Embedded Files
Excerpt from "Mr. Chen Panling Memorial Collection" (陳泮嶺先生紀念集) , page 36
Please note: Extra words added to the posture description for clarity, as well as additional notes and comments, appear in [square brackets]. Text in (regular parentheses) is the author's text. Highlighted text indicates text where I am not confident in the translation.
二十 勝利還鄉
初聞涕流滿衣裳
卻看妻子愁何在 漫卷詩書喜欲狂
白日放歌須縱酒 青春作伴好還鄉
即從巴峽穿巫崍 便下襄陽向洛陽
[This poem is called “Hearing the Military Has Taken Henan and Hebei”, composed by the Tang Dynasty Chinese poet 杜甫 (Dù Fǔ).]
杜老的詩，是由窮而後工。他的詩，是從社會魔火中提煉出來，代表著群眾的心聲，常為感傷之音，獨有這首詩，始透出了他生命的活力，噴出興奮的火燄，沒有經過苦吟琢磨，純是從心靈的源泉自然的湧出。我想，這首詩決不會被謫仙笑他「苦吟詩思遲」了。
我們未從巴峽穿巫峽，卻自西安向洛陽。雖然沒有照著杜老詩中的水程下襄陽，但這種歡樂鼓舞的情形，仍在幾千年前，給杜老描寫得表露無遺！
八年的烽火，被蹄寇蹂躝半壁山河，人們受盡了苦難，一旦勝利來臨，這種歡樂，何可形容！我的眼疾，雖然尚未大痊，但一顆充滿喜悅地心，隨著勝利的消息而升起，返回開封，主持黨務在這裏回憶我不能不深深地感謝劉錫五同志八個月的代理主任委員職務的辛苦和忠勇以及省黨部工作同志的艱苦奮鬥！團結一致！
離開封八年餘，一朝重來，面目全非，祇見斷瓦頽垣，蛛封鼠穴，大好的河南省黨部，給日寇駐軍當作馬棚，莊嚴的大禮堂，化砲火刧灰，觸景生情，感慨不盡！於是鳩工修理重新整頓這全省組織精萃的聚會所，一面整理黨務，歷時半年，方始就緒恢復舊觀。
復員！復員！復員接著勝利之聲，執行這一項重大工作，無疑地「復員」是勝利後一件最重大的事情，最繁難的事情，因此有些地方，免不了顯出零亂錯雜。在這一片的復員聲中，交通運輸，特別頻繁，加以交通工具缺乏，交通路線惡劣要載運人口粗細行李，是非常困難的事情。卅五年五月間，我復到重慶青木關接家眷，幸得知友白雨生先生，時任西南兵站總監，借給中吉甫一輛，帶著拖車，這個問題，才算解決。
20. Victory and Returning Home
[“Hearing the Military has Taken Henan and Hebei”
A poem by Du Fu (712-770)]
Here beyond the Sword Gate, I hear of recovery of the northern state,
Instantly I am overflowing with tears dampening my clothes.
I turn around to see my wife, who is no longer in gloom,
Mad with joy she is, casually packing up books and scrolls.
Such a gleeful day calls for bold singing and uninhibited drinking,
Taking advantage of the blooming season, let's gather up and hit the road.
Setting off from the Wu Gorge down through the Wuxia Gorge,
We shall first Xiangyang reach, then head towards Luoyang towards home.
Master Du’s poems were written for the poor, and then later on, for the workers. His poems are extracted from the eternal fire [i.e., conflicts] of society and represent the aspiration of the masses. They are often sentimental. Only this poem reveals the vitality of his life and spurts out the flame of excitement. Without [his usual] painstaking deliberation, it just flows out from the source of his soul. I think that this poem will not be relegated to the eternal laughter for the “bitter recitation of his later poetry”.
We did not cross from Ba Gorge to Wuxia Gorge [as stated in the poem], but instead traveled from Xi’an to Luoyang. Although we did not follow the waters of Master Du’s poem, the kind of joyful and inspiring situation that is described in his poem was felt in its entirety, even though it was thousands of years after [the poem was written]!
After eight years in the bonfires of war, with the mounted bandits trampling over half of the mountains and rivers, the people have suffered a lot. Once victory came, how could one describe such joy? Although I had not fully recovered from my eye disease, my heart was full of joy, rising with the news of victory, then in returning to Kaifeng and presiding over [Nationalist] Party affairs. I can not adequately express my sincere appreciation to Comrade Liu Xiwu for his eight months of hard work and loyalty as acting Chairman of the Committee, as well as the hard work of the provincial [Nationalist] Party. United as one!
More than eight years after leaving Kaifeng, I returned there again, and it was beyond recognition. I saw nothing but broken tiles, crumbling walls, and spider web sealed rat holes. The excellent [Nationalist] Party Headquarters of Henan Province had served as a stable for the Japanese troops. The solemn auditorium had been turned into ashes by artillery fire. The scene aroused deep feelings in me, so much so that I was sighing endlessly! As a result, workers gathered to began repairing and renovating this provincial Party building, while [work was also done] to sort out the Party affairs. After six months, [the Nationalist Party Headquarters] was restored to its former appearance.
Demobilization! Demobilization! Demobilization is the most important and difficult task after a victory. Therefore, it is inevitable that there will be chaos and confusion in some places. In the midst of demobilization, it is very difficult to transport people’s luggage, due to the shortage of vehicles and the poor transportation routes that must convey all types of people’s baggage. In May of the 35th year of the Republic [~1946], I returned to Qingmuguan in Chongqing to pick up my family. Fortunately, my friend Mr. Bai Yusheng, who was at that time the Director of the Southwestern Military Station, lent me a Jeep with a trailer. Thus the problem was solved.
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全家數口，擠在一個吉甫車內，行李放在拖車，一想到就要回到那久別重逢的故鄉，溫馨的家園，每人帶著一顆充滿了愉快歡樂的心，沒有被那沿途的勞頓，車上的顛箥和路程的險阻所累。拖車不到兩天就拖壞了，隨將牠抛棄，行李也擠上這吉甫車，一次通過山徑中的橋樑，是一架普通的木樹，在橋上平行的裝著兩條木板，用承受車輪的壓力，抗戰前後的交通線，大都如此。當我們的吉普車通過木橋，突然操縱失靈，砰然一聲，吉普車像野馬溜繮似的逸出撞在橋欄上將橋欄撞斷，前輪虛懸著，伸頭一看，下面是幾十丈的深溝，差些兒沒有掉下去粉身碎骨，祇要是再偏多半尺，或者不經橋欄阻擋一下，或者背後拖車沒丟掉，我全家老少都要同歸於盡，真是不堪設想。但一場虛驚過去，掩不住歡樂的心情，同年青的在一起，大家又都笑起來了。
車行數日，到寶雞。由寶雞乘火車到西安。因西安到開封的鐵路有一段被破壞，又由西北長官胡宗南將軍派車相送，數日抵達鄭州。由鄭州乘火車回開封。到開封住在柴火市一個寬敝的房子內，疏散在家鄉部份，也一齊來此團聚。由這八年抗戰的砲火刧灰中，嘗受多少流離辛苦，都要在這時閤團聚的一種快樂氣氛中來塡補，祇見到充滿歡樂的喜臉，和聽到充滿愉快的笑聲。
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My entire family was crowded into the Jeep, with the luggage placed in the trailer. At the thought of going back to my hometown after such a long separation and being comforted in a warm home with everyone having happiness in their hearts, I was not at all fatigued by the journey, even though it was a bumpy ride and there were difficulties along the way.
Within two days, the trailer broke down, so we abandoned it and packed the luggage into the Jeep. Once we passed over the mountain, we came to a bridge, which was just made from an ordinary tree. There were two parallel boards on the bridge, which would bear the pressure from the wheels. Most of the traffic routes were like this, both before and after the War of Aggression by the Japanese.
When our Jeep passed over the wooden bridge, something suddenly went wrong with it, and there was a bang. The Jeep ran away like a wild horse and crashed into the bridge railing, breaking through the railing so that the front wheels were hanging over the edge. When I stretched [my neck] to look out [the window], I could see that the gorge was dozens of feet below. It was only a small thing that prevented us from falling down, landing with torn bodies and crushed bones. If [the Jeep] had gone one more foot and not been stopped by the railing, or if the trailer had not be abandoned, my entire family, both young and old, would have died together. It is too horrible to contemplate. However, with the false alarm passed away, our joy could not be contained, and we all laughed together with the children.
We traveled by car for a few days until we reached the city of Baoji. Then, from Baoji, we rode the train to Xi’an. Because a section of the railway from Xi’an to Kaifeng was damaged, General Hu Zongnan, who was the commander in the northwest, sent cars for us. We arrive in Zhengzhou after several days, and from Zhengzhou, we took the train again to Kaifeng.
We arrived in Kaifeng to stay in a “city of firewood” [i.e., in shambles], with the insides of the building in ruin. After being displaced from our hometown, we all came together for a reunion. From the ashes of the eight years during the War of Aggression by the Japanese, all of the hardships endured by those who suffered from displacement needed to be mended in the happy atmosphere of this reunion. We only needed to see the happy faces and hear the joyous laughter.
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