His good friend Shen Congwen once commented on him: "Everything is simple and human, with charm in sincerity, easy-going outside and Geng Jie inside, which is close to the' pure gentleman' praised in history". Li Guangtian, a good friend, said that he was a "lover, and his enthusiasm was contained in his gentleness and humility".
But such Zhu Ziqing suddenly changed his mind in his later years: he was crazy, and it was his wife Chen Zhuyin who first discovered Zhu Ziqing's madness.
One day in June, 1947, Chen Zhuyin's good friend saw a Kuomintang blacklist in yenching university. She rushed to tell Chen Zhuyin: "The first name on the blacklist is your husband' Zhu Ziqing'. You have to remind him to be careful! "
Chen Zhuyin turned white after hearing this. When she got home, she told Zhu Ziqing the news in horror. After that, she looked at her husband, who was extremely thin because of stomach trouble, and said in an almost pleading tone, "You should be careful in the future!"
Chen Zhuyin's worry is definitely not unnecessary. Before him, Li Gongfu and Wen Yiduo, Zhu Ziqing's best friends on the Kuomintang blacklist, were all killed by Kuomintang agents.
Just half a year ago, at Li Gongfu's funeral, Wen Yiduo loudly denounced the Kuomintang for "killing people, but not daring to admit it and slandering them". In his speech, he exposed in detail the process of Kuomintang reactionaries undermining political consultation resolutions and launching civil war. After the speech, Wen Yiduo fell in a pool of blood, and his son was seriously injured to save his father. ...
Chen Zhuyin thought he would be afraid after telling him that he was on the blacklist, but to her complete surprise, he just responded contemptuously: "Never mind!"
Chen Zhuyin cried "Ah" in her mind, and she asked anxiously, "Why? Are you going to jail? " "If you go to jail, you will go to jail!" Zhu Ziqing answered firmly.
At this time, Chen Zhuyin completely froze. She thinks her husband is crazy: he is desperate!
Chen Zhuyin's judgment is right: Zhu Ziqing is crazy now, and he has completely ignored everything. He doesn't even care about the safety of his wife and children.
This change of Zhu Ziqing was formed after Li Gongfu and Wen Yiduo were killed one after another. Chen Zhuyin didn't realize this until now, because she has been paying attention to the child and his stomach trouble.
Zhu Ziqing has been suffering from stomach trouble for more than ten years. In the years after their marriage, his illness was intermittent. But in the last year or two, his illness has obviously worsened than before. When he is seriously ill, he often groans in pain all night.
In the case of illness, he not only insisted on the history of China literature and China literary criticism, but also insisted on writing.
In order not to burden her husband, she managed the children as well as possible. They have eight children, five of whom were born to him and his ex-wife Wu Zhongqian, and the other three were born to them later.
Chen Zhuyin is very good at taking care of children. She has a good relationship with all five children born by her husband's ex-wife. She can always settle them down on weekdays, but once the children get sick, she can't stand it immediately. At the worst time, the children got sick one after another, and when the children got better, she fell down.
Overwork overdrawn her health. Wen Yiduo was hospitalized once because of a serious illness before his accident. They lived in two places when she was ill. She lives in Chengdu and he teaches in Yunnan. After learning the news, Zhu Ziqing rushed to her side for several days. The anxious fire also aggravated his illness, causing his stomach ache for several days.
Chen Zhuyin never thought that one day, she would worry about his safety and his illness. Knowing the blacklist, she decided never to leave her husband again. Only in this way, her heart will be a little more practical.
After being with Zhu Ziqing for so many years, she felt for the first time that her husband was not the one she used to know. She didn't know that as early as the day Wen Yiduo died, his psychology had undergone tremendous changes. She learned all this when she read her husband's diary after his death.
On the day of reading the news of Wen Yiduo's death, he wrote in his diary:
Chen Zhuyin knows her husband's writing style, and he seldom uses such words as "abnormal", "shocked" and "what is the world". The change of literati's writing style often means that their psychology has changed greatly.
Chen Zhuyin didn't know. On the night of writing a diary, that is, in the middle of the night of July 1946, my husband still endured a stomachache and sat at the table with tears in his eyes, and wrote the famous "Mr. One Thousand More". In that poem, his words are very intense, and some of them are like this:
At the moment of writing this poem, Zhu Ziqing, who was shrouded in anger, was ready to fight the Kuomintang to the end. Chen Zhuyin didn't know his psychological changes, and neither did she: after Wen Yiduo's death, he often woke up in the middle of the night. In his dream, Li Gongfu and Wen Yiduo were covered in blood. ...
Chen Zhuyin only knows that her husband's weight is getting lighter every day, and the cheekbones on her face are getting more prominent every day. Chen Zhuyin always tells her husband to pay attention to rest and diet. How does she know that his illness is not just physical?
More than two months after Wen Yiduo's death, his family moved back to Beiping after eight years' absence. Chen Zhuyin thought that his illness would get better after he returned to Peiping. But the result let her down.
After Zhu Ziqing returned to Peiping, what he saw and heard made him feel heartbroken. The high price of food alone worried him. One of his university professors also thinks that food prices are expensive, and people are even more worried.
"Beijing is so desolate!" Zhu Ziqing sighed with his wife more than once. He thought that after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, China would have a bright future, but what happened? The Kuomintang only wants to rely on the United States to fight the civil war, and has never considered the people.
Every time I hear her husband sigh, Chen Zhuyin can't help sighing. When she returned to Beiping this time, she realized more than "desolation". Everything here makes her feel insecure, especially after she and her children met a robber on the road, she felt even more insecure about the city.
Shortly after they returned to Peiping, on February 24th, 12, Shen Chong, a female student of Peking University preparatory class, was followed by two American troops stationed in China and was kidnapped and raped. This vicious incident aroused public anger, and the couple were also shocked. Facing the cover of the Kuomintang, more than 5,000 students from Peking University, Tsinghua University and Yanda University held demonstrations.
After this incident, Zhu Ziqing and his wife became more worried about the public security in Beiping. They are also worried about the traffic in Beiping, because the Kuomintang allows American military vehicles to rampage in the city, and the traffic in Beiping is extremely chaotic. Less than a week after they came back, there were several car accidents in Peiping, and five or six people died.
After returning to Peiping, Chen Zhuyin also felt more clearly that her husband had changed and was more radical than before. Sometimes, he will suddenly "go crazy" because of some small things he has witnessed.
Once, near Xuanwu Gate, they saw a tricycle crossing the alley to bargain with people. When the police come, they don't ask questions. It's a slap in the face to catch the driver.
Usually, Chen Zhuyin and others will shake their heads and walk away, but that time, Zhu Ziqing flew into a rage. He rushed forward like a cow and shouted at the policeman, "Why did you hit him?" He is alive! "
When her husband argued with the police, Chen Zhuyin saw that his eyes were completely red. While pulling him, she rushed over to comfort him and said, "Don't get excited, don't get excited." On the way back from rescuing the driver, Zhu Ziqing said to his wife:
Chen Zhuyin knew that her husband hated the rule of the Kuomintang, so did he, and so did an intellectual with a conscience like him.
Zhu Ziqing completely forgot that he was just a scholar. If he hadn't been seriously ill at this time, about half a century ago, Chen Zhuyin felt that he would have abandoned literature to join the army, joined the revolution and overthrew the rule of the Kuomintang.
Cann't literati revolutionize? The answer is no, Zhu Ziqing resolutely picked up a pen and threw himself into the struggle. He has planned the first step for himself: sorting out and publishing Wen Yiduo's works. In this way, he will reassure his dead close friends and fight against the Kuomintang.
1947 After the spring, Zhu Ziqing began to sort out Wen Yiduo's posthumous works. This is a huge project, Chen Zhuyin some worry, but he said:
Zhu Ziqing's words at this point, Chen Zhuyin is not good to say anything more.
After taking over this big project, Zhu Ziqing is extremely busy every day. Chen Zhuyin found that his illness was getting worse, but his spirit was getting better and better, and his eyes even glowed.
Chen Zhuyin's husband is really crazy: he is completely desperate. In the hot summer, he shut himself in his room and tried his best to clean up, even though sweat kept flowing out, he didn't notice it.
Wen Yiduo had many manuscripts in his life, and the process of sorting them out was extremely hard. When the first batch of manuscripts arrived from Kunming, the boxes were flooded, and some were moldy and could not be opened. Therefore, the editorial board headed by Zhu Ziqing quickly invited a special person to expose it. Some are exposed, and some are even moldy.
1947 In May, when Zhu Ziqing was burying his head in sorting out Wen Yiduo's manuscripts, a demonstration against hunger and civil war broke out in China.
On June 24th of that year, Zhu Ziqing signed a declaration calling for peace and opposing civil war. I also dragged my sick body to visit my colleagues in Xinlinyuan North Campus and invited them to sign.
After finishing this series of work, Zhu Ziqing wrote an article "On Eating" with indignation. He not only affirmed the parade, but also expounded the truth of "eating first" from a historical perspective.
Since July, Zhu Ziqing's physical condition has been getting worse and worse. He often has vomiting symptoms after his stomachache. He had to build a camp bed in the study and put a spittoon next to it to make it convenient for him to vomit.
Seeing her husband lying on the camp bed for more and more time and vomiting more and more times, Chen Zhuyin tried to persuade him to "rest", but he refused to listen. He said to his wife with still shining eyes, "This is a battle, how can we stop!" "
As soon as the editing work was completed, Zhu Ziqing was immediately immersed in thinking about Wen Yiduo's road. He was determined to write a preface for the Complete Works and summarize his friends' brilliant fighting career.
In August, Beiping was extremely hot, and Zhu Ziqing shut himself in his study and thought hard.
At the end of August, the Complete Works of Wen Yiduo was finally finished, and the preface was also completed. Zhu Ziqing breath a sigh of relief at this time, Chen Zhuyin's expression on her face, also have a somewhat relaxed look.
Chen Zhuyin found that after Wen Yiduo's complete works were written, her husband's health suddenly improved a lot, which made her a little surprised. She vaguely felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't tell.
What makes her feel wrong is her husband's abnormal behavior. She found that he used to emphasize the association with middle-aged people, but he frequently interacted with young people. He often tells his wife that he should learn from young people.
Behind all these changes of Zhu Ziqing is related to the death of Li Gongfu and Wen Yiduo and the influence of Wen Yiduo's works on him. In this process, he learned that only by thoroughly remoulding himself and fighting with the spirit of not afraid of death can he realize the wish of the birth of a new China.
It can be said that Li Gongfu and Wen Yiduo's blood lit up his eyes and his soul. The heroic sacrifices of Li Gongfu and Wen Yiduo awakened his sleeping heart and released his potential energy thirst. He also realized that young people exist to change the world.
After the new semester began, Chen Zhuyin found her husband "crazy" again: he actually started to learn to dance yangko. In the past, he paid great attention to the teacher's example and even did not smile. Chen Zhuyin can only think: He is in poor health, and a twist may be good for his health!
On the evening of October 24th, 65438/kloc-0, Zhu Ziqing danced yangko with a group of young students at the orientation meeting of Chinese Department. Among a group of young people, there is a thin old man. The little old man is wearing a red and green dress and a big red flower on his head.
This picture is really novel.
After the meeting, Zhu Ziqing also happily shared with his wife his feelings when he danced yangko. That night, he wrote in his diary: "It's very interesting to attend the orientation meeting of the Chinese Department tonight and learn yangko with his classmates."
"Yangko Dance" was very fresh and fashionable at that time. Zhu Ziqing's yangko dance among students caused some feudal gossip, which they thought was "ridiculous".
But all Zhu Ziqing's students admire him. They think this is his attitude to learn from the new era and his serious attitude to life.
Although Chen Zhuyin thinks her husband is keen on yangko, she has no problem with it. She only cares about her husband's safety and health. In order to make her husband happy, she cooked several exquisite side dishes on his 50th birthday (nominal age) and celebrated his birthday with the whole family.
That day, Zhu Ziqing looked very happy. He is also optimistic that he will celebrate his 50th birthday next year. He didn't know that what he had that day would be his last birthday.
1948 may 15, that is, three months before Zhu Ziqing's death, he had to go to the hospital for examination because of overwork and aggravation of his stomach trouble. The diagnosis is gastric obstruction and surgery is needed.
"Surgery is necessary and surgery can be cured!" Chen Zhuyin suggested that her husband have an operation, but Zhu Ziqing felt that the operation cost was too high and unnecessary, so he refused.
As a result of the operation, Zhu Ziqing's condition became more and more serious and developed to the point where he could not eat normally. Zhu Ziqing is getting thinner and thinner because he can only eat some liquid food. But Chen Zhuyin was surprised to find that his spirit was getting better and better. He always discussed the current situation with her passionately.
Also because he cares about the current situation, regardless of his physical condition, he insists on reading books and newspapers.
Through reading books and newspapers, Zhu Ziqing was delighted to see that the People's Liberation Army was in full swing in the battle with the Kuomintang and gradually gained the upper hand. The land reform carried out by the * * * production party in the liberated areas has also brought earth-shaking changes to China.
A brand-new China is about to be born. Zhu Ziqing often mumbles with excitement. Chen Zhuyin knew that he was giving good news to Li Gongfu and Wen Yiduo.
Also because of his happiness, Zhu Ziqing is more keen to participate in various activities than before, especially those attended by young people.
1 June, desperate Zhu Ziqing attended a meeting with perseverance. He was too tired to walk back after the meeting. As soon as he got home, he lay straight on the bed.
Probably because I was too tired, I began to vomit a lot the next day. For days, he struggled to move. His weight also dropped rapidly from 45 kg to 38.8 kg.
But even though he is extremely weak, he still can't worry about his studies. He thinks that "teaching young people is more important than anything else". After resting for two days, he insisted on going to class again.
On June 18, Wu Han, a good friend of Zhu Ziqing, made a declaration. When Zhu Ziqing looked intently, it turned out to be a declaration of rejecting American aid and American aid for flour. Knowing that this autograph would have a great impact on economically poor families, he resolutely signed it.
The background of this declaration is that China set off the climax of "anti-American aid to Japan" after World War II to resist American support for Japan. After signing, he also asked the children to return the flour ration certificate and flour ticket one after another.
Therefore, Mao Zedong later praised Zhu Ziqing in Farewell to Si Tuleideng: He would rather starve to death than accept American relief food.
10 In August, less than two months after Zhu Ziqing signed it, his condition suddenly deteriorated. The hospital diagnosed nephritis, the kidney has completely lost its function, and his stomach is severely swollen, with symptoms of urine poisoning.
At noon that day, Zhu Ziqing woke up from a coma. He looked at three tearful children around him, grabbed Chen Zhuyin sitting beside the sofa with trembling hands and said matter-of-factly:
On June 1 1 day, the day before Zhu Ziqing's death, his condition deteriorated further and there was a little bleeding in his stomach. At the same time, he also developed asthma, and after examination, his lungs showed symptoms of inflammation.
12 at 8 o'clock in the morning, Zhu Ziqing was in a short coma. But it was past 1 1, and he went to the toilet with the help of Chen Zhuyin. Soon after returning to bed, his heart stopped beating. This is 1948 August 12 June 1: 40.
At this time, Chen Zhuyin sadly realized that he had no time to leave last words. She wept bitterly on her husband's body and regretted it.
At 3 pm, Zhu Ziqing's body was moved to the hospital morgue. Chen Zhuyin saw her husband for the last time: he lay quietly on the bedstead of the tin can, his face was pale, his eyes were closed and his expression was peaceful, as if he were asleep. ...
At this time, Zhu Ziqing returned to what she remembered: peaceful and elegant, without a trace of "madness", but she suddenly felt that he was a little strange.
On August 26th, Tsinghua University held a grand memorial service for Zhu Ziqing. In the mourning hall, the portrait of Zhu Ziqing hangs high, and the walls are covered with elegiac couplets and elegiac couplets sent by teachers, students and friends.
Relevant researchers once commented on Zhu Ziqing's life: "Young people are crazy, but they are introduced, middle-aged people are moderate, and they are crazy in their twilight years."
If we interpret Zhu Ziqing's life in this way, the madness in his youth, that is, during the May Fourth Movement, is the "frivolity" of teenagers, while the madness in his later years hides the tension between intellectuals with integrity and conscience and the era of change.
His last "madness" actually represented the end of his life as a democracy fighter. His "madness" can be called a microcosm of intellectuals' choice of life path in the revolutionary era.