Photo by Deng Yingchao and Zhao Wei
"You and my ashes are not kept!" When Premier Zhou was critically ill, he once again asked his wife Deng Yingchao with a weak but powerful voice.
After premier Zhou's death, the question of why Premier Zhou did not keep the ashes was raised, when Deng Yingchao explained that advocating cremation was the decision of the central government, and that she and Premier Zhou had already assured each other about the disposal of ashes. Premier Zhou was worried that Deng Yingchao would not be able to do it, and once asked such a question:
"If you die first, I can guarantee it, and if I die first, can you guarantee it?"
"Zhao Wei, you do something good, don't make a condolence after I die." When talking about his aftermath, Deng Yingchao half-jokingly said to his secretary Zhao Wei.
In his later years, Deng Yingchao was working
Since Premier Zhou and Deng Yingchao did not leave any heirs in their lives, after the death of Premier Zhou, Deng Yingchao began to consider his own posthumous affairs. On the founding day of the party in 1978, early in the morning, Deng Yingchao asked Zhao Wei to bring a pen and paper and wanted to write something. Zhao Wei was a little confused about this, and he hadn't heard what Sister Deng was going to write beforehand. Deng Yingchao saw Zhao Wei's doubts and explained to her:
"In order to celebrate the party's birthday, I want to write a letter to the party central committee, which is to make arrangements for my own future affairs."
On this day, Deng Yingchao wrote the first draft of his will, mainly including five points, including the treatment of his ashes after his death, and not holding a memorial service, etc. Zhao Wei knew that after Deng Yingchao wrote his will, his heart was very uncomfortable, persuading her that it was not time now, but Deng Yingchao was like a heart, instructing Zhao Wei to say:
"After I die, I published my letter to the Party Central Committee, just to let everyone know that I am no longer there."
In June 1982, Deng Yingchao re-took out the first draft of his written will and transcribed it, and added two points to it according to the situation at that time, as a will that could be published. Subsequently, Deng Yingchao wrote a second will, on how to deal with relics and other matters, even including his own photos and clothes, all of which made arrangements for the staff around him.
Pictured Zhao Wei and his wife taking a group photo with Deng Yingchao
Regarding life and death, Deng Yingchao has a very thorough understanding of this issue, and when he talks about these topics in his later years, he often says: "A person's life, old age, illness and death are the common feelings of people, and no one can avoid it or escape it." After death, doing funerals is a matter of labor and wealth, I have no children and no daughters, and engaging in these things is to add trouble to the organization. ”
In the 80s of the last century, the issue of "euthanasia" was very controversial in society, and Deng Yingchao once clearly expressed his support for euthanasia on this issue. In January 1988, when a doctor talked about euthanasia on the radio, Deng Yingchao listened carefully to the program word for word and wrote a letter to the Central Radio Station expressing his support for euthanasia:
...... The opinion of the doctor, I support... I left a will a few years ago, when my life is going to end, there is no need for artificial and drug prolonged life, do not use rescue methods...
Later, the radio broadcast Deng Yingchao's letter on the program, and many people were touched by her frankness in favor of euthanasia. Deng Yingchao not only favored euthanasia, but even thought of practicing it. Once Zhao Wei joked with Deng Yingchao, saying that she always mentioned death, is she afraid of death? Deng Yingchao immediately said:
"I'm not afraid of death!" I did not expect to live to this day, death is a natural law, I am too wasteful of manpower and material resources. ”
Picture 丨 Zhao Wei pushed Deng Yingchao in a wheelchair
"Where are you afraid of death, if you are afraid of death, you will not mention 'euthanasia', but I am only your secretary, I have no right to decide, the hospital does not have the right to decide, and no one in the central government dares to approve it." The people know about it, and they won't send us to jail yet! Don't mention it, save your energy and continue to struggle! Zhao Wei then encouraged Deng Yingchao to say.
Later, Deng Yingchao entrusted Zhao Wei to report to the central authorities, asking the organization to approve the euthanasia at the end of his life, and the central leaders made instructions after learning about this situation, praising Deng Yingchao's materialistic spirit as admirable and worthy of everyone's common study:
"After reading this document, I asked the General Office to properly preserve this document, and in the future, Sister Deng will resolutely handle it according to her opinion after a hundred years."
Since 1990, Deng Yingchao's physical condition has been worse than a year, all because of the problem of upper respiratory tract and frequent hospitalization, as Deng Yingchao's secretary, Zhao Wei is very worried, afraid that one day Deng Yingchao will never be able to get out of the hospital. At the end of July 1991, Deng Yingchao was again admitted to Beijing Hospital with a high fever of pneumonia, which was also the last time Deng Yingchao was admitted to the hospital.
Figure 丨 Deng Yingchao who is reading
In the past, Deng Yingchao was hospitalized and everyone was not too worried, but this time it was only a week after the last discharge, and the time between them was so short, or because of the same disease, everyone was inevitably a little nervous. When Zhao Wei asked the director of the hospital whether the situation was not very good this time, the director hesitated for a moment and said to Zhao Wei with a solemn face:
"Possibly, get ready."
The doctor's words made Zhao Wei's heart feel like falling into the ice cellar, but she also needed to calm down and arrange everything, and she couldn't let Deng Yingchao find out the abnormality. She sorted out her emotions and asked the other staff to prepare for a long-term hospitalization and have the idea of fighting a protracted war. Looking at Deng Yingchao on the hospital bed, he still remembered what happened in front of Premier Zhou's sickbed.
A few months before Premier Zhou's death, Zhao Wei was once asked to go to the hospital to talk about work, and before she formally reported, Premier Zhou first talked about the disposal of his ashes after his death. Worried that Premier Zhou's health could not stand it, Zhao Wei hurriedly dissuaded Premier Zhou:
"Don't talk about it, you won't have any problems in a short time, and saying this will not do you any good for your illness now."
Photo: Premier Zhou and his wife take a group photo with the staff of the West Flower Hall
When Premier Zhou heard Zhao Wei say this, he immediately said to her with a slight criticism: "You are not a materialist, people always have to die. Premier Zhou's words made Zhao Wei difficult to continue to persuade, and he could only control his sad emotions and listen to Premier Zhou continue to finish his words.
The next day, Zhao Wei reported Premier Zhou's opinions on the handling of his ashes to Deng Yingchao, and Deng Yingchao immediately said that this matter had already been agreed upon by the two of them, and now that she knew these thoughts, it was also a good thing:
"If he leaves first and the Party Central Committee agrees to his request, then my affairs will be easier for me to handle, and I will be relieved."
At that time, Deng Yingchao went to the hospital alone, and it was not until Premier Zhou insisted again and again that Deng Yingchao agreed to let Zhao Wei accompany him. When Zhao Wei once again accompanied Deng Yingchao to Premier Zhou's hospital bed, he softly called "Premier." Premier Zhou stretched out his skinny hand from the bed and said:
"Shake hands!"
Chairman Mao shook hands with Premier Zhou for the last time
Zhao Wei said that he had just come in from outside, and his hands were cold and he didn't shake them, and Premier Zhou said softly, "Not afraid," and then grabbed Zhao Wei with both hands and said:
"You have to take care of your eldest sister."
At the request of Premier Zhou, Zhao Wei accompanied Deng Yingchao to the hospital every day, and it can be said that she witnessed premier Zhou's last days. With the experience of Premier Zhou's death, Zhao Wei also had full ideological preparations for Deng Yingchao's hospitalization. Because Deng Yingchao's high fever did not go away after being hospitalized, diet and medication could not be taken in time, in order to reduce Deng Yingchao's pain, the doctor performed an operation for her.
After the operation, Deng Yingchao suddenly appeared kidney failure, the hospital immediately reported to the central government critically ill, under the instructions of the central government, the doctor did his best to rescue, after a night of treatment, Deng Yingchao finally got out of danger and slowly recovered. This year, Deng Yingchao's body was up and down, although his physical strength and energy were gradually declining, but he still maintained an optimistic state mentally.
In Deng Yingchao's last days, the pain of the illness tormented her very painfully, but she still cared about the comrades around her, especially the medical staff who took care of her, and on several occasions she called the nurses several times because of the pain, and afterwards she had to apologize to the nurses. When the expert came to the consultation, she ignored her physical condition and insisted that the staff help herself to the sofa and wait for the arrival of the expert.
Figure丨 In his later years, Deng Yingchao
During the hospitalization, Deng Yingchao most often said to the medical staff around him, that is, do not make special things in the hospital, they should not all stay by their side, or they should care about other comrades. Five days before her death, she woke up in the middle of the night to find two nurses still at her bedside, holding their hands uneasily and saying:
"I feel sad that so many people have come to take care of me, and I really thank you so much."
Before his death, Deng Yingchao was still worried about his will, and once specially asked Zhao Wei to inquire whether his will was sent to the central government, and once again explained his posthumous affairs from Jane. At noon on July 9, 1992, Deng Yingchao asked the nurse to find Zhao Wei and said that he had something to say to her. When Zhao Wei heard the news and came to Deng Yingchao's bedside, Deng Yingchao took her hand and said clearly:
"Zhao Wei, I'll see you one last time."
In his later years, Deng Yingchao held a meeting to make a report
Zhao Weiqiang endured the inner company and advised Deng Yingchao not to say this, and quickly take a nap to recuperate. Unexpectedly, this really became the last sober meeting between Deng Yingchao and Zhao Wei. After Deng Yingchao's death, Zhao Wei recalled that why Sister Deng had to say such a sentence to herself at that time, it may be that she herself felt that her life was about to end.
The next morning Deng Yingchao's condition deteriorated again, the doctor said that the condition was critically ill and needed to report to the central government, in order to prevent accidents, in the afternoon Zhao Wei and the staff began to arrange Deng Yingchao's aftermath, and wrote two large pages of what they should do and what they needed to ask for instructions. Unlike when Premier Zhou died, they were well prepared ideologically.
That night, Zhao Wei had been guarding Deng Yingchao's bedside, and during the period, he checked Deng Yingchao's situation several times, but it did not get better. At five o'clock in the morning of the 11th, when the nurse called out to Deng Yingchao, there was no reaction, and Zhao Wei hurriedly lay on the side of the bed and shouted:
"Big sister, I'm Zhao Wei, did you hear that?" When he heard that, he opened his eyes and nodded. ”
Picture 丨 Deng Yingchao's last birthday in the hospital
But at that time, Deng Yingchao did not open his eyes, there was no reaction at all, his blood pressure and pulse also dropped, and Zhao Wei and the nurse quickly went to call people separately. The experts and responsible persons of the hospital quickly arrived and did their best to rescue Deng Yingchao, and the central leaders and the staff around Deng Yingchao also came one after another.
At six fifty-five o'clock, Deng Yingchao stopped breathing in calm, and the old man walked very peacefully, without any pain. Zhao Wei cried uncontrollably in front of the sickbed, leaned down and kissed Deng Yingchao's forehead, and made a final farewell to Sister Deng. After the arrival of the Members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, a meeting was held in the hospital to study and discuss the funeral of Deng Yingchao, and the Central Committee immediately made a decision:
Issued an obituary and published Deng Yingchao's will.
In order to listen to the opinions of the staff around Deng Yingchao, Zhao Wei was also allowed to attend the meeting, and Zhao Wei asked the leaders of the central authorities four questions based on Deng Yingchao's explanation before his death:
1. Sister Deng Yingchao did not agree to engage in condolence activities at home before she died; Where to say goodbye to the remains? Sister Deng's will and testament not to engage in a farewell to the body; Third, the staff to guard the spirit? Fourth, many Japanese friends have great respect for Premier Zhou and Sister Deng, how can they come to Beijing to mourn?
Figure 丨 Deng Yingchao handwritten will
On the first question, at first everyone had no opinion, but later one of the comrades said: "In this way the masses will have opinions." In the end, everyone unanimously decided to hang the portrait of Deng Yingchao's eldest sister in the West Flower Hall, but without notice, the masses came to mourn and receive it to meet the wishes of the masses.
On the second question, the leaders put forward their own opinions, not to let everyone see the last side is certainly not OK, the hospital is narrow, should be in Babaoshan to bid farewell to the remains. Zhao Wei immediately put forward his own suggestion, in order to prevent the elderly from standing too long when saying goodbye, to take a time to say goodbye to Babaoshan, this suggestion was adopted by the leaders.
When it comes to whether the staff keeps the spirit, everyone unanimously suggests that the staff take turns to guard the spirit, since everyone has been allowed to see the last side of Sister Deng, there is no one to guard the spirit, and Sister Deng is lonely. The leading comrades also agreed. Considering that Japanese friends want to come to Beijing to offer condolences, the central leadership finally decided to ask the embassy in Japan to set up a spiritual hall for Japanese friends to mourn Deng Yingchao in Japan, and if there are Japanese friends who come to Beijing, the Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries will be responsible for receiving them.
The party and state leaders bid farewell to Deng Yingchao's body
At the end of the meeting, the central authorities also decided to inform the Tianjin side to make preparations for the scattering of the ashes of Deng Ying's elder sister. Although Deng Yingchao had many explanations before his death, the central authorities considered taking care of the feelings of the masses, so Deng Yingchao's affairs were not handled in full accordance with Deng Yingchao's will.
In the early morning of July 17, the staff came to Beijing Hospital to dress Deng Yingchao for the last time according to her arrangement before her death. Except for one sweater, which was made to order, the others were all old clothes. There was a black suit, when Premier Zhou was alive, Deng Yingchao had to wear it every year when it was cold, and after Premier Zhou's death, Deng Yingchao instructed Zhao Wei to put away this suit and wear it when he died.
At that time, Zhao Wei did not understand why Deng Yingchao insisted on wearing this worn-out old dress, which had been patched. Deng Yingchao patiently explained to Zhao Wei that the suit was worn by himself, and he liked the suit very much. Chinese pay attention to the need to wear new clothes after death, she thinks it is a waste of meaningless:
"I just want to wear old clothes and break old customs."
Picture 丨 Zhao Wei holding Deng Yingchao's urn
Zhao Wei saw that he really couldn't convince her, so he had to promise to put it away for her and put it on for her when the time came. After Deng Yingchao's death, Zhao Wei asked people to find out this suit, and when the comrades saw this patched suit, they couldn't help but cry and asked Zhao Wei why he had to wear this suit for Sister Deng. Zhao Wei explained to the comrades while shedding tears:
"This is what the eldest sister explained, and I have assured her."
At 8:00 a.m. on the same day, the central leaders came to the hospital to bid farewell to Deng Yingchao, and in the farewell room, everyone bowed three times to Deng Yingchao's body. Afterwards, everyone watched as 8 soldiers carried Deng Yingchao's coffin out of the farewell room and got on the hearse to the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. From Beijing Hospital to Babaoshan, the 18-kilometer road was lined with people sending off Deng Yingchao, and on Tiananmen Square, people from all over the country stood in silence and watched the hearse go west, and several girls crowded in the crowd shouted loudly on the road:
"Grandma Deng, you will always live in our hearts!"
Tu 丨 bid farewell to Deng Yingchao's masses along the way
In the morning, tens of thousands of people participated in the farewell ceremony of the remains held in Babaoshan, after the cremation of the remains, Zhao Wei and Gao Zhenpu were ordered to collect the ashes, the two took heavy steps to the crematorium, Deng Yingchao used the urn that held Premier Zhou's ashes, after scattering Premier Zhou's ashes, Deng Yingchao insisted on not handing them in, let Zhao Wei properly preserve them, saying that he would still be useful after he died.
After Zhao Wei heard Deng Yingchao's idea, he asked Deng Yingchao if he wanted to use this method to express a joint burial with Premier Zhou, but he did not expect Deng Yingchao to say that Zhao Wei was a feudal thought: "When I die, I will scatter the ashes, and the urn will be used for a while, this can continue to be used, why buy a new one?" ”
That afternoon, they returned to the West Flower Hall, Gao Zhenpu held the portrait of Deng Yingchao in front, Zhao Wei held the urn in the back, the original short 5 minutes of the path, this day they actually walked for 17 minutes. When walking to the living room where Deng Yingchao usually operates, Zhao Wei suddenly thought that Deng Yingchao often said that he wanted to go home when he was in the hospital, and he couldn't help but cry:
"Big sister, you're home!"
Tu 丨 bid farewell to Deng Yingchao
Zhao Wei's words made all the people present cry bitterly, this day everyone was reluctant to leave the living room, Deng Yingchao was here to accompany her to chat and read, this night everyone spent the last night with Deng Yingchao in the living room. The next morning, all the staff bowed three times in front of the spirit and moved the urn to the front hall, and the relevant responsible comrades then came to the West Flower Hall to escort Deng Yingchao's ashes to Tianjin.
At the time of the spirit, the courtyard of the West Flower Hall was full of people sending off, including many relatives of Premier Zhou and Deng Yingchao, and hundreds of cadres and fighters of the Central Guard Regiment lined up neatly to watch Deng Yingchao's ashes leave the West Flower Hall. Zhao Wei held the urn in her hand and walked slowly behind the statue, and suddenly thought that Deng Yingchao would never be able to return to the West Flower Hall again, she turned around and cried and said:
"Sister Deng, Mother Deng, you should take one last look at the West Flower Hall!"
Just when Zhao Wei was about to get on the bus, Nie Rongzhen's daughter Nie Li hurriedly ran up from the back of the line, saying while running: "Mother Deng, you are gone, let me kiss you again!" At that time, Zhao Wei's heart was about to break, her hands were shaking so much that she could hardly hold on, she did not dare to stop any longer, and hurried to the car.
Zhao Wei scattered Deng Yingchao's ashes towards the Haihe River
According to Deng Yingchao's explanation before her death, Zhao Wei and Gao Zhenpu still use the car she usually takes and go to Tianjin according to her usual travel habits. On the deck of the "New Haimen" steamship, Zhao Wei scattered the ashes into the Haihe River with trembling hands, and other comrades threw moon petals into the Haihe River. After the ashes were scattered, Zhao Wei said to Sister Deng Ying for the last time facing Haihe:
"Dear Comrade Deng Yingchao, dear Sister Deng, I have completed your will and will, you can rest assured!"