"Song of Youth": Let youth be eternal

A few years ago, when I was preparing film appreciation materials for my students, I accidentally turned to a movie still, and the woman in the photo instantly attracted my attention. She is performing the oath ceremony, her eyes are clear, her eyes are firm, and a red coat outside the plain cheongsam looks particularly eye-catching, she is the heroine of the movie "Song of Youth" - Lin Daojing. The film was a sensation at the time, and there was a long queue of audiences to buy tickets to watch the movie, which is rare in the history of cinema. How did this youth film, which was more than half a century ago, affect an entire generation of young people at that time?

(i)

The film "Song of Youth" is based on Yang Mo's novel of the same name, and as a gift film for the tenth anniversary of the founding of New China, the shooting of "Song of Youth" is highly valued. Peng Zhen, then the first secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, specifically instructed that we must use the best film to shoot "Song of Youth"! Before shooting, the film extensively consulted experts from the literary and artistic circles, the film industry, and the press, and Xia Yan revised the script word by word. After the filming of the film, it was highly affirmed by Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi and other national leaders. This film is a model for the party's leadership of literary and artistic work, which is ingenious and self-contained in terms of narrative methods, historical perspectives and aesthetic styles, and has become an indelible cultural memory in the history of the development of Chinese literature and art.

Set against the backdrop of the historical period from "9.18" to "12.9", "Song of Youth" tells the story of the growth of young petty-bourgeois intellectuals into proletarian revolutionaries in the fierce social struggle. The protagonist Lin Daojing is persecuted by the feudal family, rebelling against the old-fashioned arranged marriage and desperate, and when he desperately jumps into the sea to commit suicide, he is saved by Yu Yongze, a Peking University student with the demeanor of a "knight and poet", and knows and loves each other and forms a family. Yu Yongze constantly exposed his selfishness, mediocrity and utilitarianism after marriage, while Lin's heart still longed for freedom and independence, but he struggled to find a way and wandered in misery. At this time, Lin Daojing met the revolutionary Lu Jiachuan, and under the guidance of Lu Jiachuan, he began to contact the revolutionary concept, and gradually realized that individual struggle must be combined with collective struggle, and the fate of the individual and the fate of the country are closely related. Lin Daojing and Yu Yongze's ideological and road differences grew, and eventually yu drove away Lu Jiachuan, who was hiding in his home, resulting in the latter being arrested and killed. Behind the split between Lin Daojing and Yu Yongze are the differences and struggles between two ideas, two world views, and two paths. Later, under the influence of Revolutionaries such as Lin Hong and Jiang Hua, Lin Daojing went deep into the countryside, intervened in reality, threw herself into struggle, and grew into a proletarian revolutionary fighter under the cultivation of the Party.

(ii)

Lin Daojing's growth is a typical representative of the mental journey of Chinese intellectuals after the "May Fourth". Lin Daojing in the play was once compared to "Nala" and experienced three "exoduses". Lin Daojing's first exodus was to flee from the feudal family, which meant the abandonment of his class origin; the second exodus was to escape from a comfortable and closed small family, which meant the independence of women and the transcendence of the path of petty-bourgeois life; the third exodus was to leave the city, to go to the revolutionary road in the combination with the masses of workers and peasants, and finally to complete spiritual salvation by the power of faith. Mr. Lu Xun had predicted that there were only two paths after Nala left—to fall or to return. In the play, the revolutionary practice led by the Communist Party of China makes Lin Daojing find a third way. At this time, the revolutionary ideal replaced the petty-bourgeois individualism and liberal values, and Lin Daojing stepped out of the small circle of family life and entered an incomparably broad world. After experiencing resistance, struggle and struggle, she constantly transcended her class origin, self-transformation, self-breakthrough, self-transformation, completed the search for the path of life in the spiritual baptism, and realized the sublimation of the value of life.

"Song of Youth" resonates the history of individual growth with the history of the revolutionary struggle of the Chinese Communist Party. Lin Daojing's initial starting point was to pursue the liberation of personality, but he could not find a way out, and he was confused and trapped. Under the guidance of spiritual teacher Lu Jiachuan, he gradually realized that there is first national liberation, and then there is personal liberation and a way out. In the rural areas of Dingxian County, Lin Daojing saw the cruel reality of the peasant class and the sharp class contradictions, profoundly realized that "the basic problem of the Chinese revolution is the peasant problem", and she truly stood with the masses of the people emotionally and in action. In prison, Lin Daojing experienced the test of purgatory, withstood the tempering of struggle and spiritual baptism, and finally established the belief in communism. At this time, the individual ego no longer belonged merely to the individual, but was integrated into a sublime and vast whole, and the finite life of the individual was eternal in the sacred cause of national liberation and proletarian revolution.

"Song of Youth" realizes the organic combination of revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism. The film always exalts the passion of idealism, youth and blood, rebellion and resistance, through ideological enlightenment and political enlightenment, this ideal is implemented as the goal of "achieving a society without exploitation and oppression". In the face of a deep national crisis, the idealism of the young revolutionaries was finally transformed into a realistic action to destroy an old world and open up a new one. In the film, at the "March 18" commemorative meeting, Lin Daojing is still outside the struggle, wanting to participate in it but at a loss; and in the "12.9" student movement, she sometimes stands on the running train and mobilizes loudly, sometimes walking in the forefront of the student movement team and shouting, indicating that she has grown into a strong revolutionary fighter. Lin Daojing became more and more mature and regained a new life in the struggle, gained new life values, found a new direction in life, and gained new spiritual strength.

"Song of Youth" shows the heroic spirit of struggle of the Communists and the revolutionary courage of passing on the torch. "A man of lofty ideals, who has no survival to harm benevolence, who has to kill himself to become a benevolent person." The Chinese Communists have inherited the sacrificial ethics and martyrdom spirit of the Chinese traditional knowledge molecules, and in the spiritual world of the Communists, above the lives of individuals, there are higher values and ideals worth pursuing. Lu Jiachuan's perseverance and determination in singing the "Internationale" when he was about to be executed, Lin Hong's revolutionary optimism and strong and indomitable spirit of struggle showed the loftiness and thickness of faith in the test and choice of life and death. Lin Hong enlightened Lin Daojing in prison: "A Communist Party member has the right to stop the struggle only after he closes his eyes. "Life is fleeting, but spirit is eternal." After Lu Jiachuan's arrest, Lin Daojing kept the secret documents he delivered, distributed the leaflets he left behind, and completed Lu Jiachuan's legacy and unfinished business. Lin Hong gave Lin Daojing a red sweater before his sacrifice, suggesting that the revolutionary torch was passed on. At the moment when Lin Daojing took the oath of joining the party, he wore a red sweater and solemnly promised: "Give your whole life to the party and fight to the end for the greatest and noblest communist cause in the world!" This spirit of dedication has a profound appeal, the spark of the revolution is sparking, and countless enthusiastic young people like Lin Daojing have participated in the revolution and composed a song of youth with enthusiasm, dedication and sacrifice, which has jointly created the suffering and glory of the Chinese nation.

(iii)

It is worth mentioning that when the use of workers, peasants, and soldiers as the protagonists became the trend of literary and artistic creation, the film "Song of Youth" with the petty bourgeoisie as the protagonist was also questioned and criticized by some people, and this doubt triggered a "defense war" about "Song of Youth". With the participation of critics such as Mao Dun and He Qifang, a large number of defense articles were published in the media, which was a big view for a while. In fact, the theme of the transformation and growth of petty-bourgeois intellectuals is one of the important reasons why this film stands out and is unique. Premier Zhou Enlai clearly instructed how the petty bourgeoisie participated in the revolutionary struggle and grew into revolutionaries in the struggle, which is very good, of course, it can be written. It is important to write how they grew up and transformed into revolutionaries! Through the efforts of filmmakers such as director Cui Wei, Chen Huaigao and starring Xie Fang, the film was finally successful, and after more than half a century, it is still a classic. At that time, the domestic theaters continued to be full for many days and broadcast for 24 consecutive hours, but also had a huge influence overseas. After watching the movie "Song of Youth", many Young Japanese people have asked to join the Japanese Communist Party. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Indonesia has made "Song of Youth" a compulsory textbook for party members, which is also popular in Vietnam and North Korea.

After 62 years of passing, looking back at the classics, you can still feel its exquisite artistic expression, the real and moving historical narrative, and the shocking power contained in the ideals and beliefs it carries. "Song of Youth" records the history of the growth and struggle of a generation of young people with a high-pitched and enterprising melody, and will also inspire and inspire generations of Chinese youth to write their youth with loftiness and enthusiasm under the conditions of the new era!