臧克家与作家王希坚、王愿坚

臧克家和作家王希坚、王愿坚二兄弟都是山东诸城人,臧、王两家有多重亲戚关系,交往甚密。王希坚的妹妹嫁给了臧克家的侄辈,臧克家的发妻王深汀则是王氏二兄弟的平辈姐姐。王希坚的父亲王翔千是臧克家早年加入共产党的介绍人。反右斗争中,王希坚被错划为右派,但臧克家却认定“他是个好人”。王愿坚的《亲人》被批“人性论”的时候,臧克家仗义执言称“这篇小说写得很好”。王愿坚则以“文学后辈”的姿态来看待臧克家,认为臧克家“是一条奔腾的大河”。

Zang Kejia and the writers Wang Xijian and Wang Yuanjian

Zang Kejia had close association with the writers Wang Xijian and Wang Yuanjian, who were brothers. All coming from Zhucheng, Shangdong Province, they three were in-laws. Wang Xijian's younger sister was married to one of Zang's nephews, and Zang's first wife Wang Shenting was one of Wang's sisters. Wang Xijian's father Wang Xiangqian had introduced Zang to the Communist Party. Zang insisted that Wang Xijian was a “good man” when the latter was denounced as a rightist in the anti-rightist campaign in 1957, and he spoke out boldly that Wang Yuanjian's novel Flesh and Blood was a “good novel” when it was accused of advocating “the theory of human nature.” Wang Yuanjian modestly took himself as Zang's junior partner in literature, and praised him as “a great rolling river.”