Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition
Sun Plough
"The First Record of the Storm" was published by the People's Literature Publishing House
Classic playback
"The First Record of The Wind and Clouds" is the only novel created by Sun Li, which is set in two villages along the Tuotuo River, focusing on the life history of the five families surnamed Gao, Wu, Tian and Jiang, and meticulously outlining the living conditions and spiritual outlook of various social classes in the Jizhong Plain. The novel begins with the "July 7 Incident", showing the tortuous process of the Communist Party organizing the people's armed forces on both sides of the Hutuo River and establishing the anti-Japanese base area in the early stage of the War of Resistance Against Japan, reflecting the awakening and progress of the working people in Central Hebei and the surging enthusiasm for fighting. Because of its flowing water and bright and natural language, the novel is known as a classic of "poetic novel". From 1951 to 1963, "The First Chronicle of the Wind and Clouds" was published by the People's Literature Publishing House and the Writers Publishing House, and in April 1963, it was published by the Writers Publishing House.
I read Sun Li since the end of the 1970s, unlike the average reader, Mr. Sun Li is my editorial predecessor, reading his works has a natural sense of intimacy, whether it is the first reading, re-reading, or re-reading, every time will have a different feeling.
Most of Sun Li's early works were conceived from the smoke of war and withstood the test of blood and fire, and were a true reproduction and depiction of the times and the tide of history. When I first read Sun Li, I regarded all his works as models, the first one I read was the short story "Lotus Flower Dian", followed by the novella "Prequel to Ironwood", followed by the long novel "The First Record of Fengyun", the first two of which were complete readings, while "The First Record of Fengyun" was first read intermittently from the newspaper. It was the early 1980s, I was an editor in tianjin daily and literary and art weekly, and I often had to go to the reference room to go through the bound edition of tianjin daily, and since the inaugural issue in 1949, I have been translating it day by day, month by month, year by year, just to see the weekly "literary and art weekly", look at the layout, look at the arrangement, look at the writers and works, in fact, I am looking at the style and taste of this literary and art garden founded by Guo Xiaochuan, Fang Ji and Sun Li, looking at the vision of selecting excellent works, and looking at the literary cultivation of the editors' predecessors. In the process of flipping through, I saw Sun Li's signature, which is "The First Record of the Wind and Clouds". Only then did I know that it was first serialized in Tianjin Daily And Art Weekly. This discovery made me happy for many days, and I often went to the reference room to open the bounds. This novel about the War of Resistance Against Japan left me with a poetic impression, from the characters to the story with the passion of the battle, but also because it appears in serial form, the end of each section is full of suspense.
In 1949, with the artillery fire of the liberation of Tianjin, Sun Li entered the city to participate in the founding of Tianjin Daily, an organ of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. At this time, the smoke of the war gradually dissipated, compared with the turbulent years, after entering Tianjin, it was settled down, his heart began to surge the desire to create, characters and stories appeared in front of his eyes from time to time, the turbulent displacement of the war years, the heroic scenes of the military and civilian resistance in the Jizhong Plain gathered at the end of the pen, and the idea of wanting to write a longer novel that had been brewing in Sun Li's mind finally had the opportunity to come true. He wants to show the patriotic enthusiasm of the soldiers and civilians in his hometown under the leadership of the party, so that those kind and lovely characters who have sacrificed their blood and even their lives will live forever in the storm clouds of the times. He published the novel in tianjin daily, and wrote it as he went, and the scene of the novel flowed like a spring of water under Sun Li's pen.
From September 22, 1950, it was serialized in Tianjin Daily Literature and Art Weekly, and until September 9, 1951, it was suspended after the first and second episodes of the series, which lasted for one year. On July 9, 1953, the third episode of the series (1-5) began. On July 5, 1956, when the serial continued, the title was changed to "The Land of Hometown - Three Episodes of "The First Record of the Wind and Clouds" (6-10)". So far, the novel has been serialized 32 times in Tianjin Daily, about 200,000 words, which is the vast majority of the novel, such a dense frequency of serialization, each issue of thousands of words, immediately aroused the love of readers and the attention of the publishing house. 1951, 1953, 1955... In the case that the whole book has not yet been completed, the People's Literature Publishing House has published the first and second episodes of "The First Record of the Wind and Clouds" and other single volumes. In 1956, Sun Li felt unwell and suspended writing. In the spring of 1962, when he was slightly ill, he choreographed the chapters and rewritten the epilogues.
As the only novel, Sun Li has devoted a lot of effort to its creation and publication. He once said in the Preface to the Foreign Language Edition of the First Chronicle of the Storm: "When my hometown encountered the aggression of foreign enemies, I saw more clearly the noble qualities of the Chinese nation, and more deeply understood the industrious and brave character of the Chinese peasants. This kind of confidence, in the war years, can be said to be increasing day by day. The Chinese spirit and Chinese courage and confidence that Sun Li wanted to express in the face of difficulties were written into "The First Record of the Wind and Clouds" by him with the brushwork of a novel.
The story told in "The First Record of The Wind and Clouds" takes place on both sides of the Tuotuo River in the Jizhong Plain. In 1927, in a village called Wulongtang, there was a peasant riot presided over by Gao Sihai and his 18-year-old son Gao Qingshan. After the riot failed, Gao Qingshan was wounded and forced to leave his hometown with Gao Xiang, a middle school student who participated in the riot together. But the seeds of the revolution have since been buried in this land, accumulating the energy that is about to burst out. Ten years later, in the autumn of 1937, when the Japanese army invaded and occupied north China, Gao Xiang and Gao Qingshan followed the party's instructions and returned to their hometowns when the people were in dire straits. They mobilized the masses, organized workers, peasants, youths, and women's anti-Japanese salvation congresses, unified the people's will and strength to resist Japan, and established anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines.
Sun Li said in "Literary Career": "The War of Resistance Against Japan, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, was a powerful contribution. Some of my sons in my hometown followed the guns to resist japan. As for us, we went to japan with a pen. In the novel, he affectionately depicts the waves of the Tuotuo River, the cries of his relatives, and the gunshots of resisting the invaders, creating a number of vivid characters: Changgong Mangzhong joined the Eighth Route Army and became a people's fighter; Chun'er, a hard-working, kind, and brave rural girl, grew up rapidly during the revolutionary period, completed all kinds of work brilliantly, and joined the Communist Party of China with honor; young student Li Peizhong broke free from the shackles of the feudal family and threw herself into the revolution, from the daughter-in-law of the landlord and the daughter of the squire to the backbone of the revolution... Until I read the whole "First Record of the Wind and Clouds", the plot of the novel and the fate of the characters that have been lingering in my heart for many years finally have a final ending, and I even envied the era when Mangzhong and Chun'er lived, and longed for the land with a mellow rural tone. Aren't they still young now? The life they fought for remained in the picture of history, their love is eternal beauty, the land that nurtured them grew the future, and it always resounded through the footsteps of the times.
Looking back decades ago, when I first read "The First Record of the Wind and Clouds" from the newspaper, there was still a rush of heat in my heart, that is, the first time the "Tianjin Daily" published a novel serial and marked the words of the serial, this kind of serial work on the regular page is extremely bold, which shows the attention and importance that the newspaper attaches to Sun Li's novel. Each issue is serialized and illustrated by the artist Lin Pu, an editor of the art group. This group of black and white illustrations is Lin Pu's re-creation of the novel, the picture is simple, the charm is endless, and the text and pictures complement each other. Unfortunately, this set of precious illustrations and Sun Li's manuscript of "The First Record of the Wind and Clouds" written vertically on the manuscript paper with a brush were later lost.
Memories can last forever. Although the newspapers of that year had turned yellow and brittle, the vertical layout of the lead and the faint ink fragrance that still emanated had an emotional power. This is the unique sense of smell and sensitivity of newspaper people, and the sound of those old newspapers makes me travel through time and space and return to the exciting years, as if I saw Sun Li, who was only in his 30s, full of love and affection for the people of his hometown, writing his favorite anti-Japanese novel day and night. In his works, he wants to write about the love and hate of his relatives in his hometown, and record their real lives to reflect the great times and great struggles. His wish came true.
Since Sun Li's death, every time on his birthday and death day, we will organize and publish some nostalgic articles on the supplement page. Reading the familiar work of "The First Record of the Wind and Clouds" again, the figure of Mr. Sun Li appeared in front of his eyes, and his laughter was still so cheerful and loud, with a fresh local charm. In a trance, he sat at his desk in the room and inscribed on the new book he had given me...
Does time pass so fast? However, the true writer is not afraid of time, because he can be eternal because of his work.
(The author is the former person in charge of the Tianjin Daily Cultural Supplement Center)