Old things in the south

Chapter 77 The Wind Chime of Life—Four Questions on Respecting the Elderly (2)
Mr. Su Xuelin celebrated his 3th birthday on March 24 this year, and it has been more than four months since today. The lively scene is still in my mind.Mr. Su was born in 1896, spanning two centuries, and this year is 1995, and in five years, the century of 2000 will be connected again.Apart from bad legs and hard of hearing, Mr. Su's heart, brain, etc. are all normal. She doesn't have any common dementia symptoms.It is not impossible for her to step into the 21st century. We bless her, just like Wu Boxiong, Secretary-General of the Presidential Office who is good at singing, sang a song "Grateful Heart" on the stage on her birthday. best start.He said to Mr. Su: "When you are 110 years old, everyone will gather together, and I will sing!" Mr. Su was very happy!That is possible!Wu Boxiong graduated from Chengda University, and Wu Jing, the president of Chengda University, also graduated from Chengda University. He pushed Mr. Su's wheelchair onto the stage.It was really spectacular when Mr. Su cut the ten-layer birthday cake that was about to reach the ceiling!

This time I went with some literary friends from Taipei, and my second daughter Xia Zuli who came here from Melbourne, Australia.Literary friends in the north discussed and arranged the travel date, roughly grouped together, pre-registered, the school can also prepare accommodation, because there are three days before and after the celebration, one day of travel, the next day of celebration, the third day of academic seminars and return trips.Originally, Mr. Su declined to celebrate her birthday again and again, because she fell again before her birthday and broke her ischium, and she was hospitalized for surgery.She also has a stubborn temper, refusing to be hospitalized, and always yelling to go home, which is also her character of not wanting to trouble others.But batches of juniors ignored Mr. Su's words and just said: "Mr. Su, you just stay in your hospital, and we just celebrate ours." So no matter whether she is hospitalized or has returned home, the school and friends have made arrangements. She had no choice but to sit in a wheelchair and happily attend the celebration.

On March 3th, the weather was sunny and sunny, from south to north, from home and abroad, thousands of people attended, and the campus was bustling with people who came to celebrate with smiles on their faces.Dinner was a buffet for guests, and everyone ate happily.In the evening, everyone flocked to the auditorium. The auditorium was magnificently and beautifully decorated. There were national opera performances including "Magu's Birthday" and three songs by the Catholic Saint Gongnv High School Choir. Because Mr. Su is a Catholic, the scene was filled with peace and happiness. atmosphere.There were also Chinese music performances, Kunqu opera, etc. Mr. Su was hard of hearing, but he saw her holding her ears with her hands and listening carefully.The person who served her at first asked her if she wanted to go back to the house to rest first, but she refused, and watched it with everyone, and left with everyone until the meeting was over at 24 o'clock.How is this a centenarian, it can be said that a hundred years is like a day!

In this event, in addition to an academic seminar hosted by Professor Ma Sen on the next day, there was also a beautifully printed copy of "Su Xuelin Landscape" sponsored by the Cultural Development Association for the guests (Zheng Shumin, the chairman of the Cultural Development Association, is also a graduated).Everyone knows that Mr. Su is a scholar and writer, but they don't know that she is also a painter with profound skills.Mr. Su went to study in France decades ago. He originally studied art. After returning to China, he only published his works in the world. Everyone only knows that "Qu Fu" is her favorite, and "Qu Fu New Exploration" alone has a One hundred and four hundred and fifty thousand words.This kind of knowledge is high-level, but she still sticks to her principles. She said that she wants to describe what ordinary people think is the most difficult and difficult to understand.
Although she is good at painting, she has never been shown in public, and she has never held an exhibition, so many people don't know that she is a talented painter.Every time Zu Li and I go south to Tainan, even if it's not just to see Mr. Su, we still can't forget to stop by that quiet dormitory.She always had a smile on her face when she saw us.For many years, I like to see her smiling face, which gives people a friendly feeling.Moreover, her tone of voice has a childish clear voice, unlike other old people's hoarseness.

President Wu Jing announced on the spot at the birthday party that he initiated the establishment of "Professor Su Xuelin's Academic Research Office" and "Su Xuelin's Academic and Cultural Lectures".

Xie Bingxin

Mr. Xie Bingxin, who is the same age as this century, was born in 1900 and is 96 years old this year. It is said that she has been admitted to Beijing Hospital for illness for ten months since last September.I was very worried, so I called her second son-in-law Chen Shu (professor of Beijing Foreign Studies University) to ask how Bing Xin was doing.Professor Chen Shu told me that in August last year, she was hospitalized due to stomach discomfort, and she returned home soon after, but she was hospitalized again on September 8 due to a cold.Her hands and feet are a little swollen and not very responsive, but it has stabilized since March, thank goodness!Recalling the scene when I visited her in Beijing in 9, it was really interesting, and I also recognized the cuteness of this humorous old man.On the second day after I arrived in Beijing, Mr. Shu Yi from the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature accompanied me to visit four old people (Bing Xin, Mrs. Xia’s sister-in-law, Mrs. Lao She, and Xiao Qian).I told Bing Xin that it was the first time we had met, but it was not the case. Half a century ago, when I was an intern reporter at the "World Journal" in Peking, I visited her when I was a teenager. She was giving birth to a child and was confinement.

When I mentioned this, she completely forgot, and kept asking me, what year and what month was it?which child?I couldn't figure it out, so I had to say: "I'm old too!" Who knows, she patted me and laughed loudly and said, "You! What a joke!" "Small Meanings" and the old man in [-], known as the "grandmother of Chinese literary circles" in the literary and art circles in mainland China, when he couldn't stop laughing, my niece and daughter-in-law were photographed.It is a good commemoration: how does her smile compare to the centenarian Su Xuelin who is four years older than her?The same lovely old man!This time was the longest time Bing Xin had been in the hospital. No one thought that before this time, although her actions were poor, she was quick in thinking, able to talk and laugh freely, loved to be lively, and loved her juniors.I heard that her grandson was going to study in the United States. When she went to the hospital to visit her grandmother, she was in the midst of emergency treatment. Doctors and nurses shuttled back and forth to give Bing Xin oxygen and drips.Over the next day, my grandson bid farewell to her grandmother who was still being rescued, but she repeatedly asked her to go to study abroad and study hard, and no matter what happened at home, she was not allowed to come back halfway.

I interviewed Bing Xin at the time when her new book "About Women and Men" was published, she signed it for me, I am so happy, and of course also presented my work.It turned out that the original title of this book was "About Women", which was published in Chongqing in 1943. At that time, she wrote about women under the pseudonym of "Men".Now this book has added "man" (started writing in Beijing in 1987), and she also appears under the original name of "Bing Xin".

This two-in-one book with a thickness of 450 pages, Bing Xin said: "These two books have recorded the joys and sorrows of my interpersonal relationship for decades. The voices and smiles of everyone I love and love are vividly presented in front of my eyes, making my heart throb!" Therefore, these two books of women and men are compiled by Professor Chen Shu, Bing Xin's son-in-law. Edited, and Chen Shu wrote a very complete "Xie Bingxin Biography".

"We all know that Bing Xin has been writing for more than 70 years, and she is a great writer for almost a whole century. Her works can be said to cover four generations of readers in this century. Famous works such as "Starry Stars" and "Spring Water" were written by her in 1920. In [-], when she was still studying at Yenching University, her works were popular until the end of this century, and her "Send to Young Readers" is even more classic. "Stars" and "Spring Water" were inspired by the Indian philosophical poet Rabindranath Tagore. The influence of "Flying Birds" also imitates the form of both poems and short sentences. Bing Xin's words are refined, but also contains some philosophy. "Send to a Little Reader" is even more eloquent, warm and meaningful, and is a classic. It is well deserved. Her poems are feminine and maternal: motherly love, children and the sea are caused by her environmental habits. If her works are too feminine, they are just children's books and lack the situation of caring for society. That's right, she loves the country, loves the family, and cares about education. Although she is old now, she not only continues to write, but her thinking has become more positive in recent years. She often writes about current problems, criticizing the dark side of society and corruption. The articles won the respect of the society."

Earlier I mentioned that she herself was afraid to read "About Women and Men" (the book contains more than [-] characters), for fear of causing emotional uneasiness, but this reminded me of another thing:
When the information on both sides of the Taiwan Strait was not communicated, many incidents of the "Cultural Revolution" and the Red Guards' rebellion on the other side were leaked. Mr. Liang Shiqiu once said to me: "Hai Yin, if Lao She and Bing Xin over there have anything to say, I will write to you. Theirs." Sure enough, the news soon came that Lao She couldn't bear the abuse of the Red Guards and sank in Taiping Lake. When we were not sure, we heard Ma Sicong say that Lao She sank himself, and it was true.And there is also a news that Bing Xin was also beaten to death, but there is no definite news about Bing Xin.As expected, Mr. Liang kept his promise and wrote me an article "Recalling Lao She", which was published in the monthly magazine "Pure Literature".As for Bing Xin, although we are not sure, Mr. Liang still wrote an article "Bing Xin's Poems" and published it in the second issue of the sixth volume of "Pure Literature".In fact, Liang Shiqiu is more familiar with Bing Xin than Lao She.I read Bing Xin's "About Women and Men" and found two articles: "Mourning Mr. Liang Shiqiu" and "Recalling Shiqiu".Mr. Liang never had any contact with relatives and friends in mainland China. He wanted to write about Bing Xin, but he did not expect that Bing Xin was alive and well. Instead, he wrote an article mourning Mr. Shiqiu.

I look forward to the publication of this article very much. Ms. Bing Xin has recovered and returned to her small building in the Nationalities College from the Beijing Hospital!
(End of this chapter)