literary Garden" - 1974
首先多谢你一点宝贵的意见， 就是关于作者的写作要切实地考虑和认清楚——「为谁？」。 这个问题并不简单，更不容易解答，但任何写家必须首先考虑清楚这问题，他（她）的作品才有接近或深入广大读者的可能性。 「为谁？」 这是一个时代对写家严重的要求，经不起考验的写家和作品始终要被淘汰。
我承认自己未能够做到考虑「为谁？」这一曾工夫。但这却是我要达到的理想。 我承认我是一个华侨，但否认美利坚是我的「家」（这是我本身最大的矛盾），我的「家」始终是生育了我的故乡，是美丽的中华。 而目前我还是一个有「家」归不得的人。 对于曾经生活了十一年的华侨社会，我虽谈不上炽烈的爱，却也有一份不可埋没的感情。
关于写作，我是初学的，自己的生活经验未够深，看法不够严密和透彻，文字的运用未够灵活等等都是我目前所犯的过失和自知不足之处。有时我很觉惭愧，因为还未有能力写一些「有份量」的东西。 我那两篇「巴黎通讯」之类的不像样的东西，还是早点扔掉它吧。我总希望能够写一些较深入华侨社会，暴露其生活形态的东西。 比方说，少年犯罪，婚姻的破裂 。 。 。 都是很好的写作材料，然而， 这是将来 。 。 。 。
关于新诗，目前我还不断地看，不断地探索。 我看到底还要在中国诗的传统里下一番工夫，因为这是一份令人骄傲和在某一方面值得继承的文学遗产。 另一方面，外国诗我也不断看，因为这里头有很多「新」的启示，值得参考和借镜。 所以，老兄你看， 我须作的基本工夫还多着呢。 目前我还未能写一些像样的新诗，更谈不上某某派。 但我并不着急，因为这是学习过程，准备的工夫不可不做，并且要仔细地做，这一大堆牢骚和自我解嘲，请莫见怪。
现在我想跟你谈开拓「华侨文艺园地」的问题。 我认为最大的绊脚石是经济问题。假若经济问题能解决，也就是说， 有足够一年的刊印费，至于稿件的问题，主要是人力（或人手）问题。假如有了一份实在的东西摆在人眼前，一方面可以引起同道的兴趣，他（她）们可以加入，如投稿等，或作建议和批评等。 另一方面，有了实在的东西作表现，别人不会说你（非指你本人）只会说白话，或只见雷响不见雨落。 无论如何，目前华侨社会是一片文艺的沙漠，这谁也不能否认。就算华侨大多是极重视现实化或物质化头脑的人，但文艺始终有存在的价值。 因而开拓的工作，有志者不可不做。只要我们能够抱着一个共同的目标，以发扬华侨社会的文艺（文化）作标准的目标，以只问耕耘，不问收获的决心去干，我敢信，这力量绝不会白费。
亚正兄，你认为如何呢？
小农问好
我相信我们都不是主张为艺术而艺术的人，所以在为人生创作的大前提下，我们所考虑的是以那些读者来做对象。 我是此间第三代的华侨， 如出嫁了的女儿， 我的家就在美国，你虽然不是在这里出生的，但是华侨社会也是你生长的地方。这里的人物，背景，和事情对你都不陌生，而且比较你所憧憬的中华还要真实，还要亲切，所以你创作的对象，也应该是你所谓「极重视现实化或物质化头脑」的华侨。
文艺所要发掘的是人性，本来就不应该有地区的分别，但是文艺所表现的是生活，生活的形式既然各地不同，为了要达到文学上的「真」，就不能不取材于自己的最熟识的社会。 文艺的表现因此同时包含着地方的个别性和人类的普遍性。 要是我们是为华侨而创作的话，就应该以华侨的个别性为出发点，这样所表达出来的人类共同的人性，无论是矛盾中的感情，痛苦后的觉悟，或是突破个人得失侷限的希望，才有真正的意义。
是的，谁也不能否认目前华侨社会是一片文艺的沙漠，不过我不同意其落荒的原因是华侨的头脑太过实际的缘故，也不会认为开拓的迟缓是经济的问题。我看最大的绊脚石还是因为我们缺乏掀起锄头的意志。我不相信百年来华侨在这块土地上流了这么多的血和涙却无法产生出文艺的花朵来的。远的不用多说了，先侨在种族迫害，经济剥削，情爱隔割的痛苦生活中的呼声，难道就此不闻不问了吗？先人坚苦的争斗，幸酸的经营，为了后代的巨大牺牲的宝贵人生经验，为什么我们不好好地探讨它？ 近年来华侨社会正经验着根基的动摇，普遍地发生自杀杀人，奢侈和打劫，争权和放弃的对照，学校无能，婚姻破裂脱落无系等等社会病态，都使凡有感觉的人会鼓着一肚子不舒服的闷气。
文艺是社会的灵魂，是人类共同的灵魂。没有灵魂的人也可以活着，虽然是活得没有什么意思。文艺的可贵是它有发动共鸣的效能，是感情交通的媒介，是人可以冲破了自我的局限，向外伸长而与别人接触的工具。所以文艺能够超越国界，种界，文化的界限，时间的界限，礼教习俗和所有心理上的阻碍。文艺能够达到此境，才有永久的价值。
华侨文艺的目标一定要使侨胞对自己生活中的好坏有所了解，对破坏人性的制度有所觉悟，进而有所抗拒，对克服恶劣环境的精神，从兴奋而至步武。这样的文艺创作是有教训作用的，但是所教训的不是某一种思想，更不是什么道德观念，主要的是要让人知道应该怎样去做人，怎样去给人这个动物下定义。人生是多面的，尤其是处于中西文化之间的华侨社会的人生，只要是在文学上的「真」的原则下，我们要尽量去反映社会中各个阶层的生活和人物。我觉得华侨文学是不应该走上任何窄狭的路上去的，从望远镜看事物，无论是如何清楚，也只看出很小的范围。那么让历史的力量去做淘汰的工作好了。
我们既然是要为华侨而创作，就不能不兼顾到两个不同文化的影响。我很同意你探索新诗的方法和态度。我不相信脱离了中国传统的创作能够在华侨社会里站得稳的，无论外国的诗有多少「新」的启示，如果要查英文译本才明白原诗所要说的话的时候，这样的作品绝不会是为华侨而创造的。
就写到这儿。
亚正
Let me first thank you for your valuable opinion on whether the work of an author must realistically consider and clearly understand “for whom” it is writing? This is not a simple question nor is it easy to answer, but any writer must first carefully consider this problem in order for his or her writing to have the possibility of reaching the general readership. “For whom” is a critical demand of writers in our time, and for the writers and writings that cannot withstand this test would sooner or later be eliminated.
I admit I was not able to consider the dimension of this task of “for whom,” but it is the ideal I want to reach. I admit that I am an overseas Chinese, but deny that America is my “home.” (This is my greatest contradiction.) My “home” all along is the homeland in which I was born and raised, and that is the beautiful China. Now I am still someone with a home yet cannot return to. As for the overseas Chinese society in which I have lived for eleven years, I cannot say there is passionate love for it, but I also have feelings that cannot be concealed. In writing, I am a beginner. My life experience lacks depth, my observation is not precise and thorough enough, and my use of language is deficient in agility, etc. These are all the flaws I have now and I know my own deficiency. At times, I feel ashamed because I still don’t have the ability to write some “substantial” works. As to the sort of works such as my two unworthy pieces on “Correspondence from Paris”, you should throw them away soon. I always hope I can write something more in-depth about overseas Chinese society, exposing its ways of life. For example, juvenile crimes, separation of marriage . . . , these are all good writing materials, yet, this will be in the future . . . . Regarding new poems, I am still continuously observing and exploring. I think I should after all have more training in traditional Chinese poetry, because it is something that makes us proud, and in some aspects, it is a literary legacy worthy of inheriting. On the other hand, I have also been reading western poetry, because there are many “new” inspirations that are worthy to take as reference and to learn from. Oh you see, my brother, the basic skills I need to learn are plenty. Currently I still cannot write some decent new poems, let alone certain styles of work. But I am not in a hurry because this is my learning process, and I must do and carefully do the groundwork. Please don’t mind my grumbling and self-mockery.
Now I want to discuss with you the issue of developing an “oversea Chinese literary garden”. I believe the biggest obstacle is economic difficulty. If the economic problem is solved, that is, having sufficient funds for a full year of publishing expenses, the contribution of writings is mainly a matter of labor (or manpower). If we have a substantive piece of work to be presented in front of people, it will, on the one hand, attract others with the same interest and they may participate, submit articles, or give suggestions and criticism. On the other hand, having had a significant piece of writing to present, people would not say you (I don’t mean yourself) can only make empty talk, just like hearing thunder without rain. In any way, the current overseas Chinese society is a literary dessert, and no one can deny it. Even though most of the overseas Chinese are intellectually inclined to attach importance to reality and materiality, literature is always having its value of existence. So, the task of developing it must be done by those with aspirations. As long as we embrace the shared objective of flourishing literature (and culture) of the overseas society, with the determination of only putting effort into tilling the soil and paying no attention to the result of harvest, I believe this endeavor will not be wasted.
Brother Ah Zheng, what do you think?
Greeting from Xiaonong
Brother Xiaonong:I believe we are not those who advocate art for art's sake, so under the major premise of art for life, what we should consider as our objective is writing for which readers. I am a third generation overseas Chinese. Like a married-off woman, I consider my home to be America. Although you are not born here, the overseas society is also a place in which you grew up. In this place you are not unfamiliar with the people, background, and events. Moreso, they are more realistic and more intimate than the China you long for. Therefore, your object of writing should be what you consider as the overseas Chinese who “are intellectually inclined to attach importance to reality and materiality.”
What literary writing explores is human nature, so it should not have regional distinction. But what literary writing shows is living, and since styles of living are not the same in each place, we have no choice but to focus on the most familiar subject matters to us in order to achieve the literary “truth.” The literary expression is, therefore, simultaneously encompassing local individuality and human universality. If we are going to write for overseas Chinese, we should begin with the individuality of the overseas Chinese as the starting point. In such, what expressed would be the common nature of humanities — may it be conflicts of feelings, the awakening after the pain, or breaking through the limits of personal hope of gain and loss — would then have true meanings.
Yes, no one can deny that the current Chinatown society is a literary desert. But I don’t agree that the reason for the wilderness is due to the practical mind of the overseas Chinese, nor do I agree that the slowness in excavating the wasteland is due to the economy. I see the biggest stumbling block is that we lack the desire to pick up the hoe. I don’t believe that a hundred years of blood and tears shedded on this piece of land cannot produce the blossoms of literature. We need not speak about the very distant past. But when our ancestors cried out their painful living under racial oppression, economic exploitation, and separation of love, why are they not being heard and given a response? Why don’t we explore the valuable life experiences of their harsh struggle and their bitter enterprise as they made immense sacrifices for the future generations? Overseas Chinese society has been experiencing a foundational shakeup in recent years. Homicides and suicides are common; there are contrasts of extravagant and robbery, as well as scrambling for and abandoning of power, the incompetence of schools, as well as broken and detached marriages. All these social disorders would make any person with emotions feel discomfortable in the stomach.
Literature is the soul of society and a common soul of humanities. A person without a soul can still live, but it is living without meaning. The value of literature is that it has the ability to generate resonance and serve as a medium for emotional connection. It can help people surmount their self-limitation, and it is a tool for people to develop themselves and connect with others. Therefore, literature can transcend the limits of national borders, race, cultures, time, ritual and custom, and all the psychological obstructions. Literature must reach this realm before it has eternal value.
The goal of overseas Chinese literature must enable overseas Chinese to understand the good and bad of their living, awaken them from the system that destroys human nature, and advance them to resistance. The spirit of overcoming vile environments is being provoked into action. This kind of literary creation has a function of exhortation, but what it teaches is not a kind of thinking, and certainly not a moral concept. Its main purpose is to guide people into understanding how to be humans and how to define the human animal. There are many faces of life, especially the life of overseas Chinese society which is situated between Chinese and western cultures. As long as we can, under the principle of “truth” in literature, we should do our best to reflect the life and living of every class of people in society. I feel that overseas Chinese literature should not go on any narrow path; just like viewing things with a telescope, no matter how clear it is, it is still just a small area. So, let the force of history do the task of elimination. Given that we are writing for overseas Chinese, we must consider the influence of both cultures. I agree with you on your method and attitude in exploring new poetry. I don’t believe writings that separate from Chinese tradition can be established in overseas society, regardless of how much “new” inspiration there is in their poetry. If one has to look up an English dictionary before understanding what was said in the poem, this kind of poem is absolutely not created for overseas Chinese.
I will stop writing here.
Ah Zheng