My brother Huang Renyu
My brother Huang Renyu/Huang Jingcun
My brother Huang Renyu and sister-in-law Ger live in New Pal, New York, USA Here in this city, on New Year’s Eve of 1999, I had two phone calls with Brother Renyu in the West Bank. During the conversation, we comforted each other and felt fortunate to have entered the new millennium safely.
On January 8, 2000, just one week into the new millennium, the temperature in California was mild that day, and we were still planning weekend activities. Suddenly, Brother Renyu’s son Peile called. It was California time at that time. At about 11:30 in the morning, Peile's voice was very steady, but the news was something we had never imagined: he said that his father suddenly died of a heart attack three hours ago when he was going to a nearby movie theater. During the brief phone call, Brother Renyu and I said goodbye without saying goodbye.
After a day or two, I learned that Renyu had been driven by his wife, Geer, to a movie theater more than 20 miles away from New Paltz to watch a literary film called "Snow." "Falling Cedar". They just arrived at the cinema. Brother Renyu said he felt unwell. He fainted as soon as he entered the foyer and sat down. At that time, he was sent to the emergency department of a nearby hospital by ambulance, but the doctor was helpless.
When the couple left home to go to the cinema that day, Renyu smiled and said to Geer: "There are so many illnesses in the elderly, it is best to abandon the body and leave the world." Then Geer drove along Hehe. After the riverside turning point, Renyu continued to discuss his death with Geer as a topic. This experience left an indelible impression on Mrs. Ger's mind.
Brother Renyu and I grew up in Changsha, Hunan until we graduated from middle school. Our father Huang Zhenbai, also known as Zhongsu, was a member of the Tongmenghui in the early days of the Chinese Revolution. When we were in Changsha, our brothers were young and my father often went to work in other provinces. What sticks deep in my memory is the handwriting of the founding father Sun Yat-sen hanging on the wall of the living room, inscribed "Comrade Zhong Su" with the two words "fraternity" in the middle. In large characters, at the bottom is Sun Yat-sen's signature and seal. This calligraphy has always been hanging at home. When the Anti-Japanese War started in 1939, the family was dispersed, and the calligraphy ended up wandering somewhere.
Huang Renyu began to contribute articles to local newspapers around the age of fourteen or fifteen (1932). At that time, the supplement of "Hunan Daily" continuously published his biographies of world celebrities, each of which had characters drawn by his own hand. portrait. Huang Renyu’s passion for writing has never stopped since he was in middle school. Later, he continued to add his own illustrations to articles and books, including line drawings, maps, tables, and combat situation diagrams, all of which were carefully created by hand. There is a blank drawing on his personal paper describing the canal transportation in the past. It turned out to be an illustration in his economic history of the Ming Dynasty.
In 1935, Brother Renyu was admitted to Nankai University in Tianjin, where he studied electrical engineering. Just one year later, the National War of Resistance Against Japan began, and all the more famous universities in the country moved to the mainland. Huang Renyu gave up his studies and joined the Anti-Japanese War Daily in Changsha as an editor. At that time, the president of the Anti-Japanese War Daily was Tian Han and the chief editor was Liao Mosha.
Huang Renyu flew to India from Chongqing in 1943 and joined the Chinese Expeditionary Force in India. He served as a staff officer under Sun Liren and often visited battlefields. He still wrote articles, most of which were published in Chongqing's "Ta Kung Pao" and in northern Myanmar. During the Battle of Myitkyina, he went to the front line to observe and was shot in the thigh by a Japanese sniper hiding in the bushes. He was transported to the rear for recuperation.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Brother Renyu flew with the army from Shanghai to Northeast China. He was then selected to study at the Army Staff College at Fortress Ravenous in the United States, and later went to Japan to join the Chinese delegation in Japan. We brothers have more opportunities to meet each other.
Since 1952, Huang Renyu studied and worked at the University of Michigan in the United States. At that time, he was already 34 years old. He gave up half of his career achievements and started living with young students again. This is not something that everyone can do. He took this approach to express his confidence in his ability to write and write, so he was willing to study hard while working part-time.
Huang Renyu attended the Undergraduate School of the University of Michigan for three years, transferred from the Department of Journalism to the Department of History, and obtained a bachelor's degree. During this period, in addition to studying and working, he also focused on extracurricular activities for young college students. Just as interested. The University of Michigan is a member of the Midwestern Football Conference. Autumn is the football season. Each school takes turns playing games. Each game has tens of thousands of spectators. Huang Renyu wore a yellow and blue beanie with the school emblem on it and participated enthusiastically.
Huang Renyu then continued to study in graduate school until 1964, when he obtained his doctorate. The U.S. government does not attach much importance to university liberal arts, and government research subsidies are rarely spent on this aspect. For this reason, liberal arts graduate students have to find jobs on their own to support themselves.
Huang Renyu worked to make a living, but he still concentrated on reading. I watched him transform from an amateur author to a scholar with thousands of books in his mind. His future achievements were all laid during this period. . Brother Renyu studied the history of the Ming Dynasty and read the 133 volumes of "Ming Shilu" from beginning to end. My sister-in-law Geer sent me a box of documents, which contained records of Huang Renyu’s study and work in the past ten years. I opened one and saw his diary from December 1992. In one week, he re-read the "long history" in five days. I don't know what kind of book "Major History" is. I asked an expert on national history. He said that it was probably the "Continuation of the Records of Major Events" (seventy-seven volumes) written by Wang Wang of the Ming Dynasty and the "Records of Major Events" written by Zhu Guozhen. From this It can be seen from small things that Huang Renyu is serious about studying.
Brother Renyu’s famous work "The Fifteen Years of Wanli" was originally written in English and was published by Yale University Press in 1981. At that time, it was discovered by the famous American writer John Updike and wrote an article in New Yorker magazine Recommended, and this book is also listed as one of the five best American history books. The following year, the Chinese version of "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" was published in Beijing. The cover was written by Liao Mosha, who was the first to be liquidated during the Cultural Revolution. There is also a short story in this title note. In September 1980, I participated in the American Aeronautical Society's visit to the Chinese aviation industry and passed through Beijing. At this time, Huang Renyu had already planned to print "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" in China, and asked my sister Cuicun and I to visit his old friend Liao Mosha and ask him to write a copy.
The book "Fifteen Years of Wanli" was published in Beijing and spread to Mr. Tao Xisheng in Taiwan. Mr. Tao admired this work very much, especially recommended it to Taiwan, and agreed to write a postscript. The Taiwan version was published by Shihuo Publishing House under the leadership of Mr. Tao.
Huang Renyu has a strong personality. Regardless of academics or daily interactions, he is confident and does not change his original intention easily. But he is humble and does not exaggerate. "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" was a best-seller in mainland China and Taiwan, but he didn't mention a word to me until our cousin Li Chenglu wrote from Taiwan to report the situation. I called Brother Renyu and said: "I heard that you are in Taiwan's publishing industry and "Brother Renyu is not arrogant, he just asked: "Who told you?"
Huang Renyu's second important work is "The Great History of China". It was published in the United States in November 1988. But as early as the 1970s, when I went to New York State to visit the couple, Brother Renyu told me that he had a new way of studying Chinese history, which was closely related to the Chinese history books in American universities. The opinions of experts were completely different. I had no idea about the research of this subject at that time. I just felt that it was not wise to go against a group of academic authorities alone, so I stated this idea frankly. Huang Renyu did not agree at all. The topic It's terminated.
Huang Renyu has a forthright nature, a warm heart, and is sincere to people. He turns a blind eye to people who may have plans. His residence in New Paltz is simple and simple, and the living room where he writes faces the famous Catskill mountain tourist area in New York, where he can see the sunrise and sunset, and the changing winds and clouds. In Huang Renyu's mind, it is better than any high-rise building. At the same time, he pays attention to savings and invests his family's surplus funds carefully.
Huang Renyu and his wife love to travel. When they were working at the University of Cambridge in the UK, they traveled to various countries in Western Europe and the east and west coast of the United States.
Brother Renyu's last trip was in October 1999, at the invitation of the Portuguese government, to Lisbon to attend the commemoration meeting of Macao's return to China. At the meeting, Huang Renyu published a paper titled "China's Experience - Capitalism or Socialism?" 》.
Huang Renyu likes guests. There are several restaurants near New Paltz where his family entertains guests. Two of them are on the banks of the Hudson River with beautiful scenery. This place is also the place where he wrote "Huston". The origin of the name "Talk about Chinese History by the Sun River". Another Chinese restaurant, called "Little Bear Restaurant", is located near Woodstock, the birthplace of Rock Music. The restaurant is backed by mountains and close to water, and is very elegant.
Brother Renyu often said: "I have experienced life from all walks of life at home and abroad. Whether it is in troubled times or in troubled times, I have heard everything and seen everything. Now I have done everything I want to do personally. You can die without regrets." This view was exactly the same as what he said to Mrs. Geer on the last day.