Dazhong Daily reporter Qi Chunjie
After much hesitation, I went anyway. Across the Chinese New Year's Eve, at minus 36 degrees in Mohe, Heilongjiang, I pushed open the small door of the Mohe Ballroom. I imagined how lively this internet celebrity punch card should be, but the dance hall was quiet. Li Jinbao, the owner of the dance hall, said that due to the need for epidemic prevention, it closes at nine o'clock every night. I talked to him about the song "Mohe Ballroom" that was becoming popular on the Internet.
Every song has a story, a time-space background. The song "Desert River Ballroom" also has a source of sadness. The day before, I visited the "May 6" Fire Memorial Hall in Mohe Daxing'anling and remembered a string of cold numbers. On May 6, 1987, a fire in the northern foothills of the Daxing'anling Mountains spread to 1.01 million hectares of forest. The 28-day fire engulfed 211 lives, seriously injured 266 people, displaced more than 50,000 people, and reduced 500,000 hectares of forest to ashes. I remember that chinese people all over the world donated money to support it, and my classmates and I who were going to college also donated.
Water and fire are merciless, and so are the years. Without this song, I would have forgotten that there was still that fire.
Li Jinbao, 54, was a survivor of the fire. Three years ago, he opened the only dance hall in Mohe, a half-basketball court-sized basement that had been converted from a roller skating rink, and most of the people in their fifties and sixties came. Li Jinbao said: "There is an old man in his sixties who comes to dance, and every time it is a person dancing, I think it is very strange. He came four or five times, staying for an hour at a time, sitting there most of the time and not talking to anyone. He picks the song, the rhythm is strong before he dances, dances very well, can step on the point, and looks like a person who has danced for many years. Later, I heard that the old man's wife was also killed in the fire, and he never remarried. Musician Liu Shuang went to Mohe to collect wind, according to the story of the old man, quickly wrote a song, after several modifications and polishing, this song called "Mohe Ballroom" quickly became popular on the Internet.
"If you have time / You will come to see me / See how the snow ages / How my eyes melt / If you see me / Please turn around and be surprised again / I am afraid of my tears / My gray hair is like a shameful joke ..." The sad tone, the low outpouring, evoked the memories of the people of Mohe and touched countless young people. Musician Liu Shuang is also a young man, he was not yet born when the Great Xing'anling Fire broke out, but it was the fire that triggered his inspiration, and he captured the poignant beauty of human nature. He cared, he cared, he immersed, he engaged, and the notes flowed out naturally.
Life is the source of artistic creation. Hemingway said, "The characters in the novel are not characters made of technology, they must come from the author's own digested experience, from his heart, from everything about him." "What are these things? It is a unique life experience, a unique perception of life. If an artist is detached from real life and blindly meditates, he cannot create sincere and touching works, and behind closed doors, the works will inevitably appear conceptualized and stylized and lose their emotional and spiritual content.
The great fire in Daxing'anling is buried in memory, and it is necessary for the artist to carefully remove the smoke and dust and patiently salvage it. The fire was extinguished, and 211 living lives, 500,000 hectares of living trees, and splendid flowers of life were scorched. The bones of life are buried deep in time, and the dead live in the universe in another way. But there is always a detail, and no matter how you can erase their edges and corners, they are waiting to wake up. Musicians shape them with musical notes, and that's the value of art. In fact, people who listen to songs do not care about too many complicated techniques, as far as a song is concerned, the timbre is comfortable to listen to, the rhythm and melody can be accepted, and the lyrics are close to life, in line with the public aesthetic. That's enough.
I was looking forward to the old man dancing solo walking across the Chinese New Year's Eve into the ballroom, I wanted to admire his dancing style, I wanted to listen to him. It was late at night and no one came. Li Jinbao was smoking a cigarette, and I could see that he didn't want me to go, he wanted to talk to me. But it was too late, I said goodbye, and a man walked into the ice and snow, and the song played in his mind: "I have never seen the village where the aurora appeared / I have never seen anyone set off fireworks in the middle of the night / The evening star is like your eyes killing people and setting fires / You don't have to say anything, the wild wind disturbs me..."
Beneath my feet was once a sea of fire, where the flames of hope were once raging. Today, I see a 34-year-old birch tree with snow powder hanging from its branches.
I cherish every heart-warming song and cherish every heart-warming listening. In the new Chinese New Year's Eve, I pray that every inch of land will always be safe and auspicious. Hello Mohe! Happy New Year, everyone!