Interview and Reading: The Missionary
(two)
As we sat down for a casual chat at my home, Mr. Dong began by offering me a few personal remarks. Upon hearing certain things, I immediately felt a strong unease—
First, he said he started playing the piano at the age of 20 and that he was born without any formal education.
Moving on to the second point, he introduced: "There is a Chinese composer named Zhang Xiangyu who wrote a new seven-character quatrain for me! And my whole life is basically contained in it."
Here, I'll first address his humble self-description as "a commoner," which, to his surprise, ignited my competitive spirit. My thought is: this statement seems to have both truth and falsehood! In my heart, I've always believed that all experts, scholars, and professors started as commoners. There's an old Chinese saying: "Each profession has its own expertise, and there's a sequence to learning." The most ridiculous thing in life is that some people receive early education, which reminds me of Wang Anshi's story of Zhong Yong's tragic end. What good is being a child prodigy? If the result is mental disability, cerebral palsy, or waterlogged brain, that's the most foolish form of self-destruction!
There's a Chinese proverb that says, "What's wrong with a person learning to play musical instruments at sixty?" This is a socially encouraged saying, used to describe someone who, despite their age, still tries to learn new things, demonstrating a positive attitude towards life. This behavior may be a bit late, but it's still worth encouraging because it embodies the spirit of lifelong learning and the pursuit of new things.
In fact, Mr. Dong's words here should be interpreted as follows: "When people reach a certain age, it is quite difficult to learn piano skills. At my age, when I was still learning these musical tadpoles on the staff, it was indeed a very difficult thing."
Yes, he was telling me about his hardships!
After hearing this, I thought more about him and finally concluded that Mr. Dong's persistence and effort in learning, regardless of his age, and his willingness and actions to learn are worthy of our respect and praise.
From these words, I feel that Mr. Dong's nature is somewhat similar to mine. He usually likes to sing about himself in a weak and self-deprecating way to seek stimulation. In music, B-flat major is also music, isn't it?
Around me, there are indeed quite a few people who love singing bass. I have a friend, Mr. Liu Xianliang, who has achieved considerable success in his career, but he has a favorite saying: "I'm the son of a farmer!" After hearing it so many times, I said to him, "Aren't you just being sarcastic about me/us? Think about it, who isn't the son of a farmer? Even if you're a descendant of a high-ranking official, or Li Ka-shing… didn't your ancestors all come from the fields? Besides, those experts, didn't you all start out from your mother's womb? Everyone starts as an ordinary person; that's the truth. The most important thing is how you end up, let the facts speak for themselves. Nobody should rely on their seniority; achievements are what truly matter!"
Now let's take a closer look at Mr. Dong's second statement, which is a new seven-character quatrain written for him by the Chinese-American composer Zhang Xiangyu! The poem is as follows:
"Shock off your work clothes and get into your shoes,"
Playing the piano and composing music brings joy amidst tears.
Master teachers sow new green seedlings.
Disciples blossom and bear abundant fruit.
Hot currency bids farewell to its homeland at the age of forty.
After years of studying, I'm exploring new horizons.
Carnegie Young's High Hall
The four people gasped in astonishment, utterly bewildered!
When I listened to it briefly, I felt that it was very concise, perhaps possessing the strengths of classical Chinese poetry: succinct and to the point.
But to be honest, I feel that this is a bit too simplistic for modern society.
There's still a bit of ambiguity in Chinese characters, and the content is far less gossipy. Fortunately, Mr. Dong was sitting next to me that day, and I asked him to give me a slightly more detailed explanation:
Let's look at the first sentence:
"Shock off your work clothes and step into the music room"
No! Mr. Dong told me about his school life. He said he graduated from Xuhui High School in Shanghai from 1964 to 1968. What kind of school is Xuhui High School? As we old Shanghainese know, it's a school with a very rich history. The school buildings themselves exude a strong musical atmosphere. The environment is a form of edification and cultivation. As for who can appreciate it, that's very important. It seems that for Mr. Dong, this place must have been quite crucial, the very first musical note embedded within him! (Architecture is static music, music is dynamic architecture!). He told me that he was also a leader among the students back then, and the stirrings of adolescence all came from nature.
Later, he continued speaking to me, but I noticed his face wasn't smiling. He left the campus and came to the heat treatment workshop of the Shanghai Rolling Bearing Factory in 1968. In my imagination, wasn't the clanging sound of quenched metal also music? Like the calls of Volga boatmen, shirtless, as they pulled the boats along the towpath—how beautiful that was!
Isn't that right? Mr. Dong, you must have also stood shirtless in the blazing fire back then, humming to yourself...
Art imitates life! We must never forget that.
It's a pity that composer Zhang Xiangyu didn't write all of these scenes for you!
Li Bai, however, wrote in his poem:
"The cries of monkeys on both banks could not be stopped."
The light boat has already passed ten thousand mountains.
Yes! Dong Rongcan, you're naturally gifted, and your talents will surely be put to good use. Even gold needs a stint in the heat treatment workshop; true gold fears no fire! (To be continued)