The sudden ” September 11 Incident” in the United States shocked the whole world and shocked everyone’s heart. When I first saw the horror scene on TV, I was at a loss and I was numb.
About a week after “September 11”, I read books at home alone. When I saw the words “World Trade Center”, my heart suddenly shocked. Was it not a terrorist attack a few days ago? Has it not collapsed? The mood was low and the emotions were out of control. I immediately put down the book in my hand and lie prone on the arm of the sofa and cried out, and then I cried…… After crying, I thought quietly: What can I do for this? Can I go to the United States? Do some aftercare work? This is impossible; can I donate money? Donations are OK, but compared with hundreds of millions of generous donors, I am too few, and even let foreigners laugh ; what else can I do? I can write a funeral oration for the victims of the September 11th. This is beyond doubt!
It was decided to write the funeral oration. This thing God knows that, earth knows and I was knows, no one else knows. If you don’t do things, you always want to find some reasons, such as no time, no information, and you can do it later. Even if you write it, where are you going to commemorate? Even publishing in domestic newspapers is impossible.
Time is constantly moving forward in the long river of years. It washes your memory, or wakes up your conscience. It was almost three years since the “September 11th Incident” in the first half of 2004. Where was the ritual that I promised? Time once again evoked my conscience. If there is a commitment, there should be actions and results to fulfill the commitment. Can’t delay any more, you must start writing immediately. It has been more than two years since thing started. If original it was easy to collect information, where can I find it now? So, I remembered going back to my alma mater, went back to the library of Shanxi Normal University, procedures the borrowing card, and found the information in the database.
The Chinese tradition is very important to pay attention to the third anniversary of the memorial. Therefore, the title of the ritual is naturally the “In Memory of the 3rd Anniversary of the September 11th Victims”. After days and nights of writing, the sacrifice article is finished. The purpose of writing a ritual is to sacrifice and to publish. In the contemporary China, neither of these two things is feasible. The most promising place is the US Embassy. I immediately sent the essay and made my request, but I still couldn’t get an echo and I think it is hopeless.
On the eve of the third anniversary of the “September 11th Incident”, no matter how to make a decision, where can I hold a memorial ceremony ! Thinking about going, I still go to the capital. There are so many universities there, maybe one is acceptable. So, I went to Beijing on September 1st and lived in Peking University. I wrote it overnight. On the second day, I sent a long letter and a tribute to the headmasters of eight universities including Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Renmin University of China, and I was asked to come during the “September 11” sacrifice. A few days later, I contacted them by phone and none of the eight universities agreed. Tsinghua University’s reply to me on the phone is: We only invite Nobel Prize winners to lecture, and your speech is absolutely unacceptable! All hopes were shattered. On September 12, I had to go home by train and return without success. This, it is a self-funded tour into Beijing!
In the winter of 2015, I came to the United States, and the “September 11 Incident” once again met me. I often pay attention to this matter online. In the summer of 2016, a message came to my attention: the American Hotel Chinese Association will hold the 15th Anniversary of the September 11th at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in New York. I finally had this hope, and then I contacted them and went to Manhattan .They agreed to my live recitation on the morning of September 10th.
In order to be able to proficiently recite, it is difficult to memorize more than 450 lines of sacrifice. Even if the manuscripts are selected, it will be more than 140 lines, which is not easy. There is no other way, only work hard. Therefore, I have to go recitation the day, night, and rest days, and even walk recitation. What is even less known is that I have to waking up in the middle of the night recitation. Whenever I go recitation to the sad place, I naturally shed tears and sometimes flow on the pillow. It is no exaggeration to say that for the “9.11 incident”, I am one of the people who shed most tears in addition to relatives.
On September 10th, I am on leave to take the bus, from Delaware to New York Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, participated in memorial activities that have been hoped for more than a decade. Later, the US Congresswoman Nadia M. Velazquez who was present, shook hands with me and said, “Your pain is also our pain!”
The next day’s “Sing Tao Daily” reported in a timely manner: “Zhu Hongxing, a middle-aged scholar from Linfen, Shanxi Province, also recited his long poem “The 15th Anniversary of the September 11th Victims”, “The Statue of Liberty is shed its tears, The Manhattan Island is lamenting, The five continents lit the lights at the same time, pray for your soul to rest at peace. Let the miss of the friends and relatives, turned into a bridge of sacrifice; let the victory news of combating terrorists, comfort your soul! Rest in peace, rest in peace! He recitations aloud in crying touched everyone present, and many people had tears in their eyes.”
The event is over. For me, the wish for more than a decade has finally come true. For this matter, I can calmly recall it.