Kangxi radical 118/Ye Wenshan

My father loved maple leaves when he was alive. Perhaps it was because those fiery red maple leaves symbolized the passion of life. Whenever the autumn winds blew and the leaves began to fall, he would gather the fallen maple leaves in the courtyard of Building 2 and press them between the pages of his books. He once wrote a short poem about this.

Evergreen pines surround the deep courtyard, and red maples stand beside the small building.

The pages hold the scent of drunken leaves, preserving a year of autumn.

1986That year, just as the maple leaves were drifting down in the wind, he passed away.

To honor Dad’s memory, my older brother and sisters each picked up a red leaf from the yard, and each of them reverently wrote a message on it to express their grief. As for me, I held the red leaves in my hands, my thoughts swirling, yet I couldn’t bring myself to write a single word. To this day, what I offer to my father is still a blank maple leaf.

A single, wordless maple leaf, imbued with a daughter’s boundless love and longing for her father, reminds me of the days I spent with my father—especially"The Cultural Revolution"A period of time when I stood by my dad through thick and thin.

During that turbulent"Unprecedented"During those disastrous years, Lin Biao and his cronies schemed relentlessly to bring my father down, slandering him as"February Against the Current"That villain, He Ganjiang, stubbornly claimed that his children were all problematic, falsely accused them, and had a total of six people—my older brother, older sisters, and brothers-in-law—thrown into prison; even our family’s housekeeper was arrested. I was only seventeen at the time. To protect me, my father sent me to Uncle Fu Chongbi, who was then commander of the Beijing Garrison, where I served as a signalman. Little did I know that Jiang Qing found out about this. She summoned Commander Fu and shouted at him, saying:"How could Ye Jianying’s daughter be manning the switchboard?! What if she leaks information while working in such a top-secret department? Arrest her!"That evening, Commander Fu called Dad and said I’d gotten into a fight with the squad leader, that I wasn’t getting along well with the others, and that someone from home should come pick me up right away. On the third day after I left, the so-called incident occurred."The Yang, Yu, and Fu Incident"...Uncle Fu Chongbi was arrested. I couldn’t stay in Beijing any longer, so I left my father behind and went to Fujian to join the army. I remember my father saying to me at the time:"It's very likely that Fu Chongbi saved you."A few years later, when Dad found out that Commander Fu had been released, he immediately sent me to visit him, and he told me the truth about what had happened. He said:"Your father entrusted you to me, and I couldn't let them arrest you, so I made up an excuse to get you out of there."

After I left Beijing, my father was left alone to live in solitude, his movements restricted, and even his freedom to make phone calls taken away. Amid the adversity that tore our family apart, the only connection left between my father and his children was a series of letters home."A letter from home is worth its weight in gold". I truly came to understand the meaning of this saying. To comfort my lonely father, I often picked up a pen to write him letters. In my letters home, I expressed my worries and showed great concern for his safety and well-being, but my father’s optimistic and humorous replies comforted me. He wrote:"The letter asks about Building No. 2, so listen up: There are many fruit trees in front of Building No. 2, along with an old temple and a hermit (he compares himself to the monk in that old temple). When my daughter comes home on leave, she’ll find your little nest just as it always was!"From this ordinary letter, I saw my father’s revolutionary optimism—his fearlessness in the face of danger and his ability to cope with adversity—which inspired me and brought me great comfort. Soon after, my father was forced to work in a factory. By then, he was already in his seventies and in poor health, yet he remained full of energy and saw it as a valuable opportunity to learn. He was assigned to the binding workshop, where he worked alongside the other workers every day and ate meals with them. Everyone affectionately called him"Old Ye". In an email, he told me:"Every day I go to the factory to learn from my fellow workers, and I’ve learned a great deal from them."He strictly adhered to labor discipline; in addition to completing his assigned tasks, he took every opportunity to conduct research and surveys, learning about production conditions from the factory’s leadership and workers, supporting innovation and creativity, and showing concern for the workers’ lives. In his report to Premier Zhou, he enthusiastically praised the workers’ selfless communist spirit, saying that the workers"Have the courage to offer criticism, engage in debate, and propose reforms."and said that he"We're falling behind—let's catch up!"

During the three years I served in the military in Fujian, my father often wrote to me, offering guidance and advice. He urged me to work hard to arm my mind with Mao Zedong Thought, advised me to take every opportunity on the front lines to learn military knowledge and skills, reminded me not to forget the war, and expressed his hope that I would become a useful member of society. In his letters, he admonished me earnestly:"To become a capable person, one must undergo rigorous training and refinement in order to become someone who benefits the people. You must train diligently,'Scatterbrain'You should reduce the smell a little bit every day."He took comfort in every small step of progress I made, even noticing how well I wrote—in one letter, he wrote:"Your letter—the handwriting is very neat, unlike before when your letters were as big as pigeon eggs. Now you write within the lines, row by row, just like a scholar. You talk about work, discuss your studies, and share your thoughts. Overall, you’ve made great progress over the past year or two. Now that you’ve entered the workforce, you’ve gained some insight into life, and Dad is pleased to see you growing up."

1969surname Nian10In [month], Lin Biao took advantage of the so-called"Order No. 1"...They drove my father and other veteran revolutionaries out of Beijing—in effect, exiling them to other parts of the country. Despite his illness, he was shuttled back and forth between Changsha, Yueyang, Xiangtan, and other places, enduring immense suffering. It wasn’t until1970surname Nian8It was only when the Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Party was convened that month to expose the plot by Lin Biao and Chen Boda to seize power that Dad, along with Uncle Zhu De and Uncle Dong Biwu, returned to Lushan to attend the meeting.

1970That year, on the orders of Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou, my father went to Fujian to investigate Chen Boda’s counterrevolutionary history as part of the “Criticize Chen and Rectify the Work Style” campaign. My father, whom I hadn’t seen for three years, came to visit me at my company. When he found out I had been promoted to squad leader, he said to me:"The Chairman said,'We need to learn how to be class presidents'Being a good class monitor isn’t easy—you can’t cut corners when it comes to teaching by word and example! As a high-ranking official, a little laziness or a few mistakes might not get you in trouble right away. But as a squad leader, you’re face-to-face with your superiors and subordinates every day. If you make a mistake during the day, you’ll be reprimanded that very night. You’ll have to keep your tail tucked between your legs, and your steps will feel heavy as you report to the company commander—all of which are excellent opportunities for personal growth."

1974Year."The Gang of Four"He accelerated his efforts to usurp the Party’s power and suppress its authority, and then engaged in the so-called"Criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius"The campaign turned its sights on Premier Zhou and my father.1moon25Held at the gymnasium on"Criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius"At the mobilization meeting, Jiang Qing suddenly lashed out, saying:"Ye Jianying's daughter was ordered to respond to the call and go to the countryside for re-education through labor."So I had to put my studies on hold and go work on a farm in Fujian. When I was about to leave, my father was very upset; he felt that it was because of him that I was being punished and couldn’t continue my studies. I comforted him, saying, “My older brother and sisters have all been in prison; now it’s my turn. It’s no big deal!”

After arriving at the farm, Dad and I still wrote to each other often and talked about everything under the sun.

exist3moon10In a letter dated [date], he wrote:"Daughter, I got it.3moon6Regarding your letter from the other day, I think I should write back to you, since you are now far away, engaged in such noble work."

In the letter, he urged me to fully appreciate the significance of labor in shaping the world:"Work is the driving force that propels you forward.""As long as one works diligently, gains experience, and hones one’s skills, one not only increases one’s knowledge of production but, more importantly, comes to understand how labor transforms people. One comes to realize how many people who are truly capable of labor—including soldiers engaged in the labor of war, those struggling against nature, and those fighting against counterrevolution—are needed to create the world. Once this is understood, one will consciously and diligently seek out the weapons of thought."Dad kept reminding me,"I hope you'll persevere and complete the task. I'm confident you'll stick with it."

"Life is so fleeting, and the universe is so infinite. People accomplish far-reaching achievements in their brief time on earth; only by passing the torch from generation to generation, continuing the legacy without interruption, and carrying on in a mechanical, routine manner can this be achieved. This raises the major issue of ensuring there are successors to carry on the work."

"Dear Shan'er, be brave and determined as you prepare to carry on the legacy of the previous generation! With your intelligence and sense of justice, you can absolutely do it."

Every letter from my dad is so warm, so heartfelt, and so memorable. I’ve drawn endless strength from my dad’s letters!

Holding this blank maple leaf in my hands, I am reminded of a poem my father wrote during the war years--"Reflections on Reading Comrade Fang Zhimin’s Handwritten Notes." The last two lines of that poem read:"After leaving Wenshan, the moon of the Southern Dynasties once again shines on a single maple leaf on the Qinhuai River."Here, he uses the fiery red maple leaves to pay tribute to a generation of heroic martyrs who devoted their whole hearts to their country and its people. Wasn’t Dad’s life, after all, just like one of these red maple leaves?

I gazed for a long time at the blank maple leaf in my hand, as if I could see my father—who, on his deathbed, seemed to have so much he wanted to say, but in the end said nothing at all.......I’m still clutching that maple leaf in my hand--A maple leaf with no words on it.