"Wind up" the clock at Jiefangbei? Was it a mistake? Of course there is nothing wrong with it, nor is it a joke or a spoof. But we Chongqing people who are truly qualified tell our own stories! On the afternoon of December 16, the classic bookstore on Nanbin Road was crowded with

"wind up" the clock at Jiefangbei? Was it a mistake? Of course there is nothing wrong with it, nor is it a joke or a spoof. But we Chongqing people who are truly qualified tell our own stories!

On the afternoon of December 16, the classic bookstore on Nanbin Road was crowded. Famous literature and history expert He Zhiya, place name expert Li Zhengquan, famous writer Wu Jingya and others gathered together. What they were looking forward to was a "story meeting" about Chongqing and Chongqing people - columnist Mara appeared with his new work "Oral Chongqing: A History of Folk Life from the Mother City to the Rivers and Lakes". Each vivid character and wonderful story gradually unfolded a picture of Chongqing full of fireworks.

"Oral Narration of Chongqing: A History of Folk Life from the Mother City to the Rivers and Lakes" was opened by the horse

scroll. It contains the personal memories of ordinary people who worked on winding the clock of the Liberation Monument more than 70 years ago, as well as the "silly" words. This is the story of a descendant of a famous family, the prototype of Fan Shaozeng’s son.

Mara, the author of "Oral Chongqing: A History of Folk Life from the Mother City to the Jianghu" (hereinafter referred to as "Oral Chongqing"), was a reporter and columnist for Chongqing Morning News. The articles in the book are also mainly derived from the column "Marata Wang·City and People" he has opened in the "Chongqing Morning News" since April 2011. But it was the idea of ​​Marla's close friend Yang Yi, the founder of Classic Bookstore, to compile it into a book.

"Liu Xue'an, Bai Zhiqing, Ren Hongjun, Lu Zuofu, Luo Zhongli, Chen Sa, Chen Kun, Huang Ke... Chongqing has produced so many celebrities in different fields. They are scattered in the countryside and fields of Chongqing, standing by the Yangtze River and Jialing River, like They are stars that illuminate our city, protect this city, and give this city warmth, strength and miracles." Yang Yi said, and Mara's column just connected these stars into city characters. Starlink.

"Oral Chongqing" was born.

Mara, the author of "Oral Chongqing: A History of Folk Life from the Mother City to the Rivers and Lakes"

Mara divided the entire "Oral Chongqing" into nine sections based on the different characteristics of the people interviewed. "There are a total of 62 people who told us stories in the book, 16 of them have passed away..." At the sharing meeting, Mara said that compared to himself and the new book, the tellers of these stories are more of the real protagonists . "This is why we set the theme of the sharing session as 'Salute to Storytellers.'"

The "winding up" of the clock at Jiefangbei mentioned at the beginning of this article comes from the first part of the book, and the narration person is Hu Mingfu, then the leader of the Engineering Technology Group of the Street Light Management Office of the Chongqing Municipal Public Utilities Bureau. In 1954, a mechanical clock was installed on the Liberation Monument, and the task of setting time and maintaining it fell to the then Chongqing Street Light Management Office. "(In order to complete the task) my unit also equipped me with an imported watch and a British bicycle." Hu Mingfu recalled in the book.

Place name expert Li Zhengquan (first from the right) shared at the scene

What is hard to imagine now is that the mechanical clock installed on the top of the Liberation Monument was made up of two weights weighing about 30 kilograms that slowly dropped to drive the gears to rotate. It drives the hands on all sides of the clock to move. Hu Mingfu said that it took him almost five minutes to climb from the inside of the monument to the top of the monument for the first time. "My task at that time was to turn on the clock once a week and not let the clock stop. Every time I operated, I used my hand to shake the handle. Shake the hammer that has fallen to the bottom and adjust the time to complete it."

Not only that, how Hu Mingfu fully automated the opening and closing of street lights in Chongqing through his continuous experiments, and how he climbed out of The extremely unique experience of going to the dome at the top of the Liberation Monument to repair the anemometer was all revealed in detail in the conversation with Mara.

What’s interesting is that it was a coincidence that Hu Mingfu shared these interesting personal experiences. "I have never found anyone (interview subject) through officials or organizations. I just let nature take its own course." At the sharing meeting, Mara said with a smile that Hu Mingfu is the best example. "I was waiting for the bus at Liziba Station of Metro Line 2. I accidentally saw someone holding a book called "My Life" next to me and reading it." Curious, Ma Ma stepped forward to inquire. The person reading the book happened to be a colleague of the author Hu Mingfu.

There are more "unimaginables", which are revealed in the memories of "Oral Narration of Chongqing" after being dusted off.

For example, if you are studying science, you must be impressed by the famous British mathematician Russell. He has made great achievements in the field of mathematical logic. At the same time, his "History of Western Philosophy" is also a classic among the classics in the field of philosophy... Many people would not have thought that it was such a big figure who had been worrying about a certain topic in the 1950s and 1960s. A native of Chongqing: Ren Hongjun (one of the founders of modern science in China and former president of Sichuan University) also sent him luncheon meat and canned sardines by mail from the UK.

Well-known literature and history expert He Zhiya (second from left)

"This book is interesting, full of stories, and warm..." At the scene, the famous literature and history expert He Zhiya was both a guest and one of the storytellers in the book. In his opinion, he had some experience after reading "Oral Chongqing", "It turns out that there are so many stories in Chongqing, some of which are still unknown." He Zhiya gave an example, as he had never noticed before, it turns out that there are so many stories from Zhou Xuan to Teresa Teng. The song "When Will You Come Again" was written by a Chongqing native.

As a child who grew up in Longxiang, Jiefangbei, when talking about Jiefangbei, which is frequently mentioned in the book, he naturally showed different emotions from others. "We have retained some things from the past with images and words, but I think what we miss is not the small alleys and simple houses of the past. What we miss is the joy, frankness and simplicity of the simple life when happiness comes (back then). "Interpersonal relationships."

He Zhiya said that what oral history records is actually the process of change and development of our city. These people and stories are worth sharing with more people.

Upstream News Reporter Qiu Jinyi Intern Hu Yan Photo courtesy of Classic Bookstore