Rewi Alley: A Story Retold and Rejuvenated

By Bo Ning & Hu Jian Translation by Li Wenni

Rewi Alley: A Story Retold and Rejuvenated

By Bo Ning & Hu Jian Translation by Li Wenni

On t h e e v e n i n g o f November 23, 2017,a young Caucasian named Laurence Larson belts the impassioned refrains of an original song in fluent Mandarin Chinese in the concert hall of Central China Normal University. To pay homage to Rewi Alley, a special concert was organized for the college students of Hubei Province in commemoration of Rewi Alley’s 120th Anniversary.The song tells a beautiful story of a friend from a faraway foreign land who dedicated his life and energy to China.

A p r i l 21, 1927, a strapping young man by the name of Rewi Alley hailing from a small town in New Zealand disembarked a ship at Pier 16 on the Bund of Shanghai and set foot in China for the first time.The thirty-year old had only been granted a six-month visa to glimpse the Oriental country that had long been shrouded in mystery. Yet after a 60 year stay in China he passed away in Beijing in 1987 at the age of 90.

American journalist Edgar Snow first met Alley in Inner Mongolia “in the arid June of 1929,” as the New Zealander was about to help the disaster relief efforts in the Suiyuan Area. Edgar Snow later recalled, Alley “was a strangely out-of-place figure in that dark sickly crowd, his sunburned face covered with dust beneath a fi ery bush of upstanding hair. When he stood with those giant’s legs spread apart in a characteristic attitude, he seemed somehow rooted to earth…He works all summer among the typhus-infested people,distributing relief grain, helping build irrigation trenches,and nursing children back to health.”

Alley came into the Chinese people’s life at a most tumultuous time. He fought for the rights of the exploited workers, and set up the “Bailie Technical School” for the povertystricken children, and volunteered countless times to aid disaster victims. He gave his blood,toil, sweat and tears to the Chinese people. Alley never married, but it can be said that he had lots of children and grandchildren since many of the Chinesechildren he adopted now have their own great-grandchildren.

跨過語言的微笑穿過大海感受你的心跳他留在生命中每個記號這是愛 溫暖的存在

——《這樣一個人》

2017年11月23日晚，華中師范大學音樂廳，紀念路易·艾黎誕辰120周年暨新西蘭文化周湖北大學生專場音樂會上，新西蘭歌手羅藝恒正用嫻熟的漢語，演唱他創(chuàng)作的紀念路易·艾黎的歌曲。

1927年4月21日，路易·艾黎從新西蘭小鎮(zhèn)來到上海。彼時，他正值而立之年，原本只辦了6個月的簽證，不想一待就是60年，直至1987年在北京去世。

兩年后，美國記者埃德加·斯諾在內(nèi)蒙古遇到赴綏遠賑災的艾黎。斯諾這樣描寫艾黎：“艾黎被太陽曬紅的面孔，滿臉風塵，頭發(fā)亂蓬蓬地。他站在地上那兩條粗壯的大腿，活像從地里長出來的兩根樹干。他的大頭，像一座石頭大山雕刻出來的，我被他深深地吸引了……整個夏天，艾黎都在斑疹傷寒患者中間工作，發(fā)放救濟糧，修筑灌渠，護理病弱兒童?！?/p>

艾黎在中國人民最苦難的時刻到來，為遭受剝削的人們奔走吶喊，為貧苦孩子創(chuàng)辦“培黎工藝學?！?，自愿屢赴災區(qū)救助災民，把自己的一生獻給中國人民。他終身未婚，卻兒孫滿堂，他在中國收養(yǎng)的子女，如今很多已經(jīng)四世同堂。

從1932年到1983年，他曾五次到湖北洪湖，參與抗洪搶險，為洪湖老解放區(qū)運送救濟糧，慰問受災群眾，被洪湖人民親切地稱為“洪湖候鳥”。

2009年12月8日，5600萬中國網(wǎng)民投票選出新中國成立前后100年間，對中國幫助最大、最受中國人民愛戴的十位國際友人，艾黎與白求恩、埃德加·斯諾一同位列其中。鄧小平稱他為“中國人民的老戰(zhàn)士、老朋友、老戰(zhàn)友”。

為紀念路易·艾黎誕辰120周年，湖北省自2017年初起便陸續(xù)展開征文、著書、建橋、辦文化周、音樂會在內(nèi)的一系列活動。

音樂會上這首中文歌，來自于中新友好協(xié)會副主席喬治·安德魯斯的靈光一閃。

安德魯斯說：“路易·艾黎是上個世紀的人，我認為羅藝恒的歌會使路易·艾黎的精神變得年輕，讓新一代人樂于接受這種精神?！?/p>

在安德魯斯眼中，中新兩國的關(guān)聯(lián)源遠流長。數(shù)千年前，新西蘭的第一批居民便來自中國海岸。早在1957年，中新友好協(xié)會第一次訪華時就到過武漢，其領(lǐng)導人還參加過武漢長江大橋的修建。今年，他們再次到湖北武漢以及艾黎曾經(jīng)抗洪的地方——洪湖。在洪湖的路易·艾黎紀念館內(nèi)，講述艾黎在華經(jīng)歷的珍貴圖片令安德魯斯大為感動：“雖然新西蘭也有路易·艾黎紀念館，但對其事跡的歷史記錄遠不及洪湖?！?/p>

如今，中新貿(mào)易、學術(shù)和旅游等各方面交流得到長足發(fā)展，這得益于兩國人民共同的努力。從路易·艾黎到羅藝恒，兩國之間友誼的故事不斷譜寫著新的篇章。

From 1932 to 1983, Alley went to Honghu in Hubei on five separate occasions. He is remembered for his magnificent contributions to the fl ood control and food delivery to the liberated areas of Honghu to help the affected masses. Residents in Honghu affectionately called Rewi Alley the “migratory bird of Honghu.”

On December 8, 2009, fiftysix million Chinese netizens voted for the Top Ten International Friends who made “exceptional contributions to the country in the past 100 years.” Alley made it onto the list right alongside the likes of Norman Bethune and Edgar Snow. Deng Xiaoping called him, “a champion, a friend and a comrade-in-arms of the Chinese people.”

To celebrate Rewi Alley’s 120th anniversary, starting from the beginning of 2017,Hubei Province has been hosting a series of events including c o m m i s s i o n i n g a n e s s a y competition on New Zealand-China Friendship, building a Hubei Memorial Bridge in Alley’s hometown, and celebrating Rewi Alley Day and Hubei-New Zealand Cultural Week to honor this “migratory bird of Honghu.”

G e o r g e A n d r e w s, V i c e President of New Zealand-China Friendship Society, was the one who came up with the idea to create a song for Alley in Mandarin, which was performed for the first time in the gala concert during the culture week.

According to Andrews, Rewi Alley “was a last century man, so he (Laurence Larson) needs to rejuvenate his story and make it relevant to a new generation.”

In his eyes, contact between China and New Zealand goes a long way back. It began thousands of years ago when the ancestors of the Polynesians set out from coastal China on their long migration towards the Pacific Ocean. Many generations later,around seven hundred years ago, these magnificent seafarers became the fi rst settlers of New Zealand.

The New Zealand-China Friendship Society, which was founded in the spirit of Rewi Alley, paid its first visit to Wuhan in 1957. Leaders of the society even helped in the construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge 60 years ago. This year, representatives of the society came to Hubei again to commemorate Rewi Alley. Andrews was impressed to see “his whole life story remembered” at the Rewi Alley Memorial Hall in Honghu, “It was very moving, indeed.”

Nowadays, bilateral trade,academic exchange and tourism have come a long way, which could not have been achieved without the corporative efforts of a great many people from two different nations.

While Rewi Alley was the hero of the last century, Laurence Larson (Chinese name Luo Yiheng) will be the star of a new era. Laurence Larson came to the attention of Chinese audiences in 2016 when he was a contestant in the original music reality show Sing My Song.Andrews met Larson in New Zealand and brought up the idea of writing a song about Rewi Alley. When researching Alley’s stories, Larson was deeply moved by Alley’s experiences in China, “When I thought of the fact that Louis Alley was alone in China for 60 years to help the local people, I felt more than just shocked. A melody just popped into my head, and I immediately decided this was it!”

And so, the song “Rewi” was born. Alley traveled far across the ocean and managed to break the language barrier. Besides sending out love and peace in the spirit of internationalism to help the Chinese people through wars and disasters, he wrote dozens of books over the course of decades that represent the authentic image of China. The story of this great writer and social reformer named Rewi Alley will be proudly trumpeted across the continents bilingually in English and Chinese. ? (Photos provided by New Zealand-China Friendship Society and Foreign Affairs Off i ce of Hubei Provincial People’s Government)

2016年，羅藝恒通過《中國好歌曲》節(jié)目在華嶄露頭角。安德魯斯在新西蘭與羅藝恒結(jié)識，提出專門為路易·艾黎創(chuàng)作一首歌的想法。了解艾黎的事跡后，羅藝恒深受感動：“當我想到路易·艾黎，只身一人在中國，幫助中國人民長達60年，感到的不僅僅是震撼，更有一段旋律從我腦中涌現(xiàn)出來，我立刻決定就是它了。”

于是，便有了歌曲《這樣一個人》。路易·艾黎就是這樣一個人，他跨越語言的鴻溝，飄洋過海來到中國，憑著他國際主義的大愛與中國人民共同度過水深火熱的戰(zhàn)亂與災年，數(shù)十年筆耕不輟，用幾十本書向世界書寫中國。伴隨著歌曲的優(yōu)美旋律，作家和社會改革家路易·艾黎的故事將以中英雙語的形式傳唱四方。?（圖片由新中友好協(xié)會以及湖北省外辦提供）

新西蘭文化周音樂會上外國藝術(shù)家表演毛利戰(zhàn)舞Maori haka performed in the gala concert during the Hubei-New Zealand Culture Week

這樣一個人

文/柏寧 胡健
譯/李雯妮

More than just a smile, beyond the limits of language

Traveled over great seas to hear another man’s heart beat Leaving his mark on life

This love, still holds a warm existence

—Rewi