In 2003, a TV series called "Quiet Emin River" was quietly broadcast. In 2010, the film "Eji", remade by TV series director Ning Cai, appeared on the big screen and won many awards once it was released.
In the shot, the vast and lofty sky of Inner Mongolia, the endless grassland and the industrious and kind Mongolian Eji on the grassland touched countless audiences.
Sarentoya, the screenwriter of "Quiet Emin River" and the author of the novel of the same name, has a profound understanding of this little-known history and has made a second creation on the basis of collecting and sorting out historical materials.
As a Mongolian compatriot and a child on the steppe, she hopes that this history will be seen by more people, and she also hopes that the moving story behind each yurt and this spirit of great love can be passed on from generation to generation.
The fourth episode of the second season of "China in the Story" awakens the great love of the world through the reenactment of "Quiet Emin River", so that this legend of great love across regions, bloodlines and nationalities can once again write a new chapter of national unity in the new era.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" >1, the quiet Emin River</h1>
Although it is the same story, the novels, TV series, and movies have different names. The novel and TV series are titled "Quiet Emin River", creating a quiet and serene mood.
The Emin River flows through the Hulunbuir Grassland, nourishing one side of the land and nurturing the other people, and it feeds her children like a mother with her own flesh and blood, simple and wordless but touching.
In addition, "Emin" also means life in Mongolian. In the Mongolian culture, everything in the world has reverence and admiration for life, so "Emin" also fits the unreserved love and dedication of the steppe Erji to the "children of the country".
The film's use of "Eji" as the title is simpler and clearer, and it can better reflect the greatness of maternal love in this dusty years.
The sound of "Eji" symbolizes the deep love of the grassland Eji represented by Duguima for the "children of the country", and also shows that in the process of raising 3,000 Shanghai orphans, Shanghai children have been integrated into the grassland, integrated into the life of the grassland people, and become the grass on the grassland. On another level, "Eji" is not only the mother of the grassland, but also the mother of the country in a broad sense.
Despite the three-year difficult period at the time, the state did not give up a life, did not abandon a child.
In this relay of life across the north and the south, it is Premier Zhou's painstaking efforts, and it is also the respect and reverence of the newborn China for life.
At the beginning of the show, the host Sabine invited the creators of the novel and the film to the show.
Sarentoya and Ning Cai told this story from the standpoint of the grassland people, and through the corridor of history, we can also feel the sense of responsibility and simple and broad mind of the grassland herders.
Later, Premier Zhou Bingde's niece Zhou Bingde, the son of Ulan Fu, then secretary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee, and his granddaughter Ulan Liaona showed us more untold stories behind this "great migration" from another side.
For steppe Erji, adopting these 3,000 orphans with great differences in language and customs was difficult, and for the country that was in economic difficulty at that time, making this decision also faced great risks.
Premier Zhou chose the distant Inner Mongolia after carefully inspecting the surrounding provinces of Shanghai, which on the one hand confirmed that the situation in various places was really difficult at that time, and on the other hand, it also showed that the country was full of confidence in Inner Mongolia.
Chairman Ulanf, who was tasked with the task, was more cautious. Every step of the policy implementation from top to bottom must be carefully weighed, no matter which link goes wrong, the entire plan will fall short, and the safety of 3,000 children will be seriously threatened.
Therefore, in this regard, it is not easy for 3,000 orphans from Shanghai to take root in the grassland.
Their happiness and tranquility benefit from the key choices made by the state at the moment of crisis, from the strong execution of governments at all levels, and from the meticulous care and care of the grassland erji at the grassroots level.
Therefore, before entering the grassland, before going deep into the grassland, we must truly feel the hard and sincere years.
In that poor era, the lack of materials made people more spiritually rich, and the people of all ethnic groups in the country united and closely united together, which woven a touching story with love and wrote a magnificent triumphant song of national unity.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="67" >2, children of the country</h1>
In the stage drama unit, the general director Tian Qinxin used the new generation of actor Guan Xiaotong to play the role of the most important "grassland Eji" Du Guima.
Duguima highlights the tolerance and fraternity of women, she is the embodiment of truth, goodness and beauty, but also has the timidity and shyness of a nineteen-year-old girl.
Therefore, before the performance began, there was a lot of discussion about Guan Xiaotong's role in Du Guima.
But it is worth noting that DuGuima was only nineteen years old when he took care of the 28 orphans.
She is also an inexperienced little girl, and the experience of her parents dying since she was a child has made her feel less loved by her parents than others.
But human emotions are common, and although young Guan Xiaotong has no experience as a mother, she has experienced the love and tolerance of her parents.
Therefore, when studying the script, she is more able to empathize with the children, and she is more able to empathize with Duguima and have a deeper understanding of this character.
Judging from the stage effects presented in the end, Guan Xiaotong's performance is undoubtedly successful. Not only tian Qinxin was full of praise for it, but even the "child of the country" Zara Gamuji who came to the scene was also full of tears.
A good story moves people's hearts with true feelings, not so much Guan Xiaotong touching the audience, but rather "Du Guima" touching the audience.
This is a true story, a life of many people, and we will always reflect on the encounters of others and always applaud the experiences of others.
In the course of theatrical performance, the story is mainly unfolded in the context of time development. From the Shanghai orphans coming to the grassland, to the children in the nursery all finding new Eji and Abba in the grassland, the whole performance process is smooth and flowing, and the key plot portrayal is also very prominent.
In this 30-minute long theatrical performance, there are two important plots that we need to pay special attention to.
First, Chen Gengen from Shanghai tried to escape from the grassland with his sister Chen Miaomiao, who had lost his voice, and in the process of escaping, they encountered Baoligen, a child on the grassland.
After the two children fought, they were separated by Du Guima, who rushed to the grassland, and the two who did not fight and did not know each other became "Anda", Chen Miaomiao has since cut off the idea of escaping from the grassland, he has a new friend on the grassland, and this also means that he has taken root in the grassland.
Chen Miaomiao was the epitome of many children at that time, coming to an unfamiliar environment, even if they could eat and wear warm, but there was still a fear of the unknown and the longing for their hometown that was difficult to dissolve.
Dugui Ma Erji not only gave them material help, but also soothed their lonely and sensitive hearts.
On the steppe, in every yurt, these children, who have lacked love since childhood, feel for the first time unreserved love, which makes them grow up healthy and at the same time makes them eternally grateful.
Another important plot is that Duguima is alone against the wolves in order to protect the children. Through the portrayal of this plot, the strong and resolute side of Du Guima is more vividly displayed, which makes du Guima's character image more three-dimensional, and also fully shows the profound meaning of "the female is weak, and the mother is strong".
At the moment when Duguima stood in front of the child, she vividly interpreted the ordinary and great image of "mother", perhaps all out of the nature of a mother, and Duguima had already regarded these unrelated orphans as her own children.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="68" >3, legendary female Duguima</h1>
In 2019, Du Guima was awarded the national honorary title of "People's Model", and in her award speech, she wrote: "The representative of the model of national unity and progress took the initiative to adopt 28 orphans, carefully studied art and medicine, saved the lives of more than 40 young mothers, and interpreted the great love of the world with more than half a century of sincere dedication."
After the "children of the country" had a new family, Duguima studied medicine, became a midwife, and successfully delivered many children.
DuGuima's hands, one hand, lifted up the hope of life and promoted the continuation of life, and the other hand ensured the growth of the next generation and helped them take root on the grassland.
She dedicated her entire life to this prairie, to the "children of the nation" and "the mothers of the prairie" on the steppe.
Suffering makes people grow, and her childhood experience has made her bear too much hardship and pain, but it has also made her heart more determined and tenacious.
At the scene of the show, the children who were once cared for by Duguima, Sun Baowei and Zara Gamuji, are no longer young.
When they mentioned Duguima, in addition to gratitude, there was also a trace of happiness in their eyes. This happiness is the figure of Duguima wandering outside the yurt that adopts them over and over again, a natural outpouring of true feelings under the watering of maternal love.
"Parents are here, life still has a place", although not the biological mother, but as long as the Guima Erji is still a day, they will always be the children of Eji, and they can always retain a child's innocence and brightness.
At the end of the show, Duguima connected with the host Sabine and told her story in person. Duguima's face in the shot is full of traces of age, but she is still so amiable when she laughs.
The 19-year-old young and strong Mongolian girl is old, but what is old is her face, but what is left behind is the inheritance.
In the process of narration, Du Guima regretted that he did not remember all the Chinese names of the 28 orphans, which invisibly caused great difficulties for them to find their relatives later.
Although he raised these children once, although he gave them the most selfless maternal love, Eji on the grassland never felt that these children belonged to him, but always firmly believed that these children were "children of the country".
They did everything a mother could, but never asked for anything in return and didn't care about the outcome.
When receiving this task, Ulan Fu, then secretary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee, proposed that these children should "take one by one, live one, and strengthen one."
The herders on the grassland are passing on the warmth of the country to their children, and this love has forged the country's care for every citizen, and also contains the most ordinary and great empathy of human beings.
As Sarentoya said: "In the hearts of steppe herders, there is no loneliness, only relatives", every child who walks into the yurt is a "gift from Heaven", they come from afar, but they will eventually grow up on this grassland.