Xiao Hong and Duanmu Hongliang (hereinafter referred to as Duanmu) met in Wuhan in October 1937. Because they are both fellow Northeasterners and literati, Duanmu and Xiao Hong got along well from the beginning. According to what Jiang Xijin recalled in the article, the four of them were like brothers and sisters, and like a gay club. They ate and lived together, and had a harmonious and casual relationship. They often discussed literary creation and current developments, and threatened to organize a propaganda team and start a Restaurants etc. During this period, Xiao Hong had a good impression of Duanmu, and the two also had the same views on some issues. Duanmu is tall and thin, dressed in a fashionable style, speaks softly, is introverted, aloof and gentle, which is in sharp contrast to Xiao Jun's rough, strong, bold and wild character. When several people are arguing about issues, Duanmu usually sides with Xiao Hong.
Duanmu never had direct conflicts with others, but only adopted roundabout tactics. All these made Xiao Hong have a good impression. What especially pleased Xiao Hong was that Duanmu "not only respected her, but also boldly praised her works for exceeding Xiao Jun's achievements." This is something no other friend has done. In the past, only Lu Xun and Hu Feng appreciated Xiao Hong's talent. Xiao Jun didn't say anything, but he was unconvinced in his heart. The same was true for other friends. Therefore, Duanmu's appreciation for Xiao Hong's literary achievements has a special meaning for Xiao Hong, making her feel the praise for her talent from a man. This puts the already deeply divided emotional life of Xiao Hong and Xiao Jun facing a new test. Xiao Jun himself, Xiao Hong and Duanmu were all sensitive to the subtle changes in the relationship between the three.
After Xiao Hong separated from Xiao Jun in Linfen, she had more contact with Duanmu and often took the initiative to talk to Duanmu about her creation and her life experience. He also visited the ancient city of Xi'an with Seck and others and appreciated the calligraphy in the Forest of Steles. The two got to know each other better, but had not yet confirmed their relationship. It was not until Xiao Jun came to Xi'an again and Xiao Hong proposed to formally break up with Xiao Jun that Xiao Hong and Duanmu did not really consider their relationship. At this time, Duanmu had never thought about getting married, and Xiao Hong was still undecided about what to do. But after the two Xiaos broke up, the situation took a turn for the worse, and their relationship developed rapidly.
Xiao Hong and Duanmu arrived in Wuhan in April 1938, and held their wedding in Wuhan in May. Most friends feel sorry for the divorce between Xiao and Xiao, and most people blame Duanmu as the third party. In fact, this is unfair. The relationship between Xiao Hong and Duanmu before the two Xiaos broke up did not exceed the limit of friends. It was only after the two Xiaos broke up that their relationship made a qualitative leap. Moreover, it was not a blind love between boys and girls, but rather calm. The color of reason. When Hu Feng suggested that the bride and groom talk about their relationship, Xiao Hong said: "Brother Zhang, let me tell you with all my heart, Duanmu Hongliang and I have no romantic love history. It was only when I decided to separate from Sanlang forever. I discovered Duanmu Hongliang. I don’t have any high expectations for Duanmu Hongliang. I just want to live a normal common people’s married life, with no quarrels, no fighting, no infidelity, no ridicule, just mutual understanding and love. Careful and considerate."
But after Xiao Hong married Duanmu, she was criticized and alienated by many friends. She felt the blockade of friendship, which brought her new troubles and anguish. The initial combination of Xiao Hong and Duanmu was based on emotion. However, the differences in their personalities are gradually revealed in life. Each other will feel lost and disillusioned, and emotional tragedy is inevitable. Although Xiao Hong is stubborn and brave, she needs her husband's care and tenderness after all, and it is even more so during a difficult and serious period. So true. However, Duanmu has only been cared for and doted on by others since he was a child. He is very dependent and has poor living ability. He does not know how to care for his wife. Instead, he still wants Xiao Honglai to worry about him. When retreating from Wuhan, Xiao Hong asked Duanmu to go first and he left first. In Hong Kong, Xiao Hong agreed with him to break out, and he was ready to break out and evacuate. His self-centered behavior made Xiao Hong naturally feel neglected and abandoned. In addition, objective factors such as Japan's invasion of Hong Kong, misdiagnosis by quack doctors, and Xiao Hong's condition worsened. Xiao Hong finally unfortunately passed away on January 22, 1942.
Duanmu remarried Zhong Yaoqun 18 years after Xiao Hong’s death. This shows that he still had a deep affection for Xiao Hong. Not only did he keep a strand of Xiao Hong’s hair, he also often wrote poems In memory of Xiao Hong, these poems are not for publication, but just express his feelings for Xiao Hong in his heart. After ten years of catastrophe, Duanmu went to Guangzhou Yinhe Cemetery by himself almost every year to sweep Xiao Hong's grave. When he couldn't go, he asked his friends to go and write eulogy poems in front of the tomb.
On November 4, 1987, Duanmu and Zhong Yaoqun went to Xiao Hong's tomb to pay homage and wrote a poem titled "The Wind Enters the Pine·Sweeping Xiao Hong's Tomb": We will never forget each other despite the separation of life and death, and the falling moon fills the house. The beams and plum blossoms are beside the willows, and the Hulan River is also Xiaoxiang. The old spots of thousands of years have been washed away, and the ink-carved bamboos have new bamboos. Cherish the candle and don't compete with the charm, the sword will shine on its own, the wind and frost will be infinite, the mountains and the water will be in the same chord. The ends of the earth are not far away, and the Milky Way faces each other every night. It is not difficult to see from this that Xiao Hong occupies a very important position in Duanmu's heart. He, who is introverted and aloof, can only express his longing, his condolences, and his repentance in this way. This is indeed quite touching. It's a pity that Xiao Hong can no longer be heard. She is destined to walk alone. This is the fate of a woman.
In March 1995, Ms. Susanna Hao mailed a copy of the topographical plan of St. Stephen's Girls' School in Hong Kong in the 1940s, hoping that Mr. Duanmu could identify the exact place where some of Xiao Hong's ashes were buried. Place.
However, as time passed, the copy was blurry and it was a floor plan that was difficult to identify. Mr. Duanmu said sadly: "It seems that I may not be able to find it if I go. Xiao Hong's half will stay in Hong Kong forever." In 1996 On October 5, Mr. Duanmu passed away in Beijing. He left a last wish to scatter part of his ashes at the back of St. Stephen's Girls' School in Hong Kong and where the other half of Xiao Hong's ashes were buried in May 1997. The lady came to Hong Kong and realized his wish.
Living in Guilin
During his stay in Guilin, Mr. Duanmu created a large number of works, so the research on Duanmu focuses on his time in Guilin. Time is the key point. Duanmu Hongliang's main activity in Guilin was literary writing. A large number of creative achievements show that the Guilin period was an important period in his creative career.
Novel writing was Duanmu Hongliang's main focus. In terms of creative content, he wrote a large number of novels in Guilin, including "First Kiss" (short story), "Early Spring" (short story), "The Eagle Castle" (short story), and the second part of "Horqin Banner Grassland". (Novel, unfinished), "Qin" (short story), "Red Night" (short story), "Goddess" (short story), "The Night Before" (short story), "Hunger" (short story), "A few "House Number" (a novel, unfinished), and the novel "Dajiang" (published by Guilin Liangyou Fuxing Book Printing Company in April 1943)
"Horqin Banner Grassland" was an early creation of Duanmu Hongliang. An important novel. In 1942, after Duanmu Hongliang moved from Hong Kong to Guilin, he began to write the second part of "Horqin Banner Grassland" with nostalgia for his distant hometown. Although I could finish it, I could not print it into a book and publish it. It was published in the "Literary Magazine" published in Guilin from March to November 1943, Volume 2, Issue 3 to Issue 6 and Volume 3, Issue 1, one** *Chapter 5, about 40,000 words. In these 5 chapters, there are two main characters, one is the spirit child who is believed by some researchers to have been tortured to death at the end of the first part of the novel, and the other is the one who has not yet appeared in the first part. Ding Ning's brother Ding Lan. The novel reflects Duanmu Hongliang's thoughts on the status, destiny and human nature of Chinese women.
The short stories Duanmu Hongliang wrote in Guilin mainly include "Early Spring" and " "First Kiss" and so on. In these works, Duanmu Hongliang wrote about a group of innocent and beautiful rural women who lived in their hometown. "Early Spring" represents the highest achievement of Duanmu Hongliang's novel creation in the 1940s. These two works are about life in his childhood, and the novels contain a thrilling emotion. The exquisite and bright descriptions of the scenery and the moving psychological portrayal of the characters are overflowing with artistic charm and artistic conception that are different from the general anti-Japanese war novels. They truly reflect an artistic beauty in the novels, thus becoming an important harvest of Chinese short stories in the 1940s. .
Some mythological novels and historical novels written by Duanmu Hongliang during this period, such as "Butterfly Dream", "Goddess", "Qin", "Bu Feiyan", etc., also use women as characters. Describe the center. These novels are full of the author's true and vivid love and hatred. Duanmu Hongliang revealed his infinite love for the beautiful things in the world and his deep sympathy for the misfortune of kind-hearted people through the creation of beautiful images of young rural women and the narration of their tragic life experiences.
In Guilin, Duanmu Hongliang also created scripts such as "Qingwen", "Lin Daiyu", "Anna Karenina" (drama), and "The Legend of Hongfu"; he wrote "Mourning for Li Manjiang" ", "Gift of Thin Stone", "Autumn Visit to Near Winter" and other poems. In addition to the above published works, according to what the author learned when visiting Duanmu Hongliang, Duanmu Hongliang also wrote "Xue Baochai" (script), "The Legend of the Dragon Girl" and "March Notes" while in Guilin. Some of these works had been decided to be published and notices had been issued, but due to the evacuation of Guilin, the publication was forced to suspend publication and could not be published.
Duanmu Hongliang also wrote many literary papers and literary notes in Guilin. His works include "Writing Characters - Taking Anna Karenina as an Example", "Symposium on Historical Drama Issues" (records of the symposium), "Private Notes" (notes), "On Ai Qing", "Learning Description from "Dream of Red Mansions"" "Characters" (essay), "My Writing Experience") and many other articles. It can be seen that Duanmu Hongliang participated in a large number of literary and artistic activities during the Anti-Japanese War in Guilin, and his writing achievements were rich. His works were more diverse in form than before the Anti-Japanese War, and their content and themes were expanded.