【China Story】
Pick up the red buds of their childhood (reportage)
- Oral History of the Hundred Year Old Red Army
Author: Bu Gu (first-class writer, director of the China Reportage Literature Society, his reportage work "The Last Red Army - The Oral History of the Hundred Hundred Red Army" was selected as the 2022 Key Works Support Project of the China Writers Association)
The Red Army is like a red star, full of stars, shining brightly in the sky of Gannan history, illuminating the whole of China.
The Red Army was like a red cloud, floating in the heavens of the Chinese nation. She floated past, but became eternal.
Gannan is full of mystery and magic. In that year, the "Red Army that expanded by 1 million irons" became a popular event in the Central Soviet Region. Swept by the sky, falling from the sky, the land was turbulent, and the number of people who joined the army and participated in the war reached 1 million.
More than 80 years have passed, the dust has settled, and the 1 million Red Army personnel have gradually drifted away in the long river of history. So far, only one in ten thousand, less than a hundred, are all pale, centenarians, can be described as the "last Red Army". They are the last living history of this group. Wading through the smoke-filled river of the century, what is the secret of their lives? What kind of spiritual history has each person experienced?
Right now, they live all around us.
It's a peculiar crowd, or even a unique, fleeting human landscape. People have accumulated a century of respect, seem to know them well, are familiar with them, but in essence are still strange. They are like the most precious treasures in the glass windows, greeted by countless looks. They are moving away quickly, their numbers are getting smaller and smaller, and they will eventually become a dead end.
I am writing about reality, and in the blink of an eye it will become the reality of history. Why in that era, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Liu Bojian... Tens of thousands of young people around the age of 20 generally believe in socialism and communism, and they cannot stop it. Why, exactly, is it for what purpose – poverty cannot be stopped, imprisonment cannot be stopped, grievances cannot be stopped, bloodshed and sacrifice cannot be stopped, and family destruction cannot be stopped?
"The heart is like a double wire mesh, and there are thousands of knots."
The author once lived in a big red family with 7 Red Army, and grew up immersed in the stories of the Red Army since childhood, which naturally became the "thousand knots" in my heart.
This article records the last voices of several hundred-year-old Red Armymen.
Illustration: Guo Hongsong
Mao Zedong, who was well aware of the sufferings of the Chinese peasants, always set his sights on the land issue that the peasants were most concerned about. For the first time in his life, Yang Silu ate pure rice with white flowers, and the whole family was grateful to the Red Army.
I interviewed General Yang Silu twice, 16 years apart. His appearance changed dramatically, but his voice did not change. It is still the kind of Mandarin that is full of confidence and half ocean and half earth, or the Yudu dialect that is half earth and half ocean. Full of energy, sonorous and powerful, as if issuing orders.
Memories of childhood: Every morning when I wake up hungry from a dream, my mother is gone.
Our three brothers got up and went to the entrance of the village, staring into the distance, hoping that my mother would return. When my mother came back from a job and would definitely bring something to eat.
We had to wait a long, long time, for the sun to rise from the east to the west to set quickly, and our stomachs were grunting with hunger before my mother could come back, and sometimes even later. Mom can bring some brown rice and taro, that is the festival, she brings back the most sweet potato residue - the residue of sweet potato milling, which is generally used by farmers to feed pigs.
We eagerly huddled my mother home, and Grandma kept a pot of boiling water, boiling the chopped vegetables with sweet potato residue. Soup and water, the family can drink two or three bowls of each person, and the stomach is bulging.
Sweet potato residue this thing does not resist hunger, sprinkle a few bubbles of urine will be gone, early in the morning can wake people hungry.
I was born in Ge'ao Township, Du County, in a mountain pass called Niupo Lake Butou Village. The family was so poor that the two dilapidated houses were cracked on three sides, and the roof was leaking, and it was impossible to shelter from the wind and rain. I was born in the Yang Family Ancestral Hall and did not know my birthday. I only remember my mother saying that when I was born, it was snowing outside the house, and it was very cold.
There is no food, there are too many debts, and it is "difficult" to live every New Year. Every New Year's Day, the landlord's dog legs would come to the house, look east and west, and move everything that could be moved. Later, in the New Year, the landlord saw that there was really nothing to move, so he threw our whole family out of the house.
We had to move to Laikeng Village, Quyang Township, and rent my uncle's field.
In order for the family to survive, the eldest brother Sixiang went to do long-term work for the family, the second brother Sifu became an apprentice, I herded cattle for the landlord's family, and the two sisters sent the family to be a child bride very early. Even so, I still couldn't get by, and in order to save money and use it, my parents discussed and passed me on to my uncle's family as a son. Soon, the father who had been ill for a long time was still dead, and after a lifetime of toil, he could not even afford to buy a thin coffin, and several of his brothers dug a pit into the soil and buried it hastily.
Thankfully, in 1929 the Red Army came, and the local tycoons divided the fields and grain. For the first time in my life, I ate pure rice with white flowers, and my whole family was grateful to the Red Army.
In the village, my family is not the poorest, nor the most grateful.
There was a peasant family, three brothers followed their father to beg for a living for many years, and after dividing the land, they had food and clothing and built a new house, and the three brothers became married. In return for the Communist Party, all three brothers joined the Red Army.
Another family of 10 has less than 200 jin per mu of rented land and more than 400 jin per mu after dividing the field. They linked their fate to the Soviet regime, and as soon as the Soviets "expanded", all the men of the family competed to join the army and participate in the war, and all went to the front.
(Yang Silu was a soldier of the International Division of the Young Communist Party, the commander of the air force of the Fuzhou Military Region, with the rank of major general, and a member of the Butou Group of Niubo Hutian Village, Ge'ao Township, Yudu County, Jiangxi Province, at the age of 104)
The 10-year-old Communist Party of China, in a ravine and only four years after creating its own independent armed forces, has just seized tens of thousands of square kilometers of land, less than 1% of the country's area, and has created a national provisional political power. During this period, Chairman Mao Zedong frequently went deep into the rural areas dozens of times to conduct investigations and studies, and personally formulated four land laws: the Jinggangshan Land Law, the Xingguo Land Law, the Land Issue Resolution, and the Southwest Gan Land Law.
The land captured the hearts of the poor, and the toiling masses of their ancestors gave up their lives to join the Red Army and follow the Red regime in making revolutions.
I have been a "cow head" (cowherd) since I was a child, and I don't want to be a "cow head" when I see other people's children studying.
Why did you become a Red Army?
The family was poor and had no fields. Eat millet by renting land, rent land to pay rent, can not afford to pay debts, interest on the gali, interest on the profit, a lifetime can not pay back, there is no way to turn over.
Life at home is quite miserable. As soon as the baby girl was born, she married off and gave it to someone else's family as a child bride. The mother gave birth to 10 children in succession, and the female dolls were given to other villages.
The child she gave birth to was given away, and the mother used milk to milk the child of the landlord, and she had an income of three millimeters a month, bought some grain, and fed a few of our male servants.
Once, my mother went to the field and asked me to take care of the landlord's hairy cubs. I'm so small, where will I be? Accidentally, I fell, I sprained my ankle and broke my arm and bled. The hairy cub also wiped off a little skin on the edge of his eyebrows, and he cried wow. My mother saw it and chased after me, and after I was injured, I limped and couldn't run fast, and my mother scolded and beat her, breaking the cow's stalk.
That time crying very sad, I know that it is not the mother's heart is evil, it is really because if you do not bring a good hairy cub, the owner will not want the mother to milk the child, the family cut off this income, the rice grain in the pot will be much less, the whole family is hungry and sad.
I want to read, I don't have a book. I was 12 years old and went to the landlord's house to be a "cow head", herding cattle, chopping firewood, etc. No salary, talk about a good year to do the head, will make a new dress, but also depends on whether you have performed diligently for a year.
"'Minotaur' – come and go with me!"
In August 1931, my father hurried to the mountain and shouted to the green mountain to go home, and the voice echoed in the valley.
I was carrying an old bucket hat to go, and the owner opened his hands to block the road. The face was very unhappy: "What, before the Spring Festival, I want to go?" ”
"The owner, the Red Army is coming, beating the landlords, and calling us back to divide the fields." According to the head of the person, adults and children are the same as one person to share eight tons of grain and field miles..." Seeing the owner, the father immediately said respectfully. As soon as he talked about the Red Army and the landlord, the owner showed a frightened look, his face was immediately full of smiles, and the obstructing hand turned in the air and caressed the back of my head kindly and friendly, and the other hand accidentally pulled out a copper coin from his pocket.
"This guy is quite sensible, hard for a year, did not do the Spring Festival is not good to shout you to do in vain, take a hanging money to buy rice, don't be too little ha."
Receiving this hanging money, I was surprised and happy. When I saw the owner, I was afraid as soon as I heard about the Red Army, as if the Red Army was a relative of my family. Sure enough, the Red Army was closer than its relatives.
It was the happiest day of my life, and the happiest day of my family. Since then, it is like turning the heavens upside down, and we have lived as other people. What changed more was that I was back as a human being and daring to speak in front of anyone.
Soviet power was established in Jiangkou District, and the adults of the village joined the peasant associations.
Putting down the ox stalk, I became the Scoutmaster. The Boy Scouts are the Children's Regiment, made up of more than 100 of us between the ages of 7 and 14. Every day, he stood guard with bamboo poles or red tassel guns, set up sentry posts, and checked road strips, and went to give the families of martyrs and the families of the Red Army compulsory farming, cutting firewood, and carrying water. Those who are far away must bring their own food to do things.
Many people in the village are infected with the vicious habit of smoking opium, and our task is to go to every household to ban and confiscate opium and smoking guns, although they are adults, they do not dare to return the hand, and can only beg us bitterly to spare this time.
There are exceptions. There is an old smoker in the village, Liu Guangyao, who quit smoking several times and often sneaks and smokes. After receiving the report, we took advantage of Liu Guangyao's absence to confiscate his opium and tools.
Coming out of his house, he happened to meet Liu Guangyao returning. He was addicted to smoking, his nose and tears flowing out, and he rushed back to smoke opium. When he saw that we were carrying opium and smoking guns in our hands, we were so angry that we went crazy, and drew a large knife and screamed and chased after us. The sword flashed, scared my soul away, wow, shouted and turned around and ran. More than 100 children and regiment members, one by one, ran faster than rabbits, were chased and killed, village roads, fields, vegetable fields, scattered and fleeed.
Escape through the fields into the woods outside the village, breathing heavily. Looking at each other, the seized opium, smoking guns, wooden sticks and darts in their hands all did not know when they were lost. A group of our children were disheveled and embarrassed to file a complaint. The chairman of the Soviet immediately ordered the Red Guards to send several men with guns to arrest Liu Guangyao at the district government.
The Red Guard captain jokingly asked me, "What do you say to deal with this old smoker?" ”
I had already softened my heart and hurriedly said, "Let him go home." Anyway, no one dares to bully us Boy Scouts this time. ”
After Liu Guangyao quit smoking, he reformed from evil and returned to righteousness, and his progress was still very fast. Speaking of this matter, I was very embarrassed, and I made a special set of clothes for me. Later, I wore it to the Red Army troops.
(Liu Guangdeng was a soldier of the 17th Regiment of the Xingguo Model Division, a native of Qiantang Village, Jiangkou Town, Ganxian County, Jiangxi Province, at the age of 102)
Xu Shengjiu is not only the Red Army, but also the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage, the Xingguo Mountain Song. Since he was a child, he immersed himself in the sea of songs and songs, weaving the story of the Xingguo Mountain Song and the brothers Mao Zedong and Mao Zeqin in the song.
We "red" here early. In 1929, Huang Shi, Zou Zibang, Zhong Chuanyao, and my father and other underground party members in the village, knowing that the Zhumao Red Army would be in Jinggangshan, brought four guns to Donggu to greet them. Zhu Mao was very happy and said that the Xingguo people had a very good understanding, confidence, determination, and enthusiasm for the revolution. At that time, it was decided to go to Xingguo to hold a party congress. Later, the four counties of Ningdu, Yudu, Taihe, and Xingguo were contacted, and the party congress was held at the Xu Family Ancestral Hall of Changgang Yanziwo, our Xingguo, and the number of people attending the meeting was about 100 people.
The meeting lasted two days and two nights. The host of the conference was Zhong Chuanyao, the minutes of the meeting were Chen Visitant, the logistical arrangements were Zou Zibang, the chef was Huang Chuanxiang, who killed two pigs, and all living expenses were voluntarily raised by the local people.
The meeting was very secret, and a five-fold alert was set: the first heavy post was my father Xu Haihua, in Changgangling; Double whistle Xu Haizhang, at the mouth of the swallow's nest; Triple whistle Qiu Zhenyu, at the gate of the stable; Fourfold sentry at the entrance of the commune; The five-fold post Xu Haiyan, at the intersection in front of the ancestral hall.
The sentry is very strict, not allowing people to enter and leave the village, not to let people in and out, not to go out. The meeting was successful, and after the meeting the battle opened the county seat of Xingguo and established the Xingguo County Soviet... In the past, there was Dongyi District, and then there was Shengli County. Chen visited Xixi, a native of Jiangbei Village, Jiangbei Town, made a record of the party congress and followed the Red Army to the Ruijin Central Government Office as a clerical worker. The above facts were said to me by Chen Guanxi himself. It was the most glorious thing of his life, often told to us as revolutionary stories, heroes in our eyes.
Earlier, my grandfather and father had some knowledge, and everyone called them "sir." Reading too many years of books is not clear, very good at writing, written words can be on the wall. At present, their handwriting is still left on the gate of the old house in the village and the pillar of the ancestral hall, which is strong and fresh, vigorous and powerful.
My father had a child bride who died before he could round the house. Even if you marry a second marriage, the wife you marry is also a second marriage, and the one who marries after the death of her husband is my mother.
The father had three sons and three daughters. My brother on the head and the sister below died halfway, leaving two sons and two daughters.
Since I was 7 years old, I have been studying private school in the ancestral hall opposite. When the Communist Party came when I was 13 years old, I transferred to Yanzi Primary School, where the content of my studies changed, including Chinese and arithmetic, and I also joined the Labor Boy Regiment. Father Xu Haihua joined the party at an unknown time, and Nagaoka's first party congress was held in our ancestral hall. At the meeting, Chairman Mao also came and stayed at my house for more than ten days.
There are many people in the village who can sing mountain songs, and some people sing with their mouths open, and whatever words they want can be made into songs. Once, I saw some party members report on their work experience and revolutionary experience in the form of singing mountain songs, Chairman Mao, who had always investigated and learned about the situation. Chairman Mao was full of enthusiasm, laughed when he heard the clapping, and said in a loud voice that it was very good and good, and that in the future he could make good use of the Xingguo Mountain Song to publicize the party's ideology, policies, and good work style.
At the age of 14, Xingguo established a Soviet government, and his father became the chairman of the Shimen Township Soviet Government. We in the Boy Scouts were renamed the Communist Children's League, and we were tasked with standing guard and sentry. Once, we were playing a mountain song when we heard the whistle blow. The child group member who was standing guard stopped a man with no way to go. Everyone rushed forward like bees and surrounded him, and he said that his name was Mao Zeqin, and he had come to conduct social investigations. We didn't know which Mao Zeqin was, and we insisted on not letting it go. It wasn't until the Red Army leader who knew him came that he was allowed to pass. He also praised us for doing a good job!
My dad joined the underground party at the beginning of the revolution. He was killed in 1935 at the age of 33 in Masuda Village, Jacun-gu. You see—the one on the wall was the martyr's certificate of his old man's house.
(Xu Shengjiu was a messenger soldier of the 17th Regiment of the Xingguo Model Division, and a member of the new group of Shiyan Village, Changgang Township, Xingguo County, Jiangxi, at the age of 102)
"The dead are like Sifu! Day and night. "The Gongjiang River, also known as the Du River, is the first water system of the Red Army's Long March, Wu Qingchang was born in Huichang, and the river of Huichang is called the Xiang River, which is also a tributary of the upper reaches of the Gong River. They followed the stream through their respective valleys and ravines, converging on the Gongjiang River; Through their respective years, they have been shining for a long time.
My family is a poor peasant, 4 brothers and 1 sister, a family of 8, only 2 acres of thin land, 3 mud houses. The whole family worked hard and still had to borrow money from the landlord to survive. Once, during the Chinese New Year, there was not even rice in the family, and the creditor came to collect the debt, and even took away the only pot that cooked rice.
When my father died at the age of 8, my second brother died of illness soon after, and the family was even worse, so I was sold to the landlord's house as a grandson. I cut wood and herded cattle every day in the landlord's house, and I was often beaten and scolded. The landlord said to send me to a private school for two years, and after only three months of study, he asked me to come back and do things. On that day, the daughter of the landlord Poto, who was a teacher, brought me a chicken leg, and originally asked me to show off in front of my classmates so that everyone could see how kind she treated me. Unexpectedly, I took the chicken leg and immediately swallowed it, but several classmates did not see it. In the evening, the landlord's wife learned of the situation and thought that I did not understand the rules too much, and ate a chicken leg of her family in vain. I was beaten fiercely with the bamboo seedlings of the small mangosteen, and I was scaled all over my body, screaming and hiding.
I finally understood that although I was nominally the "grandson" of the landlord, I could never enter this class every day when I came in and out of the landlord's house.
In the spring of 1929, a party organization and guerrilla group were established in Qingxi Township, Huichang County, and my third brother Wu Qinglan was one of the three party members of the party group in Mikeng Village. They often hide in my house for meetings. In December, the village began to go viral, with organizations such as the Poor Peasants' League, the Women's Association, the Young Communist Party, and the Children's League. The Soviet government led the villagers to fight the local tycoons and divide the land, and the landlord and his wife escaped with gold and silver. I get one acre of land and can produce 4 quintals of rice per season.
In 1931, I joined the Zhoutian guerrilla brigade with my brother, and I worked as a service soldier in the brigade headquarters. In October, when the Red Third Army attacked Changcheng, four of my brothers participated in the siege battle with the Zhoutian guerrilla brigade. After conquering the county seat of Huichang, the Red Army reorganized the two guerrilla units of Zhoutian and Luokou into an independent division.
In those few days, I followed everyone in line, reported numbers, and held meetings, and I was very happy that I was able to join the regular Red Army. Unexpectedly, after reporting the number, a Red Army company commander in charge of the reorganization beckoned me out of the ranks and shouted: "Come here, this little devil, you are too young to walk, go home!" ”
Think I'm too young, think my eldest brother is too old. My first enlistment in the army was rejected, and I went home with my eldest brother carrying a dart with my head hanging down. Along the way, no one comforted me, and the eldest brother came to comfort me: "I think I am too old, and I will only get older in the future, and I will not have the opportunity to become a Red Army." If you are too small, you will only get bigger and bigger in the future, and some of you will have the opportunity to become a Red Army. ”
(Wu Qingchang was a soldier of the International Division of the Young Communist Party, a native of Mikeng Village, Qingxi Township, Huichang County, Jiangxi Province, at the age of 102)
Guangming Daily ( 2022.09.30 14th edition)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily