Wind and rain life, strings and songs
——Read Qi Bangyuan's "Mighty River"
Tang Xiaojiao
A few years ago, when I read "Mighty River", I was disturbed by the stories of exile in the book, and I was even more moved by the author Qi Bangyuan, a senior in Taiwan's literary and educational circles, who has a brilliance that I look up to and am fascinated by.
On March 28, 2024, Qi Bangyuan passed away at the age of 100. I read "The Mighty River" again, and I was once again deeply shocked by the rich sadness and abundant emotions in it.
"Mighty River" is Qi Bangyuan's autobiographical memoir, with 11 chapters and 250,000 words, reviewing her tortuous career from exile in the Northeast to Beiping, Nanjing, Chongqing, finishing university in Leshan, and exile from the mainland to Taiwan, as well as struggling and fighting in Taiwan, witnessing the arduous process of a generation of "immigrants" taking root in Taiwan. The first five chapters are in the mainland, where the war is raging and the country is shattered, and the last six chapters are in Taiwan, from frightened and confused to successful and famous, in Mr. Qi's own words, "dedication to Taiwan, where he lives, seems to be reincarnated as a human being, but it is a stable and real 60 years."
The era in which Mr. Qi grew up was an era of sadness flowing backwards, with unfortunate families and countries and separated relatives, but the overall tone of "Mighty River" was restrained, restrained, and eloquent. Luo Weizhang once said that writers "should not be surprised no matter how harsh the reality is. Writers need to be as objective as possible. Because objectivity is profound". "Mighty River" is to objectively and profoundly show readers that unbearable era, so that readers can feel her pain and grief her sadness.
The most memorable character in the book is Zhang Dafei, a son of Northeast China, whose father was publicly burned by the Japanese for aiding the anti-Japanese resistance when Manchukuo was founded. Zhang Dafei fled into the customs and became acquainted with the Qi family. He is a light in the life of the young Qi Bangyuan. After the 77 Incident, Zhang Dafei joined the Air Force and was martyred on the eve of victory. Qi Bangyuan, who learned of Zhang Dafei's death, had unforgettable sadness in her heart, but the words were still restrained and quiet: "The contents of those two pages have also been memorized, but I must find a place to think about it carefully......" "When I saw the dark green military mail bag on the table, even my mother could not tell whether my face was tears or sweat." "These two big packets of letters, put together. I didn't have the strength to revisit this summer, and although the news of his death was expected, it was still a surprise when it came, and it was difficult to confirm the reality. ”
Half a century later, Mr. Qi visited Zhang Dafei at the Nanjing Aviation Martyrs Cemetery, and she wrote, "I want to find the stele numbered M by myself," "There are 20 names engraved on the stele of M," and his column simply reads: Captain Zhang Dafei, a native of Yingkou, Liaoning, born in 1918, died in 1945," and "A man who is determined to 'make Longcheng a flying general and not teach Hu Ma to Yinshan' died in flesh and blood, and his life at the age of 26 is condensed into the line on the stele." - is still a slow, quiet tone, but the sadness in the author's heart is overwhelming.
The author writes about his father's bumpy life, his mother's hard life, and the teacher's tears and quick walk out of the classroom...... So affectionate, yet self-restrained.
The family and the country are unfortunate, the mountains and rivers are sad, growing up in such a year, how unfortunate Mr. Qi is! However, in such troubled times, it is still possible to receive a good education in a good school, and how fortunate it is to meet famous teachers such as Meng Zhisun, Zhu Guangqian, and Wu Mi! Bang Yuan in her youth and youth was thin, timid, sensitive, and cried at every turn, and she herself was calm that she was a child who grew up crying. As an adult, she was able to grow step by step into a "strong woman" who could calmly and calmly bear and face all setbacks (this can be seen when she was the director of the textbook group and the editor of the Chinese textbook), no longer crying, and made remarkable achievements. It had a lot to do with her parents and the mentors she had met in her life.
Principal Zhang Boling of Nankai Middle School, in the most difficult eight years of the all-out war of resistance, has always adhered to and instilled in the students a firm belief: "China will not die, there is me!" On campus every day, he can be seen walking with his chest high on campus, and when he sees students on the side of the road, he comes over to pat his shoulder, touch his head, and ask if his clothes are enough and if he is full of food. The spirit and warmth given to the students had a tremendous impact on the students. "He said what we all over the world remember fondly," the author said.
Meng Zhisun, a Chinese language teacher from Nankai Middle School, edited the high school Chinese, which selects the essence of literature, and offers elective courses for poetry and word selection, which opens the door to the palace of literature for students and lays a solid foundation for Mr. Qi Bangyuan's love for literature.
Teacher Zhu Guangqian's "English Poetry" class, talking about Shakespeare, Shelley, and Keats, let "me" truly appreciate the imagery in Western poetry, and I will be inexhaustible in my life. When Ms. Zhu is in class, the classroom is no longer a classroom, and the four walls are empty to a solemn realm, like some modern studios (recording studios), and the soul reverberates, as if music flows out from the four walls, leading us into a magical world.
When the war was lost and the Japanese army was likely to invade Sichuan, the Ministry of Education ordered Wuhan University to be protected by the Jiading Division Command and retreat into the "Leima Ping'e" Yi Autonomous Region on the Sichuan-Kang border if necessary...... There was no day to give up, everyone did their best, and the Ministry of Education ordered all schools to keep singing until the last day. Today, decades later, it is still possible to penetrate the pages of the book and move readers, not to mention the young students who were in school at that time. Mr. Qi Bangyuan said: "In the 60 years since then, I have walked through thousands of mountains and rivers, and the four words 'Lei Ma Ping'e have sounded in my heart from time to time with a tragic voice, representing a kind of final security. There is no end in life, and under any circumstances, 'string singing' is my greatest reliance on life. ”
String singing has become the creed that Mr. Qi has adhered to all his life.
She has been engaged in education all her life, diligently cultivated the teaching arena, and is known as "Eternal Teacher Qi", and has won many professorship awards from famous universities; She has compiled, translated, and published a variety of literary reviews, introduced Western literature to Taiwan, and introduced Taiwan's representative literary works to the Western world in English, and is known as the "guardian angel of Taiwanese literature".
Although he has gone through hardships, trauma, and a lifetime of ups and downs, Mr. Qi still has a warm heart of perfection and beauty, which is the most admirable thing about Mr. Qi.
Juliu River is the name of the Liao River in the Qing Dynasty, the Liao River is the mother river of Liaoning, Liaoning is the birthplace and hometown of Mr. Qi, and the place where he will dream for a lifetime; Located at the southern tip of Taiwan, the Dumbmouth Sea is a Gulf Stream under the Eluanbi Lighthouse, and Taiwan is the place where Mr. Qi started his life, established a career, struggled and loved in the second half of his life. "Mighty River", written from the Mighty River in the northeast and ending with the Dumb Sea in Taiwan, truly records the magnificent modern history of China in the past hundred years, and presents the great sorrow of that era to the world.
It is said that the sound of the raging waves crashing into the sea of dumb mouths is silenced, but the blood of those who died and the tears of the exiles should not be forgotten. "Mighty River" is a great gift left to us by Mr. Qi Bangyuan.
About the Author
Tang Xiaojiao, whose real name is Tang Mingxia, a native of Chongqing, now lives in Chengdu, a retired soldier, the director of the Commentary Department of the Sichuan Provincial Prose Literature Association, and has published articles in newspapers and periodicals such as "Youth Digest", "Southwest Business Daily", and "Hunan Workers' Daily". Look at the life of the world, and the love of red dust is beautiful.
Source: Not only reading
Author: Tang Xiaojiao (Director of the Commentary Department of Sichuan Provincial Prose Literature Association)