Fragments of war

Author: Guo Jianying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: In our hearts, there are two kinds of death that feel utterly heartbreaking and sorrowful, also imbued with a tragic sense. One is falling after just crossing the Yalu River, and the other is falling just before the armistice. These are the most moving deaths in war. They leave those who survive in eternal grief and sorrow, with a lifetime to remember, filled with melancholy and endless sighs. Even now, the living have grown old, but their memories remain vivid. Whenever they encounter a light gray road, the evergreen and rose bushes by the roadside instantly transform into scattered backpacks and military uniforms, and the low, mournful sighs seem to rise and fall in the night air. Confronting forgetfulness is also like an order—otherwise, one might fall out of the ranks, like a straggler, wandering aimlessly while endlessly berating themselves. Memory, it seems, is the basis of one's existence. War and military service have spanned the author's entire life. Her youthful memories are a blend of firelight and passion in politics. She writes with profound insight about the three years of the Korean War, about death, and about the battlefield experiences of life and death. When the smoke cleared and the turbulent years settled, amidst the clamor of spring, she seemed to suddenly awaken, only then realizing the distant feeling of war. Thus, sheed the curtain of the death zone's performance, picking up the stories of blood-soaked battles and the scorching fragments of war, crafting essays that intertwine humanity and war. She witnessed the cruel war firsthand. Becoming a soldier, becoming a military personnel, picking up the weapons of art, marching onto the battlefield to wage war, breathing the air polluted by smoke and fire, seeing the blood of the wounded and the bodies of the fallen, experiencing the joy of victory, bearing the heavy and scorching weight of failure, enduring the cold, storms, blizzards, hunger, fatigue, the exuberance of victory celebrations, and the sorrow of burying fallen comrades. The author, with an unimaginably aesthetic mindset, openly shared her inner self, reminiscing about her youth in the flames of the Korean War and recording the remarkable years on the Korean battlefield. She re-experiences and examines the tragedy of war, highlighting the humanistic essence within, adorned with the magnificent and sublime beauty of tragedy.