The 107-year-old writer Ma Zhitu has actually produced a new work!
I still remember that last year, Ma Zhitu wrote an affectionate "confession of the pen": "I am one hundred and six years old, old and decaying, and my career in writing should have been sealed long ago." He said that he would never write new works from now on, but if he wanted to "retire" from the literary world, stop thinking, and put down the pen he loved, how difficult it was, and Ma Lao really lived up to the expectations of "breaking his word".
This year, Ma Zhitu not only published his first oracle bone book "Notes on the Oracle Bones of Ma Zhitu Southwest United University", but also launched a collection of reminiscent essays "That Era, That Kind of Person" in the People's Publishing House.
"That Time, That Kind of Man" book cover
Red Star News reporter contacted Ma Zhitu's daughter Ma Wanmei, she revealed a key detail: the manuscript of the book is basically Ma Lao himself on the computer word by word typed out, because every day to write on the computer screen, the original bad eye problems, but also specially to West China Hospital injection treatment of eye diseases, the doctor suggested that he use the computer as little as possible, since then, Ma Lao changed to a pen handwriting, and began to hold a pen in one hand, holding a magnifying glass posture in the other.
Ma Zhitu was a witness to the past era, in order to write this book, he once again opened the dusty memory box in his mind, and regained the imprints engraved in his mind by the late literati, teachers, friends, and relatives. The new work is about to be released, Ma Zhitu wants to say a few sincere words to the reader, he wrote very sincerely: "This book is presented to the readers, has wasted a lot of time, do not want to talk about it anymore, but there are a few points: first, the characters included in the book, all died; second, these characters have more or less had a relationship with me, at least I know; third, I wrote the facts that I can recall, or there are occasional errors, I can't check it correctly; fourth, I still want to say, and once again I want to learn Barkin, I'm telling the truth. ”
I saw Lu Xun's scene twice
The new work is about to be released, and the reporter has a sneak peek.
In the first volume of "Literati", he recalled Lu Xun, Guo Moruo, Zhou Yang, Ba Jin, Bingxin, Yang Hansheng, Zhang Guangnian, Wen Yiduo, Wu Mi, Wang Zengqi, Xia Yan, Cao Yu, Liu Shaotang, Huang Zongjiang, Yang Dai, Zhou Youguang, Li Jieren, Li Yaqun, He Qifang, Sha Ting, Ai Wu, Zhou Keqin, Che Radiation and other twenty-five literary masters who had passed away.
Ma Lao's pen is powerful, and with words full of emotion and clear distinction between right and wrong, he has left a wonderful portrait of the unforgettable people he has met in his life, either thick or light. All kinds of people, or into the temple, or in the grass, or for celebrities, or for ordinary people, thousands of faces, each with its own characteristics, vividly retained in his mind, became an inexhaustible source of life when he wrote.
After reading it, I have to sigh, ma Zhitu's keen observation and memory are superhuman, which is amazing. He is very good at capturing flashpoints when interacting with people. Although this book is written in a big way and with a pen in detail, it is not an idle book, but a historical legend, a condensation of the old man's life experience, full of reflections on society and life, and a summary of historical experience and lessons.
We can read that Ma Zhitu recalled his experience of seeing Lu Xun:
"I did see him, and twice, I'll never forget." In 1932, he attended peking university attached high school. Once, a classmate invited him to a secret gathering on the large playground of Pingmen Outer Normal University, mainly to listen to Lu Xun's speech. "After a while, I saw a half-big old man who was not tall and thin on the table, and no one introduced him, nor did he have any polite words, and he began to speak. Oh, this is Lu Xun! What Lu Xun said, I can't hear his tone clearly, I don't seem to want to hear it clearly, I can see Lu Xun for the first time, and it is enough to see Lu Xun on this occasion. After a while, Lu Xun finished speaking, and suddenly he got off the table and disappeared without a trace. ”
Ma Lao's signature
The second time I saw Lu Xun was in 1936, a few years later. That year, he was admitted to Nanjing Central University, where he joined the Secret Students' Federation, a peripheral organization of the Chinese Communist Party. In October, the news came from Shanghai that Lu Xun was going to be buried in a big funeral. Ma Zhitu took a leave of absence from school and traveled from Nanjing to Shanghai to attend Lu Xun's funeral. When he arrived in Shanghai, he first ran to the Shanghai Wanguo Funeral Home to bid farewell to Lu Xun's body. Hanging at the gate was the big bang of "Lu Xun's spirit does not die, the Chinese nation lives forever", and he took a photo. When he went to the auditorium and saw Lu Xun sleeping there, although he was not allowed to get close, he still bowed to Lu Xun from a distance and then withdrew, and then took a picture of Lu Xun, which was the second time Ma Zhitu saw Lu Xun. Later, the mass team that participated in the funeral, collided with the police and secret agents on the road, or walked to the Cemetery of All Nations in Huxi to complete the funeral, and then he returned to Nanjing.
Ma Zhitu said that he always believed that Lu Xun was a great Chinese, although he had only seen it twice, but it had always been a monument on the course of his life, no matter what he said, he insisted on one sentence: "Lu Xun is the backbone of China, and Ba Jin is the conscience of China." Later, Ma Zhitu went to Shanghai on a business trip and visited Lu Xun's cemetery twice. After paying homage in front of the tomb, he sat on a stone strip for a while, and he was quite emotional.
In memory of the most respected writer Barkin
"The literary giant Ba Jin Old Man is the Chinese writer I most respect." Ma Zhitu is a descendant of Ba Jin, and Ba Jin has a lot of love for him. At every national congress, the two men met to have a sincere talk.
In the chapter "Ba Jin Goes Home", Ma Zhitu writes about Ba Jin's influence on himself and Ba Jin's strong affection for his hometown of Chengdu. "Ba Lao is a Chengdu native, has a special deep affection for his hometown, every time wendai meeting to see Ba Lao, invite him to go back to his hometown to see, he enthusiastically said that he must come back." In the autumn of 1987, this wish was finally realized. When he returned to Chengdu, he said that he had brought back a heart. ”
Ma Zhitu recalled that in a very short period of time, regardless of physical fatigue, Ba Jin visited and visited, made new friends with old friends, and warmly received and talked earnestly. What particularly pleased Ba Jin was that he and his old friends Zhang Xiushu, Sha Ting, and Ai Wu were reunited many times. The five of them went to the New Capital Baoguang Temple, Gui Lake, Caotang Shufeng Garden, and Li Jieren's former residence, Lingqiao, and met and talked happily. Ma Zhitu once wrote the "Guihu Collection Sequence" on the proposition and gave poems to record the events. He still remembers that in a poem, "Talent is like an unruly horse, and the heart is like a withered pine." There is also a series of "asking the heavens and being bold in the end, throwing gold has its own voice", everyone thinks that they have written the character and temperament of Ba Lao.
Ma Lao's "Confession Letter"
When they visited the former residence of Ba Jin's old friend Li Jieren, Ba Jin wrote in the guestbook: "On October 13, 1987, Ba Jin came to visit his brother, I came late!" "Barkin's feelings for his late old friend brought tears to their eyes." When Ba Lao left Chengdu to return to Shanghai, he deliberately took a bag of dirt from his hometown, which showed the depth of his nostalgia for his hometown. ”
When Ba Jin was ninety years old, Ma Zhitu made a special trip to Shanghai to wish him a happy birthday, and Ba Jin received him warmly and gave him a line-bound copy of "Caprice", which was very precious.
What makes Ma Zhitu even more unforgettable is that many years ago, Ba Jin's nephew Li Zhi told him that when he went to Hangzhou to visit Ba Lao, Ba Lao gave Ma Zhitu a new copy of "Rethinking" with his right hand, which was almost impossible to write. This shows That Ba Jin cares about Ma Zhitu, a literary descendant. Therefore, Ma Zhitu gave Ba Jin a copy of his own collection of essays, "ShengShi Weiyan", and the title page was inscribed with the following sentences: "Ba Lao: This is a book that learns you to tell the truth." In the past I told the truth, and sometimes I told lies, but now I say before you, from now on, I must try to tell the truth, no matter what price I will pay for it. This is the oath that Ma Zhitu made to Ba Lao.
When Ba Lao died, Ma Zhitu was unable to rush to Shanghai to pay his funeral due to illness, so he sent his daughter to Shanghai to read his "Confession of the Spirit" in front of The Spirit of Ba Lao, in which Ma Zhitu once again swore to him: "Now and from now on, I will still try to tell the truth and not tell lies, even if I have to pay the price of my life." ”
Memories of the teacher smelled a lot
In 2002, Ma Zhitu was attending the National Writers' Congress in Beijing, "On January 26, I learned from the newspaper that Comrade Wei Junyi was gone, and on the morning of January 28, I overheard the radio, and Comrade Zhang Guangnian left again." Within three days, the literary world lost two old writers in a row, and I lost two old friends in a row, and I felt unspeakably sad in my heart. "Just like in 1992, within nine days, Ma Zhitu lost two old friends, Ai Wu and Sha Ting.
Friends of his time have all died one step ahead of him, and these memories written by Ma Zhitu are precious, and the anecdotes he talked about in the literary world have never been made public, and they are also read with relish.
Ma Zhitu recalled the teacher who studied in the Chinese Department of Southwest United University: Wu Mi, and Wen Yiduo.
"On July 15, 1946, my teacher, Mr. Wen Yiduo, a professor at Southwest Union University, was suddenly shot by Kuomintang agents on his way home after attending the memorial service for Professor Li Gongpu, and was tragically killed by several bullets. More than sixty years have passed, and I am over a hundred years old, but Mr. Wen Yiduo's voice and appearance are still so vivid in my mind. Those pasts, as if they were yesterday. ”
He recalled the scene when Wen Yiduo told them About Tang poems, and recited to the students the stirring poems written in the fields at the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and in the Liberated Areas. Because he was doing party work in the university, Ma Zhitu and Wen Yiduo had contact. Once, after class, Ma Zhitu accompanied Wen Duo back to his home. The body of a young man was found on the road, which is the "city landscape" of this area and has attracted the attention of more people. But Wen Yiduo walked over there, couldn't help but stand and look at it, and said to Ma Zhitu, "Oh, the hands of the young peasant are hands that can make the earth change color, but he died in the ravine." This is how Chinese peasants suffer. ”
Ma Zhitu recalls his study experience at the United Nations University
Ma Zhitu said that in the years of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the lives of the professors of the United Nations University deteriorated, and in order to obtain two houses and a monthly remuneration of one stone of rice, Wen Yiduo accepted a few hours of Chinese language classes given to him by his students and worked as a part-time Chinese language teacher at Kunhua Middle School. Wen Yiduo did not think that this would reduce his qualifications as a professor. He also carved his stamp and told Ma Zhitu: "I am a 'small craftsman', how much energy, how much time, has slipped away from my fingers." But instead of begging the dignitaries, I support myself. But I'm not happy..." Wen Yiduo could have had the opportunity to have a good life like a very few professors who were not more famous than him, but were good at drilling. However, Wen Yiduo's family of eight lived a life of intellectual poverty, preferring to teach part-time in middle school and support themselves, and then there was really no way out, preferring to carve seals for people and sell money, rather than beg those in power.
Ma Zhitu said that Mr. Wen Yiduo, like Lu Xun at that time, was not afraid of anything. He ignored the sarcasm and insults of the "Qinggao" figures who were chirping behind his back in the university, nor was he afraid of all the rumors released to him by Kuomintang agents.
Talking about Guo Moruo caused controversy
Ma Zhitu said that Guo Moruo is a well-deserved giant of contemporary Chinese culture, famous at home and abroad, and widely respected. But what he has not been able to understand is that in recent years, when talking to some writers and scholars about Guo Moruo, it seems that some people have always expressed a tone of disdain or regret, even with a little ridicule or sarcasm. Similar voices have also been heard from some scholars overseas. Even somewhat identity-like cultural people have raised the question of re-acquainting guo Moruo with the obvious purpose of denouncing Guo Moruo as a controversial figure. As for the ignorant, it is not worth mentioning that they have made shady revelations and personal insults. Therefore, Ma Zhitu has been wondering, is Guo Moruo really a controversial figure? Do you really want to re-acquaint yourself with Guo Moruo? Decades of confusion lingered in my chest, but I didn't dare to say it.
Ma Zhitu studied at home
Ma Zhitu believes that a great person is always an extraordinary person, and at extraordinary times, he does extraordinary things, so there is always a reputation and a ruin. There is no one in the world who does not make mistakes, and there is no perfect person. "I am not saying that Guo Moruo has no mistakes, I mean that if he is found to have certain shortcomings and mistakes in academic research, in certain creations, and in certain deeds, he should not carry some subjective speculation, some untrue exaggerations and even slanders, draw random conclusions, wear hats indiscriminately, and even insult personality. Moreover, when pointing out a person's mistakes, it is necessary to take into account his life's deeds, his main achievements, and to distinguish between subjectivity and objectivity, and between the general and the detailed aspects. ”
Ma Zhitu said: It is more important to examine in detail what kind of environment and situation his mistake was made; in the study of historical figures, we must always "know people and talk about the world." How can we know who he is? To Guo Moruo, he also thought that he should know people and discuss the world. "I once wrote a small article about this, but people are light-hearted and not enough to hang their teeth. Therefore, when I bid farewell to Guo Yan as a hundred years old, I expressed my confusion and hoped that the researchers would correct the chaos and give Guo Moruo, a historical figure, an immortal positioning. ”
Red Star News reporter | Chen Mou
Edited | Duan Xueying
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