前言

1968年，毛澤東主席發(fā)出了“知識青年到農(nóng)村去，接受貧下中農(nóng)的再教育，很有必要”的號召，在全國范圍內(nèi)掀起了一個大規(guī)模的知識青年上山下鄉(xiāng)高潮。在短短的幾年里，大約1600萬城鎮(zhèn)學 生青年下放到全國各地的國營農(nóng)場、生產(chǎn)建設兵團和廣大的農(nóng)村勞動和生活。1968年11月，17歲的我和比我大一歲的姐姐帶著行李，在一片歡送的鑼鼓聲中融入了一支有1000多名知青的大隊伍，乘船從我們原來居住的大城市來到了中國南方水鄉(xiāng)的一 個農(nóng)村當知青，踏上了人生中一段艱辛的歷程。我們插隊的這個農(nóng)村地處廣東珠江三角洲平原，土壤肥沃，物產(chǎn)豐富，河涌縱橫交錯，是一個“出門見水”的魚米之鄉(xiāng)。全村總共有600多人，其中有400多個勞動力，上山下鄉(xiāng)知識青年16人�？偢�地面積有600多畝，主要的農(nóng)作物是水稻和甘蔗。

這里民風淳樸，中國傳統(tǒng)道德文化的影響在人們的思想意識中根深蒂固。由于遠離喧囂的都市，村民們對當時那些時髦的政治活動態(tài)度冷漠，毫無興趣，依然過著祖祖輩輩習慣了的“日出而作，日落而息”的生活。與大城市相比，這里顯得那么的平靜、安逸。

從大城市來到農(nóng)村，我們這些知青面臨著三個巨大的挑戰(zhàn)：第一是過生活關——農(nóng)村日常生活的衣食住行等條件都比較簡陋、落后，無法與城市相比，我們要生存下去，就必須盡快地適應生活環(huán)境上的巨大落差；第二是要過勞動關——我們要從一個城市學生變?yōu)橐粋�天天在田間辛苦勞作、自食其力的農(nóng)民，其蛻變過程是異常艱難和痛苦的；第三是要過“前途關”——根據(jù)當時的知青政策，我們必須當一輩子農(nóng)民，上學無望，回城無望，一輩子扎根農(nóng)村。

正當我們這些知青陷入困境的時候，憨厚純樸的村民們向我們伸出了援助的雙手。在生活上，他們妥善地安排好男女知青分住的房舍，派人帶我們到鎮(zhèn)上去選購基本的生活用品及干農(nóng)活的工具等，使我們很快地安頓了下來；在勞動上，他們不厭其煩，手把手地教我們干各種農(nóng)活，幫助我們逐步成長為一名能干的農(nóng)民；在精神上，他們經(jīng)常主動和我們聊家常，對我們無奈離開城市、遠離父母和家人的遭遇深表同情，并開導我們要向前看，不要自暴自棄。逢年過節(jié)，村里各家各戶都不約而同地邀請我們?nèi)ニ麄兗页燥垐F聚，以緩解我們對家人的思念。

村民們無微不至的關心和幫助像春風一樣溫暖著我們，他們的純樸、正義感、同情心和追求幸福的熱情深深地感染了我們。

我在這個村莊當了4年知青，經(jīng)歷了很多事情，品嘗了人生中的酸甜苦辣。在這本書里，我想透過親身經(jīng)歷的幾十個故事，從不同角度向讀者講述40多年前中國南方水鄉(xiāng)農(nóng)村的文化生活、人情風俗以及插隊知青的喜怒哀樂。

我插隊當知青的那個農(nóng)村是當時中國千千萬萬個農(nóng)村的一個縮影，那里發(fā)生的事情在一定程度上反映了當時中國廣大農(nóng)村的實際狀況。

我雖然離開那個村莊已有40多年，但一直把她當作自己的第二故鄉(xiāng)，思念著那里的一草一木，牽掛著那些曾經(jīng)朝夕相處的鄉(xiāng)親們。我曾分別在2002年和2010年回到那個村莊與村民們重逢，“有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎”——我們一起暢談往事，吃飯照相，相見甚歡。

我非常欣喜地看到：經(jīng)過40多年的努力，村民們的生活水平發(fā)生了翻天覆地的變化。如今，村里嶄新的小洋樓林立，家家都有自來水——過去靠河水生活的日子一去不復返了，村里創(chuàng)辦了燈具廠等企業(yè)，大大增加了村民的收入。

最令我興奮和不可思議的是：我回村時竟然能與本書故事里提到的一些人物在闊別了40多年后又相遇了，其中有“打鳥”里的槍手阿根和阿真；“姓名趣事”里的黃狗女、麻糖發(fā)和蔡狗；“打籃球”里的農(nóng)民高中生蔡錦森；“老知青” 里那個嫁給當?shù)剞r(nóng)民青年的阿妹，以及“搭食”里的主人公錦勝等。

40多年過去，彈指一揮間。在回憶、講述這些故事的同時，我深深地意識到：不管經(jīng)歷過多少艱難曲折，人類社會一定會不斷進步，人們的生活也一定會變得更加美好�！扒嗌秸诓蛔�，畢竟東流去”，歷史的洪流滾滾向前，勢不可擋。

容 非

2016年2月于美國西雅圖

Introduction

In 1968, Mao Zedong issued his decree: “Educated Youth should go to the countryside to be re -educated by farmers. This is very necessary.” Immediately, an Up-to-the -Mountains- and-Down-to -the-Countryside Movement swamped the country. The goal was to send, within a few short years, about 16 million urban youths to live and work in remote regions, such as state farms, sites of production-construction corps, and rural agricultural areas, throughout China.

In November of 1968, at the age of 17, together with my sister, who is one year older than me, we joined over 1000 young men and women in our region and became zhiqing—Educated Youth. We boarded a boat that would take us to our new home, a coastal water village far away from our family and the city in which we grew up. Amongst a cacophony of celebratory drum beats and gong strikes, we began a challenging life-journey.

The water village to which my sister and I were assigned was located in the Pearl River Delta, an area of bounty, where rivers and streams crisscrossed land masses. It is known as the Land of Fish and Rice, where one saw water everywhere one looked. There were about 600 residents in the village at the time, about 400 of whom were farmhands. Sixteen zhiqing were assigned there. Together, we farmed the 600 mu (about 40 hectares) of farmland and grew rice and sugarcane.

The farmers’ way of life was down- to-earth and they held tight to the traditional Chinese cultural and moral standards. Because the village was far away from the noisy and disorderly metropolises, most of the farmers were not interested in any of the popular political activities at the time. They followed their routine of working when the sun rose and quitting when the sun set. Compared to the cities, life in the village was quiet and peaceful.

However, we zhiqing faced three major challenges in the countryside. The first was the challenge of everyday life: Compared to what we were used to in the city, life in the countryside was backward and primitive. The second was the challenge of physical labor: As students from the city, we were not used to physical hardship. To survive, we had to learn to do farm work and become self-reliant. The process of changing our lifestyle was unexpectedly difficult and traumatic. The third was the challenge of the unknown:According to the policies of the time, we were supposed to be farmers for the rest of our lives, with no hope for ever going back to school or returning to the city. We were supposed to take root in the countryside, to which we had been banished.