Zhang Shihui Chen Changjie Wang Peiwen Zhao Qiang
【Editor's Note】
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the young people of the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Municipal CPC Committee launched the "Youth Under the Party's Banner" initial heart search activity, visited more than 20 old party members, old cadres, and old experts on the Shanghai propaganda, ideological, and cultural front, invited old comrades to recall the story of the original heart, and jointly sang the praises of the times of "always following the party." From now on, the surging news (www.thepaper.cn) launched a series of articles on the original intention of "youth under the party" to record the glory years and listen to the voice of youth. This article focuses on Gong Xinhan, an older generation of journalists.
Recent photo of Gong Xinhan The pictures in this article are provided by the interviewee (except for the signature)
【Profile】Gong Xinhan, male, born in October 1940, joined the Communist Party of China in December 1965. Comrade Gong Xinhan graduated from the Department of Journalism of Fudan University in July 1964 and entered the Liberation Daily Newspaper. Since July 1983, he has been the executive deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. In April 1993, he was appointed deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department and deputy head of the National Leading Group for Double Support.
During his work, Gong Xinhan worked hard to contribute to the propaganda and ideological work in Shanghai and the whole country, and after retirement, he worked tirelessly, held personal photography exhibitions and calligraphy exhibitions in many places, and participated in the production of 100 episodes of biographical documentaries such as "A Hundred Years of Masters".
In the last week of May, in the conference room of the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee, we met for the first time with Gong Xinhan, an 81-year-old veteran leader. Before the interview, we read a lot of literature to prepare, but the first sentence that Elder Gong said attracted us: "I have been to heaven and have stepped into hell." ”
"In my lifetime, I have experienced many posts, had the privilege of working next to the party and state leaders, received a lot of help, and can be said to have seen the beauty of heaven; I have also endured the persecution of the 'Gang of Four' in Shanghai and was thrown into prison." Subsequently, he told us about his wonderful life from the original intention of joining the party.
"The spirit of Fudan has always influenced me"
Born in 1940 to an urban poor family, Gong Xinhan became the first generation of Young Pioneers in New China in 1950, joined the Communist Youth League in 1956, and joined the Communist Party in 1965. He often told others that his growth was first of all the cultivation of the party, and he also met many "nobles". Fudan University's influence on him was enormous. In 1959, Gong Xinhan entered the Department of Journalism of Fudan University to study, and learned an important concept that everything should be realistic, pay attention to starting from reality, to find the commonality and personality of things, and to prevent excessive and inferior.
During his studies in Fudan, he was fortunate to be taught by Professor Ye Chunhua, who was also a teacher and brother. At that time, Teacher Ye was responsible for guiding Gong Xinhan's graduation thesis "Layout of the People's Daily International Edition on the Sino-Soviet Controversy", and for the thesis, the teachers and students discussed one title after another, one page after another. Teacher Ye has lived a simple life, approachable, no shelf, he has a famous saying: life should be hard and simple, rough tea and light rice, lifelong cloth. Therefore, even after the reform and opening up, income and living standards improved, Gong Xinhan also firmly remembered the teacher's teachings and did not forget the spirit of hardship and simplicity.
The Department of Journalism of Fudan university comprehensively considers the development of students and insists on combining journalism teaching and journalism practice. In the second half of 1961, Gong Xinhan and his classmates came to Shanghai Steel No. 5 Factory for internship and participated in the operation of the factory newspaper. To run a grass-roots newspaper in a large state-owned enterprise is not like an internship in a party organ newspaper, where you can only write a few manuscripts and compile a few manuscripts, but you have the conditions to focus on the overall situation and consider the layout and planning of the entire newspaper. It was from here that he made his way to journalism from a high point.
Gong Xinhan recently took a photo
"Big things learn to do, small things rush to do"
When he was in the Fudan Journalism Department, Gong Xinhan also interned in Jiefang Daily for a period of time, when he was working as a trainee editor in the night shift, at first he only watched from the side, occasionally ran a leg, and also learned to write small drafts, write editor's notes, edit headlines, and was also willing to copy drafts, run errands, and send manuscripts. At that time, the editor-in-chief was Wang Wei, who often came to the night shift, and was also a "nobleman" in Gong Xinhan's work, thinking that he was diligent and fast, and could learn to do big things, and small things such as running errands were also rushed to do. Later, when he was about to graduate, his classmates all had a place to go, but he did not receive the notice for a long time, until finally, he received a notice of being assigned to the Liberation Daily newspaper, and later learned that it was Wang's editor-in-chief who asked him to come.
This is what Gong Xinhan has always said to young people, "Big things learn to do, small things rush to do, don't do big things, small things don't come, small things refuse to do." Young people must not worry that they have no ability at the beginning, but only care about self-pity. As long as you are willing to do it and learn, others will see your potential. ”
Speaking of his work at Jiefang Ribao, he said an anecdote: "I worked at Jiefang Ribao, and not long after, Comrade Chen Pixian, then first secretary of the Shanghai Municipal CPC Committee, asked the responsible comrades of the Shanghai Municipal News Unit: Are college students coming?" Let them go to the 'Four Qings' task force of the municipal party committee to exercise and exercise. In this way, I had the honor of being sent to the 'Four Qings' task force directly led by Comrade Chen Pixian. From the end of 1964 to the end of 1965, I squatted in two instrument factories in Shanghai for half a year, during which time I deeply understood the actual situation of the Shanghai factory. Later, there was also a time when Gong Xinhan was deeply impressed, and Chen Pixian gave a report to several college students and talked about their hearts. He said: "Don't think that you college students can do anything, in fact, you don't have the ability. At that time, Chairman Mao told the college students who had just arrived in Yan'an that college students had no ability, so would you kill pigs? I won't just study hard. Taking advantage of the opportunity to exercise in the "Four Qing" task force, Gong Xinhan really exercised a little, and in this way, he started from the basic skills step by step.
"Hold on to your feet early"
"Picked up" good news
In 1969, Gong Xinhan, together with reporters from Wen Wei Po and Heilongjiang Daily, wrote about the advanced deeds of Shanghai Zhiqing Jinxunhua, who went to the mountains and went to the countryside to support the frontier, and heroically sacrificed himself to protect the country's war materials. After the article was published, it attracted the attention of the central leadership, and then the central newspapers and periodicals carried out propaganda and reporting, thus setting off a wave of learning heroes throughout the country. Such a sensational report, in Gong Xinhan's view, was "picked up." At that time, he went to Heilongjiang with Wen Wei Po reporters to interview Shanghai Zhiqing, and his completed manuscript was a typical deed of the "women's wrangling class". On the way back, the group had arrived in Harbin and suddenly received the news, "Comrade Jin Xunhua of the Shuanghe Brigade in Sunke County has died!" His deeds are very touching! They immediately returned to the Shuanghe Brigade, when the shuttle bus from Harbin was very limited, in order to rush to the Shuanghe Brigade as soon as possible, everyone did not stop on the road, relying on a few pieces of fruit candy they carried with them to fill their hunger, until the third morning to the location of Jin Xunhua. Later, when he learned that Jin Xunhua had unfortunately died in order to rescue the pole of the national war materials, he left a diary to record his true feelings and love for the party and the people. Gong Xinhan and Wen Wei Po reporters also invited Heilongjiang Daily reporters to the scene to conduct interviews and write in sections. Compiled by Gong Xinhan, it was reviewed and published on the same day as Jiefang Daily, Wen Wei Po and Heilongjiang Daily, and Jin Xunhua's touching deeds had an impact throughout the country.
Gong Xinhan took a group photo with his own work
"Socialism also has to have nightlife"
In Shanghai in the 1980s, the streets were dark at night, and there were no shops on Nanjing Road. In 1985, Gong Xinhan, then executive deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, visited Yugoslavia, and the capital Belgrade was prosperous, with lights in shop windows at night, but almost no night markets and no neon lights. When he returned, he wondered, "Can't socialism have nightlife?" Socialism must also have nightlife, and Shanghai must first have a healthy nightlife. He approached the leaders of Huangpu District and put forward two requirements: one was to open the store, and the store on Nanjing Road should be open until 9 p.m.; the other was that he was responsible for promoting the construction of the neon advertising street on Nanjing East Road, hoping that a neon light management office would be established in Huangpu District to make Nanjing East Road light up together.
In those days, this was an "ahead of its time" idea. In the process of preliminary investigation and research, there was a lot of discussion in the society, and questions about disturbing the people, lack of electricity, safety, public security, investment promotion, and work came one after another. To this end, Gong Xinhan and relevant comrades spent a lot of painstaking efforts: In order to solve the noise disturbance of transformer work, actively promote the research and development of silent transformers in transformer factories; in order to solve the problem of power shortage, the relevant responsible comrades were invited to consult with the power construction department, and tried to solve the problem of funding, pulling a cable from Jiujiang Road to Nanjing Road. In order not to affect the daytime shop business and traffic order, this cable began construction from 12:00 midnight, using the tactics of the sea of people, it took only 4 hours to complete the entire work of laying; in order to solve the safety and public security problems, promote the relevant departments and the Municipal Public Security Bureau to actively dock, publicize and educate the shops along the street, study and implement relevant safety and public security measures; in order to solve the problem of investment promotion, invite the responsible persons in charge of advertising and publicity of major famous specialties manufacturers in Shanghai to discuss together and use the advertising effect of Nanjing Road. Form a brand agglomeration driving effect to further enhance the popularity of Nanjing Road. But the mall is open at night, and the salesman has become a big problem. At that time in Shanghai, the salesmen were all ten-year middle school students, who were responding to the call to make up the exam to the level of twelve years of education, and after work, it was popular to go to night school to continue their studies, so until the salesmen completed their studies one after another and could go to work at night, the nightlife on Nanjing Road finally took shape. On October 1, 1990, the first phase of the nanjing road neon street project was successfully completed, reproducing the "Shanghai City That Never Sleeps" and creating the Shanghai outdoor neon advertising market.
With the expansion of Shanghai's reform and opening up and the improvement of commercial atmosphere, Shanghai's advertising positions have become more and more sought-after, and foreign companies have also come to advertise. Japanese companies take the lead in occupying a good position, and all the billboards erected on both sides of the Pujiang River are well-known Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi and Toshiba, and there are not many domestic companies placing billboards on both sides of the river. At that time, some citizens, especially those who had suffered during the War of Resistance Against Japan, were very disgusted and wrote to the main leaders of the Shanghai Municipal PARTY Committee to reflect it. However, these advertisements are all signed contracts, and if the billboard is to be dismantled, it will not only compensate for liquidated damages, but also adversely affect the image of Shanghai's reform and opening up and the attraction of foreign investment. Later, Gong Xinhan joined hands with relevant departments to implement three measures: First, quickly rectify and put the advertisements of state-owned manufacturers on the line. The public welfare propaganda slogan of reform and opening up has been pulled up around the Japanese billboards, so that the billboards of Japanese enterprises are no longer so abrupt; the second is to contact the advertising companies step by step, and put advertisements of state-owned manufacturers in batches, so that the billboards along the river "You have me, I have you"; the third is to make a final decision, and the Japanese enterprises will quickly withdraw the right to use after the expiration of advertising, readjust the advertising deployment, and properly solve this matter.
"I understand the bitterness of journalists"
In 1993, Gong Xinhan left Shanghai and went north to work in the Central Propaganda Department. As for how to do a good job in the propaganda work in the new era, Gong Xinhan said: "First, we must grasp the guidance and actively study and implement the spirit of the central authorities; second, we must constantly study the new situation, and the work of guiding public opinion must be predictable, and we should not do things after Zhuge Liang; third, we must persist in perfecting and perfecting the implementation of the work system, the system of regular meetings, the bi-weekly briefing, and the system of news reading and appraisal, all of which I worked hard to grasp at that time. ”
For comrades in the press, Gong Xinhan loves and cares a lot, and has made many good friends, often exchanging help with each other, understanding and accommodating each other. "I'm not here to be an official, they're my peers, and I understand the bitterness of journalists." In his view, news emphasizes timeliness, especially in the era of new media, the competition among journalists is more intense, and it is even more necessary to take good care of their journalistic peers and jointly speak for the party and the country, for society, and for the people.
2021 is the centenary of the founding of the party, party history study and education is fiercely launched throughout the country, mentioning how to improve the enthusiasm of young people to study party history, Gong Xinhan has quite a feeling: today's young people are sensitive and progressive, so in the method of party history study and education, we must talk about skills, stimulate young people's learning consciousness, so that they can take the initiative to change from "I want to learn" to "I want to learn". There are many ways to study party history, but if you want to make young people interested, the report must be done brilliantly, not only the basic content and basic concepts, but also to tell specific historical facts, tell vivid stories, and then analyze and summarize the reasoning, and raise questions to trigger discussions among young people. In addition, it is necessary to carry out more field visits and visits to make everyone feel more involved.
Finally, Gong Xinhan sent a message to the contemporary youth: "I hope that young people will conscientiously study the history of the party, draw spiritual strength and wisdom from it, firmly establish correct values, carry out more social practice, better serve the people, and strive for the realization of the Chinese dream for life!" ”
Gong Xinhan exchanged views with visiting youth Xu Zhiwen photo
Editor-in-Charge: Gao Wen