The famous writer Wei Wei died at the age of 88 at 7:12 p.m. on August 24, 2008 at Beijing 301 Hospital.
Wei Wei
Wei Wei, born in 1920 in Henan, graduated from Yan'an Anti-Japanese Military and Political University. He once served as deputy editor-in-chief of "Literature and Art of the People's Liberation Army", deputy director of the Creative Office of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, deputy director of the Literature and Art Department of the General Political Department, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Beijing Military Region, head of the writing team of "The Biography of Nie Rongzhen", and adviser of the Political Department of the Beijing Military Region.
In terms of creation, Wei Wei's masterpiece "Who is the Most Lovely Person" has been widely circulated and selected into middle school textbooks, influencing generations of readers.
From 1959 to 1978, lasting 20 years, Wei Wei created the famous novel "The Orient", which reproduced the magnificent life of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and won the Novel Creation Award of the First Mao Dun Literature Award in China in 1982.
Together with Wei Wei's other two works, "The Red Ribbon of the Earth" and "Fire Phoenix", this novel constitutes the "Revolutionary War" trilogy.
Chairman Mao's instructions: Print and distribute them to the whole army
"The loveliest people" and "the loveliest people of the new generation" have become synonymous with the Chinese Volunteer Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army in contemporary China.
The work "Who is the Loveliest Person", a household name, circulated at home and abroad, was selected into the national middle school Chinese textbook, inspiring and educating generations.
On April 11, 1951, the first page of the People's Daily published Wei Wei's article "Who is the Loveliest Person?"
Chairman Mao read the instructions: Print and distribute them to the whole army.
Zhu De even praised after reading it: "Well written! Very good! ”
When Zhou Enlai spoke at the Second WenDai meeting in 1953, he pushed aside the speech and said loudly to Jian Jian: "Who is Comrade Wei Wei here, and are you here today?" Please stand up, I want to get to know this friend (at this time, the whole audience looks at Wei Wei who stood up from his seat and applauds warmly) I thank you for giving our children the title of "the most lovely person". ”
In 1957, the Moscow State Art and Literature Publishing House published a Russian translation of Who is the loveliest man. Markova writes in the preface:
"Wei Wei belongs to the generation of young writers who woke up in the Chinese people to carry out revolutions and grew up in the turbulent war years. He was born in 1920 to a small family of clerks in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. The poverty of his family for many years made the future poet and writer experience a hard life very early, and prompted him to wake up very early and protest against the injustice that shrouded the Kuomintang society... Wei Wei's close-ups have now attracted widespread attention from readers. In these works, he sincerely praises and praises the Chinese Volunteer Army on the Korean front. Each of his features is imbued with an irrepressible belief in ordinary people and in a bright future for the people. These close-ups have not lost their charm. ”
Wei Wei (middle)
An essay, erecting a heroic "monument" for the people's children and soldiers
"Who is the Cutest Person" has caused such a wide and strong response at home and abroad, why? How was it created?
In the second campaign of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in 1951, the 112th Division of the 38th Army of the Chinese Volunteer Army undertook the task of interspersing, and they successfully penetrated into Sanshuoli, Longyuanli, and Songkuofeng, cutting off the enemy's rear road.
In order to regain the road to life, the fleeing enemy desperately rushed to the 112th Division. In order to meet the defeated army fleeing south, the enemy of the northern reinforcement also frantically pounced on the 112th Division.
Faced with a large number of well-equipped American troops, the 112th Division was under the greatest pressure of the battlefield, and the entire battlefield was killed in the dark.
Pine Bone Peak is a key point of contention for the American army, where it is guarded by 3 companies of 1 battalion, 335 regiments of the 112th Division. They fought the most tragic battle.
The U.S. army concentrated 32 aircraft, 18 tanks, dozens of howitzers, and more than a thousand infantry to attack the 3rd Company. The officers and men of our 3rd Company resisted with their flesh and blood and defeated countless attacks by the American army.
In the end, only 7 men remained in the 3rd Company, but they still stubbornly held their positions. When the division command post heard the feat of the 3rd Company at Songbone Peak, all the comrades present stood silently and shed tears.
After the battle, Yang Dayi, commander of the 112th Division, went to the position of the 3rd Company and saw the scene of a lifetime: "The front of the position was piled with hundreds of American corpses and broken guns. Some of the officers and men of our 3rd Company who died clung to the enemy's machine guns, some of them had grenades in their hands stained with the enemy's brain plasma, and some of them held half of the enemy's ears in their mouths... The embers on the warrior Xing Yutang and the 2nd platoon deputy platoon commander Wang Jianhou were still burning, their bodies pressed against the enemy's corpses, and their teeth and nails were deeply embedded in the enemy's flesh and skin..."
Afterwards, Yang Dayi told Wei Wei, who had come to interview him about the situation of the 3rd Company position, and accompanied him to revisit the 3rd Company position.
Wei Wei wanted to interview the surviving officers and men of the 3 companies about the battle, but only one correspondent was left in the whole company, except for the sacrifice and serious injuries sent to the hospital. Later, he found a battalion commander, Wang Suqi.
The material of "Who is the Cutest Man" was told to him by Wang Yingchang with tears.
In February 1951, Wei Wei completed a three-month interview with North Korea, and after returning to China, he was ordered to serve as deputy editor-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army Literature and Art. He began to seize the time to write about his observations and feelings in North Korea, especially the scene of the battle of Songbone Peak that appeared frequently in his mind, which inspired him to have to write.
In writing, Wei Wei selected 3 typical examples that best expressed the true colors of heroes from more than 20 of the most vivid stories, after several deliberations and deletions. Because of the deep feeling, the next pen is like a god, in one go, more than a day to complete.
After the manuscript was written, Wei Wei handed it to the editor-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army Literature and Art for comments, and the editor-in-chief Song immediately said after reading it: "Send it to the People's Daily immediately!" ”
After reading this article, the president of the People's Daily was very excited and decided to publish this article on the front page of the People's Daily.
One day in August 1990, the 355th Regiment of the former Volunteer Army called Wei Wei and said that the martyr Li Yuan, who was the most lovely person, was still alive, and that he had come to the old unit to send his youngest son to join the army and wanted to meet Wei Wei.
Li Yu'an came to Wei Wei's house, and the two veteran soldiers talked about the past, recalling the battle of Song Bone Peak and the creation of "Who is the Cutest Person". He refilled a cup of tea for Li Yu'an, took a few sips himself, and asked doubtfully: "After so many years, why don't you come to me?" Why not come and find the old troops? ”
Li Yu'an then recounted the situation after being wounded in the Korean battlefield. At that time, after li yu'an was seriously injured in the chest and comatose for six or seven hours, he was rescued by a commander of the Korean People's Army, and 3 days later, he was sent to the field hospital by the friendly neighboring troops, underwent open chest surgery, only to survive his death, and later transferred back to China for treatment.
After recovering from his injuries, he was demobilized from his injuries and went to xinglong town in Bayan County, Heilongjiang, where he worked as an ordinary worker in a grain depot and worked silently for decades.
He said: "I am much luckier than my comrades who sacrificed. Married a wife and became a family, life is good. If my younger son hadn't wanted to be a soldier this time, I wouldn't have bothered the old troops, let alone bothered you. ”
Li Yu'an was a veteran of the army in 1946 and made many meritorious contributions in the liberation of Siping, Tianjin and the crossing of the river. But he never showed off his exploits to others. Demobilized to the local area for more than 40 years, contributing to the country in ordinary jobs. At that time, his monthly salary was less than 100 yuan, and it was very difficult to maintain a family of 8. But he never reached out to the government and veteran forces. He was not only the "loveliest man" on the battlefield, but also the "loveliest man" in the period of peacebuilding.
At the end of the meeting, Wei Wei presented Li Yu'an with a hardcover novel "Orient" and a "Collection of Wei Wei Essays" and inscribed on the title page of the book "You will always be the loveliest person!" ”
Li Yu'an
Back to the textbook
Since 2001, "Who's the Cutest Man" has disappeared from language textbooks.
It is understood that this text, which has influenced generations of Chinese, has been removed from the textbook for three reasons:
The first is sensationalism and abuse;
The second is to render the war and describe the blood;
The third is "untimely."
At the same time, articles such as "Liu Hulan", "Five Heroes of Wolf Tooth Mountain", and "Huang Jiguang" were all removed from the textbook.
Wei Wei's handwriting
At the end of 2008, The New Garden magazine published a review article written by a secondary school Chinese teacher about the removal of the late famous writer Wei Wei's "Who is the Loveliest Person" from textbooks. The article states:
"It is wise to throw the text 'Who is the Cutest Person' out of the middle school textbook, which is a big step forward in the compilation of the current textbook in the right direction that is conducive to the mental health growth of students." The teacher said: "Who is the most lovely person" The main reason why the article has influenced generations is that it uses literary techniques to uniquely sprinkle strong feelings on ordinary soldiers in brutal warfare. However, its bloody rendering of war, the cruel mutual killing of human beings, and the huge gap between acts of love for good seem to speak not of war between men, but of duels between men and the devil, and its literary descriptions can hardly reflect the nature of the human heart in the world. From a literary point of view, the literary value of this article is not high, and it can even be said to be a work of passion and abuse. At the same time, the statement that war is the source of happiness for people living in peaceful environments is also logically plausible. From a modern perspective, this article is more of a product of the ideological mission of an era, with the limitations of that era. ”
Chinese People's Volunteer Army
Things changed after 2008.
After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, the host of the central television program at the time said excitedly: "The most lovely people have come, and the people have been saved." ”
In the era of peace, the figure of the people's children and soldiers is active in people's vision everywhere, from flood relief to earthquake prevention and epidemic prevention... They defend our happy lives with their flesh and blood. More people called for the article to return to the textbook.
"The Cutest Man" returns to the textbook
After 20 years, the article is back in the textbook. In the second unit of the second book of the seventh grade in 2021, the seventh lesson was added to the second unit of the Chinese textbook - "Who is the cutest person".