Chapter 38 16. The world outside the school gate

In the early days of the movement, the situation in the philosophy department was rather special.The factions in power in the whole school and in each department have collapsed one after another. The situation is chaotic, but it seems to be relatively lively. Only in the Department of Philosophy, because the secretary of the party branch, Nie Yuanzi, is a well-known leftist, the original faction still basically controls the situation, but it seems dull. .The department requires all students to sit down to study documents and improve their understanding in teams and groups.Since Mr. Chen, our grade director, happened to be a rightist in the social teaching of Peking University, this gave a chance to some people who used the small stool incident to attack him and the class leaders, and they regarded themselves as always correct leftists.We were locked in the dormitory, and everyone had to take a stand on the so-called two-line struggle in the grade.The original class cadres, especially the squad leader, were forced to undergo painful inspections again and again.Listening to people endlessly babbling about trivial and trivial matters, one side brazenly exaggerating the glorious history, and the other heartbrokenly giving himself a higher profile, I felt absurd and resentful, so I could only protest in silence.A corner of the campus can be seen through the window, and the outside world is full of vitality, which further sets off the lifelessness in the dormitory.The leftists frequently used the language in the editorials at that time, ordering everyone to "touch their souls." I wrote bitterly in my notebook: "Of course your souls don't need to be touched, and you can't touch them, because you don't have souls at all." Red Guard Movement After rising up, these people took the lead in putting on red armbands on themselves, and they were full of air, but what they did was still behind closed doors, pestering the class for bad things.I couldn't bear it anymore, so I wrote a trapezoidal poem titled "Disrupting the Department of Philosophy", copied it into a big-character poster and posted it, satirizing the Red Guards in the Department of Philosophy as little old men wearing red armbands, calling for breaking the class boundaries, and going to the big storms in society. to go.Not long after it was posted, it was full of comments, accusing me of being left and right, hating the Red Guards, etc., and announcing that they would debate with me to the end.I posted another poem and applauded with satisfaction: "Look at these excited little old men, they finally have a little life now."

After August 18 received the Red Guards, the society boiled up.As a student who knew nothing about politics, my revolutionary enthusiasm was also aroused.The so-called revolutionary enthusiasm, in fact, has no specific goal, but a desire to plunge into the boiling.The role model in my mind is Mayakovsky. I imagine myself writing many revolutionary poems like him, copying them into big-character posters, and then being copied into the notebooks of the Red Guards and spread throughout the country.However, in reality, I am not even a Red Guard myself. The Red Guard organization in my class is controlled by a group of self-proclaimed leftists, so I feel very depressed.Not long after August 18, Beijing students began to join the whole country. I discussed with a few close classmates to go out together. A certain leftist immediately posted a notice outside our dormitory door, declaring that if the bastards dared to go out to join the party, they must take We dragged him back from the train station and showed no mercy.In the vocabulary of the extremists of the Red Guards, a bastard refers to a person who is not healthy, but in fact we are not qualified.They scolded Tudao, whose father was a Tibetan aristocrat, but was also a state-level leading cadre protected during the Cultural Revolution, and the squad leader, whose family background was nothing more than a small business owner.Interestingly, many years later, these two people are the most prosperous in the whole class, they are at the deputy ministerial level and the ministerial level respectively, far beyond the reach of those who are diligently fighting for class power.

We didn't leave Beijing until November. At that time, the big series had become a prairie fire across the country, and the leftists in the class had long since left.We have a group of six or seven people, including monitor, Tudao, Tudao's younger brother Jimmy, and a Shanghai middle school student named Xu Feng who is joining forces in Beijing. She is a girl with a pretty appearance and a straightforward personality. She also joined our team. .I like Tudao very much. He spent his childhood in India and Tibet. He was influenced by Buddhism since he was a child.Because he always viewed class disputes with a stance of integrity and sound common sense, he was deeply hated by the left.He was very kind to me, and he always forgave my ignorance when I spoke wild words.With him, I feel extremely at ease.During the tandem period, there is no charge for traveling by train, and you can get on the train as soon as you see it, but every train is full, and the overcrowding is more than one or two times overcrowded, and stuffy trucks are often used to carry people.Everywhere I go, there is a local reception station to arrange board and lodging, usually on the ground in vacant rooms vacated by government agencies and schools.After all, I was young at the time, so I didn't feel bitter.We chose the westbound route. The first stop is Xi'an, and we will go to Yan'an and then to Chengdu.At the beginning, with the enthusiasm of caring about national affairs, we mainly devoted our energy to reading big-character posters at the university, but soon found that the situation was similar, and we could actually do nothing.

After arriving in Chengdu, the central government announced the end of the large series and asked the students to return to their schools immediately.Jimei and I decided to go to Mount Emei and then return to Beijing.Tudao doesn't want to go, but waits for us in Chengdu.Xu Feng really wanted to go with us, and I was very willing to bring such a beautiful traveling companion, but Ji Mei firmly opposed it, thinking that a Shanghai girl would definitely be a burden.On the day of departure, it was dawn, and we set off quietly before Xu Feng woke up.Jimei walked like flying, and I followed closely. The whole trip only took three days.On the first day, take a car to the foot of the mountain and board the elephant washing pool halfway up the mountain.The next day, when I climbed to the Golden Summit, the sun was shining brightly, and there was a boundless sea of ​​golden clouds all around my feet. A ring-shaped rainbow flashed in the sea of ​​clouds, known as the Buddha’s Light. It is said that it is a very famous and rare sight in Mount Emei. We met unexpectedly.On the third day, I ran down the mountain and crossed the snow-covered virgin forest. My shoes were soaked in snow and my clothes were soaked in sweat. I returned to Chengdu that day.This was my first time climbing a mountain. In order to keep up with Jimei's rhythm, I rolled and climbed all the way, but he still seemed to think I was coquettish, so he said "after all, I am a Shanghainese".I am very satisfied with him as a traveling companion. He is as reticent as Tudao, but he has a potential for deep thinking.That night when he stayed in Jinding, he diligently read the documents scattered in the monk's room, and asked the monks who served temporarily as entertainers for advice.The friendship we formed in the series has lasted for many years. I was assigned to Guangxi, and he went to Inner Mongolia to jump in the team. We have been communicating.I know that he was active in the countryside and did many good things, such as buying pig breeds for the production team with his own money.Once, he wrote to say that he had a secret that he could not announce yet.I immediately assumed that he had a sweetheart, but the truth was that he was about to be admitted to the party, but the matter fell through.Later, we lost contact until one day, I was surprised to read in "Reference News" that he was in the United States and became the Dalai Lama's spokesman.

After coming down from Mount Emei, we headed back home, only the squad leader decided to start walking in series from Chengdu.He kept his word, walked half of China, and returned to school dirty after many days.There was an extraordinary quality of self-denial in this man, a very strong will.One of his manifestations is that he can bear hardships and stand hard work. When he first learned to swim, his posture was very awkward, but he insisted on swimming for more than 1,000 meters every time in this awkward posture.The second is that he is extremely tolerant. No matter how much the leftists pester him about right and wrong, he only criticizes himself. I live in the same dormitory with him, and I have never heard him complain in private.After graduation, he was assigned to one of the poorest townships in a certain province, without any power background, but was able to rise steadily in the officialdom. In addition to opportunities, his perseverance must have played a big role.

In the first half of 1967, I also went out twice for series.Different from the first time, these two times can be regarded as dispatched by the organization.At that time, Peking University had established the New Peking University Commune headed by Nie Yuanzi, and I was a mass member of this organization.The faction opposing Nie Yuanzi is called Jinggangshan, and its numbers are small, but its momentum is fierce.According to later rumors, Mao Zedong persuaded Nie Yuanzi to go to Shanghai to avoid the wind when he met with her, so she took some people to Shanghai.One of her officers is Sun Pengyi, who has always been friendly to me and invited me to participate.We lived in an old-style small western-style building in Shanghai, and it was also a floor shop. The small building was very busy, but I didn't know what was going on, and I couldn't get my hands on it.Sun Pengyi gave me and a student from the history department a task. Let us go to the Wuxi factory to investigate the struggle between the two factions, and then write articles supporting the rebels.After investigation, my classmate and I felt that the rebels had a lot of problems, so we wrote a group of articles criticizing the rebels, printed them as leaflets and distributed them.Sun Pengyi was not there at the time. When he came back and saw the leaflets, his face changed suddenly and he ordered them to stop distributing them.Nicknamed Da Pao, Sun was easily impulsive. Before the end of the Cultural Revolution, he was arrested as an active counter-revolutionary and died violently in prison.

After returning from Shanghai, I had nothing to do. Another student from the history department was interested in the Cultural Revolution Movement in middle school and asked me to study it together.We visited several middle schools together, and there are only three shots that remain in memory.One is a middle school in the western suburbs, like the No. 67 Middle School. The leader of the rebel faction is Xi Xiaoming, a son of a military officer.This is very special, the military cadres usually stand on the position of linkage, but he is anti-linkage.He is very reserved and looks like a thinker, and what impresses me the most is the girl who circles around him, chirping and talking non-stop, all of which are words of admiration and consideration for him, which I really envy.The second is Bayi School, which is a school where the children of military cadres gather. When we went there, we saw Ye Jianying's youngest daughter being detained by the school's revolutionary committee, and informed the Ye Office to come and take her away.The third is the home of the linkage leader Niu Wanping. He has just been released, and there are endless streams of condolences, but he has remained silent.

In May and June, there was news of the fighting in Sichuan, and some students from Peking University went there to support the rebels. I also went there, and I was assigned to Jianyang County.At that time, when Beijing students went to other places, as long as they supported the rebels, they all used the banner of the capital's Red Congress, and we did the same.Since the New Peking University Commune is a member organization of the Capital Red Congress, this is also in line with the facts.In the minds of ordinary people, the Red Congress in the capital is Chairman Mao's direct army and has a high prestige.Therefore, when we arrived, the local rebels gained momentum and quickly gained an absolute advantage.When the two factions clashed, I was briefly kidnapped by the opposing faction, and my wallet was stolen in the confusion.We were stationed in Jianyang Middle School, where there was a capable literary and art propaganda team. The beauty of the Sichuan girl made me fascinated.I went down to Hefeng Commune in the county alone, and delivered a speech at the rally as a representative of the Capital Red Congress.When we left Jianyang, the farewell scene was very spectacular. The rebels were out in force. There was a sea of ​​human faces in front of the station. People were singing and crying. Each of us was pinned with dozens of Chairman Mao badges on our chests, and our arms were covered with quilts. Red sleeves.There was a little girl who was as cute as an angel. She jumped up and down and held my hand. When the car started, she cried very sadly.After returning to Beijing, she sent me a letter and a photo. In the photo, she looks like a dewy flower in the morning.I also corresponded with the children of Hefeng Junior High School. They wrote back and said that everyone rushed to read my letter, but they had to mimeograph hundreds of copies. Representative brother.In this tandem, I didn't see the real fighting, but only the innocent enthusiasm of those provincial teenagers who were caught up in the political tide, which could easily be led to brutal cannibalism.