——The famous old writer in Northeast China Lei Jia 's life and literary path
The first time I heard about the name Lei Jia was when I was in my sophomore year in 1980. At that time, my Japanese teacher Shen Ce accidentally fell and broke down and was admitted to the hospital. Whenever I was free, I went to the hospital to accompany my care. In order to pass the time, Teacher Shen told me about his past in his youth and his friends. Among the close friends, the famous writer Rega. They met while studying in Japan, in 1935.
Teacher Shen is from Da'an, Jilin. He studied at China University in Beijing in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He is the propaganda minister of the Communist Youth League of Peking and joined the "People's Anti-Japanese Allied Forces". In 1935, his identity was exposed. In order to avoid the pursuit of the Kuomintang's Third Gendarmerie Regiment, he traveled to Japan and was admitted to Tokyo University of Political Science and Law. Rega is from Andong (Dandong), Liaoning and also went to study at the school at this time. They were both people who fell into the world and were fellow Northeastern people. The two soon became friends.
Teacher Shen was over 70 years old in 1980, but his memory was amazing. The experiences he told me about from Rega to the "Cultural Revolution" are basically consistent with what I later recorded in various reference books or documents.
Leijia, original name Liu Di , also known as Liu Tianda , the pen name Hexi , Hegong , ancestral home in Shandong, was born on February 1, 1915 in Langtou Town, Sandao (Dandong), Andong (Dandong), Liaoning. In 1929, he studied in Feng Yong University Middle School. After the September 18th Incident in 1931, he went into exile with the school and went to Nanjing to petition with the majority of patriotic young people to recover lost land. In order to fight against the invaders, he participated in the "January 28" Songhu War in Shanghai.
1935 Rega went to Japan to study at Tokyo University of Political Science and Law. In his later years, he only wrote one sentence in his memoirs: "During this period, I lived in Japan for two years, and by March 1937, I returned to Beijing." In fact, in Japan, Ryga, was still enthusiastic about progressive activities, and Teacher Shen's story can be supplemented. Under the organization of Liu Ren, former secretary of the Beiping Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League, they set up a reading club to study the works of Marxism-Leninism and study how to introduce Japanese progressive literature to the country. Shortly after the book club was established, Liu Ren met the Japanese girl Hasegawa Nobuko , an Esperanto scholar who later became famous for Mizugawa Eiko . On October 19, 1936, Mr. Lu Xun died of illness. The news reached Japan, and Chinese students in Tokyo agreed to hold a memorial service on the 20th to express their condolences. Rega and members of the reading club risked being arrested by Japanese authorities to show up for the memorial service. They also unexpectedly met Guo Moruo at the meeting.
return to Beiping , Rega devoted himself to various activities organized by the national rescue group "National Pioneer", and also contacted the Beiyang Literature Youth Writing Association. He worked as a reporter and editor of the National Salvation Daily and began to publish his works. In Peking, he also attended a party welcoming Northeast writer Shuqun . Soon, the "July 7" incident of broke out, and Lei Jia left Peiping again and embarked on a journey of exile. He took a boat to Shandong Peninsula through Tanggu, Tianjin, and then headed to Nanjing. In Nanjing, he participated in the event of the Pingjin Exile Alumni Association and met Shu Qun again. When Nanjing fell, he rushed to Wuhan, and was penniless, so he had to publish it in the "Dazhong Daily" and also engage in writing. The "Slingshot Old Man" published in the "Dazhong Daily" and the "Corpse Friend" published in the "Battlefield" magazine edited by Ding Ling and Shu Qun were created during this period. At that time, Yan'an was a place that young students yearned for, and Rega resolutely chose this path.
Bethune was performing surgery on the wounded officers of the Eighth Route Army
In 1938, Rega arrived in Yan'an and studied at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University (Phase IV). In the same year, he joined the Communist Party of China. Later, he followed the second group of the Anti-Japanese Arts Working Group organized by the Yan'an Cultural Association to go to , the anti-Japanese base area of Hebei Central and did publicity work. Lei Jia, who was only 23 years old at the time, went to the front line, interviewed Bethune many times, and wrote a long reportage "International Friend Bethune" published in Yan'an.Chairman Mao read the article introduced by Rega to Bethune and learned more about Bethune, thus writing the classic "Commemoration of Bethune".
After returning to Yan'an in 1939, Lei Jia wrote short stories and close-ups reflecting the combat life ahead, "A Three Eight Guns", "Yalu River", "The Yellow River Late Song", etc. He served as secretary-general of the Yan'an Border Region Cultural Association led by Ding Ling. He was elected as a director of the Yan'an Branch of the All-China Literary and Art Circles Anti-Enemy Association, and was responsible for the work of the Literary and Art Subcommittee. In January 1942, he published the novels "Sha Mei" and "The Man Lying in a Chair".
In March 1942, Lei Jia and two other comrades took a letter of introduction written by Ren Bishi himself, set out from Yan'an, and went to the rural area of Suide District, northern Shaanxi where Wang Zhen was located, and participated in the rent reduction and interest reduction campaign, and served as a township clerk and township instructor. During this period, he took root in the fertile soil of northern Shaanxi and wrote a group of works that reflected the rural life in northern Shaanxi, including "The Last Generation of "Daughter's Grave", "The Sheep-Holding Man", "The Silent Black Huaide", "Road" and other works. These works reflect the great changes in the customs and peoples in northern Shaanxi. For a long time, he has always been a pity for his failure to attend the Yan'an Literature and Art Forum.
After the revival of Northeast China in 1945, Lei Jia returned to his hometown to serve as the director of the Andong Paper Factory and collected materials for the trilogy of the novel "Potential". Later, he served as director of the Paper Industry Management Office of the Ministry of Light Industry of the Central Committee and deputy director of the Party Committee Office of the Sanmenxia Engineering Bureau.
I have collected 40 years of old books
In 1949, Rega joined the Chinese Writers Association . In 1951, he transferred to the Beijing Central Literature Research Institute and the National Writers Association to engage in professional creation. From 1952 to 1958, it was the peak period for Rega's most vigorous creativity. He has successively created trilogy of novels "Our Festival" and "Potential": "Spring Comes to Yalu River", "Standing in the Forefront", "Blue Green Maple Forest", and also wrote the biographical novel "Seaman Zhu Baoting", a featured collection of prose "Flowers in May" and "Hungary Visits", reflecting the works of water conservancy builders "Morning of Construction Site", "Sanmenxia Interceptor" and other works. In 1960, he joined the comprehensive inspection team organized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and wrote a set of essays, which were collected as "Landscape Poetry Talk" (changed into "From Bingfeng to Dachuan" in 1978). In February 1963, he was elected as vice chairman of the Preparatory Committee of the Beijing Branch of the Chinese Writers Association.
During the Cultural Revolution, Rega was sent to Fangshan Shilou Commune and put his pens on it for 10 years. In 1976, the Tangshan earthquake had not yet stopped, so he rushed to the disaster area five times.
After crushing the "Gang of Four", Lei Jia served as Secretary-General of the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles, member of the National Federation of Literary and Art Circles, director of the National Writers Association, and vice chairman of the Beijing Writers Association. Because of his age, he later served as an advisor and honorary committee member.
Since the new era, Rega's creative enthusiasm has remained unchanged and he has written a number of valuable literary works. Among them, "River Love" won the award for "October" magazine in 1980, "Northern Xinjiang Feature" won the 1983 " People's Liberation Army Literature and Art " award, and "Half-Moon Essay Two" won the first Lu Xun Literature Award. His works are simple and fresh, giving people a sense of beauty and urging people to move forward.
1989 " People's Literature " was founded. Rai Jia wrote an inscription: "The People's Literature is for the people, long live the people." This is the voice of this people's writer from the heart.
On the afternoon of March 10, 2009, Rega died in Beijing due to organ failure at the age of 94. He was the last member of the Northeast Writers Group.
Lega (first right) took a photo with Duanmu Hongliang (second right), Luo Binji (third right), Zhao Shuxia (third right), and Xiao Jun (first left)
Lega once said: "I am a grass seed by the Yalu River! One day sooner or later, my weed will fly back to the mother's body!" According to his will, the ashes were scattered on the Yalu River where he grew up. The old writer finally returns to his hometown.
The famous contemporary writer From Weixi once commented on Rega: He is like an old naughty boy who always smiles at life. This is the humanistic side of others. On the other hand, Raiga is a man from the north who is affectionate, righteous, straightforward and generous, and has literati calcium in his bones.("Writing Lei Jia with Snow as Paper")
On January 28, 2015, the commemorative symposium on the 100th birthday of Lei Jia was held at the Chinese Modern Literature Museum . At the symposium, Tie Ning, chairman of the Chinese Writers Association, highly praised Rega's creative path and literary achievements in his speech, especially affirmed his persistence in the "Yan'an Spirit" and realist literature , and pointed out that his literary and artistic path in depth and aesthetic pursuit based on the reality of life are particularly valuable for learning today. "The core of his literary creation is two words - the people, which is particularly meaningful to us at the moment." After the symposium, Rega's relatives donated some of Rega's manuscripts to the China Modern Literature Museum.
