Under the recommendation of a friend, the author got to know Mr. Zhong Yi (Wei Jin), a veteran of the 67th Division of the 23rd Army of the former Volunteers to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and got a glimpse of his diary manuscript of resisting US aggression and aid Korea in wartime. These unpublished diaries record his experiences from April 1952 to August 1955 almost every day.
For a long time, the research on the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea or Chinese people's Volunteer Army has focused on "big shots", famous people or collective activities. The former refers to political, military and diplomatic decisions made by senior officials or military commanders at all levels, heroes and model figures, and important roles in diplomatic negotiations. , while the latter refers to the previous battles during the war and the military history and war history of the subordinate units of China Volunteers. Although these research objects and contents are important, they are often of interest to most readers, so the related research results are rich, in-depth and meticulous. However, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is, after all, a history in which about 2.9 million volunteers participated and experienced together. It is the life experience of countless people with different backgrounds, personalities, emotions and understandings, not only the experiences and activities of a few "big names" and celebrities, but also the military and political activities carried out in the name or image of the collective. It will obviously limit our understanding and knowledge of the complexity, diversity and richness of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and Chinese people's Volunteer Army's history itself, and it is not enough to reflect and reveal the tortuous and cruel war process and the real and meticulous special experiences, emotions and feelings of different individuals in collective activities. However, due to the low level of education of ordinary volunteers, harsh battlefield conditions and harsh environment, most soldiers failed to leave historical materials that directly recorded and reflected wartime experiences and emotions, and oral memories and reminiscences after many years were inevitably distorted by various factors. Therefore, the wartime diaries of the surviving frontline volunteers or grass-roots personnel of the organs are precious.
As far as I can see, although there are few such wartime diaries, some of them have been published or published. However, they are basically excerpts and excerpts that conform to a certain theme or mainstream value orientation, and even after later literary processing or deduction, their historical value, content richness and completeness are greatly reduced. Fortunately, under the recommendation of a friend, the author got to know Mr. Zhong Yi (Wei Jin), a veteran of the 67th Division of the 23rd Army of the Volunteers, and was able to have a look at his treasured diary manuscript to resist US aggression and aid Korea. Almost every day, these diaries record Mr. Zhong's experience of going to Korea to fight with his troops on September 7, 1952, and staying in Korea for a long time from April 65438 to August 955 after the armistice. This 1000 diary is thousands of words long and thousands of words short, which truly and completely records and reflects the author's thoughts and thoughts. From between the lines, from the yellow and crisp paper in the diary manuscript, from the scrawled or neat handwriting, the author seems to feel the difficult years when the 38th parallel war broke out and his life was in danger at any time, the busy and tense working state of the author in a relatively safe environment after the armistice, and the emotional changes of the author from being anxious about not joining the party, to being excited about finally joining the party, and then to being anxious about not being able to become a full member smoothly.
The manuscript and pictures of Zhong Yi's diary are provided by the author.
Zhong Wei, formerly known as Zhong Yi, 193 1, was born in Deqing County, Zhejiang Province. 1May, 949, Deqing joined the People's Liberation Army after liberation and participated in the liberation of Shanghai. Later, he joined the army in Zhoushan, East Zhejiang, and entered Taicang, Jiangsu at the beginning of 195 1. 1in July, 952, the cadre department of the 67th division of the 23rd Army was transferred to the office (technical) secretary of the head of the logistics department of the division, engaged in intense work in the preparatory stage of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. In late August, the troops moved from Taicang, Jiangsu, got on the bus from Kunshan and went straight to Anton, and arrived on August 3 1. On September 7, the troops crossed the Yalu River and entered Korea to participate in the war. 1953 On New Year's Day, the troops moved to the 38th parallel and confronted the United Nations troops. In May, he was ordered to be promoted to secretary of the secretarial section of the Political Department of the 67th Division. 1 1 June, transferred to the first-class document of the division's combat training section. 1in June, 954, we received a telegram from the cadre department of the headquarters of the Volunteers, asking for the promotion of the rank of the department to reward the department. 1In August, 955, he was put on trial for eliminating counter-revolutionaries and censoring so-called "historical issues" in the cadre movement, and the issue of joining the party and becoming a full member was delayed again and again. 1August, 957, voluntarily demobilized to his hometown. He returned from North Korea on the 23rd. The author himself said that his diary to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea was "of little value" because it was "a young man with a small position and a small vision, and mostly focused on his personal office work experience, daily experience and feelings". In this regard, the author does not agree. On the contrary, it is precisely because he is in the division of the army, his position is not high, and his age is similar to that of most volunteers who entered the DPRK to participate in the war. So what he saw, heard, thought and thought is more typical and representative, and his diary is more valuable.
At present, I have read five original diaries with about 200,000 words. Apart from the harsh wartime environment (especially the 38th parallel), I haven't written a word about my work pressure for several days, leaving a blank and recording it almost every day. In addition, for the sake of confidentiality, there are also some diary chapters that are not recorded or obviously awkward. Nevertheless, the details reflected in this diary manuscript of more than 200,000 words are quite true and rich, including daily work, social communication, ideological situation, reading experience of various books and periodicals, poetry practice, ideological report and so on. In the diary, we can find the experiences, experiences and feelings of ordinary volunteers or grass-roots personnel of military organs from an individual perspective that were not reflected or studied in the previous research results of Zhong Kangmei's aid to Korea, which is helpful for us to deepen and refine our existing understanding. For example, how do volunteers understand this war in their hearts, and how is it different from official propaganda or mainstream discourse? What did they go through on the battlefield? What's the change in thinking? Do individuals have emotional expressions different from those of the collective? How do individuals view the cruel casualties in the war? How to deal with individual emotions such as fear, anxiety and dissatisfaction? Wait a minute.
Limited by knowledge and space, the author can't discuss the above issues one by one. Here only introduces the records of the sacrifices and deaths of different groups recorded by the author in his diary. Of the more than 1000 diaries, about 85 recorded all kinds of sacrifices or deaths, among which the diaries recorded the sacrifices of 14 comrades. These comrades-in-arms either died in a bloody battle with the enemy, or died in air strikes and artillery fire by United Nations troops, or died of overwork and poor medical conditions, or were buried because of the collapse or natural collapse of the bomb shelter. For example,1June 26, 953, the diary describes the tragic death of a new soldier told by political commissar Chen Laohen in a heroic struggle:
In the battle the day before yesterday, a new soldier grabbed the enemy's bayonet and wrestled with an American devil. Unfortunately, another devil threw a Grenade and died. But his brave fighting spirit is very good.
On March 1953 and 13, the author heard "a bad news: enemy planes attacked the second detachment, causing casualties." And learned that political commissar Lu sacrificed; It occurred to me that the first time I met him was near Meilong Town after the Battle of Shanghai, when he was an instructor in the camp. I remember he also gave us (Fang Yuzhou and me) instructions. I was deeply impressed by his kindness and sincerity. Later, in the fifty years of rectification movement of the division party Committee and frequent meetings, I learned more about his loyalty to the people's cause. His handsome young face caught my eye! Ah! Evil American robber! You executioners will be punished by us one day!
Many of our outstanding comrades have fallen, and we living people are sad to think of them. We should turn grief and indignation into strength and do our work better. "
The next day, the author learned that two other comrades (Zhu Hanquan and Hu Bin) were also killed in yesterday's bombing.
Less than a month later, on April 8, the diary recorded the news of the sacrifice of three sincere and friendly comrades (Ban Shi, Liu Defa and Chen Zhimin) who had been together for half a year. I can't believe it, and I am deeply saddened. He wrote in his diary:
Students, Liu Defa ... They sacrificed Chen Zhimin! Fight for peace! Can I believe it? What a good comrade!
They're gone! Left us ... short and pithy class style! Liu Defa, with a humorous face and chubby face, loves writing, is kind and sincere, and I have been a brother in the same class for half a year, a silent' monitor'!
Is that them? Ah! It is these kind comrades! Three, four, five ... Ah! I know their resumes, they are all members of the Communist Youth League! They all have their own ideals. How wonderful it is to be a musician! People sing his songs! How nice it is to be a novelist! Let people see his touching story!
Being a poet is even more impressive!
Poetry praising truth has been handed down from generation to generation.
Be a hero, be a model, wear a glorious medal and dream all kinds of simple dreams!
All boys!
I want to go to a distant place to seek the truth of life!
But they fell!
Their blood is flowing on the land of North Korea!
They will say goodbye to us forever!
They wrote the glory of youth with blood!
..... my heart is very sad ...
What kind of life should we live?
We should take up arms:
Fight! We want revenge!
A few days later, another comrade who died on the battlefield under enemy fire was recorded in his diary. When the author passed by the cannonball pit, he saw that "there is still purple blood in the ground".
On June 26th, the author heard "an unexpected bad news". Comrade Chen Hongfan, who had a close friendship with him and worked in the logistics department for more than half a year, died of illness. The author is extremely sad and unacceptable, and even thinks that "although the disease took his life, it is also a sin of American imperialism." His illness was formed under hard labor and hard material conditions in North Korea, and he didn't get as good medical care as his motherland ... It turned out to be evil imperialism! Hey! You fucking reactionaries! How many excellent comrades have you killed in tangible and intangible ways! We must kill you beasts!
In addition to the comrades who died in the war or died on the battlefield, three comrades were crushed to death because of the collapse of the air raid shelter. Two of them died a week before the armistice agreement was signed, and the other died nearly a year after the armistice, when the bomb shelter collapsed unexpectedly. 1June 23, 954, the diary wrote:
Comrade Sun Lipo sent me a letter. He told me an unexpected and unfortunate news. On June 7th, Comrade Ye Cong was crushed to death by the collapse of the bomb shelter. Ah! A female soldier gave her youth and life for peace. She worked day and night to win, and once a shell landed downstream of the house where she was typing, and put out the lights before she returned to the tunnel. Secretary Dai and I urged them several times; Once (last summer), after the battle, the flood of Ping An River soared, and she and Comrade Pan Hong waded through the water to express their condolences to the wounded. When many lesbians went back to their motherland to study last year, she was not passive. She said that I would successfully go back with our army ... but now she was actually a child when she joined the army. Secretary Dai often talked about the situation at first, and then the female soldier who grew up in the party army left us! People in our division will never forget her contribution to the revolution. Working with her for more than half a year, I believe her heart is pure. She deserves to be the glorious daughter of the motherland! Rest in peace! A female warrior who gave her life for peace!
I have basically heard of the sacrifice of these 14 comrades, but I have not seen it with my own eyes. Therefore, the diary lacks the details of the death scene, does not describe the painful process of death, and does not reveal the fear of death. More is a feeling of regret and grief, a nostalgia for comrades-in-arms, and the resulting accusation and hatred of American imperialism and the United Nations forces.
There are also accounts of the enemy's death in the diary, but most of them are few words and only record the number of deaths. For example, "five or six hundred enemies were wiped out" (1953 April 17), "we wiped out a large number of enemies" (1953 April19) and "good news came and more than 1,400 enemies were wiped out" (/kloc-0
The author also recorded the death of the Korean people. If the author has just arrived in North Korea, he wrote in his diaries in September 1952 and 18:
Our landlady pointed to two children playing, pointed to the mountain, and then pointed to her chest. Later, we learned that the father of these two children was shot by an American devil behind the mountain.
The diary of the next day wrote again:
There are 1000 Korean orphans here, all raised by the government, and their parents were killed by American imperialism.
By hearing and imagining the death of the Korean people, the author further strengthened his hatred of American imperialism, sympathy and pity for the Korean people and the people of the motherland, and strengthened his determination to resist US aggression and aid Korea and defend his country:
The evil of war is higher than the sky! We thought: this is not just the fate of these two children! This is the fate of thousands of children in Qian Qian! If we don't resist US aggression and aid Korea, the fate that falls on the sons and daughters of North Korea today will also fall on the sons and daughters of the motherland tomorrow! We don't tolerate the fate of North Korean children, nor do we tolerate the fate of children in the motherland and the world! We hope all the lovely children in Qian Qian will grow up in a peaceful environment and create a happy world with their wisdom and labor.
Compared with the sacrifice of comrades-in-arms, the death of the enemy, the killing of the Korean people and the death of the revolutionary leader, the influence on the author should be the greatest, and the relevant records in the diary are also the largest. For example, after Stalin died on March 5, 1953, the author described his feelings and feelings in detail and painstakingly in his diaries on March 6, 7, 9 and March 5 of the following year. After hearing the bad news, the author "immediately took off his cotton cap, lowered his head and was silent." Deep condolences from the bottom of my heart make me excited. The bad news ate my heart. When I wrote a diary that day, my body was cold and my mouth was white, which was very uncomfortable. I frown and I sigh. Every now and then, my heart! Colic: Comrade Stalin! Are you really dead? Are you really dead? Comrade Stalin, come back! Come and lead us in the revolution all over the world! Comrade Stalin! Comrade Stalin! Comrade Stalin; Qian Qian has a good heart! Everyone is calling for you! Comrade Stalin! "(1March 6, 953)
The next day, the diary also wrote:
The concept of Comrade Stalin's death often floats in my mind, but whenever I think of it, it always feels too sudden. I always thought that Comrade Stalin would live to be over 100 years old! Ah! Such a good man, such a great man, can't live to be over 100 years old, which is a shame in human science. Ah! The sudden blow is unbearable.
A year later, the author recalled that he felt "deep sorrow" and "everything was uneasy, and we seemed to feel that a green hill had collapsed behind us". (1March 5, 954)
The author's extremely sad feelings about Stalin's death recorded in his diary are unimaginable today. At that time, it was a normal state and a natural expression of feelings. The author's superiors and comrades-in-arms, both publicly and privately, expressed "extreme grief" over Stalin's death. (1March 9, 953)
Generally speaking, the sacrifices and deaths of different groups and their feelings recorded in the diary show the author's view of death, which is influenced by the long revolutionary history of the Soviet Union and China, that is, the death or extinction of the enemy is doomed, shameful, reprehensible, gratifying and exciting. The death of the people is innocent and worthy of sympathy. The sacrifice of comrades-in-arms or comrades-in-arms is painful and worth remembering. The death of the leader is sad and unforgettable. Fundamentally speaking, different deaths are analyzed and judged from the perspective of class analysis and clear distinction between ourselves and the enemy, which gives different meanings and values. Therefore, when the hateful enemy laid down his arms and became a prisoner of war, the author's attitude immediately turned to tolerance and sympathy.
A few days ago and yesterday, I saw American prisoners. There are blacks and whites. Two of them are still wearing nylon bulletproof vests. Although I don't know English, I see a phenomenon that several blacks look relaxed and often smile, while whites are more thoughtful and lower their heads. Arrogant and slow civilized man! Today is not a conqueror, today is a prisoner. Who knows if they are naked people in California or bankrupt farmers on the Mississippi River? It is your misfortune to come to Korea to participate in the "dirty war", but today you are prisoners of the volunteers, but it is a great luck. When you came to us, you really saw human nature. Black people may be descendants of Hannibal, but they grew up in America and had enough of racial discrimination. White people may be Jim Crowism. But when we came here, races were equal. We object to Jim Crowe's theory. We are the most humane. We will always be the big winners under the red flag. If the war continues, more of you will become our prisoners because justice belongs to us. (1953 July 12)
The author believes that "these American soldiers don't want to make unnecessary bloodshed. What they need is peace. They were forced to fight. " (1July 29, 953)
70 years ago, the concept of death influenced by the red culture was an important source of Chinese people's Volunteer Army's fighting capacity under the disparity between the enemy and the enemy, and it was also an important spiritual motive force to win the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Today, the war has long since been extinguished, and the vast majority of people who participated in the fighting in those years have passed away. In the new era of building a community of human destiny, we should realize that war is essentially cruel killing, which will bring the most painful consequences to the enemy and ourselves: the disappearance of the most precious life. War is only a means, and the yearning for a peaceful and happy life is the common goal of several generations. For the common tomorrow of mankind, we should have more wisdom and patience to destroy the war.
(This paper is the result of the western project of the National Social Science Fund, "Research on Chinese people's Volunteer Army's North Korean Garrison (1953- 1958)" and the project of college students' innovation and entrepreneurship training plan, "Oral interview and diary arrangement of volunteer veteran Zhong Yi", which was initiated by the project team authorized by the paper. Project instructor Tian, team members:, Yang Runxue, Shi Yaqi,. )
Proofreading: Zhang