Chapter 31 Shanghai - the center of going south and going north

I haven't stayed in Shanghai for a long time in my life, but Shanghai left a deep impression on me, because everything in it is connected with the faces of my dear people on the curtain of my heart! When I was two or three years old (it was during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty), I lived in Changshouli in Shanghai with my grandfather and parents. I don't know what area of ​​Shanghai this Changshouli is in, but I remember very clearly the Shanghai-style alley houses with two floors and two floors, small courtyards, and tall gates. Before liberation, Shanghai was a concession area, a paradise for adventurers, and the streets and hotels were extremely noisy.I remember that I went to the United States again in 1936 and boarded a ship from Shanghai. At that time, I lived in the New Asia Hotel, because a floor was set aside in this hotel for guests who did not play cards or serve wine. , which was commendable in Shanghai at that time!When I autographed this hotel, I wrote, "Because of the New Asia Hotel, I am not afraid to pass through Shanghai again."

It was at this time that my friend Mr. Zheng Zhenduo cooked excellent Fujian cuisine at his home and gave me a farewell party. At this banquet, I met Mr. Mao Dun whom I respect but had never met before, Hu Yu Mr. Zhi and so on. Having said that, in 1927, my father worked for the Shanghai Hydrographic Bureau, which was located in China, and our family lived in Xujiahui, just across the river from where my father worked.At that time I was teaching at Yenching University in Beijing, and I only returned to Shanghai during the annual and summer vacations.During this period, also because I didn’t like the colonial atmosphere in Shanghai, I never went out except to buy some things at the department store on Nanjing Road. I only remember meeting my little brother at Xujiahui’s home in 1928. Friends, Ding Ling, Hu Yepin and Shen Congwen, this is the beginning of my friendship with them.

In January 1930, my mother passed away in Shanghai.We agreed not to transport her remains back to Fuzhou, but to bury her in Hongqiao Cemetery in Shanghai (during the Anti-Japanese War, my father died in Beiping, and his remains were buried with my mother after liberation), because: "Shanghai It is halfway, whether we go south or north, or go to a foreign country, it is the only way we must pass, and we can visit at any time.” Now I heard that Hongqiao Cemetery has been relocated, and I don’t know where the remains of my parents have been relocated, but my heart But still clinging to that piece of land.

After liberation, Shanghai returned to the hands of the Chinese people, just as an Indian writer friend said to me in amazement: "In Shanghai, there is no trace of imperialism!" Confidence and dignity!When I returned to my hometown in Fuzhou between 1956 and 1957, and when I accompanied Japanese female writers Yoko Matsuoka and Yoko Miyake on two trips south in the early 1960s, I lived in Shanghai. Shanghai Building (formerly Broadway Building), Peace Hotel (formerly Chinachem Hotel), and Jin Jiang Hotel, etc., these hotels are now very quiet and clean.I accompanied my Japanese friends to visit the Children’s Palace in Shanghai and paid homage to Lu Xun’s tomb... During this period, my friends Jin Yi and Ba Jin also accompanied me to Yu Garden and visited the Dianchun Hall in the garden, which was originally the residence of the Little Knife Society. land.We walked slowly on the Jiuqu Bridge, and they introduced me to many scenes and deeds of the people's revolution before and after the liberation of Shanghai.They also invited me to Chenghuang Temple to eat Jiuniang Yuanzi and Gluten Baiye, which are said to be famous snacks in Shanghai-these are things I will never forget.

In addition, I passed through Shanghai for a short period of time and saw many relatives and friends I love and respect. These ripples like a touch of water often linger in my mind.Shanghai is indeed a place worthy of my memory.November 5, 1979