The Longtan Yang family and Xianlin Middle School have an indissoluble relationship
Author: Yang Wanshu
Xianlin Middle School, this glorious name has been familiar to me since I remember it as a child. Xianlin Middle School, this Shaanxi Eastern School in my young mind, piled up a sacred hall - close and lofty.
Early salty Middle Eastern Gate
Since Mr. Da Bo Songxuan ran the school, Yang's children and relatives and friends have taken the lead in entering the "new-style school", "washing the old rules of private schools", receiving new-style education, women do not tie their feet, and are educated on the same level as men. After completing their studies, their children go to society and serve the country. Some studied in colleges and universities, and some returned from studying abroad and taught in Xianzhong. A lifelong dedication to education.
In the mid- and late 1940s, in the home of the third uncle of Xi'an (Yang Shuji, the third brother of Yang Songxuan), I often heard adults talk about many anecdotes about Xianlin Middle School. As a child, I did not understand the world, and I seemed to understand the content of the conversations and deliberations of the adults, but I remembered the names of many people. Usually, at No. 69 Kaitong Lane (the residence of the third uncle Uncle Ji in Xi'an, which was the place where Yang's relatives met in Xi'an for half a century from the 1930s to the 1960s and 1970s), it was also possible to meet so-and-so unexpectedly. They are my contemporaries who should be called brothers, sisters, cousins, brothers-in-law. There are more opportunities to meet in the winter and summer. They returned from the outer port to visit the three uncles and three aunts, some of them passed through the provincial city from Xianzhong, and some of them came for a holiday break... In short, in my childhood memories, Xi'an Open Lane No. 69, can really be described as a guest house or reception station. In this small family society with strong affection, talking about things in salt is one of the important topics. Everyone talked about learning, about being a person, talking about social insights, encouraging themselves and encouraging each other, and infecting each other. Sometimes, these older brothers and sisters also touched the heads of several of our little brothers and sisters and said a few words of encouragement. It was also at No. 69 Kaitong Lane that I met Zhong Jian's eldest brother's wife, Wang Guozhen's sister-in-law, for the first time, when she was teaching in Xianzhong.
In 1956, I graduated from Shaohua Middle School and was sent to Xianlin Middle School. At that time, when my family was extremely poor financially, I chose to go to high school, and it was also because of my deep affection for Xianlin Middle School. The Shaanxi Eastern University that I admired as a child can get close to her today. I finally entered the temple cultivation in my mind.
One day during the summer vacation, I was preparing to go to work in the fields. Suddenly, I looked up and saw that the Great Aunt (Mr. Song Xuan's wife) was coming on crutches. I rushed up and shouted, "Mom, why are you here?" If you have something to shout, I will go to South Lane (Great Aunt's home is in South Lane, my family is in North Lane) to do it. The aunt said, "I heard you Zhong Hua Ge say at night (yesterday) that you were sent to Xian zhong. As she spoke, she reached out and took a piece of money from the pocket of her cardigan and shoved it into my hand: "Baby, your boss was having a hard time running a school at that time, and he couldn't be seen for forty in January." Sometimes, I can't go home once in a few months..." Saying that her expression was a little sheepish, "I calculated, among our Yang family women, you are the first to go to Xianzhong, you must study well!" "This scene makes me really unable to thank this dollar." Today I remember this scene fifty years ago, as if yesterday, and then I am in a trance. Half a century has passed, and I have gone from teenager to old age. The memory of the past is like opening an old kiln mellow and luscious wine, refreshing the heart.
The rings of time have moved forward for another fifty years. Today, my generation is fortunate to have this centennial celebration, and I am very pleased. For months, I searched for memories of the old days, talked earnestly with the Yang relatives about the past of their relatives, visited the scholars who had worked in the salty salt at the same time, and consulted the literature... A personal figure emerges. Although the Slovaks have passed away, they are still near.
The main venue of the 100th anniversary celebration of Xianzhong School
Every time I found a name, it moved me. Thanks for writing down history. Especially when I saw the names of the third uncle Yang Shuji and the fourth uncle Yang Herui from the literature, I was shocked. For the first time, I knew that in addition to the founding of Xianlin Middle School by my great uncle Mr. Songxuan, they had also done many beneficial things for Xianlin Middle School, and now I know that there are many people in the Yang family who have silently contributed to Xianzhong. For example, in August 1922, the third uncle was appointed as the school's representative to the province, specifically to receive subsidies from the province.
Nearly ten years after the death of his great uncle, Mr. Song Xuan, in August and September 1937, the third uncle and the fourth uncle became the directors and responsible members of Xianlin Middle School. Looking back at history, the two uncles were both serving in the provincial capital at that time, when the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out in full swing, although they were both busy with official duties (the third uncle was the director of the Eighteenth Army Hospital at the time, and was busy organizing the rescue of the wounded and sick on the anti-Japanese front). In January 1938, more than 300 wounded and sick people sent a plaque for the three uncles with the words "Medical National Doctor". This shows that he is busy with the battlefield), but also takes care of the affairs of Xianlin Middle School. I was first stunned, and then relieved: this is the Yang family's indissoluble love affair with Xianlin Middle School. Even more so, at a time when the war against Japan was raging, the sense of responsibility of rushing to cultivate talents for the country was obvious.
In November 1928, Yang Songxuan (middle), Yang Shuji (right) and Yang Zhongjian (left) were in the former residence of Huaxian County
I continued to flip through the annals of history, which had yellowed slightly, and familiar names appeared in front of me one by one. I seem to have seen my brothers, sisters and brothers-in-law in Kaitong Lane in the 1940s, busy running for the funds, teachers, teaching and even development of Xianzhong. Yang Zhongjian, the eldest son of Mr. Song Xuan, is mr. Songxuan's most powerful assistant in running the school, and has played an important role in major matters such as the reform of the education system, the renewal of teaching content, the improvement of the quality of education, and the selection and recruitment of teachers in Xianzhong; Wang Guozhen, Mrs. Zhong Jian, graduated from Beijing Women's Normal University and was hired by Xianzhong in 1944 to attend classes; Yang Zhiying, the eldest daughter of Mr. Yang, graduated from Beijing Women's Normal University, taught in Xianzhong, and later served as the principal of Shaohua Girls' Middle School (now Shaohua Middle School); Yang Zhifen, Mr. Zhong's second daughter, After graduating from Beijing Women's Normal University in 1935, she returned to Xianzhong to teach until 1955;
Yang Zhonghua, the second son of Mr. Yang, graduated from Northwest Agricultural College to teach in Xianzhong and concurrently served as the director of the Horticulture Department until he left Xianzhong in 1959. There are also Mr. Songxuan's son-in-law Guan Zhongzhe, Xu Xiling, niece Duan Ruifang, etc. They all silently dedicate themselves to the development of Xianzhong in different identities and in different ways.
Looking at the children and relatives of Mr. Xianlin Middle School, all of them graduated from university or stayed in foreign countries, and they did not seek high positions after completing their studies, did not linger on the civilization of the metropolis, but went all the way to Xianzhong to teach. For decades, we have worked hard to cultivate talents in salty forests. Later, according to the needs of national development, they were able to obey the organization and go to teach in colleges and universities. This reflects their knowledge and talents. When they first went to teach in Xianzhong, they followed the teachings of their fathers, and when they later went to teach in colleges and universities, they obeyed the needs of the state; all this is precisely the selfless dedication of Chinese intellectuals to the country and the people regardless of personal gains and losses, which is admirable and awe-inspiring.
In Beijing in May 2007
About author:Yang Wanmei, born in 1937, a native of Longtanbao, Huaxian County (in present-day Lianhuasi Town), a student of Grade 59 of Xianlin Middle School, a professor-level senior engineer of the Iron and Steel Research Institute of the Ministry of Metallurgy, and a special invited member of the Seventh CPPCC Committee of Huaxian County.
Source: History of Xianlin Secondary School
Original author: Yang Wanmei
Compilation and editing: Huazhou Literature and History Collection