Where the peach blossoms bloom
Author: Liang Jun
"In that place where the peach blossoms are blooming, there is my lovely hometown. Peach trees are reflected in the clear water, and peach forests surround beautiful villages. Ah, hometown, where I was born and raised, no matter where I put up the guard, always yearn for you affectionately...".
Hearing this popular old song, I not only remembered the original singer, Jiang Dawei, who was over seventy years old, but also my uncle, Hong Changyin.
Tianjin Wei in the 1960s, although it has experienced more than ten years of red baptism, still retains the historical imprint that cannot be erased. The famous Fifth Avenue, belonging to the British Concession, a noble residential area formed during the Republic of China, more than 2,000 garden houses, and the place where dignitaries and dignitaries gathered in the past were gradually civilianized. Small private bungalows of British, Italian, French, German and Spanish styles were encroached upon and encroached upon. Located in miyajima Street in the Japanese Concession, Qianyuan (1929-1931, the last emperor Puyi lived here, renamed Jingyuan, highlighting: Jing to nourish my haoran atmosphere) covers an area of 3,000 square meters, forced into 45 families who do not know where to pour in, and the courtyard has built 600 square meters of illegal buildings, becoming a veritable miscellaneous courtyard. In the 1980s, with the implementation of policies, these small western-style buildings gradually returned to their original historical appearance. The Anshan Road Elementary School where I used to attend was just across the road from Jingyuan.
Not far from Jingyuan, there is a Hami Road, which is a two-story townhouse, each with a back garden. This not long street produced three historical figures I knew, Yoshiko Kawashima, Jiang Dawei, and my uncle Hong Changyin.
No. 42 Hami Road, a small red brick building, the former site of Tianjin Dongxinglou Restaurant. The fourteenth gejin bihui of prince Tsuneyoshi of the Manchu Dynasty was adopted by the Japanese Kawashima Nanasu and renamed Yoshiko Kawashima. Before the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, she was dispatched by the Japanese spy agency in Tianjin to use her royal status to win over the old and the young in Tianjin, prepare for the establishment of Manchukuo in the northeast, and successfully abduct the last empress, Wanrong. Before and after the July 7 Incident, in 1936, she secretly sneaked back to Tianjin from Japan and lived in Hami Road, using the Kaidong Xinglou Hotel as a cover to carry out espionage activities. At that time, the Dongxinglou Restaurant was full of pomp and circumstance, and the main banquets of the Japanese army were held here, in addition to mountain treasures and seafood, they also operated kebabs. It is said that at that time, there were forty or fifty cooks and miscellaneous servants. According to the rules of Tianjin's early years, those with the word 'lou' are all first-class large restaurants. My grandfather recalled that at that time, in Hami Province, the cars of the Japanese military and police xiante came and went, and Japanese women would bow and salute when they saw Chinese, but remember, Chinese is not allowed to eat rice! In October 1945, Yoshiko Kawashima was arrested and tried by the military commanders in Peiping.
In 1947, Jiang Dawei and my uncle were born. My grandfather lived at No. 182 Hami Road, and the Jiang family was a few doors away and was a close neighbor. Two years later, when they were still toddlers, Chairman Mao announced from the top of Tiananmen Square that Chinese people would stand up from now on.
Jiang Dawei's mother was the street director of Hami Road, with a hot temperament and enthusiasm, and the neighbors respected her as 'Jiang Da Niang'. Jiang Dawei has an older sister 'Jiang Daru', who is similar to my mother's age and is a girlfriend, who often jumps in the courtyard door, jumps monkey skin bands, and buys medicine and candy to eat. Jiang Dawei and my uncle Hong Changyin are small and play at the door every day. He also has two younger brothers, Jiang Dayi and Jiang Dayi, who are behind him.
Jiang Dawei's voice was born good, and the grandfather appreciated the food and ate, and there was no block! Since childhood, I have not undergone any systematic vocal training, and when I open my voice, it is professional level, very magnetic and penetrating. At that time, he often came to play at home, and my grandfather and grandmother and my mother teased him and sang a lot. He was never shy, and he sang like a bell. My mother recalled that in the past six years, Jiang Dawei was studying in the Sixteenth Middle School, she was a teacher in the night school of the Sixteenth Middle School (now Yaohua Middle School), and every weekend, the Sixteenth Middle School Auditorium held a teacher-student party.
Beginning in 1955, Chairman Mao said: The countryside is a vast world, where great achievements can be made. Call on young intellectuals to go to the countryside and join the team. In 1968, due to economic stagnation, 4 million high school graduates stayed in the city and did nothing, and his old man once again pointed out the direction of life for young people: it was necessary for intellectual youth to go to the countryside and receive re-education from poor and lower-middle-class peasants.
In 1966, Jiang Dawei graduated from Yaohua High School and in 1968, he joined the team in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. My eldest uncle Hong Changyin went to Guilin, Guangxi to join the team, and since then the two have been on their own, and they have not seen each other again.
At that time, Jiang Dawei sang on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia: Horses galloping to protect the frontier, and my uncle sang on the Li River: Grandma's Penghu Bay and alishan girl.
In 1975, Jiang Dawei was transferred to the Central National Song and Dance Troupe as a soloist, and my uncle was transferred back to a factory in Tianjin to run supply and marketing. Since then, Jiang Dawei has experienced the prosperity of the literary and artistic cause, going to the cave and going to the Spring Festival Gala; my uncle has experienced enterprise restructuring, laid-offs, and nirvana rebirth from scratch with the army of millions of working class masters.
When I was a child, I lived near the First Workers' Cultural Palace and often watched various theatrical and opera performances. Once, when my uncle came to visit my house, I remembered that Ichigun had a poster of Jiang Dawei's performance, so I excitedly encouraged my uncle to go to him and ask for tickets to see the performance. The uncle looked embarrassed and gloomy, saying that the two people had not been in contact for many years, and it was enough to watch him mix well.
A few years ago, I returned to China to visit my relatives, and I heard that my uncle had a cerebral hemorrhage, lying in bed and unable to take care of himself, so I hurried to visit. The uncle was conscious, and when he saw me, although he could not speak, his lips squirmed, and the corners of his eyes rolled down tears of thought. For a long time, he looked at the large photograph of Jiang Dawei's performance in an old magazine next to his pillow, and his eyes were full of relief. This was the last time we met.
Jiang Dawei, who now lives in Canada, is said not to be naturalized, his voice has not fallen, and he often returns to China to participate in performances. If the brothers and sisters of the Jiang family see this, please tell Da Ru that her gift to the second sister, that little wooden lion, is still preserved by my mother!
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About the Author
Liang Jun was born in Tianjin on December 12, 1968. He is currently living in Sydney, Australia, and is a Chinese Australian.
Liang Jun's works display area, click below to read
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