Author of this article: Yang Xiaoliu/Shaanxi Petroleum General Education Management Center Education Management Department
In the early 1980s, the most fashionable topic was the "Four Modernizations". In newspapers and on the walls of rural areas, the realization of the four modernizations was everywhere. Modern slogans and slogans. When I was still young, I had no idea and could not imagine what the "Four Modernizations" looked like.
At that time, there were no entertainment activities. Every time it got dark, after settling down the housework, the whole family would sit on the hot kang. While my mother and sisters were doing needlework, they would chat about interesting people and interesting things in the neighborhood. My father would often say We talked about future life and "modernization" in his eyes. Whenever this topic was brought up, my father would beam with joy and talk endlessly, but in the end it boiled down to two sentences: "Upstairs and downstairs, electric lights and telephones" "No cattle are needed to plow the land, and no oil is needed to light the lamps."
I asked my father, "What does the building look like?" My father's description was: The building is very high, one floor after another. Climbing up the stairs is like climbing a ladder, from the first floor to the top. Regarding the electric light, my father’s metaphor was very exaggerated, “like a cow’s eye, so bright that it pierces people’s eyes.” Later, I specifically observed the cow's eyes. Apart from being large, they were not dazzling. They flickered but did not glow. As for the telephone, I have seen it before, because next to my house is the brigade headquarters, and there is one in the brigade headquarters conference room. It is a hand-crank type. When no one was around, I once secretly shook it and heard the call "Hello -" "Hello" -" I heard the sound, and I ran away quickly.
My father’s understanding or imagination of modernization originated from a study trip.
In the 1950s, the motherland was in desperate need of improvement. My father, who could read and write, was entrusted with "important tasks" in the construction of socialism and became the "barefoot doctor" of the township community. At the time when he was starting his own business, his father was sent to study in Luoyang, Henan Province. One of his notebooks contained detailed records of his travels from the local area to other provinces and through Sanmenxia, including what kind of transportation he took on a certain day, month, and year. , where you arrived, and simple insights. My father's modernization is centered on "upstairs and downstairs, electric lights and telephones", "no cattle are needed for plowing the land, and no oil is needed for lighting lamps". It may have been seen and initially experienced in Luoyang, Henan, which left a deep impression and beauty in my father's heart. The memory made my father full of deep expectations and eager desire for the modernization of his hometown. Whenever we talk about these contents, my father always reminds me earnestly: "You must study hard, lay a good foundation from an early age, learn skills well, and master real skills. Don't wait until you have a tractor but can't drive it. When 'modernization' comes, we will not be able to drive it." He's 'blind'!"
At that time, the most modern thing for me was the airplane in the sky - as big as the palm of my hand, flying from south to north, or from north to south, under the sunlight. Brilliant, whizzing across the blue sky, it left endless reveries in my dull childhood brain and caused quite a stir in my heart. As for the modern life of "upstairs and downstairs, electric lights and telephones" that his father described, he did not see it in his hometown until his father passed away.
Later, the father's unfulfilled wish came true in the hands of his children. Today, his children not only live in a building, but their life has long gone beyond the scope of "lights and telephones". Those living in the countryside also built their own small foreign-style houses, and their lives were prosperous and warm. As for the telephone, it is a step beyond. Everyone has a mobile phone. Everyone knows the daily life trajectory of the sisters, big and small. The next generation is also spread all over the world, all over the motherland, and through WeChat groups, we feel like we are close to each other.
Entering a new era, the hometown where my father has lived for decades has already moved from modernization to informatization. The life of the villagers is modern and fashionable, and they live a prosperous and prosperous life, which is no different from the life of city residents.Most families have built small western-style buildings, bought cars, and have Internet TV. They have a broad and bright field of vision. They can watch all the world affairs without leaving home or leaving the village, and they have got rid of the thousands of years of "sunrise and sunset" The living habit of "working and resting at sunset" and the farming tradition of "facing the loess and turning your back to the sky". At the same time, people's life concepts and ideas have also undergone tremendous changes. They no longer rely on just two legs to go out, but they have to ride a motorcycle or even drive a car. The appearance of the village has also undergone earth-shaking changes. The houses are neat and beautiful, the village roads are wide and straight, the air is fresh and pleasant, and the life is peaceful and comfortable. The cultivated fields that once covered the mountains and plains have now turned into dense forests. The once-stopped stream has returned to its former clarity, and the flat land that was once considered a treasure by my father has now been replaced by various cash crops and economic forests.
It has been nearly forty years since my father passed away. Over the past forty years, social changes have been rapid, and the face of the motherland has changed with each passing day. The modernization that my father longed for has long since become a reality on the land of the motherland. The informatization that my father did not expect and could not imagine is also being upgraded, profoundly affecting and changing people's lifestyles and ways of working. I think if my father knew something about it, he would not only be surprised, but also happy.
(This article is reproduced from the "Learning to Strengthen the Country" Shaanxi Learning Platform on June 16, 2022)
About the author: Yang Xiaoliu, university degree, majoring in ideological and political education, bachelor's degree in law, senior teacher, member of the Communist Party of China. It advocates reading to connect fragmented time and using words to record the truth, goodness and beauty of the world.
