There is one less outstanding pianist in the world.
On December 28, 2020, pianist Fu Cong died of illness in the United Kingdom, the cause of death was new crown pneumonia.
Fu Cong's death did not stir up much of a stir in Britain.
Europe and the United States have died too many people because of the new crown, and he is just one of the many victims of the failure of the fight against the epidemic.
However, in his home country, his death caused an uproar.
The news of his death made headlines on Weibo, and countless people argued with each other for him.
Some people lament that the "piano poet" fell in such a way.
But there is another harsh sound. There are many people who criticize Fu Cong:
"A man of British nationality, worth the headlines? Don't talk to me about music statelessness! ”
"He's sorry for his dad."
"Treason can be washed, what else can't be washed?"
In the eyes of these scolders, Yu Guo and Fu Cong are all disgraceful traitors.
Yu Guo, who "abandoned" his homeland and defected to Britain;
At the Yu family, he "killed" his biological father.
His father was the famous translator Mr. Fu Lei.
▲ Mr. and Mrs. Fu Lei and Fu Cong
The "Fu Lei Family Letter", a classic in the hearts of many Chinese, is known as the "Godson Bible", which is a collection of letters written by Fu Lei to his eldest son Fu Cong.
However, the fate of the father and son is lamentable.
Why did Fu Lei accuse Fu Cong of being a "traitor" in his suicide note?
Why did Fu Cong, who had high hopes from the country, desperately flee to Britain?
1
In the early morning of September 3, 1966, the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Fu Lei were found by the maid of the family.
The night before, the couple committed suicide together.
Before Zhu Meifu committed suicide, she laid a quilt on the ground so as not to disturb the neighbors downstairs by the sound of kicking down the bench.
In the suicide note, there is such a sentence: "Besides, just by educating a traitor Fu Conglai, there is already more than enough death in front of the people!" ”
▲ Mr. Fu Lei and His Wife Mei Fu
Fu Cong was the eldest son whom he had devoted his life to.
However, in the eyes of others, this son, who he was most proud of, became the last straw that crushed him.
At that time, everyone was saying that Fu Cong was a traitor. The world wants to kill.
Fu Lei, as a father, was also implicated.
However, Fu Lei always had mixed feelings for his son.
▲ Fu Lei
There is guilt, there is deep love, there is hatred that iron is not steel, but there is no such rupture that he showed in his suicide note.
He missed his son to the death.
In a family letter a few months before Fu Lei's death, he told Fu Cong that he often "dreamed of you, and the music on your piano was very clear in the dream."
The accusations in the suicide note were only out of unavoidable suffering.
▲ A copy of Fu Lei's suicide note
Fu Cong was born in Shanghai in 1934. He was the eldest son of Fu Lei and Zhu Meifu.
Fu Congren, as his name suggests, has been very intelligent since childhood.
From the age of three or four, he showed an interest in music.
Fu Lei found that as long as Western music sounded on the radio, Fu Cong would instantly become very quiet.
"He had a pair of musical ears." Fu Lei's friend had said in surprise.
▲ Fu Cong is half a year old
Chinese parents all hope that their son will become a dragon, fu Lei is a person who pursues excellence, and his expectations of his children are greater than ordinary people.
In order not to waste their son's talents, he and his wife took out the family's savings and bought an expensive piano for Fu Cong.
▲ Fu Lei and Fu Cong
Fu Cong's piano skills were becoming more and more sophisticated, which made Fu Lei very pleased.
In 1954, the 20-year-old Fu Cong made a wish to his father:
He wants to study in Poland.
Poland is the home of the piano master Chopin.
At that time, although there were also famous piano teachers in China, compared with Poland, the musical atmosphere was much inferior after all.
In order for his son to be able to climb to the top musically, Fu Lei made a difficult decision.
He has all kinds of reluctance, but also endures to support his son's dream.
In 1954, Fu Cong left his parents and embarked on the road to Poland.
Fu Cong would not have thought that this would be the last side of his life with his parents.
▲ Fu Cong and his parents
2
Fu Cong did not disgrace the motherland.
When he first arrived in Poland, he made his mark at music festivals.
In February 1955, the International Chopin Piano Competition was held in Poland.
Many of the people who participated in this piano competition were international pianists who had been famous for a long time.
Fu Cong's newborn calf is not afraid of tigers and won the third place in this competition.
▲ In 1954, Fu Cong prepared for the competition in Warsaw, Poland
This is the first time that the yellow race has achieved such a good result.
His performance of "Maruka" won thunderous applause and won the best prize.
▲ Fu Cong won the award
Just when Fu Cong's career was in full swing, an accident occurred.
This accident directly changed his fate.
▲ In 1955, Fu Cong (right) signed the audience after winning the award
During his study abroad, Fu Cong needed to return to Beijing for a trip.
Fu Cong's time was very tight, and he could only stay in Beijing for a short time, and there was no time to spend time with his parents.
Fu Lei was worried about his son day and night in Shanghai, and he couldn't sleep at night.
Therefore, he entrusted his good friend Lou Shiyi to see Fu Cong for himself.
▲ Lou Shiyi
After seeing Lou Shiyi, Fu Cong was very happy.
He was very lonely in Poland in recent years, and it was difficult for him to return to Beijing to meet his compatriots, or people close to him, and he felt very kind.
Fu Cong and Lou Shiyi chatted for a long time.
Because of his trust, Fu Cong spoke freely.
During the chat, he mentioned events in Poland and the political situation in the Soviet Union.
It's just that young people are concerned about current affairs and politics and casually talk about their opinions.
Lou Shiyi felt uneasy.
He told Fu Cong that as an international student, you should not talk about these issues.
It is no wonder that Lou Shiyi is sensitive to nerves, he is also kind, afraid that Fu Cong's thinking will be wrong.
After the two separated, Lou Shiyi told the leaders of the Ministry of Culture about the chat.
Lou Shiyi's original intention may have been to make them care more about Fu Cong, so as not to adversely affect Fu Cong.
Unexpectedly, a leader of the Ministry of Culture immediately summoned Fu Cong.
He reprimanded Fu Cong sternly:
"If you go on like this, I'll get you back!" Tell you to go to the countryside to work! ”
It's not just threats and warnings.
3
Soon after Fu Cong's return to Poland, he received orders from home to return home early after finishing his studies.
For him, it was an ominous sign.
At that time, the political atmosphere in china was very harsh, and there were already many tragic lessons from the past.
Hu Shi's son, Hu Sidu, chose to stay on the mainland before the founding of New China.
▲ Hu Shi and his wife with their eldest son Hu Zuwang and second son Hu Sidu (back row left)
Hu Shi urged him to go to Taiwan, but Hu Sidu refused: "I haven't done anything harmful to the Communist Party, and they won't do anything to me." ”
Forced by the political situation after liberation, Hu Sidu drew a clear line with his father in the newspaper and wrote an article criticizing Hu Shi as a "lackey of imperialism," but he still did not escape the wave of "anti-rightism."
In September 1957, the 36-year-old Hu Sidu hanged himself.
Before Fu Cong was reprimanded, Fu Lei had been knocked down, humiliated and tortured.
After Fu Cong returned to China, he was likely to end up in the unbearable situation of "the son exposing Lao Tzu" and "Lao Tzu exposing his son".
Fu Cong once recalled: "When I ran away, my feelings were very complicated, because there was no art in China at that time, and I couldn't survive without art!" ”
He didn't say what he really was terrified of.
He was afraid of the double destruction of his career and body.
This is not an exaggeration. Gu Shengnian, who shared his reputation as a "piano poet", was forced to commit suicide with his mother and brother in the later Cultural Revolution.
Fear and uneasiness made Fu Cong choose to flee England.
Without a British passport, Fu Cong was unable to attend many performances, and his income became a big problem.
For a long time, the excellent pianist was destitute.
Someone once promised him that as long as he could give a special interview and say something about China, he would get a huge sum of money.
Fu Cong flatly refused.
But man always has to eat when he lives, and without British citizenship, it is difficult for him to even make a living.
In 1964, Fu Cong became a British citizen.
▲ 1965, Fu Cong
Two years later, he learned of his parents' deaths.
4
It would be unfair to blame Fu Lei's death on Fu Cong's head.
At worst, it is ignorance of Fu Lei as a person; at worst, it is ignorance of history.
Fu Lei is a very bookish person.
Although he has translated a large number of Western works and has a deep understanding of Western culture, he is still a Chinese scholar in his bones.
Ning did not bend, the big deal was to "carry the coffin to see the emperor", this is his disposition.
How could such a person survive the storm of the times?
Kneeling, wearing a top hat, binding the public... Any one of them is a delay to the soul of intellectuals.
Even without fu cong's escape, Fu Lei would not have survived.
In 1958, after being humiliated and criticized by the radicals, Fu Lei was devastated.
He said to his wife, "If it weren't for Amin being too young and still studying, today I would have..."
▲ Mr. and Mrs. Fu Lei
In 1966, an even bigger storm struck.
Fu Lei told his friend: "If I were to do it again in 1957, I would not be prepared to live again. ”
This time, however, was even more tragic than in 1957.
Fu Lei walked to the end of his life.
In his suicide note, he denounced Fu Cong, but that was actually bitter.
He was there to protect his other son, Fu Min.
Parents have "committed suicide in fear of sin", if the political position is no longer problematic, how can Fu Min live?
▲ Fu Lei and his younger son Fu Min
The news of the death of Mr. and Mrs. Fu Lei reached Britain two months later.
Some do-gooders ran up to Fu Cong and asked to interview him.
Everyone thinks that Fu Cong must have retaliated by saying something that accuses China.
The result was unexpected: Fu Cong chose to be silent.
The British journalists who came to cover the interview were disappointed.
Throughout, he adhered to his principles and did not make any remarks against the motherland.
The death of my father is the tragedy of the times.
There is no basis for saying that Fu Cong is a traitor.
Fu Cong did not betray national intelligence, did not attack the motherland, even in the case of his parents' death.
He simply escaped the bad luck that the times might have given him.
And the motherland has long forgiven his departure and condemned that absurd era.
▲ In 1979, after fu Lei and his wife rehabilitated Zhaoxue at the memorial service, Fu Cong held an urn in his hand and Fu Min held a portrait in his hand and went to the columbaria of Longhua Revolutionary Cemetery
From 1979 onwards, Fu Cong often received official invitations to return to his homeland to perform.
Now, at the age of 86, Fu Cong is gone, and there is one less outstanding pianist in the world.
It is right or wrong, let future generations comment.
For Fu Cong, none of this mattered.
He was finally able to reunite with his parents, who had been separated for 66 years. Text/Gu Jingyan