Chapter 43 The Unique Quicksand River

The poet Liushahe had a legendary experience during the ten-year catastrophe of the "Cultural Revolution".His pungent, humorous, sour poems are unique in underground poetry. Liushahe was born in Chengguan, Shetang County, Sichuan Province in 1931.He studied at Sichuan University before liberation. In 1957, he published the prose poem "Grass and Trees" in the poetry magazine "Xingxing" and became a national celebrity in one fell swoop, and thus became a "rightist". "To be misunderstood by one person is a trouble, and to be misunderstood by many people is a tragedy." (Liushahe language) Liushahe has since disappeared for 20 years.

At the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", Liushahe was escorted back to his hometown for labor reform when Liao Mosha was named and criticized.On his first day back in Wu Town, Jintang County, he worked as a sawmaker in a carpentry shop in the north of the town to support himself.Sawsmiths are called "Jiejiang" in Sichuan, and they use big saws to saw logs into boards.One must be physically strong to do this job, but Liushahe is as skinny as a stick.He worked with Lian Shou, surnamed Luo, an illiterate farmer who was very good at the Liusha River.At that time, it was a piecework wage. In order not to implicate Master Luo, Liushahe had to work hard.At the end of a day's work, he dropped the saw and became paralyzed. He had to rest for a long time before he could stand up slowly and drag his exhausted body back home.This kind of work has been done for six years.Liushahe described this kind of life in poetry.

The paper window is bright, and the bearer goes to the factory. Barefoot and naked sawing big wood, the rhyme is sonorous and the rhythm is melodious. Love him with iron teeth and affection, and support my family of four; I hate him for being ruthless and gnawing at my prime of life. After eating spring and summer, when you return late, you will suddenly smell the fragrance of sweet-scented osmanthus. It's the Mid-Autumn Festival tonight, call my good wife to come to the window to watch the moon, The wife said that the moon is really bright, and it is time to wash clothes tomorrow morning.

Better go to bed early! —— "Nine Songs of Homeland" Mid-Autumn Festival If you want to talk about Liushahe, you have to talk about his wife.Just three months after Liushahe was escorted back to her hometown for labor reform, she gave up her job and rushed from Chengdu to Jintang to marry Liushahe. Even rewarding "Moonlight" has become a luxury for her.She is the girl Liushahe wrote in the poem "Dream of Xi'an": "By the Huaqing Pool, a girl came to me with a smile. She wanted to speak but was speechless, and sighed quietly. Nine years later, she finally made it." My wife, how should I thank you, Xi'an!" The two married on Qixi Festival. "Autumn insects sing, the night is vast, and the cow girl in the world is ridiculously too hasty...Under Lishan Mountain, don't forget each other, all kinds of sorrows and sorrows turn into sugar this evening. Suddenly listening to the neighbor chickens vying for the dawn, the words are earnest, and both tears."

She couldn't find a job in the town, so she had to do laundry for others to supplement the family income. She went to accept criticism from the "rebels" with the doll in her belly.This child has seen the world through wind and rain since he was a child. When he was 7 years old, he only studied for one year. Because he was a child of the "rightist" and was bullied, Liushahe had to let the child drop out of school. Dad has become a cow in the shed, and today he has become a horse in the family. Kneeling and crawling on the bed with a smile, darling, come and ride a horse!

Dad carried you to fight guerrillas, do you think it's fun or not? There is freedom in a small hut, once the door is closed, it is home. Don't run outside the door, when someone scolds outside the door, It's only my father's fault for getting you into trouble, my boy, beat me with a whip! This poem expresses the endless poignancy of a rightist father.The special state of the world, the special family happiness, and the bitterness in the humor. The child cannot go to school, so Liushahe decides to be a teacher himself.His home was ransacked 12 times, leaving not a single readable book.The poet wrote a total of 225 poems in the ancient style that he remembered in his mind, from the beginning to Chairman Mao's poems, and used them as children's Chinese literacy textbooks.The child made hands for him, nailed wooden boxes, and learned to read by reciting textbooks.At this time, the poet's body had collapsed and he could not saw, so he became a "knocker" who nailed wooden boxes.The poet's English is very good, and he has compiled 10 English textbooks to teach children to read aloud at night.By the time the "Gang of Four" fell, his children had already written four English diaries.

During the "Cultural Revolution", the most painful thing for poets was that they had no books to read.His original beloved books were either copied or forced to be burned. I can't keep you, You can't hide it. I will send you into the fire tonight, farewell, Chekhov! pince-nez goatee, You are laughing, I am crying. The ashes and smoke are gone, the light is gone, farewell, Chekhov! —— "Book Burning" Liushahe had 600 books confiscated by the Weidong Army.Once when he went to the street to buy salt, he found that the paper wrapped with salt turned out to be his "Book of Han".Because of his spiritual hunger, an old newspaper pasted on the wall made him read it over and over again.

Highly illuminated oil lamp reads her, in sleepless nights; Leaning on the head of the bed to read her, During the sick day. After being criticized, I came back to read her, a long sigh; pick up the rice bowl to read her, Pickled cabbage and bitter gourd are sweetened. ... she kept saying The laughing childhood of the Republic; she clearly proves Life used to be so bright—— "A Newspaper Pasted on the Wall" This newspaper, which records the childhood of the Republic, can only be read on one side. The poet was not satisfied, so he took it off and looked at the back. As a result, he found that there was a poem of his own printed on it.He hid the old newspaper under his pillow so that he could often relive the lost joy and poetry of the past.result:

A few days later, the house was raided again, An old newspaper was not spared either. And unexpected disasters, She's incriminating, and I'm overturning the case— "A Newspaper Pasted on the Wall" In his hard life, Liushahe never forgot to use poems to describe his life.He saw every aspect of human distortion in his daily life. The poem "Fair Neighbors" describes a neighbor who often invites poets to drink, "invites me to be a guest every night" with a mouthful of alcohol, and treats me very affectionately.However, once the rebel became an official, he "suddenly turned his face into autumn", violently exposing the poet for poisoning, criticizing him for restoration, and severing friendship.But:

His puppy is too confused, Still wagging his tail and licking his tongue at me. I said don't do it anymore, it doesn't understand, There is a language barrier—— "Bitter Neighbors" Liushahe recalled his experience of studying poetry, saying that he dreamed of being a poet when he was a teenager, and he believed that expressing his feelings was a noble and interesting thing. "As for the basic truth of 'songs and poems should be composed according to the time', I didn't know it at all at the time. Of course, I didn't expect that if I recited it out of time, it would bring me poverty and ups and downs. Jiang Ji, an annotator of "Chu Ci" in the Qing Dynasty, said "Saoyou is an ominous book!" It was not until the end of the 1950s that I understood this painful sentence."