Editor's Note
January 22, 2022 is the 80th anniversary of Xiao Hong's death, and Baoma today pushed Mr. Lu Xun's article "Xiao Hong's Preface" as a souvenir.
In 1934, after Xiao Hong created the first two chapters of "The Field of Life and Death" in Harbin, "Wheat Field" and "Wheat Field No. 2", he was hated and persecuted by the Japanese and pseudo-secret service agencies, and went into exile with Xiao Jun to Qingdao, Xiao Hong wrote a letter about the creation plan of "The Field of Life and Death" to Mr. Lu Xun, whom he had never met, and was supported and encouraged by Mr. Lu Xun. Soon, the supplement of the Qingdao Morning Post edited by Xiao Jun was seized by the Kuomintang reactionary government, and Xiao Jun Xiao Hong went into exile in Shanghai, during which Time Mr. Lu Xun frequently corresponded with the two to give care, and began to establish a deep teacher-student friendship with Xiao Hong. In 1935, Mr. Lu Xun devoted himself to helping Xiao Hong publish "The Field of Life and Death", and he originally planned to publish "The Field of Life and Death" publicly, and personally handed over the manuscript to the "Literary Society", but the manuscript was shelved for half a year after it reached the Book and Newspaper Inspection Committee of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, and it was never approved. In the end, Mr. Lu Xun decided to compile it into the third part of the "Slave Series" he edited, published it at his own expense, and personally wrote the preface to "The Field of Life and Death". In December 1935, "The Field of Life and Death" was published by Shanghai Rongguang Bookstore under the name of "Slave Series", signed "Xiao Hong", and the work caused a huge sensation and strong repercussions in the literary world, and Xiao Hong became famous in one fell swoop.
This article is selected from the Complete Works of Lu Xun, Volume 6 of the 2005 Edition of the People's Literature Publishing House.
Xiao Hong's Preface to "The Field of Life and Death" [1]
Text | Lu Xun
Xiao Hong (1911-1942)
I remember that it was four years ago, when in February, my wife and children and I were caught in the line of fire in Zhabei, Shanghai[2], and saw that Chinese had disappeared because they had fled or died. Later, with the help of a few friends, he had to enter the peaceful British Concession, and although the refugees were full of roads, the residents were very peaceful. It is only four or five miles away from Zhabei, it is such a different world,—— how can we think of Harbin.
Xiao Hong personally designed the cover of "The Field of Life and Death", 1935
When this manuscript arrived on my desk, it was the spring of this year, and I had already returned to Zhabei, and the surrounding area was bustling again. But I saw Harbin five years ago, and even earlier. This is naturally only a sketch, narrative and scene, better than the description of the characters, but the northern people's strength for life, for the struggle for death, but often through the back of the paper; the female author's meticulous observation and deviant writing, but also added a lot of brightness and freshness. The spirit is sound, that is, he is deeply disgusted with literature and literature and utilitarian people, and if it seems that he is very unfortunate, he will inevitably not be able to gain nothing.
In the spring of 1936, Xiao Hong was photographed in front of Lu Xun's former residence
I heard that the Literary Society was once willing to pay for her printing, and the manuscript was submitted to the Central Propaganda Department's Book and Newspaper Inspection Committee, which was shelved for half a year, but the result was that it was not allowed. People are often clever after the fact, and in retrospect, this is exactly what is natural: the struggle of life and death is probably a big betrayal of the way of "discipline" [3]. In May of this year, just for the sake of the article "A Brief Discussion on the Emperor" [4], this arrogant committee suddenly extinguished the fire, which is a big lesson on the ground of "leading by example".
Xiao Hong, "Remembering Mr. Lu Xun"
The Slave Society [5] wanted to publish the book with a few pieces of money bought by sweat and blood, but six months after our superiors "led by example", they asked me to write a few prefaces. However, in the past few days, rumors have swung up, and the bustling residents of Zhabei are hugging their heads again, and the road is full of luggage cars and people, and the roadside is yellow and white outsiders, smiling and appreciating the grandeur of this country of courtesy. Newspapers in newspapers that thought they were in a safe area called the escapees "mediocre" or "foolish." I thought that they might be clever, at least, and had already learned, by experience, that Huanghuang's official articles were not credible. They also have some memories.
In 1937, In Shanghai, Xu Guangping, Xiao Hong, Xiao Jun, and Zhou Hainian took a group photo in front of Lu Xun's tomb
It was the night of November 14, 1935, and I had finished watching "The Field of Life and Death" under the lamp. There was a death silence all around, the conversation of the neighbors who were used to listening was gone, the sound of food being sold was gone, but there were occasionally a few distant barks. When I think about it, this was not the case in the Anglo-French Concession, nor was this in Harbin; I and the people there lived in different worlds with different feelings from each other. However, my heart is now like water in an ancient well, without microwaves, numbly writing the above words. This is the heart of the slave! But what if it still disturbs the reader's heart? Well, we are by no means slaves.
In 1938, Xiao Hong was in Xi'an Park
But instead of listening to my complaining that I'm still sitting, it's better to watch the following "Field of Life and Death" and she will give you the strength to be strong and struggling.
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【Notes】
[1] This part was originally printed in the Field of Life and Death.
Xiao Hong (1911-1942), formerly known as Zhang Yingying, was a novelist from Hulan County, Heilongjiang. "The Field of Life and Death" is her novella, one of the "Slave Series", published by the Slave Society in December 1935, under the pretext of "Shanghai Rongguang Bookstore".
[2] Refers to the Shanghai War in 1932 in which the 19th Route Army resisted the Japanese attack.
[3] The "Training of The Government" Sun Yat-sen wrote in April 1924 in the "Outline of the Founding of the People's Republic" zhong proposed that the founding procedure be divided into three periods: military government, training government, and constitutional government, and in the "training period", the government trained the people in exercising civil rights. On June 1, 1931, the Kuomintang government promulgated and implemented the Law on the Period of Training of the Republic of China, which was adopted by the "National Assembly", which stipulates: "During the period of training, the National Congress of the Chinese Kuomintang shall exercise the right of central rule, and the dictatorship of the Kuomintang shall be fixed in the form of a constitution." ”
[4] "A Brief Discussion on the Emperor" should be written as "The Gossip Emperor". In May 1935, the fifteenth issue of the second volume of the Shanghai "Xinsheng" weekly published Yi Shui(Ai Hansong's) article "Gossip Emperor", which generally discussed the monarchy system in ancient and modern China and abroad, involving the Japanese emperor, and on June 7, the Japanese consul general in Shanghai protested under the name of "insulting the emperor and obstructing diplomatic relations". The Kuomintang government succumbed to pressure and seized the opportunity to suppress progressive public opinion, shutting down the weekly magazine Xinsheng on June 24, and sentencing du Chongyuan, the magazine's editor-in-chief, to one year and two months in prison on July 9. The Book and Magazine Censorship Committee of the Kuomintang Central Propaganda Committee was also revoked for "dereliction of duty." See the afterword and its notes [14].
[5] The slave society in 1935 Lu Xun formulated the name of a society for the compilation and printing of the works of several young authors. In addition to the "Field of Life and Death", the "Slave Series" published in the name of the Slave Society also includes Ye Zi's "Harvest" and Tian Jun's "The Countryside in August".