Recalling the family and country feelings of the old Communist Party member Tsui Harqiang
Author: Lu Zhuochao
Tsui Harqiang was born in November 1921, from Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province, and joined the Communist Party of China in August 1946. My eldest sister, Lu Guige, was born in September 1926 and is from Lujiayuan, Hua County, Shaanxi Province. In 1943, my brother-in-law Tsui Hark-qiang got married with her eldest sister Lu Guige. After marriage, she has always had a good relationship, fell in love with each other, and spent fifty-seven years with each other. In October 2000, my eldest sister Lu Guige left us due to illness. When my sister passed away, my brother-in-law often fell into painful longing. On the third anniversary of my elder sister's death in 2003, my brother-in-law wrote an article "Mourning for my wife Lu Guige", with more than 13,000 words, and the deep friendship between the couple is condensed between the lines. This article reflects the selfless struggle of an old cadre and an old party member and noble family and country feelings.
mourns my wife Lu Guige (II)
After I came down from northern Shaanxi, I worked in the Sanyuan District Cadre School. Although I was only more than 100 miles away from my hometown in Hua County, because Daguanzhong had just been liberated, the social order was still unstable, and I was invaded by horse bandits and the hidden troubles of the Kuomintang spies. Therefore, I was unstable and could not go home to see you and the whole family. It was not until after the liberation of Xifu that the school settled in the Sanyuan County Town. Only then did I ask the organization for leave to go home to visit relatives. Along the way, I missed my whole family, you and the children, and I was jogging all the way. I set out from the sun when it first came out of the mountain. Although it was 180 miles away, the sun had not yet set when I arrived home. The first time after liberation, the whole family was reunited, and there was endless joy.
Hometown scenery
After the liberation, the old-style family with strong feudal morality was impacted by new morality and new ideas. Our four-generation family quickly disintegrated, with the fathers first, divided into three families, each with stoves. For you, this is also lifting the feudal shackles and living the same life as a man. Because you were a direct victim of feudal ethics before liberation, you loved to listen to "Women's Freedom Song" the most after liberation. It has been more than 50 years of liberation, but you are still like this. I asked me to copy "Women's Freedom Song" in my notebook and sing it when I have free time.
Although the old ethics that bind women were defeated, the psychological pressure was relieved. But there are fathers and younger siblings at home, and the burden of life is still on your shoulders, and you still have to worry about their food and clothing. In 1950, the Sanyuan District Cadre School was changed to Shaanxi Provincial Party School . I was responsible for the school’s medical office and rarely went home. You can only bring you National Day to Sanyuan for a few days every once in a while.
You have been at home for a long time, and I am busy at work and can’t go home to visit. I remember one time, you asked someone to bring me shoes and socks, put two big red dates inside, and two needles wrapped around the red thread. I didn't understand the meaning of it. I thought about it repeatedly and finally understood that this was a homonym. The two needles were you, "I really miss me" and the two red dates were told to come back early. Gui Pavilion! You are the direct victim of feudal morality. The old society deprived you of your right to education. You don’t know how to write or write. You can only use this homophonic to express your sincere love for me. In life, this little episode will always be engraved in my heart and will also be passed down as a good story among the comrades of the Party School.
Huixiao was born in 1951. At that time, I lived a supply-based life, and I had no salary, so I couldn't take you and your children to Sanyuan County for a long time, and still lived alone in different places. It was not until 1953 that I convinced our father to take you and your children to live in Sanyuan County. At that time, the traditional Yan'an spirit was still very strong in my mind. Although I had a monthly salary income, I lived a hard life of thrift and thrift. In addition, our ancestors did not have such a habit of starting a new stove outside, nor did they have such experience, so they just simply bought some pots, bowls, chopsticks, etc. Although I live a frugal life, I feel happy. As long as the whole family can be together, this is happiness.
In 1954, the Provincial Party School moved to Xi'an and the whole family also went there.The state-owned enterprise was born in 1955. Because you lacked milk, you sent the state-owned enterprise back to the countryside to Lingqiao. Afterwards, you took Huixiao back to your rural hometown in Hua County. After you went back, one day you wrote to me to separate my family with my younger brother and ask me to come back to discuss the matter of splitting up. At that time, I considered that rural brothers often quarrel or even fight in property distribution. On the other hand, you and I live in Xi'an, so there is no need to divide anything. So I'll write to you that we don't want anything, and I'll ask you and your children to come to Xi'an. You may get angry at home because of the dissatisfaction when you are separated. In addition, you are not living well at home and are pregnant, so you are very thin and have bad spirits when walking. After coming to Xi'an, I gave birth to Huixia in September 1956. Before giving birth, I considered that you were in poor health and might have an accident. I took you to the Xi'an Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital before giving birth to Huixia. After being discharged from the hospital, you were thin and didn’t have any milk. Later, you were taken back to your hometown by Mai Zhangyuan and fed by Shengshanping. This is much easier for you, and you can also take care of your health and take good care of other children.
second son Xu Guoying
In February 1957, I was transferred from the Provincial Party School to the Provincial Health Department. Because I was used to living in the provincial party school, I was very uncomfortable after I arrived at the Health Department. At the same time, I was very unsatisfied with housing and work arrangements, so I was depressed and felt bad. During this period, fortunately, I had you and your children by my side. After work, the whole family talked and laughed, which could relieve my depression. It was also my deep sense of the warmth of the family. Otherwise, if I were alone, I would suffocate me to death. I would not be able to go home to bring the state-owned enterprise back to Xi'an for a short time.
In May 1958, the little girl Fangqin was born. This year, the whole country launched a great and prosperous movement, followed by a storm-like anti-rightist struggle. I was transferred to the provincial peasant and workers' Democratic Party to assist in the anti-rightist struggle. In August 1958, with the approval of the Propaganda Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee, the Shaanxi Branch of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences was established, and I was approved to serve as the deputy director of the branch office. The whole family was moved to the Family Office of the Shaanxi Branch of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (i.e., Shaanxi Provincial Epidemic Prevention Station). At this time, we already had five children, seven of you and me. Although I was the only one of them, we could live within our means and save money, and live a good life. This is a time when the whole family lived together, except for Huixia who continued to be a nurse at the front line. They finally lived together, talking and laughing every day, and were happy. It was finally a happy family life.
Little girl Xu Fangqin
Who knew that good dreams would not last long. In 1959, the so-called national "double hundred droughts" were reduced, and grain production was reduced, coupled with the Soviet Union's debt forced, the country's finances were tight, and famine was everywhere. The Party Central Committee calls on the Party that in order to relieve urban pressure and mobilize the families of cadres to return to the countryside, Party members must unconditionally respond to the Party’s call. At that time, the Medical Science Branch had only one office, and I was responsible for all the work alone. Therefore, there is no reason why party members and leading cadres do not follow the call of the party organization. I can only eat coptis chinensis if I don’t want to send you, Huixiao and the state-owned enterprises back to the countryside to settle down. At that time, he was in junior high school during the National Day and graduated in another half a year. Fangqin was too young, and in order to reduce the burden on you in the countryside, he still kept the National Day and Fangqin in Xi'an with the approval of the party organization, and sent Fangqin to the provincial construction company kindergarten.
Tsui Hark-qiang and his children took a photo with their children National Day, Huixiao, state-owned, Huixia, Fangqin, etc.
Rural families, because we have been away for many years, the house is in disrepair, if it rains, it leaks everywhere, and they have no money to renovate it, and they are surrounded by bleakness and can't bear to see it, but what can I do? Only the forceful spirit against your will to comfort you.There is no grain in the dilapidated house, it is empty, and there is no stove. You can only go to the brigade cafeteria every day to get some bags of corn and paste soup. You can only fill your stomach with your children, and there is no question of filling your hunger. You are still hungry every day. Who will you tell me about such a difficult and hard life? There are famines everywhere in society, and there is no way to open the loan. The black market grain is "rice, pearls, and rice, and rice, and the black market is only a secret black market. It can only be traded secretly. This unbearable sky-high black market grain can give people some way to live. A bucket of wheat weighs only 30 kilograms, which costs more than 130 yuan. In terms of current money, it is equivalent to more than 2,000 yuan, and a bucket of corn can also be bought for more than 100 yuan. At that time, although I had a monthly salary of more than 100 yuan, I couldn't buy a bucket of wheat. Even so, it is still a secret transaction. If it is discovered by the government, it will be confiscated. At that time, our family of six was all on the hunger line. Even though we suffered this tragic situation, we would not dare to tell others, nor would we complain, otherwise we would be the hat of being dissatisfied with reality and would be held on our heads, and we could only smile and say "you can eat enough."
The year you returned to the countryside was October, and the production team was full of white radishes. In addition to the public canteen, there was still surplus. I was willing to buy it for members who had no food. I went to the production team to buy 800 kilograms, and then went to the production team to plant radish to pick up the discarded radish leaves and took them back. You used these radish leaves to pickle two large jars of sauerkraut, and then went to the production team to buy 20 kilograms of persimmon cakes. These are the things that are used as food rations for you and your children for wintering. There is no cooking oil at all. Although there are two meals a day, it is just "adding water to vegetables".
In the long winter, although there are hundreds of kilograms of white radish and two jars of sauerkraut, it is still not enough to eat. I am plagued by work in Xi'an and have to take care of National Day and Fangqin. I have no way to take care of my family. The burden of food-deficient household registration can only be placed on your hungry shoulders. Poor you suffer from congenital heart disease , and you have not considered these things. What you are worried about is the hunger of your child and having no food to satisfy your hunger. In an unimaginable situation, you put your child at home, carry a cage on your back, hold the head of the head, and go down to dig , mojing , and dig wild vegetables everywhere. Once, you went downstairs to pick up vegetables, but when you came back, you were hit by heavy rain and the muddy slope, climbing up with difficulty. You are really too hard for your survival and your children.
Xi'an leaves me two children. I have 30 kilograms of food per month and very little side food. Although Fangqin also has rations on National Day and Fangqin, they are all covered in their belly, and there is still not enough food. In this way, I have to save a bun from the food every day so that I can take Fangqin back for her to eat on Saturday afternoon. In this semi-hungry state, I developed malnutrition, my whole body was swollen, and I was sleepy and weak. Especially when I sleep in bed at night, because I am inactive, the swelling water under the skin is slowly discharged outwards, and I have a lot of urine, and I urinate once every few minutes. The swollen limbs gradually subsided, but the next day I worked, my whole body became swollen again due to exercise. At that time, I still had a few kilograms of food coupons around me, but I didn’t dare to exchange food for food, so that the children would be very hungry and would go to the grain station to exchange food for food if they had no choice.
Once, I went home and saw that you and your child were hungry more miserable than me in Xi'an. I recall that although I was in Xi'an and National Day, Fangqin was not full, the three of them always had dozens of kilograms of food every month, which was much better than at home. So, after I returned to Xi'an, I gritted my teeth and replaced the few kilograms of grain coupons with flour to the grain store to send them back to you and your children. But you saw that I was so swollen that I couldn't bear to eat it. The day after I returned to Xi'an, you rolled the flour I sent back into noodles at home and brought it to Xi'an for me and my children in Xi'an to eat. This kind of love between husband and wife and children cannot help but burst into tears. Even if there are thousands of words, it cannot be said, only sobbing.
One day in 1961, I took National Day and Fangqin home. When I passed by Chishui Street, Fangqin shouted that she was hungry. I went to a restaurant with them for dinner. The three of them bought only four taels of rice from food coupons and divided them into two bowls for them to eat first. The hotel stipulates that you can bring a bowl of rice soup by buying two taels of rice.At that time, two women came to have dinner. Because they were familiar with each other, although they bought two bowls of rice, the restaurant gave them six bowls of rice soup. I asked the two women to go to the National Day to beg us like a beggar. The National Day begging moved the two women and gave them two bowls of soup. In this way, three people had four taels of rice and four bowls of soup, which filled their hungry stomachs. After that, Uehara went home exhausted.
The canteen of the production team could not be handled anymore and announced that it would be disbanded. The members went back to their homes to cook. The old member has some food in his home, but it is not a problem to do it at home. He just feels sorry for our family. You have been away for many years and moved back from Xi'an empty-handed. There is nothing at home. There is no way to borrow money, so you can only starve at home. If this continues, you and your children will only sit and starve to death at home. In this situation where there is no way out, you ran around, begged the brigade's power, and moved the township government, so you and your children who responded to the call of the Party and the country to return to the country and took care of some food rebate. Even so, you have to pull mule to buy it at Gaotang Grain Store. It is this kind of life of 70% bran, vegetables and 30% grain that allows you and your children to live a life of not having enough food to eat and not being hungry.
Children Xu Huixia
After the public canteen was disbanded, the grain produced by the production team was initially distributed according to the work, based on the amount of labor day done, the more work, the more you get. You are a woman with congenital heart disease and has a child. You can't do a few working days a year and can only get dozens of kilograms of grain. Later, some people who have no labor in the family reported to the commune and corrected this distribution method and changed it to ration plus labor days. Then you get the food, but you still have to pay for the ration part.
The livestock in the production team died seriously due to insufficient feed, which caused the fertilizer to be reduced, which affected the insufficient fertilizer in the field, and thus reduced production. Therefore, the food allocated by the An people was not enough to eat, and the insufficient part was bought at a high price on the black market. Sometimes the state also took care of some rebate grain and then matched with some wild vegetables. In terms of cooking oil, you and your child can only be divided into one pound of oil a year. This market kilogram of oil is dipped in chopsticks every day and it will be over in less than a year. Fortunately, I have a monthly salary, so I took it home to sell some black market high-priced oil. It was during such difficult days that you saved money and carefully arranged that you came here under extremely difficult circumstances.
The state-careeded grain and daily coal, the production team leader can only give you digital notes, and you also have to go to Gaotang Grain Station to buy daily coal, and you must pull a mule to go to the Chishui Town Railway Station Coal Shop to buy it. Once, I returned home from Xi'an and met you on the way downstairs. I rode a mule like a man and went to Chishui Station to buy coal. I saw that I felt very heavy. This heavy work of pulling coal was not done by you, a woman. Besides, you still have a heart disease and have children at home. I really feel ashamed of you. Once, you pulled the mule from the production team to buy coal at Chishui Coal Station. As soon as you got off the plateau and walked near a village, the mule suddenly ran away. How could your thin body catch up? Seeing the mule running into the village, and bit it with the village an donkey . You looked at it at a loss. Fortunately, a kind-hearted man came to the village and opened the mule with a stick. After leaving the donkey, you pulled the mule on the road.
Snowflakes in the hometown of the countryside
Our house is small, and it is disrepaired and in a dilapidated way, and it is often at risk of collapse. Once you took the flour you grinded from someone else's house and put it on the chopping board. Fortunately, you had something else to do. As soon as you left, the house collapsed. Fortunately, God finally has eyes and pity that will make you escape this fatal disaster. Since then, every time it rains, the house is covered with mud and water, and it is heavy and it feels like it is flooded. In winter, the cold wind blows in, it snows, and snowflakes drift in with the cold wind, and you and your children live like an open air. In this life of bran and vegetables, the hungry and cold life that cannot fill your stomach cannot be tolerated by others, but the tragic phenomenon of freezing and hunger can be endured by you and your children.
(To be continued)
Original source: Author feed
Original author: Lu Zhuochao, Tsui Harqiang
Organized and edited by: Huazhou Literature and History Collection
5-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-