Chapter 25 1979 "One and Eight"

Genre: Poetry Author: Guo Xiaochuan Published: 1979 1. Life and creation Guo Xiaochuan (1919-1976), poet.Formerly known as Guo Enda, also known as Guo Weiti and Guo Jianfeng, pen names Guo Su, Weiti, Jianfeng, Xiangyun, Dengyun, Ding Yun, Xiaochuan, Xiuchun, etc.Hebei Fengning people.He successively served as the editorial board member and deputy director of the editorial department of "Tianjin Daily", the director of the Propaganda Department and the director of the literature and art department of the Central South Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the deputy director of the theoretical propaganda department and the deputy director of the literature and art department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the party group of the Chinese Writers Association Deputy secretary, secretary of the secretariat, secretary-general, editorial board member of "Poetry Magazine", special correspondent of "People's Daily", etc.Published 17 works.Among them, there are 8 collections of poems: "Pingyuan Old Man" (published by Xinhua Bookstore Zhongnan General Branch in 1951), "Into the Fiery Struggle" (published by Writers Publishing House in 1956), "To Young Citizens" (published by Writers Publishing House in 1957) , "Blood and the Valley" (published by China Youth Publishing House in 1958 and 1980), "Pengcheng Wanli" (published by Writers Publishing House in 1959), "Ode to Liang Du" (published by Spring Breeze Literature and Art Publishing House in 1961, Liaoning People's Publishing House Published in 1978), "Sugarcane Forest-Green Gauze" (published by Writers Publishing House in 1963), "Journey to Kunlun" (published by Writers Publishing House in 1965); long poem single book "Mourning the Beloved Premier Zhou" (published by Henan People's Publishing House in 1977 Publishing); long narrative poem "General Trilogy" (published by Writers Publishing House in 1961 and People's Literature Publishing House in 1978); 8 kinds of poetry anthologies: "Under the Moon Collection" (published by People's Literature Publishing House in 1959), "Guo Selected Poems of Xiaochuan" (published by People's Literature Publishing House in 1977), "Sequel to Selected Poems of Guo Xiaochuan" (published by Hebei People's Publishing House in 1980); 4 kinds of anthologies: "Propaganda Work of the CCP Needs Site Committee" (Central South People's Publishing House in 1951 Published in 1958), "Zhifeng Collection" (published by Beijing Publishing House in 1958), "Talking about Poems" (published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House in 1978 and 1984), "Miscellaneous Thoughts" (co-authored with Chen Xiaoyu and Zhang Tiefu, published by Zhongnan People Press in 1950, Wuhan Popular Books Publishing House in 1951 and 1952).Guo Xiaochuan's contemporary lyric creation has a development track from temporary excitement to long-term thought: "To Young Citizens" in the 1950s is bold and unrestrained and agitating; "Three Sings in the Forest District" and "Country Road" as representatives, mostly express revolutionary philosophy in the way of feeling things and chanting ambitions, with implicit and lofty poetry. "," ", "Sanmenxia" and many other excellent poems reflect the new look of my country's socialist revolution and construction; "Autumn in Tuanbowa" and "Autumn Songs" in the early 1970s show sharpness.His creation of contemporary narrative poems was concentrated in the late 1950s, and his main works are "The General Trilogy", "Snow White's Hymn", "Deep Valley", "Tough Love", "One and Eight", themes It is the combat life or love life of revolutionary soldiers, focusing on the analysis of the inner world of the characters, with delicate emotions and strong lyricism.The poet's contemporary poems are full of deep understanding of revolution and life and fighting passion, showing the fighting style of revolutionary fighters.The poet also paid special attention to learning the expressive techniques of Chinese folk songs and classical poems and Fu, advocated and practiced the creation of new metrical poems, and made contributions to the exploration of poetic forms.

Guo Xiaochuan's poetry creation after the founding of the People's Republic of China can be divided into four stages. (1) From 1955 to 1956, it was the first stage of Guo Xiaochuan's poetry creation.He wrote a series of poems "To Young Citizens" including "Put into Fiery Struggle" and "March to Difficulties".These poems are passionate and heroic, expressing the themes of struggle, construction, and march in a "step-by-step" form, pouring out surging passion, and inspiring the people to join the fiery struggle with the mind of a political commentator and the attitude of a soldier.But in terms of art, he is not mature enough, and political discussions often replace the creation of artistic images.

(2) From 1957 to 1960, it was a period of exploration for Guo Xiaochuan.While trying to overcome the shortcoming of talking more than images, he began to advance to complex life content and new themes, and was no longer satisfied with the superficial agitation of poetry, but pursued deep emotional connotations.There are three types of creations that represent the achievements of this period: one is the "political lyric poems" created to cooperate with political work, including the "To Young Citizens" group of poems (including seven city poems such as "Into the Fiery Struggle" and "Marching to Difficulties"). ) and "The Romanticism of the County Party Secretary", these poems, which stood at the political height of the times and the "big self", expressed the romantic pride of communism, and were written in Mayakovsky's "staircase style", produced huge The social repercussions also made Guo Xiaochuan famous.The other category is lyric poems that have been criticized for expressing the poet's personal emotions, mainly "In the Mountains", "To the Sea" and "Looking at the Starry Sky".As soon as these works were published, they immediately attracted fierce political criticism, and "Looking at the Starry Sky" was even accused of being "a dominant thing, a thing of individualism and nihilism."There is also a group of four narrative poems that have also caused controversy and criticism, including "Snow White's Hymn", "Deep Valley", "Severe Love" (sometimes called the "Love Trilogy"), "One and Eight".These narrative poems not only reflect deeply on life in content, but also show deliberate exploration efforts in form.In terms of sentence structure, the later long sentences that are longer than eloquence have been initially formed, and the verses are kept unified in the same poem (such as "Bai Xue's Hymn" and "Severe Love" are in quatrains, "One and Eight" are in six forms. Xing style, "Deep Valley" is an octant style. In addition, "The General Trilogy" is roughly twelve and fourteen lines).

(3) The early 1960s was the third stage of Guo Xiaochuan's poetry creation, and it was the period of Guo Xiaochuan's exploration in poetry art. He created two lyrical styles "Xincifu style" and "New Sanqu style" in harmony with the spirit of the times , Representative works include "Xiamen Grace", "Country Avenue", "Sugarcane Forest-Green Gauze Tent", "Green Gauze Tent-Sugarcane Forest", "Toast Song", "Kunlun Journey" and so on.The lyric poetry at this time seems to have returned to the emotional model unified in the "I" of the era, but due to the maturity of the art, the pride of the era is expressed in a more personal and restrained manner, which appears to be profound.

(4) After the "Cultural Revolution" began in 1966, it was the fourth stage of Guo Xiaochuan's poetry creation.At this time, the poet was severely persecuted and deprived of the right to write and publish works, but he still wrote works such as "Crossing the Yangtze River for Thousands of Miles" and "Three Sings in Jiangnan Forest Area".In particular, "Autumn in Tuanbowa" and "Autumn Songs" written in 1975 express the poet's serious thinking and fighting passion for social contradictions at that time, marking the height of his creation in this period.

2. Work Analysis In the late 1950s, Guo Xiaochuan created a number of narrative poems. The three poems written in 1957 were "Snow White's Hymn", "Deep Valley", and "One and Eight" (published in 1979). The long narrative poem "One and Eight" was written in 1957. Among all Guo Xiaochuan's poems, although this poem may not be as novel and superb in form as his later poems, it has the most inner tension and human charm. The theme of this poem is rare in the history of Chinese revolutionary literature.It tells that during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Wang Jin, a political instructor of our army and a member of the Communist Party, was tried unjustly, thrown into a wartime prison, and locked up with eight "scumbags" - a spy, three habitual bandits, and four deserters. .On the one hand, he was cursed and insulted by bandits and soldiers, and on the other hand, he was suspected and hated by revolutionary comrades. Faced with these double tortures, Wang Jin endured the humiliation and would rather sacrifice himself than take care of the overall situation. "The great power of truth", "can give light to all dark corners", "as if there is a mysterious and gentle hand that soothes their broken hearts", Wang Jin moved the bandit soldiers with his saintly words and deeds , awakened the humanity hidden in their hearts, and inspired their national consciousness.In the end, at the critical juncture of being outnumbered and our army suffering heavy casualties, Wang Jin led the bandit soldiers to fight the enemy bravely, and finally proved his innocence with facts, and most of the bandit soldiers redeemed their sins with actions and even their lives.

The theme of this work is "Injustice and Loyalty", which is "about a person's loyalty being doubted, and in extreme danger and injustice, using blood and life to prove his innocence".Guo Xiaochuan said: "As far back as 20 years ago, I heard such a story: When the 'Wang Ming line' or the 'Zhang Guotao line' suppressed the counter-revolutionaries, a group of prisoners were detained, all good comrades who were wronged. Once, When the enemy was besieging, these "prisoners" rose up and resisted. Most of them died heroically, and only a few escaped. I heard the same story several times later. When I participated in the interrogation in Yan'an, I deliberately wrote An article (novel or prose), trying to explain those comrades who have been wronged, has never been written." In April 1957, a friend, the playwright Haimo, told a story to Guo Xiaochuan. Guo Xiaochuan was "fascinated" by the stories of "revolutionaries being wronged" from the very beginning, which made him "intend to write the tragedy of a staunch revolutionary".

This subject matter is so bold and taboo. Guo Xiaochuan didn’t foresee the consequences of writing such a subject. Why?First of all, this is thanks to a period of looser time.From the beginning of 1956 to the first half of 1957, Premier Zhou Enlai's report on intellectuals, Chairman Mao Zedong's policy of "letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred birds contending", the criticism of "dogmatism" by the literary circles on the creation of formulaic and conceptual phenomena, and the Soviet Union's The information from the "unfreezing" literary trend constitutes an "open" thinking and environmental undercurrent, which brings a new atmosphere to literary and artistic creation.Although many intellectuals expressed apprehension and caution, Guo Xiaochuan's response was exciting and enthusiastic.He is a revolutionary writer with a strong root, and what he wants to express is the revolutionary spirit of a real Communist, which has nothing in common with "bourgeois writers" and "reactionary writers". What scruples should he have?

He even believed that the tragedies of revolutionaries could also be written. In March 1957, at a group discussion at the National Propaganda Work Conference, "Lao She proposed: What is the law of the tragedies of our era? Can a good person be written to death?" After listening to the speeches of Lao She, Mao Dun and others , Guo Xiaochuan also raised a "problem worthy of study": "Can the subjectivism and commandists in the countryside write about their killings?" Another reason is that at this time, Guo Xiaochuan was no longer satisfied with his past achievements. He set higher demands on himself, hoping to become a "big writer".He said that his early works, including "To Young Citizens" and other famous works, "are all 'quick and fast', and there is nothing worth mentioning", and they are "shoddy" and "light and tasteless"; A stubborn concept: a poet must have a unique style", "in form, and even in genre, can and should have originality", and "discover the beauty of our great people's hearts", especially There must be "new and unique" "author's original ideas"; he said, after "publishing "Deep Valley" and "Snow White's Hymn", my confidence in writing has greatly increased, and I feel that I have found a way. The unique path of creation has formed its own unique style... As long as I continue to explore this path, I may have great achievements... I have the hope of becoming a great writer"; he also said: "If a writer wants to To reach the summit, one must dare to take risks, create an original style, break through conventions, write about themes and themes that others dare not write about, and say things that others dare not say.” Then, revolutionaries who are wronged by “this subject matter is fresh and strong” can “speak” What people dare not speak, what they write dare not write", which immediately aroused the author's "poetic impulse".

The third reason is that in Guo Xiaochuan’s words, he wrote this poem “inseparable from the atmosphere at that time.” From Ming Dynasty to Anti-Rightist Movement, 1957 “was the year of the sharpest struggle on the entire ideological front,” “ It has been a tense and rigorous year."In the main battlefield of ideological struggle in the literary and art circles, Guo Xiaochuan, the secretary-general of the Chinese Writers Association and deputy secretary of the party group, personally participated in the process of criticizing and criticizing many "rightists" such as Ding Ling, Chen Qixia, and Feng Xuefeng.As Zhou Yang's general, he must adhere to the principle of party spirit, keep up with the strategic plan of his superiors, and be a "tool" for the party's struggle. He did actively participate in the war and undertook a lot of specific leadership and organizational work.However, he was excited, tense, and confused, and his troubles and contradictions were often seen in his diary. He said that writing Ding and Chen's conclusions "is simply a punishment... extremely difficult and annoying at the same time... a hundred Sorrows and melancholy came together, and I couldn't sleep for a long time... It was the most painful day!" (February 17, 1957), "It was simply endless labor" (April 9, 1957).During the anti-rightist struggle, I often felt "heavy in my heart, and every time I think of this movement, I feel difficult, difficult, and accurate. A great fighter is naturally not afraid of all these things, but how can one become such a fighter?" (1957 June 10)

He has asked many times to leave the office and go down to understand the situation and go deeper into life, but he has not been approved.Some people say that if Guo Xiaochuan saw the situation below, he would probably write a letter and classify him as a rightist. It would not be just a "rightist" issue.As for the situation at the grassroots level, he can only learn through indirect channels, "Haimer is full of worries about the countryside, subjectivism seems to be very popular in the countryside, and the life of farmers is extremely difficult", they "see so many dark sides ", making Guo Xiaochuan feel that "in the mainstream of progress, there are many dark things."And around, some people are "very annoying", "these people are intriguing, chasing fame and fortune, and sometimes they are very vicious and cruel, there are no good people... even living in a den of bandits. I think, in To live in such an environment, one must have a steadfast and unsullied character, one must endure humiliation, bear the burden of humiliation, and start from oneself"—this passage was written in the review of the "Cultural Revolution" and commented on " "Seventeen Years" "Old Writers Association" used exaggerated words, but Guo Xiaochuan mentioned this psychology many times, and it was the main reason why he left the Writers Association later, so it is basically credible. Therefore, he wanted to advocate a noble character of "coming out of the mud but not stained", which is exactly the character he bestowed on the male protagonist Wang Jin in his long poem. There is also a more important potential reason, which is the personal experience of Guo Xiaochuan and his wife who were wronged during the trial in Yan'an.During the rescue campaign in Yan'an, Guo Xiaochuan heard that the "Youth Federation of Literature and Art" in Beiping was a "red flag group" - he had joined this organization before joining the army, so he thought that he had also become a "Japanese Secret agents, Kuomintang secret agents, and Trotskyites", so "I immediately burst into tears" and made a frank confession at the confession meeting.After nearly a year and more than ten inspections, this issue was clarified, and a conclusion was reached that "there is no political and historical issue". At the same time, Du Hui, his wife who had been in love with Guo Xiaochuan for a year and a half and was newly married for only one month, was detained on suspicion of being a "secret agent" and imprisoned in the prison of the Central Ministry of Social Affairs for two years and four months. Long.The spiritual suffering Guo Xiaochuan endured during this process is only traced in a paragraph in his diary: "I dream of you every night... dreaming that you become a ghost is terrible. Your face is white, and your face is white. There is a terrible silence... thinking of you every day, thinking that you may die of illness, thinking that you were (being) executed for 'sabotaging' the party, thinking that we will never meet again...you don't look like a spy-human The most vicious of animals, the dirtiest of animals——if you are, then to me, it would be like throwing away a black cocoon. But you won’t be, most likely you have been implicated by others, correct Some, you may have been wronged, but it is not right to regard this as wronged, because there are indeed countless enemies..." From this passage, we can see a love between revolution and love. On the one hand, he believed in all the concepts of revolution and volunteered to be a practitioner of revolutionary ethics. At the same time, he had the innocence and passion that ordinary young people have.For a "revolutionary", what is even more frightening is that once such doubts appear, it means a kind of "lost virginity", so he quickly corrected himself and said, "That is wrong, because there are indeed countless enemies." However, the conflict between revolutionary ethics and Ren Lu itself added great pain to him. It may be said that, in a sense, this pain is deeper than the pain of losing a lover, and it is difficult to find a way out. Although both Guo Xiaochuan and his wife were cleared of their crimes at the end of the movement, and the rectification movement was also recorded in the annals of history as a "universal and profound Marxist-Leninist education movement" or "great ideological liberation movement", in Guo Xiaochuan's heart, there is still a Under the psychological shadow of "political struggle is 'too cruel', it is terrible to turn a good Communist Party member into a 'secret agent'".For a long time to come, Guo Xiaochuan held an attitude of "suppressing counter-revolutionaries" and "mistaking some 'good people' by mistake, and sympathizing with him". An attitude of persuasion and compassion". Therefore, Guo Xiaochuan's story of the wronged revolutionaries is not only "heard of often", but also experienced repeatedly. This kind of pain has been repeatedly touched by previous political movements, and has never completely disappeared, becoming a potential creative impulse. . Guo Xiaochuan and many other revolutionaries can accept the point of view: in the sharp and cruel struggle between the enemy and ourselves, it is inevitable that good people will be wronged. Perhaps he will agree with what He Jingzhi said many years later: "Take this example It is inhumane to attack the revolution, and it is cruel and bad to attack the revolution with abstract humanism, so there should be no revolution.” Then, the next question is, how should we treat the wronged? In order to make Wang Jin suffer for a good reason, the author wrote in the poem that, at the beginning, Wang Jin was arrested and imprisoned because of the betrayal of traitors. Although he was severely tortured, he would rather die than be a spy. When the enemy wanted to throw them into the sea Before he drowned, a fellow victim bit off the rope on his body, allowing him to escape and return to the base.Although the party organization had doubts about him, it "did not jump to conclusions lightly" and entrusted him with "important responsibilities."At this time, the enemy played tricks, a traitor accused him of treason in prison, and as the only survivor, he could not find witnesses to prove his innocence, so he was imprisoned for review.In the poem, the author repeatedly described the urgent environment of the war. Even when the enemy was mopping up, the organization tried its best to "conduct a thorough investigation".This shows that: first, the organization's suspicion of him is well-founded; second, the organization does not regard the lives of party members and cadres as a trifle at all. Wang Jin's attitude towards grievances is both generous and cooperative. When he learned of the traitor's accusation, he was a little "confused" and "horrified". But he immediately stated all the internal causes of this incident in a "serious and responsible attitude", and then patiently waited for organizational disposal. At the moment when he was about to be executed as a traitor, Wang Jin "calmly" walked up to the section chief and said, "I have completely figured it out, and I accept any sentence from the party and the army." Time’s explanation, saying, “Of course we want to prevent the bad guys from slipping through the net, but we also want to prevent the good guys from being wronged.” He said that he had “tried to find evidence to the contrary” and “discussed your complaint many times,” but still failed to prove him false. crime.Hearing the section chief scold him as a "shameless traitor", Wang Jin's "lips trembled" and "every nerve felt pain".We see that his suffering is mainly due to the accusation of his revolutionary identity, not because his innocent life is about to be destroyed. When talking about the possible death penalty with fellow prisoners in prison, Wang Jin said in a "soft whisper" and "modestly" "smiling": "I am a little wronged/... how much I deserve to live,/ Fortunately, just a second before dying, / I also believe that I will live in the future. / And my heart will never die, / My eyes will always be on this active earth, / Although, The laughter of struggles hereafter, / The love, understanding, and friendship between comrades, / I will never and never be able to see with my own eyes, / But it is all my own. / The life I lived is worth the joy of my death, / Because I lived up to my reputation as a fighter..." The author created a perfect person here, a communist believer, a person who regards death as home with religious superstition.When an individual's life is in danger, what he thinks of is the cause of the party and the honor of the collective. Not only does he accept the rationality of being wronged intellectually, he is willing to sacrifice his life worthlessly, but he also has no emotional support. Show pain, tears, even enough regret.His "softness", "modesty" and "smiling" demeanor portrayed an image of a saint who has no selfish thoughts.As a result, contradictions and pains have been quietly obliterated, and a wonderful fusion of personal and career has been completed. In Wang Jin's heart, "there is another kind of war, which is raging in his soul", but this is not at all worried and sad for his own situation, but "can't hold back his heart" for "this group of dregs of the old world." However, it is necessary to "hide" the "hatred" in my heart and restrain myself from the urge to "swear at them". This is done "in order to achieve a noble purpose", that is, for career inspiration, Change these criminals so that if they survive, "you should use your actions to redeem your sins" and "when you end this life, you should truly understand the meaning of being a person."Because, Wang Jin "is a person who is used to working for the party, / No work is worse than death! / When I can still contribute, / All pain will not stay in my heart!" This is Guo Xiaochuan's own voice is his attitude in dealing with all personal grievances. In his heart, career success or failure is more important than personal life and death. Qin Hui believes that the bandit "bearded man" in the long poem is another most plump image among the "eight" people after Wang Jin.He started from rebelling against the landlords of his village and turned to the road of rebellion. The author showed the shining side of humanity in him, and basically portrayed him as a positive image, but he ran away at the moment when he was about to join the revolutionary team. Said that he "couldn't obediently obey orders".A question is raised here: to what extent can some of the simplest values ​​such as justice be preserved in its own form under a formed organizational system? In Guo Xiaochuan's writing, organizational control and individual freedom do not constitute an absolute contradiction.After Wang Jin's education and inspiration, the bearded man's attitude changed from a "rough" challenge and mischief to a heartfelt admiration. , Second, don’t mess with our Eighth Route Army, and third, don’t spare the damned Japanese ghosts.” At this time, he can be free from the strict discipline constraints of the Eighth Route Army, and be a brave straggler who is not afraid of death and has a sense of justice.Obviously, in the author's mind, both well-organized troops and loose civilian armed forces have reasons for existence, and both can be used as positive forces for resisting Japan. The "eight" in the long poem are deserters, habitual bandits, and spies locked in our military prisons. They should be our "enemies", but the author does not regard them as sworn enemies. He wrote about their honesty, bravery and sense of justice, and asked Wang Jin to tell them about his case, talk to them, and even help them carry their backpacks.In the final ending, except for a collaborator spy who was executed, and a deserter who retreated from the battlefield again and was shot dead, the six people were all good: the bearded man walked away alone with his promise to Wang Jin, and the "thick eyebrow" was on the battlefield He sacrificed heroically—his death was written as heroic and tragic, like a real hero—the remaining four enlisted in the army and became anti-Japanese fighters.The long poem attributes the reason for their evil to the society, saying "you are not born to do evil, it is the evil society that spoils you", saying "if there is a key to open the door of their hearts, they will be In the face of the truth, it is not impossible to have a little remorse.” Under the enlightenment of the truth, most of them found their conscience, abandoned evil and followed good. Here we can see what the author wants to express. First, people are not inherently evil. Their evil has external causes. Under appropriate conditions, their evil can be transformed into good; All kinds of people, with their own faults and shortcomings, that is to say, people are not single but multi-faceted. Human nature has both an evil side and a good side. "When evil thoughts hide , their hearts suddenly become calm and clean", especially at the time when the enemy is in front of the nation and the nation is in peril, their "dead hearts" may be awakened and glow with the light of humanity; third, the power of personality is great Yes, Wang Jin's "warmth" can "heat up the hearts of criminals", and "the tide of life" "surges" their "heavy and withered hearts". The author "always believes in the great power of truth, which can give There is light in every dark corner." Inspired by Wang Jin, all forces were mobilized and united. That is to say, under the guidance of the revolutionary spirit, all the people can be twisted into one force, this force is invincible. The "eight" are all flesh and blood people, not conceptual characters fabricated out of thin air.And "One" Wang Jin is unbelievably perfect, and it is not difficult to see the appearance of an existing hero... All in all, "One and Eight" is Guo Xiaochuan's "poetry written with real heart". Human nature, covered with the halo of a saint, this character still cannot be tolerated, and this work still has to be "shot".Although the poem was never published at all, the "bolt from the blue" was imminent and had an endless lingering sound, which lasted for a lifetime.From 1959 to the "Cultural Revolution", Guo Xiaochuan never escaped the shadow cast on his heart by this criticism in the second half of his life, so much so that he said that for this poem, he "carried the burden of ten years" "A scar" of "a horrible feeling..."