Chapter 7 Memories of "May Fourth"

The May 4th Movement, it has been a full sixty years, how time flies!When I was still very young during the "May Fourth Movement", I fantasized that I would be gone after 60 years, but the future of China must be unimaginably brighter and brighter. Now this fantasy age has come before us. I, who was sickly from childhood, am still alive. Our motherland has been liberated from the weight of the three mountains, and the Chinese people have stood up!However, the science and democracy we dreamed of during the "May 4th" period have been turned into a dark mess by the vicious Lin Biao and the "Gang of Four" in the past ten years after the founding of the People's Republic of China!My grief and indignation cannot be expressed by the four words "sentiment"... Fortunately, in the past ten years, we have all been tested and increased our knowledge. , we can only firmly remember this painful lesson, and together with the people of all ethnic groups in the country, under the leadership of the party, in our own positions, we must earnestly pave a way forward for science and democracy. path of.

Having said that, when I was nineteen years old at the time, I did participate in the May 4th Movement in Beijing in 1919, but even in this school I was not a key member.At that time, I was a first-year student in the pre-science course of Peking Union Medical College Women's University, and I was the "clerk" of the Student Government Association.A few days before the May 4th Movement, I had already taken personal leave to live in the German Hospital in Dongjiaomin Lane, accompanying my second brother who had ear surgery, "May 4th" In the afternoon of that day, my female worker came to deliver things to us and told me that there were hundreds of students marching on the street with paper flags, shouting slogans, and wanted to enter Dongjiaomin Lane, but were stopped by foreign policemen. , The people watching from the side of the road were crowded.

At dusk, another relative came and told me excitedly that college students in Beijing gathered a huge procession in Tiananmen Square in order to prevent the Beiyang warlord government from signing a treaty with Japan to sell Qingdao. The house of the traitor Zhang Zongxiang was set on fire, and many students were arrested. I was both excited and indignant when I heard it. After she left, my heart was still beating passionately, and a strong spring breeze was blowing outside the window. The strong fragrance of Sophora japonica gives me a headache! I have long hated those imperialist powers that ate and devoured our country, especially Japanese imperialism.My father often said to me indignantly when I was only able to remember: "Do you know why we live in Yantai?

Because it is the only port in the north of our country!Today, Qingdao belongs to Germany, Weihaiwei belongs to Britain, Dalian belongs to Japan, and only Yantai is the place where we can train naval officers and soldiers! "My father participated in the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1899-1895. He was particularly angry when he mentioned Japanese imperialism. I remember that in 1915, when the Japanese military government made twenty-one demands to Yuan Shikai, who was about to proclaim himself emperor. (At that time, I was still a first-year middle school student. My classmates from Puiman Girls’ High School and I lined up to Central Park—now Zhongshan Park—to pay patriotic donations. Among our team leaders was Li Dequan. At that time, she She is a fourth grade student, and she also went to the stage to give a speech. That day, the Altar of Sheji was surrounded by crowds of people. It was the first time I saw such a tragic and great scene. Excerpted from the handwriting of Yue Wumu (Fei) printed at that time, "May 7th Incident" commemorates the national humiliation of that year.

On the night of "May 4th", I was so excited that I couldn't close my eyes, and I went home from the hospital with my second brother the next day.When I went to the school, I saw that the student government had completely changed. Everyone stopped attending classes, and stood in the yard chatting loudly with red ears, and at the same time nervously devoted themselves to work.Our student union is a member of the Beijing Women's Scholars Federation, and I also joined the Federation's publicity unit.Those who attended the Women's Scholars Association and the Beijing Student Association were all students from senior classes. We only did some text propaganda, advocating school strikes and market strikes, or speeches to the citizens.In order to boycott Japanese products, we also manufacture some daily necessities such as stationery, or embroider some handkerchiefs for sale.Xiehe Women's University is a missionary school, and it has always been indifferent to the current political trend, but this time the magnificent patriotic force finally rushed into this campus, and the monastery-like campus has also become the venue for the representatives of the Federation of Women's Scholars to hold meetings. venue.

The students were all excited and nervous. As soon as they heard some urgent news, they dropped their books and rushed out of the classroom. No one could stop them.We waved flags in groups of three or four, publicized on the streets, entered stores from door to door, and faced suspicious and enthusiastic faces, persuading them not to sell Japanese goods, saying that the people must rise up in unison to oppose Japanese imperialism. Aggression and oppression, the principle of opposing the traitorous behavior of the warlord government.In twos and threes, we held big piggy banks and stopped passing rickshaws on the windy and dusty Chang'an Street and in front of the dilapidated Tiananmen Square, asking everyone to donate some coppers to help rescue those patriotic students who were arrested.Our brigade went to participate in the interrogation of the arrested students in the Beijing court.We began to write various forms of anti-imperialist and anti-feudal articles in vernacular, and published them in various newspapers and periodicals.

At that time one of my cousins, Mr. Liu Fangyuan, was one of the editors of the Beijing Morning Post.He is much older than me. When he came to our house before, I treated him like an elder and didn't dare to talk to him.At this time, in order to find a place to publish the propaganda article, I begged him, and he agreed with surprise and willingness.Afterwards, he not only published our propaganda texts in the "Morning News", but also encouraged us to read more articles about new trends of thought and write more problematic novels.At this time, the trend of new ideas was at an all-time high, and new newspapers and magazines were springing up like mushrooms after rain, and it was almost unrecognizable.We all greedily competed to buy and borrow, and circulated to each other, such as "New Youth", "New Wave", "Chinese Youth" and later "Yusi".After reading the things written by college students in these books and newspapers, I became more courageous in writing. I felt that everyone was trying to write, so why should I write some small problems I have seen and heard for advice?

However, as a primary school student in a university, I was still a little timid. I used the pseudonym "Bing Xin" to submit articles, and all manuscripts were forwarded by Mr. Liu Fangyuan. I never met the editor of the newspaper.At this time, every time I finished writing an article, I would ask my mother to read it first, and sometimes my father would also give some comments.It should be mentioned here that my parents were more liberal and never prevented me from participating in the student movement.My father was particularly enthusiastic about resisting Japan and saving the country, and sometimes helped me revise words and sentences.For example, in the conversation between the patriotic young man and his die-hard father in my book "The Man Is Alone and Haggard", several lines were added by my father!We were writing while laughing, because what the old man said was something I had never heard before, and I thought it was very expressive.

At this time, I wrote something, and my hands slipped until I changed my ideal career. Before that, I had only wanted to study medicine.Because my mother was very sick, and my father believed in Western medicine, and my mother was not used to the way of seeing a doctor in Western medicine, such as listening to the chest and back. At that time, there were few female Western doctors, so I determined to When I grow up, I must learn Western medicine so that I can treat my mother.So when I was in middle school, I worked very hard on science courses. When I was promoted to Xiehe Women's University, I also applied for pre-science courses.

There are many experiments to be done in science, such as biological anatomy, it is difficult to make up for this kind of courses.Because I often went to the streets for publicity and meetings, I missed a lot of experimental classes. After my interest in writing gradually became stronger, and with the help and encouragement of people around me, I agreed to "change my career". After graduating from pre-science , I applied for the undergraduate course and skipped a class.Since then, I have been writing on and off until now. In April 1959, I had already written a short article "Reminiscences of the "May 4th"", where I apologized and admitted that due to my family background and education in mission schools, as well as my own The weak nature prevented me from participating in the fiery political revolution, and the influence of the May Fourth Movement on me was limited to literature—that is, replacing the old literary form with a new literary form, and so on.But today, I also think that a person does not live in a vacuum, the whole trend is moving forward, and a small wave must not be allowed to stagnate in the middle, especially after sixty years of twists and turns. Be sure, the two bright lights of science and democracy shining high in front of us.Today, my time and strength are limited, but I still should do my best for us to get and hold up these two bright lights that illuminate the bright future of our socialist motherland!March 2, 1979