Shaokang September 22, 1953 Shaokang to his younger brother Shao Erjun [Original letter from home] Comrade Erjun: You have never been to North Korea. Do you know the scene of autumn in North Korea? It is a season of harvest. The fields in the mountains are golden, and soybeans gr

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Shaokang

September 22, 1953 Shaokang to his younger brother Shao Erjun

[Original text of family letter]

Comrade Erjun:

You have never been to North Korea. Do you know the scene of autumn in North Korea?

It is a season of harvest. The fields in the mountains are golden, and soybeans grow in dense sorghum forests. The ears of grain lower their heads, like sleeping, and the wind cannot wake them up. It sways left and right, never raising its head. The golden wind blew down from the mountains, blowing down the yellow leaves of deciduous trees, making the sorghum leaves rustling, and blowing onto the alluvial plain, and then turning a golden wave of rice. The green pines and cypresses are green all year round, but the fallen leaves and shrubs begin their withered life. Autumn dyes the mountains more beautifully, and the leaves of those unknown trees have become colorful. Sometimes, you will see a red leaf flying in any part of a mountain. Autumn is not just blowing everything away. You can walk up any mountain to see that the wild peaches are yellow (this peach is not red when ripe) and the mountain grapes are purple. Chestnuts, walnuts, , mountain diced, soft dates, and sour dates are all ripe. You can find them to eat them casually, but there is no main source of wild fruits on the mountain.

Do you know how the North Korean people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival?

They all wiped the bowls clean (mostly North Korea uses copper bowls), and made a delicious meal today. Some of the family, young and old, are from the same family, wearing very white clothes, and go to the top of the mountain to pay tribute to the ancestral grave. This is what I mean by keeping my mind unforgettable. After crying, I ate completely in front of the grave. I haven't seen them eat mooncakes. There is a way to spread "string water" with millet oil and soybean oil (note: a method for the Korean people to process food, similar to the method of selling pancakes in northern my country, but the food made is much thicker than pancakes) (you have eaten it at home too! After using white flour and shredded melons, fry it in oil) Eat some maltose and drink some rice wine. This is the festival life of ordinary farmers. This is considered improving the food during the holidays! Do you think, will the living conditions be hard? This is difficult compared to the Chinese people's holiday. They were very happy. Over the past year, spring plowing and summer hoeing have overcome all difficulties under the bombing and destruction of enemy aircraft, and now we are about to gain. You can think about how happy they are. North Korea is a hardworking, brave and optimistic nation. How much sacrifice and price do they pay to fight against the world's number one imperialism and the aggression of fourteen accomplices, and how much contribution do they make to the cause of peace? This is why the peaceful and democratic countries have selflessly provided various aid to North Korea after the armistice. I think if the war stops, they will quickly resume their pre-war life and move forward day by day. If the war continues, the Korean people will definitely win the final victory!

Have you seen the moon in North Korea? This is just a joke. Are you looking at the moon now? Remember that the moonlit night has come, and the few meaningful moonlit nights in North Korea are particularly clear. At the beginning of the Second Battle in late October 1950, our first company (I worked in the First Company at that time) was digging positions in Huayang Cave. The positions were dug under a hillside, and they worked as soon as the moon rose to the east mountain. How convenient did it add to the work!

"Okay! Let's take advantage of the moon not setting, come out!" "No problem!" Everyone responded unanimously. Dig a meter and there is mud below. Dig a hole every time, insert the shovel and don’t shake it. After two o'clock in the evening, the weather became very cold, and a layer of frost condensed on the ground. When I stepped on it, the sound of "Princess" sounded, and a lot of mud was stained on the cotton shoes, which were all frozen. The road is not smooth when walking, so you have to use a shovel to shovel down after working for a while. This is very close to the front line! I don’t know where the kitchen was, so it was very difficult to send a noodle soup. The little wind was like a knife, and the dough pieces sprinkled on the edge of the bucket were frozen. It's cold! It’s hot to work in a cotton jacket, but it’s cold as soon as you rest. It will start tomorrow! Then you still have a rest! Do it! The faster the better. It's almost dawn to finish. After dinner, I lay on the hillside and fell asleep. I slept enough and prepared to beat him hard at night. But the enemy ran away. Chase! Of course we have to chase! Infantry crosses mountains and ridges and chases, artillery hangs cannons and goes on the road to chase! It was on this moonlit night, I remember it very clearly.

"Digging fortifications exhausted me and sweated.He ran away and ran to that! "A warrior interrupted the ball touching (note: a game popular among our army. Commanders and soldiers formed a circle, one person touched another, and whoever they could not react was the turn of performing a show or telling a story). "I can't escape our shells! "Everyone started to discuss "chasing". "The Chinese people are blessed. Let's catch up with the pursuit war, it will have the moon. "I think it's still the blessing of Chairman Mao..." A soldier hurriedly took it, "What's the blessing or not? Why is it that the second battle is over after one battle? "Before everyone answered, he said as if he was to draw a conclusion: "It's not the superior's plan, it's called strategy." "

I can't forget how many months I have been in North Korea in the past three years. The moonlit night in November 1950 was the day when I first experienced tenacious military labor. I don't have bears, I work like the soldiers. You know, autumn is a good time to fight, and the moon is also a good time to fight at night. When you see the moon, or the moon on the autumn festival of Zhongzhong, you have to have some thoughts. Remember Li Bai has this feeling!

"The bright moonlight in front of the window [bed] is suspected to be frost on the ground. I looked up at the mountain moon and looked down at my hometown. ” (usually written as "lift your head and look at the bright moon", press 〔〕〕 is the error of "mountain moon")

Have you read the poem Su Dongpo? (It has been six or seven years, and the memory is not complete)

"When will the bright moon exist? Ask the sky with wine. I don’t know what year it will be today in the palace in the sky. I wanted to ride the wind, but I was afraid that the jade building and jade pagoda would be colder than the high place. "

What do you think I feel? Of course, I can write a poem randomly. On this moonlit night, I don't do that, it brings me back to the past days.

It's drizzling and my clothes are wet. In the past, the streets were covered with "yellow" soil, but today they all turned into yellow mud. I walked down the railway roadbed and walked towards the barracks along the field road. I am the economic officer of the Revolutionary Military Commission (or Soldiers Commission, and every food unit has this organization) and went to the cooperative I came back after buying mooncakes. When the moon came up, the comrades gathered around the moon to eat mooncakes, tomatoes, peanuts, and peanuts under the moon. There were many comrades in the team, and no one missed home. Of course, I didn't miss home. However, it was much more confused than now. At that time, I was playing "black tubes" in the band and often acted. It was in the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1949, in Xuchang, Henan.

. I finished my meal. While eating apples, I wrote a letter to home. The autumn wind blowing from the mountain blew open the window upstairs and almost blow my letter away. At night, they all went to dance. I Chat with a few people on the floor. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1950. I went abroad in less than a month of the festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival in 51 was a very lively moonlit night. The troops moved forward, and the small rear was about to move, and I accepted the moving task. That night, I ran in a car all night. The car passed by the "Gushan Mountain". On a 70-kilometer open land on the plain, the plane was blocked very strongly. The enemy's night flight aircraft B25 dropped bombs and fired again. The road was bumpy. Dozens of flares were hung in the sky, and bright In the moonlight, there is a needle on the ground. The anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns on both sides of the road intertwined into a fire net.

was jogging in the car and couldn't sit steadily, but he was still holding his already sore neck to look at it. He always hoped to see what it would be like to knock down the plane at night. Maybe he dragged a red tail and fell from the sky... "KaKaKaKu" The enemy's machine guns were hit nearby, and Tom bombs exploded on the ground, flashing blue sparks. 〈I〉 told the driver, "Tighten the steering wheel, run quickly, you may find our car! "I didn't think about home or fear of death that time. I always wanted to run across the blockade line and complete the task successfully!

The Mid-Autumn Festival in 1952 is more interesting than the past. I was participating in a counterattack with the troops. When the moon was still up the mountain, I cut weeds in the field with the same comrade, and the enemy's cold cannons kept falling nearby. It had been four days since I entered the position. I dug the position overnight and pretended during the day.When I went to the mountain to cut wood, and then pulled down the mountain to build a position at night, I was interested in the moon! Otherwise, it will be slower to work. Where are you sleepy! I haven't slept for three days and four nights, and after working for ten minutes, I'm in danger of falling asleep. Work for the last effort, cut some grass, and lay it in a single bunker near the cliff to make it easy to sleep. Eat moon cakes and pears and apples, otherwise how can you win a battle! Really, the moon shines on the quiet position. This is the terrifying silence on the eve of the fierce battle. Nothing can be heard except the occasional cold guns and cold cannons and the sound of enemy night flights. The eyes were like something was stuffed, and the eyes were not flexible, and they were so swollen that they felt so painful. I barely remembered my diary and fell asleep.

What am I doing now? I'm writing to you in front of the window.

How fast the five years have passed. I don’t know where to recall today’s Mid-Autumn Festival next year and how I live.

Did your love succeed? Do you have some disagreement at home? I thought this way: "As long as the other party has progressed its mind and is healthy, don't listen to the family's words, what kind of ethnic issues are there! When asked about ethnic issues, I recommend an article to you to read it. It was originally published on June 12, 1953, " People's Daily " written by Emperor Zhenzong of Tang. Look at the party's ethnic policy. Our great motherland is a big family of a multi-ethnic country. I hope you can take a look, even if "HTML" is a love issue and this will also be the case. Close. If you don’t understand, you can write to study.

Brother Erheng, I went to a letter a few days ago, but I never saw a reply. Do you understand the situation?

I went to Mr. Shang and Teacher Li Ruiling to send me [letter], and I have replied. Wei [wei] Mr. Li Youshan, the incense and candle shop, did not reply.

I have found the bottom version of the picture you want (1950, photographed in Shenyang). After returning home soon, I will wash it and send it to you.

I am healthy both physically and mentally, don’t think I wish

happiness

military salute

Shao Kang

in Yujing, Chengcheon County, North Korea

Guiye Zhongqiu

1953.9.22

letter handwritten, please forgive me for being in a hurry!

[Family letter background]

Shaokang Photographed in Shenyang

letter author Shao Erqian, later renamed Shaokang and Shao Kang, a member of the Communist Party of China. He was born in Beijing in 1929. He graduated from the high school of the Seventh Middle School of Peking City in July 1948 and dropped from the Teaching Training Institute of the Ministry of Education in Peking in December. He volunteered to join the army in March 1949 and served as a member, actor, musician and creator in the Artifact Team of the Second Division of the Fourth Field Army Special Forces Artillery Division. He entered North Korea in October 1950 and returned to China in October 1953.

After Shaokang entered the court, his eldest brother Shao Erjun worked in the northwest region. At that time, the volunteer army was called the "cutest person" by people and was highly respected, so Shao Erjun preserved all the letters sent by his brother. Although Shao Erjun's work footprints have traveled to several northwest provinces and experienced various political movements, this batch of letters was preserved without any damage. It was not until September 2002 that Shao Erjun finally asked his reliable friend to take him from Xi'an to Tianjin to send him to his brother. In 2005, The project of saving folk letters was launched. Shaokang donated this batch of precious letters, and is now collected in the Home Book Museum and the National Museum of Renmin University of China.

Shaokang (right) took a photo with his comrades. The words "commemorating to Shen" on his chest were Shaokang. When the volunteer army entered the North Korea, for confidentiality, in accordance with the requirements of the headquarters, officers and soldiers were not allowed to carry Chinese books, notebooks, and letters. Therefore, they were unable to write letters to their homes for the first half of the year, so they could not write letters to their homes. I don’t know where Shaokang went, and at the same time he couldn’t receive letters from his home. According to his family, he later told Shaokang that because he missed him, his mother put a plate of dumplings alone on the table in the cottage during the Chinese New Year, placed a small plate and a pair of chopsticks, and lit three incense sticks in front of his photo to express his feelings. The family felt that his life and death were uncertain and his heart was hanging in the middle.

Shaokang said that they had time to write a letter after our army held five battles and the situation gradually stabilized. At that time, in order to keep it confidential, the letter could not talk about the situation of the war.In fact, after the battles one, two, three, four and five, they carried out the autumn counterattack in 1951, the Shangganling Battle in 1952, and the Jinchengchuan counterattack in 1953, and returned to China only after the truce.

Planning photo after the performance of the Volunteer Army Art Team was taken in April 1953 on the battlefield of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea. Although the environment is very harsh, the volunteer soldiers were full of revolutionary tyranny and optimism. Shaokang is mainly engaged in literary and artistic work, trying every means to arrange programs to provide spiritual food to his comrades on the front line. It can also be seen from the letters of home that they cherish their lives more in the face of bleeding and sacrifice. In their eyes, every grass, every tree, every flower and every grass on the position is a beautiful scenery. As for small animals rich in life such as squirrels, they are their dear friends. During the tense battle, they missed their motherland and their relatives even more, so Shaokang recorded in detail the situation of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival on the battlefield for five consecutive years.

Volunteer Army welcomes the motherland's condolence group, Shaokang (neutral) receives the slogan Photographed in October 1952,

Shaokang's comrade Li Yiwen wrote in the article "Unforgettable Mid-Autumn Festival in the Battlefield": "The festivals in North Korea are the same as those in China. They also regard the Mid-Autumn Festival as a major festival of the year. On the afternoon of August 15th, more than a dozen North Korean fellow villagers brought their glutinous rice cakes that they used to pounded with wooden hammers to our regiment headquarters for holiday condolences. One of them, Abki (the old man) saw us and sang Chinese songs: 'You are The lighthouse shines on the ocean before dawn. You are the helmsman and control the direction of navigation. The great Communist Party of China, you are the core, you are the strength, we will always follow you... Human beings will be liberated. Although he is over 60 years old, he is relatively thin due to the troubles of war and the hardships of life, he is quite energetic and has a very loud tone. He is praised by his comrades. There is also a young girl wearing a white top made of nylon silk from parachutes. She looks handsome and very It is not easy to see long hair on the battlefield, let alone such a beautiful woman? What is even more admirable is that she has a beautiful singing voice. When the old man finished singing the song praising the Communist Party of China, she crossed her hands on her chest and sang like a singer: 'Erlang Mountain, is it tall, is it so high, with dead trees and weeds all over the mountains and fields, huge rocks are everywhere, sheep intestines are hard to walk, Kangzang traffic is blocked by it...'This is the first time we have heard this army praising the road building of the motherland Although her lyrics are not very accurate and clear, it makes people feel very friendly, so she is welcomed over and over again, and the girl sang it to everyone with enthusiasm over and over again. "(Li Yiwen: "Unforgettable Mid-Autumn Festival in the Battlefield", see "The Baptism of Blood and Fire - Memoirs of Little Volunteer Soldiers", Henan University Press, 2002 edition, pages 22-23)