The author of this article treasures The business card of Barkin
I have a business card of Ba Lao, which was not given to me by Ba Lao, nor was it what I asked Ba Lao for, but what I "left" when I helped Ba Lao hand out business cards at the welcome party, so I "intercepted" it. Today, the white business card has turned yellow, leaving behind the traces of time.
On May 9, 1984, Ba Lao went to Tokyo as a special guest of the 47th INTERNATIONAL PEN Association, and Ba Lao's daughter Li Xiaolin, Xu Ju and I from the Shanghai Writers Association Outreach Office arrived as accompanying personnel. In 1982, Ba Lao accidentally fell and was bedridden for a long time, and then his legs were long and short, and his movement was difficult, so Yasushi Inoue, president of the Japan Chinese Exchange Association and president of the Japan Pen Association, and Shirato Goo, director of the Japan Chinese Exchange Association, specially went to the door of the cabin to greet him. Ba Lao was in a wheelchair, pushed by Shiratoro, accompanied by Yasushi Inoue, and we followed behind with our luggage. At this time, out of nowhere, a group of reporters suddenly appeared, holding "long guns and short cannons" and slamming into Ba Lao's "click, click, click", and the flash was so shaking that people could not open their eyes.
On the evening of May 11, the Japan-Chinese Exchange Association held a grand welcome reception at the Tokyo Kaikan, attended by more than 600 celebrities from Japan's cultural, artistic, journalistic, political, and economic circles. When Ba Lao came to the Tokyo Kaikan, Mr. Lu Xun's friend, printmaker, founder of Tokyo Uchiyama Bookstore, and his son Uchaiyama Hedge, playwright Shunji Kinoshita, female writer Masako Toyoda in a gorgeous kimono, writers Takaji Nakano and Sunroku Inouchi, and young writers Kei Miyamoto, who had come from Osaka on purpose, came to say hello to Ba Lao. Then Ba Lao entered the venue, and famous writers and artists such as Yasushi Inoue, Ino Miyagawa, Hiroshi Noma, Mizumi Mian and Chida Yuya lined up at the door to welcome them. Ba Lao, Zhou Yang, Song Zhiguang (then Chinese ambassador to Japan) and others stepped onto the rostrum and sat in front of the screen. After Yasushi Inoue gave a welcome speech and Miyagawa Yinxiong gave a toast, the emcee asked Ba Lao to speak, and Ba Lao took a cane and slowly walked to the microphone, at first the voice was very small, but the more he spoke, the louder it became.
Group photo of Ba Jin with Mr. and Mrs. Yasushi Inoue and the Chinese entourage
Dear Mr. Yasushi Inoue, Mr. Ino Miyagawa,
I was so happy to attend this welcome reception today that I almost forgot that I was a patient who had just been out of the hospital for less than two weeks. Twenty-three years ago, I joined the first delegation of Chinese writers and visited Japan. At that time, diplomatic relations had not yet been established between China and Japan, but I felt that the hand of friendship was extended from all sides of Japan, which made me return with the friendship of the Japanese people. During that visit, I found that our friendship was based on a common belief that would keep future generations friendly.
We trust each other, support each other, and help each other in difficult times. Today, Sino-Japanese relations have finally embarked on the bright road from the sheep's intestine trail and blossomed into beautiful flowers.
The people of both countries have made contributions to the development of the friendship between China and Japan, and I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my friends here, who are sincere friends of the Chinese people. I am proud to have such a friend, proud, and feel that there is infinite power in me. During the Cultural Revolution, on a cold night, I felt warm in my heart when I thought of you.
After the end of the Cultural Revolution, I visited Japan to pay off the debt of friendship. But I found that the debt of friendship is unpaid, and the more it is paid, the more it is paid. When the visit ended and I broke up in Nagasaki, I saw my Japanese friends shed tears of pity, and the tears were like spring rain, which moistened my heart, and I also got on the plane with tears, but left my heart among my friends. Friendship is like a ribbon that binds our hearts together.
I believe that friendship is the best feeling in life. Unity and struggle for the sake of friendship for generations to come, is the most meaningful thing in life. I am willing to work with my friends and give everything for friendship.
Thank you.
Amid the thunderous applause, the female writer Kazuko Arizo took to the podium and presented a bouquet of lilies to Ba Lao. Inoue Yasushi accompanied Ba Lao, the tall playwright Chida was also squatting and taking a photo with Ba Lao, the painters Higashiyama Kuiyi and his wife, the Chinese writer Chen Shunchen and his wife in Japan, the head of the Matsuyama Ballet, Masao Shimizu, and his wife Shuko Matsuyama greeted Ba Lao in turn. People lined up in front of Ba Lao, some people wanted to take a photo with Ba Lao, some people wanted a business card of Ba Lao, some people brought Ba Lao's books, wanted to ask Ba Lao to sign... Most of them are "fans" of Ba Lao, who come to visit, but they will not Chinese, embarrassed to open their mouths, I conveyed their wishes on their behalf. Ba Lao not only met their requirements, but also said: "Writers are fed by readers, they are in the service of readers, and I thank you for reading my books." Ba Lao gave his heart to the reader's sincerity, bringing tears to their eyes.
The welcome reception is grand and grand, and Ba Lao has always been the center of the whirlpool of people, and it is the target that people are chasing. I saw that Ba Lao was surrounded by the crowd, it was difficult to walk, and I didn't even have time to drink saliva, and I was very anxious. Before visiting Japan, the leaders repeatedly advised that Ba Lao had just been discharged from the hospital, his body was weak, the schedule should not be arranged too tightly, and sufficient rest time must be ensured. After arriving in Japan, I saw that the schedule arranged by the Japanese side could basically ensure that Ba Lao's half-day activities and half-day rest were attached, but at the end of the schedule, a table was attached, listing the TV stations, news agencies, magazine agencies, and publishing houses that asked to interview Ba Lao, a total of more than a dozen, which was not included in the agenda, which meant that Ba Lao decided.
I discussed with Xiaolin and Xu Ju and felt that the meeting with old friends should be prioritized, and the news media could not see it. Even so, there are two or three schedules a day, and there is no guarantee that Ba Lao will have time to rest in the afternoon. However, the actual situation is far more complicated than the schedule, and new projects are added almost every day, such as May 17: at 10:00 a.m., Matsumoto Kiyoharu and Kodansha visit; at noon, lunch is served with Nakano Takashi; at 3:00 p.m., the Current Affairs News Agency interviews and talks with Yasushi Inoue; at 4:30 p.m., Masao Shimizu and Masako Toyoda visit; and at 7:00 p.m., Saienji Gongichi visits.
This cannot be blamed on the Japanese friends, who have great respect for Ba Lao, and every schedule has consulted Ba Lao, who always nods his head and says, "Good, good, just like this." The left one "looks like this" and the right one "looks like this", and the schedule is inflated to "not look like this". Ba Lao regards friendship as life, he once said: "Friendship is a bright light in my life, without it, my survival will have no glory, my life will wither." Moreover, this is Ba Lao's sixth visit to Japan, and for physical reasons, it is likely to be the last; he has many friends and wants to see as many people as possible, which is completely understandable. But for an elderly man, the schedule of continuous interviews, meetings, and discussions is too heavy, and we decided to put forward some "opinions" to him, and Kobayashi "went out".
Ba Lao probably already sensed that we had an opinion about him, and after listening to Kobayashi's words, he said, "Good, good, just like this." We thought he had agreed to streamline the schedule, but he went on to say, "Since you're here, you have to do more work, I'm a patriot, it doesn't matter if you're tired." We were dumbfounded, and the carefully planned "opinions" were rejected by him.
Ba Lao has a wide range of experience, has seen the world, and has rich experience in foreign affairs. At the welcome party, his demeanor was dignified and elegant, and he was well-mannered in receiving people and treating things, even if it was a "small thing" such as exchanging business cards, he was solemn and meticulous. Originally, Ba Lao's legs and feet were inconvenient, it was difficult to sit up, and it was completely okay to sit on a chair and exchange business cards, but in order to show equality and respect, he must slowly stand up, squeeze the two corners of the business card with both hands, and send the business card to each other face and send it to the other party. I stood behind Ba Lao with Xu Ju, holding Ba Lao's business card in my hand, assisting in "sending and receiving" when he was too busy to come.
According to historians, business cards were invented by Chinese and are called "Gurudwara" in the western Han dynasty historical records. The "Interpretation of the Name and Interpretation of the Book" reads: "Gurudwara, Zhi Zhi Ye." The name of the book is on the top to inform the person who has also learned it. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was also called "famous thorn", but the gurudwara and famous thorn found in the Han tomb were wooden janes, with information such as the name and place of origin of the person who carried the thorn. In the Tang Dynasty, the name of Mu Jian was changed to "famous paper", in the late Tang Dynasty it was called "name", "name Qi", in the Yuan Dynasty it was renamed "Bai Ti", and in the Ming and Qing Dynasties it was called "Ming Ti" and "Piece". By the way, the business card in Japanese is still written with the word "name thorn", which can be seen from China.
This kind of communicative card has disappeared in China for many years. I remember that in 1980, when I visited Japan with The Elder Pakistan, the business card was not yet popular, and the twelve people in the whole group, in order to facilitate the introduction, hurriedly used the Chinese to print the list of delegations before departure, which can also be called collective business cards; the first nine were members of the delegation, and the last three were staff. There is nothing wrong with this, both China and Japan use Chinese characters, but Japanese people who do not understand Chinese can easily cause bad associations when they see the Chinese characters of "staff", because "worker" in Japanese means a person engaged in secret work and special work. It is really strange and strange that there were three "agents" in the delegation and blatantly identify themselves! Fortunately, the bureau that received us discovered this problem and immediately helped reprint the list and changed the "staff" to "attaché" in China and Japan.
In the tide of reform and opening up, business cards and suits have flourished, and there is even a tendency to flood. The suit, unlike the business card, is an authentic import, designed by the French nobleman Philippe from the costumes of the fishermen's labor. For hundreds of years, men in European high society have a special love for suits, believing that it is a symbol of taste, style, authority, wealth, and is the first choice when attending important events, so suits and business cards have become the standard for mainland visitors. But then, suits seemed to have a retro tendency to revert to labor uniforms, and I saw people in suits carrying hoes to the ground. In the process of using business cards, there have also been some strange phenomena, and some have even changed their taste, becoming a tool for flaunting the market and deceiving the world.
I think That Ba Lao's business card is too simple, or even simple, which is not conducive to people understanding him and it is difficult to achieve the purpose of communication.
Ba Lao is a famous writer, translator and publisher, successively vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association, chairman of the Shanghai Branch of the Chinese Writers Association, chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles, vice chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, deputy to the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth National People's Congress, member of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress, winner of the Italian Dante International Award in 1982, awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1983, when he was serving as the vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the chairman of the Chinese Writers Association... However, these well-known titles, there is no one on the business card, on which are printed the fourteen characters "Ba Jin, President of the China PEN Center, Shanghai, China", on the back is English, and there is also a monogram of the China PEN Center.
I said to Xu Ju that in terms of rank, Ba Lao is a vice-national level; on achievements, Ba Lao is a great master. A bunch of titles, casually draw one, is also louder than this president, after all, the China PEN Association Center has not been established for a few years, and it is attached to the China Writers Association, and few people know about it. Xu Ju said: "This is Ba Lao's own decision, maybe Ba Lao feels that it is more appropriate to participate in the activities of the International PEN Club as a writer?" Xu Ju has worked around Ba Lao for many years and knows Ba Lao very well, and his words, such as Daigo Empowerment, remind me of some past events: for example, Inoue Jing said that Ba Lao is a precious wealth in the world, Ba Lao said that he was not a precious wealth, just an ordinary old and sick Chinese writer; for example, Nie Hualing, a Chinese-American writer, said that Ba Lao's hands were very great, and wrote "Home", "Spring" and "Autumn", ba Lao said that this is just a general hand, it is used for eating; for example, when Ba Lao came to Beijing for a meeting in the spring, when I went to see him, Talking about the situation after some talented writers who are in a state of blowout and have taken up leadership positions, Ba Lao said that some people think that the status of writers is low and want to become officials, I do not approve of it, I do not think that the status of writers is lower than that of officials, and I do not want to be officials. Writers must write works, win glory for the country and the nation, work literature, and constantly explore art, which is the true cause of writers... It is not difficult to understand that Ba Lao chose the title of the newest, smallest and most inconspicuous president of the Chinese PEN Association Center.
I remember after the welcome party, a group of people drove back to the hotel, the car was quiet, no one spoke, everyone was tired. According to the experience of participating in the cocktail party in the past, the mood should be soothed at this time, so I began to "stir up the wind and ignite the fire": "This afternoon, after we were busy, the water rice did not stain our teeth, and now we are tired and hungry." However, among us, the most tired is Ba Lao, and the one who has the greatest credit is also Ba Lao. His impromptu speech was sincere, vivid, wonderful, touching, and full of confidence, his voice was loud, and his passion was like fire, indicating that Ba Lao was not old, his body was recovering well, his rice life was in sight, and his tea life could be expected and congratulatory. At the same time, it also proves that our care and care for Patrick is effective. Therefore, I proposed to have a family-style party to celebrate the merits of Ba Lao, and also to arrange for our own merit evaluation and reward and reward. I don't drink alcohol, but today I volunteered to not only accompany Ba Lao to have a drink, but also to learn from Ba Lao and make a wonderful toast. My "flickering" immediately appeared, and the car suddenly became active, and Xu Said: "Don't you have Coca-Cola dependence?" How did you change to drinking? Ba Lao smiled and said, "Good, good, that's it." Today Xiao Chen wants to drink and make a toast. ”
That night, we sat around Ba Lao and had a good conversation. Ba Lao was happy, and also drank a glass of beer, his face was slightly red, and he looked more energetic. I was dizzy after a few sips of wine and forgot the toast, but Ba Lao's business card, I kept in the business card holder, carrying it with me.