I had planned to write an article remembering my father on the tenth anniversary of his death, but because of inertia, I have been putting it off until now. As time passes, many memories of him become blurred, and I decided to use this holiday to finish the job anyway. My father once told someone that I would build a monument for him, I think he expected too much from me, history will not remember me because of him, nor will it remember him because of me, we are all transient dust in the universe, let this short article be a fulfillment of his wish!
My father’s name is Lu Shizhang, and he belongs to the “Shi” generation. My second brother found a pair of lines in “Dream of the Red Chamber My second brother found a couplet in “Dream of the Red Chamber” that reads “All things in the world are learned, and all human feelings are written”. I remember that the order of our family tree is “Yi Chao Jinwen, Mu Ming Shang, Datong Shisheng Zengxianxiu, Lu Long Xing Xun Jie, Rong Hua Fu Qi Qingxiang”. According to this genealogy, I belong to the “Sheng” generation, but now the family name for children basically do not use the character generation to take the name. My father was born on April 21, 1940, in the year of the Republic of China (1940), in the year of the Dragon, and died on December 26, 2008 (Gregorian calendar), at the age of 69. He had the onset of the disease in 2004 and dragged it out for four years. Sometimes he couldn’t sleep at night and sat on a chair all night, and in order to solve his breathing difficulties, he asked someone to pull his shoulders apart and hang him from a beam with a rope, which was very painful, and he called himself “hanging” in this way. He called himself “hanging”, and there was nothing we could do but watch. He would sometimes feel a burning sensation in his chest, the infusion did not seem to solve the problem, he read some medical books, but also listened to some rural remedies, in summer let one of my cousins to catch some toads back, tied to his chest with a cloth, said to reduce fever, tied a few hours, and then put the toad off, I came home every time to see this situation, want to laugh and dare not laugh. He said this method is very effective, after tying his chest will feel cool, to feel a lot better, we can not, only with him. Once my mother told me that the toads tied to the chest are burned to death a few, I listened to straight shake his head, really should be the saying – “the sage is not benevolent, to the people as ruminants; heaven and earth is not benevolent, to all things as ruminants “. He once said that death is not terrible, what is terrible is not dying. I remember the afternoon of his deathbed, his mind seemed to be much clearer, he sat up and ate something, but could no longer speak, sitting in a chair at night, several of us brothers were arguing about some issues, I suddenly noticed that his head instantly sagged a little, I rushed to test his nostrils with my hand and found that there was no breath, there was a muddy tear in the corner of his eye, we rushed to put him flat on the We hurriedly put him flat on the door, in accordance with rural customs, lifting the house tiles, firecrackers, which is his soul ascended to heaven. We called an elderly relative from a distant house to help us put on the clothes and coffin, and then started the wake to inform our relatives and friends. The next few days, his funeral methodically according to the customs of the countryside a procedure to go, surprisingly engaged in seven days, at that time my old home has not been installed with running water, the nearby wells are eaten dry two, had to use the pump to pump the water inside the fields bleached and eaten, I was very worried about the health problems, but fortunately did not happen any food safety problems, you have to marvel at the creativity of the people and You have to marvel at the creativity and vitality of the people. In the end, he was buried in the ground, and there were some hiccups in the middle, but they are not enough to remember.
My Father’s Craft
My father seemed to have studied for a few years in elementary school, but he read many ancient books, the Four Books, the Treatise on Typhoid, the Compendium of Materia Medica, etc. Of course, the most important thing was the literature, what with the “Three Words and Two Pieces”, the “Travels of the Old Cripples”, the “Water Margin”, the “Seven Heroes and Five Righteousnesses”, the “Evolution of the Gods”, etc. When I was small, he always had to tell some stories, but basically they were the “Sui and Tang”, “Three Kingdoms”, and “Saying Yue”. Some of the stories he had to tell over and over again, on different occasions, according to him this is a way to learn by example, by touch. At that time, the price was very cheap, and a stone could cost only a few cents. I remember one year, he went out to work to build the Sichuan-Tibet highway in Erlang Mountain. During the construction of the cannon, a stone hit his foot and injured his waist, and his friends did not take care of him. The second half of his life. Father believes in feng shui, he once worshipped a master, surnamed Zeng, we all called him Master Zeng, father learned from him to tell fortunes, feng shui, choose the date, send God, Daoist and other crafts. These things, in those days if on the line can be said to engage in feudal superstition, in other words can also be said to be the national tradition, because in the countryside for thousands of years, most of the people believe, so it is also very survival of the soil.
About the specific work of this Taoist priest, is to help people do the Taoist temple, in layman’s terms is to recite the scriptures for the dead to transcend the soul, in my opinion, this Taoist temple is neither like Buddhism nor Taoism, somewhat similar to a hodgepodge, they read the scriptures are not all Buddhist scriptures, there are some “persuasive text “something like that. This industry, to undertake business alone have to have qualifications, just like today’s construction units, you have to contract construction projects have to have contracting qualifications, the qualifications of this industry is to apply for “palm-tan master The qualification of this industry is to apply for the “altar master”, after applying for the altar master, you can open your own altar and set up a lecture to undertake business, because your name and legal name need to be announced to the world and even the underworld, to be responsible. Father’s legal name is Lu Neng Hong, before the application of the legal name, he is usually attached to the name of Master Zeng, father even after the opening of his own altar, every dojo, will give some filial piety to the master, master mother, this is a kind of jianghu rules.
Father immersed in the industry for more than twenty years, experienced many stories, one of the most classic story is: there is a relatively stupid Taoist priest, followed the master out to work, the master tired of wanting to sleep, let him alone in front of the dead chanting, but this Taoist priest can not read and write, he had to indiscriminately, lips wriggling and chanting some “Jing Gong Jing Gong” and other things, next to the master of the family found that this Taoist sound is always the same, seems to be incompatible with the content of the scriptures, and ran to the master, complaining that he said your disciple seems to be reciting the scriptures. You know, in the rural areas, the behavior of the scriptures, is a very serious matter, if sat down, not only can not get paid, but also likely to cause huge disputes, the master can not get away with it. The master heard, immediately turned up, went over to look at the scriptures in the hands of this stupid Taoist priest, by hand with a wooden fish mallet to the disciple’s head and scolded: “ridiculous, today is doing the day night (i.e., a day) dojo, you take to do seven days dojo scriptures here to read what? “, and took out a scripture again and began to chant, the host family heard, lost regret.
In fact, doing the dojo is just a kind of lively, the real test of skill and craft is fortune-telling and feng shui, father in this area or some means. This feng shui and fortune telling, I do not believe very much, but the rural areas are very popular, it seems not entirely without reason. There were two things that greatly enhanced my father’s prestige and fame. One is that my father once helped a family “point” (this is a professional term) a feng shui treasure, very strange, after the burial of the deceased, his six-year-old grandson Every six o’clock in the afternoon to doze off, until eight or nine o’clock in the evening to wake up, the rest of the time is normal, the adults took to the hospital for examination, there is nothing wrong. The son of the deceased doubted whether his father’s craft, coupled with some good people gossip, he approached his father to ask what was going on, and wondered if it was possible that the whole wrong hour, the father said to him with great certainty, according to his learned craft and experience, there is no mistake in this place, the hour these issues more impossible to get wrong, if you do not believe him it, you can find someone else to move the burial, as to why it happened As to why the child drowsy situation, the father said he could not explain. Just buried graves to move, which is a huge challenge for the father’s reputation in the jungle, because the matter has spread in Zhanjing and several nearby towns, if the burial process found that the father’s craft has problems, basically he will be difficult to gain a foothold in the jungle. Finally, the son of the deceased still decided to find another feng shui gentleman to move the burial, when they dug up the grave of the deceased, in the coffin below, lying a frog, the family of the deceased was greatly surprised, and very regretful, all present realized that this burial screwed up, that is to hand the blessing ran away. Because in traditional feng shui, if the coffin found under the frog, snakes and other animals, that is, buried in the feng shui treasure, of course, no one has ever gone to verify, because if you want to verify, you have to dig up the grave, if you dig up the grave, then this blessing will see the light and run away. Strangely enough, that child also did not start dozing at 6 p.m. after the relocation. This incident was a solid proof of the father’s craft, and people believed that he had a real level, and people on both sides of the river talked about it for a long time. But why exactly will happen children sleepy situation, the father later said he could not understand why, can only be explained as the family did not have the blessing, that is, even if there is a professional feng shui master for you to find a good place, if you do not have this blessing, the heavens will not let suffer, eventually you will let you spit out, he also said that maybe the family boiled for a while, the children sleepy situation will be gone, but the family But this family cannot wait for this kind of blessing. Therefore, he also repeatedly emphasized that we should cultivate more blessings, and that we should “not be afraid of others, but not to harm others”, and that we should make good connections and do good deeds. Another incident is that a cousin’s father-in-law was seriously ill and was in a coma for a few days. Father fortune telling will not say through, many things with a Zen flavor, to listen to their own understanding, he also does not easily open a single fortune telling, according to common parlance, too much divulgence of heavenly information will damage the life of the Yang. Father also knows some of the selection of the date, send the gods and other crafts, ten miles and eight villages, all know him, plus his back is a bit hunchback, so the nearby towns and villages mentioned “Lu hunchback”, all know it is him. All know it is him, but few people know his real name.
My father was quick to react and liked to joke about jokes, some of which were not very high in tone, but were still very popular in the countryside, and he liked to express his purpose in a roundabout way, called “drilling” in the countryside. “, is through the euphemism of humorous way to express a mood and requirements. Once, he and a cousin went to someone’s house to repair a pigpen, when doing this kind of masonry work, the host family will give a day’s wages, while managing a lunch, the wages are fixed, but the grade of lunch is not easy to say, can also be thin rice, can also be meat, depending on the mood of the host and rich and poor. The cousin is the eldest grandson of the eldest house, is also a segment, but unfortunately died young, he gave his father’s age is about the same, it is said that the two of them are very buttoned up, with a good fight. Two people repair while talking, see to noon, the host family has not moved, they realized that today’s lunch meal must be poor, so they began a conversation, one said “today’s day or good “, another said “Yes, the beans are not even touched a”, that means, the host family today even bean flower rice is not The other said, “Yeah, the beans didn’t even break one. You know, in the 1970s, it was a luxury to have a meal of pork or bean rice in the countryside, so the host family heard their message and had to prepare some slightly better meals.
There was another time, it should be when I was working in Shanghai, a junior high school classmate of mine Deng Wu, he knew my father, a friend of his asked my father to go up to Zigong to him to see the period, after seeing, they invited my father to dinner, but this person does not seem to be willing to pay the consultation fee to my father’s intention, my classmate tried to remind this person several times, my father have signaled him not to say. My classmate didn’t know what my father was selling in his gourd, so he had to accompany him sarcastically. Although we drink and chat, wine to half full, my father in that person’s home turned around and came out to that person said, your family is going to be a big thing, that person heard, very anxious, rushed to ask what happened, my father smiled and did not answer just shaking his head, that person hurriedly added a few good dishes, we continue to drink, my father Wang Gu left and right, never answered the question, until dinner is over, that person sent my father out of them, and asked what is the big deal, my father is still a good man. And asked what is the big deal, the father still did not say, the man only then from the coat pocket inside touch out two hundred yuan to the father, very politely said this is hard money, and asked what is the big deal, please father guidance, then the father said in a stern voice: “You want to starve your family to death for that z z z z bodhisattva You want to starve to death? It turns out that my father found after going around in his room that there was neither fruit nor joss sticks in front of the bodhisattva he was offering, so there was such a play. Later, my classmate told me about this matter, laughing so much that he could not kick the air, he said that your father is simply a master level jianghu, ordinary people simply can not be in this way to collect money for work. You think, we are all people who want to save face, and directly ask for consultation fees, and hurt my classmate’s face, and my father used this way, which he did not expect.
My father liked to joke and was good at joking, plus he read some books, so it was easy to take the initiative in the teahouse or at the dinner table. He sometimes used some very special ways to educate people, he had a grandson, to the host’s home when eating, always use chopsticks in the meal to pick around to find their favorite food, the father several times to show him to pay attention to discipline, but the grandson does not seem to understand, then once, the father used his own chopsticks to catch the grandson picking dishes chopsticks, since then, the grandson has changed this bad habit Since then, the disciple has changed this bad habit. Everyone said, “That’s a good way to teach you by example.
My father’s influence on me
My father did not read Western philosophy or literature, but rather Chinese Confucianism, and his views on new things could not escape from the traditional ontology and methodology, so he inevitably had limitations in the education of his children. He is still talking about the so-called sage sayings such as “All things are inferior, but only reading is superior” and “Only when you have suffered, can you become a superior person “He wanted us to be successful, but his understanding of success was relatively superficial, just like being promoted to a wealthy position or being rich. He once said to me, “If you want to realize your ideals and ambitions, you have to be in power, but how can you be in power? To usurp power, how do you want to usurp power? To cheat power. With this, his worldview is still steeped in the ancient courtly set of power and thick-skinned techniques, though it seems that these theories of his are still very practical in modern Chinese politics. He thinks that he is the reincarnation of Cao Cao, otherwise a person who is “three times up and three times down” could not have reached the peak of power without a deep and cunning power tactics. He lacked the cultivation of Western humanism. His lack of Western humanism, the constraints of tradition and the limitations of his vision certainly prevented him from giving us an education of freedom, love and equality. In fact, his education style was very rough, and we brothers were beaten a lot, but he still believed in the model of “good people come out from under the yellow tendon stick”, but this education style In general, this type of education can do more harm than good, it will leave a shadow on people, in the character building to bring a lot of defects. I found myself very grumpy and impatient, which may have a lot to do with my family education.
I remember one year, I was already in my second year of junior high school, I stole the teacher’s chicken at school to eat, he was caught kneeling in front of the school gate of Wangjing Nongzhong, that was really a “big shame! “I was caught kneeling in front of the school gate for stealing a chicken at school. I am now glad that I am too thick-skinned, otherwise, with the fragile psychology of many only children nowadays, I might have committed suicide several times. I found that my relationship with my father became a cat and mouse relationship, I began to find ways to confront him, we played each other calculations, each other’s wits, there are many interesting things in the middle, about the time of the second year of high school, our relationship has eased some. The company’s main business is to provide a wide range of products and services to the public. “I was extremely shocked by this comment.
My father loved to drink, even to the extent of alcoholism, that rural soju, high degree, poor quality, inexpensive, even so, with the income at that time, the money for alcohol was a considerable expense, he would sometimes eat on credit at teahouses and taverns, many people may not be able to imagine such things as credit now, but credit was a very popular practice at that time, many people I knew drank on credit, to Kong Yiji like. Credit two or two wine plus a handful of peanuts, or a couple of pork, just a few cents, they can indulge in this most basic happiness and numbness, and then pay it back when they have the money. My father got drunk many times because he ate wine, and when he got drunk, he liked to judge others, and his words were sometimes harsh and sarcastic, and some people even commented that his words were not very poisonous, so he could not help but offend people, and even give people a fight, which happened several times when I was in Zhanjing Elementary School. I was sometimes in a deep inferiority complex, but now that I think about it, it was probably his only way to be happy or to escape from reality. He was not satisfied with his own state, but he was powerless to change it, and put all his hopes on his children, who sometimes did not strive for success. As far as I can remember, he seemed to not drink except in the morning, he would drink two or two at noon and evening when he had the chance, but he never drank when he did a practice or read feng shui in someone’s home, which has to be a very rare self-discipline.
My father’s base is Zhanjing Street, this street is next to the Bu River, Bu River in Fushun into the Tuo River, when I was in elementary school, the river is still mountainous and clear, we swim in it, leaving many childhood memories, and then slowly polluted, it is a pity. Zhanjing Street still has a lot of stories and some characters worth writing about, these characters are not big people, but they are all witnesses to the changes of the times, and there are some very interesting little stories, these stories have a subtle influence on me, such as Xu Crippler (a teacher at Zhanjing Primary School), Li Huaisong (a barber), Long Sigang (a doctor), Wu Erniang (a contracted ferry rower), Wen Yuliang (a contracted ferryman), and so on. (an elder who contracted the ferry, somewhat similar to a country squire), and an honest man named Zhongcai, all of them brought a lot of talk and happiness to that small place. I think if I mention my father in the teahouse in Zhanjing now, someone should still remember him.
My father saw human nature very thoroughly, also like to say through, human nature once said through, in fact, very cruel, so the conversation with my father is not easy, sometimes very heavy. He often taught us to be self-reliant and not to rely on our siblings, often saying, “We were brothers when we were young, but we grew up apart. In fact, this way of education has a negative impact on our brotherhood, but he did not realize this, he liked to make things clear, he liked to make the listener think deeply. One of the stories he told us the most was “three brothers became three generations”, he said there was a family with three brothers, the eldest went out to become an official, rich and powerful, every time Whenever he returned to his hometown, the neighbors all ran to tell each other that “Da Gong is back again”, the second one did business in the countryside and also had some land, the family was richer, the neighbors called him the second master and mentioned him saying The second master how how, the old third, nothing, just an idle person, strolling here, sitting there, nothing to do, the villagers are very annoyed with him, see him come, ridiculed: “that Ding San’er is here again “, these are very heart-breaking stories, these stories interpret the human feelings in the world to the fullest, he also often brought out the “Zeng Guang Xian Wen” to explain, the subconscious influence of these things on human nature is not to be underestimated, how to treat these things, with what attitude to understand these things, until today is still a serious subject even today. Of course, he also liked to help people, and his help was to give guidance to people, according to his words is to enlighten others, he must think that you are worthy of enlightenment, he only enlightenment, not worthy of enlightenment, he did not say one more word.
My father’s positive influence on me is that he often praised me, he seemed to have high expectations of me, he even compared me to an extremely important closing character in the Three Kingdoms, I am embarrassed to write it out here, because no matter how talented I am, it is impossible to become that kind of character. He thought I was very smart, and this praise increased my confidence, so I now go to any occasion without fear, and even more people, I can speak a few words, I think this ability to give me as a child to send the god of wealth has a lot to do with. When my family was poor, my father made up some jingles on his own to solve financial difficulties, so I could go out and send the God of Wealth, which is a much more sophisticated way to collect money than begging in rural areas. He carved a woodblock print of himself, a god of wealth in the middle, above the three words “fortune, prosperity and longevity”, the left and right sides are “a door of heaven to give peace and blessings, the four seas with the rich spring”, are very auspicious things, and then buy red paper, printed out the god of wealth, we will take the god of wealth to each house to sing his jingle, sometimes can also Free play, the host family usually give us a couple of cents, these jingles made up by month, I still remember some of the following.
A walk to the master’s house ah, I send money to the master’s house, please your master to accept ah, all year round big fortune.
The first month to send money to the New Year ah, the joy of adding great wealth, firecrackers to get rid of the old year ah, open the door to the treasure will come.
The first day of the east into the ah, the second day of the south to come, the third day of the west to add ah, the fourth day of the north to come.
All directions are auspicious ah, in the middle of the offering of treasures to the god of wealth to your home ah, add people and add money.
Every year, after the winter holidays, I went out to send the god of wealth, to the end of the second day of the first month can earn more than ten yuan a year, after the second day of the first year, and began to play the dragon lantern, until the end of the fifteenth day of the first month, then the New Year is really colorful.
My father sang four lines in the dragon lantern team, which is a very important role, because this role determines the taste and strength of the dragon lantern team. Every year when we go out to play the dragon lantern, we will meet some people who “sing the four lines”, which is a bit like the form of the song in Liu San Jie, some people ask very tricky questions, without Some people have very difficult questions, without the scene’s resourcefulness and basic common sense, it’s really not easy to deal with. Of course, many times, everyone is to have fun and lively, but if the four lines when the dragon lantern team lost, then the dragon lantern team’s face can be lost, basically in the next year before the Dragon Boat Festival will be repeatedly taunted, ridicule, so the father in this area is a pivotal role. I remember once a family no matter how to congratulate him, he just did not open the door, he kept asking questions inside the door, and finally actually asked how many lamp grass inside the door field, the father back to say “the door field lamp grass has 99,990, if you do not believe ah, go and count yourself to I think these are very classic. Another time, a bamboo weaving craftsman came to the countryside to collect bamboo, there used to be people in the countryside who specialized in weaving bamboo, such as weaving bamboo basket ah, dustpan ah, baskets, etc. Now this craft seems to have become intangible heritage, this person asked frivolously: “How much catty? My father knew he was just asking, so he said, “10.2 cents. “The man said again:” two pounds oh? “The father returned:” bamboo leaves child. “These unbearable scenes of dialogue reflect my father’s humor and wit, but also life is a good gossip. These moments of my father’s life had a silent impact on me, and it taught me some basic resilience skills and abilities when faced with practical problems and difficulties in life.
I think my father’s most visionary point was to let us study. He adhered to the concept of “rich people don’t lose their pigs, poor people don’t lose their books” and insisted that several of us study, hoping that we would pass the exams and be able to seek stability. He insisted that we brothers study, hoping that we could get out and seek stability. You know, in the countryside, this was almost the only way out at that time. In the end, we all went to university and live in the city, not rich, but at least decent, so it was not a waste of my father’s efforts.
Postscript
When my father had his illness in 2004, his condition was not serious and he could have continued his treatment, but he did not want to stay in the hospital and insisted on being discharged. During his recuperation period at home, he continued to drink and smoke those rural leafy cigarettes, which was fatal to his disease. He didn’t have any last words, and he didn’t seem to have any attachment to this world. A few days before his death, he asked his disciples to immediately start doing a dojo for him, thinking that he could go to the blissful world as soon as possible, but no disciple dared to listen to his greeting, and there was nothing he could do but sit helplessly and listen to God’s fate. In the last two days, he seemed to say something, but he couldn’t say anything. He wanted to write something with a pen, but he couldn’t write anymore, and I’m afraid that only on that day will we know what kind of mental state people are in before they die.
The memories and traces of my father are slowly disappearing, and his image is gradually fading, and every year, when I visit his grave on the first day of the New Year, I see a shovelful of yellow earth and a barren grave, and I can only sigh when I think of him. If you have to use a few words to summarize him, I think it should be talented, elves, stubborn, and playful. His life was not exciting, but from my point of view, it seemed interesting, or at least not boring, and the farthest he had been was Chengdu and Chongqing. Eleven years after his death, I struggled to finish this short article. I am not sad, my mood is calm, I can’t help but laugh when I think of those funny things, this short article is even a conclusion to my father’s life!
October 3, 2019 Lu Si Bit
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