Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition
Ji Dongliang Guo Hongsong painted
Where is Xihaigu? Once upon a time, just hearing its name would make you feel thirsty. Drought, poverty and backwardness are the labels attached to the head of Xihaigu, and they are also the three problems that plague the people of Xihaigu. "Xihaigu" in the sense of administrative division, because of its historical jurisdiction over the three counties of Xiji, Haiyuan and Guyuan, although it did not exist for a long time, it is widely known because of the "bitter jia world". In this land, the indomitable people of Xihaigu have fought with heaven, earth and water, and composed a history of poverty alleviation struggle that can be sung and wept. Ji Dongliang, a writer from Xihaigu, recorded all this in the long-form reportage "Notes of Xihaigu" (Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House).
It is a witness and a witness
For Ji Dongliang, who was born and raised in Si, poverty is an unforgettable memory, and his ultimate dream since childhood is to "eat food stamps". "Walking in Xihaigu, passing by people's doors, not necessarily someone asks you 'have you eaten', but will definitely ask you 'drink water'. Because in this land, water is really expensive as oil. In the drought years, there is no water in the cellar, and the draft has to go dozens of miles away, so only here there is the saying that 'stagnant water is afraid of scooping'. Ji Dongliang said. The personal experience from life experience made him think about the reasons why the Xihaigu people have been struggling on the edge of the survival line for a long time.
In the first few chapters of "Notes on Xihaigu", Ji Dongliang sorted out the history of poverty in Xihaigu. The historical Xihaigu is located in the collision and integration zone of ancient Chinese farming culture and nomadic culture, the ecological environment is harsh, the geographical pattern is closed, the soldiers and bandits are frequent, and the continuous social turmoil has intensified the contradiction between man and the land, and by the end of the Qing Dynasty, it has been "a thousand miles of red land, ten rooms and nine empty spaces", so that Zuo Zongtang lamented in the performance to the Qing court that Xihaigu was "bitter and barren in the world". But behind this great suffering, Ji Dongliang also saw the tenacity and tenacity of the people of Xihaigu. He studied the root causes of thousands of years of poverty in order to show a spirit of poverty and a boldness that dared to teach the sun and the moon to change into a new day.
In 1982, with the state launching the implementation of the "Three Wests" agricultural construction poverty alleviation project, Xihaigu began to be "reborn". This land has witnessed the remarkable results achieved by a series of major national measures such as Fujian-Nanjing cooperation and poverty alleviation. In 2020, Xihaigu entered a well-off society and opened a new chapter of development.
"In these nearly 40 years, I have been a witness and a witness. I am well aware of the confusion and pain of the fathers and fellow villagers in this land, and I am also well aware of their struggles and pursuits, dreams and hopes. Ji Dongliang said. Since 2018, he has gone deep into Xiji, Haiyuan, Wonju, Longde, Pengyang, Jingyuan, Tongxin, Yanchi, Hongsibao and other counties, townships and villages, focusing on interviews and research 40 times, and recording countless vivid and touching stories in the "Notes on Xihaigu".
On April 22 this year, at the "Ji Dongliang Long Reportage "Xihaigu Notes" Seminar", He Xiangyang, director of the Innovation and Research Department of the China Writers Association, said of the writing of the book: "A novelist, to write reportage about his hometown, in a completely sinking way, this gesture makes me very moved. What is sinking? It is to sink down, to go deep into life, to take root in the people. This book is a valuable result of the author's exploration of Pengyang's experience, Cai Chuan's model, ecological migration, labor migration, observation of sand control, aquaculture, water cellars and other details of daily life, and observation of the practice of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. ”
Raw record cute them
From the sixth chapter "Million Emigrants" to the nineteenth chapter "Rebirth", "Notes on Xihaigu" selects representative major events to describe the great changes in Xihaigu's peasants in economically getting rid of poverty and spiritual baptism, and the author uses warm brushstrokes and primitive techniques to create a number of vivid characters.
In the book, Li Zhiyuan, a farmer in Pengyang County, has disabled both legs and has been volunteering to plant trees for 24 years and plant 100,000 trees "even with his belt and move"; he commented that he "has lived to plant a tree in this life"; Bai Chunlan, a hero of sand control in Yanchi County, has fought in the frontline of sand control for decades since his daughter was almost buried alive by feisha and her husband who died of illness, and has been praised as "a model for mankind to conquer nature"; there are also village-based cadres who have given their hearts to the masses in the section of "First Secretary's Diary" and "Minning Counterpart Poverty Alleviation Cooperation" that emerged." Minning people "...
For more than 20 years, thousands of Fujian cadres, members of the task force of supporting education and supporting medicine and agriculture, expert academicians, and volunteers of the Western Plan have shouldered the historical mission of helping Ningxia get rid of poverty and have been affectionately known as "Minning people". Among them, Lin Yuechan, former director of the Fujian Provincial Poverty Alleviation Office, who was called "Mother Lin" by the people of Ningxia, went to Ningxia more than 40 times in 10 years and left her true feelings in Xihaigu; there was Lin Zhanxi, the father of the world's fungus and grass and a professor at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, who took "being able to do something beneficial to the people in this life and in this life" as his pursuit... There are also many people like them who have quietly dedicated themselves to Xihaigu, all of whom are lovely people in Ji Dongliang's eyes.
Chen Yucheng, deputy general manager of Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House, called Ji Dongliang's method of shaping characters "original ecology". He said: "The author uses almost no rhetoric, completely adopts the original method, telling these mortal heroes around them, calm and restrained brushstrokes, it is difficult to hide the nobility of the people who shine in them and the light of the spirit of the times." ”
"Original" is how to write about reality. In the interview, Ji Dongliang's deepest impression was on a mountain beam in Haiyuan County, an old man with a white beard fluttering on the top of the beam said to him - "Oh, 'Three Wests' agricultural construction, 'double hundred' poverty alleviation, poverty alleviation in thousands of villages, poverty alleviation in a million poor people, east-west counterpart cooperation, Minning model, precision poverty alleviation, precision poverty alleviation... Heck, the state put the mind to use, the money to spend, there is no state so help, how can it wipe the poor hat, but also with the rest of the country to get rid of poverty and run a well-off, dream do not dare to think, thank you very much. "In the author's opinion, the old man's words are simple and unpretentious, more convincing than any rhetoric." The elderly are illiterate, but they can say the national poverty alleviation strategy word for word, which shows that these policies have been promoted solidly and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Ji Dongliang said.
Only to return to relieve homesickness
"Shangzhuang Chronicle", "Splendid Embroidery", "Haiyuan Book", "Spring Good of Wild Wheat Stacks"... Ji Dongliang has written many works set in Xihaigu. "Hometown has changed too much! I can also feel it in these works. In the past, it was difficult to draft water, it was difficult to walk, it was difficult to go to school, it was difficult to earn money... Speaking of life, there is one word: difficult. Now I can eat running water, I can go to the highway, there are key schools, land appreciation, poverty alleviation workshops can be run in the village, and I can work at the doorstep of my home... Speaking of life, there is one word: easy. Ji Dongliang said: "The most obvious change is that it has become beautiful." What used to be 'dry and dry' and 'long and yellow' is now 'pigeons, sparrows, pheasants and unnamed birds are singing, bouncing around in the woods and swinging in the wind'. ”
In "Notes on Xihaigu", there are not only the emotional details and vivid stories obtained from the author's personal experience and interviews, but also the excavation of historical and cultural roots and red genes, such as rural reform, environmental governance, economic innovation, tourism services, education and poverty alleviation, and women's growth... It goes on and on. Bai Ye, president of the Society for the Study of Contemporary Chinese Literature, commented: "This book can be called a "Historical Record" and an encyclopedia about Xihaigu. ”
And the writer himself is also a character in the book. In the fifth chapter, "Memories of My Life", the author's nostalgia is revealed everywhere. Ji Dongliang said: "Nostalgia exists at any age, but in other ages, nostalgia is vague and hazy, and as I get older, my nostalgia becomes clearer and clearer - my hometown is used to return." (Reporter Zhang Pengyu)
People's Daily Overseas Edition ( 2022-05-02 Edition 07)