Cui Weixin's most talented storyteller

As a Chinese writer, Cui Weixin is known as "the most talented storyteller in Canada". His imaginative works describe the life of Canadians, and his books and countless essays are regarded as milestones in Canadian literature. He can enjoy a good reputation in mainstream Canadian society, which is impressive.

Although Cui Weixin is not a prolific writer, each of his works is meticulous, with delicate brushwork and equal emphasis on Zhuang and harmony. In particular, his first novel, a love tragedy during World War II, received constant praise and was regarded as "earning countless tears".

As a Canadian citizen with an oriental cultural background, Cui Weixin emphasizes tolerance and encourages multiculturalism. Because of this, one of his famous sayings is "Unity in Diversity". For him, finding things is the basic point of literature, and the strength of stories lies in giving meaning to life. I can't say enough about this. Not long ago, Wei Sen Choy gave a special lecture on Canadian multiculturalism and ethnic orientation at the University of British Columbia (UBC). This is the main activity of the 7th UBC- laurier College Multicultural Lecture founded in 2004. Its main purpose is to support the multicultural development of Canada through discussion and analysis at different levels, and invite speakers from different cultural backgrounds to share their feelings as a member of Canada.

At the Modern Theatre in Chen Center, Cui Weixin delivered a speech entitled "Are we there yet? Have we arrived yet? ), with his personal experience, tells the story of an immigrant or immigrant descendant who was influenced by different and even contradictory values and cultures during his growth, and how he made his whole life lighter and richer under such challenges.

Soon after, Lauriere University in Ontario announced that it would award honorary doctorates to four outstanding people, including Cui Weixin, in recognition of their achievements. At that time, Cui Weixin was awarded an honorary doctorate in literature, and the award ceremony was just held on the campus of Waterloo on June 9. From 65438 to 0939, Cui Weixin, a native of Guangdong Hakka, was born in Vancouver and was adopted. He spent his childhood and adolescence in Vancouver Chinatown.

Adoptive parents immigrated to Canada when they were young. The adoptive father is a cook on a ship, and the adoptive mother is a maid. Cui Weixin can't speak Mandarin and Taishan dialect spoken by his parents, but he joked that he can speak "Vancouver dialect". "It's just a very elementary Taishan dialect, and Cantonese vocabulary is mixed with English grammar." After studying writing at the University of British Columbia, he was the only China student in his class. Up to now, no China writer can match him in Canadian English literature. When studying literature at the University of British Columbia, he studied under Earle Birney, a famous Canadian poet and novelist, and attracted the attention of critics with his short story The Sounds of Waves, which won the Macmillan Prize.

The early life in Chinatown will always be the source of Cui Weixin's writing. He said, "We share stories. I sincerely believe that a good story is a person's story, without any boundaries or racial barriers. " Although Cui Weixin doesn't know Chinese, he is full of nostalgia and childhood memories of Vancouver Chinatown.

After Cui Weixin moved to Toronto, 1967 taught at Humber College in Toronto as a literature teacher and offered a very popular English writing course. He was also a professor at Humber Writers School and was re-elected as the director of Kahuz Theatre in Toronto for three years. He taught writing at the university until he retired in 2004, but his teaching career was not over yet. Jade Peony, published in 1995, is Cui Weixin's first novel, which has been tempered in 18 years. From the perspective of three children who grew up in Vancouver's Chinatown, this paper describes the rough experiences of Chinese Canadians in the 1930s and 1940s. Ranked in the best-seller list of the Globe and Mail for six consecutive months.

This masterpiece describes the life in early Chinatown, especially in Wenzhou during the Great Depression of last century. The struggle of Chinese in a foreign land and the economic and cultural difficulties encountered in integrating into the local mainstream society are all dull and linear.

The Jade Peony was first published as a short story in 1977, and it has been on the best-seller list of Globe and Mail for 26 consecutive weeks. Ranked sixth in the annual novel list. Cui Weixin won the Vancouver Book Award and Trillium Literature Award for this book. Later, it was selected as one of the most influential 1945-2004 Canadian books by Canadian Literary Review.

Cui Weixin also won the 1996 Vancouver Book Award for The Jade Peony, and shared the Ontario Trillium Book Award (also known as the "Clover Literature Award") with the female writer Margaret Atwood. 1998 "Jade Peony" was rated as "American Library Association masterpiece". What matters is the continuation of The Jade Peony, which is set in Vancouver Chinatown during the war. The protagonist is the eldest son in The Jade Peony, and he reflects the life of the last generation of immigrants in Taishan, Guangdong Province with his own struggle. Ottawa citizens' evaluation of this book is that it creates a complex world by showing colorful childhood life, and the lovely protagonist makes readers feel at home. The Globe and Mail even more succinctly said that this book is "a pure and beautiful work".

The story is based on the dream that Chen and his son came to Jinshan (Vancouver) from China to start a new life with the gold rush, hoping to return to China. The time background is set at 1930- 1940 in Vancouver Chinatown before the Japanese invasion of China broke out. Through the relationship between the hero and his father, grandmother, stepmother and younger siblings, it reflects how countless China families struggle to survive in a strange land, not only to adapt to the new social culture, but also to maintain the tradition of China for thousands of years.

This book was nominated for the Giles Pixar Literature Award, and Cui Weixin was the first China writer to be nominated for this famous literature award. The jury of Gilles Prize for Literature will select 6 finalists from 94 works with a prize of 25,000 Canadian dollars, which is one of the most awarded literary awards in Canada. This novel also enabled Cui Weixin to beat six other famous writers, and after a lapse of 10, he won the title of English book category of Ontario Trillium Book Award again. The jury praised the book for its rich and accurate description of Chinatown in Wenzhou at that time, and showed the shield of several generations of Chen family and the conflict between old and new life with exquisite brushwork.

Cui Weixin, 57, attended the signing ceremony of Jade Peony, but he had no intention of knowing the truth of his birth, and he had mixed feelings. So the autobiographical novel Paper Shadow: A Childhood in China City was published on 1999. The book was shortlisted for the Governor-General's Literature Award, and won the annual documentary of the Canadian Literature Award, which was listed as a recommended work by 1999 by the Globe and Mail. Paper Shadow highlights the important features of Chinese-Canadian English literature and shows the linguistic transition of immigrant languages from miscellaneous to standard English. The content exposes the secrets of Chinese family history and ethnic history, and criticizes the Chinese exclusion policy. Highlight China in the theme, overthrow the old stereotype of China, rewrite the family history, and solve the identity confusion. Zhao Qingqing, a literary researcher, once wrote a special article: Language, Secrecy and Reconstruction-A Review of Cui Weixin.

In 2005, Cui Weixin was awarded the Canadian Medal for his contribution to Canadian literature and society.

On the evening of June 5438+065438+1 October1,2008, Cui Weixin was awarded the literary prize of that year at the 29th International Writers' Festival (IFOA) held in Toronto, in recognition of his important contributions in the field of book writing and training young writers. Cui Weixin is an open homosexual and has participated in many anti-discrimination and equal rights activities for homosexuals. A few years ago, he said in an interview with the media that he didn't really realize that he was gay until he was in his twenties, and his literary works also reflected his life experience.

Cui Weixin insists that the essence of multiculturalism is actually a kind of "sharing" of culture, not only with family members, but with all people who know and don't know, living together in an environment of mutual acceptance and mutual respect.

He said that when he was growing up, as a "banana", that is, a China person with white thoughts, his mind was full of Hollywood and western cowboys. In my life, I also had a cultural "confrontation" with my elders in China. Like I'm gay. In the previous Chinese community, it was strange for elders to see him coming home late, but because of taboos, it was not good to urge him to get married. Later, someone told him obliquely, if you don't get married, what will you do when you get old? Cui Weixin said that he once suffered from heart disease, but friends he knew and didn't know were taken care of as family members, which made him deeply feel that this is one of the most precious values of multiculturalism. Through mutual understanding and acceptance, society has become better.

The Second International Conference on Hakka Traditional Culture in China was held in the Chinese Cultural Center in Greater Toronto years ago, and Cui Weixin presided over the opening ceremony. At that time, he said that when China's influence on the international stage is growing, it is even more necessary for people to understand that Chinese culture is actually a pluralistic and inclusive culture, and the Chinese nation has a long history of emigration, especially for some ethnic groups, such as Hakkas, and it is a pioneer for the Chinese nation to go global.