人类的第一声啼哭，也许是世间最动人的歌。但有谁知道所有的婴儿呱呱坠地都带着一个巨大的谜团而来——只要从娘胎里一生下来，都紧握两个小拳头，没有人解释得清楚是为什么。
无论是出生在大富之家，还是寒门草屋，无论是出生在医院洁白干净的病床上，还是接生婆侍弄的脏兮兮的火炕上，或是等不及匆匆生在路途中，甚至茅厕里、草丛中、树林里、舟车中，无论是白种人、黑种人、黄种人，无论是男婴儿，还是女婴儿，只要人出生，一定是准拳击手的模样。即使眼睛紧闭着，那两只稚嫩的肉乎乎的小手，紧握成拳，伴随哇哇的啼哭，上下轻轻挥舞，是在示威，还是在挑战？亦或是表示生命的不可侵犯？
生在富贵之家的你，衣食无忧，似乎不应该用握拳来对付危险和未知世界。生在平民百姓家的你，又怎知在你的周围充满了真挚的爱，无须握拳以对。即使不幸的你，面临初生的重重险境，握拳能摆脱什么呢？
幼小的生命是脆弱的，即使紧握拳头，也不能成为武器，既不能保护自己，也不能攻击别人，那么人为什么要握拳而来呢？
人生开挂，握拳而来，一定是有原因的，一定是在握着秘密，握着天机，也许是生命的密码。正因为如此，才成为生命之谜。
有多少人想解开这一生命之谜！但是谜底在哪里呢？书上没有，现实中也没有。于是，各种传说就不胫而走。有人说左手讨债，右手还债。有人说左手烟火，右手诗意。有人说左手握现在，右手握未来。有人说两只拳头攥着宿命。还有人说是本能，要抓住生命中的每一秒、每一分钟。
我奶奶说：“孩子生下来就是要讨生活的，娘胎里就准备好了，就握着小拳头。”
我相信我奶奶说得有道理。无论生在朱门还是寻常百姓家，每个人都要生存。生存之道，是要靠讨才能得来。讨生活，有要的意思，有争取的意思。对于大多数的我们来说，要是要不来的，只有少数人，生来就衣食无忧，甚至过一辈子衣来伸手饭来张口锦衣美食的日子，而我们大多数人只能争取，才可生存。这个争取，就是靠诚实劳动，靠奋斗、靠勤俭，才活得下来，才活得踏实，才活得精彩。
在我出生后，我奶奶就把我兜在她宽大的缗裆裤上。她就喜欢我的小拳头，爱不释手地抚摸，还轻轻地试图把我的小手指一一掰开，但是我的小手指会自然地收回，握紧，还原为小拳头。她对我娘说：“所有的孩子，都握着拳头来，这个孩子，小拳头握得紧，有劲儿哩！”缗裆裤是在北方农村常见的裤子。青布制成，肥大宽松，穿着时不用腰带，只需将裤腰在腹部左边开始裹紧，多余的部分向右展平，掖在裤腰下一卷，就会紧紧地绷在腰上了。她的缗裆裤成了我的摇篮。我就是在这柔软带着奶奶体温的“摇篮”中长大的。她常教导我：“你爷爷带着农民闹农会，被地主还乡团吊在房梁上，用烧红的火筷子穿心杀死的。你爷爷有一点文化，他常拿着一卷书本对穷人讲：天地生人，有一人当有一人之业；人生在世，活一日当尽一日之勤。”直到后来，我才明白我爷爷奶奶留给我的是多么珍贵一份精神财富。
后来有一天，奶奶死了，我记得她是张着两只手走的，两只干巴瘦瘪的手，无力地张开，手心朝上。这空空的两只手，给我留下难忘的印象。我试图把一块窝头放在她手上，但是滑落在地上，我接着试图把一个钢蹦放在她手心上，还是滑落下来。我娘说：“你奶奶什么也不要。她就希望你长大成人，成为一个能自己讨生活的人！”
从那时起我就明白，人走的时候，是空着两只手的。“天地生人，有一人当有一人之业；人生在世，活一日当尽一日之勤。”这是多么深刻的人生哲理，前半句是人类大同的理想，后半句是靠奋斗才能讨生活的现实。这才是人生终极密码，经过无数鲜血和生命而书写在大地上的诗歌，经过岁月的洗礼，渐渐变得凝练恢弘，静静地阅读凝视它，会不经意看到岁月映照的万丈光芒，感受到震撼灵魂深处的力量…
既然要讨生活，就要靠自己的诚实劳动，靠奋斗，靠勤奋。我每天工作之余，坚持阅读和写作，特别是每天坚持早起，甚至凌晨3点，就开始了我的文学创作。因为9点钟我还要上班，和其他人一样，努力工作。所以，我必须牺牲休息时间，在业余时间争分夺秒。中国出版集团中译出版社（前身为中国对外翻译出版社）先后出版了我的四本书《和谐之歌》《逆流而上》《大地》《猫台》。我并没有满足或懈怠下来，而是继续笔耕不辍。与别人不一样的是我不断挑战人生的高度，用英文写作。几十年坚持不懈下来，出版了十五本书籍，其中有五本是用英文写的，——For the Existence Partners of Human Beings>在国外出版，成为中国文学走出去的先行者之一。此外，我还在中国日报网天下专栏发表了海量的中英文双语诗歌和双语散文等作品，特别是对中国古典文学的双语介绍，助力中国文学走向世界。
人生是什么，也许对于某些人来说是一树繁花，但对大多数人来说是过程，而我认为人生就是四季风景画。大自然有春夏秋冬，有四季的美，而我们人类也有少年、青年、中年、老年四个阶段。我们能否像美丽大自然那样呈现四季的美呢？特别是人到中年或步入老年，喜怒哀乐，悲欢离合，使多少人颓唐了。“四十不惑，五十知天命，”是消靡人生的反应。那么作为一个人，我们也应该在人生的四个阶段，尽自己的努力，走好自己的路，让每个阶段都问心无愧。逆境时不气馁，顺境时不懈怠，怀着一颗拳拳报国之心，与人民同在，与祖国同行，与时代同进！
人生下来是握拳而出的，走的时候是撒手而去，两手空空，什么也带不走。因此，面对坎坷，无需彷徨和迷茫，握紧双拳，讨自己的生活去！
Human Were Born With Two Clenched Fists -- Preface to the Publication of
By Wang Yongli
Every human being’s first cry is perhaps the most moving song in the world. But who knows there is a great mystery that all babies, born from the womb, must clench their two fists! It seems that no one can explain the mystery clearly.
Whether in a rich or a poor family, whether in a mansion or a shabby hut, or in a white and clean hospital bed served by a doctor, or on a dirty earth bed served by a midwife, whether you can't wait to be born on the way, even in a toilet, or in grass, in woods, or in a boat or in a car, and whether you are white, or black, or yellow, male or female, as long as you were born, you must clench two fists! The posture must look like a would-be boxer. Even you close your eyes, while your two tender little hands must clench into fists. Accompanied by wailing, you gently wave up and down your fists. What does it mean? Does it mean demonstrating or challenging? Or does it mean the inviolability of life?
Born in a rich family, you have no worries about food and clothing for your life time. It seems that you do not need clenching your fists to deal with your world. Born in the common people's home, how can you know that you are full of sincere love around you, so that you also do not need clenching your fists. Facing the dangerous and unknown world, even if you clench two fists, how can you get rid of the dangers?
A young life is very fragile. Even if you clench your two fists, you can't turn your fists into weapons. During such fragile time, you can't protect yourself, or attack others. Why human beings were born with two clenched fists?
There must be a reason for it. The phenomenon people were born with two clenched fists must mean a huge secret! God's design must not be revealed to mortal ears. It may be the password of life. Just because of this, it has become a real mystery of life.
How many people want to reveal this mystery of life! But where is the answer? Not in the book, nor in reality. Thus, various legends spread like wildfire. Some people say that the left hand collects debts and the right hand pays debts. Some people say that fireworks in the left hand and poetry in the right one. Some people say that the left hand holds the present and the right hand holds the future. Some people say two fists clench fate. Others say it's instinct to seize every second and every minute of life.
My grandmother said, "People were born to make a living! They are ready in the womb and so everyone holds two small fists."
I believe my grandmother has a point. Whether born in portals of the rich or ordinary homes, everyone must survive. The way to survive for us depends on how to make a living. Only a few people were born with no worries about their livings, and even live a perfect life of luxurious clothes and delicious food. But most of us must work hard to make a living, or during our whole life we are struggling to survive. Only through honest labor, struggle and thrift can we survive, and can we live a steady life or live a brilliant life.
After I was born, my grandmother put me on her wide crotch of trousers. She liked my little fists, fondled them fondly, and gently tried to open my little fists one by one. But my five little fingers would naturally retract, clench and return to a small fist. She said to my mother, "all children hold their fists. This child holds his fists tightly and has strength!"
Wide crotch trousers are common clothing in northern rural areas of China. It's made of green cloth, fat and loose. People don't need a belt when wearing it. Just wrap the trouser waist on the left side of the abdomen, flatten the excess part to the right, and tuck it, and then it will be tightly stretched on one’s waist. Her wide crotch trousers became my cradle. I grew up in this soft "cradle" with Grandma's temperature. She often taught me: "Your grandfather leaded the peasants to make a peasant association, trying to let all impoverished live a good life. But unfortunately he was hung on the beam of the house by the landlord's Return Group and killed with red fire chopsticks through his heart. Your grandfather was a teacher. He often told the poor with a Book: It is by the Nature that people come into this world, and so everyone should have a job; when a man is alive on the earth, he should work hard every day." Until later, I realized how precious a spiritual wealth my grandparents left me.
Then one day, grandma died. I remember that she passed away with her two empty hands. Her two dry and shriveled hands were weakly open and her palms were facing upward. These empty hands left an unforgettable impression on me. I tried to put a small piece of steamed bread of corn on her hand, but it slipped to the ground. Then I tried to put a coin on her palm, but it slipped too. My mother said, "Your grandmother doesn't want anything. She wants you to grow up and become a person who can make a living by yourself!"
Since then, I have understood that people pass away with empty hands. "It is by the Nature that people come into this world, and so everyone should have a job; when a man is alive on the earth, he should work hard every day." This is what a profound philosophy of life. The first half sentence is the ideal of human harmony, and the second half is the reality of living by struggle. This is the ultimate password of life, the poetry written on the earth. After countless blood and lives and after the baptism of years, the philosophy has gradually become concise and magnificent. If you read and stare at it quietly, you will inadvertently see the light reflected by years and feel the power that shocks the depths of the soul.
Since we want to make a living, we must rely on our own honest labor, struggle and diligence. For many years, I have been devoting my spare time on reading and writing, especially getting up early every day, and even starting my literary creation at 3 a.m. On working days, from 9 am to 5 pm, I must work hard for my job, like others. Therefore, I must sacrifice my rest time and race against time in my spare time. China Translation Publishing House of China Publishing Group has successively published my four books, Song of harmony, Upstream, Great Land, Cat Director. Instead of being satisfied or slacking off, I continued to write. Unlike others, I constantly challenge the height of life and write in English. After decades of unremitting efforts, I have written 15 books, and five of which are written in English, < resuming a secular life > < scented apricot flowers > < the hell and the world > < up streaming > < the songs of Harmony - for the existence partners of human beings >, which have been published abroad. I have become one of the pioneers of Chinese literature going global. In addition, I also wrote a large number of Chinese and English bilingual poems and essays for the World Column of China Daily, especially I wrote many Bilingual Introductions to Chinese classical literature, which help English readers to understand Chinese literature and culture.
What is life? For some people, it may be a tree full of flowers. But for most of us, life is a process of living. As I think life is like a landscape painting of the four seasons. Nature has the beauty of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and humans also have four seasons or four stages: youth, middle age and old age. Can we glamorize the beauty of the four seasons like the beautiful nature? Especially when people are middle-aged or older, their joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, make many people decadent. "Forty don't doubt, fifty know destiny," is a reaction to consume life. Then as a person, we should make our own efforts in the four stages of life, take our own road, and let each stage have a clear conscience. I do not be discouraged in times of adversity and do not slack off in times of prosperity. With a heart of serving the country, I stay with the people, walk with the motherland and advance with the times!
People were born with clenched fists. When they die, they are empty handed and can't take anything away. Therefore, in the face of ups and downs, without hesitation and confusion, all of us clench our fists to make a living!
