He corresponded with Lu Xun 52 times, and his life's honor and disgrace were related to Lu Xun

On February 7, 1977, mr. Xu Maoyong, a famous translator and essayist, died of illness. At the beginning of March, the family received a notice from the relevant authorities: "Comrade Xu Maoyong has made a serious mistake" and is not allowed to hold a memorial service. Later, the memorial service was reopened, but it was April 12, 1979, more than two years after his death. This time, he was called "a member of the Communist Party of China, a veteran of China's literary and artistic circles and the social science front," and in his eulogy he said: "Xu Maoyong's life was a life of revolution, a life of upholding the truth, and a life of arduous struggle."

Xu Maoyong's life's honor and disgrace are all related to Lu Xun

On January 15, 1911, Xu Maoyong was born in a poor handicraft family in Xiaguan Town, Shangyu County, Zhejiang Province, and was bright and studious from an early age, and entered the Fangshan Primary School in his village at the age of 5, with good results. Because of his family's financial situation, he dropped out of high school after graduating from high school. In 1926, Xu Maoyong participated in the Great Revolution, and was later wanted by the local government, fled to Shanghai, and was admitted to the National Labor University as a part-time worker. After graduation, he taught at Huipu Middle School in Linhai, Zhejiang. During this period, he began to translate foreign literary works and imitate Lu Xun's style to create essays.

In November 1932, Xu Maoyong's translation of Tolstoy's biography was published, and he immediately decided to send a copy to Lu Xun and wrote a letter of greeting and asking for advice. After receiving the gift of books and letters, Lu Xun replied that night, and since then the two have begun a close exchange of letters. According to some statistics, from 1933 to August 5, 1936, they corresponded 52 times.

In March 1935, Xu Maoyong prepared to publish "Miscellaneous Collections", asked Lu Xun to write a preface, and Lu Xun, who had always cared for young writers, agreed happily. In the preface, he said, the collection of essays was "relevant to the present, and vivid, puzzling, useful, and empathetic." The election of the first cattle man in the literary circles of the Republic of China undoubtedly shocked the reputation of Xu Maoyong, who had just entered the literary circles.

However, the drama of life is everywhere, and sometimes even the parties may not be able to see it clearly. Just when Xu Maoyong first appeared, the "Left League" noticed him and appointed Ren Baige, the director of propaganda, to talk to him and invite him to join. Soon after, he was elected to the Standing Committee of the Left League and served as propaganda minister. The following year, Tian Han and Yang Hansheng, leading members of the "Left League," were arrested, Ren Baige had to flee to Japan because his identity was exposed, and Xu Maoyong served as the secretary of the "Left League." Xu Maoyong's entry into the "Left League" on the one hand certainly brought him closer to Lu Xun, who was the actual ally of the "Left League," and on the other hand, he was inexplicably caught up in the disputes in the left-wing literary circles.

In 1936, around the two slogans of "national defense literature" and "popular literature of the national revolutionary war", the left-wing literary circles were hotly debated, the former advocated by Zhou Yang and the latter supported by Lu Xun. Lu Xun advocated the coexistence of two slogans, but Zhou Yang felt that only "national defense literature" was correct. At this time, Xu Maoyong wrote a letter to Lu Xun, talking about his question of the leadership of the proletariat in the anti-Japanese united front, and opposing "not using work, only with special qualifications to demand leadership." The letter also said: "At present, I always feel that my husband's words and deeds in the past six months have unintentionally contributed to bad tendencies. With the deceit of Hu Feng's temperament and the slander of Huang Yuan's behavior, Mr. Huang Did Not Pay Close Attention, and was forever taken personally by them, dazzled the masses, and if idolized, the separation movement that proceeded from their ambitions was launched and could not be contained. "I think that not looking at things, but only looking at people, is the root cause of Mr. Mister's mistakes in the past six months." The gentleman's view of the people is not accurate. For example, I personally, admittedly, have many shortcomings, but my husband regards my writing confusion as a big shortcoming, which I think is really funny. ”

The tone of this letter was blunt, overbearing, and even had a condescending taste, which naturally provoked Great Displeasure to Lu Xun. In August 1936, Lu Xun published "Answering Xu Maoyong and Discussing the Issue of the Anti-Japanese National United Front" in the fifth issue of the first volume of the writer's monthly magazine, which refuted Xu Maoyong's relevant accusations layer by layer. Criticizing him for "speaking some grandiose words during the day and carrying out some divisive, provocative, and splittist activities in the dark of night" and "when he catches a banner, he thinks that he has taken the lead and put up a frame of a slave general manager, with the whip as his only achievement," and Xu Lu has since parted ways.

To be fair, Lu Xun's reaction to Xu Maoyong's letter was indeed a bit excessive

As an elder, Lu Xun taught him a harsh lesson in the reply, which is also reasonable, but it is really suspected of intensifying and expanding the contradiction by publishing the letters and replies involving third parties. After Lu Xun's death, Xu Maoyong sent a pair of Lian Lian, and actually expressed his views on Lu Xun's move, which he said: "Enemies are friends, Yu Wei asks himself; knowing that I have sinned against me, the public has no words." ”

However, in Lu Xun's side, it was natural for him to do so. When he fought back against Xu Maoyong, he did not expect that the letter was only the opinion of Xu Yiren, but that it was on behalf of Zhou Yang and his gang. In a letter to Yang Jiyun, he said: "In fact, although he is the one who wrote this letter, he represents a certain group. Try to read it carefully, look at the breath, and you will understand. Here it is necessary to briefly talk about the relationship between Lu Xun and Zhou Yang. Lu Xun and Zhou Yang did not have a festival earlier, but during the existence of the "Left Alliance", Zhou Yang deliberately excluded Lu Xun and attacked Feng Xuefeng and Hu Feng, who were good friends with Lu Xun. The dissolution of the "Left League" was also somewhat self-righteous, but Mao Dun was sent to inform Lu Xun. In the debate between the two slogans, there is a distinct sectarian tendency. Since Lu Xun felt that Xu Maoyong was Zhou Yang's spokesman, he naturally wanted a large number of special approvals.

After leaving Shanghai, Xu Maoyong went to Yan'an, where he reported the dissolution of the "Left League" and the dispute with Lu Xun to a certain leader as it was, and was understood and believed that this controversy took place at the juncture of the transition from the civil war to the anti-Japanese national united front, and was not only inevitable but also beneficial. The nature of the controversy is that it is within the revolutionary camp, not between the revolution and the counter-revolution. Later, the leader also encouraged him to solve the problem of joining the party, personally selected an introducer for him to join the party, and suggested that he bring his family members to Yan'an. However, things were like clouds, and in the late fifties and mid-sixties, Xu Maoyong, who always wanted to turn the page, became a "sinner" again because of the dispute with Lu Xun, was labeled "rightist" and "counter-revolutionary", suffered so much that he could not be concluded when he was dying. It is not an exaggeration to say that he has lived all his life in the "baggage" of arguing with Lu Xun.

Fortunately, the world will eventually move forward, and whether the views in Xu Maoyong's letter to Lu Xun in that year are right or wrong, a new era should make objective and fair conclusions based on the nature of history, which in itself is gratifying.

(The author is an associate professor at Hunan University of Humanities and Science and Technology)

This article was published in beijing daily on October 31, 2016, with the original title of "Knowing my sin, the public has no words""

Source: Beijing Daily

Author: You Yuming

Producer: Li Qingying

Editor: Fan Xuan

Process Editor: Sun Yujie