A file is stored in a shanghai bureau:
Case, hanging; Fu Lei, male, 58 years old, from Nanhui, Shanghai, writer; Zhu Meifu (Fu Lei's wife), 53 years old female, from Nanhui, Shanghai, housework; Discovery: September 3, 1966 ...
According to the memories of nanny Zhou Judi, at dinner the night before, the hostess Zhu Meifu had told her to buy less small dishes tomorrow and let her rest early. They looked very calm, there was no abnormality, and they did not expect that as soon as they opened the door the next day, they would find that they had both passed away. Before they died, they not only calmly wrote a will, but also deliberately laid a quilt on the floor, in order not to make the sound of kicking down the stool noisy neighbors...
Of course, Zhou Judi will never forget that a few days ago she heard Fu Lei yelling in the study room: The conservatory may come to smash, to smash them, at most two lives. She would never forget the humiliation that Fu Lei had suffered in the days before his death.
From the end of August to the days when Fu Lei and his wife died, wave after wave of people from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music rushed into Fu Lei's home, rummaging through boxes and cabinets desperately looking for "incriminating evidence" for Fu Lei. They found Fu Lei's letter to Fu Cong, but found that the words were full of pure hearts for the country and the nation. But the fanatics did not stop there, but grabbed two pieces of "incriminating evidence" that others had deposited in Fu Lei's home, punished him for kneeling, and beat Fu Lei with a pattern of insults.
Fu Lei was a great translator who translated a large number of Works of French literature, including works by Balzac, Romain Rolland, Voltaire and others. His translations of "The Tall Old Man" and "John Christopher" can be described as classics that have influenced generations of Chinese. According to the situation at that time, it should be the people from the Faculty of Letters and the Chinese Department who came to Fu Lei for trouble, but what kind of people in the Conservatory of Music?
This is because Fu Cong is a musician and a musician who has become a British citizen. Fu Cong is the "child" in the "Fu Lei Family Letter". In fact, only by understanding the story behind Fu Lei's death can we truly read the "Fu Lei Family Letter" and truly understand Fu Lei's love and education for his children, Fu Lei's personality, and Fu Lei's loyalty to the country.
Born in 1934, Fu Cong showed an interest in music at the age of four or five. Fu Lei noticed this and thought to himself: No matter which subject he will study in the future, if he can have an art garden to cultivate, he will not be able to use it in his lifetime. Therefore, when Fu Cong was more than 7 years old, Fu Lei began to let Fu Cong learn piano. A year later, Fu Lei took Fu Cong back from school and let him receive an education at home.
At that time, Fu Lei did not actually decide to let Fu Cong specialize in music, but only thought that the primary school curriculum and piano learning would be better combined at home. In fact, Fu Cong spent more time on literature and history and other disciplines than on the piano before he became an adult. English, mathematics, piano, is to ask the teacher to teach Fu Cong.
The language class was given to Fu Cong by Fu Lei himself, and selected materials from the famous works of the pre-Qin Dynasty, The National Policy, zuo chuan, Yanzi Chunqiu, Shiji, The Book of Han, and the New Language of the World, with stories, fables, and historical facts as the mainstay, classical poetry and prose of pure literature and art, combining language knowledge, moral concepts, and literary and artistic edifications, so that Fu Cong received a very good Chinese education. It is no exaggeration to say that the teaching materials, exercises, and examination papers used by Fu Cong at that time were the only ones in the world, and behind this was Fu Lei's painstaking efforts.
What really put Fu Cong on the path of music was an opportunity to perform abroad in 1953, after which Fu Cong was able to go to Romania to participate in the piano competition of the "Fourth International Youth and Student Peace and Friendship Festival". In August 1954, Fu Cong was sent to Poland under the personal guidance of the old Polish professor Jerwitzki. The following year, Fu Cong won the third place in the "Fifth Chopin International Piano Competition". After that, Fu Cong continued to study in Poland.
Fu Cong, who was in Poland, did not know that because of the change in the situation, his father Fu Lei was like a leaf floating in the wind and rain, and his situation was worrying. At that time, many people advised Fu Lei to admit his "mistakes" and self-criticize and review them, and he would definitely be able to pass the pass. However, Fu Lei said that he was not wrong at all, but some words were distorted and understood. At this time, Fu Lei showed the personality of an intellectual, who preferred not to bend and insisted on his heart.
In 1958, Fu Lei suffered a very serious blow. At that time, Fu Lei once thought about committing suicide. Once he went out and didn't come home until midnight. When he got home, he said to his wife, Zhu Meifu: If it weren't for the fact that I still had two children, I would have...
More than two months later, Fu Cong, who was far away in Poland, learned of what happened to his father, and at this time the country asked him to return to China. Fu Cong knew that if he returned to China, he would most likely have to face the situation of "the son exposing Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu exposing the son". Or go deep into life to participate in activities, so that your fingers will be wasted, and you can no longer play the piano. So Fu Cong made a major decision to leave Poland and go to England. Poland and we belong to the same camp, and Britain belongs to the other camp. This was a very serious matter at the time, and the embassy also sent someone to stop Fu Cong, but it did not stop it.
Fu Cong's departure from Britain was entrusted by zhou Xuliang to tell Fu Lei by the Shanghai Writers Association. Zhou Xuliang was Fu Lei's good friend, but after arriving at Fu Lei's home, he could not open his mouth, and he did not know whether Fu Lei would collapse directly. It wasn't until Fu Lei took the initiative to mention Fu Cong that he took out a copy of the "Reference News" and showed it to Fu Lei, which was printed with a shocking line: Fu Cong ran away from England.
As soon as Fu Lei saw this line, the whole person stayed at that time, staying for a long time, like a mallet. Fu Lei couldn't understand why this son, whom he had devoted a lot of effort to educating, had actually run to the "enemy country". A tense confrontation has formed between home and country, between the ethics of family affection and the ethics of the state. For two whole days and two nights, Fu Lei did not eat or drink the grains of rice, and he lay like a gossamer. This was Fu Cong's first major blow to Fu Lei.
If we look at the "Fu Lei Family Letter", we can also find that from 1958 to 1959, the communication between Fu Cong and his parents was interrupted for more than a year. It was not until October 1, 1959, that Zhu Meifu wrote to Fu Congdao: After receiving this letter, hurry up and write a letter, only your letter is the only comfort for me and your father. It is said that it was Xia Yan who helped convey the situation of Fu Lei's family to the leaders, and they were able to restore communication. Fu Lei warned Fu Cong in his letter:
You have not forgotten the motherland, nor has the motherland forgotten you, always leaving room for you to wake up. I believe that the gates of the motherland are always open to you. A lot of words, mom has said, I don't want to repeat... Every time you appear on stage now, it is related to the face of the country; the personal honor and disgrace is small, and the country's honor and disgrace are big! You love your country, and this is especially important not to forget. For the sake of the body, for the sake of the spirit, for the sake of the arts, for the sake of the honor of the country, you cannot fail to drastically reduce your performance. For this matter, I have not been able to sleep peacefully since receiving the letter, and I am often shocked by this night!
Fu Lei's meaning is very clear, art has no borders, but artists have a motherland. Under Fu Lei's teaching, Fu Cong set his own "three principles": not to become a British national; not to go to Taiwan; not to say things that are unfavorable to the motherland, and not to do things that are unfavorable to the motherland. Combined with Fu Lei's experience in China and Fu Cong's situation in Britain, it is very valuable that Fu Cong can set these principles, and this is inseparable from Fu Lei's education of Fu Cong.
Fu Lei was wearing a hat at the time, and his works had to be renamed before they could be published, but Fu Lei would rather have no income and go hungry than change his name, not for the sake of his name, but because changing his name was equivalent to admitting that he was wrong. It is not difficult to see that despite living in the miserable wind and rain, Fu Lei is still the proud and indomitable Zhengzheng boy!
What is even more precious is that in the letter to Fu Cong, Fu Lei did not complain at all about the unfair treatment he had suffered, did not vent the depression and resentment in his heart at all, he just calmly chatted with his son about music and art, and warned his son that "personal honor and disgrace are small, and the country's honor and disgrace are big", "First of all, to be a man, you can be a musician." In order for Fu Cong to read his latest translation of the Philosophy of Art, Fu Lei also spent a month copying the parts of the book that were helpful to Fu Cong and sending them to England.
Fu Cong adhered to his "three principles" and married the English girl Mila (the daughter of the famous violinist Menuhin). After Mila became pregnant, Fu Lei and Zhu Meifu went to the City God Temple to pray for the blessing of mother and son, and happened to see that Ling Xiao flowers were blooming very luxuriantly, so they named their unborn grandson "Ling Xiao". Fu Lei gradually grew older, and there were more and more problems in his body, and many times he did not even have the energy to write letters to Fu Cong. He once said to Fu Cong:
Of course, people are old and full of diseases, aging is only the difference between morning and evening, there is no reason to come, you must not worry about me. I have always regarded life and death very lightly, but I just bowed down and lived a day to do a day's work, until one day the god of death came to tell me to put down the pen.
Immediately afterward, Fu Lei also taught Fu Cong not to be contaminated with bad habits abroad and to write Chinese articles well. Fu Lei said that if you make a living abroad by relying on art and not run to the door of the powerful, you must persist in it, and this pride is also one of the most beautiful traditions of Chinese artists, which is worth setting an example for the West. After the cold years know the pine cypress after the adjustment; you have not yet passed the test of "years of cold", you still have to be vigilant against yourself!
As we mentioned earlier, under Fu Lei's education, Fu Cong established the "Three Principles". But in 1964, in order to remain in britain, Fu Cong eventually became a British citizen. For Fu Lei, this was undoubtedly Fu Cong's second blow to him. Fu Lei, who learned of this news, was almost desperate, not afraid of what happened to him, but realized that Fu Cong might never come back. Communication between Fu Lei and Fu Cong was interrupted again, and several months later, Fu Lei wrote in a letter to Fu Cong:
No amount of thorough understanding can remove our heavy heart. National self-esteem has been hurt and cannot be calmed in a short period of time... We know that all official documents are only a formality, and that no legal formalities can bind a person's heart— and we always believe in you on this point; and we also know that documents can be unilaterally cancelled, but such a day is too far away to be seen.
For Fu Lei, such a day was indeed too far away to be seen. In August 1966, at the beginning of the disaster, the people of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music sought out Fu Lei because Fu Cong left the United Kingdom and became a British citizen. They rushed into Fu Lei's home and rummaged through boxes and cabinets desperately searching for "evidence" of Fu Lei's crime. They found the letter between Fu Lei and Fu Cong, but found that the words were full of pure hearts for the country and the nation. But the fanatics did not stop there, but let Fu Lei kneel down and beat Fu Lei with a pattern of insults.
Late at night on September 2, 1966, after the nanny Zhou Judi went to sleep. Zhu Meifu calmly spread out the manuscript paper on the desk for Fu Lei, and Fu Lei raised his pen to begin the last writing of this life--a letter to Zhu Meifu's various Zhu Renxiu, which was also Fu Lei's suicide note. In his suicide note, Fu Lei confessed thirteen things. Including the rent of 55,029 yuan in September, a watch repaired for others, 600 yuan for the living expenses of the nanny during the transition period, 600 yuan for the aunt's deposit certificate, 53.30 yuan for cremation fees...
At the end of life, you can also consider the life of the nanny during the transition period, which shows how kind the Fu Lei couple is. However, on his deathbed, Fu Lei was not calm, and he thought of Fu Cong, who was far away in England. In his suicide note, he wrote: Just by educating a traitor Fu Conglai, he has already died in front of the people!
As readers, it is difficult for us to understand why Fu Lei said such a sentence. Perhaps he was unwilling, he spent so much effort to educate Fu Cong, but he could not return home because of himself, and it was likely that he would never come back. Perhaps it was helplessness that a person like him, who always adhered to the pure land in his heart and had the heart of a pure child, ended up cutting himself off from the people. Maybe it was anger, why did they say that Fu Cong was a traitor, and that they had more than enough to die?
Fu Cong, who was far away in England, was in pain after learning what had happened to his parents. When foreign reporters learned of the news, they all had ulterior motives to get Fu Cong to make a statement. However, Fu Cong did not become angry because of grief, did not lose his mind because of anger, and did not do anything unfavorable to the motherland. He always remembered what his father said in a letter to him in June 1963:
I don't know how many people have been inexplicably accused in history, not even Galileo, Voltaire, and Balzac, let alone my generation! The main thing is to treat people with the heart of a gentleman, as a reference help, only good for themselves. As the old saying goes: right and wrong have their own public opinion, and after a long time, it will naturally be black and white!
Yes, it is a public opinion of right and wrong! Thirteen years after Fu Lei's death, Fu Lei and his wife finally regained their reputation after being wronged. Fu Cong returned to the motherland for the first time and stood in front of the tombstones of Fu Lei and his wife, who had been away from the motherland for 20 years. He saw that the front of the tombstone was engraved with the famous words of Fu Lei's family book: The naked son is lonely and will create a world. On the back is engraved the evaluation of his parents: Fu Lei, the heart of the naked son, just zheng bu ah; Zhu Meifu, generous benevolence, virtuous and virtuous, and Fu Leisheng are accompanied, and death is also accompanied.
Three years later, Fu Cong was hired as an adjunct professor of the Piano Department of the Central Conservatory of Music, and since then he has held many concerts in China, achieving excellence, and has been praised as "the true interpreter of Chopin's works", "the piano poet", and "the most popular and insightful performer of Mozart's works in the world music scene in the world today".
Fu Cong said that my father was my best teacher. This is true, everything is written in the "Book of Fu Lei's Family". In fact, Fu Lei is not only Fu Cong's best teacher, but also a good teacher for the majority of children, a good teacher for the majority of parents, and a good teacher for the majority of teachers. Because the "Fu Lei Family Letter" is pure, simple and moving, it has a very far-reaching enlightening effect on the reader's morality, thoughts, sentiments, and cultural accomplishment. If Xiao Xin is allowed to recommend an education book with strong readability and far-reaching significance, it is the "Book of Fu Lei". Now the price is also very affordable.
"Fu Lei's Family Book" ¥49 purchase