Interpret the red family letter and feel the original mission
——Interview transcript with the descendants of revolutionary martyrs
【Introduction of Martyr Hong Lingfei】
Hong Lingfei (1902-1934), modern literary writer and revolutionary activist, a native of Hongsha Village, Jiangdong Town, Chao'an District, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province. In 1922, he was admitted to the Spanish Department of Guangdong Higher Normal School (the predecessor of Sun Yat-sen University), and joined the Communist Party of China in 1924, actively participating in revolutionary activities. On March 2, 1930, the first revolutionary literary group led by the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Left-Wing Writers' Union, was founded, and Hong Lingfei was one of the seven members of the Standing Committee. He has written nearly 2 million words of progressive literature, awakened the people, exposed and attacked the enemy, and had a profound impact on the history of the Chinese revolution and literature. In July 1933, he was arrested by the Kuomintang in Peiping for betrayal by traitors. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1934, he was killed at Yuhuatai in Nanjing at the age of 32.
【Excerpts from Classic Quotations of Family Letters】
"And the plum blossom clears the bones, not because it is to reduce its purity; the virgin is cold, and it increases its blessing." More can be expected to be big, charge into battle, fight for this life as a human being, and be in danger, climb the mountain near the water, and temporarily act as a lyricist at the time of The Si. ”
——Excerpted from a letter written by Hong Lingfei to his wife Qin Jing on May 18, 1927
Hong Lingfei took a group photo with his wife Qin Jing and son Shu Wang in Shanghai in 1929
In the north and south halls of Honglingfei's former residence "YiRuiju" on the right side of Hongsha Village, Jiangdong Town, Chao'an District, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province, the handwriting of the family letter of the martyr Hong Lingfei is collected here. Most of them are letters written by Hong Lingfei to his wife Qin Jing. For the sake of the revolution, the revolutionary couple were in a state of moving at any time and living in anonymity, and occasionally the two were forced to separate. In the epistles, they comforted and encouraged each other. Not only family letters, Hong Lingfei's literary works can also be described as a sonata of "revolution" + "love". He reflects his enthusiasm for revolution and the pursuit of freedom of love in his works, inspiring enthusiastic young people and revolutionary volunteers to dedicate themselves to the liberation cause of the motherland and the construction of new China.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the reporter had an in-depth exchange with Hong Lingfei's adopted son, 89-year-old Hong Ruining. Hong Ruining recalled Hong Lingfei's tortuous and wonderful short life, and also shared the story behind the Red Family Letter.
Hong Ruining
On literary creation: His pen made the revolution flourish in another way
After the "April 12" counter-revolutionary coup, on April 15, 1927, the right wing of the Guangdong Kuomintang openly betrayed the revolution, and white terror enveloped Guangzhou. Wanted by the enemy, Hung Ling Fei was forced to flee to Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and other places to experience hardships. At a time when the Chinese revolution was at a low ebb, Hong Lingfei was still full of confidence. He once said: "Although the revolutionary movement has suffered temporary setbacks, we have a pen that will make him flourish from the other side!" This vow was also reflected in his subsequent creative journey.
Hong Lingfei went to Shanghai at the end of October 1927 to restore the party's organizational relations and usher in the climax of revolutionary literary creation. From 1927 to 1928, Hong Lingfei's three novels of "Exile", "Frontline" and "Transformation" came out, which were collectively called the "Exile Trilogy". The work is a representative work of the early proletarian revolutionary literature and has influenced a generation of young people to embark on the road of revolution.
Guangzhou Daily: Hong Lingfei's "Exile Trilogy" has a great role in drumming for young people who aspire to revolution, what makes his works powerful and appealing?
Hong Ruining: My father read Shakespeare's original English works when he was in college, and he loved the poems of modern Romantic poets such as Byron, Shelley, Petofi and Sumanshu. These poets loved freedom, pursued love, advocated revolutionary romantic feelings and sacrificed their fighting spirit for freedom and democracy, which led his creation. Ling Fei is actually his pen name, his real name is Hong Lunxiu. I think it was perhaps that he admired Petofi and used "Lingfei" as a pen name.
The "Exile Trilogy" expresses the thoughts, lives and love of young intellectuals in the revolutionary movement. The characters created in the works have the characteristics of youth, and truly reflect the life choices of revolutionary youth. Such themes and his creative style complement each other and complement each other, they make the works have a high degree of readability and authenticity, and have practical value for the young people at that time. His father brought a new revolutionary theme into the field of literature, which was also his major contribution to the Chinese revolution.
Guangzhou Daily: In the later period of literary creation, Hong Lingfei wrote a large number of works that reflected the life of the toiling masses, such as "On the Raft", "In the Torrent", "The Seller of Strength", etc., taking the initiative to expose the dark phenomena of the old era, enthusiastically praising the revolutionary struggle of the workers and peasants, and the romantic atmosphere was somewhat diluted. Why is there such a shift in creative style?
Hong Ruining: Most of my father's later short works reflect the tragic life and awakening resistance of overseas Chinese peasants. Teochew people have a long history of emigration overseas, and there are countless Teochew people in Nanyang, which will naturally become the source of his creation. Most of his novels are written about his own life. He had taken refuge in Nanyang for evading capture, and had experienced starvation and unemployment for revolutionary work, so he had a deep feeling for the difficult livelihood of the toiling masses, and he could more deeply reflect the oppression they had suffered, and concentrate on exposing the darkness of that era. His cry for the masses whose lives were rough also reflected in his own deepening understanding of the revolution.
Hong Lingfei's letter to his wife
Talking about the original intention of the revolution: He pursued human freedom before embarking on the revolutionary road
Hong Lingfei was born in a family of cultivators and readings, and his father was a fallen xiucai, who practiced medicine after being a teacher for more than ten years, and his family's situation gradually improved. From the Provincial Chaozhou Middle School (now Chaozhou Jinshan Middle School) to the Guangdong Higher Normal School (now Sun Yat-sen University), the talented and studious Hong Lingfei had a smooth career in his studies, but eventually embarked on a difficult and tortuous revolutionary road.
Guangzhou Daily: The family letter of the martyr Lingfei wrote: "And the plum blossom clears the bones, not because it is to reduce its purity; the virgin is cold, but also to increase its blessings", which expresses loyalty to the revolutionary cause. Why did Hong Lingfei, who had a successful academic, embark on the revolutionary road?
Hong Ruining: In 1924, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party achieved their first cooperation, and Guangzhou became the "source of the Chinese revolution". His father actively participated in the student movement and met his revolutionary guide, The Soul of Chaozhou compatriot Xu Su. Xu Suling is the overseas secretary of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee and the head of the Overseas General Branch of the Central Committee, and one of the responsible persons of the Guangdong District Committee of the Communist Party of China. After his father graduated, he was also introduced by Xu Suling to serve outside the Kuomintang Central Committee. Under the influence of Xu Su's soul, he realized that seeking happiness for the broad masses of the people and fighting for the light of mankind is the true value of life, and the Communist Party of China is the revolutionary party that truly seeks happiness for the people. In the first half of 1926, his father was introduced to the party by Xu Su's soul. It was also at Xu Su's home that he met my mother, Qin Jing.
Talking about the spirit of martyrs: Loyalty to the party made him unswerving and indomitable
In March 1930, the Chinese Left-Wing Writers' Union ("Left League") with Lu Xun as its banner was founded in Shanghai, the first revolutionary literary group led by the Communist Party of China. Hong Lingfei is one of the seven members of the Standing Committee and is responsible for the work of the Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers Cultural Committee. The establishment of the Left League provided a broader stage for Hong Lingfei, who not only propagated revolutionary principles and popularized workers' culture to the masses of workers, but also carried out systematic theoretical research on revolutionary literature.
Hong Lingfei and the Left Writers in a Meeting (Oil Painting)
From the second half of 1930 onwards, Hong Lingfei temporarily gave up writing because the revolutionary work required full immersion in the actual work of the Party. In February 1933, Hong Lingfei worked in the Plenipotentiary Representative Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Beiping as Secretary-General. In July of that year, he was arrested by the Kuomintang. In prison, the enemy coerced and seduced, soft and hard, but did not make Hong Lingfei submit. In 1934, at the age of 32, Hong Lingfei was shot and killed in Yuhuatai, Nanjing.
Guangzhou Daily: In the second half of 1930, Hong Lingfei temporarily gave up writing and embarked on the path of a professional revolutionary. What was the actual work he was doing in the Party at the time?
Hong Ruining: In the second half of 1930, my father was sent to work in the Propaganda Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and the Huxi District Committee. After the "918" incident, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China established the Shanghai National Anti-Imperialist Grand Alliance (referred to as "Shang'an"), and he was transferred to "Shang'er" as the secretary of the CPC caucus. He worked during the day and held night classes for workers at night and organized student reading clubs. He once published an article entitled "On the Anti-Japanese Movement," which refuted the unrealistic illusion of "relying on the United States to resist Japan." Since then, he has also been responsible for organizing the Shanghai Municipal People's Anti-Japanese National Salvation Federation.
In June 1931, his father was transferred from the "Upper Rebellion" to the Chinese Left-Wing Cultural League as a leader. In February 1933, he was transferred from Shanghai to Beiping on the orders of the Party Central Committee, serving as the secretary general of the CPC Representative Office in Beiping, receiving comrades who came to Beiping, reviewing and understanding their work.
Guangzhou Daily: You have collected a large amount of information on the life of martyr Hong Lingfei, what is his image in your mind?
Hong: Although my father and I never met, he was one of the most talented young proletarian writers in the early days. He writes novels in a particularly good narrative language, which can vividly restore the scenes of the story. I wrote the book "Hong Lingfei Poetry", and its poetry has elements of Mandarin, Cantonese and Teochew dialects, which are unique.
His father was highly accomplished in foreign languages, translating many foreign novels by Gorky, Dostoevsky, and others. We also recently found his middle school textbook "Model Essay Reader", which selected 62 works from Chekov, Tude, Yu Dafu, Lu Xun, Guo Moruo and other writers. He made a true commentary on the ideas, lives, and works of various writers. The book was published in 1933, and that year he had already died.
Guangzhou Daily: As a descendant of the martyrs, what kind of red spirit did Hong Lingfei leave us with?
Hong Ruining: My father grew up in a special period, a special family environment, and a special education. He was brilliant, but he did not follow the will of his father to obtain meritorious titles and seek promotion and wealth. He embarked on the revolutionary road not for himself, he experienced flight, hunger, no place to live, no money, no one to rely on for the revolution, and finally realized the value of his life in saving the country and the people and transforming society. His boundless loyalty to the party's revolutionary cause has enabled him to be unswerving and indomitable.
Text/Long Kun
Photo/Courtesy of respondents
Guangzhou Daily Xinhuacheng Editors: Li Fenghe, Lin Jing