The soul of Russia

"Hawthorn Tree", "Lights", "Path" have been sung for generations and are still circulating today.

A poem called "Lenin Hill" was once loved by young people, especially university students, but it was silent in the ups and downs of history. It celebrates the new construction of Moscow, and the lyrics are clear, proud, and vibrant, and highly integrated with the youthful undertones of our time. There is a lyric in the song:

They (referring to high-rise buildings) decorate our great city,

The university spawner flocked to this mountain...

Moscow University is located on this mountain, which was formerly called "Sparrow Mountain" and later renamed "Lenin Mountain". She has a history of more than two hundred and fifty years, and her first principal was Lomonosov, a scientist who made significant contributions in many fields (he discovered the "law of conservation of matter" in junior high school chemistry). Moda is an important academic city in Russia, and has produced eight Nobel Laureates. I am ashamed not to mention the names of several natural scientists from the great, but Herzen, Goncharov, Belinsky, Chekhov, Turgenev, etc., who have given me literary nutrition in the humanities, are also great students. To pay tribute to them, Moscow University was a must-see stop on my free trip to Russia a few years ago.

In mid-May, Moscow is still cold in the spring, but the campus has been covered with a new green. The school has no walls and the main school road is the road. Its main building is typical of the Stalinist "Seven Sisters" architectural style: a steeple tower in the middle and a low U-shaped area half surrounded by six towers. We have seen such high-rises in Warsaw, Prague, and Budapest, and they silently narrate the history of the country.

In front of the main building there is a statue of Lomonosov. On both sides are the teaching buildings of natural sciences and humanities, and in front of the building, there are seated statues of figures on a red granite platform. Unfortunately, I don't know Russian, and the characters all have a beard, so it is impossible to judge which one they are, but they should all be great and outstanding people.

The group sculptures in front of the main building depict contemporary young people, which is more in line with the social atmosphere of the early Soviet Union. The buildings, facilities or sculptures are somewhat dilapidated and somewhat roughly repaired.

We wanted to enter the teaching building to see, but the security was tight, and the entrance was a barrier for outsiders to stop. Trying to take pictures was also stopped by the security guards. They are powerful and powerful, and the momentum of their shouting is very intimidating.

We could only turn into the adjacent school road to wander around, and we saw a monument, which was made of three pointed pillars stretching out into the sky, and the pillars more than ten meters high were beige tetrahedrons, and the hollow ground was burning with an immortal flame. A middle-aged man in a black hat and a black leather coat is wandering in front of the tower.

The columns are inscribed with the words 1941-1945. This was the year of the Great Patriotic War in which the Soviet Union fought against the invasion of Nazi Germany. Every May, commemorations are held all over Russia, and we met in St. Petersburg a few days ago. People flocked to the streets, holding photos of their loved ones who lost their lives in the war, and singing the famous song "Katyusha" of the Great Patriotic War. The procession began at 10 a.m. to 2 or 3 p.m. and ended at Hermitage Square.

The snowy winter of 1941-1942 will always be remembered. Hitler besieged Leningrad (the old name of St. Petersburg) for nearly 900 days, and the extreme hunger and cold made almost every family have victims. The soldiers and civilians in the city resisted with their lives, and the German army retreated after a long siege. The Battle of Leningrad was a sign of russian heroism.

The man in black came over and spoke in English, and we knew that he was a great biologist who had just returned from an exchange abroad. When he knew we were Chinese, he said he would definitely go in the future. As the conversation was proceeding reasonably, the man suddenly asked very seriously: What do you think is the soul of Russia? We were speechless for a moment.

We said goodbye to him. After walking a long way back, he saw the man still pacing under the memorial tower, perhaps still pondering the questions that puzzled him.

What is the soul of Russia? Or he should ask history, Russia's friends and enemies.

I am reminded of a few songs from "Lenin Hill": When we think of our youth, the songs of that year are rippling again. Ah, the hope of the world in the heart of Russia, our capital Moscow. (Huang Hongjian)