Sea Baby Letter 1
Hai Baby Letter 2
From right to left, Zhou Haiying, the author of this article, Ye Shusui, and Professor Cao Jinghua
Lu Xun's family
◎Ye Shusui (Researcher of Lu Xun Museum)
When commemorating the 140th anniversary of Mr. Lu Xun's birth, we can't help but think of Mr. Lu Xun's only son, Zhou Haiying. Time flies so fast, Comrade Hai Baby has been away from us for ten years.
Because of my work relationship, I became acquainted with Lu Xun's family. I personally sent away five of Lu Xun's relatives: Lu Xun's wife Xu Guangping, Lu Xun's third brother Zhou Jianren, Lu Xun's niece Zhou Ye, and I also met the last side of Zhou Zuoren, and sent away Lu Xun's son Zhou Haiying ten years ago.
When I saw Lu Xun's relatives leaving us one by one, I felt an indescribable sense of desolation in my heart. Especially Comrade Zhou Hainian, I have the most contact with him. I remember that in 1968, the day after Mr. Xu Guangping's death, I went to Mr. Xu's house to mourn, and Comrade Haiying came out to receive me, and during the conversation, I talked about how I recorded many problems in a small book and was ready to ask Mr. Xu for advice. At that time, Comrade HaiNian also comforted me and said: "When people are alive, they always feel that everything is too late, and they will not expect the sudden change of things." Ten years ago, on April 11, the moment I bid farewell to Comrade Hai Baby, I thought clearly of that day, that moment, and I also felt that "it was too late..."
At that time, the news of Comrade Haiying's death came very suddenly, which made people feel both shocked and regretted, I always felt that Comrade Haiying was still alive, he was still energetically displaying the books to be edited and published, and he thought that there was a lot of work and a lot of things to be done... Comrade HaiNian is a person who does not know fatigue and forgets his work, he is very serious about some things, and he will not give up until he understands it. He did his best to fulfill his father's cause and never slackened off.
I would like to say something about comrade Hai Baby that I know.
In order to preserve Lu Xun's large number of cultural relics and books, their mother and son suffered a lot
Comrade Zhou Hainian's life has made great contributions to the country, first of all, the preservation of Lu Xun's relics. This is due to the credit of Mr. Xu Guangping, and even more to the credit of Comrade Hai Baby. When Shanghai fell, he was an eight-year-old child who helped Mr. Xu collect Important Manuscripts of Lu Xun.
At that time, they had a difficult life, living in No. 64 Xiafeifang, originally living on three floors, and later renting both floors to others, and mother and son moved to the third floor. It's inhabited and books. Comrade Haiying once talked to me, one night Mr. Xu went out to a meeting, let Haiying take care of the house, he sat on the edge of the bed, was about to take a nap, saw the book box in front of the bed is tilting to the front, he instinctively jumped to the inside of the bed, in an instant, the book box fell down, is smashing where he is sitting, waiting for Mr. Xu to come back to see, the bed frame of the iron pipe is bent, the little sea baby is almost in trouble. In order to preserve Lu Xun's large number of cultural relics and books, their mother and son suffered a lot.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he and Mr. Xu dedicated all their manuscripts, relics and former residences to the state and preserved them in four memorial halls in Beijing, Shanghai, Shaoxing and Guangzhou. The number of these relics is very large, it can be said that among the writers of the 1930s who could preserve so many relics, lu xun was probably the only one! These cultural relics are the wealth of our country for thousands of generations, and their value is immeasurable. This is the credit of their mother and son, so in the certificate of commendation issued by the Central People's Government on June 12, 1950, it is stated: "Mr. Xu Guangping and his son Zhou Haiyingjun donated all of the former residence of Mr. Lu Xun to the people's government..." At the end of the award, it was also written: "Mr. Lu Xun is a great people's literary thinker and revolutionary in our country, and Mr. Xu and his son Zhou Jun have made his former residence and cultural relics before his death public to the people, so that the people can forever participate in the commemoration." This spirit of loving Lu Xun and loving the people is full of dignity and special praise", which clearly mentions Comrade Haiying.
After the death of Mr. Xu Guangping, Comrade Haiying also took the initiative to donate the remaining manuscripts of Lu Xun at home to the museum, including the manuscript of Yi Lin compiled by Lu Xun, with 404 pages; the revised version of Lu Xun's "History of Chinese Novels", which is the ninth edition of "Historical Outline of Chinese Novels" in September 1933, has many pages of Lu Xun's modified handwriting. This is also the last revision of Lu Xun's "Historical Outline of Chinese Novels", which was little known before this, so that the tenth edition of "Historical Outline of Chinese Novels" published in June 1935 is the final version of this book; he also donated to the museum the 18 copies of Lu Xun's works that Lu Xun gave to Xu Guangping, and on these 18 books there are various titles of Lu Xun for Xu Guangping, which are the most precious historical relics for the study of Lu Xun and Xu Guangping. At that time, the Lu Xun Museum only gave Comrade Haiying a receipt, without any ceremony or special thanks. Comrade Haiying made a contribution, the motherland thanked him, the people thanked him, and his children and grandchildren will thank him.
Some problems are not clear when I am alive, and when I die in the future, I will be falsely rumored
Comrade HaiNian has also made outstanding contributions to the development of Lu Xun's research cause and made outstanding achievements. As he said in his eulogy: "Comrade Zhou Haiying is the disseminator of Lu Xun's spirit in the new era. His published memoir, "Lu Xun and Me for Seventy Years," has high academic value. The book truly and vividly reproduces the history of Lu Xun and Lu Xun in the next fifty-five years, and is a first-hand study of Lu Xun, Xu Guangping, Zhou Hainian and the social changes of that period.
Comrade HaiNian is also an activist of Cultural Exchanges between China and foreign countries, and over the years he has actively participated in commemorative activities related to Lu Xun at home and abroad, which has a far-reaching influence. In particular, when Lu Xun's research cause was obstructed by the "Gang of Four," he wrote to Chairman Mao, and Chairman Mao personally gave instructions: "I agree with Comrade Zhou Haiying's opinion, please print and distribute the Zhou Letter to the Politburo, discuss it once, make a decision, and implement it immediately." Mao Zedong November 1. To this end, Lu Xun's research work has been able to advance a big step forward, and the Lu Xun Museum in Beijing has established the Lu Xun Research Office, published the unprecedented "Complete Manuscripts of Lu Xun", and listed the Lu Xun Museum as a central state unit. Comrade HaiNian himself served as an advisor to the Lu Xun Research Office of the Lu Xun Museum, and was later hired as the honorary director of the Lu Xun Museum.
In Lu Xun's research work, Comrade Haiying is very respectful of historical facts, both rigorous and truth-seeking. He talked to me more than once, and if there was a problem that I didn't get clear while I was alive, I would be falsely rumored when I died in the future (at the time I thought he had gone too far).
Comrade HaiNian never let go of the examination of historical facts. For example, in 1988, he saw an article signed by Zhou Yan'er entitled "Lu Xun is also good at engraving", which used "The Seal of the Metamorphosis" as Lu Xun's article to argue and talked about Lu Xun's engraving. He wrote to me about this: "When I read this article, I was really surprised that someone had fabricated Lu Xun so arbitrarily. It also uses the pen name 'Zhou Yan'er', which seems to have something to do with the Zhou family. To this end, he also made a special trip to confirm Wang Yunru's aunt, and also asked me to write an article and publish it in the overseas edition of the People's Daily to clarify.
There are also questions about who bought Lu Xun's coffin, and so on, and so on, Comrade Haiying has examined them one by one and sought the accuracy of historical facts. For example, in order to find out the truth about Lu Xun's manuscript encounter during the "Cultural Revolution," he went to the prison to find Qi Benyu, and also visited Comrade Fu Chongbi, the former commander of the Beijing Garrison District, and so on. For example, in 1995, I wrote an article in the book "Xu Guangping" commemorating Mr. Xu Guangping, "Unforgettable Grace forever remembrance", Comrade Haiying saw the error in this article in Taiwan, and specially wrote to correct it, the letter wrote: "Since we are not in Beijing, you cannot check some dates, in the 96 pages 11, 17, 18 lines, 1967 should be 1968, 'Tongren' hospital should be 'Beijing' hospital" (See HaiNian Letter 1) and so on, for these inaccurate references, he never let go.
On the other hand, he saw your achievements and enthusiastically encouraged you, such as when he saw the book "Knowing Lu Xun from Lu Xun's Relics" written by Yang Yanli and me, he wrote to us, which read: "The books you have written are excellent. Several children each have a copy, if it is possible, I hope to give me two more copies, thank you first. (See HaiBao Letter 2)
In order to verify some of the problems, Haiying sometimes asked me, "What did my mother say?" "I was very touched to hear such an inquiry, which reflects Comrade Haiying's rigorous and serious style of treating his career and work.
Another contribution of Comrade Hai Baby is photography, and he has loved photography all his life. In 1943, when Haiying was fourteen years old, she began to learn photography with a box of mirrors borrowed from others by her mother, and has nearly seventy years of photography experience, leaving many precious historical photos. For example, the photographs of a large number of democrats Li Jishen, Shen Junru, Guo Moruo, Huang Yanpei, Hou Wailu, Shen Zhiyuan and others who returned from Hong Kong in 1948 are very precious. There are also many photos of various periods that reflect people's lives, which are very rare. Practice has proven that one of the best testimonies to documenting history is photographs. He has edited and published his works such as "Mirror Box in the Human World" and "Morning Shadow and Sunset". The photo exhibition held in 2009 to celebrate his eightieth birthday in Guozijian is the best display of his photographic achievements.
The fact that "Lu Xun's son" made him subject to a lot of restraints, even grievances, so that he was groundlessly accused
Comrade Hainian is worthy of Being Lu Xun's son, he is bright and frank, seeks truth from facts, and is indomitable. In order to carry forward Lu Xun's cause, he still cared about the publication of the "Complete Works of Lu Xun" even when he was seriously ill. As Lu Xun's son, Comrade Hainian fulfilled his responsibilities throughout his life. But on the other hand, I also deeply feel that it is not easy for Haiying to be Lu Xun's son. This is not like the media said, he is illuminated by the "aura of Lu Xun", it seems that like the current "rich second generation" enjoying the glory of his father. On the contrary, the fact of "Lu Xun's son", or this "title", has caused him to be subject to a lot of restraints, even grievances, so that he has been unjustifiably accused.
I will cite only a few major events in his life: After he and his mother Xu Guangping came to the Liberated Areas from Hong Kong in 1948, the Northeast Bookstore at that time paid them a supplementary fee for publishing the Complete Works of Lu Xun and Lu Xun's works, and wrote a check and paid them 2.94 million yuan (old currency). If this happened in Shanghai, they would naturally accept it, but in Shenyang, the Liberated Area, they felt that it was different from the Kuomintang Area, so they repeatedly said that they could not accept it, but the publishing house repeatedly persuaded, and their mother and son proposed to donate, but the answer was that it was not easy for the public to handle it, and finally Mr. Ma Sulun said that they asked Sister Xu to accept the request, and they accepted the money. For the donation, they want to take care of the next step themselves.
So the next day I asked for a car from the social office and went to the bank to withdraw the money, and the cash was enough to be filled with half a sack, and because the banknotes were depreciating at that time, they used the common method to convert the cash into gold bars (a total of five). However, when Hai Baby and Mr. Xu went to the restaurant the next day, they suddenly found that people's expressions were different, no one paid attention to them, and no one sat at this table for a long time, until finally a few elderly people came to sit full. The scene left their mother and son feeling extremely embarrassed, with Hai Baby saying they were in an atmosphere of misunderstanding and humiliation, and still felt that it was a lingering shadow many years later. Afterwards, after they asked for instructions many times, the organization agreed to donate the fifty taels of gold to the Lu Xun Academy of Literature and Art.
There is also a lot of noise about the 30,000 yuan Lu Xun manuscript remuneration, and some people say: Mr. Xu and Comrade Haiying once said that they did not want this fee, why is it that Haiying wants it again now?
Here's what happened: After the first edition of The Complete Works of Lu Xun was published after liberation in 1958, Comrade Feng Xuefeng, in the name of the president of the People's Literature Publishing House, repeatedly persuaded Mr. Xu to accept the fee, and Mr. Xu also repeatedly expressed his determination not to accept it. Comrade Feng Xuefeng was very embarrassed and asked Premier Zhou Enlai for instructions, but the premier still persuaded Sister Xu to accept it. Later, when it did not work, the premier proposed to "submit the money from the publishing house in the name of Lu Xun's remuneration and deposit it in the People's Bank of China in case the mother and child need it in the future."
But things changed greatly after Mr. Xu's death in 1968. Shortly after Mr. Xu's death, the SAC asked Zhou Haiying's family to move out of No. 7 Jingshan East Street (understandably, this is the system), so the couple moved with their four children to the second floor of a five-story building in the third district of Sanlihe. I have been there to see them, and the dwelling is extremely simple and there is no furniture in the house. Teacher Ma Xinyun once told me that they moved here for a few days, because the sewers were blocked, the feces were rising, and the whole house was full of feces and sewage. Later, it was learned that Yifei and Lingyi both had hepatitis, and Comrade Haiying's health was not good.
At that time, the combined salaries of Comrade Haiying and Teacher Ma were only one hundred and twenty-four yuan, and it was really difficult to feed six people and treat diseases. I learned from Comrade Han Wen, who works at the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television, that the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television gave them a certain amount of living allowance every month that year, but their lives were still difficult to maintain. Later, I learned from Comrade Jiang Deming that Comrade Wang Yeqiu was very anxious about this matter, and when he was waiting for foreign guests at the airport with Premier Zhou, Comrade Yeqiu told the premier about this matter, and the premier immediately instructed: From the thirty thousand yuan of the manuscript fee, 30,000 yuan was proposed to rescue them, and Comrade Haiying's medical unit was transferred to the Beijing Hospital. This seems to have temporarily solved their difficulties.
Later, when the child grew up, he delayed his studies due to poor health, did not enter the university, and was unemployed. When I was helpless, I also looked for a museum, please help arrange work, at that time, it may be comrade Gong Maozhi in charge, think it is not easy to do, did not give a solution. Later, the Central Organization Department gave him an idea, using his grandfather's money to support his grandson, and wanted to use the remaining 270,000 yuan to let his children go to Japan to study at "public dispatch and self-funding". After many twists and turns, it was finally Hu Yaobang, Chen Yun, and other leading comrades who spoke, and only then did they hand over the 270,000 yuan and let a few children go to Japan to study.
At that time, there was also a lot of public opinion in society, and Haiying withstood these pressures and dealt with them calmly.
Comrade Haiying has also taken the People's Literature Publishing House to court several times for the remuneration of the manuscript, and I have not understood this matter. But if you think about it carefully, the courage of hai baby is also worth admiring, he dares to fight for his own rights, no matter what the result, this spirit is respectable.
Then there is ling fei's marriage to Ms. Zhang Chunhua in Taiwan. This is not without precedent, and it will not be a problem for ordinary people. It is precisely because HaiNian is Lu Xun's son and Ling Fei is Lu Xun's grandson, so things become very complicated, and the parties concerned have reached the point of unforgivability. It was 1982, not the Gang of Four. For this matter, the leaders of Haiying at that time issued three disciplines to Haiying: First, in recent times, they should not meet with reporters, especially foreign journalists; second, they should draw a clear line with their sons and sever the relationship between father and son; and third, they should not go abroad for the time being. Mr. Ma Xinyun stopped teaching until four years later, in 1986.
These physical and psychological pressures on them are indeed unimaginable and even more difficult for ordinary people to bear. In fact, Ms. Zhang Chunhua was not a "well-trained female agent in Taiwan" as rumored at that time, and her father was not a politician. On the contrary, this Ms. Zhang Chunhua is indeed a woman who is both modern and traditional, simple and capable, and her father is nothing more than a businessman. After the truth is revealed, the sea baby couple can still deal with these things calmly, which is also admirable.
Comrade HaiNian's life is indeed an extraordinary life, he has experienced many ditches and bumps, and has also been tested and baptized, but he is still strong in the face, not discouraged, not timid, and constantly working. Facts have proved that he did not live up to Lu Xun's instructions, and he is worthy of Being Lu Xun's son, which is worthy of our eternal study and commemoration!
Courtesy photo/Ye Shusui