2007年2月24日中午，當(dāng)著名相聲藝術(shù)家姜昆和戴志誠出現(xiàn)在美國華盛頓中國知青協(xié)會春節(jié)聚會現(xiàn)場時，到會的數(shù)百名會員們都感到驚喜!

姜昆是隨2007新春中國廣播藝術(shù)團(tuán)抵美巡演的。他們從洛杉磯到華盛頓的當(dāng)天，就在馬里蘭州開始了首場演出，姜昆和搭檔戴志誠的相聲《精彩網(wǎng)絡(luò)》是整臺演出的壓軸戲。演出中，當(dāng)姜昆看到演出的舞臺四周都設(shè)有包廂，并坐滿了觀眾，于是當(dāng)即不安地對舞臺背面的觀眾表示道歉，并自我調(diào)侃地安慰觀眾說：“你們并不吃虧，因?yàn)槲覀z的背面比正面更好看?！边@幾句即興而發(fā)的開場白，顯示出藝術(shù)家深厚的語言功底，博得全場觀眾理解的笑聲，接下來的相聲段子和精彩“包袱”，更逗得全場觀眾捧腹。當(dāng)演出結(jié)束深夜卸妝后，姜昆得知第二天中午華盛頓中國知青協(xié)會有一個春節(jié)聚會，知青朋友特別想見到姜昆，但主辦方考慮到姜昆連日奔波勞頓，其后還有繁重的演出任務(wù)，便勸他不要前往，留在旅館好好休息。然而難以割舍的知青情結(jié)驅(qū)使姜昆不顧疲勞當(dāng)即出發(fā)，他要帶著真情去看一看海外的知青戰(zhàn)友！

眾所周知，姜昆是個“鐵桿知青”，他在黑龍江北大荒建設(shè)兵團(tuán)曾經(jīng)度過八個春秋。在那片黑土地上飽嘗生活的酸甜苦辣，也收獲了愛情。他常說，“有北大荒這碗酒墊底”，自己才能在藝術(shù)上而且在理念和為人上有今日的成就。不久前姜昆榮獲“世界杰出華人獎”，同時被美國哈姆斯頓大學(xué)授予榮譽(yù)博士學(xué)位，但姜昆覺得這份榮譽(yù)屬于中國，也屬于中國知青!

當(dāng)姜昆就像一個久違的戰(zhàn)友，出現(xiàn)在華盛頓中國知青協(xié)會春節(jié)聚會時，他與大家促膝相坐，敘舊情、拉家常，同唱一首《軍墾戰(zhàn)歌》，還熱情地詢問當(dāng)年兵團(tuán)一個又一個戰(zhàn)友：“你是幾團(tuán)的?”“你是幾排的？”戰(zhàn)友們說：國內(nèi)來華府演出的明星大腕著實(shí)不少，但多半在官員的簇?fù)砘螂S從的保護(hù)下與觀眾保持距離，像姜昆這樣真正走到民間的藝術(shù)家真當(dāng)為數(shù)不多，這份真情難能可貴！

姜昆動情地說，我小時候吃著母親的奶、長大了得到黑土地的滋養(yǎng)，走到哪里都割舍不了這份知青情結(jié)，我不能忘記一起同甘共苦過的知青戰(zhàn)友們啊！說著說著，他朗誦起他女兒曾經(jīng)唱過的一首獻(xiàn)給北大荒的歌：“說不清的黑土地，為什么這樣有魅力?引得多少好兒女，千里萬里來尋你，害得多少好兒女，天涯海角也想你……”是的，北京知青楊陸雅說，當(dāng)年我們這些十多歲的青年，在當(dāng)時那種形勢下不論出于什么目的，一聲令下就義無反顧地奔向祖國的四面八方，將自己的青春、熱血和汗水拋灑在那里，這種經(jīng)歷和感受，并不是人人都有的。

海外的中國知青不僅有“土插隊(duì)”的經(jīng)歷，還有“洋插隊(duì)”體驗(yàn)，如果說“土插隊(duì)”是對人的生活和體力上的考驗(yàn)，而“洋插隊(duì)”除了這些還有難以排解的孤獨(dú)感、鄉(xiāng)愁以及文化上的沖突，這些對人精神上的刺激更強(qiáng)烈。姜昆很能理解這份特殊的情感，他有個聰明的女兒，從小秉承父志能歌善唱，獲得的掌聲和叫好聲不絕于耳。為了避免女兒嬌氣，使她早些獨(dú)立，于是姜昆夫婦決定放飛女兒，讓15歲的姜姍飛到遙遠(yuǎn)的澳洲留學(xué)，此時女兒的年齡正是姜昆到北大荒的年齡。初出國門的留學(xué)生那種孤雁離群、生活無助的飄零感比北大荒好不了多少，何況姜姍還是一個未成年的孩子，但姜昆認(rèn)為給孩子最好的禮物是幫助她樹立自立于社會的精神，在女兒回國時姜昆還特意帶她回了一趟北大荒。北大荒之行對姜姍震動很大，姜姍看到那樣惡劣的環(huán)境曾伴隨了父母8年時光，那是多么不容易?。』氐矫绹?，女兒將困擾了自己許久的失落感拋在腦后，更加勤奮地學(xué)習(xí)，也更懂得珍惜生活和機(jī)遇。

姜昆告訴戰(zhàn)友們，曾有美國人發(fā)問：既然你這么喜歡黑土地，為什么還要把女兒送到西方來?他回答，時代環(huán)境不同了，女兒如果出生在我們那個時代，也許和我一樣去了黑土地，但現(xiàn)在我們的國家需要知識型的人才?？蓪Ψ剿坪踹€不理解，姜昆便幽默地說，你們會慢慢理解的，這也許要8年的時間！一番話引得眾人大笑。

知青李翔問姜昆，當(dāng)年在去北大荒的火車上姜昆曾創(chuàng)作了一首《毛主席語錄歌》，并邀請一位姑娘一同演唱，你還記得這段往事和那首歌嗎?姜昆回答，這個姑娘就是一起到軍墾農(nóng)場的知青戰(zhàn)友，也就是他現(xiàn)在的太太李靜民。說著，當(dāng)場演唱了兩段歌詞；知青協(xié)會蔣工偉會長向姜昆贈送了一件水晶工藝品，上面鐫刻著“贈姜昆：知青笑相逢，異國敘鄉(xiāng)情”幾個字，筆者擅長剪紙，也受托現(xiàn)場表演剪紙送給姜昆。我剪了一對大紅的雙喜，表達(dá)大家喜慶佳節(jié)喜迎笑星的心情，還剪了一條綴滿100朵花蝶的吉祥哈達(dá)掛在他的脖子上，希望他常來常往。姜昆打趣道：“戴上這個，我走路得加倍小心!”姜昆回贈知青協(xié)會十?dāng)?shù)本《姜昆外傳》，打開扉頁，他寫上如下一段話與知青朋友共勉：“生活是天平，每個人都得選準(zhǔn)自己的砝碼，知道自己有多大分量。”

盡管帶著旅途的疲倦，其間還被鳳凰衛(wèi)視“打劫”，姜昆還是情緒飽滿地與搭檔戴志誠為大家表演了一段精彩的相聲段子。事后一些知青才得知，就在姜昆出國幾天前他83歲高齡的老母親病重住院搶救，但為給海外同胞送歡笑，姜昆登機(jī)前在醫(yī)院揮淚別老母，于是大家更為姜昆的藝德所感動。

（本文照片由華盛頓中國知青協(xié)會提供）

Crosstalk Artist Meets ZhiqingFellows in USA

By He Hongyi

Jiang Kun， now a celebrated cross-talk artist， used to be a Zhiqing* in the northeast China.

There are millions of Zhiqing like Jiang Kun in China. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)， millions of middle school graduates in cities packed up and went to countryside to live and work with farmers. The government of that time probably took this measure to solve employment problems for the jobless young people. But for these urban teenagers， the life in rural areas， army farms or border regions， forever changed them. For different Zhiqing people， the term can reminds them of a full gamut of positive and negative things in their life of that period， including their youthful passion and devotion， their loss and some bad consequences. Today， some people with a Zhiqing background are prominent figures in various fields. Some Zhiqing would jokingly describe their stay in a foreign country as another experience of going to the countryside to live and work in a production team.

After the Spring Festival in 2007， the China Broadcast Arts Troupe visited the United States to stage shows for both Chinese living there and Americans with Chinese roots. Jiang Kun came with the troupe. After shows in Los Angeles， the troupe flew to Washington and started a performance in Maryland immediately. After the show that night， Jiang learned that several hundreds of Zhiqing in Washington DC would meet the next day to celebrate the Chinese New Year and the leaders of the Washington Zhiqing Association asked if Jiang would attend. Despite a very tight schedule， Jiang decided to meet his comrades in USA with his cross-talk partner Dai Zhicheng.

When Jiang Kun and his partner appeared at the reunion on February 24， 2007， it was a delightful surprise to all the Zhiqing present.The eight years he had spent in northeast China qualified him as a true-blue Zhiqing. At the get-together， he chatted nostalgically with those Zhiqing in USA about their shared past. They sang their regimental battle song of that time， talked about units each belonged there， and swapped Zhiqing anecdotes and their life stories.

The overseas Zhiqing experienced in foreign countries more than what they experienced decades ago in rural areas. The Zhiqing experience always motivates them to work hard for life achievements and many attribute their success to their Zhiqing past. Jiang Kun knows that all too well. His daughter went overseas for education at the age of 15， exactly the same age when Jiang himself went to the Great Northern Wilderness. Jiang Kun and his wife decided to let her go in order to avoid spoiling her with too many material comforts at home. The daughter experienced loneliness. When she came back home for a visit， the father took the daughter to the northeast China to see what he had experienced for eight years in the Great Northern Wilderness. This short simulated Zhiqing experience provided the daughter with an insight into the meaning of life. Compared with what her parents had during that time， she began to treasure the opportunities she had at this age.

At the Zhiqing get-together， Jiang Kun and Zhiqing representatives exchanged gifts. Jiang’s gifts were a dozen copies of his own biography. He received a crystal handicraft article and paper-cut works. Of course， Jiang and his partner performed funny cross talks to entertain Zhiqing in Washington.

* Educated youth， referring in particular to middle-school graduates who went to farm work in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

(Translated by David)