People like Ma Shitu's times
The 107-year-old writer Ma Shitu has another new work!
Last year, Ma Shitu stated that he would never write new works. However, it was so difficult to let go of the pen he loved, and Ma Shitu really lived up to expectations.
His collection of recalling essays "In That Time, Such People" was launched by People's Publishing House and has been pre-sold online.
Ma Shitu’s daughter Ma Wanmei revealed: The manuscript of this book is basically written by Ma himself on the computer one by one. Because he writes on the computer screen every day, he has trouble with his eyes and went to West China Hospital. For injections to treat eye diseases, the doctor advised him to use the computer as little as possible. Since then, Ma Lao changed to handwriting with a pen, and started holding a pen in one hand and a magnifying glass in the other.
Ma Shitu is a witness of the revolutionary era. In order to write this book, he once again opened the dusty memory box in his mind and picked up the imprints that deceased scholars, teachers and friends, and relatives had made in his mind.
The book is divided into five volumes. In the first volume of Literati, he recalled Lu Xun, Guo Moruo, Zhou Yang, Ba Jin, Bing Xin, Yang Hansheng, Zhang Guangnian, Wen Yiduo, Wu Mi, Wang Zengqi, Xia Yan, Cao Yu, Liu Shaotang, Huang Zongjiang, Yang Jiang, Zhou Youguang, Li Jieren, Li Yaqun, He Qifang, Sha Ting, Ai Wu, Zhou Keqin, Che Fu and other twenty-five literary masters have passed away.
Lu Xun:
No matter what, I always think that Lu Xun is a great Chinese. Although I have only seen it twice, it has always been a monument in my life.
Ma Shitu's pen is strong, with full of sentiment, right and wrong words, leaving behind a series of wonderful portraits for the unforgettable people encountered in his life.
After reading, I have to sigh, Ma Shitu's keen observation and superhuman memory are amazing.
He is very good at capturing flashes when interacting with people.
This book focuses on the big picture and the pen. Although it is mostly trivial, it is not a casual book, but a historical biography. It is a condensed life experience of the old man, full of thoughts on society and life, and historical experience and lessons. The summary.
We can read that Ma Shitu recalled his own experience of seeing Lu Xun:
"I did see him, and twice, I will never forget it." In 1932, he went to school at the High School Affiliated to Peking University.
Once, his classmates asked him to participate in a secret rally on the playground of the Normal University outside Hepingmen, mainly to listen to Lu Xun's lecture.
"After a while, I saw half-big old men who were not tall and thin on the table. There was no introduction and no polite words, so I started to talk. Oh, this is Lu Xun! What did Lu Xun say, his accent. I can’t hear clearly, and I don’t seem to want to hear it clearly. It’s enough to see Lu Xun for the first time, and it’s enough to see Lu Xun on this occasion. After a short while, Lu Xun finished speaking and suddenly dropped off the table and disappeared. No trace."
The second time I saw Lu Xun was in 1936, a few years later.
That year, he was admitted to Nanjing Central University, where he joined the Secret Student Union, a peripheral organization of the Communist Party of China.
In October, news came from Shanghai that Lu Xun's death was going to be a funeral.
After Ma Shitu asked for leave from the school, he traveled from Nanjing to Shanghai to attend Lu Xun's funeral.
When he arrived in Shanghai, he first rushed to the Shanghai Wanguo Funeral Home to bid farewell to Lu Xun's body.
Hanging at the door was a big pair of "Lu Xun's spirit is not dead, and the Chinese nation will live forever." He took a picture.
When I went to the auditorium, I saw Lu Xun sleeping there from a distance. Although he was not allowed to approach him, he bowed to Lu Xun from a distance and then withdrew, and took another photo of Lu Xun. This was the second time Ma Shitu saw Lu Xun.
Later, the masses who participated in the funeral procession collided with the Kuomintang police and secret agents on the road. He went to the Wanguo Cemetery in Huxi to complete the funeral before returning to Nanjing.
Ma Shitu said that he always believed that Lu Xun was a great Chinese. Although he had only seen it twice, it has always been a monument in his life. No matter what he said, he insisted on one sentence: "Lu Xun is the backbone of China, Ba Jin It's China's conscience." Later, Ma Shitu went to Shanghai on a business trip and visited Lu Xun's cemetery twice.
After visiting the tomb, he sat on a stone streak for a while, feeling quite a bit emotional.
Ba Jin:
Ba Jin had nothing else in his life, only a kind heart and a sharp pen. With this heart and this pen, he once cried bitterly for the suffering of the Chinese people, fought for the liberation of the Chinese people, and cheered for the new life of the Chinese people.
In the chapter of "Ba Jin Going Home", Ma Shitu wrote deeply about Ba Jin's influence on him and his deep affection for his hometown of Chengdu.
"Ba Lao is a native of Chengdu, and he has a particularly deep affection for his hometown. Every time I see Ba Lao at the Cultural Congress and invite him to visit his hometown, he enthusiastically expressed that he must come back. In the autumn of 1987, this wish was finally realized. When he returned to Chengdu, he said that he brought back a heart."
Ma Shitu recalled that in a short period of time, Ba Jin, regardless of physical fatigue, visited and made friends with old friends and warmly received cordial talks.
What made Ba Jin particularly happy was the many meetings with his old friends Zhang Xiushu, Sha Ting, and Ai Wu.
The five of them had visited the Xindu Baoguang Temple, Guihu Lake, Caotang Shufeng Garden, and Lingding, the former residence of Li Jieren, where they met and talked happily.
Ma Shitu once wrote "The Preface to the Collection of Guihu" and wrote poems to record the events.
He still remembers that in a poem there is "A talent is like an unruly horse, and a heart is like a pine."
There is also a copy of "Will the heavens be ashamed and worthy of the guts, and the gold has its own voice." Everyone thought that the character and temperament of Balao were written.
When they visited the former residence of Ba Jin’s old friend Li Jieren, Ba Jin wrote in the guestbook: “On October 13, 1987, Ba Jin came to visit my brother. I’m late!” Ba Jin said to his late friend. Feelings made all of them burst into tears.
"When Balo left Chengdu and returned to Shanghai, he deliberately took away a bag of soil from his hometown, which shows how deeply he missed his hometown."
When Ba Jin was ninety years old, Ma Shitu made a special trip to Shanghai to celebrate his birthday. Ba Jin received him warmly and presented him with a thread-bound copy of "Caprice", which is very precious.
What makes Ma Shitu even more unforgettable is that Ba Jin’s nephew Li Zhi told him many years ago that when he went to Hangzhou to visit Balao, Balao gave Ma Shitu a new "Rethinking Record" with his right hand, which was almost unable to write. .
It shows Ba Jin's concern for Ma Shitu, a literary junior.
Therefore, Ma Shitu gave back to Ba Jin a collection of his own essays "Sheng Shi Wei Yan", with a few words on the title page: "Ba Lao: This is a book that learns you from telling the truth. In the past, I told the truth, sometimes Also tell lies, now I say in front of you, from now on, I must try my best to tell the truth, no matter what price I will pay for it." This is Ma Shitu's oath to Barao.
When Balao passed away, Ma Shitu was unable to rush to Shanghai for funeral due to illness. He sent his daughter to Shanghai to read his "Gao Lingwen" in the spirit of Balao. In this "Gu Lingwen", Ma Shitu once again asked He swore: "From now on, I will still try to tell the truth and not tell the lie, even if it costs my life."
Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News Reporter Chen Mou