Fate in the world
Always interlocking
Once knotted, it is difficult to give up and unforgettable
recently
Prairie Mother Duguima comic strip
Published by Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House
That section 61 years ago
"Three thousand orphans into the grassland" epic human story
It also stirred the minds of Shanghainese
Xinmin Evening News
Contacted the main creator Wang Yongxin
Authorized to publish 30 works in its entirety
And in the form of short videos
Let these 30 comic strips jump on the paper
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Sneak peek
02:46
Wang Yongxin
A video recorded for readers of Xinmin Evening News
01:09
"At that time, the 'Eji' of Inner Mongolia raised the children of the state, and the 19-year-old Du Guima single-handedly undertook the task of raising 28 Shanghai orphans, which is a history of the Mongolian and Han ethnic groups that are linked in heart and share hardships, and should be remembered forever." Wang Yongxin, the main creator of the comic strip and director of the Wulanchabu Art Museum, recalls his creative process and is still hard to hide his excitement.
Siziwang Banner, near the border between China and Mongolia, belongs to Wulanchabu City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Inner Mongolia has a vast area, and there are 200 kilometers from the city to the Amugulang grassland where Duguima lives, which is not close. However, for Wang Yongxin, in the summer of 2019, he received the task of the Propaganda Department of the Wulanchabu Municipal Party Committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to complete the creation of one of the major theme literary and artistic works to welcome the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party. In 1984, he had served as a soldier in the Four Sons Wang Banner, and he had long heard the story of the "child of the country", but he did not expect that more than forty years later, it was such a glorious mission that brought him back to the familiar grassland.
Wearing a purple Mongolian robe with an orange turban and belt, Wang Yongxin said that the first time he met the old man of Duguima, he felt like a sparse and ordinary elder in the family, loving and kind. The simple old man did not say jokes, took out photo albums and small books that remembered the names of the children, turned the pages and held hands, and took Wang Yongxin along the long river of years, all the way back to the unforgettable time.
In the early 1960s, due to the shortage of materials and food, more than 3,000 Shanghai orphans were sent to Inner Mongolia under the arrangement of Premier Zhou Enlai and Comrade Ulanfu, and at that time, they were affectionately called "children of the country" by herders. The word "country" means a thousand pounds of heavy trust.
DuGuima vividly remembers that it was a day in September 1961, because she had read books and worked hard, and the 19-year-old Du Guima was assigned to the Four Sons WangQi Nursery, responsible for raising the 28 "children of the state" who had just been received by the flag. This girl, who has not yet started a family, has no parents when she is 7 years old, and she is dependent on her frail aunt. After receiving the task, she did not hesitate, and after simple training, she became the Eji of 28 Shanghai orphans.
Time flies, and the nursery school can no longer find any traces, only a few old photos and blurred images. Wang Yongxin is determined to use his paintbrush to recreate the story of the great love of the Menghan family.
Hongyan passed on the book, three thousand orphans should be thrown into the arms of the Inner Mongolian steppe, milking expert Du Guima to take on the heavy responsibility of nurseryman; in the night of milk incense, the children fell asleep peacefully, and the oil lamp reflected the crystal beads of sweat on the mother's forehead; the past was like smoke, the steppe witnessed the loyal party spirit, looking back at the years, the grassland mother did not forget the mission of the original heart...
The short text of the comic strip cannot show the real life, Wang Yongxin thinks about how to make the audience truly feel the true meaning contained in the story of the grassland Erjidu Guima through the details of the picture: ordinary can also create greatness.
Children from Shanghai, taking the green-skinned train and then to other means of transportation, the journey is long and arduous. The youngest of them was under the age of one month, and the oldest was only five or six years old. Malnutrition coupled with the fatigue of boats and cars, the children who had just arrived in the grasslands were very weak and crying.
"They're so skinny, like little lambs." In the yurt, Duguima arranged the children's beds in a circle and slept in the middle, the younger the closer they were to themselves, so that if a child cried at night, he could quickly soothe him with his hand. Feeding, urinating, changing diapers, laundry, cooking, playing with the children, sleeping with the children... The work of caring for the children was much more arduous than expected, and Guima was busy every day. A child is sick, and she rides alone late at night to brave the cold wind and the danger of being surrounded by hungry wolves on the steppe, and travels dozens of miles to find a doctor...
The originally delicate Jiangnan children gradually grew stronger in the Amugulang steppe, under the care of the steppe Eji, like their favorite playmate little Mongolian horse.
In Mongolian, "Amuguro" means "peace.".
In this way, from the humid Jiangnan water town to the dry northern grassland, these 28 Shanghai orphans survived in an era of lack of medical care and materials. "They first raised them intensively in Qili for more than 6 months, and then they raised them intensively in Sumu (town) for 9 months, and then they slowly let the herders take them home."
Wang Yongxin painted the blue sky and white clouds of Ulanqab, the endless sea of grass and the herds of cattle and sheep, and even painted Du Guima, who was in love and leaned on the fence to watch over the children adopted by the herdsmen. Every time they grow strong or raise one, others take one away, and this selfless and tenacious Eji experiences the boundless sorrow of separation again and again.
The state awarded her the honorary title of "People's Model", and the people of Shanghai did not forget this great mother and presented her with the badge and certificate of "Honorary Citizen of Shanghai". She said that the 28 children were not only "children of the country", but also "children of her own", she raised 28 children, but she was alone, but "maternal love made my life full and happy".
30 works, strung together this ordinary and great story, before the young Duguima caressed the children's foreheads under the kerosene lamp and took care of them to sleep peacefully, the elderly old man rubbed the frame and looked at it for a long time: "The furnishings and scenes in this painting are exactly the same as in the past, and I feel that the children have returned to my side, very warm and warm. ”
The 28 Shanghai orphans, as Du Guima wished, all stayed in Inner Mongolia to start a family. Now, they are also in the year of Hua Jia, worried about the solitary Eji, and the story will be passed down from generation to generation:
I was born in the south of Wu Yin Whispering
However, it grows up in the Amugulang grassland in northern China
During the day, the grasslands are vast
Lambs are my playmates
There is fried rice and milk tea that nourish my stomach
At night, the felt bag is warm
In the fire bell, the sheep dung was on fire
Eji's song sent me to sleep
Text: Wu Nanyao
Original photo: Wang Yongxin, Tian Hui, Gao Cai
Draft: Wang Jiawei
Video: Liu Huiqin
Edit: Shi Yu