On October 22, 1985, founding general Xu Shiyou died in the General Hospital of Nanjing Military Region. From the time of his serious illness to his death, he was treated in Nanjing. In fact, with his identity and status, he can receive better treatment in Beijing. Why didn't he go? It was not until after Xu Shiyou's death that his and his son's letters were published that the mystery was slowly solved.
It turned out that as early as 1959, Xu Shiyou once went back to his hometown to visit his old mother. To his grief, his mother had died. At this point, Xu Shiyou had the idea of returning to the countryside to bury his mother forever after his death. In October 1979, Xu Shiyou sent a family letter and fifty yuan to his eldest son Xu Guang, the content of which was: Take this fifty yuan, go buy me a coffin and bury me back to my hometown when I die, and let me stay in front of my parents' graves to fulfill my filial piety. I'm 74 years old, and you can do some preparation first.
At the beginning of 1985, Xu Shiyou felt that his health was not as good as a day, so he told the staff around him to draft a report. The general content is that he participated in the revolution since he was a child and failed to fulfill his filial piety to his parents. Now that time is estimated to be short, I hope to be buried in front of my parents' graves after death. However, the report has not been replied to for a long time, but Xu Shiyou's condition has deteriorated. His son Xu Guang had repeatedly persuaded his father to go to Beijing to see a doctor, but Xu Shiyou knew his physical condition, and he was worried that it would be difficult to return to Nanjing after going to Beijing, let alone his hometown, so he refused to leave Nanjing. In June 1985, Xu Shiyou's condition deteriorated, and he became more and more anxious, writing to Beijing several times to ask whether he had approved his burial report. Even though the leaders of this matter have received a report from Xu Shiyou, they are also very embarrassed.
Because since 1956, there have been regulations on the organization, except for a few areas, the death of cadres is strictly prohibited from burial. Therefore, most of the cadres in New China were cremated. For this request of Xu Shiyou, no one dared to make an easy decision. Until after Xu Shiyou's death, the leaders thought carefully and felt that Xu Shiyou had made great contributions to the new China and could make an exception. So in that report, eight words were written: "Do not take this as an example." Soon after, Xu Shiyou's coffin was sent to his hometown of Xinxiang, Henan, for quiet burial, and in his tomb, only a few funerary items were placed, a shotgun he used, a semiconductor radio that Xu Shiyou listened to every day before his death, and Xu Shiyou's favorite bottle of Moutai wine.