Profile of Wei Wei on Famous Like Me

For the article about popular Chinese singer Wei Wei see Wei Wei (singer).

Wèi Wéi (魏巍) (born on January 16, 1920), originally known as Hong Jie (鴻傑), has been a poet, a prose writer, a literary report writer, a journalist, a vice-editor-in-chief and the editor in various newspapers in China and a propagandist. His works are highly noticed for patriotism, communism and nationalism. Apart from using the name Wei Wei, he once used the pen name Hong Yangshu (紅陽樹) in some of his publications. He changed his name from Hong Jie to Wei Wei in 1937 since he had started a new page of his life --- a political one.

Background

Life in his early days

Before going to school

Wei Wei was born in a poor family. He helped to earn a living by selling cigarettes in a small station when he was young. Fortunately, he is talented and learned a number of vocabulary under the guidance of his parents. His father loved Chinese calligraphy very much and his mother loved reading old novels and Changben (成本). These influenced him a lot and he showed great interest in learning at that time.

The Common People Elementary School

When Wei Wei was eight, a new school called "The Common People Elementary School" (平民小學) was established in Zhengzhou (鄭州). This was a great news for the poor families because the school did not charge for classes and students were not required to wear uniforms, which could save them a lot of money. Wei Wei went to this school for education until primary five. His teacher, Miss Choi YunZhi (蔡雲芝), was the one who inspired him to develop a strong interest in literature.

The Simple Village Normal School

Wei Wei finished his primary six education in "The Simple Village Normal School" (簡易鄉村師範). In that year he began to participate in different competitions such as writing and calligraphy competitions. He won a few times. After receiving two years of education in Jianyi Shifan (簡易師範), he had left school because both of his parents died at that time.

Persisting Learning

Though Wei Wei had quitted the school, he kept on reading. He could not afford buying books and so he went to a mini-library to read books and newspapers. There even was Wan You Wenku (萬有文庫) by The Commercial Press Limited (商務印書局). He read a great deal of books written since May Fourth movement such as the works of Lu Xun (魯迅) and Mao Dun (茅盾). He once said that these two people had their revolutionary ideas penetrated into the hearts of the younger generation including himself. He also read Da Zhong Zhe Xue (大眾哲學) of Ai SiQi (艾思奇), The Past, the Present and the Future of China (中國的過去現在與未來) of He Gan Zhi (何干之) and Qing Nian Zi Xue Zhe Xue (青年自學叢書) of Sheng Huo Shu Dian (生活書店). These books rank from politics to literature but they had one thing in common, that is all the authors believe in Marxism.

Life during War Times

After the outbreak of the second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Wei Wei was sent to the front line of Shanxi (山西) to join the Eighth Route Army (八路軍). He was later transferred to Yenan (延安) in 1938 and entered Resist-Japan Military and Political University (抗日軍政大學) in Yenan (延安). After his graduation, he went to a border area which was called Jinchaqi (晋察冀) and did the publication work in the army. He was responsible for propagandist and clerical duty at that time and was appointed as the chief of the propaganda section and the group political commissioner. He remained in the party after the inception of the country and joined the Communist Party in 1938.

Being a writer of the military journey of Communist China, Wei Wei joined the army to fight against Japan when he was as young as seventeen. He experienced the war in first hand. He also participated in the war against America on the side of Korea and Vietnam. From the 80s until now, he has been working hard to promote the tradition of revolution against Capitalism.

Today's Wei Wei

At the age of 84, Wei Wei still involves in the field of literature. Recently, he has attended a seminar on the collection of Cui Xuan (《崔璇文集》座談會) to promote a book related to the second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) (中日戰爭) on September 20, 2004 as a guest of honour.

Wei Wei now leads a routine life. He wakes up at around six every morning, takes a nap in the afternoon and sleeps after midnight. He usually meets reporters or his guests from three to six in the afternoon. In his leisure time, he likes reading newspapers and writing short essays.

Family

Wei Wei married a Chinese woman called Lau Chauwa (劉秋華) in 1946. They have already married for 58 years. In 2000, the couple went back to Beijing after attending the ceremony of the 50th anniverary of Kang Mei Huan Zhao (抗美援朝). They have two daughters and a son who have all married. Their daughters and son do not live with them. So Wei Wei and his wife live with their housekeeper who takes care of their daily life.

Involvement in Journalism

Being An Editor

As young as 15, Wei Wei began working as an editor in two literary supplementary sections which were called Miaopu <<苗圃>> and Ludi <<蘆笛>> in two Chinese newspapers, the Huabei Ribao <<華北日報>> and Zhengzhou Ribao <<鄭州日報>> respectively. Most of his works were about the war against Japan and were published in different newspapers including Dahua Chenbao <<大華晨報>>, Guofeng Ribao <<國風日報>>, Shi Zhanxian <<詩戰綫>>, Kangzhang Bao <<抗戰報>>, Jinchaqi Ribao <<晋察冀日報>>, Peopledaily <<人民日報>> and Guangming Ribao <<光明日報>>.

He was also once appointed as the vice-editor-in-chief of People's Liberation Army Literary Arts. The People's Liberation Army general political department creates room assistant director, general political department literary arts place assistant deputy office chief and vice-minister of Beijing military region propaganda department. Furthermore, he was the editor of journals Jung Liu <<中流>> and times report <<時代的報告>>.

Remarkable experiences as a journalist

In 1965, Wei Wei went to Vietnam for an interview during the Vietnam War. At that time, the US military vigorously attacked Glory City (榮市), which was a very important city in the south. The city has been nearly a ruin. To make things worse, one anonymous reporter wrote an article called the Dead City (死城) that utterly destroyed the hope of the Vietnamese to fight against the US. When Wei Wei arrived at Vietnam, he saw all the efforts paid by the soldiers and civilians. That inspired him to give them hope and it was the motivation for him to influence them through his writings. Opposing this anonymous reporter, he wrote an article called the Fight City (戰鬥的城) which is full of spirit and confidence.

In 2001, Wei Wei was isolated in Beijing Military Hospital (北京軍區醫院) and was not allowed to see his family as he opposed Jiang Zimin (江澤民) “7。1” sayings.

Journalistic principles applied in works

Telling truth

In order to get a thorough understanding about what the American prisoners of war thought politically at that time, Wei Wei went to Korea in December 1952 with a consultant from Sinhua She (新華社) and a secretary of Communism in London, England. After they arrived, they first met the voluntary soldiers and then went to BiTong War Prisoners’ Camp (碧潼俘虜營) to interview the American militants. They had met lots of American soldiers and military officers, and talked to them individually. This was an objective method to judge whether the truth had been dug out. After the investigation in the BiTong War Prisoners’ Camp, Wei Wei wrote a report and sent it back to China. He got first hand information by going to Korea himself instead of knowing these from hearsay.

Verifying information

As Wei Wei had heard some striking stories from the voluntary soldiers in Korea, he decided to stay there and investigate news in Korea until February 1952. He gained his first hand information. Being an investigative reporter, he went to different places in Korea to investigate the conditions of war. He interviewed different people and even including those who were in hospital. He heard stories from others and in order to verify them, he chose to stay in Korea. He acted as a postman to deliver messages between the soldiers and the public. He gave the citizens of China his loyalty and he had verified the source of information before reporting them to the public.

Serving as independent monitor of power

Before 1937, Wei Wei had maintained a higher degree of independence as he did not get very close to the centre of the Communist Party in China. What he wrote was basically based on his observations and opinions only. However, after he got closer to the Communist Party, he was under the supervision of the party. He went to Korea for investigation because he was ordered to go there. Some people keep on thinking that it involved a political motivation.

Maintaining independence

However, Wei Wei failed to fulfil the fourth element of journalism which is “Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover”. He was moved by the scene the Chinese soldiers that he witnessed in Korea. He later wrote an article "Who is the most Lovable" (誰是最可愛的人) published in the Peopledaily and made the headline on April 11, 1951 to praise the Chinese soldiers. This was very clear that he inclined to one particular side. He once said "the Chinese soldiers are the most lovable”. The main idea was about patriotism and this article was sent to the frontier to encourage the soldiers there. It was used as a political propaganda. Therefore, we cannot say that it shows a neutral point of view.

Contributions to literature

Writing Style

A journalistic writing style can be observed in Wei Wei's articles. There are a lot of facts, figures and vivid descriptions of the conditions of the wars such as his first person report on bombings and the dead of soldiers. Consequently, a clearer picture of the wars could be perceived.

Major themes of writing

Wei Wei 's publications not only convey a sense of nationalism, patriotism and communism, but also a sense of love to his homeland (China) and the soldiers who fight for their own country. Take the article Who is the most lovable (誰是最可愛的人) as an example in which he meticulously portrayed the purity, modesty, charisma, spirit, persistence and bravery of the soldiers. Generally speaking, Wei Wei 's writings can be classified into four types according to the analysis of Wei Wei (魏巍研究專集):

• A conclusion of his own experience and feelings
• An illustration of Marxist ideas
• Attitudes of supporting communism and criticising nationalism
• Giving advice to young writers and evaluating their writings

Poetry

• (蛔蛔，你喊起他們吧) <<hui hui, you wake them up!>>
• (好夫妻歌) <<The good couple song>>
• (黎明的寄張家口) <<Evening of zhang jia kou>>
• (開上前線) <<The open frontier>>
• (塞北晚歌)(1945) <<The northern boundary evening song>>
• (三合川)(1945) <<Three merging rivers>>
• (好兄弟歌) <<The good brothers song>>
• (秋千歌辭) <<The autumn song>>
• (英雄的防綫) <<A hero's bottom line>>

He also has published some sylvas.

• (å…©å¹´)(1951) <<Two years>>
• (黎明的風景) <<Evening view>>
• (不斷集)(1963) <<Never ending collection>>

Fictions Composed

Novel

• 《東方》<<In the east>>(1978)
• 《地球的紅飄帶 》<<The earth's red flying ribbon>>(1987)
• 《火鳳凰 》<<Fire phoenix>>(1997)
• 《我們唾棄那種中國人》<<We despise those kinds of chinese>>(1999)
• 《我的朋友:短篇小說集》<<My Friends>>(1956)

Long-short story

• 《長空怒風》 <<Angry winds of the sky>> (published with Pak Ai白艾/ in 1952).
• <<志願軍叔叔和朝鮮姑娘>><<Volunteer soldiers and Korean girls>>(1952)

Novella

• 《老煙筒》<<The old chimney>>(1954)
• 《魏巍散文集》<<Wei Wei novella collection>>(1982)
• 《魏巍散文選》<<Wei Wei novella collection(selected)>>(1991)

Prose

• <<雁宿涯戰鬥小景>><<Fightings in the yan su cliff>>(1939)
• <<黃土岭戰鬥日記>><<Wang Si Ling fighting journal>>(1939)
• 《依依惜別的心情》<<We really missed it>>(1949)
• 《故士和祖國》<<The earth and my country>>
• 《自豪吧祖國》<<Be proud, my country>>
• 《年輕人, 讓你的青春更美麗》<<Young People let your youth be more beautiful>>(1951)
• 《在漢江南岸的日日夜夜》<<The days and nights of the southern shores of Han River>> (1951)
• <<春天漫笔>><<spring time>>(1954)
• <<夏日三題>><<The summer three titles>>(1954)
• <<祝福走向生活的人們>><<Blessings goes to the people>>(1954)
• <<路標>><<The road sign>>(1954)
• <<在歡樂的鼓聲中前進>><<moving forward in the happy sounds of the drum>>
• <<在洪流中>><<in quick water>>
• <<懷念小川>><<missing the river>>
• <<新的長征>><<The new war>>

Prose Collection

• 《誰是最可愛的人》<<who's the most lovable>>(1951)
• 《幸福花為勇士而開》<<The flowers are opened for the warriors>>(1956)
• 《壯士行集》<<journal of the strong people>>(1980)
• 《魏巍雜文集》<<Collection Book>> (1985)

Movie Novel

• 《紅色的風暴》<<The red storm>>(published with Qian Xiaohui 錢小惠in 1956)

Opera

• 《打擊侵略者》<<Conquer the invadors>>(with Song Zhidi 宋之的and Ding Yi 丁毅in 1952)

Biography

• 《鄧中夏傳》<<Deng zhong xia biography>>(with Qian Xiaohui 錢小惠 in 1980)
• 《青年彭德懷》<<The youth, Peng Deng Quai>>(with Yeng Shui Quang 楊瑞廣主編, in 1995)

Literary Report

• <<燕嘎子>>(1944)
• <<平原雷火>><<Firings on the plain>>(1945)
• <<攻克獨流鎮>>(1945)
• <<前進吧祖國>><<Move forward, my country>>(1952)
• <<擠垮它>>(1952)
• <<女將軍>> <<The female general>>(1958)
• 《晉察冀詩抄》<<Chen Zhen Yi Poetry>>(1959)
• 《魏巍文論集》(1984)

Comments on Wei Wei

Praise:

In September 1953, at the 2nd literary summit in China, the late premier Zhou en lai (周恩來) highly praised Wei Wei's article 'Who is the most lovable' <<誰是最可愛的人>> and said that the article touches the hearts of millions of readers and encouraged the frontier soldiers. He said that this kind of literature could improve the society enormously.

Criticism:

1)Ding Miao 丁淼 in his book <<中共文藝總批判>><<Critics of the China Republic literary work>> criticised Wei Wei's articles as lack of validity. During the Korean war, China used the tactic 人海戰術 'huge crowd strategy' to fight against the Americans. The number of Chinese soldiers killed should be more than the number of American soldiers killed. But in Wei Wei's articles, he exaggerated the number of Americans killed. And he did not tell us the number of Chinese soldiers killed.

2)Wei Wei was also criticised by the gang of four . His works were criticised as expository.

Further Reading:

1)《魏巍專集》廣西師範學院中文系編(1979)
2)《魏巍評傳》楊柄, 田怡, 方東著 (2000)
3)《中華散文珍藏本》〈魏巍卷〉(2000)

4) 《魏巍文集》(魏巍主編2000)

Timeline

• 1/16/1920- Wei Wei was born
• 1928-attended "The Common People Elementary School" (平民小學)
• 1931-1934-was transferred to "The Simple Village Normal School" (簡易鄉村師範).
• 1934-attended preliminary teaching school.
• 1937-attended (一一五師軍政幹部學校), 115 troupe military school and Eight route army general associated school (八路軍總師令部隨營學校).
• 1938-joined the communist party, organised the frontier journalist group.
• 1939-participated in the Hundred Groups Fighting ,百團大戰.
• 1944-became member of the 冀中 Qi Zhong army's political department.
• 12/1950-went to Korea's front line.
• 1951-appointed as vice-editor-in-chief of People's Liberation Army Literary Arts
• 4/1952-went to Korea for the second time.
• 7/1953-appointed as central committee members for the Chinese democracy youth group, President of Chinese democracy youth group, member of the culture united association, representative of the people's congress year1, year2, year3.
• 1958-went to Korea for the third time.
• 1959- represented China to visit Greece
• 1966-was criticised by Jiang Qing, the gang of four. He stopped writing for 8 years.
• 1980s-started to write biographies for other people.

Awards won

• In 1942, 《黎明的風景》 was awarded with the Lu Xun literary arts bonus (魯迅文藝獎金) issued by “the border area literature artistic circles federation” (晉察冀邊區學藝術界聯合會).

It portrays the life and the struggles of the Chinese people under the Japanese invasion.

• In 1982, the novel Dong Fong (東方) was awarded with "the Mao Dun literature prize" (novel creation prize)(茅盾文學獎)(長篇小說創作獎).

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