Chapter 110 Return from Babaoshan

On the afternoon of September 1, 1977, I went to the memorial service for Teacher Du Renyi.Coming back from Babaoshan, I feel that this time I come back from Babaoshan, and I feel very different - the sun shining on my back, I feel warm, and I seem to smell the breath of spring in the early autumn scenery passing by the car window! Over the past few years, the number of times I went to Babaoshan to attend the memorial service has gradually become more frequent. Although every time on the way back, my mood is different, sometimes sad and angry, sometimes sad, but I always turn from silence to depression, and I have never felt such excitement like this time!

Teacher Du Renyi and I worked together in the Liaison Committee of the China Association for the Promotion of Democracy for a period of time.In our contacts, I admire her serious and responsible attitude towards liaison work.I still remember that in about 1963, we held a commemorative meeting for her forty years of teaching in Qingxiao Tower in Beihai Park. In the more than ten years after the "Cultural Revolution", we did not pass any news, and Teacher Du's voice and appearance gradually became blurred in my mind.When Mr. Du's funeral team sent me a notice, I seemed to feel sudden.

I entered the auditorium of the memorial service and saw the portrait of Mr. Du. The humble and kind voice and smile of Mr. Du more than ten years ago appeared in front of my eyes again. I gradually felt sad... When the factory worker who gave the eulogy Mr. Du—a student of Teacher Du when he was teaching in elementary school—read his eulogy full of sincere and warm feelings, and when I was so excited that my voice was sobbing, I suddenly remembered many of my own teachers, and myself. Many students, tears welled up in my eyes. I bowed my head and followed Mr. Du's family members who were holding the urn, and walked out of the auditorium with everyone.The moment I turned around, I felt clusters of red lights shining in front of my eyes!I looked up, and it turned out that in front of the left row in the auditorium, there were several rows of elementary school students wearing white shirts and blue trousers and red scarves standing neatly on their chests.These clusters of intense red light came from their chests.I burst into tears of gratitude and excitement like rain, and couldn't help rolling down!

Thanks to the Party Central Committee, it smashed the evil "Gang of Four" in one fell swoop, liberated tens of thousands of educators, and liberated tens of millions of teenagers.Those of us who can attend Teacher Du's memorial service with these teenagers with red chests are only possible after the "Gang of Four" is smashed! Five days later, in the "Beijing Daily" on September 6, I saw another article in memory of Mr. Du, which described in detail Mr. Du's outstanding achievements in "loyalty to the party's educational cause" over the past few decades. score.The article said: She often said excitedly to people, "Whenever I hear people call me 'Teacher Du', I always feel happy and proud. I love this glorious title." "Our workers, farmers, PLA , Scientists, Engineers...Which one is not educated from elementary school? We are like laying the foundation stones for high-rise buildings. The cause we are engaged in is great. The country and people entrust us with this task, which is their infinite trust in us At the end of the article, it was also mentioned that when Mr. Du was seriously ill, when he heard the good news of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he was extremely excited. "Since then, teachers have achieved a lot, and education has great hope." From these few short sentences, I seem to have heard that when the "Gang of Four" was rampant, Teacher Du "blossomed flowers" in the education field. In the situation of "ten thousand horses are silent", "pain that teachers have not done anything" and "education has no hope" complained with blood and tears!But during this period, our Democracy Promotion Association did not hold a liaison committee. I did not have the opportunity to meet Teacher Du, and I could not hear Teacher Du's more specific and painful feelings. What a pity I am!

I was meditating when a young teacher knocked on the door and came in.She is one of my "little friends", a very serious and lively young man.She often comes to me to borrow and read books, and often talks to me about her work.In recent years, she suddenly fell silent, and every time she read the book in a hurry and left.One day, when I saw her coming, I took her to sit beside me, handed her this article in the "Beijing Daily", and told her my feelings.She listened to me quietly, held my hand tightly, and said: "You can't hear Teacher Du Renyi now, but you can still listen to the words of our hundreds of thousands of teachers! Of course, Du and I The feeling of a teacher is also different. She was liberated from the dark abyss of the old society. In the new society, she heard that people respected her as a 'people's teacher'. She felt honored and proud. What about our generation?

Let’s just talk about myself. I was only five years old when I was liberated.In elementary school, people regarded us as the "flowers of the motherland", and in middle school, people regarded us as the sun at eight or nine o'clock in the morning.Unexpectedly, when we embarked on the glorious 'People's Teacher' When I took an oath to be 'loyal to the party's education cause', like Teacher Du, when I devoted all my efforts to cultivating revolutionary successors, from the black hands of the 'Gang of Four', hats heavier than millstones were pressed against us. Come!What 'worms', what 'flies', what 'revisionist seedlings'; they say that we are working hard to 'digging the corners of socialism' and carefully cultivating a 'revisionist spiritual aristocracy'.In the end, they said, "To hit the target of revisionism, the bullet must pass through the teacher's body"! ..." At this point, her voice trembled, she took out a handkerchief, but came to wipe the tears on my cheeks, gently supported my shoulders and said: "I'm sorry, I'm so angry, I can't help but speak a little emotionally .At that time, although there were a few students in our school who were instigated by the 'Gang of Four', thinking that 'anti-teachers are anti-trends', they made things difficult for us everywhere, but we were not discouraged!Because we know that they are good seedlings, they are being destroyed and corroded.As a loyal gardener, those of us who are in yoke and chains and have been pierced by poisonous bullets still stand tall and guard this garden awe-inspiringly.Although our hands and feet are bound with black ropes one after another, our loyal eyes are still staring at this withered and haggard seedling with love! "Speaking of this, she laughed heartily, and then said: "We don't feel lonely, we are not standing alone by the nursery!How many parents of students, especially the parents of workers and farmers, came to us sincerely and said: "Teacher, no matter what they say, you still have to take good care of our children and teach them well!"We ourselves have suffered from being uneducated, which makes it impossible for us to do socialism even if we want to.You must not fail our commission! 'And most of our students always come to our home after class to comfort us and beg us to help them with their studies.What a lovely child!For the sake of them and their parents, we will resolutely grit our teeth and continue to work... Now it's good!That is what Mr. Du said, 'From now on, teachers can accomplish a lot, and education can have a lot of hope'.Don't worry, the party has won, the proletariat has won, and the people have won.With the leadership of the party and the support of the people, we will and must continue to work with full confidence and courage..."

What do I have to worry about?There are tens of thousands of teachers like her—Ms. Du’s successors.Their shackles have been released, their spirits are refreshed, and they are already catching insects, weeding, watering, and fertilizing.Seeing that this piece of garden is about to show a splendid spring! The scenery of early autumn is still outside the window... I looked at the back of this young teacher walking bravely through the window, and I felt warm in my heart, and I smelled the breath of spring all over the mountains and plains. Postscript on December 12, 1977. (This article was originally published in the first issue of "Beijing Literature and Art" in 1978, and was later included in "Wan Qing Ji".)