This article is reprinted from: Hebei Daily
□Liu Qing
Feng Xiaojun’s non-fiction literary work “The White Sea and the Green Sea” (21st Century Publishing Group published in January 2022) is a model story book of the times written for teenagers. The author uses documentary literature to restore the spirit of three generations of Saihanba people who are not afraid of hardships and adhere to green development, and eulogizes the entrepreneurial spirit of Saihanba builders to create “miracles” in the ordinary.
The author adopts the writing method of people leading things, and gradually promotes the development of the story. Each chapter in the book is basically based on characters. By telling typical stories of typical characters, it presents readers with the extraordinary entrepreneurial experiences of Saihanba people at different stages of development. The spirit of Saihanba is condensed between the lines. The six women on the dam are one of the brightest colors. In Saihanba, it is difficult to sleep and sleep, and the housing is only shacks and scorpions; the food is hard to swallow, and the food is only noodles and potatoes; the road is difficult, all travel is mountain road, and you have to rely on horse-drawn carriages to get in and out… But the six tough girls are still Persevere and carry the same burden as a man with your tender shoulders.
Saihanba people realized their own value in ordinary work, and finally turned themselves into a unique scenery on Saihanba. Zhang Qi’en, who graduated from the Forestry Department of Peking University’s College of Agriculture, heard that Saihanba lacked technical personnel, and without hesitation, brought his wife and three children from the warm nest in Beijing to the snowy Saihanba. Liu Bin, a graduate of Northeast Forestry University, not only resolutely requested to go to Saihanba, but also mobilized his classmate and lover Wang Youlan to go to the dam together. Facing the difficult living and working environment, the two wrote a letter of determination: not to retire, and to stick to Saihanba for 20 years. From a pine tree to a forest of millions of acres, together with other builders, they have created the miracle of the wilderness turning into a forest, and forged the Saihanba spirit of keeping in mind the mission, hard work, and green development.
Saihanba people persevere silently and engrave loyalty to their duties into the annual ring of life. As a forest ranger, the most challenging thing is to work in Wanghailou, which is far away from people. The mountains are high and windy, and the water needs to be carried in the ravines. The most unbearable thing is loneliness. On the other hand, Chen Ruijun, a forest ranger in Saihanba, “made himself a tree”. Chen Ruijun and Chu Jingmei took the initiative to invite Ying to be on duty at Wanghai Tower, Liangbingtai, 1940 meters above sea level. They stayed here from 1984 to 1996, and reported many fires in a timely and accurate manner. . However, due to the monotonous food and far away from people, their sons grow deciduous teeth and learn to walk later than children of the same age. They are all 5 years old, and they can’t say anything other than “dad” and “mum”. In order to give the child better care, Chu Jingmei had to take the child down the mountain. Chen Ruijun and another colleague stayed here from 1997 to 2001. Due to working in the mountains for a long time, Chen Ruijun suffered unbearable pain due to arthritis and rheumatism on rainy days. He unfortunately passed away at the age of 54. It was them who exchanged precious youth for Lin Hai’s safety.
The 23 unit stories in the book seem to be separate chapters, but in fact they are intrinsically related. They complement each other and set off each other. The author uses fresh and meaningful language, sincere and abundant emotions, and vivid narration to skillfully connect the moving stories of three generations of Saihanba people facing difficulties and hardships and restoring the ecological environment, which is full of artistic appeal. While describing the heroic characters, the author also interspersed the descriptions of the history and humanities, folk customs, animals and plants of the Saihanba Forest Farm, which enriched the content of the book and increased its readability and interest.
From “a pine tree” to “a piece of sea”, by reading this book, readers can see the Saihanba that has been planted one after another, and has been planted from generation to generation, planting seeds in the desert and planting green in the cracks of stones. People have overcome many difficulties. They are like trees on Saihanba. They insist that the green mountains will not relax, and they have written a heroic epic with their youth and even their lives.