Xu di shan
I remember that there is an essay in the primary school Chinese textbook called "Falling Peanuts", and the author's father borrows peanuts to educate his children: "You must be like peanuts, because it is useful, not a great and beautiful thing." The "Peanut Spirit" teaches young people to try their best to be people who are useful to society rather than flashy. This author is Xu Dishan, a famous modern Chinese novelist, essayist and educator. Xu Dishan (1893-1941), formerly known as Xu Zankun, pen name Luo Peanut, was born in Taiwan. He graduated from yenching University's Faculty of Letters in 1920, studied in the United States with Xie Bingxin and Liang Shiqiu in 1923, and after obtaining a master's degree from Columbia University, transferred to the Oxford University Research Institute in the United Kingdom to study, committing to the study of religious history and literary creation. After returning to China in 1927, he worked at Yenching University and taught part-time at Peking University and Tsinghua University. In 1935, he became the head and professor of the Department of Chinese Literature and History at the University of Hong Kong, and the chairman of the Sino-British Cultural Association of Hong Kong. He co-founded the Novel Monthly and was one of the pioneers of the new literary movement during the May Fourth period. Three generations of Xu Dishan's family have left footprints in Zhanjiang, xu Dishan followed his father Xu Nanying to live in Xuwen for a period of time from 1902 to 1903, and in 1942 Xu Dishan's bereaved family fled to Guangzhou Bay and transferred to the interior.
Xu Nanying
Xu Dishan's father, Xu Nanying of Xu Wenzhi County
Xu Nanying (1855-1917), nicknamed "Master of the Garden", was a famous patriotic poet in modern Taiwan in 1890, and together with Qiu Fengjia and Shi Shijie, he was known as the "Three Great Poets of The Late Qing Dynasty in Taiwan".
When the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1894, Xu Nanying served as the commander of the Taiwan Regiment Training Bureau and led the second battalion of soldiers. In 1895, the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Maguan with Japan, which stipulated that Taiwan and the Penghu Islands would be ceded to Japan. In order to prevent the Japanese army from landing, Tang Jingsong, then the governor of Taiwan, actively prepared for the establishment of a "Taiwan Democracy State", and led an army to resist the Japanese army with Liu Yongfu and others stationed in Taiwan. Tang Jingsong was elected "president," and Liu Yongfu and Qiu Fengjia successively handled military and civilian affairs. Xu Nanying served as the commander of the Preparatory Defense Bureau, and the Tun soldiers passed near Fanshe. After Japan took over the whole island of Taiwan, Xu Nanying moved his family back to the mainland, and after staying in Xiamen and then to Shantou Taoduwei Village, the Xu clan gave Xu Nanying travel expenses to live in Nanyang, and funded his family from Taiwan to Taodu to settle down. Xu Nanying traveled in Nanyang for two years, and when the coil was exhausted, he embarked on the career again. Originally, Xu Nanying was originally awarded the post of chief of the Vehicle Driving Department of the Military Department after he entered the army, but the time has passed, and it is impossible to return to the military department as an official, so he "degraded himself to the end of the history of the southern handover", successively assisted the prefect of Guangzhou and Panyu ZhiXian in reviewing the examination papers of the prefecture, followed the general soldiers of Chaozhou Town to handle the affairs of clearing the countryside, and appointed as the general office of Foshan Fenshui Taxation. In 1902, Xu Nanying was appointed as XuWenzhi County. On January 18, 1912, the "Declaration" "Lingnan Official" published: "Wenchang County is lacking, with Xuwen County He Bingxiu Adjustment Office, leaving Xuwen County missing, and using Xu Nanying as the deputy of Zhi County." This is Xu Nanying's first time as a magistrate.
Xu Dishan wrote about Xu Nanying's appointment as Xu Wen in "Remembering My Father - The Poetry of Mr. Peiyuan": Xu Wen was at the southern tip of the Leizhou Peninsula, and the folk customs were simple. After Xu Nanying arrived at his post, the county's political affairs only used an assistant to the criminal master, and the rest of the accountants, money and grain and other things were their own managers. The county yamen are listed once every ten days to approve the complaint, commonly known as the "public notice", the county has good public order, there are no particularly serious cases, the light is stealing chicken scissors, and the heavy is nothing more than fighting for land and relying on debts. As for criminal cases such as homicide and cross-border goods, it is really rare to hear. The situation is just like Xu Nanying's poem, "The court of litigation spring grass is shaded by layers, and the official is really like a retired monk." At that time, after Yang Duotang, the head of Guisheng Academy, retired from office, Xu Nanying changed Guisheng Academy into Xuwen Primary School, and selected Xiucai in the county to enroll in school. The gentry of the whole county saw that Xu Nanying was enthusiastic about running the school, so they hired him as the head teacher and went to the primary school every 369 every month to explain the history of the scriptures. Since the Qing Dynasty, it was extremely rare for Zhixian to personally serve as the head of the academy, but Xu Nanying often went to the primary school hall and had more contact with students, so he could understand the customs of the county. Xu Nanying also often urged the students, saying: "Born in distress, died in Yan'an" and "It is too late to die without achievements," and said: "People should work hard and make unremitting efforts, and if they are happy, they will let go of evil and extravagant and do everything." At that time, the body and mind will not only be useless, but will also be for future generations. Because Xuwen County's mansion had been destroyed, the former county magistrate borrowed the examination shed as a mansion, and Xu Nanying rented the Sanguan Ancestral Hall in the east as a study for his children. In his spare time after the office, Xu Nanying often went to the study to talk with his friend Mr. Xu Zhanyun, and sometimes explained the history of the country for his children. Xu Nanying was in Xuwen for about a year and a half, and the gentlemen of the whole county supported and loved him.
Xu Nanying wrote a large number of poems in his lifetime, but many were lost, and in 1933 Xu Dishan collected the remaining 1039 poems into "Peeping Garden And Leaving Grass", which was also accompanied by "Voyeurism". Xu Nanying composed many poems during Xu Wen's tenure, such as xu Dishan mentioned above: "The spring grass in the court is layered, and the official is really like a retired monk." From the "Xu Wen Miscellaneous Verses", the last two sentences are "The ten officials and three classes are quiet, and in the Qing Dynasty it is an ice." There are also four poems of "Farewell to Xu Wen Fathers and Elders", the first of which is "Dai Ku a case with a melon period, and Lu Mi has been ashamed of it for many years." Located in the hot and desolate area, when the drought is tortured and the people are hungry. Dare to cloud the prison heart like a mirror, long listening to the praises is a monument. Sending homesickness to fathers and elders, I can attack my short is my teacher. For Xu Nanying's poems, Xu Wensheng Chen Jingguo wrote eight songs in two groups of singing and poetry. Xuantong's "Chronicle of Xuwen County" records that Xu Nanying of Zhixian County once allocated two hundred silver and rebuilt the Xiannong Altar located in the east five miles of Xuwen County with the gentry Han Zhichao, and the county chronicle also praised Xu Nanying for "loving the people and writing a political voice".
Xu Dishan was only about 10 years old when he lived with his father Xu Nanying in Xuwen. At that time, the "examination shed" where Xu Dishan's family lived was said to be located in the front street of Xucheng Subdistrict in present-day Xuwen County, and it was called "Xu Dishan's Former Residence". In addition, Wu Kai's article "Xu Di Shan and Xu Wen" pointed out, "There is no Sanguan Ancestral Hall in the ancient city of Xuwen, and there is only Sanyuan Hall in the east of the Kao Shed, but the current site has been moved to the west side of Binpu Road, about 100 meters away from the old site of the mansion." It can be seen that it is very likely that Xu Dishan misremembered the "Sanyuan Hall" as the "Three Officials Ancestral Hall".
Family Portrait of Xu Dishan (1940)
Xu Dishan's Guangzhou Bay
Xu Dishan's early novels are characterized by legendary plots, exoticisms, and religious overtones. The so-called "exotic" mainly refers to the Southeast Asian region, which is commonly known as "Nanyang". However, Xu Dishan also has some novels set in China's Fujian-Taiwan, Guangdong and other places, showing the strong cultural characteristics of Fujian-Taiwan and South China. Taiwanese writer Lin Haiyin astutely pointed out in the article "About Xu Dishan" in the famous work "The Old Affair of Seongnam", "The novel of falling peanuts had his unique style at that time, and the arrangement of the story background was also one of them. He has several novels that are quite 'exotic', such as "The Spider with Webs" set in the Malay Peninsula, "Daigo Heavenly Woman" and "Merchant Woman" with India as the background. Domestic as the background: "Spring Peach" in Beiping, "After Dusk" in Guangzhou Bay, "Changing Nest Luan Phoenix" in Yangjiang and so on. ”
In 1927, Xu Dishan published "After Dusk" in the "Novel Monthly", which is a novel work set in Guangzhou Bay. It tells the story of the protagonist and two lovely daughters reminiscing about their wives after a certain dusk, revealing the husband's deep nostalgia for his deceased wife.
The protagonist of "After Dusk", named "Care", accepted Deng Shichang's appointment as an interpreter during the Battle of Jiawu, but when he first arrived in Shanghai, he heard of Deng Shichang's death, and he decided to take refuge in the isolated island in the south and make his home. This "isolated island" is The island of Qiao Chau, in the novel, Caring said to her daughter: "Since that defeat, I myself feel very ashamed, so I decided to isolate all my relatives and friends and run to live on an isolated island, in order to avoid all kinds of unseemly news and teach my ears to be less stimulated." Your mother only advised me to go back to Shaozhou, but I was very reluctant to go back there, and we decided to move here later. Although it is not far from Qiaozhou, the people in the township have not interacted with me, and I think they must not know that I live here. "The historical island of Tongzhou has an important strategic position, and France has held many negotiations to occupy the two islands of Tongzhou and the East China Sea. Two years before Xu Dishan wrote this "After Dusk", Wen Yiduo's "Song of the Seven Sons • Guangzhou Bay" began: "The East Sea and The Island are my pair of pipe keys, and I am an iron lock on the back door of Shenzhou." ”
Because of the "shame" of defeat, Caring decided to move the family to a village by the sea. They bought a house and an orchard. Within five years, Canton Bay was occupied by the French. Caring felt helpless about this and said, "Alas, good things are impermanent! We haven't been here for more than five years, and this place is occupied by France again! At that time I wanted to move elsewhere, in order to avoid this shame, who knew that I could not decide this matter, as if my fate was like this, to live forever in this land of shame. Caring believes that the occupation of Guangzhou Bay is "shameful" and Guangzhou Bay has become a "land of shame". The caring wife heard before giving birth that she was going to sign a lease treaty, and she fell ill. After the death of his wife, widowers continued to live in Guangzhou Bay with their two daughters.
Another novel by Xu Dishan, "The Gills of the Iron Fish Bottom", also mentions Guangzhou Bay. After the "July 7 Incident" in 1937, Xu Dishan actively participated in the Anti-Japanese Salvation Movement, served as the executive director of the Hong Kong Branch of the All-China Literary and Art Circles Anti-Enemy Association, gave speeches at mass gatherings, and published essays such as "July 7 Sentiments". In February 1941, Xu Dishan published the anti-Japanese novel "Iron Fish Bottom Gills" in the semi-monthly magazine "Gale", which was the last novel of his life.
"Iron Fish Bottom Gills" portrays a patriotic inventor, Mr. Lei, who was a former official student who painstakingly designed the "Iron Fish Bottom Cheek", which is a device used by submarines to obtain oxygen from the water and discharge carbon dioxide. When Mr. Lei fled, he chose to enter the mainland through Guangzhou Bay, and Mr. Lei said: "I still want to go to Guangxi. Just wait for the daughter-in-law to send some road fares, as fast as a month, the slowest is only two months, you can always think of a way to get from Guangzhou Bay or other safer roads. The next day, Mr. Lei "left the company and went to the China Travel Agency to inquire, knowing that there would be a boat to Guangzhou Bay tomorrow." It can be seen that the protagonist of the novel, Mr. Lei, transferred to the mainland by boat to Guangzhou Bay. During the real-life War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chinese travel agencies set up branches in Guangzhou Bay, located opposite the Gem Hotel on the Avenida de France in Chikan. At the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Guangzhou Bay, as the main domestic and foreign passage, welcomed a large number of refugees. Xu Dishan's novel mentions Guangzhou Bay, which should be a portrayal of real life in literary and artistic creation. Coincidentally, in 1942, Xu Dishan's widow and children fled from Hong Kong to Guangzhou Bay to the mainland, and also entered the mainland through Chinese travel agencies.
Xu Dishan and Xu Yanji
Xu Dishan's bereaved family fled to Guangzhou Bay
On August 4, 1941, Xu Dishan finally died of a heart attack due to overwork, at the age of 49. The cultural circles of Hong Kong and Singapore held memorial services for him, and they deeply remembered this pioneer of the new literary movement.
A few months after Hsu's death, Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese. In October 1942, Xu Dishan's widow Zhou Qiansong, his mother, son Zhou Lingzhong, and daughter Xu Yanji fled from Hong Kong to Guangzhou Bay. Zhou Qiansong (1901-1995), a native of Xiangtan, Hunan, graduated from the Department of Mathematics of Beijing Normal University in 1928 and later served as a middle school teacher and principal.
In "I Am the Daughter of a Fallen Peanut", Xu Yanji recounts the experience of fleeing to Guangzhou Bay, and they traveled from Hong Kong to Guangzhou Bay via Macau. On October 10, 1942, they arrived at Guangzhou Bay.
Zhou Qiansong went to the dock to take care of the luggage, and the boatman unloaded all their luggage on the dock. It was just when it was raining lightly and the tide was rising again. When the dock workers saw that their group were all women, children, old and young, they knocked on bamboo bars, raised prices, and refused to carry their luggage to the road. Zhou Qian was in a hurry, and he went down to smash the box himself and put it on his shoulder. The dock workers saw the situation and then began to move, but several pieces of luggage had been soaked by the sea. Usually, Zhou Qiansong has always paid great attention to appearance, dressed flat, his hair is curly and smooth, his waist is straight, his pace is steady, and he does not lose his graceful and luxurious temperament. Xu Yanji also did not expect that her mother could carry the same box as the porter. They hired a car to pull luggage to Chikan and stayed at the three-storey "Welcome Hotel" for more than half a month, waiting for money.
Xu Dishan did not have much savings before he died, and even if he had money, he would not let the people take it away during the Japanese occupation period. Later, she heard that the National Government had funds to relieve cultural people who had left Hong Kong, and after arriving in Chikan, Zhou Qiansong hurriedly contacted the mainland to apply for this travel fee, and she left early and returned late every day, running between various relevant departments and the post and telecommunications bureau.
During his stay in Chikan, Xu Yanji helped her mother-in-law to take her sea-soaked luggage to the roof of the hotel to dry. The restaurant downstairs also came up to roast suckling pigs on the roof every day, and Xu Yanji was busy drying his luggage, but also walked over to watch the roast pigs and smell the aroma. The older brother Zhou Lingzhong chatted with the hotel's guests almost all day, and those guests who had also fled from Hong Kong knew Xu Dishan, so they were also very enthusiastic about Zhou Lingzhong. Although they are hotel rice, but the dish is not enough to eat, the hotel shower room put a few mud stoves and pots, every day you can go out to buy some green vegetables back to stir-fry.
After seven or eight days, the two brothers and sisters crossed the border under the leadership of their new acquaintance "Sesame Officer" and went to the market several times. Regarding the situation of the Inch Gold Bridge at that time, Xu Yanji recalled: "The border is a bridge, called 'Inch Gold Bridge', which means the land inch gold. On the east side of the bridge stood a French guard post, wearing a beret, a red pompom on top, leather boots, and leather leg guards, and crossed armed ribbons. On the bridge is a deer stand with iron tribulus terrestris nailed to it. On the west side of the bridge stood our Chinese soldiers, dressed in yellow cloth military uniforms, with leggings, black cloth shoes, black belts tied around their waists, and carrying long guns. In the past, people used to bow to him to vent the indignation of the Japanese soldiers, and it was also the patriotic passion that set foot on their own land. My brother and I bowed to him as well. ”
After crossing the Cunjin Bridge, we walked three miles to the market field under the jurisdiction of Suixi County (it should be Ma Zhangwei), and the "sesame official" recognized the people there, probably all of whom were border customs staff. They found the bazaar very lively and bustling, and they also saw local children buying a beetle called a dragon lice to eat.
After waiting for a while, the relief money that Zhou Qiansong entrusted to help them apply for arrived, and they were busy preparing for the departure. At that time, in order to prevent the Japanese from attacking Guangzhou Bay, the road from Guangzhou Bay to Yulin was cut off, so the traffic could only be on foot or in a sedan car. In this case, Zhou Qiansong found the Chinese travel agency, the travel agency required that each piece of luggage not exceed 50 pounds, so the luggage was divided into 38 pieces, marked, and asked the porter to carry it. The travel agency arranged a three-passenger car, one for Zhou Qiansong and his mother, and one for Xu Yanji's two brothers and sisters. The name of the palanquin is pasted in front of each palanquin, and the "Mrs. Xu Dishan" is pasted in front of the palanquin, and when they arrive at the customs, the staff comes out to say hello, which is very warm. The palanquin passed through the market and began to walk the rural dirt road, stopping at Lianjiang at the first stop and staying in the place arranged by the hostel. After a seven-day journey, they arrived in Yulin, Guangxi, then took a charcoal-burning car to Liuzhou, and three weeks later they reached their destination, Guilin, at the end of 1942.