Poet Liushahe
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Beijing Evening News
Liusha River has long been famous throughout the country together with the "Big Noxious Weed" and "Grass and Trees". Now, Liushahe and his new beginning meet readers again.
Liushahe’s original name was Yu Xuntan, a native of Jintang County, Sichuan, born in 1923. As early as before liberation, when he was studying in Chengdu No. 2 Middle School, he was a young man who pursued light and loved literature. He joined the progressive student group "October Reading Club" and published articles in progressive newspapers. He was 17 years old when New China was founded and studying in the Department of Agricultural Chemistry of Sichuan University. He hated his landlord family and was determined to break away from it and live independently. He dropped out of school and went to the mountains to become a primary school teacher.
Liu Shahe's literary talent was valued by the party. Recommended by the writer Xirong, he was transferred to work at the "Western Sichuan Peasant Newspaper". In 1952, he transferred to the Sichuan Federation of Literary and Art Circles to engage in professional creation. At this time, he was already a member of the Youth League. With his innocent heart, he wrote many poems praising the party and Chairman Mao.
In January 1957, four young poets including Liu Shahe and Bai Hang founded the poetry magazine "Stars" in Chengdu. The first issue published Liushahe's "Grass and Trees" written by Liushahe and other authors' excellent works of various genres. It stood out nationwide and was very popular among readers. At the beginning of the "anti-rightist campaign", "Xingxing" was accused of being an "anti-party publication" and "Grass and Trees" was the most poisonous "big poisonous weed". The naive Liushahe thought it was just a misunderstanding and ran to Xi'an to take shelter. Soon he was ordered to return to Chengdu to accept criticism, and then he was labeled as a "big rightist" (at the age of 25!), and was sent to the Federation of Literary and Art Circles to supervise labor and serve as a "negative teacher."
When he was "sheltering" from the wind in Xi'an, the Chengdu Sichuan Opera Troupe was performing in the city. One day, a group of young Sichuan opera actresses were visiting Lishan Mountain. Suddenly someone exclaimed: "Look! That person walking with his head hanging up is Liushahe!" Pairs of eyes looked at him, and one pair couldn't take them back for a long time: Unexpectedly, "Crazy attack on the party" "The Liusha River is actually a pitiful young man! She felt sympathy for him. Later, she learned about Liushahe's character from an old writer, and felt even more wronged by him. She tried to get close to him and give him some comfort.
This actress was He Jie who later became the poet's wife. The "Cultural Revolution" was about to begin, and when newspapers were naming and criticizing "Sanjia Village", he was escorted back to his hometown, Chengxiang Town, Jintang County. The only person who saw him off was He Jie. She felt sorry for him. She loved him even more - loved his temperament, loved his personality, to the point of being crazy.
Returning to his hometown for labor reform, Liushahe worked as a sawyer, using a big saw to saw logs into boards. Three months later, He Jie suddenly appeared in front of him. At that time, being able to divorce a "rightist" was considered "lucky", but she gave up her job and came to the county town from Chengdu. She was not unaware of the hardships of being the wife of such a man, especially a scary person like Liushahe, but she was determined to be with him forever.
The seventh day of the seventh lunar month in 1966 was their wedding day; outside the door were armed militiamen carrying bayonets and guns, and there was not a single guest in the house; Liushahe’s mother made a small bowl of braised pork. A family of three gathered around a small table to celebrate the happy event.
Working as house washers and nannies, the wife tries her best to help her husband and make their family survive. The child was about to be born, with a big belly, standing side by side with her husband and being criticized by the "rebels"; after the child was born, he was carried on the mother's back and was beaten. His son Kunkun "joined the workforce" at the age of 6 and followed his father to work in a wood factory. At this time, Liushahe could no longer pull a big saw and was as skinny as firewood. He was only qualified to be a "knocker" who nailed wooden boxes. Kunkun helps his father, and a 6-year-old child can actually earn more than a dime a day! The child loves sweets, but his parents cannot afford sugar, so they use saccharin to make water for him to drink. The innocent child said: "When we get rich, can we eat a lot of saccharin?" The parents were heartbroken after hearing this, and cried bitterly while holding their children.
In order to give his son some joy, Liushahe would often lie down on the bed and let his son "ride a horse" after returning home after being criticized for a day. Please take a look at this poem: Dad has become a cow in the stall, and today he has become a horse in the stable.
Laughing and kneeling on the bed, crawling on all fours, dear boy, come and ride a horse!
Dad takes you to fight guerrillas, do you think it’s fun or not?
There is freedom in a small cabin. Once the door is closed, the world is at home.
Don’t run to the door where someone scolds you.
It’s only your father’s fault for causing trouble to you, dear boy, please whip him!
The child only attended primary school for one month before he had to drop out. The poet silently wrote down 225 ancient poems he remembered in his mind, starting from "The Book of Songs" and ending with Chairman Mao's poems, as a Chinese literacy textbook for teaching children. At the same time, he compiled *** 10 volumes of English textbooks and taught his children to read aloud during the long nights. By the time the "Gang of Four" was overthrown, his children had already written an English diary.
At the end of 1979, Liushahe, wearing a torn cotton-padded jacket, returned to the editorial office of "Stars". While he was working as an editor for "The Star" after its resumption of publication, he wrote diligently. The disaster of 22 years not only did not make him depressed, but made his poems more passionate, profound and touching... (according to excerpts from "Beijing Evening News" and "Poetry Magazine")