The Song of Youth echoes for a long time

Source: People's Daily - People's Daily

"Song of Youth" is the first excellent novel in the history of contemporary Chinese literature to describe the growth history of revolutionary intellectuals, and has been published for more than 60 years, which has always echoed in the youth of generations of Chinese.

In 1950, the writer Yang Mo was recuperating from illness, and the memories of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression often came to her mind, and the image of those indomitable, heroic and righteous Communist Party members intertwined with her personal experience, prompting her to pick up a pen and create a long novel with autobiographical overtones.

In September 1951, after more than a year of brewing, Yang Mo began to write, the novel was initially titled "A Thousand Hammers and Hundred Refinements", later changed to "Inexhaustible WildFire", and finally named "Song of Youth" when it was published. After six or seven rewrites and revisions, the first draft of the novel was completed by the end of April 1955. The publication of the novel did not go well, and after several twists and turns, "Song of Youth" was finally published by writers' publishing house in January 1958. The novel quickly became a bestseller, with 390,000 copies circulated in just half a year, and by June 1959, it had been printed 13 times and distributed 1.21 million copies. In the second half of 1959, Yang Mo systematically revised the novel according to the opinions of all parties, and in 1960, he launched a re-edition of "Song of Youth".

"Set against the backdrop of the historical period from '918' to '12.9', the work shapes the image of Lin Daojing, an awakened and growing revolutionary youth, and integrates Lin Daojing's life experience into the grand narrative of Chinese intellectuals' salvation and survival." Wu Xinjun, a professor at the College of Letters of Henan University, introduced, "Lin Daojing, Lu Jiachuan, Lin Hong, Jiang Hua... The vivid image of the young Bolsheviks became the role models of the youth of the time and was forever fixed in people's hearts. ”

In early 1959, Yang Mo adapted the novel into a film literary script. In order to find the best person to play Lin Daojing, director Cui Wei launched a campaign to find "Lin Daojing" across the country. In the end, Cui Wei used Hubei Opera House actor Xie Fang to play Lin Daojing. Looking back on the past after 62 years, the 85-year-old Xie Fang sighed: "A year after the novel was published, it was made into two movies, and "Song of Youth" is a miracle. ”

Yang Mo once said: "Youth should be bright red, and only when a person combines his life with the destiny of the times, with the motherland, and with the people can life have meaning, be as brilliant as a star, and not waste his years." "Personal values are connected with the vast era, and young people must bravely shoulder the heavy responsibilities entrusted by society and history, which is the inspiration left to us by "Song of Youth".

People's Daily ( 2021-05-02 07 edition)