One day in February 1942, when Uchiyama was processing customer ordering, his clerk, Mr. Wang, suddenly shouted, "Boss, the sea baby has called." ”
After hearing the call, Uchiyama hurriedly walked toward the phone. The word "sea baby" was too important to him, because the sea baby was the only son of his late best friend Lu Xun, Zhou Hai Baby.
When Uchiyama walked to the phone, he still had a pen in his hand that he had not had time to put down, and when he heard the voice of the sea baby on the phone, he became nervous.
On the other end of the phone, Zhou Hainian had been crying, so Uchiyama had to work very hard to figure out what was going on. In "My Friend Lu Xun", Uchiyama summed up Zhou Haiying's narration of the day as follows:
"Early this morning, while still asleep, suddenly a lot of Japanese gendarmes came. They rummaged around, snatched letters from many friends to their fathers and books written by their fathers, and forcibly took away their mothers. Please help me!"
Zhou Haiying and Xu Guangping
When Zhou Hainian called Uchiyama, Lu Xun had been dead for five years, and the former Zhou Haiying had grown into a 12-year-old teenager.
But even though Lu Xun had been dead for a long time, Uchiyama had always placed this friend in the most important position. Therefore, after knowing the origin of the matter, Uchiyama quickly disposed of it: he first comforted Zhou Haiying, and then sent Mr. Wang to pick up Zhou Haiying and understand the situation.
Having done this, he quickly wrote a detailed written request to the gendarmerie, which was to the effect of the following:
"Ms. Xu Guangping is the surviving person of Mr. Lu Xun, and she and her son Haiying are dependent on each other, and the current residence is only a hermitage. At present, the Memorial Committee of Mr. Lu Xun is promoting the publication plan of Mr. Lu Xun's posthumous manuscript, and Ms. Xu is naturally one of the responsible.
Therefore, she should not be doing anything else now. If anything happens, I will bear all the consequences. Anyway, please let her go home early! Please!"
While Uchiyama was anxiously waiting for the gendarmerie to reply, Mr. Wang was listening to Xu Guangping's residence in Xiafei Road in the French Concession. When Mr. Wang rushed to Xu Guangping's house, Zhou Haiying had already been picked up by relatives. He then inquired about the situation with his neighbors and housekeepers, who told him:
"After the gendarmerie came, they rummaged through Xu Guangping's house no. 46, and finally they took some things and forcibly took Xu Guangping."
After Mr. Wang returned to the bookstore to inform Uchiyama of the situation, he sighed for a long time after a long silence, and Uchiyama felt that this matter was quite complicated, and he was not too sure whether he could rescue Xu Guangping.
The inner mountain was completed
Soon, Uchiyama waited for a reply from the gendarmerie, in which they wrote:
"Now that you know the details, you don't have to worry. Because Ms. Xu is the surviving person of Mr. Lu Xun and is a woman, we will treat her specially. Rest assured! However, there is no rush in terms of deadlines, but we will end it as soon as possible. ”
After receiving the reply, his heart became more and more full of mixed feelings, and his heart was full of worry, he knew: According to their meaning, Xu Guangping had the possibility of being released, but the time limit was uncertain, and this "uncertainty" made him feel like a worm scratching in his heart.
The night he received the letter, Uchiyama lay on the bed and couldn't sleep. In the middle of the night, he suddenly remembered the scene when he and Lu Xun first met at the Neishan Bookstore, when he was wearing a blue cloth robe and his appearance was extremely simple. He had a black beard under his nose, and the most attractive thing about his whole body was his black eyes.
He always remembered Lu Xun's first words in Japanese and what he said: "Boss, please send this book to Anle Road Jingyunli XX Road." Because he had already heard his wife talk about this big patron who often came to buy books, and was attracted by his style after seeing himself, Uchiyama became more and more so: "This gentleman, what do you call you?" Lu Xun listened, "Oh, just call me Zhou Shuren." After hearing this, Uchiyama completed the construction and realized that the person in front of him was the famous Lu Xun.
After that first acquaintance, the two often drank tea and chatted together. In the chat again and again, Uchiyama had a sense of seeing and hating Lu Xun.
Exterior view of the Uchiyama Bookstore where Lu Xun and Uchiyama completed their acquaintance
Because Lu Xun liked books and often patronized the Neishan Bookstore, he was often recognized by customers as the boss. Every time he was mistaken, he would always laugh and say to Uchiyama in Japanese, "The old version (Lu Xun's specific title for Uchiyama), just now that person treated me as you." Uchiyama couldn't help but laugh when he heard it.
Uchiyama remembered that Xu Guangping, the wife who knew Lu Xun, was known for a long time after the two of them had known each other, and when Lu Xun told him the news of his "marriage", he was surprised and asked, "Isn't your wife (Juan) in Beijing?" How could it be..." Lu Xun listened and said, "Oh, that's my mother's daughter-in-law, but not my daughter-in-law." ”
It was also from Lu Xun's words that Uchiyama finally determined that the lady in Lu Xun's mind was Xu Guangping, who was being imprisoned at the moment. The more this happened, the more anxious Uchiyama's heart became.
From the time Of Lu Xun fell ill to his death, Uchiyama was always with him, and Lu Xun's doctor, Mr. Sudo, was also invited by him. The last note that Lu Xun wrote before his death was written to him. Before Lu Xun's death, it was he who helped Lu Xun find a doctor and accompanied Lu Xun to relieve his pain by the bedside.
Lu Xun wrote the last note to Uchiyama
Unfortunately, when Lu Xun left, he did not send the last journey after all. Originally, he could send Lu Xun to the end, but because he had taken care of Lu Xun for too long before, Xu Guangping repeatedly urged him to rest, he had to leave for a while, did not think, he just left, Lu Xun left forever.
Uchiyama always felt that Lu Xun had a lot to say to him, so why not. When Lu Xun first swallowed his breath, he cried like a child when he put his hand on Lu Xun's warm forehead. Until the temperature of Lu Xun's forehead slowly cooled, he was reluctant to put his hand down: he was too reluctant to let him down.
It is also because of his reluctance that Lu Xun died in the years, and many things he did were to commemorate Lu Xun. He made woodblock prints, which were influenced by Lu Xun. In the five years since he left, he has always insisted on selling progressive books in bookstores, and he has always taken extra care of Lu Xun's former students and friends who went to bookstores.
After handling Lu Xun's funeral, Uchiyama also specially instructed Xu Guangping: If you have any difficulties, you can come to him at any time. Perhaps because of this, after she was arrested, she would tell her son to call him.
Xu Guangping trusted Uchiyama so much, naturally because he had reached out to them countless times when they were in distress. According to historical records, during Mr. Lu Xun's round-up, Uchiyama provided refuge for his family five times before and after the completion of the building.
At one point, he even hid them in the attic of his bookstore, and their sheltered apartment was also found by Uchiyama. It can be said that if neishan had not been completed, Lu Xun's family might have been arrested or even killed a long time ago.
Lu Xun and Uchiyama were completed
After Uchiyama finished helping them countless times, Xu Guangping also had an extraordinary trust in him, and she always felt that he could help them get out of danger at any time.
However, at this time, Uchiyama Guanzao, who already knew Xu Guangping's situation, felt that he was "insufficient in his heart", although he was familiar with the gendarmerie, he did not know what Xu Guangping was arrested for, and if the situation was serious, even if he tried his best, he might not be able to keep her safe.
The more he thought about this, the more awake Uchiyama became, and seeing that he could not sleep, he simply went to the study with his hands and feet. When I walked to the corridor, a cold wind blew in, and Uchiyama remembered: This period of cold weather, Xu Guangping, who was in prison, would definitely need blankets, quilts, and clothes to spend these days.
Early the next morning, Uchiyama prepared a lot of clothes, food, and so on, and went to the Japanese Gendarmerie Headquarters on Sichuan Road, where Xu Guangping was imprisoned, and asked the gendarmerie to deliver things to Xu Guangping. After the things were delivered, Uchiyama was slightly relieved, and he comforted himself, saying, "With these clothes and food, she can always live better inside." ”
Uchiyama did not understand politics, so he could not understand the reason behind Xu Guangping's arrest. Naturally, he did not know that Xu Guangping was arrested because she was defined as a "suspicious person of the ccp's underground party." After Xu Guangping was arrested, the characters mentioned in Lu Xun's diary were regarded as the list of the underground party. Xu Guangping was naturally very angry about this kind of nonsense.
Because Xu Guangping refused to admit that the person mentioned in Lu Xun's diary that was found was an underground party, nor did he admit that he had engaged in underground revolutionary activities, the gendarmerie team tortured her to extract a confession.
According to historical records, Xu Guangping was not only beaten with a leather whip by the officers at that time, but also threatened to "strip naked and go to Nanjing Road to show the public." ”
Because Xu Guangping refused to give in after being tortured many times, the gendarmerie then electrocuted her. When the electric shock, the current will "nourish" through Xu Guangping's hands and feet, internal organs, bone marrow, brain, tendons and veins, under the cruel electric shock of the enemy, Xu Guangping fainted several times and woke up. Under the torture of the enemy, Xu Guangping's body collapsed rapidly, and her legs and feet were even inconvenient to walk due to pain.
Lu Xun and Xu Guangping took a group photo
During Xu Guangping's detention, every few days, Uchiyama would send her clothes and food. Every time he delivered something, he nodded his head and begged the guards to reveal some news related to Xu Guangping. But unfortunately, every time he could not find out the key information.
The only information he had found came from the gendarmerie: "She (Xu Guangping) has a roster of Communists at hand, so we have to inquire about each Communist Party member one by one. Therefore, it may take some time, but please rest assured! Even in the official office, Ms. Xu also enjoys special treatment. ”
When Uchiyama heard this, he felt uneasy in his heart. The last time he sent something to Xu Guangping through the gendarmerie, he repeatedly instructed: "After the matter is over, please contact me quickly so that I can come and greet me."
However, shortly thereafter, at the end of February, when Uchiyama was preparing to go to the place where Xu Guangping was being held again, the gendarmerie sent him a telegram saying: "Ms. Xu has been delivered to the 'Seventy-six' on Jisifei Road." In addition, they informed him to take back items such as quilts.
Seemingly calm seventy-six
The moment he got the news, Uchiyama almost fell to the ground on both legs. Because, before that, he already knew: "Seventy-six is a human slaughterhouse, and few people can get out of it alive." ”
The place on The 76th is marked by the Bureau of Survey and Statistics of the National Government of Nanjing (the Wang puppet regime), whose first director was Li Shiqun, who became the second director of Ding Mo Estate after his death. At the time of the incident, the person in charge of No. 76 was Ding Mo Estate.
Almost immediately after Uchiyama finished, he managed to contact the seventy-sixth person, and he was ready to do everything he could to exchange Xu Guangping for him. As usual, he began to spend money on dots. Uchiyama realized that to be clear about the situation, he had to see Xu Guangping himself.
On February 27, Uchiyama, who had been worried all along, received a phone call from Xu Guangping, in which she told him: "The director said that as long as you guarantee me, I will be allowed to go home immediately." Anyway, please come and visit! Please! ”
After hanging up the phone, Uchiyama and Mr. Wang immediately took the first line to "Seventy-Six". Along the way, Uchiyama was very nervous, he was very nervous, he couldn't understand why they suddenly agreed to release people.
Uchiyama did not see Xu Guangping that day, and the reply he and Mr. Wang received after waiting there for a long time was: "I am very sorry." Please come a little early tomorrow morning, seven or eight o'clock. ”
Seeing this scene, Uchiyama was very anxious, and he was very worried that Xu Guangping would be anxious because he did not see him. Therefore, he repeatedly pleaded with the staff and Xu Guangping to tell the truth of the matter. Unfortunately, they did not convey it to him.
When he returned home that day, Uchiyama had been hanging his head in despair, and he had a feeling of waiting to be sentenced, that feeling: It was really worse than the end of the world. That night, he did not sleep for another night, he wanted to deliberately not think about his old friend Lu Xun, but the more he did not want to think about it, his figure continued to appear in his mind.
Lu Xun (first from left) and Uchiyama (first from right) and others
The next day, Uchiyama finished building extremely early, and after getting up and washing up a few times, he and Mr. Wang rushed to the seventy-sixth. Upon arrival, Uchiyama negotiated with the guards for a long time, and it was not until noon that he finally entered the door.
After entering the small room, Uchiyama saw the small window for formalities, and when he was about to go to the office, a man who was distributing came over and said, "Mr. Uchiyama, what noble work do you have, it is rare for you to come here!" "This man was a man who knew Uchiyama, but unfortunately, he could not remember the name of the man at that time, nor did he know what position he held.
After having a chance encounter with the man who distributed it, Uchiyama was much smoother on the seventy-sixth than before, and he quickly got the relevant form of bail at the window and stamped it. The staff member said after he stamped: "It is really difficult, the guarantor must hold the merchant of the Chinese store, otherwise it will not be approved." "The implication is that they still have the formalities that have not been completed, and people cannot let them go."
While the two sides were negotiating, Xu Guangping was taken out by a man.
After seeing that the Inner Mountain was finished, Xu Guangping took three steps and made two steps and ran over. The moment the two held hands tightly together, four lines of tears also flowed down. Xu Guangping did not say a word but silently shed tears, Neishan could not cry after finishing the construction, and Mr. Wang on the side also shed tears when he saw it.
After trying to calm his emotions, Uchiyama hurriedly said, "I have submitted a letter of guarantee, and we can go back together today." Xu Guangping listened and only choked and nodded.
Lu Xun and Xu Guangping
Just then, the previously spun man came out. Mr. Wang told him that the staff did not agree to bail, and he listened to the back and said with embarrassment: "You can let it go." Actually, other Japanese people are not allowed, but because you are Mr. Uchiyama, you approved it. When he finished, he said to the window himself, "Yes, yes."
Uchiyama and Xu Guangping were instantly relieved to hear the man's words. But the man added:
"Actually, Ms. Xu could have gone back with you today." However, the director went to Suzhou this morning and will not be able to return the day after tomorrow. Therefore, please wait until the day after tomorrow to go back. ”
Uchiyama was shocked to hear this, and Xu Guangping's face instantly turned white. When Uchiyama was finished, even if it was on fire, Pingsu was extremely cultivated and said angrily:
"What an excess! If Ms. Xu can go home today, everyone will be happy, but she will not be able to go home until the day after tomorrow. Isn't that appetizing? Please don't say such an excessive thing, give people back to me today, I will bear any responsibility. ”
When he said this, Uchiyama's face was already flushed, and he knew that he was forcibly forcing people to release. The man hesitated for a moment or refused to let people go, he only turned to Xu Guangping and said sincerely:
"Because I got a letter of guarantee from Mr. Uchiyama, there will be no mistakes." Rest assured!"
Xu Guangping was so excited to see Uchiyama for the first time, and her heart was both touched and guilty, and she hurriedly followed the words of the man who was emitting: "Good, good, good." ”
Seeing that Xu Guangping had already agreed, Uchiyama said to the man with a calm face, "Then it must be released the morning after tomorrow." No mistakes. ”
Uchiyama finished group photo with Lu Xun and others
Since Xu Guangping would not be able to return until the day after tomorrow, Uchiyama and Mr. Wang had to return home first. The next day, Uchiyama was ready to send Mr. Wang alone to negotiate the deposit. Because he had been worried, on that day, his meal was less than half of his usual meal.
On the day of waiting, Uchiyama kept walking around the room, afraid that things would change again. You know, the seventy-sixth man can do anything.
After two o'clock that day, Uchiyama was pacing back and forth in the house: the phone rang. On the other end of the phone was Xu Guangping's voice, and she said in a relaxed and cheerful tone, "Mr. Uchiyama, I have just arrived home." Thank you! Can you bother to let Mr. Wang come? ”
Hearing this, Uchiyama was stunned: "The deposit has not been paid, how did she get released in advance?" This incident made Uchiyama puzzled.
Later, when Uchiyama recounted this period in his recollection, he speculated that the reason for her release was that the people of The Seventy-Sixth were jealous of Xu Guangping's identity as Lady Lu Xun, so they had to release her.
Mr. Wang believes that Xu Guangping was able to return safely because Uchiyama's acquaintance with men played a role.
Some people also believe that Xu Guangping was released because she did not leave any confession from beginning to end, and the enemy could not take her.
Xu Guangping
For a long time after this incident passed, Uchiyama was looking for a Copy of Lu Xun's diary and seal that Xu Guangping had lost when he was arrested. But even though he had found many people and thought of many ways, the diary of Lu Xun, which had been taken away by the gendarmerie, was nowhere to be found.
It was not until many years later that people learned that it was false for The Seventy-Sixth to say that xu Guangping would be released, and that they wanted to find out whether it was true that the underground party related to Xu Guangping was true in this way. The people of number seventy-six believe that the person who came to bail must be her party, and as long as "he" appears, they can catch this party and convict Guangping.
The people of the seventy-sixth number did not calculate it, and the person Xu Guangping found to bail himself was the Japanese Uchiyama. In the end, Xu Guangping was able to get out of the seventy-sixth safely, thanks to the completion of the Uchiyama.
After his release from prison, Xu Guangping wrote "Record of Darkness" to expose this history, and after Uchiyama saw the translation, he specially wrote a preface to "Memories of That Time" for it.
Eleven years after the incident, in 1953, Uchiyama and Xu Guangping met again in Beijing. Bye-bye, China has entered a new era. On the day of the meeting, they cried as usual. After crying, they told each other about their lives after separation, and naturally they also remembered Lu Xun together.
The old mountain was completed
It was at this meeting that Xu Guangping recounted the details of the time of his arrest, saying: "If it were not for the maid's insistence that the third floor of the house was rented to someone else, the diaries (Lu Xun) hidden on the third floor would definitely be disfigured by the gendarmes." Hearing this, Uchiyama couldn't help but sigh, "It's really urgent, it's too dangerous!" ”
After separating from Xu Guangping, Uchiyama was in turmoil, and 8 years before they met again, his wife Mikiko Uchiyama died. After his wife's death, he buried his wife in the Cemetery of All Nations, and the reason why he chose this place as his wife's resting place was naturally because Lu Xun was also buried here.
He thought: After a hundred years, he will be buried here.
Uchiyama with his wife
Uchiyama and Lu Xun had lived next to each other for more than ten years, and he was already accustomed to that kind of life, so after he died, he also wanted to continue that kind of life.
However, more than two years after his wife's death, Uchiyama, who never wanted to leave China again, was forcibly repatriated, and the Uchiyama Bookstore in China, which had been in business for 28 years, was forced to close. When forced to close the Uchiyama Bookstore, Uchiyama recalls the first scene of his and Lu Xun's bookstore.
After returning to China, he has been translating and publishing Lu Xun's works, and I think he is doing his best for his friends in this way. In his later years, Uchiyama was committed to promoting Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges, and he often traveled to the front line of promoting Sino-Japanese friendship. In 1950 he participated in the founding of the Japan-China Friendship Association, and in 1952 he declared his opposition to the mutual recognition of the Japanese government and the Taiwan authorities.
I have to say that during his time in Japan, Uchiyama did not forget Lu Xun for a moment, and he even lived to some extent like Lu Xun. Lu Xun used to often scold the people of the country for being numb, and Uchiyama, who returned to Japan, often criticized the inferiority of the Japanese.
Whenever he endured controversy over this, he used Lu Xun's "horizontal eyebrows are cold to a thousand fingers, and bow down to be a widow cow" to encourage himself.
In the years since he was forcibly sent back to Japan, he has stood up for China every time he confronts those who slander China. The year he met Xu Guangping again was the year he easily returned to China again.
When he stepped on the hot land where his wife and best friend were buried again, he burst into tears of excitement. When he returned this time, he secretly prayed in his heart: I hope that I can live in China forever in this life. Why does a Japanese person love China so much? Just because here, there are too many worries about him, these beautiful or sad memories, are his most precious existence.
When he said goodbye, Uchiyama did not tell Xu Guangping because he had come forward to bail her out, and he was later interrogated countless times by the Japanese police, who suspected that he had once betrayed the country. On the other hand, the Chinese government has repeatedly suspected him of being a spy, and many people have even written long articles to "expose" his identity as a "Japanese spy."
When they met again, he deliberately avoided his own suffering and only told Xu Guangping: As long as there was something related to Lu Xun, he would go at any time. Uchiyama said so, and he actually did the same.
Lu Xun
Almost every year, Uchiyama would write memories about Lu Xun, and in each reminiscence article, he called Lu Xun "Sir". Later, these reminiscence articles, including "First Acquaintance with Lu Xun", "Mr. Those Words", "The Soul of a Literary Artist", "The Sixth Anniversary of Mr. Lu's Death", "Mr. Funny Words", etc., were compiled into a 160,000-word "My Friend Lu Xun" and published.
During this period, Uchiyama also did a lot of things related to Lu Xun, such as visiting Lu Xun's former residence, staying for his death, attending Mr. Lu Xun's memorial meeting, writing prefaces to books related to Lu Xun, and so on.
With the passage of time, his longing for Lu Xun also deepened. When he was white-haired, he looked at his full head of white hair and said, "It seems that the day when I meet you (him and Lu Xun, his wife, etc.) is coming." ”
The prophecy of Uchiyama's completion has finally come true——
1959 was the tenth year of the founding of New China. As a representative of Sino-Japanese friendship, Uchiyama was invited to observe the ceremony at Tiananmen Square. After receiving the invitation, Uchiyama, who had returned to Japan again, was excitedly invited to go.
On September 20 of that year, Uchiyama, who had just arrived in Beijing, died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage, and died at the age of 74.
After his death, he and his wife were buried together in the Tomb of the Nations where Lu Xun had been buried (and later moved). On the tombstone where he and his wife were buried, there is this line:
"Take the bookstore as the jinliang, the interaction of the period culture, be born as a friend of China, die as the soil of central China, and call such a couple!"
Uchiyama completed the joint burial tomb of the couple
Alas, Uchiyama is really a well-deserved friend of China and a friend of Lu Xun!