In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese army advanced violently, and Nanjing ** University was forced to evacuate and move to Chongqing due to the situation. The books in the library, the instruments in the laboratory were successfully relocated, however, the university also has an agricultural college and raises a large number of poultry and livestock. Faced with a large number of animals and unable to evacuate with the school, Luo Jialun, the president of ** University, asked Lao Wang of the Agricultural College Farm for help. Luo Jialun made it clear that these animals could not accompany him, the Japanese army was coming, and Lao Wang needed to evacuate as soon as possible. This means that poultry and livestock in the agricultural college can only be discarded.
After a year, ** University reopened in Chongqing. One day, a street in Chongqing suddenly became noisy, and an unkempt middle-aged man walked down the street, followed by a large procession, but not soldiers or students, but a herd of poultry and livestock. This middle-aged man is none other than Lao Wang, who has successfully brought all the animals of ** University to Chongqing. The number of animals has not decreased, but has increased due to breeding along the way. This story spread all over Chongqing, and citizens came out of their homes one after another, which was both ** and welcome. This heartwarming story moved many people and shed tears when they heard it. It is said that Luo Jialun was also very excited when he saw Lao Wang in Chongqing.
This deeply touching story piqued the interest of a Taiwanese film director. Inspired by the story, the director decided to bring it to the screen as a real and warm film. However, the director was seriously ill, and although he had been preparing for the filming of the film, he was unable to do so. Someone heard about this story and called on Feng Xiaogang to direct the film, but the story came to an abrupt end and there was no follow-up.
As for whether Feng Xiaogang will direct this film, it may not be the most important question. After listening to this story, I had some insights. This story shows the steadfast national integrity and noble spirit of ordinary Chinese during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and unremitting efforts to complete their mission. Lao Wang's drive of the animals to Chongqing meant that the animals would never fall into the hands of the Japanese. The storyteller described it as "no chickens and dogs", meaning that none of them can be left for the Japanese. Lao Wang believes that despite the difficulties, he must also complete this task. This shows the great professionalism of Lao Wang, no one asked him to do it, but he persevered in the task. For an ordinary middle-aged man, he may not be able to participate in the war, but he used his patriotic blood and did his best to protect public property within his ability, which is very respectable.
In Chinese history, there seem to be many similar stories of family and country feelings and enduring humiliation, which are often sung. However, in addition to being moved, I had some doubts. When fighting against foreign invaders, if we only use such stories to move the people and educate children, it seems that there is a more important thing missing, that is, the bloody nature of courage to kill the enemy. The story is about the people who endured humiliation, but it seems to make little mention of the national nature of destroying and defeating the enemy. In the past, when talking about national integrity, the story of Su Wu's sheep herding and Li Ling's surrender to the Xiongnu compared to Su Wu would always be mentioned. Su Wu is noble, and Li Ling is lowly. However, there is little mention of the story of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing heroically killing the enemy and defeating the Xiongnu to invade the Central Plains. Yue Fei's resistance to gold is often told, but the stories of his mother-in-law's tattooing, loyalty to the country, and Yue Fei's injustice are more valued. Although there are also stories about Yue Fei fighting the invaders Jin Bing, it seems to be less touching than the former and is less widely sung.
A few years ago, there were film and television works that told the story of Xie Jinyuan leading 800 heroes to stick to the Sixing Warehouse. However, there was no fierce fighting there, just trapped by the Japanese in the Sixing warehouse. Xie Jinyuan and the 800 heroes did not give in and did not surrender, which is indeed worthy of praise. But this story seems to lack the feat of heroic killing of the enemy on the battlefield, and lacks the spirit of showing the Chinese sons and daughters who swore to fight the invaders to the death. While we can't ask them to do more, the film and television directors seem to be just representing the old drama of the Kuomintang's usual incompetence leading to war defeat, and then using a tragic story to cover up their incompetence and corruption.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Kuomintang opera stage performed many plays showing Yue Fei's resistance to Jin, his mother-in-law's tattooing, and Liang Hongyu's drumming and fighting Jinshan. These performances played a certain role in encouraging the spirit of the people in the Kuomintang-ruled areas to resist the war. However, in the Battle of Yuxianggui in 1944, even the Kuomintang army, which had been equipped with advanced equipment from the United States, was still defeated in the face of the Japanese attack. In the 14-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Kuomintang never recovered an inch of its territory. In sharp contrast, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army under the leadership of the Communist Party continued to expand their base areas and gradually recovered the land of the motherland in the battles behind enemy lines. On the art stage of the anti-Japanese base area, songs such as "The Chorus of the Eighth Route Army", "The Yellow River Cantata", "The Production Cantata", "Brother and Sister Open the Wasteland", and "Ode to Yan'an" were sung, showing the high spirit of the army and the people in the base area. These songs have become powerful and powerful literary and artistic **, inspiring people's fighting spirit.
* The deeds of the university Lao Wang are undoubtedly admirable, but the director's attempt to recreate this story through the film seems to be continuing the old drama of the Kuomintang, emphasizing the defeat of the war because of incompetence, and then using a tragic story to cover up their incompetence and corruption. In this era, we need more stories that show the fighting spirit of resoluteness, heroism, and strong combat effectiveness, not just the spirit of enduring humiliation. This is not an injustice to Lao Wang, but a profound reflection on the lessons of history.