She is the light that lights up the Malan flowers
2022-03-23
"If one day you come to the beautiful Malan, don't forget to sing a song in your heart to let the children know that love is in the world..." At the end of November last year, in order to collect news materials about the singing of the Olympic anthem at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, we went into the depths of the Taihang Mountains and interviewed a group of children in the mountains, as well as Deng Xiaolan, a low-key and simple old man behind the children. The first time I saw Deng Xiaolan was in the music classroom of Malan primary school. That afternoon, the sun was shining brightly and slanted into the room. She sat in front of the blackboard full of staff and notes and talked about her story with Malan. Deng Xiaolan is the daughter of Deng Tuo, former president of Jinchaji daily. In 1943, flames of war broke out everywhere. In order to hide and run the newspaper, Jinchaji daily went deep into Taihang and stationed in Malan village, Fuping County. During a sweep, the villagers paid the price of their lives to keep the secret. "No matter how intimidated they were, they didn't talk about it. As a result, the enemy killed 19 villagers in a row in those two days." Deng Xiaolan sobbed. And she herself was born in such a period of anti mopping up. During a transfer, her mother Ding Yilan gave birth to her in a small shed in the mountains. "My mother said I was born early in the morning when the sun first came out, and then I was carried back to the newspaper on a stretcher." When the current situation was turbulent and the work of her parents was special, Deng Xiaolan was left in Fuping when the newspaper moved again. An old couple in the village raised her and didn't return her to her parents until the victory of the Anti Japanese war. "Those old comrades regard Malan village as their second hometown and miss Malan villagers very much." An accident in 2003 changed Deng Xiaolan's life after that. She and the old people of the newspaper went back to Malan to visit the grave, and happened to meet the local young pioneers who were also visiting the grave. "I proposed to sing to my grandparents, but they couldn't sing any songs. I felt very sad. Later, I thought that if I had time, I would teach them to sing." In the new year, she fulfilled her promise. Every year, she spends a lot of time in Malan village to teach children to sing and learn musical instruments in the place where her parents used to fight and live. From "two small cattle herding" to "Ode to joy", from "unity is strength" to "in that distant place", Deng Xiaolan always believes that music education will benefit children for life. She said: "songs are poems, the most beautiful and the most beautiful thing in human culture. After learning music, children's emotions will change and their character will become cheerful." She also firmly believes that "if taught, rural children are no worse than those in the city". "Once we went to Shanghai to attend an international youth music summer camp. There were many foreign student bands. At the end of the concert, we sang" Forever Friendship ". The little volunteers came and said that if you can't speak English, you can sing Chinese with you at the end. I said, we will, because I taught them to sing." "I will give the children such confidence that they will not have stage fright on any occasion." When Deng Xiaolan said this, her eyes were warm and bright. In 2006, Deng Xiaolan set up the first small band in Malan primary school. Speaking of the recruitment criteria, she said with a smile: "my principle is that children like it. If I can make them feel happy about music, come and learn from me." After the Beijing Olympic Games, Deng Xiaolan also brought the members of the small band to Beijing at her own expense, including Tiananmen Square, bird's nest, water cube and zoo... She accompanied the children around the whole city. "I took them to my house for the first time. My wife cooks porridge and steams rice for them every day... Not only do I have to have a skill, but also let them have a chance to see the outside world." Until the day of the interview, she still clearly remembered the whereabouts of most of the children. "(the first batch of small bands) all six children graduated from college and studied science and technology. Another boy may have to work for the second year. He was admitted to Henan University. I was very happy at that time because Henan University was the school where my father graduated." The children graduated one after another, but Deng Xiaolan's small band was always there. "I always say, I'm getting old, but our little band doesn't grow up." From the first time she came to Malan once a month, to later, with the increase of band children, she was basically rooted in Malan. Someone asked her why she didn't enjoy her old age? She said that as long as the children were happy, she would be happy. "Don't many old people like traveling? I like traveling to Malan." In 2013, she saw a report about the German forest Music Festival. Music flowed in the mountains and forests, moistening the hearts of every audience. "I think we should create an opportunity for children to perform... In addition, the landscape of Malan is also very beautiful." She found an open space beside the waterfall in the mountains and set up a simple "pigeon stage". "I think the moral is also very good. The pigeon is like a big hand, holding up the children's dreams and our future." The first concert caused a sensation. Villagers from shiliba village came to see it one after another. Even the mountain opposite was full of people. The success of this performance not only inspired the children, but also gave Deng Xiaolan a bigger dream. The pure outdoor stage is very vulnerable to the weather. She began to think about building a better stage. A designer introduced by a friend once made a plan for "moon stage". Although he was satisfied everywhere, the plan was shelved for 8 years for various reasons. It was not until a few years ago that the "moon stage" was put on the agenda again. Deng Xiaolan contacted the designer of that year and found that in the past eight years, although this design won international awards and many people wanted to use this scheme, the designer didn't give it to anyone. When asked why, the designer said, "I thought it was really like a dream when I took this thing. When I came to Malan, I thought it was a fairy tale world. There was a teacher in the mountain with a group of children. They wanted to give a concert, so I helped them design a moon stage. I think this stage will be built to Malan village. I'd rather be a dream forever than broken." When the "moon stage" was finally nearing completion, a more grand dream came to the foot of Tieguan mountain and the Bank of Rouge River. Malan's song, from teacher Xiaolan's music classroom and from the small stage in the mountains and forests, spread to a further place - the scene of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Deng Xiaolan recalled how she felt when she first learned the news and said, "I would never have thought of such a thing." It turned out that the team at the opening and closing ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games saw the media reports about the Malan small band, and they finally decided to let these "fragrant soil" children sing the Olympic anthem at the opening ceremony. In the following months, professional music teachers and Greek teachers invited from Beijing and Hebei conducted intensive training for the children. Although Deng Xiaolan verbally said she was worried about affecting the children and "try to be less involved", she often sat quietly in a corner of the classroom and watched the children sing. When she learned that the children were going to sing the Olympic Anthem in Greek, she specially confirmed the time in advance and rushed to school to have class with the children. From Fuping to Beijing, Miss Xiaolan has been staying with the children. When resting in the hotel and waiting in the bird's nest... We can always see such an old man, silent but kind, staring silently and accompanying the children in the corner. Four days before the official performance of the opening ceremony, teacher Xiaolan once told reporters: "I think our children will perform very well. I will be on site at that time." On February 4, the day of the official performance of the opening ceremony, the children did not have stage fright. They are focused, committed, brave and bright. With high-level performance, it moved the whole world. The Winter Olympics is over, and it is approaching the season of warm flowers in spring. The children returned with a full load, and Deng Xiaolan went to Malan again as usual to prepare for the music festival. No one expected that the accident came first. Under the stage, there will be no more teacher Xiaolan's loving gaze. Deng Xiaolan's children said in the obituary: "In the last 18 years of her life, my mother devoted most of her time and energy to children's music education in Malan village, Fuping County, Hebei Province, which brought her happiness and satisfaction; the Olympic Games song sung by the children of the Malan Flower Choir of the Beijing Winter Olympics was highly praised by the world and pushed her happiness to the peak. She left at the high light of her life and walked peacefully and calmly, which is also our greatest comfort." Someone once asked Deng Xiaolan if there was any special meaning of the moon stage. She replied, "there's no special meaning. The moon is the moon. You can see it everywhere in the water, in the sky." Tonight, may the gentle moonlight also illuminate the distance. (outlook new era)
Edit：Yuanqi Tang Responsible editor：Xiao Yu
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