Core Tip: The former county magistrate of Queshan County, Henan Province was sentenced to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes in 2004. In four years, he wrote three novels and became a writer, once again entering the public eye. When talking about his works, he said that the officialdom in the novel had his shadow when he was in politics; Looking back on his political career, he replied that being an official is like walking a tightrope.
Li Jianhua turned his back on the reporter
On the afternoon of November 20th, Li Jianhua, 48, dressed in prison uniform, appeared to Zhengzhou Customs police who received warning education in the heavily guarded No.1 prison in Henan Province. On the podium, his speech was as cadence as four or five years ago, but he raised his hand and wiped his tears when he said, "How many 11 years can a life have?"
These days, it took more than four years to write three novels and the news that the county magistrate of Luoma became a writer, which made Li Jianhua "walk" out of the high wall and re-enter the public eye. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes in 2004, and he was the former county magistrate of Queshan County.
In this prison where felons are held, Li Jianhua is deeply rethinking through writing and writing after working and studying.
The reporter conducted an exclusive interview with Li Jianhua based on his works.
The prison leaders are very supportive of writing in their spare time.
Reporter: What are the contents of the three novels you published?
Li Jianhua: The Liberator describes the life experience of an old Red Army from the revolutionary civil war, War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation to the founding of New China and its reform and opening up. Mr. Li Weichang, a book reviewer, said that this novel, which spans 65 years, is "a history book for the liberators of China". "Characteristics of China" is about rural reform. "Warm Home" pays attention to AIDS, and the editor wrote on the cover that "China’s first novel describing the first village of AIDS".
Reporter: Did you start writing after you came to prison?
Li Jianhua: It should be said that it was mainly finalized in prison. From May to September, 2004, I was detained in Runan Detention Center, when I was in the stage of investigation and interrogation. I had nothing to do all day, so I began to conceive The Liberator. The story of "The Liberator" was told by my father and his old leaders and comrades-in-arms when I was a child, and it has always been in my mind. The three novels are written in a cross.
Before the Army Day in 2007, when The Liberator was published, I had already sent The Features of China to the publishing house. When I was reviewing the manuscript of "China Features", I started to write "Warm Home". The publication of China Features was originally scheduled for May last year, but it was postponed for some reason. In October this year, the two novels were published simultaneously.
Reporter: Do you need to take part in labor?
Li Jianhua: You don’t have to work in the detention center. You can write all day. In prison, like everyone else, I have to take part in labor, study and education, sewing balls and installing lighters. I spend the rest of my free time or rest and entertainment time writing.
Reporter: What is the biggest difficulty for you to write a book in prison?
Li Jianhua: At the beginning of writing, there was no information, only some newspapers; There’s no complete time, it’s just a blind alley.
Reporter: What’s the situation now?
Li Jianhua: The leaders of the No.1 prison in Henan Province know that after I write a book, they will provide me with the conditions as much as possible. I also subscribed to several newspapers at my own expense. Newspapers mainly play an enlightening role, and some things in them can also be integrated into books.
In the detention center, I lie prone on the bed board or write with my knees on the manuscript paper. Six months after I came to prison, my second draft of Liberator was completed. The prison let me use the computer in the classroom, so I can write directly on the computer.
Sometimes I don’t want to write, and the prison leader, the warden and the police who manage me will encourage me to write. They said that this is to win glory for parents and relatives, and also to hand in a satisfactory answer for their own transformation.
The officialdom in the novel has the shadow of my time in politics.
Reporter: How did you think of writing "Warm Home"?
Li Jianhua: One day, instructor Chen showed me a newspaper with an article about AIDS. I worked as a deputy county magistrate in Shangcai County and Xincai County, and Wenlou Village was also a village I had contracted. After I read it, my thoughts were touched and I felt very guilty, and I began to conceive "Warm Home".
Another reason is that a writer wrote a book about AIDS, and the people in it were miserable and helpless, as if the government had never done anything. I wrote "Warm Home" to correct this statement and write about the care of the government and society for AIDS patients.
The protagonist in the book once served as the secretary of the county party committee in Cai Zhou, and was transferred from Cai Zhou when the AIDS problem was exposed. After retirement, he went deep into aids village to help the farmers in the village to cure diseases and produce, and build a warm home. Finally, even his wife, who had always opposed him to do so, was moved to join the help.
Reporter: All three novels involve leading cadres, especially "China Features" shows the officialdom of a county. How does your experience make your writing about officialdom different from other writers?
Li Jianhua: Both have limitations. Even if you have experience in officialdom, there are limitations. Some writers who write about officialdom have never been cadres in the county, and there are more fictional elements. I have read a book in which the retired party secretary became the boss of the underworld and hired a murderer. In fact, this is unlikely to happen in reality. The most fundamental thing in officialdom is the problem of thinking, inaction and chaos.
I graduated from high school at the age of 16 and went to the countryside as an intellectual youth. At the end of 1977, he participated in the first college entrance examination after the "Cultural Revolution", entered the political and historical professional class, and then was admitted to the graduate school. At the age of 32, he became a deputy county-level cadre, and at the age of 39, he was promoted to a county-level cadre. What he wrote was definitely different from them and more real.
There is a struggle between old and new ideas, between officials and doers in "China Features". Guests, gifts, running projects, the relationship between the county party Committee, the county government and the two houses, are all in the book.
Reporter: The county magistrate Wang in the novel is a doer. He is a county magistrate, and you have been a county magistrate …
Li Jianhua: that’s not me. I can only say that there is a little shadow of me. The characters in the novel are typical, but they can’t sit in the right place in reality because there are many creative elements in it.
Reporter: Is the county magistrate in the novel like what is written in some works? Whoever gives him a gift, he throws it out the door? Are you like this?
Li Jianhua: That county magistrate is quite strict with himself and will not be so ruthless, but everyone has his own bottom line. I just want to create the image of a grassroots county magistrate through literary works. As for me, I’m far from it, and I have many lessons to learn.
(Reporter’s Note: In 2004, the Zhumadian Intermediate People’s Court found that Li Jianhua had received a total of 500,000 yuan in kickbacks from the contractor five times during his tenure as director of Zhumadian Commerce and Trade Bureau from April 2000 to May 2001. )
Look at yourself, besides being an official, what else can you do?
Reporter: Did you ever think that you would write a book one day?
Li Jianhua: I had a writer’s dream when I was a student. Later, I was addicted to officialdom and put it on hold.
Reporter: I heard from the prison leader that your book is going to be made into a TV series?
Li Jianhua: After The Liberator was published, seven film and television companies competed to shoot it. When Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House rushed to publish this book, it was because its story frame was good and it could be used for TV series in the future. But there are many big war scenes in it, and the film and television company estimates that it can’t do without an investment of 60 million yuan, and has been hesitating.
Beijing Bobang Film and Television Culture Company is going to shoot my "Warm Home". I revised the script and their boss just took it away.
Reporter: How much royalties do you get for publishing books?
Li Jianhua: The royalty is about 15%. According to the number of prints, there is not much money. Adapted into a TV series, shooting an episode can get about 20 thousand yuan. In fact, what I value is not money, but honor. Honor is more important than money.
I turned this corner a little steep, and I was not prepared at all. I was depressed when I first served my sentence, but how many 11 years can a person have? I have to face the reality.
I want to tap my potential and see what I can do besides being an official.
Reporter: How much influence does your imprisonment have on your relatives and friends?
Li Jianhua: I was born in a cadre family, and my parents are old party member. My five sisters, the elder sister is the first postdoctoral fellow in the first postdoctoral mobile station in our province, and now she has been naturalized as a professor in the United States, and my younger brothers are also graduates of famous universities. Five of us were once the pride of our parents, and my father was invited by the school many times to give a well-taught report. How much do you think my imprisonment will affect my relatives?
My daughter is 24 years old. At the age of 14, she went to the United States to study with her aunt. She could have got a master’s degree. Because something happened to me, she once gave up her studies. She comes back to see me every year.
Reporter: What are you going to do after you get out of prison?
Li Jianhua: I can have two choices, one is to be a professional writer, and the other is to do business. It turned out that I was in charge of attracting investment and made some friends. After I went to prison, a friend said, "Come out and work with me, and I’ll give you a company to manage." The boss of the film and television company in Beijing also said that I could go to him to write a script after I came out.
Reporter: What do you think of your political career of more than 20 years?
Li Jianhua: Being an official is like walking a tightrope … (Today’s reporter Lu Zhiou/Wentu) (This article Source: Dahe. com)
Editor: Zhao Xuanxuan
