Today is the third anniversary of the death of Mr. Huang Rongsen, the lyricist of the song "Railway Soldiers in the Quartet", because Fujian Satellite TV filmed the documentary "Yingxia Railway", I looked for relevant documents, and saw Mr. Huang Lao wrote to me more than 20 years ago "Talking about "Railway Soldiers in the Quartet", I specially forwarded it to express the memory of Mr. Huang Rongsen, the "hero" of the railway soldiers.
Mr. Huang is an ordinary and outstanding railway soldier!
He participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and followed the troops to build major projects such as the Yingxia Railway and the Nenlin Railway, and received many awards for meritorious service.
His greatest contribution to the railway soldiers is to create the classic military song "Railway Soldiers Ambition in the Quartet", from the premier of the Republic Zhou Enlai, to generations of railway soldiers commanders and fighters, as well as the majority of employees of China Railway Construction, the second generation of iron, the third generation of iron, all love and sing. This immortal song writes the spirit of selfless dedication of the railway soldiers in all directions, like flags and horns, inspiring and inspiring officers and soldiers and employees to move forward bravely without fear of hardships and dangers, and the heroic team continues to move from victory to greater victory.
In the second half of Mr. Huang's life, due to the reasons of the times and personal choice, he lived in a corner of Hebei Xinglong County Railway Bing 6444 Factory. He is low-key and active, responsible for the cultural work of the unit, composing songs, cultivating literary and artistic backbones, organizing and carrying out a variety of cultural and entertainment activities, participating in railway soldiers and local literary and artistic performances, and winning many honors. He has also been awarded as an outstanding political cadre in Chengde many times.
His character and realm are not exaggerated to describe as "high mountains look up". He cut back on food and clothing and donated money to Project Hope to help children in poor areas go to school. For thirty or forty years, he took care of his beloved wife Cui Mulan, who suffered from Parkinson's, washing his face, bathing, feeding medicine, and feeding...... Friends who went to visit the patients were all amazed that they were "as neat as a healthy person"; Some time after his wife's death, he "habitually" took the medicine and said to the empty bedroom: "It's time to take the medicine!" He died on May 17, 2023 at the age of 87, and his will: the future will be simple, no memorial service, no farewell to the body; cornea donation; The ashes were scattered in the Yellow River in his hometown of Jinan......
After his death, his comrades-in-arms of the railway soldiers and the factory workers he worked for before his death wrote hundreds of memorial poems and more than 100,000 words; In addition, his former colleague Li Xiaoqin, a retired cadre of Nankai University in his 70s, wrote a more than 30,000-word "Biography of Huang Rongsen", which was published on my official account and other media......
Huang Rongsen, forever missed!
Mr. Huang's letter to me.
Comrade Mei:
(Yu) Shanming forwarded your letter and two articles about the "Song of the Soldiers" (over-reputation). Judging from the date, it has been written for many days, this is not a late relay by Shanming, just because my wife has been seriously ill for many years, I concentrate on waiting, and I don't want my old comrades-in-arms to see her sad, so I have long refused to come and go with my comrades-in-arms, blame me for everything, please forgive me.
I sent an old photo with two intentions: one is that we have never met, and you care about me warmly, I am very grateful! The right to send a photo should be a meeting, and from then on they will be comrades-in-arms who know each other. The significance of the second floor is that the old photo taken in 1965 at the Daxinganling construction site roughly coincides with the promotion period of the so-called "Soldier Song".
Although the photo is a private photo of my wife taking her children to the mountains to visit relatives during the summer vacation, the couplet on the gate of the barracks in the background expresses and records the feelings of the road construction soldiers in those years - the small pillar reads "Raise your arms to split the Xing'an Mountains, wave your hand to attract the iron dragon to fly"; The big pillar reads: "Build the motherland, work hard all your life, skillfully embroider mountains and rivers, and strive for the happiness of all generations". Through the doorway, you can also see a mud house made of adobe and tree branches, which is the canteen of the 11th regimental headquarters. Whenever comrades come back from the construction site, there is often such a loud conversation in front of the earthen house: "Is there any steamed rice today?" "(Rice), "It's all braised red!" (Sorghum rice)...... After that, both sides laughed, and everyone loved to be amused in such suffering at that time!
I can't help you ask me for a manuscript, so I can use this private letter to talk about my experience by the way, and I have the right to introduce the background of my original creation.
In the summer of 1950, after completing the maintenance task of the Jinghan Line, the Third Iron Division to which I belonged was transferred to the Tianshui area to repair the western section of the Longhai Line. At the end of the year, he went to Shenyang and entered the DPRK after the year. After the armistice, the 3rd Division returned to China and accepted the task of building the new Baocheng Railway, and our division's art and art team set up a propaganda and agitation station in the southern suburbs of Baoji City to publicize the great significance of developing the great southwest and send off the troops to march to Qinling. Within a few days, the military order suddenly changed, and the troops turned around and retreated to Jiangxi, in order to urgently build the Yingxia Line and prepare to attack Taiwan. Several divisions were concentrated on the Yingxia line, and the third division was stationed in Yingtan, which was the starting point.
At that time, I went down to the railway survey team in advance to "experience life", and I had already entered the mountainous area, and I was ordered to set up an agitation station. So, I chose a hillside facing the hills and setting up a tweeter on the slope with the mountain in the back. Whenever they saw a troop appearing, they would play the People's Liberation Army march and their own draft of the condolence drum. Every day, the sight of a procession of people with their bags and guns striding along the trail into the mountains is etched in my mind again and again (which is why I used the term "long line" in my original book). Soon after, the division's art team was disbanded, and I became a propaganda officer in the political department.
The 3rd Division was a lucky unit, and after completing the starting section of the Wuyi Mountain in Yingtan, it was suddenly transferred to the other end, passing through Daiyun Mountain to Xiamen. In particular, the track-laying task of the tail section was also handed over to the 3rd Division. I was assigned to compile and print the "Advance Express" on the command car, and I was able to cover the news freely, and I was fortunate enough to witness the magnificent scene of moving mountains and reclaiming the sea, and I personally experienced the excitement and cheers of the masses at home and abroad when the train entered Xiamen Station.
After the completion of the Yingxia line, the higher authorities issued a national railway plan to educate the troops to build a large east-west passage from Fujian to Yunnan and Guizhou. The Third Division was ordered to go to the border area between Hunan and Guizhou to repair the Hunan-Guizhou line, and after working for a year, because the country urgently needed to exploit some kind of mineral deposits for national defense, the Third Division was transferred back to Jiangxi to build the railway from Nanchang to Fuzhou.
From west to east and from north to south, the troops have been transferred across provinces every year, and the beautiful scenery of the motherland's great mountains and rivers has attracted and inspired the soldiers to stride in all directions and build roads where the motherland needs them most, which has become the common aspiration of all commanders and fighters. The lyrics of "Ambition in All Directions" are not produced by the author himself, but by being educated and inspired in the fiery revolutionary environment. The comrades of the scripture troupe composed music and sang, and processed it artistically, which not only has a beautiful and touching melody, but also integrates the momentum of the majestic march, so that the work can be improved and sublimated. As for the modification changes in some parts of the word, I did not know the details because I was still working in the army at the time.
Now this song can be sung for a long time, and my personal experience lies first of all in Premier Zhou's great charisma. The beloved Premier Zhou has devoted his revolutionary life to the best of his ability, and his words and deeds during his lifetime have been indelibly engraved in the hearts of the people. At that time, Premier Zhou personally assigned tasks to the railway soldiers, asking them to go to the places where the motherland needed them most, and at the same time used a song to encourage everyone. Now, when the comrades sing this song, it is naturally fused with the deep affection of remembering Premier Zhou and stimulating fighting spirit. Second, today's motherland is reforming and opening up, leaping forward to become a world power, and as a road construction army with revolutionary traditions and glorious achievements in building the motherland, it is also willing to express its feelings of carrying forward the past and forging ahead into the future to create greater brilliance through an old song that embodies the glorious journey.
Since I was a child, I have been partial to geography classes, and when I am old, I have an indispensable arrangement in my room - that is, to hang a large map. I often stare at the map and think about it, as if I saw on the map that my comrades-in-arms in the new era were driving modern road construction machinery and "weaving" a brilliant and dazzling high-tech railway network on the splendid mountains and rivers of the motherland.
I wish "China Railway Construction News" more and more popular, and good news is frequent!
I wish you a good harvest and the icing on the cake for your newspaper!
Huang Rongsen
2003.9.22.
Mr. Huang hangs a map at home.
"Railway Soldiers' Ambition in the Quartet" was first published in the "Railway Soldiers" newspaper on April 21, 1962.
The former retired veterans choir of the Fifth Division of the Railway Corps sang "The Railway Soldiers Are Determined in the Quartet".
China Railway Southern Company and the staff of China Railway 22nd Bureau sang "Railway Soldiers in the Quartet".
Zhu Huagen, a comrade-in-arms of the railway soldiers, sang "The Railway Soldiers Are Determined in the Quartet" on CCTV.
Mr. Huang's last handwriting: The railway soldiers are determined in all directions.
The first page of Mr. Huang's letter to me.
Mr. Huang's ashes were scattered into the Yellow River in his hometown of Jinan.
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