1932年至1936年的小学生活
由于家庭的搬迁，我先后曾在四个学校上过小学。小学一年级在光明小学读了上学期。之后又在沪光小学读了下学期。二年级到五年级在觉民小学。六年级转到沪江中小学。每个小学的学习生活都有一些令我难以忘怀的亊情。
我是八兄弟中唯一的一名左撇子。左撇子的生活习惯有时会干扰别人。我吃饭时习惯用左手拿筷子。家里兄弟多。围在大圆桌吃饭时，我左手拿的筷子常常干扰坐在我左边的弟弟。两人的筷子常打架。
母亲建议我改用右手拿筷。我听从了。但左手拿笔写字，在家里不会影响别人。在光明小学上语文课时，老师看我用左手写字。可能她看得有些不习惯。建议我改用右手执笔写字。我那时年幼，也很容易改过来了。
沪光小学是我进的第二个小学。我住校，周末才能回家。平时学校大门紧锁。住校学生出不了校门。不过大门是能一种能移动的铁链门。门内外可以传递物品。白天小贩们聚在门外。学生手里若有另钱，就可以买到零食。但学校不允许买。如果被老师看到，钱会被没收。母亲每周给我贰角钱。我既有过买成功的经历，也有被充公的经历。
学校操场上有一个仿消防队在紧急集合时能快速从二楼速降的立柱结构。上这个立柱玩，很刺激，也很有吸引力。它的结构很简单：一个平台，高约五米。平台中间有一根垂直粗约卄厘米的立柱。站在平台上，双手抱住木杆滑到地面。确很刺激。
但有一次我抱住它住下降时，却发生了意外。下降过程中，我的上衣都撸上去了。我忽然感到肚皮被一根刺刺进去了！到地面时，看到有一根木刺刺进我腹部。我没多想，随手就将刺拔了出来。这根木刺如同一根一头尖的筷子！幸亏它表面光滑，且它仅刺进我的表层。刺拔出后，既没有残留的小刺。也没出血，也没发炎，平安无事。但沪光小学条件差，学习效果不好，母亲决定让我转学。
觉民小学是我进的第三个小学。它位于沪西地丰路，现鸟鲁木齐北路。大哥领我们四兄弟去觉民。觉民是一所教会学校。经考试后，我考上二年级，三名弟弟上一年级。头一年，四兄弟都走读。1934年暑期，学校改造了部分校舍。原一、二年级的平房改造成两层。一楼仍为一、二年级教室。二楼为学生卧室。我和六弟吕维梅住校，七弟、八弟走读。
住读的只有男生。孩子真不少，共约五十来名，卧室内的木床分左右两排靠垟排列。一位照顾我们的老师睡在靠门边。夜间若有学生要上卫生间，得叫醒老师开灯。不过我始终没听见过学生的召唤，也可能是我熟睡没听见。
卧室旁有个漱洗室，但那时我还没在起床后进去刷牙的习惯，
住读的学生中有一位法国籍的男孩。对他我印像最深，迄今还记得的是他的被子很特殊：被子外面是一个被套。而中国孩子的被子都一样：被面是一块四周用白布包住的锦绣。
我是四兄弟中住读时间最久的，从幼儿园到小学五年级一直住读。现在回顾：多年的住读生活培养了我的生活自立能力。
觉民小学四年的学习生活唤醒了我的学习兴趣。其中最重要的一环是打下了我学英语的基础。在觉民，英语是一门主课。英语课本采用较深的《英文津逮》。之后，我发现这是其他学校的初中课本。但语文课并不被重视，我们从来没有写过描红本，从没练习写中文字。
英语老师姓张，女性、住在校内的宿舍。发音淮确。现在回想是标淮的美音。她的教学方法为儿歌与课文并重，生动活泼。她教的那些英语儿歌，迄今我仍能咏唱。由于英语老师的正确引导，我对英语产生了浓厚兴趣。老师每堂课教一课。每课约有卄句，十几个生字。
每次课后，我会抽空将课文背熟。午饭后，我到英语老师休息室，向她背诵这课课文。这成了我的习惯。日积月累，张老师对我的口语能力和发音状况有了底。四年级下学期时，她准备了一个名为《哥伦布发现新大陆》的英语剧本，准备在暑期内学校举行的联欢会上演出。她按排我在该剧中担任主角哥伦布。我六弟吕维梅演一名水手。放假前，该剧己在本班内试演了。可惜因校方取消了原定的联欢会，该剧未能在校内正式演出。
觉民小学的英语教学，萌发了我学英语的兴趣、也给我打下准确发音的扎实基础。 觉民的浓厚学习气氛，使我真正开始了我自觉地学习各门课程的学习生活，
校长倪逢梅是位基督教徒。她十分和善，关心学生。我有一次从楼梯高处滑下，撞伤了嘴唇，下嘴唇厚肿。不知如何是好。她发现后将我领到校医处。校医是她的妹妹。她用酒精棉花反复擦我肿起的嘴唇。当天嘴唇消了肿。
学校每周一上课前，全体师生在操场集中，升国旗。由她领背孙中山先生遗嘱：“余致力国民革命，凡四十年，其目的在求中国之自由平等。积四十年之经验，深知欲达到此目的，必须唤起民众，及联合世界上以平等待我之民族，共同奋斗。现在革命尚未成功。凡我同志，务须依照余所著《建国方略》、《建国大纲》、《三民主义》及《第一次全国代表大会宣言》，继续努力，以求贯彻。最近主张召开国民会议及废除不平等条约，尤须于最短期间，促其实现。是所至嘱”。
抗日战争爆发后，我才明白：原来倪校长通过这一仪式在给全体师生进行爱国、爱中华民族的教育。
平时在学校里我并不感到严肃的传教气氛。只有在午歺时，有个仪式：住校师生六人一桌，一位女老师、五名学生。进歺前，老师会低头，闭眼，领着全桌同学一起轻声祈祷：“感谢上帝赐给我们饭吃。阿门”。祈祷后，大家才一起开始用歺。
觉民小学非常注意课堂秩序。学期开始时，本班同学先在教室门外列成男女同学按身高和男生、女主交替的队伍后、按顺序进入教室。这样每个男生的前后左右都是女同学，消除了上课时交头接耳的现象。身高的同学亦不致于挡住后排同学的视线。上课时老师还告诉大家，要坐稳。不要往后跷，大家也不要交头接耳。谁跷了椅子，后面的学生可以扳他一下，课堂的秩序的确很好。
踢毽子是同学们在课间休息十分钟中最爱玩的游戏。那时我一口气能踢几十个反弓跳。每天下午下课后，我们几个住读学生就在操塲上坐荡浪船，或学习打篮球。
学校的管理，有其特色 ：二年级学习期间，班主任在垟上掛了一个本班学生成绩表：学生每周学习成绩的平均分数分五挡：95分以上贴金色五角星。90-95分贴红星。80-89分贴黄星。70-79分贴綠星。70分及以下为不合格，贴黑星。
二年级是我进觉民的第一年。成绩平平。无金，少红。多数是黄及綠。有一个黑星。二年级下半年，我开始有点入门了。成绩上升：见金，多红及黄，少绿无黑了。
三年级时，老师不再沿用二年级公示学习成绩的方式了。那时我已能自觉学习。不再需借外力的推动或督促了。上四年级时，市教育局组织了一次小学生的常识测验。有一道题我迄今末忘：有轨电车是凭什么力量行驶的？电车司机手握的摇把起什么作用？
我凭平时乘电车时的观察和同司机聊天时他教我的知识，详细正确地回答了这道题。这次常识测验，我得了奖。
我在觉民小学只读到五年级，1937年8月，日军攻打上海地区。南方和北方的八一三事件与卢沟桥事件一起拉开了我国八年抗战的序幕。觉民小学地处沪西，社会秩序不如静安寺以东地区。
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Study in primary school during 1932 to 1936
I had studied in four primary schools due to the movement of my home. The first one was Kwan Ming Primary School where I studied in the first class. Afterward，I studied in Hu Kwang Primary School in the second term of first class. Then studied in Jue Ming Primary School from the second grade to the fifth grade. Changed to study in the sixth grade in the Hu Jiang Primary School. There are some unforgettable happenings in every school.
I am the only leftist among my eight brothers. My living customs might interfere others. In dinner，I used my left hand to hold the chopsiicks. All of my brothers were sitting around the round table when we took lunches. The chopsticks I held in my left hand would meet those of my left side neighbor.
My mother suggested me that it would be better if I changed my custom , tried to hold the chopsticks by my right hand . I changed quite easily，afterward I only hold my chopsticks by my right hand .
When I studied in Kwan Ming Primary School，my teacher of Chinese literature suggested me to write with my right hand instead of left hand. As I was young，it was easy for me to change my customs. I think that she might not be accustomed to see a pupil writing with his left hand.
Hu Kwan was the second primary school I studied. I was a boarder，could return home only on Saturday. The main doors of the school were closed tightly every day， boarders couldn’t get out of the school. But its main doors are a kind of movable door with chains. Peddlers could transmit their things across the main door. There were some peddlers waiting outside the main door for selling their pastry. Pupils with some money could buy some pastry they liked. But if it was met by the teacher, either money or pastry would be confiscated. My mother give me twenty cents every week. It is interesting to remind that I had both the experience of success or failure.
There is an interesting place for me to play in the sports ground of Hu Guan. A vertical wooden post was erected in the center of the play ground. It was likely as a copy of the column erected in each fire brigade station. It has the superiority of fast collection of fire brigade vertically from the second floor to the ground.
I found it to be an exciting and attractive play for me.Its structure was quite simple：on Its platform of 5 meters high there was a hole in its center，. A round wood column with diameter of 20 centimeter was erected directly in is center hole. When I held the column tightly and slid down to the ground，really it was quite stimulate.
An unexpected extra incidence happened once when I held the wood column and slid downward, my shirt had been folded upward ，suddenly I fell, a small but sharp wooden stick cut into the skin of my belly！When I reached the ground，I found a small wooden thorn had stabbed under the skin of my belly，Without any hesitation，I held its end and pulled it out. Nothing more had happened later，no residual small thorn，no blood had been seen and didn’t rakle. The learning condition in this school was not fair, my mother decided that I had to change to another primary school.
Jue Ming was the third primary school I studied，It located on the Di Feng Road ( now the road is called Northern Wulumuqi Road ) which was in the western district of Shanghai. It is a Christian School. My eldest brother Lu Jian Kang brought his four younger brothers：Wei Song，Wei Mei，Wei Bai，and Wei Xue to this school. We passed the entrance examination. I entered the 2nd grade，three younger brothers entered the first grade. All of us were non-resident pupils in the first year. The building of the classroom was rebuilt in the summer vocation，it became a building with two storeies. Its first floor remained as classroom，while the second storey is a large bedroom for boarders.I and Wei Mei were boarders, Wei Bai and Wei Xue remained their non-resident condition. My mother prepared a rickshaw to send and bring them back every day.
I found that all of the boarder pupils were boys. There were about 50 pupils all together. A female teacher sleeping by the door to take care of us. If a pupil needed to get up for the closet, he had to call and awake the teacher. But I hadn’t heard such call once，It might be I slept soundly every night.
There was a washing room beside the bedroom,only I hadn’t the custom to brush my teeth.
A French boy sleeping in this bedroom. I had deep impression about him. His quilt was different from those of Chinese boys. His quilt had a sheath. While the quilt of Chinese boys were all the same：every quilt had a beautiful brocade on its upper side and a white cloth on the lower side which was also used to wrap around the upper sheath.
I lived as a boarder from kindergarten to the fifth grade in the primary school. Among our four brothers, I was the only one with longest time as a boarder. More than five years I studid as a boarder,that had fostered my ability of stand on myself later.
Four years of study in Jue Ming aroused my interest of study. The most important phase was that I had built a solid foundation of English language. In Jue Ming，English was a main course. The English textbook used was Essence of English Language, more difficult than other English course used in other primary school .Later, when I study in the middle school，I found the same book was used.But in Jue Ming，the Chinese language hadn’t been emphasized. We hadn’t the course of exercise of writing Chinese characters. We hadn’t the course of copy the Chinese character from some famous calligraphers.
Our English teacher was a female Mrs. Chang. She also lived in the school in the teacher’s bedroom. She spoke English with accurate pronunciation. Later I found her speaking was of American tone. Her teaching was lively and interesting. She also tought her pupils English songs ,e.g. Jingle Bells etc. I can sing them presently. She taught us one lesson every day.Every lesson had about twenty sentences with about ten new vocabularies. Her effective guiding had roused intensively my interest about the English course.
After each lesson，I would read the lesson many times so that I could recite it fluently. Everyday,after lunch，I would go to the room where teachers rested after lunch. I would recite the lesson learned in the morning before my English teacher. It became my custom.When such kind of behavior accumulated for a long time，teacher Chang had acknowledged my ability of English speaking and the accuracy of my pronunciation.
In the second semester of the fourth grade，she prepared an English drama named”Coulumb Found The New Continent” in the summer vacation. She arranged me to play the role of Colomb and my younger brother Wei Mei to be a sailor. This drama had tried to play before the vacation on the get-together.Only it was quite a pity that the festival was canceled by the school. This drama hadn’t presented in the vacation.
The successful teaching of English course in Jue Ming aroused my strong interest in English language and made me have a solid foundation of accurate pronunciation.
The strong atmosphere of learning in Jue Ming made me begin to learn consciously every course afterward.
Ni Feng Mei was the principle of Jiu Ming. She was a Christian. She was very kind, much care for her pupils.
Once I jumped from a high stairs. My lips were hit and wounded，they swelled. I didn’t know what I should do to cure them. Fortunately，she found me and led me to the Medicine center of the school.The doctor is her younger sister, she wiped my swelled lips by a cotton piece with alcohol several times.My swelled lips were cured in that day.
All the teachers and pupils would gather together in every Monday morning to participate a ceremony. Our National Flag would be raised firstly. Then she would recite the Testament of Sun Zhong Shan： “I had devoted to the national revolution for forty years with the ultimate purpose of liberty and equality of our country. With the accumulation of experiences for forty years,now I deeply know that we must arouse the mass of people and ally all nations that treat us with equality around the world，and struggle together with us. As the revolution hadn’t succeeded at present，all of our comrades should continue our struggle according to my writings：General Plan of construction of our country, The Guiding Principle of construction of our country, Three Principles and Declaration of the First session of National Delegates. Continue our great efforts to put them effectively. Recently I intended to convene the National People’s Congress and abolish all unequal treaties. All of these should be realized in the possible shortest period .All of these are my testament“ I understand these after the beginning of the Anti-Japanese war that the ceremony arranged by principle Ni has the object of patriotism education for every pupil. I hadn’t felt any awe inspiring atmosphere of missionary work in my school. Only at lunch, it was arranged that every table had six person：five pupils and one of their female teacher sat around the table. Before we begin to take lunch，our teacher would lower her head，close her eyes, speak with light sound：Thanks God donates us the lunch.Amen.
Jue Ming paid great attention about the order in the classroom. On the first day of every semester，all the pupils of the same class should wait outside the door of their classroom，boys and girls lined up separately into two queue according tothe order of their height. Each line would enter the classroom alternately with one boy and one girl. It results that every pupil was surrounded by a different sex pupil in the classroom. No more gossips between the boys or girls could happened，and every pupil would not be shut by a higher one sitting forward. Teachers also mention the pupils that they should sit orderly, not to rock his chair backward. Every one had the right to pull the forward pupil when he rocked backward. All these made the classroom orderly everyday.
Kicking shuttlecock was a popular playing in my class in the interval between two classes，I could jump up and kick the shuttlecock in the backward by my left leg for twenty times.
After every day’s class，I and several boarders liked to play on a suspended ship and swing it forward and backward. Sometimes several of us would like to play the volley ball .
Management of our class was with some special distinguishing measures
During the second grade，chairman of our class placed a list on the wall. It recorded the average marks of each classmate in every week. There are five grades：gold pentacle star for more than 95 points. red star for 90-95 points. yellow star for 80-89 points. green star for70-79points. And black star which means not passed，for less than70 points.
In the first year in Jue Ming，I studied in the second grade .My achievement was quite common：No gold star, only several red stars，most results are yellow stars and green stars, had a black star.
In the second semester of the first year，I felt better.My study results became：Had gold star，most of my results were red and yellow，less green and no black，
In the third class，no more publication of study results of each pupil.I had the custom of self-consciousness of study. For me，help of outside influences was not needed. In the fourth grade，the Education Bureau of Shanghai organized a test of some ordinary knowledge for the pupils of several primary school.There was a question I remember at present：What is the driving force of tramcars？What is the function of the handle held by the tramcar driver？
As I had the habit when I get onto the tramcar，I would stand by the driver and asked the tramcar driver this and that ,what he was doing and why it was so. I replied these questions accurately and I had win the award of this test.
In August 13 of 1937、Japanese troops started their invasion in the area of Shanghai together with their invasion in the northern region of China. Since that day,started the solemn battles against Japanese which continued for eight years. As the Jue Ming primary School located in the western region of Shanghai，its safety was not as well as the eastern part of Shanghai.