A book that reads old friends and tells the truth——Reading Ma Shitu's Prose Collection "In Such Times, Such People"
Reading Mr. Ma Shitu’s essays "In That Era, Such People" (Published by People's Publishing House in January 2022), I feel that this book fully demonstrates the broad sentiments of a communist and embodies the feelings of a true communist. Cognition and emotion.
For our younger generations, this is a rare and good book that can obtain a variety of nutrients.
Ma Lao is 107 years old this year.
He not only participated in the revolution early and had a deep experience, but also had a very peculiar experience.
He was born in a large family in Zhongxian County, Sichuan Province in January 1915. He participated in the revolution in 1936, joined the Communist Party of China in 1938, and held many leadership positions within the party.
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was mainly engaged in underground party work, and served as the person in charge of underground party organizations such as Hubei Enshi, Kunming Southwest Associated University, and Sichuan-Kang Special Committee.
In that bloody age, he worked for the party and the people all his life and made outstanding contributions.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, he has made great contributions in the fields of science and technology, propaganda departments, and construction systems.
He is a knowledgeable leader and an influential writer.
His works such as "The Zhuang Song of Qingjiang", "Ten Notes of the Night Tan", and "The Continued Notes of the Night Tan" have had a profound influence.
His experience shows that he is a revolutionary first and a writer second.
He said in the book: He was destined to live for the Chinese revolution.
What flows from the tip of his pen is the wisdom and sentiment of the revolutionaries.
One thing that impressed me deeply about this collection of essays is authenticity.
Speaking the truth, speaking the truth, telling the truth, expresses the true feelings.
Ma Lao is a person who has the courage to tell the truth and tells the truth. This characteristic is fully reflected in this book.
He said in the postscript: "What I wrote are facts that I can recall, or there are occasional mistakes, and I can't check them." Words.” Mr. Ma once said, “I know that the truth is not necessarily the truth, but it is the only way to the truth. Telling lies can never be close to the truth.”
This is the true knowledge gained by an old Communist after years of practice.
The truth is not necessarily the truth, but the truth must be the truth.
Truth, goodness and beauty are really the first.
Telling the truth is commendable, and a person who speaks the truth is trustworthy.
The truth-telling article is contagious.
In my reading, I was repeatedly attracted by the appeal of this authenticity.
This book also has profound thoughts.
The book is divided into five parts: "literati", "friends", "relatives", "mortals", and "foreigners".
However, in the process of writing people, all thoughts and insights are reflected, and truths can be realized from individual cases.
For example, he wrote about some revolutionaries and some sacrificed martyrs. He summarized these people as people of faith, and faith is the most important thing in life.
A true communist is a person of faith.
Mr. Ma has his own beliefs, and his comrades who were born and struggling with him all have beliefs.
His comrade-in-arms was also his brother-in-law, Qi Liang. In order to rescue the comrades from danger, he fell into the enemy's hands and sacrificed himself in Zhazidong Prison.
Decades later, someone published an article in Guangming Daily describing the incident.
The newspaper forwarded this article to Mr. Ma, who wrote eight words, "It is better to live than to die if you have no faith."
This is a true portrayal of the beliefs of revolutionaries.
The Communists who fought with Mr. Ma are all people of faith.
They lived and died for the revolutionary cause and the liberation of the people, and gave their lives at all costs.
Both of Mr. Ma's wives were revolutionaries and revolutionaries with firm beliefs.
In the prose "The Great Revolutionary Soldier and Mother", he wrote about his first wife Liu Huixin. After being arrested, he resolutely refused to reveal the truth. The enemy threatened her by killing her children, and could not make her surrender, and was finally killed.
The prose "Unforgettable Past Events" is about the second wife, Wang Fang.
After graduating from university, she took part in revolutionary work. In the White Terror, she was responsible for running Chengdu's "Advance News", listening to the radio, carving wax paper and printing, and going out for distribution.
She was engaged in revolutionary activities under the direct leadership of Mr. Ma. The two slowly established a deep relationship, and they became married after being approved by the organization.
Ma's younger sister, Ma Xiuying, was also sacrificed in Zhazidong Prison for her faith.
Mr. Ma also wrote to cover his friends and people who were engaged in underground work and set up a biography for them.
He wrote deeply in the book: In the face of powerful enemies armed to the teeth, there are so many, all-pervasive, and extremely brutal spies, what do we rely on to fight and win one victory after another?
We just rely on the masses closely, truly integrate with the masses, live and die with them, and for the benefit of the masses, take the lead in the masses, sacrifice first, and have no hesitation. The masses can fight for us, cover us, and when necessary. We sacrifice, and if we are separated from the masses, we will not be able to live for a day.
This cognition has not been outdated to this day.
I appreciate the literary nature of this book.
The entire collection of essays talks about real things and real people, but they are very particular about language use, layout, and narrative methods.
For example, Wen Yiduo said, "He is holding a large blue cloth pocket in his hand. This pocket seems to exist at the same time as him in this world, and it hides his many years of hard work and the key to ancient Chinese culture." .
This vivid account fully demonstrates his admiration for the teacher.
He is also good at describing details, such as writing that Wu Mi loves Lin Daiyu, and a student runs a tea house called "Xiaoxiang Pavilion". Wu Mi is very upset, "I can't help but say that the glass doors and windows are smashed by ping-pong with a stick."
Although the students explained that they were from Hunan and used the name "Xiaoxiang Pavilion", Wu Mi still reluctantly said: "Do you know whose place the Xiaoxiang Pavilion is? You used this to open a restaurant and insulted Lin Daiyu! You must change it. , Change it now!" Such a vivid description makes people feel like they are on the scene.
There are also Sichuan dialects in his writing from time to time, which is very down to earth.
The book is easy to read and endure, and it often makes people smile.
The text is like the person.
By reading this book, we can see that Ma Lao is a very emotional person.
He missed his comrades and his relatives, which moved me.
For the people who have helped him, even though they are ordinary people, he always remembers these people and things with his pen as much as possible to express his inner gratitude and respect.
Reading this book, I once again experienced his colorful life and received various education and enlightenment.
(Author: Fan Xi'an, Counselor of the State Council, Member of the Chinese Writers Association)