Wang Shiwei, writer, was born in 1906 in Xianchuan County, Henan Province. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1926 while studying at Peking University. In October 1937, 31-year-old Wang Shiwei came to Yan'an and entered the compilation room of the Marxist-Leninist Institute of Lu Xun Art Institute to participate in the translation of Marxist classics. In March 1942, he wrote his feelings about life in Yan'an into an essay of more than 5,000 words, "Wild Lilies", which was published in the literary supplement of the Liberation Daily, an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This article caused him a killing disaster.
Martyr Wang Shiwei
【About author】Wang Shiwei (1906-1947), formerly known as Shiwei, pen name Shiwei, Shuhan, Shiwei. A native of Yanchuan, Henan. Translator, also wrote a number of literary reviews and essays. He was a special researcher in the Literature and Art Research Office of Yan'an Academia Sinica. For publishing articles such as "Wild Lilies", he was criticized in the rectification in 1942, expelled from the party in October of the same year, and imprisoned at the end of the year. In 1946, he was designated as a "counter-revolutionary Trotskyist traitor". In July 1947, he was wrongfully executed in a war environment. According to investigations, the fact that he was a secret Kuomintang spy and secret agent could not be established. On the issue of counter-revolutionary Trotskyist trotskyism, on 7 February 1991, the Ministry of Public Security stated in its Decision on the Review of the Trotskyist Problem of Comrade Wang Shiwei: "During the review, no materials on Comrade Wang Shiwei's participation in the Trotskyist organization were found. Therefore, the conclusion of 1946 as a "counter-revolutionary Trotskyist traitor" was corrected, and Wang was wrongfully executed and rehabilitated in a war environment. ”
"Wild Lilies" (by Wang Shiwei)
Wild lilies
Text/Wang Shiwei
Preface
When walking alone by the river, the old-fashioned cotton shoes on the feet of a comrade reminded me of Comrade Li Fen, my most beloved first friend, who wore such cotton shoes.
Thinking of her, my heart shook as usual. As usual, I feel that the blood circulation is stronger.
Comrade Li Fen was a 1926 preparatory student of Peking University, joined the party in the same year, and died in her hometown of Baoqing, Hunan Province, in the spring of 1928. She died not because she was arrested, but because she was tied up by her uncle and given to the local garrison. This shows how cruel the representatives of the old Chinese base are. At the same time, before dying, she wore all three sets of shirts and pants on her body and sewed them tightly together with needle thread and thread: because, after the young female communists in Baoqing were arrested and shot, the army often gangsters went to rape the corpses! This also shows what a bloody, ugly, dirty and dark society old China was! Ever since I heard her bottom nightmare, the fiercest love and hatred have been burning in my veins. Every time I think of her, I see the shadow of her holy female martyr, wearing three sets of shirts and pants that are tightly stitched together, and sent calmly by her own uncle! Every time I think of her, my heart vibrates, and my blood circulation is more powerful! (In this rising weather of singing Yutang Spring and dancing back to the golden lotus step, it seems that such a story is not very harmonious, but the current reality - please close your eyes and think about it, every minute our dear comrades fall in a pool of blood - does not seem to be very harmonious with this weather!) ）
For the sake of the interests of the nation, we no longer want to settle the old scores of class hatred. We are truly selfless. We even did everything in our power to drag the representatives of the old China all the way to the light with us. However, in the process of dragging, the filth and filth of the old China also contaminated ourselves, spreading bacteria and spreading diseases. I have drawn strength, the power of life and the power of fighting from the shadow of Comrade Li Fen more than ten or twenty times. The thought of her by chance made me decide to write some essays. Wild lilies are their general title. This has two meanings: first, this flower is the most beautiful wildflower in the Yan'an mountains, and is dedicated to the holy shadow; Secondly, it is said that this flower has the same scaly bulbs as ordinary lilies, and although it tastes slightly bitter, it is not as sweet and delicious as ordinary lilies, but it has greater medicinal value - it is unknown whether it is true.
26 Feb 1942
What is missing in our lives?
The young people of Yan'an seem to be living a little unhappy lately, and they seem to have an uncomfortable stomach.
Why? What is missing in our lives? Someone will answer: we are malnourished, we lack vitamins, so... Others will reply: The ratio of men to women in Yan'an is "eighteen to one", and many young people cannot find lovers, so ... Others will reply: Yan'an life is too monotonous, too boring, and lacks entertainment, so....
None of these answers are unreasonable. To eat better, to have a heterosexual spouse, to live a fun life, these are all natural things. But no one can fail to admit that the youth of Yan'an are engaged in the revolution with the spirit of sacrifice, not to pursue the satisfaction of food and the happiness of life. To say that they are not energetic, or even have discomfort in their stomachs, is that these problems cannot be solved satisfactorily, and I dare not agree lightly.
So, what is missing in our lives? The following conversation may reveal something.
During the New Year's holiday, one night after returning from a friend, in the dark, two young lesbians were talking in low and excited voices. How far apart we were, I relaxed my steps and listened:
“...... At every turn, let's say that people are petty-bourgeois egalitarian; In fact, he himself is really a bit specialistic. Everything is only concerned with their own specialization, and they are almost indifferent to the comrades below, whether they are good or bad, sick, or dead! ”
"Hmph, it's as black as a crow everywhere, and our comrades ×× are not like this!"
"Well said! Class fraternity, what - fart! It seems that there is not even sympathy for people! Usually people pretend to be smiling, but in fact, the skin laughs and the meat does not smile, and the meat does not smile. After a little dissatisfaction, he widened his eyes and set up a chief frame to train people. "It's like that of the big head, and it's the same for the little head. Our section chief, ×××, was respectful to the superior, but to us, he was full of spirit, and several times when comrades fell ill, he did not even stretch his head to look at it. However, once the old devil caught him a chicken, you see how much he cares about this big thing! Every time he saw an eagle flying, he howled and threw clods of earth to hit it - selfish fellow! ”
There was silence for a moment. I admire this lesbian for her sharp tongue on the one hand, and I am sad about the loss.
"There are so many sick comrades, it's sad to think about. In fact, if you are sick, you don't want that kind of person to come to see you. He can only make you feel bad. His voice, expression, and attitude do not make you feel that he cares and loves you. ”
"I have changed three or four working organs in the past two years, and there are too few chiefs, section chiefs, directors and so on, who really care about cadres and care for cadres."
"Yes, not at all! He doesn't have a little love for others, and others naturally don't love him at all. If you do mass work, you must collapse ... ”
They continued to talk in low voices and excitement. Because to divert the way, I will only hear it here, this conversation may be biased and exaggerated, and the "image" in it may not be too universal: but we must not deny that it has a mirror effect. What is missing in our lives? Look in the mirror.
Second, hit the "wall"
In the 12th issue of the "Youth Page" of this newspaper, I could not help but feel when I read an article by a comrade with the title "Hitting a Wall."
Let's first copy two paragraphs of the original text:
A middle-aged friend who had just come from the rear couldn't help but feel a little flickering when he saw the young man in Yan'an; Grumbling and venting everywhere, I thought otherwise: "What is this!" We don't know how many walls we touched outside, how much we were popular..."
His words were correct. Although Yan'an also has an angry "face", and some unsatisfactory things; But in the eyes of a person who has hit a wall many times and tasted enough of the warmth and coldness of life, it is very little, it is nothing. As for young people who have not yet joined the WTO, especially those who are students, it is very different. The family and school nurse them as adults, and love and heat whisper to them, teaching them to describe the vision of simplicity and beauty; The ugliness and coldness of reality are alien to them, and it is no wonder that they shout at the face of a small storm and feel uneasy that they have never felt before.
I don't know what kind of person the author's "middle-aged friend" is, but I think his philosophy of life of contented people is not only not "right", but harmful. The preciousness of young people lies in their purity, sensitivity, enthusiasm, bravery, and they are full of new power in life. Others do not feel the darkness, they feel it first; What others do not see, they see first; Others do not want to say what they dare not say, they say boldly, therefore, they have more opinions, but it is not necessarily "whining"; Their words may not be calm enough, but they are not necessarily "shouting". From these so-called "grumbling", "shouting" and "uneasy" phenomena, we should explore the essence of the problems that produce these phenomena, reasonably (note: reasonably!) Young people are not always "blindly shouting". Eliminate the root causes of these phenomena. Saying that Yan'an is much better than "outside", teaching young people not to "complain", and saying that the dark aspects of Yan'an are only "a slight thing" and "nothing" will not solve the problem in the slightest. Yes, Yan'an is much better than "outside", but Yan'an can and must be a little better.
Of course, young people often show that they are not calm and composed. This seems to be the author theme of "hitting a wall". But if all young people are really "young and old", how lonely the world should be! In fact, the young people of Yan'an are old enough, and the "complaints" of the two female comrades quoted above are made in a deep voice in the dark. Not only should we not hate this "whining", but we should also look at ourselves in the mirror.
To say that Yan'an's "student-born" youth are "family and school nursing them as adults, and love and enthusiasm whisper to them about life..." I think this is somewhat subjective. Although the vast majority of young people in Yan'an are "students", "have not yet entered the world", and have not "tasted enough warmth and coldness of life", the vast majority of them have also come to Yan'an from various paths of painful struggle, and their past lives may not have so much "love and heat"; On the contrary, they understood "hate and coldness" and came to the revolutionary camp to pursue "love and heat". According to the author's view of "hitting a wall", it seems that Yan'an young people are pampered. Perhaps because there is no candy to eat, they start "complaining", as for "ugliness and coldness", they are not "strange" to them; It is precisely because they know "ugliness and coldness" that they come to Yan'an to pursue "beauty and warmth", and they "can't help complaining" when they see Yan'an's "ugliness and coldness", in order to attract everyone's attention and reduce this "ugliness and coldness" to a minimum.
In the winter of 1938, when our Party conducted a large-scale inspection work, the Party Central Committee called on comrades to "talk a lot" and "raise opinions whether they are correct or wrong." This must be of great benefit to our bottom line.
III. "Inevitability", "The Sky Can't Fall" and "Little Things"
"Our bottom camp exists in the dark old society, so there is darkness in it, and this is inevitable." Yes, this is "Marxism". However, this is only half of Marxism, and there is a more important second half, which has been forgotten by the "masters of subjectivist sectarianism". The second half should be: after recognizing this inevitability, we need to use the Bolshevik initiative of fighting to prevent the dark bottom from amerging, reduce the growth of the dark bottom, and maximize the reaction of consciousness to existence. It is impossible to wipe out all darkness in our camp today; But reducing darkness to a minimum is not only possible, but necessary. However, the "masters" not only did not emphasize this point, but rarely mentioned it. They only pointed out "inevitability" and went to sleep.
Actually, it's not just sleeping. Under the excuse of "inevitability", the "masters" are very tolerant of themselves. They said to themselves warmly in their sleep: Comrade, you also came out of the old society, there is a little darkness in your soul, that is inevitable, don't blush.
So, we indirectly contribute to darkness there, or even directly create darkness!
After the "theory" of "necessity", there is a "theory" of "national form" called "the sky cannot fall". Yes, the sky will not fall. However, will our work and career not be lost because "the sky will not fall"? This layer of "masters" rarely or even never thought of in their minds. If this "inevitability" is allowed to develop "inevitably," then the heavens—the heavens of the revolutionary cause—will "inevitably" fall. Don't be so reassuring.
Related to this is a "theory" called "little things". You criticize him, saying that you shouldn't pay attention to "little things." Some "masters" even said, "Damn, lesbians pay attention to ×small things, and now gay men also pay attention to small things!" "Yes, in Yan'an, there will probably not be any big things that treason the party and the country, but everyone who acts as a person and acts in small things, some are there to help the light, and some are there to help the darkness." And the "little things" in the lives of "big people" are more than enough to evoke warmth or cause loneliness in people's hearts.
Egalitarianism and hierarchy
I heard that a certain comrade once wrote an article in the newspaper on the back wall of his own organ on the same topic, but was criticized and attacked by the "chief" of the organ, and fell into a state of semi-madness. I hope this is a misnomer. But even the immature imps have indeed been crazy, and the madness of adults is probably not impossible. Although I also feel that my nerves are not as "healthy" as some people, I am confident that I still have enough life to not fall into madness in any situation, so I dare to follow a certain comrade and also talk about egalitarianism and hierarchy.
Communism is not egalitarianism (and we are not carrying out a communist revolution today), which does not require me to do eight strands, because, I can guarantee, there is no half a man (I dare not write "cook", because I think it is somewhat ironic; But when talking to them, my reason and conscience told me to always call them "comrade cook" in the softest tone—what a pitiful little warmth! will delusionally live the same life as the "chief". When it comes to hierarchy, the problem is a little more troublesome.
One kind of person said: We don't have a hierarchy in Yan'an; This is not true, because it actually exists. Another person says: Yes, we have a hierarchy, but it is reasonable. This requires everyone to think about it with their brains.
People who say that hierarchy is reasonable have the following truths:
First, according to the principle of "each according to his ability, each takes what he wants", those who are more responsible should enjoy a little more;
The two- and three-three system governments will soon implement a salary system, and there will naturally be equal treatment;
Third, the USSR also had a hierarchy.
I think these reasons are negotiable. Regarding first, we are still in the difficult and difficult revolutionary process today, everyone is dragging the drudgery to support the suffering, and many people have lost their most precious health, so no matter who they are, it seems that they cannot talk about "value" and "enjoyment"; On the contrary, those who are more responsible should show the spirit of sharing happiness and hardship with the lower classes (which is a national virtue that should really be promoted), so that the lower classes have heartfelt love for him, which can produce true ironclad unity. Of course, special treatment is reasonable and necessary for those responsible for those who need special health benefits. Generally, those who bear important responsibilities may also be given preferential treatment. With regard to the salary system of the two- and three-three system governments, there should not be too much equality, non-party personnel can be given preferential treatment, and party members should still maintain the fine tradition of hard struggle to move more non-party people to cooperate with us. Regarding three, with all due respect, I ask this "master" who "speaks Greek" to shut up.
I am not an egalitarian, but the division of clothes into three colors and five grades of food is really not necessarily necessary and reasonable - especially when it comes to clothing (the author himself is a so-called "cadre uniform" class, grapes are not sour) everything should be solved according to the principle of reason and necessity. If, on the one hand, a sick comrade does not drink a mouthful of noodle soup, the young student receives only two meals of gruel a day (when asked if he is full, the party member has to play an exemplary role and answer: eat well!). On the other hand, there are quite healthy "big people" who make very unnecessary and unreasonable "enjoyments", so that they feel that they are aliens, and not only do they have no love for them, but - this is something that makes people think a little "uneasy".
Always talk about "love", talk about "warmth", maybe "petty-bourgeois emotional role"? Listen to criticism.
March 17
(Originally published in the "Literature and Art" supplement of Yan'an "Liberation Daily" on March 13 and 23, 1942)