In February 1963, when I was under nineteen years old, I went to Beijing for the first time; after returning to Changsha, I wrote the short story "Spray" based on the materials I got.I found that this novel was loved by people, and the manuscript could not be taken back when it was circulated, so I had to write it over and over again.Each rewriting is actually a rewriting, gradually changing from a short story to a medium one, and the title has been changed to "Xiangshan Ye Zhenghong" and "Return".Through a love story that has lasted for decades, the work enthusiastically praises intellectuals, advocates the importance of science and technology, and highlights Premier Zhou Enlai.

A work is a reflection of the author's ideological standpoint, and "Return" is no exception.When I was still very young, I stubbornly maintained independent thinking, and deliberately opposed the rampant extreme "left" forces. After the "Cultural Revolution" began, I was still writing it over and over again, and the meaning of "fighting against it" was even stronger. The political chill and literary barrenness caused by the "Cultural Revolution" made people more inclined to the political ideas promoted by "Return" and the emotional world rendered.As a result, the 1970 manuscript written during the climax of the "Cultural Revolution" began to be circulated in the form of manuscripts throughout the country, which was later called "a special literary phenomenon in the history of contemporary Chinese literature"; The enthusiastic readers there named it and began to "radiate" to the whole country with this new title.

On October 12, 1974, Yao Wenyuan, a member of the "Gang of Four", saw the reflection of the biography on "Internal Reference", asked for a copy to read, and "instructed" on October 14: "This is a This is a very bad book", "it is not an ordinary bad book", "actually engages in revisionism and opposes Chairman Mao's revolutionary line", "I want to find out who the author is and how it was produced? If necessary, you can call the police The department helps to investigate". Although Yao Wenyuan was a member of the Politburo and head of ideology at that time, he did not directly grasp the "tools of dictatorship"; therefore, he had to "ask the public security department to help investigate." The "public security department" immediately took action upon hearing the news and tried their best to investigate from Beijing to Hunan.On January 7, 1975, I was arrested in Dawei Mountain, Liuyang County, Hunan Province, where I "jumped the queue and settled down." On the same day, I was released to the detention center of the Provincial "Revolutionary Committee" Public Security Bureau in Changsha.Seven days later, on January 14, at the end of the first interrogation, the interrogator announced that my crime was "using novels to carry out anti-Party activities"-this slang term refers directly to the work's praise of Premier Zhou Enlai, and shows that the "public security department" Yao Wenyuan understood the will.The crime is so serious, and it is "poisonous all over the country", so I was "predetermined" to be executed.

In 1976, China experienced severe shocks.After the death of Premier Zhou in January, Zhang Chunqiao had a "killing" plan; in Hunan, he accelerated the pace of killing the author and then completely destroying this work.In July 1976, the Provincial Public Security Bureau filed a lawsuit with the Provincial Higher People's Court.This is a default "murder case", and the court is just going through the motions.At this critical moment, I met the upright judge Li Haichu.He was deeply moved after perusing the manuscript, and decided to protect the work and its author secretly;

"China Youth Daily" resumed publication in October 1978, and female editor Gu Zhicheng returned to work in the literary department of the agency.From the letters of Li Qian, a young worker in Hubei, she found that many League members and young people were criticized and punished for reading and copying. They strongly praised and demanded that the manuscript be officially published.With the support of China Youth Daily and China Youth Publishing House, Gu Zhicheng started an investigation and learned from the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau that the author was still detained in Hunan.

On December 10, 1977, Hu Yaobang became the head of the Organization Department of the Central Committee; on December 25, 1978, he was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Central Committee; Elected as a member of the Politburo and third secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.In these positions, he made great efforts to bring order out of chaos, rehabilitated a large number of unjust, false and wrong cases, and created a new situation in the political life of the party and the country.Hu Yaobang served as the first secretary of the League Central Committee for a long time, so many comrades from China Youth Daily and China Youth Publishing House know him, respect him and love him.The two publishing houses studied several "versions" and decided that this was a good book, so they decided to find an author and publish this work.To this end, Gu Zhicheng and Kuang Xiayu, a female editor of the China Youth Society, were sent to Hunan.On December 15, 1978, Gu and Kuang flew to Changsha from Beijing.

Li Haichu of the Provincial Court received them in a friendly manner and really helped them.On December 31st, Li Haichu went to Changsha Airport to see Gu Zhicheng and Kuang Xiayu off.Knowing the special background of this case, he was worried: "This case may never be solved in Hunan..." Gu Zhicheng replied: "Hunan can't solve it, let's go back to Beijing to solve it!" Li asked suspiciously, "Is there hope for Beijing..." Gu said in a tone Firm: "You wait for the good news!" While Gu Zhicheng and Kuang Xiayu were investigating in Hunan, Hu Yaobang had already started to pay attention to the case.He called Hu Dehua, the president of China Youth Publishing House, and asked to write an "internal reference" on the case. After he made an order, the two publishers could notify the Hunan side to close the case and release him.On January 9, 1979, China Youth Daily published ""Return" is a good novel author Zhang Yang should be rehabilitated and released from prison" in the internal reference "Youth Movement Situation".On the morning of the 12th, Li Haichu recorded Gu Zhicheng’s call from Beijing in his case file: “After returning to Beijing, he reported our visit to Hunan to the leaders, and immediately printed an internal report to the Central Chairman, Vice Chairman and relevant departments... The report clearly stated that the Zhang Yang case was an unjust case. Now the central government has agreed to this determination and has notified Hunan to deal with it as an unjust case. Hunan will receive instructions from the central government in the next two days.”

The "internal situation" mentioned by Gu Zhicheng on the phone refers to the "Youth Movement Situation" published by China Youth Daily; the "central government" she repeatedly mentioned refers to Hu Yaobang;Hu Yaobang even considered that I was an "educated youth" and ordered me to move my household registration back to Changsha and arrange a job. Considering the stubborn attitude that some people in Hunan might insist on, China Youth Publishing House wrote another report to Hu Yaobang on January 16, 1979.After reading the report on January 20, Hu Yaobang wrote a letter to Hu Dehua on January 22:

In fact, I was rehabilitated and released from prison on January 18th.I was seriously ill in prison.The doctor said that if he was released from prison one month later, he would definitely die! I soon arrived in Beijing, and when I was admitted to the tuberculosis hospital, I was on the verge of death.But some people still didn't let me go, and in April 1979, they wrote an 8,000-word false accusation letter and sent it to Ye Jianying, Li Xiannian, Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen, Deng Yingchao, Hu Yaobang and other central leaders.Under such circumstances, a deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department came forward and ordered China Youth Publishing House to stop publishing on May 29, 1979, ordered Beijing Film Studio to stop shooting the film of the same name, and made China The Youth Daily sent people to "report" to the Central Propaganda Department.

At that time, Wang Weiling, director of the literary editorial office of China Youth Publishing House, was one of the main initiators and commanders of the campaign of redress.Hu Yaobang asked him to "talk for several hours", inquiring carefully about the content and the author's situation; then he was instructed to organize forces, conduct serious investigation and research, and write a material that fully presented the facts and reasoned about the 8,000-character false accusation letter... … The Central Propaganda Department was then located in Zhongnanhai.Arranged by the Central Propaganda Department, the "plaintiff" party group of the Ministry of Public Security and the "defendant" China Youth Daily and China Youth Publishing House sent personnel to conduct a "bayonet fight"-style debate in the conference room of Huairen Hall.Both sides presented all the facts and evidence, and debated fiercely one by one, from noon to late at night.After supper, when it was time to continue the debate, it was discovered that all the "plaintiff" had quietly withdrawn. So far, China Youth Daily and China Youth Publishing House have "won the lawsuit" again, and the author has been "rehabilitated" for the second time. !In response to the results of the debate, Hu Yaobang immediately issued relevant instructions.

Since 1970, in the difficult years of the country and the nation, it has been spread throughout the country in the form of manuscripts, enabling millions of readers to "get instant warmth in the cold and cold night" (Ding Lingyu). Under the direct care of Hu Yaobang, who was rehabilitated twice, it was finally officially published in the form of a 250,000-word novel in July 1979. The total circulation reached 4.3 million copies within two or three years, ranking first in the world so far. It is the most printed contemporary novel since the period; there are also four translations of Korean, Mongolian, Uighur, and Kazakh ethnic minorities published.The novel is known as "the first work that positively portrays the image of intellectuals since the founding of the People's Republic of China" and "the first literary work that portrays the glorious image of Premier Zhou"; the novel's advocacy of the importance of science and technology and the depiction of pure love are considered It is "a tit-for-tat breakthrough" against the extreme left forces during the "Cultural Revolution".A writer once said: "It was written in an era when intellectuals were not regarded as human beings. For the first time, it declared that intellectuals were not only human beings, but also very respectable and lovely people-on this basis, it also It will not be forgotten by history." In 1999, it was selected as "Fifty Books That Moved the Republic"; many media and readers said that this book "affected a generation" or "moved the Chinese people of an entire era" (Phoenix Satellite TV special program language). Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.From the manuscript to the official publication, the warm love and welcome received from the people over the long years has been testing and confirming Hu Yaobang's extraordinary personality, courage and vision. Hu Yaobang said to a comrade after reading the official publication: "It seems that Zhang Yang has read a lot of books. You tell him: do it well." On January 6, 1989, I visited Hu Yaobang after he "stepped down" (Hu Yaobang's language) in Changsha.I only had this "one-sided acquaintance" with him.When I was leaving, I held his hand and said every word: "Please believe that the people love you!" Hu Yaobang died more than three months later.History has proved my words so quickly and proved the deep love of hundreds of millions of Chinese people for Hu Yaobang. After a quarter of a century, the re-creation finally came out.I hope it can touch the Chinese people in this era again, and I hope it can show the beauty and dignity of our nation to all mankind.Our whole family is going to Gongqingcheng, Jiangxi, to see Yaobang, and to dedicate the new book to him!