Author Qu Quanzhen
General Chi Haotian
Mistakes and mistakes, creation and deception. It was only after 18 years that I discovered two handwritten letters written to me by Admiral Chi Haotian on July 7, 2006 and January 22, 2007. Holding the 95-year-old old General's Codex in my hand, I write this short essay in guilt.
On May 13, 2006 (Mother's Day), the People's Daily published Chi Haotian's affectionate essay "Remembering Mother". I finished reading this prose with tears in my eyes, and wrote a five-character poem that night - "Reading General Chi Haotian (Remembering Mother)":
Twilight is still strategizing,
There are a million soldiers in the chest.
Remembering the Mother with a Candle,
Haoqi book loyalty.
寒门出孝子,
Don't forget to be respectful.
Tian Mofei burst into tears,
The general is in love.
After that, I am going to be included in my poetry collection published by the People's Liberation Army Publishing House, "Guan Sai Yuan Si Ji".
In late May, the famous poet, vice president of the People's Liberation Army Publishing House, and an old friend Qiao Yan came to Chengdu to discuss matters related to the publication of my poetry collection. Mr. Yuan Qiwei, an 83-year-old calligrapher who accompanied him, saw at a glance that there was the name of "Chi Haotian" in my poem, and he read "Chi Haotian" twice in connection with the last sentence of "The general's heavy evening love", and said happily: "Poetry blends and complements each other." ”
Mr. Yuan was the first secretary general of the Chinese Calligraphy Association. Qiao Yan immediately suggested that Mr. Yuan turn the poem into a calligraphy and write the poem into a four-foot book, which he and Mr. Yuan would present to Vice Chairman Chi Haotian in person after returning to Beijing.
On July 7, Vice Chairman Chi Haotian sent me a handwritten letter. In the letter, he wrote: "There are tens of thousands of mothers like me in China. At the same time, he said: "I will treasure your masterpiece to the family heirloom and encourage future generations to be good people." The letter also sent a special collector's edition of "Remembering Mother" made by the soul of China. Unfortunately, I didn't see the letter at the time.
Before the Spring Festival in 2007, Vice Chairman Chi Haotian sent me a greeting card after recovering from a serious illness, one of which was a full-page letter written by him to me. The letter reads: "The masterpieces you entrusted to me by the poet Comrade Qiao Yan - "Guanshan Yuanxing Collection" and "Guanhe Yuanwang Collection" have been received today, and I am reading them, thank you very much! "I didn't see this letter at the time.
I recall that in the summer of 2005, after discovering that more than 20 cardboard boxes full of letters that I had kept in the cold storage of the cafeteria had been eroded into pulp by termites, the letters sent to my home were all signed by the nanny, and I put them in my own warehouse after reading them.
In July 2006, when I was stationed in the army stationed in Yunnan, and in January 2007, when my nanny came home to visit my relatives, these letters, along with other literature and periodicals, were stuffed into several large cardboard boxes by civil servants and pressed into the storeroom and no one touched them. Although I was unable to see Vice Chairman Chi's handwritten letter at that time, I can see the original now, as well as Vice Chairman Chi's important instructions on my speech at the Tibet Military Region Party Committee's Democratic Life Meeting in April 1998.
General Chi Jietian's "Remembering Mother" is an essay that presents the great image of the mother of the Chinese nation from the standpoint of national cultural rejuvenation, and was later collected by the soul of China into the cultural classics of 137 Chinese writers at home and abroad who expressed their gratitude to their mothers. The author Ding Ning wrote in the article "Endless General Tears of Mercy" (2006.6.20 Literature and Art Daily) when commenting on "Remembering Mother":
"Chi Haotian - former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and Minister of National Defense, with a burly figure, a general's demeanor, elegant demeanor, and gentleness and humility. Half his life galloped on the bloody battlefield, experienced in a hundred battles, is a famous combat hero, and has made countless achievements. He is also a calligrapher with rich characteristics, and he also writes good articles, and he really deserves the reputation of 'Confucian general'. This well-known figure, how many people can know his family and life experience in detail?
It turned out that the general was born in a poor and backward small mountain village, and his mother gave birth to 11 children, 7 of whom were saved. He is the third of his brothers, and his mother is nicknamed 'Little Three'. There are many poor people in the family, and they only live on 'bran vegetables for half a year'. How incredible is the fate of man, the son of a poor family should become a famous general, enjoying a high status and honor. Who opened this bright door of luck for him? This is also the ordinary and great mother that the article tells and the author is proud of all his life. She has never read a book or seen the world, but she is the 'pillar' of the whole family, with personality and vision. Most of the poor people in the old era believed in fate, but Comrade Chi Haotian's mother did not believe in fate, and was even more unwilling to succumb to fate. When the junior reached the age of seven, she called the whole family together and announced that she would send the junior to study in the school. She said: "Only by studying and learning culture can we change the fate of digging in the fields all our lives...... I think Xiao San is very clever, and he is a piece of material for Mr. Dang (Mr., that is, the school teacher - the author), let him go to school. This decision is no small deal in a poor home. It must be known that the junior reads, which means that the whole family has to tighten their belts. From then on, Xiao San carried a small schoolbag that his mother had remade for him from old clothes, and in the author's words: "I have stepped into a new world that has changed my life from now on." ’
In the blink of an eye, I finished reading the high school, and I didn't want to be at this time, fate took a big turn again, and the junior couldn't be a gentleman. The iron hooves of the Japanese devils stepped into their mountain village, and the mother saw with her own eyes all kinds of atrocities of the devils that exterminated their humanity. The son killed the enemy on the battlefield, life and death are uncertain, how can the mother be reluctant? But she understands a truth: 'What mother in the world doesn't cherish her son?' …… Aren't there thousands of mothers' children in the ranks of the Eighth Road? …… It seems that just being a gentleman and earning a few full meals will not change the fate of our poor! In order to fight devils and protect her hometown, this courageous mother personally sent her son to join the army.
During the war years, I have seen many tragic scenes of mothers sending their children to the battlefield, which is very exciting, on the one hand, gongs and drums and laughter; On the one hand, the admonition was accompanied by tears. When the son rode on a big horse and wore a red flower and left for the front, the mothers shouted: 'Son, fight the enemy fiercely, and come back early in victory, mother is waiting for you!' The images of those mothers still linger in my mind. Chi Haotian's mothers are the representatives of those great mothers, and it is they who decide the fate of their sons.
It was with his mother's expectations and encouragement that Chi Haotian embarked on the revolutionary journey. The smoke and flames of gunfire, the sound is cut off, and the poor mother can only miss and wait day and night in fear. Wait until the green silk turns into white hair, and wait until the face is full of wrinkles. After 12 long years of waiting, God finally opened his eyes of compassion and waited for the happiest moment of his life. In 1953, his son took the opportunity to return to his hometown as a member of the delegation of the Volunteers to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea to return to China to watch the ceremony.
The most uncontrollable part of the article is this detail:
After eating, my mother insisted on washing my feet. I understood my mother's thoughts, and obediently sat down on a high chair according to her wishes. I was about to take off my shoes and socks, but the old man insisted on refusing, she took my two feet in her arms, put them on her knees, and carefully helped me take off my shoes and socks, and pull up my trouser legs. My mother screamed in surprise, and hurriedly hugged my legs again, pulling up and pulling up my trousers, and a pair of rough, calloused hands caressed and stayed at the scar, trembling. I felt droplets of water fall on my legs, cold and heavy. I heard my mother's uncontrollable sobs, and she cried, her old and thin shoulders shaking violently, and her silver hair looked so messy. ’
Pity the heart of the world's loving mother, the scars on her son's body stabbed her sharply, and her heart was bleeding. She couldn't imagine how her son paid for his youthful blood in the cruel war, and how her son walked through the rain of bullets day and night, and the injured leg was saved by luck!
In the world, a mother's love for her children is all natural and selfless, but the expression of love and the deep meaning of love are different. But as children, our understanding and perception of kindness are not the same, they are very different. Filial piety is the most respected in traditional Chinese culture, and the ancient sages all attached great importance to filial piety. It encompasses a deep sense of humanity, ethics and morality. In today's society, it is not unreasonable for some people to regard filial piety to their parents as one of the criteria for selecting and employing people. If a person doesn't even love his parents, how can he really love the people and contribute to society? Chi Haotian has been on the battlefield for a long time, a hot-blooded man, and he is a tough guy with iron bones, generally speaking, he must be weak in family affection. In fact, Chi Haotian's article fully shows how unforgettable his love for his mother is. During the long years of war, the longing for my mother 'often rushed like a tide, knocking endlessly at the floodgates of my memory. ’”
I agree with Ding Ning's comment on the article "Missing Mother". But she didn't have the feeling of empathy and self-awareness that I had when I read the article "Missing My Mother". When I read "Remembering My Mother", my mother unconsciously appeared in front of my eyes, and I saw the images of the two mothers overlapping in a trance. I wrote in the article "Mid-Autumn Festival Memories of Mother" (in Western Prose Anthology, 2020/06): "Lu Xun said, 'Mother is great. Alexandre Dumas said, "The love between mother and child is the most sacred affection in the world." In my heart, the mother will always be the strongest support point under the crowbar of the child's life. ”
I would like to apologize to my esteemed Vice Chairman Chi Haotian for this article!
July 1, 2024 at Jiejia Building