The author Mei Ling took a group photo with her grandfather Mei Wending
My grandfather, Mr. Mei Wending, was born in 1903 in Taishan, Guangdong. In his early years, he enrolled in Guangzhou Municipal Normal School, and died of illness in Shanghai in 1982, and it has been 40 years since his old man left us.
Mr. Mei Wending lived in Guangzhou in his early years and became acquainted with General Ye Ting's father-in-law, Mr. Li Shao Estate, and met General Ye Ting in 1923. Through Mr. Li's recommendation, he entered the National Revolutionary Army to which Ye Ting belonged. Ye ren is the head of the regiment, and Mei is Ye's secretary and aide-de-camp. In the large and small battles in which General Ye Ting participated, he always followed General Ye Ting in the southern expedition to the north, and then became Ye Ting's most trusted subordinate. Although he and Ye Ting are superior and subordinate, the friendship is a good family. After Ye Ting joined the Communist Party of China, Mr. Mei followed him to join the revolutionary ranks, participating in the Northern Expedition, the Nanchang Uprising, and the Guangzhou Uprising. During the Guangzhou uprising, he obeyed Ye Ting's orders and led the Boy Scouts to attack Shamian, the enemy police station. After the failure of the Guangzhou Uprising, Ye Ting went abroad to report for duty, and Mr. Mei returned to Taishan, Guangdong Province, and together with Mei Chongqing founded the progressive journal "The Flower of Runan", and published a large number of progressive articles against feudalism and oppression. Later, at the call of Mr. Li Jishen, he entered the Guangzhou Local Armed School founded by Mr. Li as a physical education instructor, and was deeply trusted by Mr. Li Jishen.
In 1926, Chiang Kai-shek's agents hunted down and killed Mei Wending and other people, Mr. Mei jumped from the second floor of the Guangdong Peasants' Training Institute to escape, and another pursuer was arrested by the agents and then dunged to death, and the agent threatened that if Mr. Mei Wending was caught, he would be poured with iron sand to death.
When the Anti-Japanese War broke out in 1937, General Ye Ting returned to China to participate in anti-Japanese activities and served as the commander of the New Fourth Army. As the most effective subordinate of General Ye, Mr. Mei Wending also joined the ranks of the New Fourth Army, successively serving as the secretary of the commander, the deputy chief of the military department, and the chief of the second section of the adjutant department, Mr. Mei was mainly responsible for the liaison between the New Fourth Army and various theaters, often traveling between the military headquarters and Hong Kong and Macao to collect materials and equipment urgently needed by the New Fourth Army and the money and materials donated by overseas Chinese to support the War of Resistance.
At the beginning of 1938, Mei Wending escorted Captain Ye's wife, Ms. Li Xiuwen, and her children back to Macao, and before leaving, Commander Ye specially instructed him that the New Fourth Army had just been established, and many cadres did not even have pistols and telescopes, hoping that he would pay attention to the arms dealers in Hong Kong and Macao and purchase a batch of urgently needed materials to solve the urgent needs of the New Fourth Army. After returning to Macau, Mr. Mei found his former comrade-in-arms of the Northern Expedition Independent Regiment, Mr. Li, through his friend Mr. Ho Hwa (Note: the father of the first chief executive of Macao), and learned that Mr. Li had a batch of pistols and telescopes in his hand, but the price was too high, asking for nearly 60,000 oceans. This made Mr. Mei helpless, he told Mrs. Ye Ting's wife Li Xiuwen (Note: Mr. Mei Wending is an alumnus of Ms. Li Xiuwen Normal College) took out his dowry money of nearly 30,000 yuan, and sold some gold and silver jewelry, and then sold a pair of Ming Dynasty vases given by Chiang Kai-shek and Song Meiling when she and General Ye were married, and only then did he collect the money, and bought 2,000 pistols, 200 telescopes, 40,000 bullets, and after the materials were raised, Mei hired six bodyguards and disguised themselves as wine delivery vehicles. Together with Ms. Li Xiuwen, he was escorted to the garrison of the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui, who knew that when he passed through Shangrao, he was unreasonably detained by Gu Zhutong of the Kuomintang Third Theater, and When Commander Ye learned of this, he was extremely angry, and after personally coming to Shangrao to negotiate with Gu, Gu had to return the seized materials in full. This batch of materials has greatly alleviated the current situation of the New Fourth Army and played a positive role in improving the combat effectiveness of the New Fourth Army. Mr. Mei's move won the trust of General Ye Ting and the respect of his colleagues.
In the autumn of 1940, Mei Wending went to Shangrao to escort the commander's wife and children from the mainland back to Macao, but unexpectedly in early 1941, the Chiang Kai-shek clique concocted the Anhui Incident, which caused heavy losses to the New Fourth Army. Comrade Liao Chengzhi found Mei Wending and asked him to go to Shangrao to inquire about the news, and he must see General Ye Ting. Mei immediately went to Guilin after receiving the order, found Mr. Li Jishen, asked him to write a handwritten letter to Gu Zhutong, and when passing through Hengyang, he was detained by Kuomintang agents and imprisoned in the Hengyang Garrison Headquarters, and put on handcuffs and shackles, and after being released a week later and arriving in Shangrao, after repeated negotiations and running in many directions, Gu Zhutong agreed to Mei see General Ye Ting, and asked Mei to persuade Commander Ye to admit his mistake and repent. Mei was able to meet and talk with Commander Ye six times in Shangrao, and Mei informed the detained officers and men of the Detained New Fourth Army of Chairman Mao of the decision of the Party Central Committee on the Anhui Southern Incident, so as to boost their morale and also enable the Party Central Committee to understand the whole process of the Anhui Southern Anhui Incident in a timely manner.
When Comrade Zhou Enlai learned of this, he immediately sent a telegram to Comrade Liao Chengzhi to instruct Mei Wending to escort Ye Junchang's wife to Chongqing to inquire about Ye Junchang's recent situation. At that time, Commander Ye had a long beard and chest, but his spirit was very good, and he repeatedly said that he would never bow to the enemy and showed a strong and indomitable heroism.
In the spring of 1942, the Asian king Li Huitang refused to cooperate with the Japanese, was stranded in Hong Kong by the Japanese, eager to escape, Mr. Mei learned about it, through his friends in Macau to take advantage of the night to take advantage of the night to send Li Huitang from the sea to the mainland, escaping the Japanese pursuit.
In 1942, when the Japanese army invaded Hong Kong and a large number of patriotic cultural figures stranded in Hong Kong were in critical condition, Comrade Zhou Enlai personally deployed and instructed Liao Chengzhi, Pan Hannian, and Lian Lian, responsible persons of the underground party of the Communist Party of China in Hong Kong, to do everything possible to transfer these patriotic cultural figures to the safety of the interior. After many hardships, they were safely escorted to their destination. Many years later, Ms. He Xiangning personally painted a plum blossom drawing and presented it to Mr. Mei Wending, which is still well preserved today. During this period, Mr. Mei Wending received his young eldest son to Hong Kong to cooperate with him to send intelligence to the underground party, and repeatedly bundled the money raised in China to his son to Hong Kong to buy medical equipment and medicines and transport them back to China to support the domestic war of resistance, and then his eldest son participated in the revolution in Hong Kong and returned to China.
At the beginning of 1948, Li Jishen, He Xiangning and other patriots were preparing to build the Kuomintang Revolution in Hong Kong, and Mei Wending actively assisted Mr. Li Jishen and did a lot of work, moving from Macao to Hong Kong and donating all his savings for many years, which was supported by his colleagues.
In the same year, the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, the organ of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, was founded, with Mr. Li Jishen as the first chairman, after which Mr. Li Jishen went to Beijing to serve as the vice chairman of the Central People's Government, and Mr. Mei Wending succeeded him as chairman of the board, serving for thirty years until his death.
On October 1, 1949, he was invited to participate in the founding ceremony of Tiananmen Square in Beijing and personally witnessed the founding of the People's Republic of China.
On May 13, 1952, the British authorities in Hong Kong fabricated charges and arrested people in hong Kong's journalists, such as Fei Yimin, Mei Wending, and Li Zixuan, and the Chinese government lodged a serious protest against this, and the British authorities in Hong Kong were forced to release them.
During the Period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, materials were collected from Hong Kong and shipped to China to support the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
After liberation, Mr. Mei Wending actively invested in the education of his hometown in Taishan, Guangdong Province.
In the spring of 1982, feeling that he was old, he went to Nanjing Yuhuatai in March to visit Liao Zhongkai and He Xiangning cemeteries. In April, he took the children of Commander Ye to Yan'an to pay homage to his good friend, his old boss, General Ye Ting, and Ms. Li Xiuwen, but he had been wishing for many years. During his visit to Beijing in April to attend the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (Mr. Mei Wending is a member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), Marshal Ye Jianying and Vice Chairman Liao Chengzhi cordially received him at home.
Mei Wending suddenly felt unwell after returning to Hong Kong from Beijing, and was found to be in the advanced stage of cancer. After Liao Chengzhi learned about it, he was very concerned, instructed to go to Shanghai for treatment, called many times to offer condolences, and repeatedly called Shanghai Hospital not to accept the Mei family's medical expenses, in order to repay Mr. Mei Wending's contribution to the motherland for decades. Hu Lijiao, leader of the Shanghai Municipal Government, and the Minister of Health of the People's Republic of China also went to express their condolences. In the end, Mr. Mei Wending died in Shanghai on September 5, 1982 due to ineffective medical treatment.
In order to mourn Mr. Mei Wending, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Macao formed a funeral committee headed by Mr. Fei Yimin, director of the Ta Kung Pao, and Mr. He Xian of Macao, and more than 600 people from Mr. Mei Wending's family in China, as well as Ye Zhengda, the eldest son of General Ye Ting, and Ye Qiguang, the younger son, attended the memorial service to mourn this "Uncle Mei" who made positive contributions to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people.
Wen Ruo Xiaohu, only the name is equally important, until now it is still there, ding like a carved dragon, teeth and virtue are respected, and the Name of the Qing Dynasty will last forever.
The life of my grandfather, Mr. Mei Wending, was an ordinary and extraordinary life, whether he taught, joined the army, did business, or governed affairs, he was diligent and sincere, loyal and honest. He is usually cautious, but he never flinchs in the face of hardships. He loves the motherland, loves his hometown, loves the cultural cause, and spares no effort to support it. Meritorious service, care for friends, villagers, comrades, its ancient road hot sausage is very human. Mr. Mei Wending's noble character is always worthy of remembrance by future generations.
Grandfather, we will always miss you!