“五四”文艺：斑驳的图景与永恒的话题

今年是“五四”运动100周年。但只要我们追索现代文化在中国确立的历史脉络，就不得不重温五四新文化运动的价值和意义。“五四”新文化运动塑造了现代中国文化的基本理念和逻辑。作为新文化的重要组成部分，“五四”文艺对后世的影响同样深远。

文艺对“人”的发现

“五四”运动迸发于民族危难、国权沦丧之际，首先是一场唤起人心、救亡图存的运动。但更深层次的看，唤起民众是为了给现代中国诞生奠定文化和心理基础。而对于一个民族的现代转型而言，“人”的确立又是最基本的前提。没有“人”的现代化，现代社会和文化的一切都无从谈起。在我国漫长的封建社会，固然不乏先进的思想家提出民本、重民等思想，也有如汤显祖的《牡丹亭》这般歌颂人性解放的作品，但并不占主流。封建文化在本质上缺乏对“人”的尊重。因此，人的自我发现和自我解放，也就成为“五四”时期文艺的重要主题。正如郁达夫所言：“‘五四’运动最大的成功，第一要算‘个人’的发见”。作为一场发现“人”的运动，“五四”的功绩多为亲历者论及。原《大公报》总编王芸生曾这样说：“我是‘五四’时代的青年。‘五四’开始启迪了我的爱国心，‘五四’使我接触了新文化，‘五四’给我的恩惠是深厚的。‘五四’在我心灵上的影响是终生不可磨灭的。”显然，这种刻骨铭心的影响，正是从内心深处生发的自我人格的确立。

即便在一百年之后，我们依然可以在“五四”时期的文艺作品中读到前贤真诚而热切的声音。鲁迅在名篇《狂人日记》中大声疾呼“救救孩子”，并借狂人之口说，“你们立刻改了，从真心改起！你们要晓得将来是容不得吃人的人”。周作人则极力倡导“人的文学”，并且说“要讲人道，爱人类，便须先使自己有人的资格，占得人的位置”，要对人生诸问题加以记录研究。在不同的艺术领域，对“人”的重视也比比皆是。徐公美在《现代戏剧的意义》一文中就开宗明义地说：“现代戏剧是什么？简单的说一句，就是‘人的戏剧’。”

值得一提的是，当时的文艺家重视“人”的目的是为中国创造一种符合现代潮流的新文明。胡适在一篇文章中提到，看一个国家的文明，需要考察怎样对待小孩子和女人。以此反观“五四”，我们会发现，中国文艺真正从“人”的意义上关注妇女和儿童，也正是从这一时期开始的。以胡适而言，他通过翻译《玩偶之家》把易卜生主义传入中国，从此，该剧的女主角娜拉成了“五四”时代妇女解放的象征。后来的许多话剧如欧阳予倩的《泼妇》《潘金莲》，石评梅的《这是谁之罪》、白薇的《打出幽灵塔》中主人公的身上总映现出娜拉的影子。而在现实中，无数女青年在娜拉那“砰”的一下的关门声中，找到了追求自我解放的勇气和信心，中国的妇女运动面目为之一新。从那时起，把女性塑造为男权附属的文艺作品失去了存在的合理性。时至今日，娜拉的话题依然在讨论女性权益、男女平等问题时不断回响。在当时的音乐界，黎锦晖等人正在关注和倡导儿童音乐。1920年，黎锦晖的第一部儿童歌舞剧《麻雀与小孩》创作完成，此后又创作了《葡萄仙子》《小羊救母》等多部儿童剧。这些作品使用的是儿童熟悉的神话或童话，寄托的则是“五四”时期文艺工作者传播新文化、培育一代新人的热望。

文艺“大众化”确立方向

大众化是“五四”时期文艺的鲜明特征。实际上，早在“五四”运动发生之前，一股文艺大众化的潮流已在酝酿。1917年，胡适的《文学改良刍议》在《新青年》发表，提出了著名的“八不主义”，即“一曰：须言之有物。二曰：不摹仿古人。三曰：须讲求文法。四曰：不作无病之呻吟。五曰：务去烂调套语。六曰：不用典。七曰：不讲对仗。八曰：不避俗字俗语。”陈独秀在《文学革命论》中也提出要打倒贵族文学、山林文学、古典文学，建立平易的国民文学，新鲜的写实文学，通俗的社会文学。他所倡导的“美术革命”，实质上也是要建立一种大众美术。文艺要面向民众的思想贯穿了整个“五四”时期，我们可以在多个艺术门类发现其回响。比如，在美术领域，林风眠明确提出：“打倒贵族的少数独享的艺术！打倒非民间的离开民众的艺术！提倡创造的代表时代的艺术！提倡全民的各阶级共享的艺术！提倡民间的表现十字街头的艺术！”高剑父也特别注意艺术大众化，指出：“艺术要民众化，民众要艺术化，艺术是给民众应用和欣赏的。”在话剧领域，郑振铎认为，当时的中国需要的话剧应该是“平民的”，因此“并且必须是：带有社会问题的色彩与革命的精神的”，表现在话剧创作实践上，就是“社会问题剧”在“五四”时期的勃兴。胡适的《终身大事》反映婚姻恋爱问题，陈大悲的《幽兰女士》折射伦理道德嬗变，王仲贤的《好儿子》反映了当时社会的贫困，洪深的《赵阎王》表现了军阀混战的现实。再看音乐界，黎锦晖1920年在北京成立“明月音乐会”，提出音乐会要“高举平民音乐的旗帜，犹如皓月当空，千里共婵娟，人人能欣赏”。致力于国乐改进的刘天华也说，“我希望提倡音乐的先生们，不要尽唱高调，要顾及一般的民众，否则以音乐为贵族们的玩具，岂是艺术家的初愿”。

大众化是一种理念，同时也是一种发展逻辑，它暗含了理念自我实现的工具和方法。白话文受到提倡并在文艺创作中得到广泛运用，就是其中之一。胡适在《什么是文学》一文中曾提出，好的文学必须满足三个条件，首先就是“要明白清楚”。他还说过：“死文字决不能产生活文学。若要造一种活的文学，必须有活的工具。我们必须先把这个工具抬高起来，使他成为公认的中国文学工具，使他完全替代那半死的或全死的老工具。有了新工具，我们方才谈得到新思想和新精神等等其他方面。”当时和语言文字关系密切的艺术门类中，来自西方的话剧自不必说，天然地拒绝“之乎者也”的故作高深。在音乐界，萧友梅、黎锦晖、赵元任等人的歌曲创作，都运用了通俗易懂、便于理解的白话文。黎锦晖曾这样说：“我也永不能得‘音乐程度较高的鉴赏者’和‘音乐专家’的原谅，因为仍旧不愿尽遵固有的‘乐式’不愿尽配完美的和音；而且‘造词’力求接近普通的白话，‘配谱’力求接近平常的语调，希望歌舞剧的‘歌词’一天天和对话戏的‘对话’相似，台上人‘唱着’和‘说着’一样的明白”。而更直接也更有声势地体现“五四”文艺的大众化方向的，或许是民间文艺运动的兴起。正如钟敬文所言，民间文艺运动“是当时波澜壮阔的新文化运动一个组成部分”。对于“五四”时期的文艺家而言，“民间”具有精神家园的意义。北京大学的歌谣征集活动如火如荼地开展，并扩展到对“民间”的整体性研究，就像顾颉刚说的，要把埋没了几千年的“民众艺术”一层一层地发掘出来。文学家俞平伯提出“所言浅者所感者深”，呼吁“使诗歌充分受着民众化”“我们要做平民的诗，最要学的是实现平民的生活”“吾心归来呀！从人间，归来！”

在后来关于“五四”文艺传统的建构和叙述中，大众化无疑是最强势的声音之一。1938年，毛泽东在鲁迅艺术学院的讲话中提出“到群众中去”。1940年，他又在《新民主主义论》中将新民主主义文化概括为“民族的科学的大众的文化”“它应为全民族百分之九十以上的工农劳苦民众服务，并逐渐成为他们的文化”。1942年，毛泽东在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话中，再次深入论述文艺大众化的问题，并以此为基准，规划了中国文艺的发展路径。新中国成立后，文艺的大众化方向则成为国家的文艺方针。时至今日，随着经济体制转型和社会结构的变迁，“大众”的内涵和“五四”时期乃至新中国成立后的前30年已有不同，但文艺的大众化依然是“五四”留给我们的宝贵财富，在推动社会主义文艺健康发展的过程中依然具有导航仪的重要意义。

执拗而坚韧的文艺传统

毋庸置疑，“五四”运动带有激烈的反传统色彩，在文艺领域，甚至提出了对传统戏曲的过火批判，将其视为野蛮的“遗型物”。当历史烟云散去，对此又该如何正确理解呢？笔者认为，鲁迅后来在《无声的中国》中所说的一段话值得深思。他说：“中国人的性情是总喜欢调和，折中的。譬如你说，这屋子太暗，须在这里开一个窗，大家一定不允许的。但如果你主张拆掉屋顶，他们就会来调和，愿意开窗了”。以此体会前贤当时的心态，关于美术革命、批判旧戏的过激言论也就不足为奇了。

不仅如此，当我们理性而细致地分析这场以反传统为名的运动时，又会发现传统其实以一种执拗而坚韧的姿态融灌其中。发起“国剧运动”的余上沅等人，对待传统戏曲保持了相对公允客观的态度，他们重视戏曲重表现、写意化的艺术特色，并希望能吸收到新戏剧的创造之中。被誉为“中国的舒伯特”的赵元任，作为“五四”时期“新音乐”创作的杰出代表，与胡适、徐志摩等人合作的《新诗歌集》被萧友梅称为“替我国音乐界开一新纪元”。其中，赵元任作曲、刘半农作词的《教我如何不想他》更是脍炙人口，被认为充分反映了“五四”青年对恋爱自由的追求，但当我们静心聆听这首名曲时，却会发现主要的旋律素材源于京剧西皮原板过门。马克思曾经说过，对于没有音乐感的耳朵来说，最美的音乐也毫无意义。套用一下这句话，或许正因为赵元任使用了对于中国人的耳朵“带感”的旋律，才让这首歌所蕴含的美学价值和文化意义得到充分张扬。事实上，在赵元任看来，中国传统音乐资源应该得到充分尊重，因此他在创作中总是娴熟地运用中国民歌、戏曲音乐等元素。

传统对于“五四”文艺的意义不仅于此，更重要的还在于文艺观的传承。一方面，“五四”文艺显示出与传统决裂的姿态，另一方面则不动声色地接过了重视文艺社会功能尤其是教化功能的接力棒。中国古人向来重视文艺在成风化俗中的作用——《尚书·尧典》中记载“诗言志”，《论语》早就提出“诗可以兴，可以观，可以群，可以怨”。不论是“诗言志”，还是“兴观群怨”，都是对文艺社会功能的充分肯定。而“五四”时期的文艺家则赋予了文艺改造国民性、唤起人心、塑造新人等多项任务，虽然这些任务本身与传统社会对文艺的要求不同，但重视文艺社会功能并在这种功能铺设的轨道上推动文艺发展的逻辑却是一致的。

关于“五四”文艺可谈的话题还有不少，现实主义在中国文艺中主流地位的确立、西方文艺思潮的影响，抑或新文艺创作群体的兴起与现代文艺共同体的形成……它们共同构成了“五四”文艺丰富而斑驳的图景。但笔者以为，“人”的发现、大众化的方向、文艺传统若隐若现地延续，是这幅图景中最值得关注和思考的课题。“五四”文艺是一个厚重的历史话题，也是一个深刻的现实话题。“五四”对文艺所提出的课题是永恒的，“五四”文艺对“人”提出的课题也是永恒的，它直接指向并释放了蕴藏在文艺结构最深层之中的张力。

我们知道，回到起点，往往更能看清前进的方向。今天回顾“五四”，重读文艺前贤，并非发思古之幽情，更不是要在经典的幌子下走复古的老路，而是回到现代中国文艺起步的地方，考究其内在机理，探查其发展规律，推动中国文艺在古今中西多种资源合力下健康发展。

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement. However,as long as we trace the historical context established by modern culture in China,we must relive the value and significance of the"May Fourth" New Culture Movement,which has shaped the basic concepts and logic of modern Chinese culture. As an important part of the new culture,the influence of the "May Fourth" literature and art on later generations is equally profound.

Literary and artistic discovery of "people"

The "May Fourth" Movement originated in the national crisis and the demise of national power. First of all,it was a movement to arouse the hearts of the people committed to saving the nation. But at a deeper level,the people were aroused to lay a cultural and psychological foundation for the birth of modern China. For the modern transformation of a nation,the establishment of "people" is the most basic premise. Without the modernization in this regard,,everything in modern society and culture cannot be discussed. In China's long feudal society,there were no shortage of advanced thinkers to put forward ideas,such as focusing on people,and there were works like Tang Xianzu's"Peony Pavilion" singing human liberation,but it did not dominate the mainstream. The feudal culture,in essence,lacked respect for the "people". Therefore,the human selfdiscovery and self-liberation became important themes of literature and art during the Movement. As Yu Dafu said,"The greatest success of the Movement' is the first to be regarded as discovery of the 'individual'." As a movement to discover "people",the achievements of the "May Fourth"are mostly discussed by the witnesses. Wang Yunsheng,the former editor-in-chief of Ta Kung Pao,once said,"I was a young man in the 'May Fourth' era. It began to enlighten my patriotism,and made me contact the new culture,'May Fourth's grace for me is profound. And its influence on my soul is indelible for life." Obviously,this kind of unforgettable influence is the establishment of self-personality born from the depths of the heart.

Even after one hundred years,we can still read the sincere and ardent voice of the predecessors in the literary works of the May Fourth period. In the famousThe Madman's Diary,Lu Xun screamed "Save the Child" and said by the madman's mouth,"You have changed immediately,and sincerely changed! You must know that,in the future,it could not tolerate cannibalism." Zhou Zuoren strongly advocated "human literature" and said that "to talk about humanity,to love human beings,you must first make yourself qualified and occupy the position",and record and study the problems of life. In different art fields,the emphasis on "people" is also easily discovered. Xu Gongmei said frankly in his article "The Meaning of Modern Drama"that "What is modern drama? Simply speaking,it is 'drama about human'."

It is worth mentioning that the literary artist's emphasis on"people" at that time was to create a new civilization for China that conformed to the modern trend. Hu Shi mentioned in an article that to look at the civilization of a country,it is necessary to examine how the children and women are treated. In view of the "May Fourth",we shall find that Chinese literature and art,from this period,genuinely focus on women and children in the sense of "people". In the case of Hu Shi,he introduced Ibsenism to China by translatingA Doll's House. Since then,the heroine,Nora,has become a symbol of women's liberation in the "May Fourth" era. Later,the heroines of many dramas,such as Ouyang Yuqian'sSpirit,Pan Jinlian,Shi Pingmei'sWho's Sin it is,and Bai Wei'sFighting the Ghost Toweralways reflect the shadow of Nora.In reality,countless young women have found the courage and confidence to pursue self-liberation in the bang of Nora's shutting the door. The Chinese women's movement started to embrace a new era. Since then,the literary and artistic works that have portrayed women as male ties have lost the rationality of existence. To this day,Nora's topic is still resounding when discussing women's rights and equality between men and women. In the music industry at the time,Li Jinhui and others were paying attention to and advocating for children's music. In 1920,Li's first children's song and dance drama "Sparrow and Child" was completed.Later,he created several children's plays,such as "Grape Fairy" and "Little Sheep Save the Mother". These works use the myths or fairy tales that children are familiar with,and are entrusted with the enthusiasm of the literary and art workers in the "May Fourth" period to spread new culture and cultivate a new generation.

Direction establishment of literary "popularization"

Popularization is a distinctive feature of literature and art during the "May Fourth" period. In fact,a trend of literary and popularization was brewing prior to the movement.In 1917,Hu Shi'sAttempting Discussion of Literary Reformwas published in "New Youth",proposing the famous"Eight-Points Doctrine" First: have substance in speech.Second: no imitating ancient people. Third: pay attention to grammar. Fourth: no sentimental nonsense. Fifth: no cliché.Sixth: no classic codes. Seventh: no antithesis sentence.Eighth: do not avoid the common words." In theLiterary Revolution,Chen Duxiu also proposed to defeat aristocratic literature,mountain literature and classical literature,establish a simple national literature,fresh realistic literature and popular social literature. The "art revolution"he advocated is essentially to build a popular art. The literary and art-oriented thinking for the people went through the entire "May Fourth" period,and we can find its echoes in many art categories. For example,in the field of fine arts,Lin Fengmian clearly stated: "Defeat the art of the aristocratic minority! Defeat private and non-grassrooted art! Promote the art of creating the era! Promote creative art representing the times!" Gao Jianfu also paid special attention to the popularization of art,pointing out:"Art must be popularized,people should be artistic,and art is dedicated to be applied and appreciated by the people."In the field of drama,Zheng Zhenduo believes that the dramas that China needed at that time should be "civilian","and must be: the color with social problems and the spirit of revolution". In the practice of drama creation,it is the popularity of "dramas about social problems" in the "May Fourth" period. Hu Shi'sLifetime Eventsreflects the issue of marriage and love. Chen Dabei'sMs. Orchidreflects the ethical change. Wang Zhongxian'sGood Sonreflects the poverty of the society at that time. Hong Shen'sYama Zhaoshows the reality of the warlord's melee. Turning to the music sector,Li Jinhui established the "Moon Concert" in Beijing in 1920,proposing that the concert should "highly hold the banner of civilian music,just like the moon and the sky,which can be appreciated by all." Liu Tianhua,committed to the improvement of national music,also said,"I hope that the gentlemen who advocate music should not only sing high-profile,and should also take into account the general public. Otherwise,it is not the initial wish of artists that music is the toy of the nobility".

Popularization is an idea and a developmental logic that imply the tools and methods of self-realization of ideas. One of them is the advocacy of vernacular and its widespread use in literary and artistic creation. Hu Shi said in the article"What is literature" that good literature must satisfy three conditions,the first is "to understand clearly." He also said that "dead writing produces no living literature. To create a living literature,there must be living tools. We must first raise this tool and make it recognized for Chinese literature,making it completely replace the old tool that is half or completely dead. With these new tools,we can talk about new ideas and spirits and so on." In the art category that was closely related to the language and words,the drama from the West did not need to be mentioned,and it naturally refused the pretense of "ancient Chinese words".In the music circle,Xiao Youmei,Li Jinhui,Zhao Yuanren and others have used the vernacular texts that are easy to understand. Li Jinhui once said,"I will never get the forgiveness of the 'highly appreciative' and 'music experts',because they are still reluctant to follow the inherent 'music pattern' and do not want to match the perfect accord; and'Creating words' strives to be close to ordinary vernacular,'music arrangement' strives to be close to the usual tone,hoping that the 'lyrics' of the musicals are similar to the'dialogue' of dialogue dramas on a every day manner,and the people’s 'singing' and 'speaking' on the stage can be understood equally." More directly and eloquently reflecting the popularization of the "May Fourth" literature and art,perhaps,is the rise of the folklore movement. As Zhong Jingwen said,the folklore movement "is an integral part of the magnificent new cultural movement at the time."For the literary artists of the Movement,"folk" shoulders the meaning of spiritual home. Peking University's ballad collection activities were in full swing and extended to the overall study of "folk". Just like Gu Jiegang said,the "popular art" buried for thousands of years should be excavated layer by layer. The writer Yu Pingbo put forward the "express deep feelings with most common words" and called for"poetry to be fully popularized." "We must write poems for civilians,the most important thing to learn is to realize the life of civilians." "My heart is coming back! Return from the common world!"

In the later construction and narrative of the "May Fourth"literary tradition,popularization is undoubtedly one of the most powerful voices. In 1938,Mao Zedong proposed in the speech at Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts "to go to the masses." In 1940,he also summarized the new-democratic culture as "the culture of the masses,the nation and the science" in "New Democracy." "It should serve more than 90% of the workers and peasants in the entire nation and gradually become their culture." In 1942,Mao Zedong once again discussed the issue of popularization of literature and art in Yanan's speech on the literary and art forum,and used this as a benchmark to plan the development path of Chinese literature and art. After the founding of New China,its popularization became the national literary policy.Today,with the transformation of the economic system and the changes in the social structure,the connotation of the"mass" has been different from the "May Fourth" period and even the first 30 years after the founding of New China,but the popularization of literature and art is still the precious wealth left for us from the "May Fourth" Movement,which has the importance of navigation orientation in the process of promoting the healthy development of socialist literature and art.

Stubborn and tough literary tradition

Undoubtedly,the "May Fourth" Movement has a fierce anti-traditional color. In the field of literature and art,it even puts forward a critique of the traditional opera,and regards it as a brutal "legacy". When the smoke of history is gone,how should we correctly understand this? The author believes that Lu Xun's later passage in "Silent China" is worth pondering. He said,"The Chinese people's temperament always likes to reconcile and compromise. For example,if you say that the house is too dark,you have to open a window here. Nobody will allow it. But if you advocate removing the entire roof,they will reconcile,and be willing to open the window." It is not surprising to understand the mentality of the predecessors at that time,and the excessive rhetoric about the art revolution and criticism of the old drama.

Not only that,but when we rationally and meticulously analyze this movement in the name of anti-tradition,we will find that tradition is actually filled with a stubborn and tenacious attitude. Yu Shangyu and others who initiated the "National Drama Movement" maintained a relatively fair and objective attitude towards traditional opera.They attached importance to the artistic expression of drama and freehand expression,hoping to absorb it in the creation of new drama. Considered as "Schubert of China",Zhao Yuanren,as an outstanding representative of the"new music" creation during the movement,completed his"New Poetry Collection" in cooperation with Hu Shi and Xu Zhimo,which was praised by Xiao Youmei as "opening a new era for Chinese music". Among them,"How Could I Not Miss Him",composed by Zhao Yuanren and with lyrics written by Liu Bannong,was even more popular,considered to fully reflect the "May Fourth" youth's pursuit of freedom of love,but when we listen to this song,we will find the melody material of the main tone originated from the original screen of Peking Opera. Karl Marx once said that the most beautiful music is meaningless for the ear without music sense. In this sense,perhaps it was because Zhao Yuanren used the melody most familiar to the Chinese ears that the aesthetic and cultural significance of the song was fully publicized. In fact,in Zhao's view,the Chinese traditional music resources should be fully respected,so he always skillfully used Chinese folk songs,opera music and other elements in his creation.

The significance of tradition for the "May Fourth" literature and art is not just that,more importantly,it is about the inheritance of the literary view. On the one hand,the "May Fourth" literature and art showed a gesture of breaking with the tradition,on the other hand,it took over the baton that attached importance to the social functions of the literary,especially the educational function. The ancient Chinese always attached importance to the role of literature and art in the custom formation --"Book of Documents·Yuan Dian" records "poetry depicts ambition","The Analects" has long suggested that "poetry can be prosperous,observed,socializing and critical." All of them is a full affirmation of the social function of the literary and art. The literary artists of the "May Fourth" period gave the literary and art with more tasks,such as transformation of national character,arousing people's hearts,shaping new people and many others.Although these tasks are different from traditional society's requirements for literature and art,both focus more on the social functions of literary and art. And their attitude of the logic of promoting the development of literature and art on the track is consistent.

There are still many topics that can be discussed about the literature and art during the Movement,the establishment of the mainstream status of realism in Chinese literature and art,the influence of Western literary thoughts,or the rise of new literary and artistic creation groups and the formation of modern literary and art communities,etc. Together,they constitute a rich and mottled picture of the "May Fourth"literature and art. However,the author believes that the discovery of "people",the direction of popularization,and continuous looming of the literary traditions,are most worthy of caring and consideration in this picture. The "May Fourth" literature and art is both a heavy and historical topic,and a profound reality topic. The subject raised by the movement on literature and art is eternal. The subject of the movement raised for "people" is also eternal. It directly points out and releases the tension contained in the deepest layer of the literary structure.

We know that when returning to the starting point,we tend to see the direction of progress more clearly. Looking back at the "May Fourth" today,rereading the predecessors'literature and art is not a nostalgia of the ancient times,or taking the old road under the classic guise,but to return to the place where modern Chinese literature and art started,to examine its internal mechanism and explore its development law so as to advocate the healthy development of Chinese literature and art under the combined resources of ancient and modern China and the West.