Unforgettable past events in Kanto

? Unforgettable past events in Kanto

? Xiao Zifeng

Uncover the dusty memories and recall the distant past.

In the early 1960s, it was the three-year natural disaster period. I heard from adults that there was a famine in our area. Every family had no food to eat. People were so hungry that their faces were yellow and their muscles were thin. People had to leave their homes and flee to beg for food. . In order to fill their stomachs and survive, they had to eat bark and wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger. I didn't remember it at that time, but after I remembered it, my family only ate dried sweet potatoes, vegetables, and drank gruel. The house was empty, with nothing but farm tools and household items, and all the belongings were worth little. At that time, people didn't worry about anything else but not having enough to eat. In order to have enough food and not starve, my parents planned to go to the Northeast to join one of my uncles and grandfathers. Going to Kanto is not a trivial matter. If you go there, you have to take a train for several days and the distance is more than 3,000 miles. My mother said that she had this idea at first, but she has been hesitant, weighing, calculating, and making up her mind. After countless ideological struggles, they had the yearning for a better life and the dream of having enough to eat. , it was decided.

I remember that it was 1964, when the spring was warm and the flowers were blooming, our family traveled north and east to go to my grandpa’s house. My grandfather's family lived in Shiren Town, Hunjiang City, Jilin Province, a remote mountain village in the countryside. They fled to the Northeast before liberation. We went to the Northeast. For adults, it’s hard to move away from our hometown. I was only nine years old at the time. Of course, I didn’t understand this. I only knew it was fun. I vaguely remember that our family of three packed two bed rolls and packed two bags of belongings. With these belongings, my father asked someone to ask the only GAZ bus in the commune to take us from Ezhuang to Xihe, and then from Xihe we Take the small train to Kunlun and then to Zhangdian. This was the first time in my life that I took a car and saw a train. I had never been out since I was a child, but I really saw the world. I was very happy. Everything felt so strange and new.

After we arrived at Zhangdian, we waited in the waiting room of the train station all afternoon. At that time, the train stations were all bungalows, and the roads were sandy. There were very few cars, but there were carriages coming and going from time to time. I don’t remember that there were buildings on the now bustling Zhongxin Road. The waiting room is not big, but there are many passengers, men and women, old and young, coming and going. My father is always holding my hand, fearing that I will get lost. I remember checking the tickets when the sun was almost setting. I went under the tunnel to cross the overpass. When I came to the platform, I saw how long the train was, especially the big red wheel of the locomotive, which was taller than me. It was playing the flute and blowing the steam, which was very scary.

After boarding the train heading north, we sat by the window facing the sunset. Opening the car window, the warm spring breeze blew in my face, dispelling the tension of checking in and getting on the bus, and my mood gradually calmed down. Facing the afterglow of the setting sun, looking out from the window, everything was so novel. Villages and towns came into view one after another, and disappeared from my sight one after another. The train is like a wild horse running wild, roaring on the Jiaoji Railway. As night gradually fell, nothing could be seen outside, only the few stars-like lights flashed past the car window and receded. Passengers coming and going in the carriage spoke with different accents, talking and greeting each other. Along the way, I kept asking about this and that. I had never seen or heard of anything before, and everything felt new. At that time, I was still a naive child. I only wanted to play, so I had no idea how my parents were feeling. They were all sullen and didn't speak much. Later, when I grew up, I realized that they were worried and stressed. Their backgrounds are away from their hometowns. They leave their families and careers behind to make a living and stay away from their homeland. Their hearts are so complicated, worried, melancholy and helpless. It's so desolate to be wandering away from home, without any friends. Speaking of which, life is a painful journey. When I look back on the past, I can't help but feel emotional.

After three days and two nights of long-distance driving, we started from Zhangdian and traveled along Jinjiangnan, Tianjin, Shanhaiguan, and Shenyang, and then transferred to Meihekou, Tonghua, Hunjiang, and Shiren. Lin got off the bus at the small station. I remember that we arrived at the station in the middle of the night. In the dark night, we huddled on the chairs and spent the middle of the night in cold and cowardice. Looking back, it makes people feel sad. But along the way I saw cities, villages, the Yellow River, plains, seas, and forests.

I remember that the North China Plain was bare and white, as if there had been frost. I asked my father curiously, and he said that it was the salt-alkali rising from the ground. There were no trees, no weeds, and the villages were also dry. Very rare. The train was speeding across the North China Plain at a very fast speed. We watched the telegraph poles on both sides of the railway fall backwards, blowing the long whistle, and the sound from the rail joints was very fast. It roared on the railway line, and it was really like lightning. .

When the train passed Qinhuangdao and Shanhaiguan, the vast sea came into my eyes. The sea was rolling with white waves, so majestic. What is the sea? Finally, I saw with my own eyes how vast the sea and sky are. I have heard about the sea before and learned about it in books, but the sea can only exist in my imagination. The sea embraces hundreds of rivers, it is so big, everything seems so small in front of the sea, I have witnessed the vastness of the sea with my own eyes, and the sea has been deeply buried in my memory. When Cao Cao was campaigning eastward against Wuhuan, he climbed to Jieshi, faced the vast sea, and wrote a majestic poem, "Viewing the Sea."

In the summer of 1954, Chairman Mao was summering in Beidaihe. During a heavy rain, he looked at the sea and thought about it, and wrote "Turning Sands, Beidaihe". Heavy rain falls on the swallows, white waves surge into the sky, fishing boats are outside Qinhuangdao, and there is no vast ocean. I don’t know which way to go. The past is thousands of years old, Wei Wu whips his whip, there is a posthumous chapter on Jieshi in the east, the bleak autumn wind has changed the human world again.

Shanhaiguan is the pass from North China to the Northeast. The so-called Guandong refers to the east of Shanhaiguan. Shanhaiguan has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. It has an important strategic location and is known as the protection of the capital. The train passed through Shanhaiguan and then entered the land of western Liaoning, passing one stop and another. I didn’t even remember what the station was or what its name was, so I arrived in Shenyang. After getting off the train and then changing trains, I remember waiting for a long time at Shenyang Station. Shenyang Station is really big. There are countless trains at the station, blowing their whistles and shuttling back and forth. It's so spectacular. The waiting building of the train station is majestic. There are many high-rise buildings around the station. There are seas of people inside and outside the station and in the square. The ancient city of Shenyang has a long history and is also a modern metropolis. According to records, it was named Shenyang in the Yuan Dynasty. The capital of Qing Nurhachi was Shenyang, also known as Shengjing, which was once the birthplace of the dynasty.

Cars and trucks are driving on the road, buses and trams are passing through the streets, and occasionally there are people riding electric donkeys to show off. Shenyang is a heavy industrial city in Northeast China and the provincial capital. It has a developed economy and a metropolitan style. Compared with Jinan, the gap is huge. No wonder people rush to the Northeast in poverty. The Northeast is really a prosperous place and a place that can save the lives of poor people. I ate bread for the first time in Shenyang. I had never heard of it before. The bread was sour and sweet, so delicious.

After several transfers, we finally arrived at our destination, Yaolin Station. We started on the road just after dawn. After asking the station staff, we learned that it was more than ten miles away from Xiaoheisonggou. Following the direction pointed, we came out of the waiting room of Yaolin Railway Station and looked around, and suddenly felt an eerie feeling. The field of vision is completely dark. Looking up, you can see towering trees, hiding the sky and the earth. From the left and right, you can see a railway running through the pine forest. The straight railway extends to both sides. In this vast sea of ??forest, there is no sky above. Looking around, there are only pine trees. It is gloomy and quiet, and not a single pedestrian is seen. It was eerie to walk through the depths of the mountains. This remote station was far away from the village and was located halfway up the mountain. Looking back now, it was really scary. The mountainous areas of Northeast China are sparsely populated, and tigers, bears, wild boars, wolves, etc. appear frequently. It's okay if you encounter a wild animal. We went down the mountain and followed the direction pointed out, following a path through an open area. We faced a large river in front of us, with rolling water, turbulent waves, and rushing away. A wooden bridge was built on the river with two logs. The bridge deck was not wide, and the water flow under the bridge was so fast that the bridge was too dangerous to move forward. My father carried the luggage over first, then carried me over, and finally helped my mother over.

After crossing the river, a stone fell to the ground in my heart. I followed the muddy forest path and climbed over a hill. I found that there were probably more than twenty households in a remote mountain col. The yard of each house is surrounded by wooden fences, and the houses are made of wood, mud, and thatch. There is a thick and tall chimney erected next to the wall of every house, emitting white smoke. From time to time, we heard the barking of dogs, and we finally found my grandpa’s house. We were so excited at that time.

It was probably only around seven o'clock when we got home. Needless to say, the enthusiasm for meeting relatives was overwhelming. Grandpa asked us how we found our home from the remote forest, and my mother said we should just ask people when we meet them. After the pleasantries, we all had breakfast. Adults and children sat around the earthen kang, and the pit table was filled with food. There are pancakes and corn tortillas. The dishes are shredded potatoes, potato cubes, and cabbage stewed with vermicelli. The food is polenta, served in large plates and bowls, so rich. At that time, you could not see or eat this kind of food in your hometown in Shandong.

More than a month passed in the blink of an eye. My parents decided to start a new business. Only by living in peace can they work happily. With the help of my grandfather and his family, they arranged a house, bought pots and pans, and settled down. After that, a new life begins. We got a temporary household registration and my father worked in the production team. The production team gave my family a large piece of wasteland for us to cultivate. The Northeast is full of black soil. The land is fertile and the rainfall is abundant. All we need to do is plant seeds and kill the weeds. No need to fertilize or water. We planted potatoes, kidney beans, radishes, leeks, peppers, and a patch of strawberries. We also raised a pig, more than 30 chickens, ducks and geese. The chickens, ducks and goose eggs that we couldn't eat were taken to Shiren Town. Sell ??it, and the money will be spent.

The land in the Northeast is wide and abundant, and there is no shortage of food. After autumn, in addition to the grain distributed by the production team, the wasteland planted by my family also harvested a lot. It can be said that the warehouse is full of grain and the stacks of firewood are full. In the Northeast, as long as people are diligent, every family digs a big cellar after autumn and stores potatoes, radishes, and cabbages in it, and relies on these to survive the winter. In winter, the slaughtered pigs are left in the warehouse or shared among neighbors. Pork stewed with vermicelli and mushroom stewed chicken were the top dishes at that time. The crops in Northeast China are mainly corn, wheat, sorghum, and soybeans. We have lived a prosperous life, with no worries about food and clothing. In the village where we live, every house has a dog to guard the house and guard the courtyard to prevent wild beasts from entering and attacking. There are wolves near the village, and roe deer and foxes can often be seen.

More than a month after arriving in the Northeast, I started to go to the brigade school. Because there was no school in our small mountain village, I had to go to the brigade school six miles away. The brigade village was called Rongbin, and there was a family living there. There are more than a hundred households, plus the population of several surrounding small mountain villages, totaling a thousand or several hundred people. The school is very spacious, with five classes. The playground is large, with a basketball stand, a table tennis table, and a volleyball net. There is also a sports meeting on Children's Day. Although this place is a rural area, it is fifteen miles away from Shiren Town and more than a hundred miles away from Hunjiang City. The economy and culture are relatively developed. There is a sales department and a theater in Rongbin Village. There are three large department stores and four large hotels in Shiren Town, all of which are state-owned. Because there are calcium carbide mines, talc mines, coal mines, and forest farms near Shiren Town, the population is relatively dense.

I remember on the first day of school, all our teachers and students gathered on the playground in the morning, and the principal led us to sing songs such as "We Walk on the Road" and "Learn from Lei Feng's Good Example" to the time. I had never listened to these songs, let alone rapped them. At that time, there was no radio or radio in my hometown in Shandong. I couldn’t learn anywhere, and I couldn’t even eat. Needless to say, there was nothing else to say. Each class has a learning garden. There is a cabinet organ in the school. You can play by pressing the keys with your feet and hands, and you can play by holding an accordion. The music teacher gives us music lessons every Friday. I remember that the first music class I learned was "Socialism is Good"; the second time I learned "Song of Spring", I remember the lyrics: "The spring breeze blows in the spring, butterflies fly on the flowers' heads, whistles blow on the street, the children's troupe is about to start Congress..." Culture and education are very advanced. Every home has a wired speaker, some families have radios, and political and cultural propaganda is in place. I remember that in my hometown in Shandong, it was far behind. Poverty leads to backwardness, and backwardness leads to ignorance. I have seen the world and gained experience in the Northeast.

When we first arrived in the Northeast, we saw that people were well dressed. Young adults were wearing uniforms, adults and children were wearing sneakers, and everyone had a raincoat. The clothes and shoes I wear in my hometown in Shandong are all handmade cloth shoes and casual clothes. I have never seen anyone wearing sneakers. In the second year after we settled down in Northeast China, I would sometimes go to Shiren Town with my mother on Sundays in a large carriage from the production team to sell chicken and duck eggs. I remember that at that time, an egg cost more than ten cents, and a large basket of chicken and duck eggs could Selling for tens of yuan, the income is considerable. From then on, I also put on sneakers and new clothes. I remember that every time I went to town and sold out all the eggs, I went to the department store to buy this and that. There were Dalian chairs in the store, so I could take a rest when I was tired. At noon, I go to a restaurant to eat rice and stir-fry vegetables, which is incomparable to life in my hometown. Shiren Town is a corner of the Changbai Mountains. Changbai Mountain is the birthplace of the Jurchen tribe. The ancestor of Qing Taizu Nurhachi, Bukuli Yongshun, was born here.

When I got older, my companions and I carried baskets up the mountain to hunt hogweed. In autumn, we went to the mountains and forests to pick mushrooms, hazelnuts, pecans, and sometimes Chinese medicine. In the winter, we went to the mountains to collect hogweed. Use the sledge to collect firewood. It's strange to say that in the village where we live, the mountains to the east are covered with vast and vast masson pine trees, while the mountains to the west are patches of birch forests with white bark. At the bottom of the river valley are mountains. Walnut tree. It's as if they were planted intentionally by the ancestors. The elm and oak trees are relatively scattered. No matter what kind of trees they are, they always grow upward like they are reaching the sky. Later I found out that it is because they are looking for sunlight. The old trees have fallen in the woods, lying horizontally and vertically, while the young trees are growing wildly. This is exactly what Liu Yuxi said: Thousands of sails pass by the side of the sunken boat, and thousands of trees spring in front of the diseased trees.

Rongbin Village is located in an open land with mountains to the east and west, forming a north-south corridor. It is surrounded by mountains and water. There is a river to the east and a river to the west, sandwiching the village in between. Everyone drinks water from the river. The water is clear and sweet. Many people drink cold water all year round and have never heard of stomachaches. People often say that the water in the Northeast is ginseng water, and drinking it nourishes people. No wonder the Northeastern people have rosy faces. The Loop is very wide and the water is not very deep. In summer, adults and children come to bathe in the river. There are also many fish nets, and there are so many fish. There is abundant rainfall in the Northeast and the rivers are dry all year round, so fish have unique conditions for growing and breeding. Otherwise, how can we say that we can scoop fish with a gourd?

Seventy percent of the total population of Rongbin Brigade are Shandong people. They come from different years and different regions, and there are very few locals. The story of the TV series "Crossing the Guandong" is a reappearance of the Shandong people's journey to the Guandong. . Just like us Shandong people all migrated from Shanxi in the Ming Dynasty. It may also have something to do with government policy guidance. The Northeast has less people and more land and needs to be developed. Just like our current development of the West, the state provides preferential policies to allow people to develop and utilize the resources there to achieve balanced development of the east and west. Northeast China is rich in natural resources, has a vast land and resources, and has huge development potential, which may also be a major factor.

Our village is the fourth production team of Rongbin Brigade. The production team raises more than 20 cows. When spring comes, the members of the production team use the oxen to pull the plow and plow the land, and the young people swing their whips. Holding the plow and singing songs, it is very leisurely. The children followed the adults in the mountains and fields to dig wild vegetables, including mountain celery, hericium, garlic, and wild spinach, which were found everywhere. There are many pheasants in the woods, and sometimes you can pick up pheasant eggs by chance. There are many tits in the woods among the grass, and sometimes you can catch small birds and pick up bird eggs. My childhood life in the Northeast was very happy, and I feel happy when I think about it today. Changbai Mountain is truly a place of beautiful mountains and clear waters, with birds singing and flowers fragrant.

In the 1960s, the Changbai Mountain area had just begun to be developed. Except for the deforestation in some places, the whole area was still in a virgin forest state. There was no pollution in the air and water sources. The air was fresh and the water was pure. It lived up to its name. Natural oxygen bar. People live in an environment of green mountains and green waters. They enjoy fairyland-like living conditions and eat pure natural food. It is rare to hear of anyone getting sick. It’s hard to find that environment anymore. Affected by the warm and humid air currents from the Pacific Ocean, Changbai Mountain has a humid climate with abundant rainfall. In winter, it snows frequently under the influence of the cold air from Siberia and the warm and humid air currents from the Pacific Ocean. Although Changbai Mountain is dozens of degrees below zero in winter, the cold is soft and soft. It feels different from the cold in North China. It's the same. It's not as cold and cold as North China. The cotton-padded clothes worn in Shandong are the same as those in Northeast China. The wind in the northeast is not as strong as the wind in North China, because the natural barrier of the Greater Khingan Mountains blocks the northwest wind blowing from Siberia. In winter, white snow covers the earth, the air is clean and fresh, there is no dust, and the coat stays clean all winter long.

Changbai Mountain is a beautiful and rich place. The vast sea of ??forests conserves water sources, and dense forest vegetation covers the earth. In winter, ice and snow are flying all over the sky, and snowflakes are covered with pine branches. The mountains present a silvery world, with thousands of trees. The trees are covered with silver, the canyons are as winding as clouds, the mountains appear like Yinchuan, the towering mountains are dressed in plain clothes, and the beautiful mountains and rivers are like a northern scenery. Changbai Mountain is named Changbai Mountain because of its high mountain and cold weather. The top of the mountain is covered with snow all year round. Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture is located in the Changbai Mountain area. Korean women wear skirts and pointed Korean shoes all year round and carry things on their heads. Men always use a basket to carry things. The Korean people are good at singing and dancing, and the girls are beautiful. Graceful and graceful, with traditional cultural customs and colorful ethnic customs, it inherits a long history of human civilization.

Spring in Changbai Mountain is a colorful season. The green and verdant virgin forest rises and falls with the mountains and rivers. The spring breeze blows, the pines roll, and the waves sound. The nature is harmonious and beautiful in spring and autumn. There are wild taros all over the mountains, with red flowers and yellow cores all over the mountains and plains. Red peony and white peony bloom respectively with white and red flowers dotted among the green grass. The mountain flowers are full of fragrance. Against the backdrop of the mountains and forests, they have a unique style. In spring, the spring breeze blows, and the colorful flowers bloom. It attracts colorful butterflies to fly, which is very beautiful. Spring is really a colorful world, with orioles singing and dancing everywhere, and hundreds of birds competing to sing.

Running restlessly. Autumn is harvest season, with wild mushrooms everywhere in the woods and hazelnut trees bearing fruit. Schisandra chinensis, mountain grapes, jujubes, vines covering the sky and the earth, winding around the trees, clusters of branches and vines are hung, and there are pine nuts from Masson pine, big ones like small pineapples, hanging on the branches, oak trees The trees and branches are covered with acorns. Pecans are everywhere in Goudian. In winter, bears and wild boars eat these fruits when the mountains are covered by heavy snow. This is the natural food they depend on for survival. Everything in the world has its own living environment and living conditions. This is exactly what Darwin's theory of evolution says: survival of the fittest through natural selection. God has given the conditions, and the earth dominates the living beings. The world is so big that it can accommodate all things. The land is vast and abundant, life thrives and lives in harmony with human beings. The vast northeastern land is beautiful and fertile, and the black soil nurtures hard-working people. People often say that the three treasures of the northeast are ginseng, mink fur, and cattail grass. It is also famous for beating roe deer with a stick and scooping up fish with a gourd.

Changbai Mountain is a longing place. In winter, the earth is covered with snow, and the mountains are covered with silvery forests and snowfields. It is the hunting season for hunters when the mountains are closed due to heavy snow. They lead their dogs to follow the animal footprints and often hunt wild boars and roe deer. Then there is winter, which is the season for logging and cutting firewood. Using a sledge to pull firewood saves effort and is fast. It snows every year around the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. The snow begins to melt next year when the peach blossoms bloom in Shandong, which is the Qingming Festival. Northeastern people call it Peach Blossom Water, which melts during the day and freezes at night. Due to the thick snow in the winter, flash floods sometimes occur when running Peach Blossom Water, causing rivers to overflow.

In the summer of 1969, the school organized a summer camp for our students to travel to Linjiang. Under the leadership of the teacher, dozens of people in our class took the train from Yaolin Railway Station directly to Linjiang. Linjiang was a county town at that time. The city was not big, but it was neat and clean. Although there were no high-rise buildings, the city streets were wide and well-laid out. Linjiang, as its name suggests, is a city built on the riverside. I remember that the water of the Yalu River was dark green, with a wide surface and smooth water flow. There were people fishing on the riverside and some casting nets. An iron bridge connects east to west to North Korea. During the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, our volunteers crossed the Yalu River on this iron bridge. View from the shore. North Korean villages are faintly visible, and the people of the two countries face each other across a narrow strip of water. During the War of Liberation, our Northeast Field Army protected the river on four sides, and this is where we are talking.

Recalling the past years, the Northeast is a warm land, and it was the corn pancakes from the Northeast that raised me. With special feelings, I wrote this past event in Guandong to express my gratitude for the black land. kindness. After I moved back to my hometown in Shandong, what I saw and heard in the Northeast, and every bit of my study and life, often flashed in my mind and played back in my memory.

More than half a century has passed in a blink of an eye.

With the passage of time, some past events have faded out of my memory, but the white snow on the Changbai Mountains, the dark green water of the Yalu River, the vast sea of ??forests, and the winding Changbai Mountains still remain with me. The memory of Changbai Mountain is still fresh in my mind, and I will never forget it.

Human life is a long process. The wind and rain of the years have washed away many memories of life. Decades of time have passed, the sun rises and sets. Many past events have been forgotten with the passage of time. Looking back It felt very far away when I woke up. However, sometimes it feels like an instant process. Things in the past are like yesterday, and it seems that I have returned to my childhood in a hazy way.

Diary