Rao Ping is a young man in Jiangxi. He was in high school during the Anti-Japanese War. He joined the army and was admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy. After graduation, he was re-elected as platoon commander in the mortar. After the war, he was disarmed and returned home. Settled in Shanghai and gave birth to 5 children. In the long life of
, the talented and rigorous Rao Pingru has never done anything earth-shattering, and he has experienced ups and downs in the turbulent times, but with inner peace and richness, he has made his family life a quiet and beautiful atmosphere. He and his wife have been in love for sixty years. When Mao Meitang passed away on the eve of their diamond wedding, Rao Pingru in his twilight years "endured unspeakable suffering in his heart", in order to prevent the precious past between the two from going with the wind. When he passed away, Rao Pingru drew 18 watercolor albums for his deceased wife, recording every flash or tearful moment in the lives of two ordinary people.
Rao Pingru, who wipes his wife’s photos every day,
. By chance, his album was seen by a publishing house editor. It was seen around the world under the title "Ping as Beautiful Tang", and was later distributed to the United Kingdom, the United States, and France. , Italy and many other countries.
In France, this book soon sold out and was reprinted. The French weekly "Viewpoint" wrote: "When our protagonist, an ordinary man born in China in the 20th century, picked up his When the paintbrush tells a great love story, a little-known aspect of modern Chinese history suddenly and clearly appears before our eyes. This feat was accomplished by Mr. Rao Pingru. Nearly ten years after the death of his beloved wife, he Her love is still unswerving."
This is an epic about the love of ordinary couples, witnessing the lives of hundreds of millions of Chinese in the 20th century, sincere, open-minded, persevering and beautiful. Their choice is completely consistent with the choices of many ordinary people in that era. It is the belief in the hearts of these ordinary people, which wrote the history of China and supported our society.
1. Seeing Mao Meitang dressing in the mirror, Rao Pingru, who was disarmed and returned home, fell in love at first sight
In 1922, Rao Pingru was born in a large family in Nanchang, Jiangxi. His grandfather was a member of the third class in the Qing Dynasty and came to his father. , Is still the leading figure in Nanchang.
Mao Meitang was 3 years younger than him and was the daughter of his father’s friend. Rao Pingru later recalled that when he was 11 years old, Mao Meitang was a guest at home. Rao Pingru remembered that he gave her toys. The two spent an afternoon. However, at that time he did not expect that this little girl with braids would become his wife for life.
In 1937, the Anti-Japanese War broke out. Like the passionate youth at the time, Rao Ping wanted to serve the country by himself. In 1940, he went to Shangrao, Jiangxi to apply for the Huangpu Military Academy before he graduated from high school. After being admitted, his father did not stop him. Instead, he gave a poem: "The Japanese pirates invaded China, when scholars wrote their pens."
From Shangrao to Chengdu, where the military academy is located, thousands of miles away from home and inconvenient transportation during the war, Rao Pingru sewed four large white characters "Long March Ten Thousand Miles" on the green schoolbag. He and his companions took a ride, walk, and take a train. It took four months to go to Chengdu to report. It was still autumn when I went, and it was winter. When he came to the military academy, he was still in short-sleeved clothes and was in tatters everywhere. The 17-year-old scholar finally made his entry into the army. dream.
A year later, he graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy and worked as an observer in the mortar battalion of the 188th Regiment of the 63rd Division of the KMT’s 100th Army. He was then promoted to the 2nd platoon leader. He participated in battles such as the Battle of Xiangxi. In 1946, after the war, he suffered Rao Pingru, who longed for his son's return, wrote from his father from Jiangxi, asking Rao Pingru to go home and get married. The father of
said that there was also a sentence in the poem given that year, "Successful children will be relieved, and the room should be respected for mercy." Now, Rao Pingru has fulfilled the obligation of youth for the country and it is time to consider his personal life. When
was fighting outside, someone had introduced two girls to Rao Pingru, but he did not agree.
After returning to Jiangxi, Rao Pingru went to Mao Meitang’s house to discuss the engagement. When he was 90 years old, he still remembered that scene clearly: "When I walked into the third hall, I suddenly saw that the left main room window was open. A twenty-year-old woman with a delicate face is taking a selfie in the mirror and applying lipstick-this is my first impression of seeing Meitang."
Mao Meitang, who has a nice face and a gentle expression, made him feel immediately.
determine the relationshipLater, the two of them played in the Lakeside Park in Nanchang. Rao Pingru was embarrassed to say "I love you", so he sang the popular "Oh Rosemarry I Love You" in English:
"Oh Rosemarry I Love You
I&39; m always dreaming of you,
no matter what I do,
I can&39;t forget you."
Mao Meitang understood and smiled shyly.
Rao Pingru's English is very good. When he published "Ping Ru Meitang" in his later years, he communicated with foreign editors in English and wrote down his thoughts about his dead wife.
Later, he recalled, "I stood on the deck of the ship from Jiujiang to Zhenjiang, looking at the "rolling Yangtze River", looking forward to the future. Before I met her, I was not afraid of death, not afraid to travel, nor did I ever Worried for a long time, but now he has never really thought about the future."
Mao Meitang
He printed a lot of pictures of his fiancee and sent them to his comrades in arms. He was very proud and happy.
2, used to be a hundred steel smelters, turned into a soft finger, married for 60 years, no matter whether the rich or the poor are good or bad, they cannot be separated
In 1948, 26-year-old Rao Pingru married 23-year-old Mao Meitang in Nanchang, The witness was Hu Jiafeng, the chairman of Jiangxi Province, and there were more than 200 guests. The grand scene was later recorded by Rao Pingru.
Rao Pingru always let his wife, the only quarrel, he was so angry that he smashed the thermos, Meitang started crying on the bed, after two or three hours, Rao Pingru walked over and pulled Meitang to apologize. But Meitang chuckled. Since then, he has never been angry with his wife.
Mao Meitang
Later, Rao Pingru went to work in Anshun, Guizhou. They could not find a place to live for a while. They settled in a small remodeled pavilion. There were no tables and chairs in the pavilion. There were windows on all sides. Rao Pingru remembers that on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival. People reclining on the bed gnawed moon cakes and homesick, while moonlight shining in from the windows on all sides, pouring on their bedside and floor, this is also the most beautiful moon viewing in his memory.
In the pavilion, he often played the harmonica, and Mao Meitang used newspaper to roll into a microphone and sang: "The clouds are scattered, the moon is shining, and the reunion is happy and drunk now." Rao Pingru said that it was the happiest time in his life.
In 1951, because the fortune-teller said that Rao Pingru was "the most profitable Southeast in his life", he brought his wife and children to Shanghai, attended an accounting evening school, and soon went to Dade Hospital on Jiangning Road to work as an accountant and part-time as a publishing house. As an editor, the monthly salary is 240 yuan, which is eight or nine times that of the average person. Mao Meitang hired a nanny to raise their five children and lead a stable and prosperous life.
Soon, they began to experience the hardships given by the times. In 1958, Rao Pingru was sent to a farm in Lu'an, Anhui for "reconstruction through labor" because he was a Kuomintang officer. It was 22 years after he left.
Mao Meitang wrote the first letter to her husband on the farm. The photo attached is
Mao Meitang, who has never gone out to work, went out to look for a job, and the monthly salary was only 18 yuan. Because she took 5 children, the state gave her 9 yuan subsidy. With this salary of 27 yuan, she raised 5 young children alone in those difficult years. In order to subsidize the family, she sold 5 pairs of gold bracelets that her mother married, and also found some temporary jobs to do. Zeng and male Together, Lao Li went to the site of the Shanghai Museum to move cement. A bag of cement weighed 50 kilograms, which caused her to suffer a back injury.
After his wife passed away, when Rao Ping thought about her, he would go to the Shanghai Museum and sit on the steps. He said: "In this step, I don't know which piece of cement she carried, but I know she For the sake of the child, for the sake of life, she carried her back, maybe her waist and kidney were damaged, I am afraid it was caused by this."
During the famine years of 1959, Rao Pingru suffered from swelling all over his body on the farm. There was no cure for him. Mao Meitang was frugal and sent him a bottle of milky white cod liver oil. He poured half a bottle of cod liver oil on the steaming rice. Inside, the rice was fragrant and soft, and the swelling disappeared after two days.
She has also experienced a desperate moment. The little girl remembers that she woke up in the middle of the night and saw her mother kneeling on the balcony and praying. She really had nowhere to ask for help.
But in this way, she refused to divorce the reeducation-through-labor elements. Whether poor or rich, whether in good times or in bad times, she faithfully fulfilled the obligations of a mother and a wife.
Every Chinese New Year is a day for family reunion. Before returning to Shanghai, Rao Pingru always prepares for half a month. He buys glutinous rice, peanuts, sesame, vegetable oil and other foods for a full 120 kilograms. He travels thousands of miles back home with a burden. After that, Mao Meitang fried melon seeds and steamed salted goose. The children sang loudly. Rao Pingru took out his harmonica to accompany him. Their family has always liked music very much.
Because he cherishes his wife's contribution in his heart, Rao Pingru, a former soldier, always looks very docile in front of his wife. Even if his wife is angry and scolds him, he feels sweet and smiles silly.
granddaughter asked him incomprehensibly. He said: "I am soft to grandma because of love. I am brave in fighting to defend my country and because of love. I love this country."
3. Countless precious moments have become pictures under the pen: Your dedication will be remembered forever. I am pregnant with
. During 22 years of separation, Rao Pingru and Mao Meitang wrote thousands of correspondences. He locked these letters in a wooden box and took them out when he was free. Look, there are no tender words in the letter. They are all troubles of hardship and hardship, but this kind of smoke makes Rao Pingru feel the truth of love.
In 1979, when Rao Pingru was rehabilitated, he returned to Shanghai and worked as an editor at the Shanghai Science and Technology Press. Every day he accompanied Mao Meitang to buy vegetables and pick edamame. The warm family time did not last long. Mao Meitang suffered from kidney disease and waist after years of hard work. Disease, diabetes.
In 1992, she began to slowly lose her memory and became unconscious. When she was awake, she would stare at Rao Pingru and say uncomfortably: "How can you live when I am dead?"
Since getting married, Rao Pingru has not Worrying about housework, the family affairs were arranged by Mao Meitang. The former rich lady was tempted by the years to cook a good meal. She was good at budgeting and living. This also led to Rao Pingru’s poor living ability and was very dependent on his wife.
During the 16 years when Mao Meitang was ill, Rao Pingru never left.
When his wife was sober, he wanted to eat the horseshoe cake from Xinghualou. He hurried to buy it by bike. When she bought it, his wife had forgotten about it.
Meitang had uremia. He made a home-made peritoneal dialysis device at home. He had to prepare for half an hour each time, first wipe the ceiling, spray formalin, use ultraviolet light, and then start dialysis. Four times a day, he persisted for four years and never made a mistake. After Meitang passed away, he was very sad. He thought he could hold on for more than ten years, but he didn't expect God to give him a chance to give back to his wife.
On March 19, 2008, with five months before their 60th diamond wedding anniversary, Mao Meitang reached the end of his life.
In the Xuhui District Central Hospital, the doctors and nurses formed a circle. Meitang was lying on the bed and found Rao Pingru standing a dozen steps away in the crevices. A tear came out from the corner of her eyes, Rao Pingru squeezed. Before the hospital bed, she held her hand and wiped her tears. In less than a minute, Meitang's hand became cold, and a straight line appeared on the monitor. Later, he painted this scene as "Last Tears."
Rao Pingru, who was missing his partner, fell into deep sadness and memories. A few months later, he began to try to use a Zhang Feng Zikai-style picture to record the little by little between himself and his wife.
He has painted for a full five years. In the 18 albums he has bound by himself, there are countless highlights that he thinks are memorable. It is the spiritual history between an ordinary couple, and behind this human history and family history, But it is also a magnificent national and national history.
20In 13 years, after the publication of "Ping as a Beautiful Tang", Luoyang Zhigui has successively won dozens of awards, including Sina China's Best Book List 2013 Most Moving Book and Phoenix Book 2013 Collection Book. The love between
and Meitang is not only love, but also righteousness. It is the righteousness of husband and wife, the righteousness of family and country, the loyalty and inheritance of a couple to the family, and the commitment of two ordinary people to the destiny of the nation. It is the countless peace and beauty of ordinary people that have allowed the continuation of Chinese civilization and values.
