On the field of hope

Author: Chen Xin, Vice Chairman of Chengdu Writers Association

The car passes through the fields with fresh autumn air, a rich and woven landscape is laid out in the field of vision, and all the way forward is like walking through the garden, which is the artistic conception of Wenjiang.

Wenjiang has a long history.

In Li Bai's poem "Shu Dao Difficulty", there is a verse that reads, "Silkworm bushes and fish, the founding of the country is dazed". Ancient Shu is long, and has experienced five generations of Shu kings: silkworm bushes, cypress irrigation, yukai, Du Yu, and enlightened. Silkworm Cong was the first king of Shu, who "first lived in the stone chamber of Minshan Mountain" and "dressed in green clothes and taught the people to silkworm mulberry", and later led his people down the river, migrated to the Chengdu Plain, and established the capital in the Guangdu "Qushang" (present-day Shuangliu District, Chengdu). According to ancient texts, the ancient Shu people of the silkworm bush and cypress irrigation era lived a life based on collecting economy; Yu Kai "taught the people to fish" and lived a life based on the fishing and hunting economy; Du Yu "taught the people to farm", so that the ancient Shu kingdom entered the era of farming... After thousands of years of pioneering by the ancestors, Shudi has become a country of heavenly capital where "water and drought follow people and do not know famine".

As the third clan among the five generations of Shu kings in the ancient Shu kingdom, Zhaoxing of the Yu dynasty was in the fertile land of Wenjiang. Walking on the land of Wenjiang, people may flash in their minds the warning of "diligent ancestors, and reluctantly learn from the words of the previous cultivation", "although the example is enough to follow the path, who mourns me".

Of course, Wenjiang is not simply stuck in the archways of a long history and the shrines revered by ancient and modern times, but has been babbling forward.

This land is also the birthplace of the famous song "On the Field of Hope". Chen Xiaoguang, who has composed lyrics such as "That's Me", "The Little Girl Who Picks Mushrooms", "I'm Like a Snowflake in the Sky", and "On the Land of China", the inspiration for his most successful works comes from Wenjiang Tiandi.

Our hometown

On the field of hope

Cooking smoke wafted over newly built homes

The small river flows beside the beautiful village

A slice of winter wheat, a slice of sorghum

Ten mile lotus pond, ten mile fruit aroma

…………

Yes, it is this song "On the Field of Hope", once born, it stirs between mountains and seas, and it lasts for a long time. This work not only records the vigorous new atmosphere of China's rural reform, but also boosts the confidence of the sons and daughters of China in the future destiny.

In 1980, Chen Xiaoguang, then the editor of Song magazine, was invited by CCTV director Deng Zaijun to write songs for a feature film on rural themes. Feeling that China is undergoing changes like a spring return to the earth under the impetus of the reform and opening up policy, he is also excited to create a lyric in this regard to reflect the pulse of the times. Thinking that Anhui and Sichuan are the forerunners of the rural household contract responsibility system, in order to find inspiration, he came to Sichuan, visited Chengdu, Meishan, Leshan and other places, and finally stayed in the countryside of Wenjiang to experience life.

In Wenjiang Wanchun Town and Lin Village, Chen Xiaoguang not only felt the pulse of the ancient Shu fish culture beating, but also felt the vigor of "lin evening birds are noisy, Tian Qiu is yellow" and "Mu mu people are not lazy, and Tian Lu is not empty".

It's an exhilarating picture of the countryside.

"Fellow, is life well now?" Food and clothing problem solved? ”

Strolling through the late autumn fields of Helin Village, families are harvesting rice. Chen Xiaoguang walked over to several busy people and asked loudly.

"Yes, now that life is comfortable and we have eaten enough, there is hope for the life of our peasants!"

A man in his thirties stopped what he was doing and answered with a smile on his face.

"Hope", what a sweet word! This "hope" is not a prayer, but a powerful faith, an expression from the heart.

Such a smile, like a fragrant spring flower, has always surrounded Chen Xiaoguang.

Bathed in the spring breeze of reform and opening up, the peasants have smiles on their faces and their hearts are full of happiness. This side flourished with a field of hope, and this picture scroll of endeavor inspired Chen Xiaoguang's literary thoughts. Excited, he picked up his pen and, in three hours, composed a lyric that was full of joy and joy, which was "On the Field of Hope."

After the lyrics were written, he handed them to shi Guangnan, a famous composer born in Chongqing. Shi Guangnan, who had deep feelings for the Bashan Shu water, was impressed. Also full of love for the new look of the countryside and expectations for a new life, Shi Guangnan was full of passion and completed the composition in just a few hours. The song uses musical elements such as folk songs, operas and percussion, which fully reflects the awakened rural atmosphere of China and sings about to take off in Shenzhou.

After the song was composed, Shi Guangnan solemnly returned it to Chen Xiaoguang, and attached a long letter explaining his creative ideas and artistic understanding. After Chen Xiaoguang read the score, he felt that the song not only complemented the lyrics and lyrics, but also sublimated the connotation of the work.

Music is an important way to document the times. Soon, this song with fresh and clear meaning and cheerful and beautiful melody became popular and became the golden song of the era, and after the washing of the years, it was precipitated into the classic of the times.

Wen Jiang inspired Chen Xiaoguang's talent and achieved his most classic works, and he was full of feelings for Wen Jiang.

Recently, Chen Xiaoguang visited Wenjiang again. Re-stepping on the teeth, reliving the past, comparing the past and the present, and shaking.

In those days, when he was collecting wind and Wenjiang, Tian Yu was still a dirt road, walking red dust on sunny days, walking mud and wet shoes on rainy days, but now it is a smooth and straight asphalt road, whether it is sunny or rainy, walking on it is like the wind. In the Wenjiang River of that year, "the grass seedlings drew ears in the sweat of the peasants", "a piece of winter wheat, a piece of sorghum", "ten miles of lotus pond, ten miles of fruit", and today's Wenjiang, both the fragrance of history, but also the fragrance of the times.

At that time, Chen Xiaoguang's creative achievements in Wenjiang were not just "On the Field of Hope". Seeing that Wenjiang's family is almost all hidden in the depths of the bamboo forest, there is a great artistic conception of Li Bai", "green bamboo into the path, green lotus whisking clothes", Chen Xiaoguang also created a song "Bamboo Forest Courtyard, My Home", which has a beautiful meaning.

After that, the Wenjiang people used their industrious and wise hands to continuously weave hope in the river of the times. Cultivate flower seedlings, make and sell Sichuan bonsai, build idyllic and elegant residences... This land embroidered with spring and autumn colors for more than 4,000 years has now become the hometown of flowers and trees, the town of bonsai, and the hometown of culture, and will always maintain its charm. Revisiting Wenjiang, Chen Xiaoguang visited the Beilin Greenway Eco-tourism Loop, felt the flowing water of the small bridge in Lujiatan, and appreciated the Sichuan bonsai and Wenjiang flowers and trees going abroad...

In Wanchun Town and Lin Village, Chen Xiaoguang saw that this magical land that gave birth to "On the Field of Hope" still retains the traditional cultivation method of the field, but on top of it, it has a more contemporary and artistic atmosphere. The new farmers combine crop planting with tourist agriculture, and build a small courtyard with green tiles and white walls, clean and tidy, sitting in the courtyard, looking up, you can enjoy the beautiful pastoral scenery of "a hundred flowers and daytime glare, green apples moving and forests".

Once, Wenjiang was the first well-off county and strong agricultural county in Sichuan Province; today, Wenjiang has become a garden city, a health industry functional area in Chengdu, a demonstration area for the construction of national ecological civilization, and a model city for green China.

In the wenjiang field, Chen Xiaoguang still felt the smiles on people's faces the most. If it is said that behind the smile of the Wenjiang villagers was the comfort after solving the problem of food and clothing, then today, more than 30 years later, the Wenjiang villagers who enjoy a rich material and prosperous cultural life have a smile on their faces and ripple with richer emotions.

Wenjiang, a land full of hope. And in today's China, why not?

Guangming Daily (December 24, 2021, 14th edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily