Chapter 201 Speech on the 35th Anniversary of the National Day

As a Chinese, in my 80-odd years of life, only the last 35 years, that is, after the founding of New China, I have lived a happy and proud life! In October 1900, when I was born, I fell on the 9.6 million square kilometers of China, which was scarred and mottled by the ravages of the imperialists!This year was the year when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded and occupied Beijing, and the lives and property of the Chinese people suffered unprecedented catastrophe. When I was studying abroad and traveling abroad, I often saw it in the museums and private collections of many imperialist countries. To the precious cultural relics of China that were looted!

When I was young and ignorant, I lived a free and carefree life in the mountains and seas of Yantai, Shandong. However, when I was just sensible, I was about eight or nine years old. One evening, I and As the principal of the Naval Academy, my father, sitting on the soft sand on the beach and admiring the sunset, was silent for a long time, and suddenly said to me very indignantly: "You think the seaside of Yantai is the most beautiful, and the harbor on the northern coast of China is beautiful. There are many, Weihaiwei, Dalian Bay, Qingdao and many other places are not below Yantai, but now these Haikou are not in our hands, Weihaiwei is occupied by the British, Dalian Bay is occupied by Japan, and Qingdao is occupied by Germany. Why do we Building the Naval Academy in this desolate and remote Yantai nest? We were forced and squeezed here!"

Then he spoke sadly and indignantly about the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1899-1995.At that time, he was the second officer of the gunner on the Weiyuan battleship.On the day of the war, the comrades standing beside him were pierced through the abdomen by enemy shells, and their intestines were splashed on the chimney.After the artillery fire ceased, he tore out the intestines that had been scorched on the chimney, rolled them up and put them in the abdominal cavity of his comrades.He said: "These scenes, like what happened today, hang in front of my eyes forever. It is impossible not to avenge this revenge! We are bullied by powerful enemies from outside. People who die, land that is cut off, and compensation Is the money still low? After that, when I was on the cruiser, I often visited foreign countries, such as Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy... I don’t think we can hold our heads up wherever we go. How pitiful our China is, it’s not revitalized If you get up, it will be divided up by others!"

The words my father said on that beautiful evening suddenly rolled up a thick black chaotic cloud in the sky of my young and clear heart, and pressed a huge rock on my weak atrium. From then on, my innocent eyes suddenly noticed many things that made me unable to lift my head!Standing on the beach, I saw warships and merchant ships flying in and out of various foreign flags on the horizon of the sea every day.Every summer, several American warships come here to spend the summer, and alcoholism and murder happen almost every day.The small city of Yantai also has many Japanese taverns, shops and brothels.When I was eleven years old, my whole family was traveling from Yantai to Shanghai on a merchant ship of the British Jardine Matheson Company. There were many Europeans leaning proudly on the rail of the "big dining room" and throwing fruit stones into the passenger cabin. Even Chinese people who can pay the fare cannot take the "big dining room".As soon as the ship sailed into the mouth of the Huangpu River, foreign merchant ships and warships were parked on the river.There are our compatriots on the pier, sweating under the whip of foreign overseers, carrying the precious wealth they squeezed from China for the imperialists.In Shanghai, there are concessions from various countries, and the streets are full of foreign businesses, factories, banks, clubs... There are also race halls and parks with a sign saying "Chinese and dogs not allowed" at the entrance!The names of the streets are not Chinese at all, such as "Xiafei Road", "Murming Road"... criss-crossing.Almost all the cars on the road are foreigners, but those who drive and pull the cars are our compatriots.

Two years later, our family went to Tianjin via Shanghai. Tianjin, like Shanghai, was divided into the concessions of several imperialist countries!The police in the concession treat the Chinese people like dogs and horses.We arrived in Beijing from Tianjin. As soon as we got out of the train station, we first passed through Dongjiaomin Lane, which is the unique "Embassy District" in the world!To the east of the embassy area is Dongdan Park. At that time, it was the playground for the garrisons of the embassies. Foreign soldiers in various military uniforms were doing military exercises in front of the eyes of the Chinese people who were tearing... , when I was twelve years old, I felt that I couldn't hold my head up everywhere in my vast country before I went abroad!Later in 1915, the Japanese militaristic government put forward twenty-one demands to Yuan Shikai, who was about to proclaim himself emperor. At that time, I was a first-year middle school student, and our students from Beiman Middle School lined up in Central Park, which is now Zhongshan. Park, to pay patriotic donations.That day, there were crowds of people around the Sheji Altar in the park. It was the first time I saw such a tragic and great scene.

When I got home, I saw my father hanging a piece of white paper with "May 7th Incident" printed in Yue Fei's typesetting on the wall of the study room. Holding hands, holding back the tears of grief and indignation.Then, on May 4, 1919, college students in Beijing launched the vigorous May Fourth Movement in order to prevent the Beiyang warlord government from selling Qingdao to Japanese imperialism.Then came the "September 18th" in 1931 and the "July 7th Incident" in 1937.... In those years, the days when the Chinese people were oppressed and bullied are beyond words.Hundreds of millions of Chinese people have their own painful experiences. In the poem "Because We Are Still Young" I wrote in the past, there is a section that says:

I was never young when I was young! At that time, what surrounded me was: the flames of imperialism in the sky, the demons of feudalism everywhere, mountains of bones, and rivers of blood and tears; national humiliation commemorates more than festivals, this is the China when I was young! It describes my depressed state of mind at that time.After graduating from university, I went to the United States to study abroad.After returning to China to teach for ten years, I traveled abroad again.As a "student", as a "tourist", I have never felt inferior, and as a "Chinese", when I sit in the first class cabin or first class car, a strange European, American or Japanese , walked over and bowed and asked: "Where are you from in Japan?" Although I politely replied: "Sorry, I am a Chinese." At this time, I felt very uncomfortable!Why can't the Chinese take first-class cabins or first-class carriages?

In order to get rid of the bullying and oppression of imperialism, the Chinese people have struggled hard for decades and finally found the right path.Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the grievances of hundreds of millions of people over the past century have turned into an overwhelming force. We finally lifted the mountain that was weighing on us and threw it to the ground. , There was a loud noise!This loud noise was conveyed in the voice of our leader, Chairman Mao Zedong, who proclaimed to the people of the world "the Chinese people have stood up" on Tiananmen Square in Beijing 35 years ago!

"Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China." The Chinese people uttered this sentence full of truth and wisdom from the bitter experience of bloody and tearful struggles over the past century.We know from the bottom of our hearts that only the working people's own party can firmly stand on the stand of the people, fundamentally, thoroughly and comprehensively uproot the blood-sucking vessels of imperialism in China, and eradicate imperialism on our land. The scars caused are washed without a trace! China was liberated, and as a Chinese in New China, I feel proud.

I am proud, but not proud. I know that the treatment of "everyone treats me equally" was won for me by the new China created by the Communist Party of China. The people of all countries who are waiting for me as equals will do my best in the great cause of world peace and human progress.Since the early 1950s, after studying and working, I have visited abroad more than a dozen times as a writer, as a peace worker and as a mother.I have been many times to the countries my father used to visit: Japan, England, France, Italy... I never feel humbled!I want to unite with the peace-loving people of all countries—including those who have yet to raise their heads—to fight to the end to oppose hegemonism and maintain world peace! August 1, 1984