Famous writer Er Yuehe passed away

In February, the rivers thaw and liberation comes; in autumn, the plum blossoms fall on the jade mats. Mo Yan: I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Mr. February River! Online, there have long been couplets written under both the gentleman’s pen name and his real name; they are well-structured and clever, with profound meanings. I have humbly written this in response; though it is far from as polished as the previous couplet, its sorrow and sincerity are genuine. The supplier’s family is present as well, to see the gentleman off on his long journey. Er Yue He: The Ice Thaws and Liberation Comes; Yi Jian Mei: Autumn on the Jade Mat. Yi Jian Mei is a poetic form, also known as Yu Jian Qiu.

In 1980, the then-called Er Yuehe was still known as “Ling Jiefang”; at 35 years old, he was an amateur enthusiast of Redology, a pursuit that seemed to be shared by many young literature lovers in China at that time. That very year, Ling Jiefang, who had faced repeated setbacks in his research on Redology, wrote a letter to the renowned expert in this field, Mr. Feng Qiyong, with a message along the lines of \"The path of life seems to become narrower and narrower as one moves forward...\", attaching his own research paper titled \"Is Shi Xiangyun a ‘plague on wealth’?\" 》, he wrote fiercely in the letter: “‘Redology’ belongs to the people, not to ‘Redology experts’.” If Mr. Feng decides after reading it that I’m not cut out for this, please write back; I won’t waste any more time here. ” After receiving the letter, Mr. Feng highly appreciated Ling Jiefang. From then on, China lost one frustrated young literature enthusiast, and gained another \"Redology expert\". In October 1982, Ling Jiefang, a member of the China Redology Society, went to Shanghai to attend the third national academic conference on \"Dream of the Red Chamber\", and was the youngest representative present at that time. Some scholars lamented at the conference that such a emperor as Kangxi, who was accomplished both in literary and military affairs, left no literary works depicting him. It is said that Ling Jiefang stood up instantly, just as he would do during roll calls in the army, shouting, “I’ll write it!” ” From then on, China lost a scholar of Redology and gained a historical novelist.

In 1985, 40-year-old Ling Jiefang had already written 170,000 words of \"Emperor Kangxi.\" After reading it, Feng Qiyong said, \"Stop doing anything else; focus on completing it – this is the path for your future.\" The following year, the first volume of \"Emperor Kangxi\", titled \"Seizing the Palace\", was published and caused a sensation in the literary world as soon as it came out. On the yellow cover, it is signed “Er Yue He”. This was the beginning of the pen name “Er Yue He” making its debut in the literary world. Many years later, when explaining the origin of his pen name, Er Yue He said, “The Yellow River in February sees its ice melt, and thousands of horses gallop.” From 1986 to 2018, “historical novelist” became the primary label associated with Er Yuehe. In the world of contemporary Chinese historical novels, Eryue He and Tang Haoming, the author of \"Zeng Guofan,\" are the two most prominent figures.

By 2018, Yongzheng had already become a top internet celebrity in China’s public discourse, to the point that there was a saying going around that “Yongzheng (the Fourth Prince) is very busy.” Just in terms of TV dramas, there are popular series such as \"Step by Step\" and \"Empresses in the Palace\". But if we trace things back, Er Yue He is the one who first made Yongzheng famous. Today, when the news of February River’s death spread, the first thing that came to people’s minds was his work \"Emperor Yongzheng\"

The most famous work of Yue Erhe’s lifetime is his \"Qing Emperors Trilogy\": \"Emperor Kangxi,\" \"Emperor Yongzheng,\" and \"Emperor Qianlong.\" Although \"Emperor Kangxi\" is Er Yuehe’s debut work and his most famous creation, it was the book \"Emperor Yongzheng\", published in the early 1990s, that truly established Er Yuehe’s status in the literary world; this book almost won the Mao Dun Literature Prize. Relatively speaking, although *Emperor Qianlong* was created by Er Yuehe while he was seriously ill as an effort to produce something outstanding, it still has the lowest reputation among these works. Based on my reading experience, I have read \"Emperor Yongzheng\" almost three times in its entirety, \"Emperor Kangxi\" twice incompletely, and I have not finished reading \"Emperor Qianlong\" at all. But to be honest, I first read the book \"Emperor Yongzheng\" after watching that famous historical drama \"The Dynasty of Yongzheng\" directed by Hu Mei. I think this might also be a common experience for many people. It could even be said that it was \"The Yongzheng Dynasty\" that made Er Yuehe the \"famous writer\" in the eyes of the public. In January 1999, \"The Reign of Emperor Yongzheng\" was premiered on CCTV’s general channel, creating a sensation that surpassed that of any of Yue Erhe’s books. The series won all the major awards for television dramas that year, and because it resonated with certain psychological aspirations of the era of reform, it became a drama recommended for viewing by party and government agencies.

The TV series \"The Reign of Emperor Yongzheng\" even caught the attention of the historical community. On March 13, 1999, Dai Yi, director of the Institute of Qing History at the Chinese People’s University, published an article titled \"Yongzheng in History\" in the People’s Daily ； On March 15, Mr. Qin Hui, a professor in the Department of History at Tsinghua University, published an article in China Youth Daily titled \"Is ‘The Yongzheng Dynasty’ a historical drama?\" 》 article. Dai Yi’s article was fairly mild, as it did not directly target Er Yuehe; whereas Qin Hui’s article aimed straight at the TV series \"The Reign of Emperor Yongzheng,\" arguing that the series was an exaggeration based on \"The Record of Enlightenment through Righteousness,\" which was created by Yongzheng himself. To be fair, Ping Xinghe’s original work, \"Emperor Yongzheng,\" is indeed a work that overpraises Yongzheng; nevertheless, it does cover many aspects of his political tactics and schemes. Although the ending is fictional, it portrays Yongzheng’s death as resulting from suicide due to incest with his daughter whom he had not seen for years – which could even be considered a distortion of his character. However, in the TV series \"The Reign of Emperor Yongzheng,\" Yongzheng is portrayed even more as an idealized figure – a reformer who was willing to offend all scholars in the country in order to implement policies that would benefit the nation and its people. It can be said that throughout the entire series, there is hardly any criticism of Yongzheng; after watching it, it’s hard not to become a fan of Yongzheng as well. From this perspective, it is also \"Yongzheng Dynasty\" that \"made\" Er Yuehe a figure who is controversial in a sense.