On December 4, 1959, the Gongdelin Auditorium was newly decorated and written
"The First Meeting of Amnesty for War Criminals of the Chiang Kai-shek Clique"
Large red banners hung high above the auditorium, and the entire auditorium was filled with a solemn and slightly festive atmosphere.
The war criminals, dressed in the most dignified clothes, lined up in anticipation to enter the auditorium and sat in their seats waiting for the assembly to begin.
The meeting finally began, and the whole venue was silent, except for the voice of the supreme people's court leader of the central rostrum reading the amnesty decree of the president of the People's Republic of China and the amnesty document of the Supreme People's Court.
"Du Yuming, Song Xilian..."
Hearing his name, Song Xilian stood up violently.
Amnesty War Criminals Conference
This "anti-Japanese god of war, who had been invincible on the battlefield," was now overwhelmed and stood stunned. It wasn't until the neighbor pushed him that he reacted: his name was on the first amnesty list!
After Song Xilian took the stage to receive the amnesty certificate, he read this sixteen-open size "Supreme People's Court Amnesty Notice" many times over and over again, looking at the words "1959 Annual Pardon Word No. 2" on it, as if he was in a dream.
Although Song Xilian, the "god of anti-Japanese war," once made the Japanese army feel frightened and was a hero of the Chinese nation, he caused great casualties to our army in the War of Liberation, so why did he become one of the first Kuomintang officials to be pardoned?
What happened to his life after the amnesty?
Song Xilian
The anti-Japanese god of war was captured on the banks of the Dadu River
Song Xilian, a native of Xikou, Huxiang County, Hunan Province, was admitted to the First Phase of the Whampoa Military Academy in 1924, during which time he joined the Communist Party of China and broke off relations with the Communist Party after the Zhongshan Incident.
Then he participated in the Northern Expedition,
In the National Revolutionary Army, he rose from platoon commander all the way to the commander-in-chief of the 11th Group Army, the commander-in-chief of the Xinjiang Garrison, the deputy commander-in-chief of the "Suppression of Bandits" in central China and the commander of the 14th Corps.
He made great achievements in the anti-Japanese battlefield.
For example, in the Battle of Songhu, with the ambition of "swearing to die to defend the motherland," he led his troops day and night from Xi'an to Shanghai to storm the Huishan Wharf, an important stronghold of the Japanese army, forcing the Japanese army to return to the warship in defeat, and the battle caused a sensation throughout the country.
Another example is the Battle of Fujinshan, in the case of a small gap in the strength of the two sides participating in the battle, Song Xilian led the army, not only resisted the indiscriminate bombardment of the Japanese army, but also made the Japanese pay a tragic price of 4,000 casualties and nearly 6,000 wounded. This was a great victory that the Chinese army had to mention in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
In November 1948, the southwest defensive line of the Kuomintang army collapsed completely under the powerful offensive of the People's Liberation Army.
This famous general, who was invincible in the anti-Japanese battlefield, led thousands of remnants to flee in the direction of Xichang, and finally, on December 19, was surrounded and captured by the People's Liberation Army on the banks of the Dadu River.
Battle of Fujin Mountain
Actively reinvent yourself
After being captured in Shaping, Dadu River, Song Xilian followed the captive team to Leshan County, and then passed through Leshan to Chongqing, where he was imprisoned in the White Mansion.
Along the way, he thought left and right, thinking that he had been galloping on the battlefield for decades, not wrapped in a corpse, but captured and suffered such humiliation, and he could not help but be discouraged, life and death.
Although the conditions of eating and living in the White Mansion were not bad, and the management was relatively kind, the people who were also imprisoned in the White Mansion at that time felt that even if they were not shot, they would spend the rest of their lives in prison. Therefore, everyone does not have hope for the future, but just lives in a muddy nightmare.
White Mansion
1949, for Song Xilian, can be said to be the most unfortunate year in his life. During this year, Song Xilian not only lost his father and wife, but also lost the battle, swept away his majesty, and ended up in a disgraceful end.
Frost Flower had quietly climbed up his sideburns at the age of forty-two, and it seemed that everything was not satisfactory.
But more than a decade later, Song Xilian wrote in a reminiscence article:
"1949 is arguably the luckiest year of my life."
Where does this "luckiest" come from?
Song Xilian (second from left)
The turning point came in April 1950. Chen Geng, an old friend of the old days, then commander of the Yunnan Military Region and chairman of the Yunnan Provincial People's Government, went to the White Mansion to visit Song Xilian and other old classmates and friends of the past.
Chen Geng's arrival made Song Xilian happy that General Chen Geng, who was in a high position, still did not forget the old friendship, but also felt guilty. He was ashamed that he had not been able to follow Chen Geng in fighting for the people, but had instead followed Chiang Kai-shek as an enemy of the people.
Through the meeting and banquet of General Chen Geng, Song Xilian and others gradually eliminated their doubts about the Communist Party's reform policy, and at the age of forty-three, he changed his mind and began to actively consider the rest of his life.
He began to seriously study all kinds of study books and newspapers distributed, made study notes every day, actively participated in the discussion of study groups, and began to confess various mistakes made in the past.
The managers saw Song Xilian's transformation, affirmed his speech in the discussion, and asked him to speak on a larger scale and let others learn.
Although Song Xilian's once erroneous thinking has begun to change, and ideological transformation has achieved certain results, the ideological views and positions that have taken half a lifetime to form cannot be easily changed overnight.
In order to speed up the transformation of Song Xilin, the government sent Song Xilian from Songlinpo in Chongqing to Gongdelin in Beijing in 1954.
When he first arrived at the Gongde Leading War Criminals Management Center, Song Xilian was arranged to live in a single room. Suddenly there were no chat partners and chess friends, not even newspapers, which made Song Xilian extremely depressed.
Fortunately, soon after, there were internal adjustments in Gongdelin, and about one hundred and twenty senior Kuomintang generals were transferred to Gongdelin from the war criminal management centers in the northeast, Shandong, Wuhan, Chongqing, Xi'an, and other places, including Song Xilian's old colleagues and old classmates Du Yuming, Huang Wei, Wang Yaowu, and others.
Gong Delin
At the same time, Gong Delin's system has also been adjusted, breaking the original system of no meeting between groups and groups, dividing these more than 100 people into eleven groups, each group elects a group leader and deputy group leader, and the groups can meet with each other and talk at will.
Song Xilian and Wang Yaowu are in charge of managing everyone's study and life.
Although I don't know why so many senior Kuomintang generals are gathered together, everyone is very happy to see so many old friends from the past, and they celebrate that they will not be lonely for the rest of their lives.
On January 11, 1956, a speech by Yao Lun, the head of Gong delin, made Song Xilian and others dispel their doubts and have the enthusiasm to learn.
What made them change so much?
Originally, Yao Lun said that the previous stage was the initial reform, and had to take the form of forced transformation, but in the future, family members and friends could be allowed to visit, and external communication was not prohibited.
Moreover, in the near future, the Institute will organize a trip together to see the current state of the country's development.
Under this series of new measures, Song Xilian's doubts were completely eliminated, his confidence was doubled, he actively transformed, changed his mind, and wrote a 10,000-word study summary at the end of 1956.
Yao Lun
In this 10,000-word year-end study summary, he mentioned that 1956 was the year he had gained the most and achieved the most in the transformation process since liberation.
Because during the year, he completely let go of the long-standing ideological baggage—doubts about the Party's lenient policies.
In the past study and reform, although many people have given him hope, this hope has always been extremely slim, because he feels that he is such a "leading member of Chiang Kai-shek's reactionary clique and a famous war criminal on the list" that he can save his life is already a great gift given by the Communist Party, and where dare he hope to restore freedom.
Song Xilian, Du Yuming, Puyi and others
After 1956, the government's series of measures gave him a real glimpse of the hope of restoring freedom and the possibility of re-entering a new society as a people in his lifetime. Since then, despite all the difficulties, he has never wavered again.
A newspaper on September 16, 1959, made Song Xilian take a reassuring pill.
How can a newspaper have such miraculous power? What exactly is written on it?
The newspaper published a news published by xinhua news agency about the meeting of the NPC Standing Committee, which mentioned that the CPC Central Committee had proposed to the NPC Standing Committee and signed by Chairman Mao to discuss and agree to implement the amnesty.
Mao Zedong
On September 18, people's daily published a pardon decree issued by Chairman Liu Shaoqi on the front page, which also caused ripples in Song Xilian's heart. He counted the days silently, hoping that good news would come to him.
On December 4, 1959, Joy fell from heaven and Song Xilian became one of the first war criminals to obtain citizenship in the People's Republic of China.
When he was taken out of Gongdelin Prison, strolled on Chang'an Avenue, looked at the solemn Tiananmen Tower and the majestic Great Hall of the People, recalled the transformation of life in the past ten years, and what emerged in front of him was a brand-new road of life...
The amnesty order published on the front page of the People's Daily
Settle in the United States and promote the peaceful reunification of the motherland
After Song Xilian was pardoned, he followed the arrangements of the Central United Front Work Department and the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau to participate in a one-year labor force in the Red Star Commune in the southern suburbs of Beijing.
This was the first time after the founding of New China that he worked with the vast number of peasants as a free man, and although his body was occasionally tired, his spirit was extremely happy and comfortable.
On the fourth day of the first lunar month in 1961, the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee invited the first and second groups of amnesty personnel to have a New Year's dinner in the CPPCC Auditorium. Vice Minister Xu Bing announced the work arrangements for Song Xilian, Du Yuming, Puyi, Wang Yaowu, and others:
Song Xilian was assigned to the Cultural and Historical Materials Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as a commissioner.
Song Xilian and Du Yuming and others
But why did you arrange for Song Xilian to go to the Literature and History Data Research Association?
This is actually the work initiated by Premier Zhou Enlai in 1959, aiming to allow people from all walks of life to record their personal experiences for the reference of historical researchers, and at the same time to leave a priceless wealth for future generations.
Song Xilian and others held important positions in different periods before liberation and experienced many important historical events, and they were a living and walking history textbook.
Therefore, Song Xilian was elected as a member of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and wrote more than 280,000 words of material.
Zhou Enlai
Although the work has gradually entered the right track, but after work, Song Xilian always feels empty, the five children are far away, and the wife has returned to the dust one step earlier.
In the middle of the night, Song Xilian always remembered his wife's voice and smile, and saw that her wife was still playing Chopin's piano sonata in the living room, and as soon as she realized him, she smiled and looked at him with affection.
Song Xilian and Leng Lanqin, the wife of the Jinling female major and full of talents, met in the early 1830s, when he was prosperous and was already an important general of the Kuomintang before he was thirty years old.
Soon after they met, the two became married, and then had two sons and three daughters.
In 1949, when the war situation was stalemate, Chiang Kai-shek planned to send his wife and children to Taiwan in order to allow Song Xilian to concentrate on fighting.
But Leng Lanqin was reluctant to leave Song Xilian and insisted on staying, so in the end only five children left first.
In June 1949, Song Xilian, who was facing a political end, suffered another major blow - Leng Lanqin, who was only thirty-six years old, fell ill and eventually died of cerebral hemorrhage.
After living in Taiwan, Hong Kong and other places for a while, the five children of the two went to the United States after 1951 and established a family in the United States.
Chiang Kai-shek
Therefore, in the leisure time without work, Song Xilian felt lonely. He also thought about whether he wanted to listen to the advice of Zhang Zhizhong, Chen Geng and others, and then find a companion to get the warmth of the new family?
But what is the easy task of a "pardoned war criminal" looking for a like-minded partner, and where does the marriage come from?
Therefore, he tried his best to control himself, not to talk about his former family, not to mention future marriages, and devoted himself to his work.
More than a year has passed since the amnesty, and Song Xilian's colleagues and friends and even the leaders of the CPPCC are concerned about his personal problems and worried about him - his children are far away overseas, and his wife has been dead for many years, it is time to have a new home and start a new life.
In the early summer of 1961, Li Songyun, the wife of Hou Jingru, who was also a Huangpu phase with Song Xilian, once again contributed to his marriage, introducing him to a quiet and well-versed lady Yi Yinxian, who was familiar with piano and chess paintings and calligraphy.
At first, Song Xilian did not have hope in his heart, because his previous experience had taught him that the higher the culture and the better the character, the less likely it was to negotiate, and such people often cared deeply about his past.
Li Songyun sensed Song Xilian's concerns and relieved him, saying that he had already told Ms. Yi about his situation, and that Song Xilian's past was a public fact, and Ms. Yi had already stated that she did not mind.
At the same time, Li Songyun also talked to Song Xilian about Yi Yinxian's situation:
He has experienced two marriage changes, and he has a seven-year-old daughter by his side.
Song Xilian listened, expressed deep sympathy for Yi Yinxian's repeated misfortunes, and agreed to make an appointment for a specific understanding.
After the two met, although it was not love at first sight, the two bitter people felt like-minded, and after spending a month together, they entered an inseparable love period.
Shortly thereafter, Song Xilian and Yi Yinxian held a wedding ceremony at the CPPCC South River Along the Cultural Club.
With the guarantee of work and life, the old man has a companion, and the only thing Song Xilian is worried about is his five children and their descendants living in the United States.
Except for the eldest son, who had returned to China twice to visit his elderly father, the rest of the children had not seen each other since 1949 because they were too busy with their careers to get out.
However, several children repeatedly wrote letters, mentioning that the birth mother died of illness in the war and horse chaos, as a child can only pray silently, but the father finally freed up after suffering and formed a new family, they all look forward to the elderly father and stepmother to come to the United States to see, the whole family reunion.
In 1980, the government approved Song Xilian's application to visit relatives in the United States. According to Song Xilian's original plan, he and Yi Yinxian went to the United States to visit relatives together and returned to China a year later.
But after more than thirty years of separation of flesh and bones, once reunited after a long absence, how can the endless thoughts of endless thoughts be relieved by a short meeting?
Under the many retention of the five children, Song Xilian settled in New York, usa, to enjoy this hard-won pleasure.
In 1981, Pan Weijiang, the son of Pan Youqiang, a classmate of Song Xilian's Huangpu Phase I, contacted Song Xilian to consult on the establishment of the "China Association for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification.".
Later, Pan Weijiang invited Song Xilian to speak at the inaugural meeting of the "China Association for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification" in New York. At the meeting, Song Xilian stressed in front of more than 500 people attending the meeting that his generation has experienced various ups and downs and misfortunes, and must not let such suffering continue.
Pan Weijiang
In view of some lessons he has personally experienced, Song Xilian also appealed that whether from the standpoint of the state or the humanitarian stand of the reunion of relatives, we should agree with the peaceful reunification of the motherland.
Because if it were not for the first place to have a motherland that is territorially intact, unified, rich and strong, then any outsider can provoke and profit from it, and it will be our country and compatriots who will be humiliated in the end.
However, a very small number of people who have lost their national consciousness have openly accused Song Xilian, who is in the United States but still does not forget to call for the peaceful reunification of the motherland, for this move as "acting as an eagle dog of the CCP."
In this regard, Mr. Li Ao, a Taiwanese political commentator, wrote an article entitled "General Eagle Dog" to justify Song Xilian's name, and then the North American Daily in New York also reprinted the article and added an editor's note.
General Eagle Dog
It is mentioned in the editor's note that General Song Xilian, who is in the United States and far away from the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, has repeatedly come forward to call for the reunification of the motherland entirely because he is loyal to his country and nation, not to a certain political party or a certain leader.
This is difficult for those who are still influenced by feudal consciousness to understand.
And Song Xilian himself also believes that these few words are completely a summary of his life in the past eighty years, and at the same time, in order to thank Li Ao for justifying his name, he decided to name the unpublished self-statement "The Self-Statement of General Eagle Dog Song Xilian" to express his sincere heart for the country and the nation.
On February 13, 1993, Song Xilian died in New York at the age of 86 due to severe kidney failure, and a tyrant fell, and his tombstone was inscribed by Xiong Qingquan, secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, with nine big characters inscribed "Tomb of The Famous Anti-Japanese General Song Xilian".
In Song Xilian's life, although he had the mistake of deviating from the people, it is undeniable that he fought bloodily for this motherland and the Chinese nation and fought against foreign enemies.
In his twilight years, even though he was in the United States, he was concerned about the motherland and had always contributed to the great cause of the motherland's peaceful reunification, and this "famous anti-Japanese general" who had left the "people" eventually returned to the "people'" road.