Chapter 17 Ode to a Confucian General——Preface to "The Collected Collection of Calligraphy and Painting of General Hu Shihao"

In the winter of 1985, in Minneapolis, the United States, I had a long talk with an old soldier from old China on a snowy night. He talked about the civil war that had become history.This man’s point of view is that the defeat of the Kuomintang to the Communist Party was not due to military affairs but to politics; most of the generals of the Kuomintang army were more educated than the generals of the Communist Party, well-educated, and profoundly traditional. In the end, they were beaten to the ground by "pig herding slaves and cow herding boys". Some became prisoners, and some lived overseas.Regardless of his political bias, this phenomenon should be recognized.Recalling 1949-1950, when the People's Liberation Army entered the city victoriously, almost all the officers of the People's Liberation Army regarded themselves as "big bosses".For a time, being "big and rough" was a fashion and an honor, and even college students wished they could boast of it.Until the "Three Branches and Two Armies" in the "Cultural Revolution" and the People's Liberation Army stationed in colleges and universities, they still "re-educated" intellectuals with the golden signboard of "big boss".Can it be said that our disrespect for knowledge and culture for a long time, and thus the ethos of intellectuals and cultural people, has something to do with this phenomenon?

It has always been the tradition of our Chinese nation that literati talk about soldiers and generals read scriptures.Don't you see, Guandi in the old portraits and ancestral halls is not holding a military book but the "Spring and Autumn" compiled by Confucius.Its implication is not only to advocate loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, but also to advocate that soldiers should admire literary and historical classics. The folk saying "both civil and military" fully expresses the consistent requirements and aspirations of our nation in the cultivation of personality quality.However, many fine traditions of our Chinese nation have been interrupted for a long time!Had it not been for the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China that our country had undergone great historic changes, the roots of our national culture and history would have been extinct.

When General Shihao served as the commander of the Ningxia Military Region, he often had contacts with me.The general has an open mind towards cultural people, he is not ashamed to ask his subordinates, he is modest, gentle, and has the style of a gentleman, which has to make me look at him with admiration.Except for several famous writers in the army, I have very little acquaintance with soldiers. Maybe I have little knowledge, but I do see from him the recovery and revival of the fine traditions of our Chinese nation among the new generation of Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers. inherit.

General Shihao has the temperament of an artist and loves calligraphy and painting very much.However, both vertical and horizontal, the tiger and the tiger generate the wind, and every stroke and stroke has the power of a horizontal knife and an immediate horse, and it has the body of Mr. Youren.The so-called "Things of a kind flock together, and people are divided into groups", although General Shihao served in the military, he had an indissoluble bond with cultural people. Calligraphers and painters were often guests of his house, socializing with each other with paintings and calligraphy, commenting on gains and losses, expressiveness, and full of enthusiasm. The house shines.Over time, General Shihao actually collected a lot of famous calligraphy and paintings. In order to turn his personal collection into spiritual food for the public to enjoy together, General Shihao specially selected the best treasures, edited them into a collection, and published them in print.

On the day the book was completed, General Shihao asked me to write a preface.Thinking to himself that he has little talent and learning, and he is even a layman in calligraphy and painting, he dared not write for a long time in panic.But I feel the general's love, respect is worse than obedience, I would like to write the above text.Now facing the so-called "cultural loss", Chinese culture urgently needs to be developed.If the vast number of officers and soldiers in peacetime can continue the legacy of China's admiration of martial arts and admiration of literature, Chinese culture is very fortunate!Chinese cultural people are lucky!