Introduction: Generally speaking, it is difficult for a writer to have a fantastic worldview and rigorous textualism at the same time, but Ma Boyong is an "atypical writer" who has both.
Author | Garden Chief
Edit | Zhao Siqiang
"My emperor's sect is Boyong ." (Translation: My father's name is Boyong.)
This is a poem written by Chu State more than 2,200 years ago, Chu State politician and writer Qu Yuan in " Lisao ". He would never have thought that in the future, a literary peer would use "Boyong" as his pseudonym. This makes many readers who have read "Li Sao" often feel like they are taken advantage of when they see the name "Ma Boyong".
skillfully implants various "memories" into the works, serious but clever and humorous, which is Ma Boyong's strength. Some people call him a genius in writing, with wonderful creativity and expression skills. Some people only regard him as a storyteller, criticizing him for often "can't hold back" in his long works and the ending is not satisfying enough.
But in 2019, people began to revisit this writer who often has novel ideas.
In June 2019, the web drama of the same name adapted from Ma Boyong's novel "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" was launched on Youku. Although it was almost "zero promotion" before it was launched, with its fast-paced plot, exquisite retro costumes and props, and a group of actors who have mastered the essence of the role, the drama quickly became a hit, and even increased the popularity of Xi'an tourism by 22%.
Ma Boyong is becoming more and more "out of the circle". Recently, Hedgehog Commune (ID: ciweigongshe) found Ma Boyong and talked to him about his "creative view", "reading view", "family view" and more.
"Adaptation is not a random adaptation" Ma Boyong's universe
"The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" is not Ma Boyong's first film and television adaptation work. Before this, his other novel, "The Secret of the Three Kingdoms", was also made into a web drama and was broadcast in the first half of 2018. Ma Boyong also made a guest appearance as a gatekeeper without lines.
Ma Boyong plays a guest player in "The Secret of the Three Kingdoms",
is similar to "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an". Most of the people who appear in "The Secret of the Three Kingdoms" are real historical figures. Li Bi in "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" and Zhang Xiaojing and Yao Runeng, in "The Secret of the Three Kingdoms" and Emperor Xian of Han , Sima Yi , Yang Xiu . In Ma Boyong's novels, their life trajectory is no different from history: Li Bi continued to be an official after the turmoil in Chang'an, and Emperor Xian of Han also missed the dream of restoring the Han Dynasty by accident. But in the space that is not recorded in history books, Ma Boyong can arrange the wheel of destiny of historical figures according to his own ideas.
"Compared with the overhead world, moving and moving in the gaps of the existing world, I think it is a very interesting attempt." Ma Boyong told the Hedgehog Commune, "Historical themes actually have many restrictions, such as dancing in shackles, but because of this limitation, the creation can be full of passion."
Another work in "The gaps in the real world" "Fusu Benlu" is also close to completion. "This is just my practice in the gap between creation," said Ma Boyong.
In the book, Qin Shihuang The eldest son Gongzi Fusu and the knowledgeable minister Zhang Cang investigate the case together to investigate the truth that made Qin Shihuang mentally confused. Previously, Ma Boyong had been updating on social platforms. After the update was suspended, readers were worried. But now everyone can rest assured, "I will continue to write after completing the main work," Ma Boyong told the Hedgehog Commune.
"The Whale Rider of the Four Seas" has also been filmed and television
In comparison, "Fusu Benlu" has a stronger overview color. Although he is "persistent" in the creation of historical themes, Ma Boyong is also a master in building an invisible world.In the two " fantasy " works of "Four Seas Whale Rider" and "Dragon and Subway", the fabulous story is fully unfolded by imagination. The residents of Chang'an like to ride dragons in underground tunnels, just like people take the subway; Jianwen Emperor , a Japanese girl and the Mongolian navy admiral set sail to sea to find the mysterious treasure of Wu Zetian .
Generally speaking, it is difficult for a writer to have a fantastic worldview and a rigorous textual habit, but Ma Boyong is an "atypical writer" who has both. At the same time, his works still have a relatively unified characteristic: fast pace, dense information, and strong sense of picture. Reading his books often seems to be watching an American drama that has adjusted 1.5 times the speed.
Many people think that Ma Boyong's success lies in his creativity, and only with creativity can there be good stories. But Ma Boyong's evaluation criteria for good stories is: "A good story should match the style of the writing style and can appropriately realize the author's intentions."
"The writing style of mystery novels will be more rational and calm. If it is romance novel , it should be more exciting." Ma Boyong added, "Everyone may be a good novelist, but most people cannot express their ideas accurately."
From the online forum to the screen Ma Boyong's "genius" for 20 years
Ma Boyong's cultivation of "precision expression" abilities can be traced back to his earliest creative experience. From 1998 to 1999, Ma Boyong wrote an article on the fan forum "The Unfallen Golden Cross Flag" of "Legend of the Galaxy". Science fiction, martial arts, ghost stories, "try all the messy things".
At that time, people's copyright awareness was not clear, and piracy was extremely rampant, and Ma Boyong was not spared. His work "QQ Strange Talk" posted online was dug up by a pirated bookmaker, and his name was changed to " She Died on QQ " to take out. "They are quite conscientious. The back of the book says, 'This article is taken from the Internet. If the author sees it, you can contact us.'." Ma Boyong tried to contact the pirates and really asked for a few hundred yuan back.
Many of the articles he posted on the forum have been reposted everywhere, and some of them can still be searched. For example, "Looking at the cruel nature of class struggle from the Doctor Cat", "The Cold Wonderland and the End of the World - Appreciation of the Gourd Brothers Characters", etc., are mostly used to "analyze" animation works with a serious style of writing. This kind of mixed and spoof works was quite popular at the time, and Ma Boyong was the best among these authors. Although some articles were circling around and until the author's name disappeared, he was still very happy to see his work so popular.
Ma Boyong recently returned to New Zealand and took pictures of the local scenery. Source: Ma Boyong Weibo
Later, Ma Boyong went to New Zealand to study and stayed there for four years. "New Zealand is a beautiful but boring place. Living there for a long time will make you feel like you are doing nothing." During his study abroad, Ma Boyong began to produce works on a "large-scale" basis. "Since I have so much time, I spend most of my time writing. Although I didn't write well at that time, I did get training." After returning to China, Ma Boyong went to work in a French company called Schneider Electric . From 2005 to 2015, his career "ends with one end" in this foreign company: "has been a salesperson, has done business support, occasionally has guest appearances in conferences, and has done markets..." Ma Boyong summarized his experience in his resignation speech.
At Schneider Electric, Ma Boyong spent his 25-35 years old. It was also the ten years he worked as a company employee that he completed many works that determined his status as a part-time writer—"The Wind Rises in Longxi" in 2005, "History of Mayan Conquest of the Shang Fleet in 2007", "History of the Mayan Conquest of the Shang Fleet in 2012", and "Antique Bureau Zhongju" and so on.
When Ma Boyong was working on PPT in the office building in Wangjing, Beijing, Liu Cixin was writing " Three-Body " in the office of Niangziguan Power Plant in Shanxi. Also a part-time writer, Ma Boyong does not have the convenience of "doing private work" during office hours like Liu Cixin. All his works are written in his spare time.
"I write novels, just like you go to watch movies, travel, play games, and play basketball." Regarding the doubts about the Hedgehog Commune "how to find time to create", Ma Boyong said, "For me, writing is entertainment. After get off work, hurry up and write is a way to kill time."
In 2015, Ma Boyong left the company where he worked for ten years and officially became a "full-time writer." "I go to work for at least 8 hours a day. If I free up these 8 hours to write, I earn more money to write books than to work, so there is no need to follow other people's schedule (work)." Ma Boyong did some calculations. But soon, he found that working according to his schedule was much busier than going to work.
"The Secret of the Three Kingdoms" Stills
It was during this period that IP adaptation of film and television dramas gradually became a trend. Ma Boyong's personal style is "very biased towards film and television", with a strong sense of picture, which is relatively more suitable for film and television adaptation. Since "The Secret of the Three Kingdoms", many IPs of "Ma Boyong Universe" have been noticed. The price offered by the other party is "high enough to encourage you to write the next one" .
But Ma Boyong felt that he "what should be written" as well. As long as the story is done well and the characters are done well, adaptation is a natural thing. "I just stick to my own position," said Ma Boyong.
He did the same.
After "Antique Bureau" became popular, Ma Boyong began to be afraid that he would become a writer who went with the flow, chasing hot spots, thinking about the market, he did not want to be such a "bestselling writer". After writing the popular "Twelve Hours of Chang'an", Ma Boyong took the initiative to choose a topic with expected sales "definitely bad" and studied the political and social ecology of the grassroots level of the Ming Dynasty through local chronicles. This requires reading traditional Chinese characters and reading traditional vertically ancient archives. However, in the end, Ma Boyong wrote a book called "The Ming Dynasty under the Microscope".
Ma Boyong's microscope and twelve hours
in Douban, "The Ming Dynasty under the Microscope" scored as high as 8.7, making it the most popular among all Ma Boyong's works. This book is different from the historical novels such as "The Secret of the Three Kingdoms" and "The Wind Rises in Longxi". It is completely based on "non-fiction writing" based on ancient archives, and the characters and events have exact historical prototypes.
Ma Boyong and actors Lei Jiayin and Reyiza in "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" Photo source: Reyiza Weibo
In Ma Boyong's works, readers can feel the author's strong desire to show "historical details" at any time. In "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" and "Fusu Benlu", the protagonist has a knowledgeable "humanoid library" around him - Xu Bin and Zhang Cang, who constantly provide background information during the "puzzle" process of Zhang Xiaojing and Gongzi Fusu.
, a character who likes to talk and misunderstand is also a projection of Ma Boyong himself in the novel. "It will be too stiff to directly explain the historical background. I will arrange such a role to tell readers the setting of the worldview and the details of the textual research. " said Ma Boyong.
When it comes to "The Ming Dynasty under the Microscope", Ma Boyong can directly show readers his "textualization results" without having to go around. He dug out the originally remote historical details such as the Huangceku in Nanjing, the Huizhou silk case, and the "Wuyuan Dragon Vein Defense Battle" and were dug out with relish, and then displayed it to readers with Ma Boyong's "non-fiction writing", which also fully satisfies his "textual research habit".
The vast number of digital information on the Internet gives Ma Boyong excellent support for his "textual research habit". "I just like to collect various information online and use them in my works." Ma Boyong told the Hedgehog Commune that he did not think he was a "learning" person.
Every year, he has to "spent a lot of money" on academic paper websites such as China National Knowledge Infrastructure , and enrich his knowledge reserves with the help of his predecessors' research results. "Everyone can do it depends on whether you are willing to do it," said Ma Boyong.
"Read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles". Ma Boyong also likes to walk around, which is also part of his research work."Many times you have to walk to the places where the ancients went, stand at the position where the ancients stood, and see the scenery that the ancients saw, you can understand them."
In October 2014, Ma Boyong and several friends set out from the Wuhou Temple in Chengdu, followed the route of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition and headed north, and finally arrived at Wuzhangyuan , and wrote this book "Cultural No Trick" for this.
This time, the most impressive stop of Ma Boyong is Jieting . When he saw the wide valley where Jieting was located, he quickly understood why Ma Su had to go up the mountain to defend instead of camping along the road - the front of the valley was too wide, and without the help of the steep mountain defense, failure might have to come faster. "When I write historical subjects, I must go to the original site to take a walk. Even if things have changed, the sense of ritual will still be there." said Ma Boyong, .
's extensive dawn and long journeys in units of thousands of miles together form a microscope for Ma Boyong to observe historical details. At the same time, Ma Boyong is still sticking to his twelve hours.
Ma Boyong became famous with his work in the variety show "Chinese Taste"
, Ma Boyong had more opportunities to "travel around the world". He is constantly flying around, and he needs to fly around often. In an interview with China Civil Aviation Daily , Ma Boyong said that he likes to wait at the airport three hours in advance, and then calm down and turn on the computer to type. Many of his works were written in a noise-filled waiting room or on a plane.
"I want to write in a noisy and popular environment, not in a quiet place." said Ma Boyong . In addition to the airport, the crowded coffee shops and noisy studios on the street are all his "treasure land". Ma Boyong likes the sense of security brought by the noisy environment. This comes largely from his experience in his student days: "Noisy classrooms are often safe. When the surroundings are quiet, the teacher is likely to be staring at you behind you."
In the midst of the noise, Ma Boyong sets himself a KPI of 3,000 to 4,000 words per day. In order to maintain his state, he had to write something every day even if there were no special propositions.
As a writer who claims to be "unemployed" on Weibo , his working hours are arranged in a regular manner - he gets up before 7:30 in the morning and then sends his son Ma Xiaofan to school. I started writing at half past eight, took a break at noon and finished work at half past five in the afternoon. "According to this time very strictly," said Ma Boyong.
"Fit as you go, do whatever you want"
Although Ma Boyong has strict self-responsiveness in time arrangement, in the eyes of readers, Ma Boyong will always be the easy-going and smiling fat man. Of course, in the past one or two years, Ma Boyong has begun to "make up" to lose weight and exercise, and is no longer a fat man.
But Ma Boyong's easy-going sense has always been there. On Weibo, he can form a "family family" with the big V "WHS" and is willing to show off his identity as a "big writer" to endorse those young people who are opposed by their families because of "sheep" or "uncoherence", and save a relationship that is about to encounter misfortune.
In the eyes of many readers, Ma Boyong is a peer who is clear and quarrel and humorous. He is not a noble master or an inaccessible idol.
"I evaluate my personality in eight words: Follow the circumstances and act casually. " he said.
Especially after his son Ma Xiaofan was born, Ma Boyong entered a new stage of his life: on Weibo, he became a father who showed off his babies in a fancy way, and he had a new role to "examine the whole life".
When I read a plot similar to the adoption of the elder Faming of Jinshan Temple in "Journey to the West", Tang Xuanzang , and raised 18 years to grow up and become an adult, Ma Boyong, a father, began to sigh at what he had never noticed before - "There is no such thing as 18 years in a flash. How difficult it is to raise children to become adults!"
also changes in Ma Boyong's creative state.
"The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" Stills Source: The Twelve Hours of Chang'an Official Weibo
"When I first started to create, I was more interested in the balance of history. I liked mixed things and put various elements of the East and the West together." Looking back at Ma Boyong's works, we can find that from "The Wind Rises in Longxi" in 2005 to "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an" in 2017, they are all giving modern West the exclusive story rhythm, expression and spiritual core, and putting a layer of oriental scenes on the outer garment of the oriental scenes. In other words, the background of the Three Kingdoms or Tang is stripped away and the story is put into modern times, and all this is still true.
"Now, my interests are concentrated on some archives of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and more on some life history." This is clearly reflected in Ma Boyong's recent work "The Ming Dynasty under the Microscope". "I hope to dig out general laws in the details of history and interpret the entire history from some very low perspectives." said Ma Boyong, .
This is also the opportunity left by the times to Ma Boyong - in this field, it is almost blank.
There are many scholars who study "personal history", "family history" and local chronicles, like Ma Boyong, who try to find rules from small sections of history, but their work results often appear in the form of academic papers, with extremely high reading thresholds and difficult to reach ordinary readers; writers of the Internet generation often face the pressure of updating from at least five or six thousand to tens of thousands of words. Even if there is traffic, it is difficult to bend down to dig out the stories in the old paper pile.
Although Ma Boyong's works and personal IP are often Internet-based, Ma Boyong himself is not an Internet writer. Around 2005, domestic commercial online literature platforms began to emerge. As one of the first creators to publish articles on the Internet, Ma Boyong did not choose the path of professional online writers. He went to the company to work as an office worker and worked part-time as a more "traditional"
. "Online creation is actually more difficult than physical (writing). Whether it is energy or creative methods, I should be honest in doing physical work." Ma Boyong said that he has not tried to contribute to the online literature platform, but he felt that this situation was wrong.
is first reflected in readers' feedback.
"On BBS, after writing, a lot of friends gathered around you, chirping, everyone is like-minded, you love to read what I like, you can also post a comment that can scratch my itch and stimulate the creative impulse; the website's reader comments are from bottom up, after you finish writing, the readers hang high above, and the readers look up and start commenting, the two feel different." Ma Boyong said this in an interview at Noon.
Ma Boyong thinks that his works are not suitable for online literature platforms. "Because what has been written cannot be modified, the author of the online article must make the outline very delicately before writing; in order to maintain the consistency of the plot, there are more things that need to be prepared in advance." Ma Boyong said that because his works often have many suspense and reasoning elements, once the "pit" dug in front is incomplete, it cannot be filled in later. Online literature platforms that do not accept modifications are not suitable for creators like Ma Boyong.
He wants to be a novelist similar to Sima Ryotaro . Sima Ryotaro is one of the most well-known historical writers since World War II. He is good at seeing stories in history from a calm and macro perspective. He is also a "liver" who is obsessed with visiting the places where historical events occur. This is very fond of Ma Boyong, who also likes Sima Liaotaro's historical novels very much.
Image source: Ma Boyong's official microscope
Ma Boyong has more ideas - "I will use Sima Liaotaro as the basis to extend in the direction of George Martin ." In his Weibo avatar, people can find many "Ma Boyong version" of Game of Thrones characters, and Dragon Mom, Snow, etc. all have the same cartoon big face of Ma Boyong. "I want to find my own space between Sima Liaotaro and Martin ," said Ma Boyong.
So, how long will it take for us to see Ma Boyong's "Miyamoto Musashi" and " Song of Ice and Fire "?
Ma Boyong has given the answer.
Under the Zhihu question "What is Ma Boyong's most successful work", Ma Boyong himself ran to answer and posted a picture of his son Ma Xiaofan playing with his back, which is reasonable and convincing.
"Prince, this work was not completed by you independently. "A netizen came to comment soon, "At most you can be the first author."
