The Beijing Evening News reporter learned from informed sources that Ms. Deng Xiaolan, daughter of Deng Tuo, former president and editor-in-chief of the People's Daily and president of the History Research Association of jin-Cha-Ji Daily, died at the age of 79 in Beijing Tiantan Hospital in the early morning of March 22. It is understood that Deng Xiaolan was hospitalized after suddenly falling down during an interview in Malan Village a few days ago.
Born in 1943 in Yijiazhuang Village, Fuping County, Hebei Province, Deng Xiaolan graduated from the Department of Chemical Engineering of Tsinghua University in 1970 and worked in the Beijing Public Security System before retiring. Since 2004, Deng Xiaolan has been volunteering in Malan Village, Fuping County, teaching music lessons to children in the village. She spends half of her time each year in the village of Maran, uninterrupted for 18 years.
In February this year, the "Ma LanHua Choir" composed of 44 children from Nanzhuang Town, Fuping County, where Ma Lan Village is located, took the stage of the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and sang the "Olympic Hymn" in Greek, and Deng Xiaolan's touching deeds were once again widely circulated.
After retiring, she continued to teach in the village of Maran
Let the children there have music to accompany
From Beijing to Malan Village in Fuping County, Hebei Province, deep in the Taihang Mountains, it takes about 4 hours to drive by car. More than a decade ago, when the highway to Fuping had not yet been opened, it was 8 o'clock in the morning from Beijing, changing trains and buses all the way, and arriving in Malan Village was often already late afternoon. On this road, Deng Xiaolan was unimpeded by rain or shine.
"People always ask me, why are you going to Malan Village?"
Since 2004, Deng Xiaolan has spent about half a year in Malan Village, volunteering to teach music lessons to children in the mountains. Deng Xiaolan, who has loved music and art since childhood, said that singing is a very happy thing, if a person can sing, whether he is happy, sad or frustrated in life, the concert is one of his best friends. But when he first came to Malan Village after retirement, Deng Xiaolan found that the barrier of the mountains almost made the cute children here lose their right to enjoy the joy brought by music.
From teaching children to sing simple songs at the beginning, to teaching them to play instruments and play the violin, to hosting the Maran Children's Music Festival for four consecutive years... Grandma Deng from Beijing brought endless joy to the children in the mountains, and the children's childhood became colorful because of music.
In the winter of 1943, under the shadow of the Japanese Kou sweep, Deng Xiaolan was born in the mountain forest next to the village of Malan. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Jin-Cha-Ji Daily, one of the predecessors of the People's Daily, was stationed in Malan Village. This is where Deng Xiaolan was born, and it is also the place where her father Deng Tuo and mother Ding Yilan fought with many revolutionary predecessors.
Born in the war-torn era and raised in a revolutionary family, the ambitions and experiences of his parents deeply influenced Deng Xiaolan. Before enrolling at Tsinghua University, Deng Xiaolan, who was still in her third year of high school, submitted an application to join the party, which was then transferred to Tsinghua University by the high school she attended. After entering Tsinghua University, the enthusiasm in his heart prompted Deng Xiaolan to submit an application to join the party again.
Deng Xiaolan said that in this regard, although the parents are old party members, they have not made any demands on themselves. Deng Xiaolan had his own feelings: "Really, without the Communist Party, there would be no New China. This is a very simple and very profound truth. It is precisely because of the Communist Party that our country has changed from a country of oppressed and enslaved semi-colonial and semi-feudal society to an independent people's republic. ”
His mother, Ding Yilan, was an announcer of the founding ceremony, and his father, Deng Tuo, worked in the People's Daily for a long time at the beginning of the founding of New China, "I think they are all fighters in the ranks of the Communist Party of China, and I also want to be a soldier of this team." Their actions have been subtly guiding me. ”
The day Deng Xiaolan took the oath to join the party was April 28, 1965. At the meeting that had previously confirmed her joining the party, Deng Xiaolan's speech was titled "From Ulanova to Ulan Pastoral Riding."
Galina Ulanova was a famous Ballet dancer in the Soviet Union and an idol of Deng Xiaolan's youth. "When I applied to join the party again in my freshman year, my teacher told me to find out what I was doing in the Communist Party. In that era, the working people did not have the opportunity to see the ballet, and the Ulan herdsmen on the grassland performed to the herders under difficult conditions, and were loved by the working people and the people of the whole country. I feel that life and work should serve the broader working people, and if compared, Ulan Pastoral Riding is more worthy of admiration. Deng Xiaolan said that this was the simple and true idea of his early twenties when he faced joining the party.
Why go to Malan Village? Why did he dedicate almost half of his time to that small mountain village after he retired? Deng Xiaolan said that both his father and mother's youth were spent on this land. In terms of life, of course, it was the most difficult and arduous period of their lives, but in terms of spirit, it was the most pleasant and meaningful period of their lives, because they put life and death aside at that time and made the most contributions to the Party and the people.
Following in the footsteps of his parents, Deng Xiaolan tirelessly traveled between Beijing and Malan Village. "I believe that good music always reminds people of the good side of life. Children who grow up with music will be able to treat life optimistically and positively. Deng Xiaolan said.
Producer: Liu Hao
Editor: Lu Qi, Zhang Yang
Process Editor Wu Yue