Li Youyuan, the lyricist of Dongfanghong, wanted to eat meat before his death: when his family bought meat, he left.

Sword, roll up the sand. In an instant, it spread all over the world. Looking at the entrance of Momo Village, the setting sun is printed on the back. After a century of humiliation, China finally ushered in a brand-new country. An old song is a replay of a mood memory, in which we listen to the story of lost time together. Songs convey feelings, songs convey aspirations. In many songs, we can resonate with the singer and feel the most sincere feelings conveyed by that song. Dancing years fly over the battlefield, and none of us is full of hope for life. And "Dongfanghong" sings the most sincere feelings in everyone's heart.

The author of Dongfanghong is Li Youyuan, a peasant singer. Li Youyuan's family has been farmers in Jiaxian County, northern Shaanxi Province for generations, making a living by farming for landlords. Although his family was poor, Li Youyuan was still eager to go to school, so his loving mother borrowed a bucket of Gu Mi, a liter of mung beans, a catty of sesame oil and a pack of matches from her son and sent him to study in a winter study room in grandma's village in Liujiagou. Li Youyuan works hard. That winter, he read books such as Hundred Family Names, Thousand-character Works and Three-character Classics, and learned a lot of words. At that time, he was only thirteen years old.

But after that winter, Li Youyuan couldn't study, so he had to go to the town to collect dung. When he heard the sound of reading at school, he was very envious. He took the initiative to do some chores for the school, such as boiling water, sweeping the yard, screening ashes and so on. Finally, I won an opportunity as an auditor. Li Youyuan is very studious. When he sees a piece of paper with words written on it, he will pick it up and read it. If there are words he doesn't know, he will write first, and then ask the teacher for advice. He also likes painting, playing banhu and sanxian, especially singing and composing folk songs.

A little older, he doesn't even have time to sit in. He is engaged in heavy field work, so he teaches himself. Kang and the edge of the ground became his study classroom, and books, spoken books and lyrics read by others became his textbooks. Sometimes eating, walking and reading make you a bookworm. I don't care about eating if I watch it. There is a black dragon ditch in the east of the village. There are water, grass and temples in the ditch. When he herded sheep, he grazed sheep in the ditch and read and wrote in the temple. After such a period of hard study, he became the only scholar in zhang jia zhuang.

At the age of 20, Li Youyuan came of age and started planning to get married with his two brothers. To build a new kiln for his children and marry him, his father died of overwork. At this time, Li Youyuan could not continue to go to school and had to bear the burden of family life. However, in those days, it was not only hard work that could survive. The blow of natural and man-made disasters has made Li Youyuan strongly hope that the land can be changed and farmers can have a good day.

1935 10 In October, Chairman Mao led the Central Red Army northward to resist Japan and came to northern Shaanxi. Hearing this news, Li Youyuan said happily: "When Chairman Mao arrived in northern Shaanxi, we were saved and hopeful." Although it was white terror at that time, Li Youyuan began to write folk songs. Soon, Li Youyuan witnessed the Red Army marching upward, passing Jiaxian, crossing the Yellow River eastward and heading for the anti-Japanese front. He was very happy. After returning home that day, he wrote a song: "... Chairman Mao led our Red Army, crossed mountains and mountains for the Long March, waded through mountains and rivers, saved the country and saved the people, and fought in the East and the West. People all over the world praised him."

After that, Li Youyuan wrote many songs in his spare time, but he always felt that his songs could not fully show his admiration for Chairman Mao. On one occasion, he went to the city to watch yangko and heard a farmer singing yangko, so he compared Chairman Mao to a lamp. He thinks it is not enough to compare Chairman Mao and the * * * production party to a lamp, but to be a sun star.

So, in the winter of 1942, he compared Chairman Mao to the sun when compiling "Immigration Song". His nephew Ceng Li became the vice captain of the immigration team. With the immigration team, this song has been sung from Jiaxian, Mizhi and Suide to Yan 'an. Later, it was processed by professional literary and art workers and became the later "Dongfanghong". This song sings the deep feelings of the working people for the * * * Production Party and Chairman Mao. Therefore, it not only spread quickly in China, but also was sung by some foreign friends.

1953 10, Masayoshi Kurosawa of the Rainbow Club in Shimonoseki, Japan, and others 19 sent Li Youyuan photos of them singing "Dongfanghong" and wrote a letter jointly. The letter wrote: "In distant Japan, we are very happy to sing your excellent songs as the songs of our working people. We believe that "East is red, the sun rises" is not only the song of the people of China, but also the song of the working people of the world ... "

1955, a disease hit Li Youyuan, and long-term fatigue made the disease incurable for a long time. After more than 20 days of treatment, Li Youyuan finally died at home due to ascites due to liver cirrhosis at the age of 52. Before he died, his family asked him what he wished for. Li Youyuan just said that he wanted to eat meat, and when his family bought it back, he had left this world forever. However, although Li Youyuan has already left, his "Dongfanghong" is enduring and reverberates in China for a long time.

With the passage of time, many things have disappeared, but there are always some memories that can never be erased, and there are always some classics that are difficult to surpass. The power of songs is deeply rooted in people's hearts; The call of the times resounded through the heart. Red songs bear the red memory of yesterday's China history and reflect the prosperous days of China people today. Dongfanghong sang the voices of many people with lofty ideals and common people. They are full of heroism. They live for the people and die for the people. They all have a solid and sincere heart. They can be ashamed and never be dusted off. Although they died nine times, they had no regrets.

Text/Gu