Chapter 13 Chapter Twelve. The Language, Intonation and Others of "A Sky Full of Shining Stars"

"Sparkling Stars in the Sky" and "Autumn Thoughts" immediately before it are the two shortest articles in "Taipei People", both of which do not exceed 5,000 words.However, these two articles also have the consistent characteristics of "Taipei People", both vivid social realism and profound symbolic meaning. The article "A Sky Full of Shining Stars" may confuse many readers. The more difficult chapters in "Taipei People", such as "Lonely Love for Flowers", "Forever Yin Xueyan", "The Rhododendron as Red as Blood", etc., are all difficult because of the complicated inner meaning; if we do not pursue the theme of the novel As far as the meaning is concerned, there is nothing difficult to understand in these novels only on the level of realism that appears on the outside.On the contrary, the main obstacle to understanding the article "Sparkling Stars in the Sky" is the realistic part presented on the outside.Many readers probably didn't realize that there is also a social realism aspect in this article, and they only think that it is an impressionist work that the author is dreaming about.Such readers do not need to feel ashamed and blame themselves for not knowing how to appreciate literary works, because this has nothing to do with literary appreciation.

In fact, even the most discerning literary connoisseur, if he does not have a considerable degree of knowledge of the general scene of the gay world, will find this novel a bit baffling and incomprehensible, because from the beginning to the end, the sketch presents Yes, it is the world of gay men today, and the characters in it are all gay men.In the novel, the descriptions and narratives that make many readers feel mysterious and empty, if viewed from the perspective of this special world that is not well known to everyone, are concrete, realistic and lifelike social realism. This article uses the first-person narrative method, but there is one point worth noting: this first-person is plural, not singular.The narrator goes on and on about how we are, without mentioning me once.It can be seen from this that the narrator of this novel is a representative of a group.The personality of this representative has nothing to do with the novel, so the author does not give him any personal characteristics or name, but only the typological characteristics of the group to which he belongs.

The type or group represented by the narrator is the younger generation among the homosexuals who reverberate by the lotus pond in the new park at night, exploring and seeking temporary partners.The protagonist of the novel is an old man with a history, Zhu Yan, the red star of the Shanghai Star Company in the 1930s.The narrator tells how one day there was a dance party at the home of Hei Meilang (a gay guy who thought he was a great beauty), and everyone danced naked to celebrate the spring dance. Shouting and announcing: We are Jichunjiao!Therefore, the narrator's group, among the night wandering gods in the park, chose Zhu Yan as the leader of Jichun Sect, because he has a different background and has a certain style of convincing the public.

According to the narrator's account, especially the drunken words of the leader relayed by him, we can get a glimpse of the general story of the protagonist's life in this novel.In the era of silent films, the leader was popular in half the sky. He played Tang Bohu in "Three Smiles", which caused a sensation.But as soon as the sound film came out, he declined. In fact, he only became popular in the 19th, 20th, and 21st years of the Republic of China, a total of three years.His last performance in "Luoyang Bridge" was a crushing failure, and he was buried alive by the critics, who was accused of being an actor whose artistic life died.Later, he changed to be a director, but because he often drank too much and was in a bad body, he offended the stars, so it was never his turn to direct top-notch movies.Then he falls in love with a teenage star named Jiang Qing and suddenly feels himself resurrected from the dead.He went bankrupt and remade "Luoyang Bridge". When he was directing Jiang Qing, because of his deep love and responsibility, he once had five blood marks on his face.Everyone called Jiang Qing Zhu Yan's white horse son.Jiang Qing is talented and spiritual, born to be a big star, Zhu Yan gritted his teeth and said to him: Son, you must fight for me!As a result, "Luoyang Bridge" was a great success. On the day of Shanghai Da Guangming's performance, the traffic on the road was jammed.

However, shortly thereafter, Jiang Qing fell in love with an actress named Lin Ping, and went out with her despite Zhu Yan's advice.One day, he traveled with Lin Ping in the sports car that Zhu Yan gave him, but there was an accident. Lin Ping was thrown to the ground without hurting a single hair, but Jiang Qing was burned into a piece of black charcoal in the sports car.Jiang Qing was not the only one who was burned to death: the revived Zhu Yan seemed to be burned out together.The Hierarch apparently never rose from this second death. Today in Taipei, Zhu Yan with disheveled white hair, drooping back, and lost youth, career, and love, apart from those memories that he would never forget, there is only an old, meaningless, inescapable sensuality left. body of.When night fell, he, like many other homosexuals, sought sensual satisfaction by the lotus pond in New Park.Until the last pair of eyes full of desire disappeared in the dark grove, the priests of Jichun Sect began their gathering, listening to the past stories told by the leader (this group of people still kept gathering after satisfying their carnal desires, Sometimes there is a dance party, apparently like attracts like, and sympathizes with each other).

For a period of several months, the leader did not appear in the park.It turned out that one day when he was drunk, he chased a male student on the street, muttering about Luoyang Bridge and Mr. Baima, and forced the male student into his arms.Finally, he was caught by the police and sent to prison.On a hot and humid summer night, he suddenly came to the park again, wearing a new suit and neatly dressed, but he was beaten by the criminal police in prison, and his steps were staggering with injuries.He was alone, leaning against the railing by the pool, standing tall, as if he didn't hear the whispering and laughing around him.After standing for a long time, until late at night, he led a good-looking but lame young male prostitute into the dark green coral.

For those who are trapped in the gay world involuntarily, or who know the scene of the gay world through observation and reading, the novel "Sparkling Stars in the Sky" very vividly and powerfully outlines this society that is ignored by normal society. Or the netherworld of contempt.Among homosexuals (this refers to gay men entirely. According to social research reports, lesbians have different lifestyles), although there are some who can quietly lead a life like a couple with a regular same-sex partner, but most of them are Unable to settle down, unable to control myself, trapped in the samsara of lust and love, always moving and wandering, eager to explore, constantly pursuing, but like a circle, from youth to old age, never finding relief exit.Check out the author's description:

Maybe it was a hot day in July and August, wandering people stayed in the park for a long time, so we were all on the steps by the pool, walking around the pool, stepping on shadows one by one, busy spinning around change.In the hot darkness, a lock of white hair floats here, a bald head dangles there, a hunchbacked figure, eager, exploring, passing through, passing through. This large group of people (according to the American Social Survey, one out of every six men in the United States has a homosexual experience), young and old, are busy going around the lotus pond.Their current task is to explore each other and find objects. Once the wandering people leave, they can start their activities.However, the author's text descriptions also appropriately allude to the entire living conditions of these people.

For most gay men, youth is the biggest asset.So they are particularly afraid of old age.They worship the youthful body, so of course the religion they believe in is the religion of worshiping spring.Beyond this common belief, however, this homosexual type group can be divided into many subtypes, or classes.The first classification method is based on age: generally speaking, the older the age, the lower the class.In this way, the younger generation represented by the narrator of the novel is separated from our grandparents by a certain distance, and they do not mingle with each other.Except for the leader, who has won the respect of the younger generation (although it may be half-jokingly) because of his origin and preservation of the past, the narrator group has a lot of respect for those with a lock of white hair, a bald head, a Elderly homosexuals with hunchbacked figures are obviously not valued.The narrator says:

Among the night wandering gods in the park, there are many who are older than him (the leader).Yet they are obscene. Another classification method is according to each person's sexual orientation and clothing.The same is gay, but there are several different types of sexuality.There are people like Hei Meilang who think they are a great beauty. When they are tired, they stand on tiptoes, open their arms, stretch their waists, and yawn a few times; wearing scarlet tights and black shorts, they sit on the steps. In the center, swinging a pair of bare legs wearing sandals, showing off like a little peacock that just opened its tail.But there are also those who are as primitive and wild as the mountain man Axiong, who either strip naked and dance the mountain people's spring festival dance, or wear tight white canvas sausage trousers, exposing saturated men all over their bodies.However, most of them, especially those who are married or have no youth to show off, often look and dress like ordinary people.Just like the fat bald foreigner in a checkered Hawaiian shirt, or the leader in a new shiny light blue sand market suit, we will not find it strange at all to meet on the road.

Another category of gay men is based on each person's occupation or interest.For example, in the novel, old man Mo, the director and professor, Ah Hsiung, who is born a martial arts star, and Hei Meilang, who will definitely go to Hollywood in the future, belong to the same category because of similar ambitions and interests, and transcend age boundaries.Another professional group is the gang of young people in Sanshui Street.These young men are actually male prostitutes, who usually solicit customers from married or unmarried middle-aged and elderly homosexuals, and charge each time like ordinary prostitutes.The group represented by the narrator does not include these male prostitutes who mainly deal with money, but instead confronts them and looks down on them.But the gang of youngsters did not lose the upper hand because of this, they were in groups of three or four, with their shoulders hooked and their backs hunched, their clogs beating reverberatingly, on the steps, like a demonstration, swinging back and forth , humming a very coquettish little tune. The world of gay men is based on the youthful body. The biggest fear and most embarrassing sorrow of ordinary gay men is that youth disappears, the body is no longer pursued by people, but the lust does not go away.When discussing "The Blood-Red Rhododendron", I mentioned that Bai Xianyong often used the humid and hot summer night to symbolize the saturation of carnal desire. "A Sky Full of Shining Stars" is a good example.In the novel, there are two realistic scenes about homosexuals eagerly searching for a partner. The background is the hot day in July and August, and the hot darkness.Especially the two paragraphs of descriptive text at the end of the novel are full of meat.Here are some of the lines recorded: It was an unusual summer night. There was not a drop of rain in Taipei for more than two months.The wind is hot, and so are the stone steps in the park. Those fertile tropical trees are luxuriant and steaming, and they are all emitting warm smoke. The lotus in the pond has a strong fragrance, so sweet that it makes you feel tired.In the dark sky, have you seen the moon?Have you ever seen such an obscene moon?It's like a big meat ball, full of blood, and the flesh is red and floating there.The figures in the park are like revolving lanterns, turning in a hurry. Immediately afterwards, the author describes in detail how Hei Meilang shows off his body posture, how the primitive Axiong exposes saturated men, and how the little boy from Sanshui Street seduces and seduces like a demonstration.The sudden appearance of the leader frightened everyone, but this attention only lasted for a moment.In an instant, the previous bustle resumed on the steps.As the night gradually deepened, the footsteps on the steps became more and more urgent, each and every footsteps were chasing, probing, and longing.The leader stood alone until the ball-like red moon sank behind him, and then he left with a little girl named Xiaoyu. Judging from the leader's actual actions today, he is a typical tragic figure among homosexuals who has lost his youth and still has his carnal desires.But why is he not wretched, but has such a convincing style?Why do spring worshipers who worship youth think that such an old man who has long lost his youth is qualified to be their leader? This involves the consistent theme of the "Taipei People" series of works: a person with a glorious past, even if the past has been turned into an empty memory, knows how to retain a kind of temperament, a kind of dignity, which makes him different and nobler than others. People who have never or have no chance to enjoy the glorious past. Let us see how the author uses the language of the narrator to express vividly and powerfully the temperament or dignity of the old and depraved, miraculously preserved by the leader: His gray hair was disheveled in locks and trembled in the wind. He frowned tightly, and the three wrinkles on his forehead became deeper and deeper.Have you seen?A person's wrinkles can be so deep!It seemed to have been cut out with a sharp knife. Three straight stripes, so dark that they were black, lay across his broad forehead.Tall, with broad shoulders, he must have been handsome in the past, but his back has slumped, and he is wrapped in his old herringbone gray autumn jacket all the way. When he walks, he flutters, revealing It means infinite decay.But what were his strange eyes like?In the darkness, the two clusters of green lights, like the long-lived lamps in the ancient tomb, burned the flame that would not be extinguished. Even in the end, he was repaired by the criminal police, limped out of prison, and came to the park to pursue the satisfaction of desire. In such a pitiful and despicable situation, the leader still retains a certain pride and dignity strangely: He stood alone, leaning against the railing, and raised his white-haired shaggy head. His tall and thin figure, very bony and proud, stood there, facing the whispers and whispers around him. Sneering, he pretended not to care. The reason why the leader is different from other night wandering gods is that he enjoyed three years of brilliant artistic life in the 1930s.One day, at a spring festival meeting, he drunkenly said: Zhu Yan?Zhu Yan?He is long dead!He also said: Zhu Yan only lived for three years. In fact, this is not a drunken talk, but the leader and the author of the novel divide the artistic life (spirit) and the physical life into two. With the former, one is alive, without the former, the latter alone is tantamount to death. Zhu Yan, who died at the end of Art's life, was once resurrected because of her love for Jiang Qing.On Jiang Qing who possessed that aura, he regained his lost self.So he pinned his new life on Jiang Qing's genius and Jiang Qing's success.Because he has personally experienced the pain of being buried alive and having his neck strangled, he must ask Jiang Qing to fight for me.By the way, it can be mentioned that the film critics pushed him into the well and threw stones down.Bury him alive!The narration texts such as these also seem to imply the sanction attitude of normal society towards homosexuals who behave differently. Zhu Yan's homosexuality with Jiang Qing back then was a true love where the soul and soul melted into one.This kind of fiery and dedicated love forms an obvious and sharp contrast with today's homosexual love chasing after sensual satisfaction in the new park. When the leader talked about his young man on a white horse in the Spring Festival meeting, he pointed to all the narrators one by one, and said: Jiang Qing was born to be a big star, with that aura in him, little brother, don't think that none of you are handsome! Hei Meilang turned his mouth disapprovingly and sneered.Here, the author obviously intends to make a comparison between Jiang Qing, who represents the past, and Hei Meilang, who represents the present: the two are about the same age, and both have aspirations to become movie stars. This is the same thing.But Jiang Qing is pure, typical of ancient China (riding a white horse and wearing a water-green silk robe is a hint), with that aura on her body, she is a real genius.What about Kuro Miro?But in Taipei New Park, she is posing, showing off her body, thinking she is a great beauty, and she is obsessed with foreign countries, and wants to break into Hollywood.I am afraid that my figure is too short, so I consider custom-made a pair of high heels, so that I can play with foreigners!In addition, Ah Xiong, who was born to be a martial arts star, is also in contrast to Jiang Qing, who was born to be a big star back then. The Luoyang Bridge mentioned by the author in the novel does have its own movie, which is a mythical movie.And Jiang Qing, a young man, is really elegant like a mythical figure, and his symbolic meaning is obviously more than realistic.What Jiang Qing symbolizes, of course, is youthful vigor and spiritual brilliance.Therefore, Zhu Yan's love for him has another abstract meaning. Zhu Yan knew at first sight that Lin Ping was an ominous person.His jealousy of the female star Lin Ping is of course the strong jealousy of homosexuals on the one hand.But he clearly had a premonition that she would eventually ruin Jiang Qing's genius.Sure enough, in a car accident, Jiang Qing was burned into a piece of black charcoal, but the little temptress was unscathed.Lin Ping not only ruined Jiang Qing's genius, but also seemed to steal his success, and later became Tianyi's big star. Since Zhu Yan completely relied on Jiang Qing's genius and success for his new life, Jiang Qing's death also destroyed his chances of resurrection.He died again.Many years have passed, and when I recall it today, the leader still murmurs like a bone is choked in his throat, "burn us to death!" They were all burnt to death. But is he really dead?The author means, is he really dead?But not so.Otherwise, the leader's green eyes would not be so sparkly that they would jump out of sparks.Just because he kept an unyielding temperament, burning an unquenchable flame on the dark ruins of life, even in the most embarrassing and embarrassing situation, even if his leg was injured and his gait was unsteady, he But he is also surprisingly able to stand proudly without becoming obscene (of course, the great incompatibility between his proud look and his humble purpose of coming to the new park is also a point of the author's intentional irony). From here, we can turn to talk about the symbolic meaning of this novel.Although the subject matter of this novel is limited to the special scenes of homosexual love and the homosexual world, we can extend its meaning and interpret the novel as a projection of the general phenomenon of the whole human being.Really, is it only homosexuals, which one of us does not lament the shortness of youth and the limited lifespan?Which one of us, before the final death, is not busy with the current affairs, in the circle of life with no exit, we human beings, in the eyes of the gods who have no life limit, how pitiful we are, despicable!Like a revolving lantern, it is turning in a hurry, so busy, so anxious, but why?It's just greed for the satisfaction of a little desire!The satisfaction of such a humble desire for life! And time, never waits for people, never stops passing.In a body that was once full of youthful vitality, the pulse beats slower and slower in the blink of an eye, and the nerves are numb one by one. You just watched your hands and feet rotten piece by piece.Life is slowly corroding like this, and finally dies. In this way, people, what is the point of living such a scene?It is almost as if it is no different from animals.But the author thinks there is a big difference.Or, should make a big difference.The difference between man and animals is that in addition to flesh, man also has a spirit.Art, ideals, and love are manifestations of the spirit.Real life, and sexuality, is an expression of flesh.Ordinary people grow up with age, their physicality gradually increases, and their spirituality gradually loses.The author obviously believes that under the control of this helpless law of life, a person who has lost his youthful ideals or artistic life can only rely on a memory, a memory of the former spirit, to redeem the life that only has a physical body and keep a little bit of humanity dignity. In this way, the story of the leader is no longer just the story of a poor gay old man, but also a tragic story of the entire human being.And the author's extended intention, we can feel it from the very special tone or tone of this novel. As I have said, the narrator of this piece, the mouthpiece of a group, always uses the plural we, without any individual identity.Like the shining stars in the sky, there is no difference between one and another.However, after shining for a while, it will gradually dim.Even Zhu Yan, a big star in the era of silent films, gradually faded, his life gradually became darker, and his fate of disappearing was of course not limited to homosexuals, but universal to all human beings.So, in this sense, each of us is a member of the narrator's community. And this narrator, who secretly represents all human beings, does convey the vicissitudes of the world and the desolation of human destiny with his special tone.This narrator seems to have no face, no form, only a lingering, strange, hollow echo that seems to come from the dark old twilight or the ghostly valley.Appreciation of this novel seems to be mainly by hearing rather than vision. One of the main reasons for this tone like an echo in the valley is that the author sometimes inserts some short, sometimes repeated or repetitive rhythmic interrogative sentences in the narrative text.like: Zhu Yan?Zhu Yan?He is long dead!Have you seen?A person's wrinkles can be so deep!But what were his strange eyes like?Do you think you can live a long time?Do you think your body is great?Do you think your face is pretty?Do you think you can live to forty?Fifty?Tang Bohu?They all rushed to call him.what about you?Your pulse beats slower and slower.But why?Why?Why don't you listen to me?Have you ever seen that moon?Have you ever seen such an obscene moon? Again, let us look at the opening paragraph of the novel: It’s always like this every time, and every time he waits until the bright stars in the sky gradually dim one by one, he leans on the stone railing beside the lotus pond in the new park and begins to tell us Think of his stories. Every time and every time in this passage, in addition to the reverberation effect caused by the repetition of words, also implies a constant state in meaning.We noticed that the narrator of the novel only stated that the story took place in a thick and hot night (perhaps it was a hot day in July and August), but did not specify a fixed time.This makes people feel that the background of the story is a ghost world without time.And in the middle of the night, the meeting of the bishops who worshiped the Spring Sect reminded people of heresy or the gathering of wizards and witches; the words of the leader became like oracles or spells; all of which greatly added the dark and mysterious atmosphere of the novel atmosphere.In addition, the gloomy groves, the dark green corals, the lush and smoky tropical trees, the cloying fragrance of lotus flowers, and the lustful moon with red flesh are as bright as the long-lived lamps in ancient tombs. The eyes, these, and a large number of descriptions that can be cited endlessly also create the same atmosphere, making people suspect that it is a fairyland or a place where elves and ghosts haunt.The combination of these factors creates a Surrealistic temperament in the novel. Originally, the homosexual world, which was completely isolated from normal society, looked a bit like such a tricky and weird fantasy world in the eyes of ordinary people.Therefore, it is not a misunderstanding that readers who do not understand the realism of this article think that it is an empty and grotesque impressionist novel. The narrator of "Sparkling Stars in the Sky" outlines the life style of a group of homosexuals who have been rejected by society.But the stories told by the Hierarch leaning on the stone railing with his back against the dark sky, or, more precisely, the stories of the Hierarch, evoked by the narrator in his peculiar ethereal tone, tell more than just that homosexuals are doomed. The sorrow of human beings is the inevitable sorrow inherent in all human beings.That's an old story.eternal story.A long and never-ending tragic story that began in primitive times.