Among the older generation of revolutionaries, Xia Yan is an extremely special person.
On the surface, he is gentle and kind, and is a typical "thin scholar".
However, he had never touched a gun in his life, but he played a pivotal role in the revolutionary period.
Xia Yan devoted himself to cultural undertakings throughout his life, from news to editorials to movies, and he has countless works in his life.
At the most difficult moment of the revolution, his works brought inspiration and strength to countless people.
He is Lu Xun's loyal comrade-in-arms and the founder of the film industry in New China.
When Xia Yan died in 1995, the State Council even awarded Xia Yan the title of "Film Artist with Outstanding Contributions in the Country", and His works can be said to have influenced generations of Chinese people.
However, what is little known is that such a literary master fought a "spy war" with the Kuomintang authorities behind enemy lines during the revolutionary period.
When he was a student, a stack of newspapers impressed Sun Yat-sen
Xia Yan was born in 1900. His father was a doctor and his family was well-off in his early years.
However, an accident happened in the year when he was three years old. His father died of a sudden stroke, leaving only his mother Xu Xiusheng to pull eight children.
Due to his poor family, Xia Yan's academic performance was not going well. He was forced to drop out of school just after elementary school and became an apprentice in a dyeing workshop.
But luckily, at this time, he received a notice from his alma mater, Deqing Gaojiao, and he was admitted to Zhejiang Provincial Type A Industrial School .
It turns out that Xia Yan was diligent and studious and upright during his time at school, which left a deep impression on every teacher who had come into contact with him.
Because of this, they later gave the admission quota and immediately thought of Xia Yan, who was interrupted due to poverty.
Under the arrangement of fate, Xia Yan returned to the classroom.
Because I had worked in a dyeing workshop, after entered the A-type industrial school, Xia Yan chose the chromatography department.
Perhaps it was because I knew that the opportunity to study was hard-won. During my time at school, Xia Yan began to study hard almost crazy and ranked first in every exam.
After graduating from Zhejiang Provincial No.1 A Industrial School, Xia Yan was once again given the opportunity to be admitted to Japan to study, and studied the electrical department at Kitakyushu Dogshen Meiji School.
It is not difficult to see from Xia Yan's two majors that Xia Yan studied that at this time, Xia Yan did not think that he would embark on the road of literature and art in the future.
Like most students at that time, Xia Yan had a desire to revitalize the country through industry.
In the early last century, Japan was a gathering place for progressive young people in China.
Here, Xia Yan met a group of like-minded people, and pointed out the revolutionary path for him in the future.
1924, Feng Yuxiang invited Sun Yat-sen to go north. On the way, Sun Yat-sen went to Japan to meet with outstanding student representatives, and Xia Yan was among them.
The student representatives at that time either brought their own articles or editorials with them, hoping to win the praise of the leader with their literary talent.
But Xia Yan didn't write anything. After meeting Sun Yat-sen, he took out a newspaper compilation, which contained reports on the situation in China by newspapers from all over the world.
Surprisingly, when Sun Yat-sen saw this thick book, he praised it very much and said it was "useful".
It turned out that due to inconvenient information exchange in China, it was difficult to know what Western countries think about the situation in China.
This Xia Yan's newspaper compilation perfectly solved Sun Yat-sen's troubles.
Xia Yan is not unable to write articles. Since 1925, he has contributed articles in major newspapers and magazines, which has had a great influence.
He also translated many foreign masterpieces at that time, such as "Mother" by the Soviet writer Gorky .
Among the dozens of works he translated throughout his life, it includes Japanese, Russian, English, , German, and other languages. It can be said to be a cross-professional versatile talent.
However, this time, Xia Yan knew that Sun Yat-sen's time was precious, so he wanted to do his best to provide some help to the leader.
As for what to show literary talent, it is completely out of Xia Yan's scope of consideration.
It can be said that from this time, Xia Yan showed his strong working ability.
Xia Yan had followed Sun Yat-sen to join the Kuomintang in his early days, but with the arrival of Chiang Kai-shek , the reactionaries gradually grasped the power of the Kuomintang, and Xia Yan was also expelled from the party and wanted by the whole country.
At that time, Xia Yan was in Japan. The Kuomintang wanted more than to arrest people, but to be a kind of intimidation. He wanted Xia Yan to express his opinion as soon as possible and join Chiang Kai-shek's command.
Ka Xia Yan was unmoved. In 1927, he resolutely chose to join the Communist Party of China, and began the struggle on the cultural front.
"King of Spy" on the cultural front
1929, Xia Yan was arranged by Premier Zhou to go to Shanghai to be responsible for cultural publicity.
There are many difficulties in activities behind enemy lines, especially cultural workers, who lack self-protection ability. If you are not careful, you may be arrested by spies.
Facing such difficulties, Xia Yan was not intimidated. He published articles under many pseudonyms and started the " Guerrilla Warfare " on the cultural front.
Xia Yan has unique vision and advanced ideas. In addition to publishing various articles, also actively advanced to the film industry during this period.
Chinese movies at that time were still emerging, and no one had ever thought of carrying out revolutionary propaganda in this way, and Xia Yan broke this precedent.
When he was a screenwriter consultant for a celebrity company, Xia Yan created and filmed many movies, expanding the scope of the spread of revolutionary ideas into one dimension.
During this period, Xia Yan had created many works such as "Shangyun Children", "Bao", and "Sai Jinhua", and had a profound influence. Many works of
and even have been translated into foreign languages and sold overseas. has brought great encouragement to the world's left-wing movement.
This makes our party still at a high ground on the cultural front even when the reactionaries are the strongest.
However, with the development of various work, Xia Yan has gradually attracted the attention of Kuomintang spies, and some people have vaguely guessed Xia Yan's true identity.
In the face of the crisis, Xia Yan's response was ingenious, that is, held a huge wedding for himself and his wife at the Xinqiao Hotel in Shanghai, and invited many celebrities from all walks of life to participate.
In the existing information of the Kuomintang, Xia Yan was married.
The wedding was, first to dispel the suspicion of spies, and secondly, to use many social celebrities to intimidate the Kuomintang spies, so that they dare not act rashly.
As expected, after a wedding, there were a lot less spies who were originally monitoring and tracking Xia Yan.
In 1937, Xia Yan's mother Xu Xiusheng passed away at the age of 80.
After learning the news, Xia Yan was in a state of pain. After asking for leave from the organization, he immediately rushed to Hangzhou to attend the funeral for his mother.
However, since Xia Yan's name has long been listed on the Kuomintang's blacklist, this time he returned to Hangzhou was under strict surveillance by the Kuomintang.
In order to avoid exposure, Xia Yan finally stayed in front of his mother's coffin for only a few dozen minutes, and then hurried back to Shanghai.
This incident caused a huge impact on Xia Yan's heart, and it was difficult for him to let go until many years later.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Premier Zhou had a special conversation with Xia Yan, hoping that he could participate in the establishment of the National Saving Daily and promote the anti-Japanese national united front .
At that time, the Kuomintang in Shanghai had increased its censorship and Shanghai could not stay there.
In the days that followed, Xia Yan moved to many places in Guangzhou and Guilin. Despite the difficult conditions, he insisted on issuing the "National Saving Daily" and received a lot of responses in all sectors of society. made the people's sentiment in the war of resistance high.
1949, as the People's Liberation Army advances layer by layer on the battlefield, Xia Yan finally walked from behind to the front stage and began to show his true identity.
In the spring of that year, Xia Yan came to the Third Field Command of the People's Liberation Army for the first time and officially joined the army under the arrangement of Chen Yi and .
Xia Yan has been engaged in the cultural front behind enemy lines for many years. From an objective perspective, both behind enemy lines and cultural work are the most difficult to quantify.
So until this moment, even Xia Yan himself couldn't tell how much contribution he had made.
After getting a military uniform and a belt, Xia Yan thought in his heart that he had become a "big leader".
It was not until the comrade who arranged the work came to him that he realized that according to the organization's evaluation of his past work, he was now at the "legion level".
If compared with generals of the same level in the same period, Xia Yan's contribution is about equal to a "founding general".
Xia Yan: The people's literary master with outstanding achievements
After the liberation of Shanghai, Premier Zhou met Xia Yan again. The old friends met again, and the two had a great conversation.
This time, Premier Zhou considered Xia Yan's rich experience and entrusted him to go to the newly liberated Shanghai to continue to be responsible for cultural work. It was Chen Yi who worked with him.
Chen Yi attaches great importance to it when Xia Yan is coming to Shanghai.
Shanghai was still in a state of military control. Chen Yi said for the first time when he met:
"Although you let go of your hands to do your work, although I am your leader in name, I am actually just a name, because during the military control period, we could hold on to you and supported you."
During his time in Shanghai, Xia Yan founded a cultural representative meeting and communicated with many influential writers and artists in Shanghai.
Since he is also a cultural background, Xia Yan attaches great importance to these artists.
He never calls people to his office with one notice, treats everyone in person, and uses his sincerity to win the trust of the other party.
With his unremitting efforts, the Shanghai cultural community has achieved rapid recovery and has reappeared a prosperous scene.
Chen Yi was deeply with Xia Yan during his tenure as mayor of Shanghai.
Once, while the two were chatting, Chen Yi asked accidentally: "I heard from En before that comrades on the cultural front liked to go to Xiafeilu ?"
Xia Yan replied: "Oh, there is a coffee shop run by Belarusians . The beef is delicious."
Hearing this, Chen Yi suddenly became interested and asked Xia Yan to take him to Xiafeilu for a meal.
After having enough food and drink, the two of them went back to their respective homes.
I never thought that before dawn the next day, Xia Yan's door was knocked open by the guards of the Shanghai Municipal Government Security Department.
The other party criticized Xia Yan for his face: "Shanghai has only been liberated for a few days now, and there are Kuomintang spies everywhere. How can you go to such public places with Chen Yi? This matter will not be an example. Even if President Chen ordered it, he would not go!"
Regarding the criticism of the Guard Department, Xia Yan admitted his mistake and accepted the criticism, but he still made a murmur in his heart: Chen Yi and I went to chat at noon and in the afternoon. Even the spy knew that it was too late to buy arsenic temporarily.
Premier Zhou happened to come to Shanghai. After hearing about this, he also specially found Xia Yan to talk: "You and Chen Yi are two famous scholars and the other are Confucian generals. Eating meat and drinking can spread a good story, but the situation is not optimistic now, so you should pay more attention to personal safety on weekdays."
After the founding of New China, Xia Yan served as the director of the Shanghai Municipal Culture Bureau, and later served as the director of the Shanghai People's Art Theater. Finally, he had a stable creative time.
At this stage, Xia Yan was keen on drama and once created the five-act and six-scenes drama "The Test", which caused a hit across the country.
Although Xia Yan has a deep attainment in the field of culture and art and is a master, his life is very monotonous and he can't even dance.
1950, the first anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Soviet Union. To celebrate, the two countries held a dance party in Shanghai, and Soong Ching Ling also went to the scene in person.
After seeing the literary master Xia Yan, Soong Ching Ling proposed to dance with Xia Yan, but Xia Yan waved his hand awkwardly: "I'm sorry, madam, I can't dance."
After hearing this, people around him were quite surprised.
At this time, Premier Zhou, who was standing up, joked:
"I suggested that he should learn to dance more than ten years ago. Otherwise, if he can't dance in the dance hall joint, he will be suspected. Unexpectedly, after so many years, he will still be the same."
Hearing this, Xia Yan was also quite helpless, "I want to learn too, but I tried it a few times, but I can't learn it."
In his daily life, Xia Yan is a person with a sense of family and country. He never wants to mention his past achievements with others.
More times, he is more willing to devote his time to his work and make more contributions to the country. This habit lasts for his whole life.
Xia Yan's health was not good. At the age of 70, she was diagnosed with severe duodenal ulcer and was tortured by illness for life.
But despite this, he still kept writing and published many articles in his later years.
1994, after realizing that he had not had much time, Xia Yan made an amazing decision, which was to donate all his life's collection to the country without exception.
After statistics, Xia Yan donated nearly 3,000 books to the country at one time.
, many of them are rare lonely books in the world, containing dozens of large boxes, and their bibliography is ridiculous.
After all this, Xia Yan, who dedicated his life to the country, left forever on a night in the spring of 1995 at the age of 95.
Xia Yan's life was an extraordinary life. In his life, the country became his most concerned thoughts. He devoted himself to the country in all the ways an intellectual could imagine.
Xia Yan's life is just like a famous saying: "The most powerful thing in the world is the seeds of plants. The force that a seed can show is beyond everything."
Reference:
Reference:
1 History of the Xia Yan family derived from the well circle. Hangzhou Daily
2 Yidi. To serve the motherland all your life - remember Xia Yan, the pioneer of revolutionary literature and art. Zhejiang Provincial Party History Research Office
