Xu Maoyong after being "reprimanded" by Lu Xun

At the beginning of 1933, at the age of 22, Xu Maoyong entered the literary world with his sharp pen and unique style of essays, which attracted people's attention and was valued by Mr. Lu Xun, who wrote a preface to his "Miscellaneous Collection" and introduced it for publication. Under the care and encouragement of Mr. Lu Xun, Xu Maoyong's enthusiasm for writing was high, and he used the form of essays to attack the evil forces and publicize the truth, and successively published "Miscellaneous Collections", "Not Surprising Collections", "Street Literary Talks", "A Small History of Literary and Art Ideological Trends" and other miscellaneous collections, which became famous in one fell swoop and was known as one of the rare famous essay writers in the history of modern literature.

Xu Maoyong's family was poor, he worked as a coolie when he was a child, repairing yarn sieves, he was talented, diligent and studious, in his spare time he studied French, Japanese, English, Russian and other foreign languages, at the age of 14 he began to write a diary in Esperanto, and later translated "Stalin's Biography", "Tolstoy's Biography", "Shaw Bernard's Biography", "Lenin's Family Collection" with fluent writing, and also translated the Soviet novels "Little Devil", "Autumn Night", "The Republic of Italia", etc., introduced foreign progressive cultural and literary works, publicized world celebrities, and spread Marxism-Leninism.

Chairman Mao talked about the dispute between the two slogans

In 1936, in the controversy between the two slogans of "national defense literature" and "popular literature of the national revolutionary war" that occurred in the Shanghai literary circles, Xu Maoyong and Lu Xun disagreed. He took the liberty of writing an inappropriate letter to Lu Xun, which infuriated Lu Xun and led Lu Xun to publish an "Open Letter to Xu Maoyong and on the Question of the Anti-Japanese United Front", denouncing Xu Maoyong. For a time, Xu Maoyong changed from a person who was highly regarded by Lu Xun to a sinner who attacked Lu Xun.

The 25-year-old Xu Maoyong, under strong social pressure, did not stand still, and went from Shanghai to Wuhan alone to Shanxi and Shaanxi, and found the office of the Eighth Route Army in Xi'an without any relationship or guidance. Lin Boqu wrote a letter of introduction for him, and he resolutely rushed to Yan'an to prove with practical actions that he was a person who was in favor of the cause led by the Communist Party and pursued revolution. Chairman Mao and other leading comrades of the Party Central Committee warmly welcomed this young and promising man of letters.

Xu Maoyong went to Yan'an in March 1938 and wrote to Chairman Mao in mid-May asking for a meeting to report on the situation in Shanghai's literary and art circles. The chairman replied to a letter the next day, promising to meet for a few days to talk, and on the third day he sent his secretary and comrades Peiyuan and Huaming to talk to Xu and generally learn about the situation of the "Left League." Then one afternoon around May 23, Pai Huaming took Xu to his residence and listened to Xu's report. Xu spoke for about an hour and a half, reporting on the situation of the "Left League," the dissolution of the "Left League," the controversy over the two slogans, and the fact that Xu wrote to Lu Xun and was publicly refuted by Lu Xun. After listening, the Chairman made the following comments:

"I. On the issue of the controversy over the two slogans, after Comrade Zhou Yang came to Yan'an, we have basically understood something. Listening to what you have said today, there are some situations that make us clearer and more specific.

"Secondly, I think, it must be affirmed, first of all, that the nature of this controversy is a controversy within the revolutionary camp, not between the revolution and the counter-revolution. Your side is not a counter-revolutionary, nor is Lu Xun's side.

Third, this controversy occurred at the juncture of a change in line and policy. The transition from the civil war to the anti-Japanese united front is a major change, and in the process of such a change, due to the imbalance in the theoretical and policy levels within the revolutionary camp and the differences in understanding, there will be controversy, which is inevitable. In fact, why are you the only one arguing? We were in Yan'an, and we also had a fierce debate. But you are the author, and as soon as you compete for it in the newspaper, you will make it known to the whole country. We were hiding in a ravine arguing, so we didn't know it outside.

Fourth, this controversy is not only inevitable, but also beneficial. The more the truth becomes clearer, and everyone understands and agrees, things will be easier to handle.

"But you are wrong, that is, you have no respect for Lu Xun. Lu Xun is the standard-bearer of the revolutionary literary and artistic movement of the Chinese proletariat, and you should respect him. But you don't respect him, and your letter is badly written. Of course, as you said, on some specific issues, Lu Xun may have misunderstood, and some words may not be appropriate. But you also say today that it was because he was not free at that time and could not have extensive contact with the masses. If so, why don't you forgive him?

"Sixth, it doesn't matter if you are wrong, as long as you know that you are wrong, you will study and correct it in the future, and you will act according to the correct reasoning, and the future will be bright."

Chairman Mao's words unraveled the knots in Xu Maoyong's heart. He laid down his "baggage" and from then on became a teacher and director of the research office of the "Kang Da" and began his career in revolutionary education. He lectured on political economy and philosophy, wrote an introduction to socialism, compiled military textbooks, gave lectures, published articles, and suddenly rejuvenated his youth. His request to join the Chinese Communist Party was also fulfilled. Once, when the Northern Shaanxi Public School held its opening ceremony, Xu Maoyong was invited to attend and happened to sit next to Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao said: I have seen your article published in the "New China Daily", and it is a good writing.

Xu Maoyong's talent was favored by General Peng Dehuai. When the Kang Da Migration Road passed through Ma Tian, Liaoxian County, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, General Manager Peng informed the Kang Da leader He Changgong to come to him with Xu Maoyong to talk. He Changgong had already anticipated General Peng's intentions and went alone. Mr. Peng insisted that Xu Maoyong come, and He Changgong had no choice but to find Xu Maoyong. Mr. Peng "detained" Xu on the spot and asked him to take command of the cultural circles in the Taihang Mountains.

Founded Jianguo College

In November 1945, Xu Maoyong, with the joy of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, was ordered to run to a new battlefield, rehe Chengde, to establish the Rehe Jianguo College.

There are only a few intermediate schools in Rehe, and the few students in the Jianguo Academy who have entered institutions of higher learning are all from the provinces of Hebei, Liao, Kyrgyzstan, and Heihe, who have undergone 14 years of enslaved education by Japanese imperialism and lack understanding of the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army.

Began to approach communist cadres.

At that time, Chengde had a secret music group called "Qingyin Society", which was a band that used to play court music for the emperor to go to the summer resort, with more than thirty members, most of whom were 60 or 70 years old, who did not dare to appear in public after liberation, but secretly passed on the art. After Xu Maoyong learned of this, he personally visited them, dispelled their ideological concerns, mobilized them to meet with the broad masses, played in public, and at the same time tried to solve their living problems. The proper handling of this matter was a great shock among intellectuals, who were deeply moved by the Communist Party's policy of respecting cultural heritage and uniting old artists.

Since then, the spiritual outlook of intellectuals in Chengde has changed greatly, and they have taken the initiative to request the rehearsal of the opera "White Haired Girl", perform the "Yellow River Chorus", and actively contribute to the local semi-monthly magazine of "Boom";

The streets posted leaflets they created, the "Qingyinhui" band performed revolutionary music, and some members also participated in the band of "White-Haired Girl", and in a flash, the cultural and literary activities in Chengde set off a climax.

In July 1946, Chiang Kai-shek tore up the armistice and set off a large-scale civil war. In accordance with the party Central Committee's policy of "giving way to the main road and occupying the two compartments," the higher authorities decided to withdraw the party, government, and military personnel from Chengde, and ordered Xu Maoyong to protect these intellectuals from retreating first in the name of organizing a cultural and labor troupe to perform in the countryside. After Receiving the order, Xu Maoyong immediately held an emergency meeting, at which he said a seat that deeply touched the teachers and students of the hospital. He said: As long as the teachers, students and employees are determined to follow the Communist Party, I and everyone, together with my 12-year-old son, will also live and die with everyone and share the hardships, and no one will be lost under any circumstances. If someone wants to go home, they can pay for the road, food and road, and when Chengde is liberated again, we will see each other again. As soon as his words were finished, all the teachers, students and staff said: Follow Principal Xu Maoyong!

After retreating from Chengde, under the circumstances of strafing by enemy planes and harassment by bandits, Xu Maoyong led more than a hundred teachers and students to withstand the severe tests of hard life and struggle against the enemy, and tossed and turned longhua and paddocks into the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia. In the cold of minus 40 degrees, sometimes marching a hundred miles a day, each person sending a few potatoes a day to fill their hunger, and drinking water from the river ditch when thirsty. In the case of losing contact with the Central Sub-Bureau and the provincial government for a long time, Xu Maoyong and the teachers and students shared the hardships and hardships, insisted on fighting and studying at the same time, marched on foot for more than 70 days, traveled more than 2,500 miles, and no one wavered, and no one was left behind.

Xu Maoyong led the teachers and students through the baptism of war, the college grew stronger and stronger, at this time the Jianguo College has increased to 700 to 800 students, in the form of short training classes for Rehe and northeast china to train a large number of cadres. In May 1947, hundreds of progressive students from 25 colleges and universities in Ping, Tianjin and other places came to the Communist-led Liberated Areas through the blockade line. In order to meet the needs of the development of the situation, the Jichaliao Branch of the CPC decided to open a joint university with Xu Maoyong as its president.

Mentors and friends of the students

The first lesson after the founding of the United University began with the practice of social revolution in the countryside. Xu Maoyong led the whole school to participate in land reform in the countryside around Chifeng. He paid great attention to the words and deeds of his students, he lived a hard and simple life, eating and living like everyone else. He worked without fear of fatigue, once he fell ill with fever, still braved the severe cold, and ran to the various work points of the land reform team in the face of the yellow sand, went deep into the villages to understand the situation, listened to reports, guided the work, and every time he went down, he ate the same pot of rice in the poor and lower-middle peasants' homes with extremely poor conditions.

In June 1948, the United Nations General Assembly began to openly establish the Party, and many students asked to join the Party, but some of the students had complex social relations or historical problems of one kind or another. There was a female classmate who had a relative who was working in the Kuomintang party department, and she was only 16 years old when she arrived in the Jidong Liberated Areas, and she could not pass the test in the "three checks and three rectifications." Under the pressure of the small meeting of the congress, she put on a "secret agent" hat for herself against her will. In the past few years, they have done well in marching, hiding from the enemy, carrying land reform, and studying, but the burden is very heavy and the mood is low. During the founding of the party, Xu Maoyong took the initiative to talk to her and praised her for doing a good job in the "three samenesses" in the land reform, and her class stance was firm;

He also told her that after investigation and analysis of her historical problems, the "secret agent" problem lacked factual basis and belonged to coercion, confession, and letters, and decided to re-draw conclusions, and later approved her application to join the party on the way south. The female classmate was very excited at the oath of joining the party, and said with tears: "I will never forget Principal Xu Maoyong!" ”

Beidaying in Jinzhou is the last stop in the history of Jichareliao United University. After a long march, the masters and students arrived in Jinzhou, when it was the middle of winter, dripping water into ice, and in front of them was a broken wall. Under the mobilization of Principal Xu Maoyong, the teachers and students took matters into their own hands to build a new barracks with bullet marks and dilapidation, and then issued a list of students, and in more than 20 days, more than 3,000 students from all directions were recruited, a considerable number of them were college and middle school students, a small number of them were old staff, primary and secondary school teachers, and a small number of lower-level officials of the Kuomintang government. Xu Maoyong treated these practitioners from different classes equally and treated them with enthusiasm.

Xu Maoyong often said: In conducting education, we must care about people, observe people, and study people, and only then can we help people.

He usually goes to chat among his classmates as soon as he has time, talks about his thoughts and personal problems with his classmates without restraint, and he knows the history, family, love, and hobbies of many of his classmates very well, and he is so caring. There are five pairs of lovers among the college students from Hiratsu, and they are not young. In order to take care of their specific situation, Xu Maoyong made an exception and approved their marriage. On the day of the wedding, Xu Maoyong personally became their main marriage, and the leading comrades of the school and the academy came to congratulate. This incident not only deeply touched the five couples, but also made the vast number of intellectuals in the school feel the warmth and cordiality of the party.

It was the first New Year after the United Nations General Assembly arrived in Jinzhou, and the school held a celebration party. The show was rich and varied, and there was a burst of applause from the audience. In the performance of the "Xinjiang Dance" program, everyone was watching intently, and when the red hijab was lifted, it caused a burst of laughter in the audience, and it turned out that the "Xinjiang girl" under the hijab was played by Principal Xu Maoyong, whom everyone respected. Although this is a small matter in life, it reflects the schoolmaster's approachable leadership style.

Jichareliao United University was born in the war years and ended in the victorious march of a million male divisions across the river. Xu Maoyong, with his erudition and dedication to the establishment of this school, has trained tens of thousands of talents of all kinds and taken root and blossomed in various parts of the motherland. However, what makes people sad is that President Xu Maoyong has suffered repeated misfortunes, the anti-rightist center has been beaten into a rightist faction, and during the "Cultural Revolution" he was persecuted by the "Gang of Four", and finally passed away physically and mentally exhausted.

Source: "Centennial Tide", No. 09, 1999, by Bai Yan