In the memorial hall of the Shajiabang Scenic Area, the tour guide's obviously standardized explanatory words still confirm that ah Qingyi in "Shajiabang" has a real prototype, but the exhibition board is very cautious, only marking the words "A Qing sister-in-law-like figure" in one corner. On this one panel, two people are listed, one is Fan Huiqin and the other is Chen Ermei.
Chen Ermei was once accused of being the real Ah Qing sister-in-law because Tan Zhenlin personally met her and called her a figure of Ah Qing's sister-in-law.
Therefore, I still see headlines such as "Tan Zhenlin said that she is the real Sister-in-law Ah Qing" in newspapers and periodicals.
We can see what kind of publications have recently published such articles:
"Great River South and North" 2020 Issue 7: "Ah Qing Sister-in-law" Shi Qiaoji Escorted Tan Zhenlin" author: Gu Hongyuan;
"Literature and History Monthly" in 2016, 4 issues: ""Ah Qing Sister-in-law" wisdom to save Tan Zhenlin", author: Xiao Jin;
Wenshi Monthly, No. 4, 2010, Happiness (Yue Reading), No. 7, 2010, Township Forum, 2010, Issue 9, 2010, published in:"A QingJie" Wisdom Saves Tan Zhenlin, author: Huang Bangzai;
"Party History" 2004 11 issue: "Tell you a real "Ah Qing Sister-in-law"-Remember the prototype of Ah Qing Sister Chen ErMei", author: Tian Baojun.
In this type of article, the content is much the same, there is a Tan Zhenlin after seeing Chen Ermei, affirmatively said: she is the real Ah Qing sister-in-law; Tan Zhenlin and his wife often live in the tea house opened by Chen Ermei and his wife; she does not hesitate to send her own daughter to other places for foster care in order to feed Tan Zhenlin's newborn second daughter; she has helped Tan Zhenlin escape from danger many times...
But in fact, this is nothing more than a rumor.
According to Tan Zhenlin's wife Ge Huimin's explanatory letter to Wen Wei Po on this historical fact, it was pointed out that when Tan Zhenlin met Chen Ermei in 1982, he did not use such an affirmative tone to say that she was Ah Qing's sister-in-law.
In her letter, Mrs. Tan recalled Tan Zhenlin's conversation with Chen Ermei in the past:
Tan Zhenlin asked the local government reception staff: "Do we have Sha Jiabang in Changshu?" ”
The county comrades said: "We have many bangs in Changshu, but there is no Shajiabang." ”
Then Tan asked, "So is there Sister-in-law Ah Qing?" ”
Answer: "Neither." ”
Tan said, "That's right! That's artistic shaping. There are thousands of Sisters-in-law Andi and Grandma Sha in Changshu", he pointed at Second Sister Chen and said, "Isn't Sister-in-law Guan Lin also one?" Her husband runs a teahouse. ”
Mrs. Tan said in the letter, "We cannot use Comrade Tan Zhenlin's momentary remarks to establish that a certain person is the real Ah Qing sister-in-law, so that taking it out of context may cause unnecessary illusions or disputes." ”
In the "Biography of Tan Zhenlin", when mentioning this matter, he wrote: "When Tan Zhenlin revisited Changshu in his later years, he also said: 'In 1940, when I went to East Road, I came to Dongbang Chen Guanlin Tea House. This Sister-in-law Guan Lin was the lady who was the owner of the tea house shop at that time, and she received us. ’”
The book clearly states that this passage comes from the "Transcript of Tan Zhenlin's Conversation in Changshu on May 20, 1982" provided by the Changshu Shizhi Office. In the article "Commander Lin Revisited" included in the book "Tan Zhenlin in Changshu", the above passage is also mentioned, and the second sister of Chen is not called Ah Qing's sister-in-law.
Along with this false belief, the story of Ah Qing's sister-in-law's prototype Chen Ermei's wisdom to save Tan Zhenlin is still reappearing in the press with a different face every three or five minutes.
Almost all versions of this legend have the same narrative statement, which shows that there is a serious inheritance and cloning relationship between them. As for which one is the initiator, it is difficult to find the original version.
The general content of this incident is that after the Anhui Incident in 1941, Tan Zhenlin returned from Shanghai to the tea house where Chen Ermei was located in Changshu, and then immediately went to the new Fourth Army garrison in Lijiaba to convey the truth of the incident. Chen Ermei served as an escort. On the way, encountering the enemy's interrogation, Chen Ermei cleverly helped Tan Zhenlin get rid of the enemy's search.
This statement is also included in several books:
For example, Guan Jie's "True Heroes Behind the Screen: The True Story of Li Yunlong, Li Xiangyang and Other Heroes" (2013 edition), "Panorama of China's War of Resistance Against Japan: Jiangsu Volume" (2016 edition), Shaohua's "Fighting for the Chinese Nation" (2005 edition), and Xie Jun's book "The Legend of the 20th Army of the First Column of the World" (1995 edition) all describe this legendary journey of escaping from danger with the same caliber.
All these colorful legendary plots, in Mrs. Tan Zhenlin's letter to Wen Wei Po, all considered to be "purely fictional", and pointed out that Tan Zhenlin, who commanded the troops of the New Fourth Army in Jiangnan, had never been to Shanghai at all, so how could there be any claim that he had returned from Shanghai?
Moreover, Tan Zhenlin went to the army, escorted by his own guards, and in any case, he would not ask a lady boss of a teahouse to cover, so this legend seems to vividly portray Chen Ermei as a witty underground worker, even if we imagine, we also feel that it deviates from historical facts and loses rationality.
This rumor intensified until he walked into the Zhishu in a justifiable way, and the insider finally couldn't bear it, pointing out that the Zhishu regarded a rumor that had been denied as a historical fact.
Shen Qiunong, who once served as the director of the Changshu City Archives, directly wrote an essay entitled "Compilation of Zhi Should Also Abide by The Rules", attacking the phenomenon of "Dong Bang ZhenZhi" introducing spurious legends that were proved to be fictitious by the parties into zhishu.
Shen Qiunong wrote in this article: "In order to highlight the weight of Chen Ermei, the compiler of the chronicle set up a special section in the 12th part of the 'History of the People's Revolutionary Struggle', and the name of the section is 'Tan Zhenlin said: She is the real Ah Qing sister-in-law.' ”
The article was fiercely criticized: "What is more important is that since the party concerned, Ge Huimin, has already made important explanations and serious criticisms, and Wen Wei Po has confessed its mistake and apologized for 30 years, why did the compilers of the Zhishu turn a deaf ear and insist on compiling such an untrustworthy and untrustworthy material into the Zhishu and obtaining it for examination and approval by the functional departments at a higher level, so as to cause major mistakes and adverse repercussions, and its motives and purposes should be asked 'why?'"
In the serious records about Chen Ermei, there is no mention of such a plot.
As early as the 1980s, Yang Shousong wrote "The Inner Biography of "Ah Qing Sister-in-law", and he was a writer who interviewed Chen Ermei on the ground. He did not mention the various incredible legends of Chen Ermei, but restored the true identity of an ordinary person, he wrote in "A Thousand Gold Is Difficult to Buy": Chen Ermei "is actually very ordinary, just like my mother, simple and selfless, not to talk about any ideals, what doctrines, what earth-shattering, there is no thrilling and legendary color, she just distinguishes between good and bad people by conscience and the honesty of farmers, and makes some trivial and indispensable contributions to the underground party. All glorification and exaltation are equally vulgar as disparaging and forgetting. ”
Cui Zuofu, a military writer who provided the original materials for "Ludang Tinder" and "Sha Jiabang", after learning that Chen Ermei was mythologized as "Ah Qing's sister-in-law", also wrote an article to talk about his views, pointing out that "'Ah Qing's Wisdom saves Tan Zhenlin' is pure fiction." It can be seen that he also opposes this practice of blindly mythologizing the individual.
In the legendary story of Chen Ermei, it is also mentioned that the tea house where she was located was once the place where Tan Zhenlin and his wife often stayed, and in fact, the insiders at that time recalled (see "Female Soldiers Without Military Uniforms"): Chen Ermei's "Tea house is a teahouse with pure commercial southern characteristics in addition to receiving guests to drink tea, serving breakfast, snacks, and noodles." ...... Some leading comrades of Jiang Kang passed by and also rested in the tea house, drinking a cup of tea and eating bowl noodles, but never held any meetings in the tea house. Because the people in the teahouse are very complicated, our leaders never spend the night in the teahouse. ”
This statement is still more in line with historical truth.
The story of "Sha Jiabang" has a self-contained closed loop, which generally reflects the direction of the Chinese revolution, but in the local links, it does not necessarily fully coincide with the tortuous and complex process evolution of history.
In the last scene of "Sha JiaBang", Guo Jianguang led the warriors to raid the enemy's lair and achieved a great victory in Sha Jiabang, and the drama ended perfectly.
But the historical facts are far more thrilling than the drama, and they are also more severe and tragic.
In fact, the victory of the armed forces at the end of "Sha Jiabang" means that it has also stirred up too many waves in the heart of the enemy and aroused the attention of the enemy and the hypocrites. It must be said that the cruel "clearance" that followed in 1941 was associated with exposing oneself too vigorously.
Chen Ermei's husband was also caught by the enemy during this "clearance" and sacrificed in prison.
Our anti-Japanese troops were also in the "Qingxiang" encirclement and suppression, and had to withdraw from Jiangnan.
Later, in his summary report on "Qingxiang", Tan Zhenlin also admitted that he was too optimistic at that time and lacked correct estimation and understanding of "Qingxiang".
In Jiang Weiqing's memoirs, Tan Zhenlin's optimism at that time was also mentioned, and he wrote in the article "Recalling the Struggle against "Qingxiang" on East Road": "Subjectively speaking, we have insufficient understanding of the Japanese and pseudo-'Qingxiang' and lack of research on the characteristics of 'Qingxiang'. I remember that I once reported to Comrade Tan Zhenlin, 'This time the devils have found out the countryside, and the situation is unusual. Master Tan said with a bit of contempt, 'What are you afraid of?' Not yet! ’”
It can be seen that Chen Ermei's life experience, placed in the entire wide-ranging Jiangnan Anti-Japanese War situation, can see her efforts and sacrifices more comprehensively, and it is impossible to store her breadth and depth in the framework of such a historical cross-sectional theatrical work as "Sha Jiabang".
Therefore, the veteran soldiers of the New Fourth Army wrote a joint letter to the local government in 1985, hoping: "In the future, I will not look for any 'prototype characters' of ShaJiabang." There are no archetypal characters. The present advanced and heroic figure should be publicized with his own true heroes and advanced deeds. ”
It is also a respect for historical figures.
In fact, pulling such a rich figure with more historical significance as Chen Ermei into the framework of Ah Qingyi will also see that it is harmful to two aspects.
Even in terms of time, Chen Ermei's deeds are difficult to match with Ah Qing's sister-in-law's physical space, the intersection of Chen Ermei and Tan Zhenlin is after April 1940, and the timeline of "Sha JiaBang" is in 1939, there is no need to forcibly pull Chen Ermei into the fictional framework of "Sha Jiabang", and there is no need to add to Chen Ermei those things that she has not done.
This situation arises precisely because we look back on the past today and regard history as too simplistic, and it is too easy to choose to simplistically dramatize history. In fact, "Sha Jiabang" has already symbolically interpreted history, and its success is that it summarizes that period of history, but its shortcomings also simplify history.
Following this line of thinking is the reason why "Shajiabang" is so easy to touch people's desire to find archetypes, because "Shajiabang" sketches the lines of history roughly, and has a high degree of generalization and condensation, so it leads to many prototypes in this framework, in a word, its universality is strong, but the historical richness of the period reflected in the background of "Shajiabang" is far from being able to be included in this framework.
It is Chen Ermei's story, which also shows that there are more historical connotations that can be explored, but if you have to integrate her into a drama system that is actually very simple, it is doomed to be a second-degree injury to historical figures.
Perhaps what we should think about today is how to reshape a richer and fuller image from the place where the story of "Sha Jiabang" takes place, so that the ordinary and magnificent life that is covered by the grand narrative of a brilliant image inspired by a work can come to us more groundedly.
This is exactly what our literature and art do not do, and we prefer to stir up the old chapters and add our own closed-door imagination to the historical stories of the past. The red classic remake fever is a kind of development and externalization of this abnormal psychological trend.