Interview Appreciation: The Missionary

"Dearest teacher Yin, thank you for your kind words in writing about my visit. I am deeply moved."

"Teacher Yin, you also need to know a little bit about my piano. I learned piano by myself at the age of 20 and entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as a novice. Thank you for entering my life and digging out the true meaning of struggle!"

"Ah! Dear Teacher Yin, you are interpreting my life and reinterpreting the essence of life. There is no lack of meaning: where do people come from and where do they go?

Ah! Your pen is sharp, no one can escape your gaze. And it is so fast, that is the spirit! Thank you! "

——The above three paragraphs are the interactions that Mr. Dong sent to me recently!

The next two paragraphs are from my readers and friends. They all sent me their self-reflection on the morning of August 15, 2024, after reading my story about Teacher Dong. They are as follows:

"Mr. Yin, Mr. Dong's low profile stems from his reverence for the music hall. Ignorance is fearless. His character is worthy of learning and respect from us mortals. Judging from his piano learning process, he is a man with a mission just like you."

“99% sweat + 1% talent = 100% success, but the most critical and the most lacking is 1% talent, which is the 100% most important “1”.”

Here’s my continuation!

(Four)

Mr. Dong was sitting very close to me that day, and I deliberately, out of curiosity, wanted to take a peek at his hands to see what they looked like.

At first glance, they are a pair of big, thick, and powerful hands, not like onion roots, not thin and long. (Once Kong Xiangdong and I had dinner together, and he happened to sit next to me, so I also saw his calloused hands. I didn't expect that their hands are very similar.) It seems that they practiced the piano so hard, yes! Their hands are as powerful as the hands that can be tempered into steel in "Our Workers Have Strength"!

From his words, I heard that he was just a worker practicing piano back then, and he had to endure so much contemptuous looks from others. Although he didn't say it explicitly that day, I could see that Mr. Dong used his personal will to restrain the snobbery of outsiders and his own loss of face. It's really sad to think about it. He and other students like Kong Xiangdong had completely different learning backgrounds.

What I want to ask here is, how much do you know about those teachers who were once called teachers by students? Who is the ultimate talent and who will take on the mission of life? Aren’t these the social realities that Mr. Dong encountered during his growth!

Yes, we should not forget this golden saying in society: "Life is the source of art!" And we should not be like Ye Gong who only loves dragons but does not care about them.

If there is no love in life, how can one write "Butterfly Lovers"? (Yes! Chen Gang himself said that when he composed the music for "Butterfly Lovers", he happened to be in the midst of a broken heart!)

In life, without the hardships in life, how can we know the sufferings of the world?

I think that Mr. Dong’s life experience must not have been in vain for him. Only by going through this can he deeply understand the warmth and coldness of the world. Otherwise, how can he arouse his sense of mission in life? What practical significance does it have?

During our conversation, I wanted to curse twice: "Bullshit!" But he stopped me with his next words. I was impressed by him. This man is a truly extraordinary musician, and his performance is even more vivid than "20, a layman, learning piano". How could this be? Was it the Virgin Mary's care for him?

The first thing is that he is good at learning to play the piano. If I just heard the introduction of him as a pianist, I would have grumbled in my stomach and had some "bullshit" thoughts about him!

The reason is very simple, this is what I saw:

There should be many excellent performers in the world, too numerous to mention! I won't name them here! But I've heard too many fake selections in society, such as hidden rules, black hole operations, money-for-power transactions, etc., and I'm already disgusted. Isn't the "Voice of China" on TV a case in point? So who can we trust? Of course, if Li Yundi didn't have a fair international stage, he wouldn't be where he is today.

Therefore, in my mind, if someone claims to be a xx performer, I will look at him/her carefully for a few more times, because I am just an outsider watching the fun!

Mr. Dong is not like that. After he learned to play the piano, he immediately turned around and learned to compose music. After hearing this, I retracted the word "bullshit". His image in front of me immediately became taller. If he had really good compositions, then they would immediately become the common spiritual sustenance of all mankind. Isn't it the case for all the great musicians in the world? The same is true. There is no need to mention too many big names here to pretend that you are knowledgeable! Your playing can be random, mixed, and muddled...but only your compositions can be commented on by everyone! (In my daily life, I once said to one of my apprentices, Yao Kairui, that no matter how good you are at playing the piano, it is still bullshit! It is just for your own entertainment. Only when you compose music and have good works, this is your best contribution to mankind!)

Mr. Dong in front of us has done it, and he has succeeded!

No! Later I told him that there was a mission in his life behind this!

As for my second "bullshit", it was his words that made me back off.

In the fifth line of the poem Mr. Zhang Xiangyu wrote for Mr. Dong, he wrote:

"I left my hometown for forty hot coins."

Yes, I already know that he is now an overseas Chinese musician. We are meeting each other!

When introducing himself, he said: In 1985, he left his hometown with only 40 US dollars in his pocket and came to a foreign country. He was at a loss at the beginning!

(When Chen Yifei first went to the United States, he only had fifty dollars on him. I really can’t imagine that Mr. Dong has even less. How did he get by?)

No, no, no! I have a curious question here. What I want to ask is, you are already working in the Shanghai Orchestra, why did you think of going to the West? Wouldn’t the voice of the Virgin Mary ring in your ears again? (Part 1)