Chapter 46 Section 1

In late June 1938, the torrential rain in Mengzi stopped temporarily, and the weather cleared up. Both the teachers and students of the United Nations and the aborigines in the city became active in different ways. To the south of the small town of Mengzi, there is a depression near the branch of the United Nations University, surrounded by willows. After the heavy rain, the accumulated water forms a lake, which is called Nanhu by the locals.There are sidewalks around the lake, and there are scenic spots such as Song Island for sightseeing.Every night, the moon rises, the breeze blows, the willows flutter, the lake sparkles, and the beauty is too beautiful to behold. "Nanhu Moon Night" was written into the county annals as one of the eight sceneries of Mengzi.Wu Mi, who is good at describing the charm of scenery and capturing the charm of women, has a vivid description in his diary: "There is Yingzhou Pavilion in the south, Mengzi Normal School and the buildings of Kalos Foreign Firm on the north bank, the stone road from the school to the city in the east, and the west bank. On the side is an embankment with bridges and trees. In the west of the embankment is a huge lake with red and white lotus flowers, which are extremely wide and prosperous. In the southwest is Song Island, and in the far south is Junshan Park. In Sanshan Park, there are villas furnished by the former legal person, surrounded by flowers and trees, which are extremely beautiful. In summer, the water rises, and the lake is bright.” Such a wonderful lake scenery has naturally become a place for teachers and students of the United Nations University branch to spend their spare time.On the embankment entering the South Lake, there is a horizontal plaque with four characters "Autumn to Yangsheng" written on it. Behind the plaque are two rows of lush willows.According to Qian Mu, a professor of the history department, at first, neither Qian nor the professors of the Lianda University knew what the plaque referred to. Later, they found out that the beginning of spring in Mengzi was the torrential rainy season, and after the rainy season came autumn, when the willows began Germinate until the green strips are shaded, forming an excellent view with the lake and water waves.The willows are supposed to sprout in spring, but here they only grow in autumn, which is amazing.With such beautiful scenery, Qian Mu "will go to the lake every day, often sit in the tea pavilion, and never tire of moving the sundial".And whenever I walk around the lake, I can see a group of female students from a distance, which one is a student from the United Nations University, and which is a student from Mengzi, with different clothes, so you can tell at a glance. The coveralls are all in one color. The girls from the United Nations University came from Peiping, and they all wore socks. But when they passed Hong Kong, they showed their legs. The girls from Mengzi followed suit. The short skirts showed their legs, and they put their bare feet in their shoes. The atmosphere has changed. It's so fast."There is a girl from a wealthy family who is good at dressing up. From Hong Kong to Mengzi via Annan, her studies have not improved much, but her performance in clothing and plastic surgery has jumped up many grades.When the girl appeared on the shore of Nanhu Lake in a new red and white dress, the teachers and students who toured the lake were astonished, and then suddenly met a fairy in a dream.I saw this fairy looking forward to brilliance, walking towards me with a smile on her face, and walking... All the teachers and students saw the swaying shadow of the weeping willow accompanied by the beautiful face of the girl. . ——Many years later, Pu Xuefeng, a professor of political science who was lucky enough to see her at that time, still remembers the girl's name firmly - Wang Huimin.It's just that Wang Sheng, who was famous for a while and known as a "social butterfly", later fell into someone's family. Pu Xuefeng, who once served as the "Ministry of Education" of the Taiwan authorities for the rest of his life, did not find out the exact news, so it became a great pity in his life. .

The gorgeously dressed girls were dazzling, and the boys from the Lianda University also seemed to be competing with each other, and they followed the girls' buttocks to show off their coquettishness.In terms of characteristics, the boys of Peking University like to wear long gowns, and they are as gentle as country scholars; there are many students of Tsinghua University who wear suits and leather shoes, just like returning overseas Chinese or fashionable businessmen; Wearing a pair of sunglasses, like a detective in an American movie, is both mysterious and terrifying. In Beijing dialect, it is very bluffing.Whenever there is free time, the professors go to the lake together, and male and female students also wander around the lakeshore in groups. Some naughty boys even get special vines and wooden walking sticks in their hands, and walk swaggeringly in suits and leather shoes like rich old people. In the front, followed by a few girls in silk cheongsams and high-heeled leather shoes.Some of the local soldiers who swim in the lake think that the visitor is an important person from the provincial or local government. They can't help but stand at attention and salute the boys and girls, and call out "sir", "madam", "miss" and so on with serious and nervous faces.The boys listened, nodded in a pretentious manner and moved on, while the girls shyly twisted their high buttocks, covered their mouths with bright white teeth, and ran away laughing.According to Liu Wendian, a professor of the Chinese Department who was teaching at the Mengzi Branch University at the time, recalled to his students that the exotic clothes that the girls brought to school from Hong Kong surprised the local people. With underwear and underwear, one can imagine its style.Liu emphasized: "These urchins are by no means hooligans, they are just surprises."

In addition to the naughty boys making trouble, there are not a few people who have evil thoughts in the face of beautiful women like flowers and jade.Pu Xuefeng, who has always been very keen on collecting beauties and thrilling stories that happened to beauties, recalled that for some reason, a girl entered the city gate and went back to the dormitory alone at 8 o'clock in the evening. There is something, the girl thinks that she has met a robber who is robbing, she dare not resist, obediently handed over the bag, and said: "You can take the banknotes." One of them took the wallet and looked at it, and suddenly pulled out a pistol from his sleeve , shouted to the girl: "Come and play with me." The girl realized that the other party not only robbed money but also robbed sex. Looking around in the silence, the girl didn't dare to resist, so she had to follow a few thieves to the designated place.When I came to a corner, I suddenly saw an old woman coming towards me. The girl took the opportunity to grab the old woman's hand and shouted for help.The old woman staggered a few steps and nearly fell to the ground, and the thieves slipped away.This incident alarmed the United Nations General Assembly and local authorities. Some people said that it was the girls' attire and grooming that were too elegant and fresh, which aroused the fantasies of the thieves and almost caused disaster.Therefore, the school strictly ordered girls not to go out alone, and at the same time asked them not to pursue fashionable dress.The former item is strictly prohibited, but the latter item has no effect. Even if the girls don’t deliberately dress up, to the locals, it’s like seeing a foreigner, which is extremely novel.As a result, the attire of Lianlian students not only affected the girls in Mengzi, but also deeply affected the middle-aged and elderly women in Mengzi.Previously, local women's long skirts reached the ground, and their long sleeves reached their wrists, regardless of winter or summer.The bride must wear a "shame umbrella" when she goes to the street, and young men and women are not allowed to walk side by side when they go to the street.Since the arrival of the girls from the Lianda University, not only the bride's "umbrella" was sent back to her grandma's house, but ordinary women also began to wear short skirts, competing with the young students for beauty and even jealousy.And there are even more outrageous incidents happening in Lianhe University. For example, a boy was attracted by the beauty of the daughter of a local coffee shop owner, so he simply dropped out of school and became a married woman, and became the second owner of the coffee shop.Another student, a man and a woman, did not go back to the dormitory after evening self-study. They huddled together on the desk in the classroom under the moonlight and rolled back and forth boldly. As a result, they were discovered by troublemakers and reported to the school authorities. was ordered to drop out of school.

Of course, there are still a small number of students with serious sexual hunger and hunger. Most students are more rational and peaceful. After traveling through the war-torn motherland, they deeply feel that their learning space and time are scattered on all fronts of the motherland. Gifted by soldiers who fought bloody battles.At that time, both sides of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were under fire, and the defense of Wuhan was in full swing. The survival of the nation was at stake, so I cherished every minute of my time for reading and studying, and did some meaningful things in my spare time to comfort my soul.Not long after arriving in Mengzi, Liu Zhaoji, a student of the Philosophy Department, and Xiang Changqing, a student of the Chinese Department, joined forces with some poetry-loving students to spontaneously set up a poetry club, named Nanhu Poetry Club, and hired professors such as Wen Yiduo and Zhu Ziqing as mentors. Cha Liangzheng (Mu Dan), Zhou Dingyi, Zhao Ruihong, Lin Zhenshu (Lin Pu), Liu Chongde, Li Jingting, Liu Shousong (Shousong), Wang Ban, Xiang Changqing, Chen Sansu and more than 20 young teachers and students wrote poems The society publishes the poetry wall newspaper "Nanhu Poetry Journal" from time to time, holds poetry readings and symposiums, and discusses issues such as the direction and future of poetry creation.

In fact, this literary society, which uses poetry to make friends and encourage people, has taken shape since Beiping moved south to Hengshan, Hunan. However, it did not create a few new poems and left in a hurry. It was an old-style poem written by Feng Youlan. The students left an unforgettable impression.The inspiration for the poem came from an extracurricular mountain climbing. Feng Youlan and several professors walked to a place called Erxian Temple, which is said to be the meeting place of Zhu Xi and Zhang Shi.The main building in the ancestral hall is called "Jiahui Hall", and a horizontal plaque is erected in the hall, which reads "One Meeting and Thousand Years".Touching the scene, Feng Youlan wrote several poems in ancient style, two of which are:

Worship Zhu Zhang in the Erxian Temple, and have a great meeting hall for thousands of years. You can visit Nanyue Er in the public office, half of the country is too desolate. Luoyang's cultural relics are dusty, and Bianshui is prosperous and careless. It's not just that Mr. Huai hurts the past, but it's sad to know the Nandu incident. At a poetry recital, Zhu Ziqing recited these two poems in a deep and slightly trembling tone. All the teachers and students were affected by the emotion of national ruin and family destruction, and suddenly felt sad, and some quietly shed tears.

After the establishment of the Nanhu Poetry Club, its members mainly wrote and studied new poems, but they did not object to the old-style poems, but they did not publish them on the posters sponsored by the Poetry Club.According to Liu Zhaoji, a key member of the Poetry Society, who once collected folk songs on the way from Changsha to Mengzi and published "Southwest Collection of Wind Records", people like Zha Liangzheng, Zhao Ruihong, Liu Chongde, Li Jingting, Wang Ban and others are Wu Mi from the Department of Foreign Languages. Wu is also a well-known poet, and has translated many works of English and American poets.So the members wanted to invite Wu to be the instructor of the poetry club, but they were afraid that the leader of the "Xueheng" faction would not only oppose vernacular writing, but also oppose vernacular poetry, so they gave up.

When the first issue of the Poetry Journal was posted in the form of a poster, Wu Mi stood among the crowd and commented with relish.More than ten years later, when Liu Zhaoji talked about this past event to Wu Mi and apologized for not inviting Wu as his instructor, Wu said that what he opposed was vernacular poetry that was not like poetry, and writing poetry in vernacular has existed since ancient times. There are no new inventions, such as Li Bai's "Moonlight Before the Window", Du Fu's "Two Orioles Singing Green Willows", Meng Haoran's "Spring Sleep Without Dawn", Jin Changxu's "Beat the Yellow Oriole", etc., are all excellent. vernacular poetry.After hearing this, Liu Zhaoji was completely convinced by Wu Mi's erudition, and also felt a little guilty for being cautious and misunderstood the teacher at the beginning.

Although Liu Zhaoji felt embarrassed that he had invited Wen Yiduo and Zhu Ziqing but not Wu Mi as his instructor, considering the situation at that time, Professor Wu, who was more than rigid and serious but not lively enough, was indeed not a good candidate for the director of new poetry creation.Judging from the later speeches and published articles of the poets who came out of the "Nanhu Poetry Club", they believed that the best mentor was a long-nosed British guy, a famous poet, and scholar Yan Pusun.Before the Anti-Japanese War, Yan Pusun, who was just over 30 years old, was hired by the Department of Foreign Languages ​​of Peking University to teach in China. Not long after the Anti-Japanese War broke out, Yan Pusun accompanied the school to Changsha and Mengzi.He eats and lives very casually, and often wanders alone in the suburbs of Mengzi City on his off days. Once, he met a thief on a country road, and all his money and goods were robbed. Putting the pipe, regardless of safety, he chased after him and asked for it back.Don't look at this gringo's innocence and frankness, he doesn't care about food, drink, housing and transportation, but he is very serious in his lectures. It is said that he has recited all Shakespeare fluently.In the eyes of students, he is a genius, a modern poet with a mathematical mind, and a sharp critic.The "Contemporary English Poetry" he opened at the United Nations University covers from Hopkins to Auden, Eliot, and Yeats.Among the poets selected, many were friends of Yan Pusun's peers. Therefore, his explanations were internal truths that cannot be found in books. In addition, his detailed analysis of language was quite different from that of ordinary academic schools. The enlightenment they receive is naturally comparable to that of non-academics.Following Empson, the students read Eliot's "Prufrock", Auden's "Spain" and sonnets written on the Chinese battlefield, and Dylan Thomas' "Spiritual Revelation" poetry.And "the young poets of the United Nations University did not read their Eliot and Auden in vain... These young writers discussed the technical details eagerly and enthusiastically. The loud debate sometimes went into the night." Under the influence of Empson , a group of modernist poets and a whole generation of scholars of English literature grew up.For example, Zhou Dingyi, a member of the "Nanhu Poetry Club", wrote "Nanhu Short Songs" in Mengzi. With novel and unique themes and artistic skills, it reflects the spirituality and state of mind of the teachers and students of the United Nations at that time:

I came from afar for this garden of flowers, do you ask about my home? My home is in the distant blue sky. I came here for this lake, I was a little tired from walking, let me sleep with my pillow on the lake. Let the lake wind blow away my dreams, let the falling flowers fill my chest, and let the bell of the motherland sound in my dreams. At about the same time, Mu Dan, a member of the "Nanhu Poetry Club", created two poems "I See" and "Garden". With a novel vision, he captured the fresh life unfolded by nature when he entered this small border town. . "I see" chanted like this:

I watched a gust of late spring breeze gently kneading the rich green grass. I watched them lower their heads again and again. Maybe there was a green tide in the distant water; Liuyun blushed slowly and unintentionally became intoxicated staring at the earth. O, how many joys and sorrows that have passed away, I paint in vain in your breast! O!For many years, your rich life has flourished in the silent harmony. Perhaps the ancient philosopher once sighed in praise to you with longing, but now he only sees the static flow of his life flowing with the ups and downs of the seasons. Go, go, O the gallop of life, ask the sky wind to take you to roam freely, like the singing of birds, the longing of clouds, and the swaying of trees; O, let my breath merge with nature! Let laughter and sorrow spill into my heart, like seasons kindling flowers and blowing them out. A few years later, the names of the poems of the members of the "Nanhu Poetry Club" spread from Kunming to the whole country, and became very popular. Among them, Mu Dan, an outstanding representative, published a large number of poems in the supplement of Hong Kong's "Ta Kung Pao" and Kunming's "Wenju", which were highly sought after by the people of the time. With love, Mu Dan became a bright star in the poetry circle.In the later period of the Anti-Japanese War, Mu Dan participated in the expeditionary force and entered the jungle of Burma to fight against the Japanese invaders. After returning home, he wrote a large number of shocking modern poems reflecting the life of the expeditionary force on the battlefield. had a huge and long-lasting impact. In January 1945, Mu Dan's collection of poems "The Expedition Team - Dedicated to My Friend Dong Shu" was published by Kunming Wenjushe, which included two poems "I See" and "Garden" from the Mengzi period. Wen Yiduo, a poet of the Crescent School who was highly respected and loved by young students at that time, no longer wrote modern poems. He specialized in "Chu Ci" and mythology research. Apart from teaching, he was buried in the upper floor of the Gelushi foreign company and did not leave his room easily. , every class break or after dinner, the professors go for a walk on the embankment of the South Lake together. Chen Yinke, who suffers from eye diseases, also often participates, but Wen Yiduo refuses to "join the group".According to Zheng Tianting’s recollection: “Wen Yiduo and I were neighbors when we were staying at Gelushi Yangxing. He worked very hard and never went out except for class. We went for a walk after dinner, but Wen never went. I advised him, why not What about the building? Everyone laughed, so it became an allusion to Wen and a nickname, that is, "Why don't you visit the owner of the building". Later, Wen went downstairs and often went for a walk with everyone. I remember a time with Wen and Luo Changpei On the way, I met Tang Yongtong, Qian Mu, He Lin, Yung Zhaozu and others. They talked about the history of Chinese culture and learned from each other, which was very comforting. Although the life of university teachers during the war was very different from before, everyone shared the same Live in the same room, share meals at the same table, and have a more harmonious relationship with each other." What Zheng Tianting said was only one side of the matter, and there was another side that was not mentioned.In "Eight Years of Memories and Thoughts" written by Wen Yiduo in July 1946, there was a fragmentary recollection: "After arriving in Mengzi, the achievements of the War of Resistance gradually showed their flaws, and some of them were boosted by the War of Resistance. People, now, the excitement has to be gradually lowered by the cold facts.” He also said: “In Mengzi, eating is a great hardship for me. First, I eat salty vegetables, while Yunnan’s The salt was terribly weak, and I asked the cook to prepare a little salt for each meal, and he often forgot, and I was too lazy to bother, so I had to eat mussels every day. Second, the same table was a group of famous corruptionists, Shi Bi will make a big show of his corruption theory, pointing to the newspaper and triumphantly saying: "I said I will lose, look at it! How is it now?" They are so numerous that it is useless to argue with them. Like this every time you eat It's a real pain for me." The representative of the "corruptionists" mentioned by Wen Yiduo is Chen Jinkun, a professor at the Law School of the United Nations University. The professor was very dissatisfied with his rhetoric, but this person didn't take it seriously, and even uttered nonsense, openly declaring that being a traitor is not necessarily a bad person, and that he will be infamous forever.Another young teacher in the history department took corruptionism to the extreme, thinking that "historically, a country's subjugation is normal", "changing surnames and changing names is called subjugation, a country prospers and then declines, and only a country prospers when it perishes. Dynasties and countries simply cannot 'long live'" and so on.This kind of remarks that subjugating a country and being a traitor are not necessarily bad, naturally received strong resentment and reprimand from passionate intellectuals like Wen Yiduo.Many years later, Pu Xuefeng, a professor of political science who was also in Mengzi, recalled: "My colleagues at the UNU, after dinner after class, often talk about the future of the country as a whole, especially the future of the current war situation.  … Sometimes two or three Some people mentioned in a walk that sometimes at the dinner table they chatted one after the other.” These speeches are generally divided into two groups: the main combat faction and the main peace faction, which may be called A and B. "Part A focuses on emotion, expresses optimism out of his own opinion, and believes that the war of resistance should be fought sooner, and spirit and ambition are more important than weapons. In any case, one cannot compromise and seek peace, and must fight to the end. Focus on rationality, take an objective attitude, and maintain a mentality of caution and fear, thinking that if you can delay the time and make full preparations, the situation will be better. If you can maintain your sovereignty, even if you are wronged temporarily, you can stretch it out. It is also the so-called "if you keep the green hills, you are not afraid of no firewood".... Party A and Party B have different views, and their conclusions are different. Party A ridiculed Party B for cowardice and pessimism, and Party B accused Party A of being reckless and confused, or even as Yin Ke said, "no Fool is deceit'." From Pu's narrative, we can see that the so-called "Main War" and "Main Harmony" factions not only argued at the same table for meals, but also often argued endlessly while walking and swimming in the lake.The two sides who think they have the truth in their hands often quarrel with each other and break up unhappy, and it is inevitable to form ties in their hearts.Wen Yiduo, nicknamed by his colleagues as "Why don't you go to the master of the building", is a representative of the "Mainly War faction". Unable to confide in sullenness, he simply "hid in the small building to form a unified system after the meal, and that cares about spring, summer and autumn and winter". The real reason for the floor. As for Chen Yinke's statement in Pu's article that Chinese people are "either stupid or deceitful", it is actually Chen's lifelong view. This view was born in childhood, formed in youth and middle age, and was disclosed many times before the war. On July 14, a week after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Chen Yinke said to Wu Mi in the Tsinghua Garden: "People in China are foolish and deceitful. The result of this incident must be surrender. Both North China and the Central There is no will to resist. And resistance will lead to subjugation of the country. Surrender is the best policy. Preserve South China and carefully prepare for war; it may gradually recover in the future, at least China can still survive in peace. The whole situation will be wiped out in the First World War, and China will perish forever." Wu Mi's explanation for this passage is: "Yinke's meaning is that victory or defeat depends on science and technology and equipment and military strength, and the morale of the people does not make up for it. Moreover, the morale of the Chinese people is also vain and cowardly and extremely unacceptable." Rely on Ye. Mi Yan, Yin Ke is based on the facts, relying on reason, and making observations and judgments. But fearing the result, it is only a retreat and humiliation, but there is still no hardening of the ears." Compared with Chen Yinke's attitude, Wu Mi seemed to be wavering between war and peace, but his spirit was quite pessimistic. He wrote in his diary on July 20: "According to today's events, we cannot be generous and fierce, and serve the country. It's shameful, as far as the safety of personal relatives and friends is concerned, although there is much discussion, it is rarely implemented. I worry about disasters every day, but in the end I do nothing and I don't prepare. I follow the depression and sit and wait for the fate of the event to dominate. Woohoo , The spirit is depressed and unhappy, you can know it!" On July 21, after Wu Mi recorded the war situation that day, he disclosed Chen Yinke's views and his own thoughts again: "At 6:30 Ye Qisun and Xiong Dazhen came here for dinner and went for a walk together. Chen Yinke also came. Xiong In Diancheng, I read the newspaper and knew that the Song Dynasty had completely retreated and withdrew troops unilaterally. There would be no war in Pingjiao in the day. However, there is no definite strategy for peace and war, and everything changes according to others. He advocates peace. It is said that war will lead to the subjugation of the country, and peace can lead to peace, and Xu Tu recovered. Mi said that he still regards who does it, and what is the person who does it. Yinke is still studying quietly. I should follow suit." At this time, Wu Mi and Chen Yinke still had different views. In his pessimism and depression, he hoped that there would be a strong man with an iron fist in China who would stand up and turn the tide and help the building. Of course, this strong man was Chiang Kai-shek. After the "Xi'an Incident", Chiang Kai-shek's status in the hearts of the Chinese people rose sharply. Whether it was politicians, warlords or ordinary people, they all believed that the one who could lead the Chinese people to fight against the Japanese invaders was none other than Chiang Kai-shek.As Wen Yiduo said in the article "Eight Years of Memories and Thoughts": "The impact of the Anti-Japanese War on Chinese society was not very significant at that time, and people's admiration and trust in Chairman Jiang were almost unlimited." Pingjin and Shanghai fell, and Nanjing was abandoned. Wu Mi, like many people in the country, fell into a trough in her anticipation for the future of the War of Resistance. On December 15, Wu Mi, who had moved to Hengshan Bible College to teach, said: "It was morning, and I learned that Chairman Jiang planned to come to Nanyue and stay in Jing at the Bible College. The school was ordered to move. Principal Qingmei and others went to Guilin to seek school buildings. (No income in the end). The temporary university has all moved to Yunyun. After the long journey, it is difficult to live in peace! And since today, the weather has changed suddenly, rainy, and windy. At the same time, the news of the war is bad. Shanghai retreated early, and Nanjing fell again. Or cloud When Chiang Kai-shek left Nanjing, he visited Sun Ling. He was so sad that he fainted.... He could also be a tragic hero. So Mi Xin was also very sad and unhappy, and this is the beginning."