Retrospective Chronicle of the Past (Complete Three Volumes)

Author: Zhou Erfu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-10-01
Features: A person's life, regardless of how long they have lived, whether it is the rich and varied experiences of an elderly person with gray hair or the different journeys of those who pass away early, there are always some experiences. Whatever has already happened, looking back over the past few years, it is all past events. This is the final work of Mr. Zhou Erfu before his death. He experienced a "troubled life" throughout his career, going through the Left Alliance, the War of Resistance, the Yan'an Rectification Campaign, the War of Liberation, the Three Anti-Party Struggle, the Five Anti-Party Struggle, the Anti-Right Campaign, and the Cultural Revolution, always at the forefront of political movements; he devoted himself to writing for seventy years, authentically recording the ups and downs of nearly a century; his fate was unfortunate, his marriage unhappy, experiencing great highs and lows from the peak to the valley, yet he independent personality, . He never yielded to fate, thus creating a great of life. A person's life, regardless of how long they have lived, whether it is the rich and varied experiences of an elderly person with gray hair or the different journeys of those who pass away early, there are always some experiences. Whatever has already happened, looking back over the past few years, it is all past events. Tolstoy believed: "Life is real. Everything a person experiences remains in their heart as memories. We always live on memories." (Gordon Vise: "Among Tolstoy") "When will the spring flowers and autumn moon end? How many past events do I know!" Of course, it wouldn't be the lament of Li Yu, the king of a fallen nation, who would utter such a sigh, "Past events are now empty, just like a dream." "Past events are unbearable to recall under the moonlight." His past events are unbearable to recall. Each person, due to their different environments, has a different perspective on past events. Li Qingzhao, the famous poetess of the Southern Song Dynasty: "Afraid of idle worries and hidden resentments, how many things, wanting to say but holding back." When her husband Zhao Mingcheng was away, she felt the sorrow of parting and separation, "Thinking of the distant Wu Ling people, the smoke locks the Qin Tower." "One kind of longing, two places of idle sorrow." So she felt, "Things remain, but people have changed, everything is over, wanting to speak, tears come first." Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou, using Qin Hui's scheme, recalled the anti-Jin general Yue Fei with twelve bronze medals, and Yue Fei sighed, "I want to pour my heart into the jade qin, but there are few who understand me, who will listen when the strings are broken?" The Southern Song Dynasty made a humiliating peace, reaching an agreement. He was unable to fulfill his ambitions, and his heart was in pain, showing his extreme dissatisfaction with the surrenderists, writing "Little Mountain" to express his opposition. His position no longer allowed him to express his thoughts freely, so he could only stay silent. Who would listen to his past events? Historically known as Ou Yangxiu "who spoke bluntly and was seen as an enemy," he was therefore frequently exiled. Su Shi said of Ou Yangxiu, "In discussing the great way, he is like Han Yu; in discussing matters, he is like Lu Shi; in recording events, he is like Sima Qian; in poetry and prose, he is like Li Bai." In the poem "Complaint of the Heart," Ou Yangxiu lamented, "Thinking of the past, cherishing the passing fragrance, easily causing hurt. Preparing to sing, but first choke, wanting to laugh but stop, breaking the heart." Although it describes the tragic situation of a singing girl in feudal society who must pretend to be cheerful despite her bitterness, does it also reflect the deep emotions of the Six-One Scholar? Tang Wan's poem "Hairpin Feng" expresses "Wanting to write in my heart, speaking alone by the sloping balustrade. Difficult, difficult, difficult! Afraid of being asked, suppressing tears and pretending to be happy. Lying, lying, lying!" It also writes of the inner pain of a woman who suffered persecution, crying and complaining against feudal rituals. Under the cruel rule of feudal society, where is the freedom to express one's thoughts and recall past events? Even if expressed, what effect would it have? It could only be swallowed down, lying, lying, lying! Unable to vent one's sorrow makes it even more bitter! As people grow old, they often tend to recall past events. But past events are like smoke. Xin Qiji stubbornly resisted the Jin, fighting against those in the Southern Song ruling group who advocated surrender, writing "Ten Arguments of Mei Qin" and "Nine Discussions," proposing strategic guidelines and specific measures for resisting the Jin, which were not adopted by the rulers and led to continuous exclusion and. After his return to the south, he was idle for more than forty years, being dismissed from office and staying idle for more than twenty years. He recalled his youth, modestly writing "Or as" "The Swan and the Sky," recalling the heroic battle history of leading troops to resist the Jin, capturing the rebel general Zhang An'guo, and breaking through to the south, but his ambitions were unfulfilled, and he had grown old: "Recalling the past, sighing at present, the spring wind does not dye the white beard. Instead, I exchange ten thousand words of peace plans for my neighbor's book on planting trees." The peace plans refer to "Ten Arguments of Mei Qin" and "Nine Discussions," expressing infinite sentiments and frustrations in the poem. The proposals of the anti-Jin general in his later years ended up learning how to plant trees from his neighbor. Wu Qian, a famous Southern Song statesman and litterateur, actively resisted the enemy, being dismissed from office many times, but even in his old age, he still hoped to achieve something: "At the age of seventy, I dare not refuse to sacrifice my life for the country." This shows his determination to resist the enemy, but he also wrote such lines: "Sighing over ten years of thoughts, rest, rest. Time flies, people grow old easily, and though the world is vast, sorrow is hard to bear." He expressed the grief of time passing, the ease of aging, and the unfulfilled political ideals. Some people also wanted to recall the smoke-like past, but felt "Recalling the past, no trace remains." (Liu Kehua: "A New Lyric") or "More than twenty years like a dream, though I am still here, it is astonishing. Idle on a small hill, watching the new clear sky, how many things of the past, the fisherman sings at three in the morning." (Chen Yuyi: "By the River") This shows the lamentation of past events. In short, recalling the past is difficult. Therefore, one does not want to look back at the past, "Looking at the evening mirror, mourning the passing scenery, the past and future are empty and forgotten." This Zhang Xian, in vain remembers the passing past and the future appointments, feeling empty and confused. Then why do I look back at the past? During the ten years of chaos, I constantly wrote self-criticism. At the Guxian Revolutionary Committee in Xixian, Henan, I was forced to write a self-criticism, the so-called "target of special control," as detailed as possible. When I studied at the private school until the Young Men's Christian Association Middle School, I was influenced by Gu Yanwu's "Daily Records," writing a diary every day, recording what I saw and heard and my comments on things, also recording reading notes and similar content, to see the traces of my growth. When the War of Resistance broke out, Nanjing fell, and fearing trouble, my family burned all the diaries to ashes, leaving no trace, and I never wrote diaries again. Because from Shanghai to Yan'an and then to the enemy-controlled Jin-Cha-Ji democratic resistance base, "purges" were frequent, and I often lived in a mobile state, fighting and living, with little time to write diaries. From Yan'an to Chongqing, working at the editorial offices of "Xinhua Daily" and "The Masses," living in the heart of the Kuomintang-controlled area, even if there was time, I couldn't write diaries, fearing leaks. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, I could write diaries, but I was extremely busy, sometimes not able to rest until eleven or twelve at night, exhausted, where was the energy to write diaries? Moreover, I had long been accustomed to getting up early, no matter what time I rested, I would wake up early the next morning and start writing, without time to write diaries. From morning to work, it was my spare time for writing, unbreakable, except for foreign visits. Since the autumn of 1954, when I visited India and Myanmar, if I had time to get up early, I would write diaries, but I only recorded activities during foreign visits and the scenery of the host countries, rarely writing about myself. The Revolutionary Committee forced me to write a self-criticism. At that time, the task was simple, called "labor reform," with more free time, which gave me the opportunity to look back at the past. Like Du Mu said, "Matters go with the solitary swan," or like Su Shi said, "Matters are like a spring dream, leaving no trace." Briefly looking back, many things are difficult to recall, fortunately, the self-criticism is more about politics and ideology, only need to record the main points, no need to elaborate, about ten thousand words summarized the main experience. The Party Central Committee completely crushed the counter-revolutionary "Four Gangs," the dark clouds in the sky dispersed, and the morning glow shone over the mountains and waters of the motherland, warming the hearts of hundreds of millions of people, all hoping to make up for the losses suffered during the ten years of chaos with doubled efforts to compensate for the lost precious time. I also had such an urgent mood to engage in writing and work, working more than ten hours a day, constantly busy with a series of tasks, gradually forgetting the past events I had recalled. It was probably in 1979 that the editorial team of "Biographies of Modern Chinese Writers" from Xuzhou Normal University came to invite me to write, according to the editorial style, all living writers were to write their own self-criticisms, which I couldn't refuse, nor could I ask the editor to write for me, as that would violate the rules, so I quickly wrote a "Brief Biography" to fulfill the request. I finished it on March 13, 1980, and sent it, which was included in "Biographies of Modern Chinese Writers," published by Sichuan People's Publishing House in May 1981. I thought I could "pass." In 1987, I received a letter from the editorial team of Xuzhou Normal University, saying they planned to revise and supplement the biographies, and according to the rules, they still asked the writers to do it themselves. At that time, I was writing the novel "The Great Wall Stretches for Ten Thousand Li," and if it was interrupted, it would take a lot of time to prepare before continuing to write. But I had already written the "Brief Biography," and after ten years, it needed to be revised and supplemented, which was unavoidable, so I had to look back at the past again. In the spring of 1988, a bronze statue of Comrade Zhou Enlai was erected in front of Jiajiaquan No. 50 in Chongqing to commemorate his outstanding achievements in leading the arduous and complex struggles in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, and at the same time, a memorial event was held for the 50th anniversary of the founding of "Xinhua Daily." I was invited to celebrate the unveiling of the statue and the holiday of the newspaper office. After the event, I took a boat down the Three Gorges to Wuhan, and on the boat, I had more free time, so I looked back at the past and revised and supplemented the "Brief Biography," sending it to Xuzhou Normal University. The editorial team of "New Literary Materials" once invited me to write a self-criticism or a serial of recollections, but I couldn't fulfill the request in time because my main energy was devoted to writing the novel, and I couldn't spare much time to look back at the past, so I sent the revised and supplemented "Brief Biography" titled "Brief Review" to the editor, which was published in the 1990 issue. Before that, the deputy editor of the monthly "Report Literature," Fu Xipeng, invited me to write a recollection, earnestly hoping for support, and with such great kindness, I couldn't refuse, so I wrote "Years in Chongqing" and "At the Crossroads of Peace and War," which were serialized in "Report Literature." The monthly "Report Literature" ended its publication in the 12th issue of 1989, "dying a natural death." Fu Xipeng didn't come to ask for recollections with a smile like in the past, I breathed a sigh of relief, and could continue to focus on writing novels. But the editorial team of "New Literary Materials" was enthusiastic about inviting me to write, and it often lingered in my mind. That "Brief Review" was too "brief" to be considered a recollection, and I should follow the order and take time to write a recollection to repay their high hopes; on the other hand, I felt that the past had passed and was buried in the graveyard of history, not worth mentioning again, why dig up the grave and expose the corpse? Moreover, as people grow older, their memory declines day by day, even if they look back, it may not be entirely accurate, "no trace," "no trace" of the past, how to start writing? "How many things, wanting to say but holding back." It's really "wanting to write in my heart, speaking alone by the sloping balustrade. Difficult, difficult, difficult!" It's better not to write. But the editor earnestly asked me to write a "recollection," how could I refuse again? At this time, I remembered Sima Qian who said: "Therefore, recounting the past, thinking of the future." ("Autobiography of the Grand Historian") I am certainly not comparing myself to Sima Qian, personal past events, there is nothing worth looking back at, at most, just a drop in the ocean, but the sea does not reject the small streams. Looking back at the past is for the future, to learn from the past and understand the future. My life "" has gone through many twists and turns, on the long road of life, some experiences and lessons are not without reference significance for later generations, so I look back at the past and take up the pen, or brief or detailed, depending on the person and the matter, not limited to personal past events, nor a pure self-biography, so it is called "Recollections of the Past."