On January 17, 1920, Mr. Yang Changji, a famous ethicist and educator in China, died in the German Hospital in Beijing. The death of Mr. Yang Changji caused a great shock in the education circles, and many celebrities in the education circles and teachers and students of Peking University attended his funeral to mourn a generation of famous teachers.
Many people may not be familiar with Mr. Yang Changji, but when it comes to his son-in-law, Chairman Mao. In that year, Mr. Yang Changji died, and Chairman Mao Fu coffin escorted him all the way to Wuhan.
Yang Changji
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > Chairman Mao and Yang Changji: also teachers and friends</h1>
Mr. Yang Changji was not only Chairman Mao's father-in-law, but also a teacher he respected and had a profound influence on his life.
Born in 1871 in Changsha, Hunan Province, Mr. Yang Changji studied at Yuelu Academy and then studied in Japan and the United Kingdom to study pedagogy, philosophy and ethics.
After 1913, After returning to China, Yang Changji lectured at the Hunan Higher School, and in the first half of the year, he also served as a teacher at the Hunan Public First Normal School, and Chairman Mao at this time just happened to be admitted to the First Normal School, so Yang Changji became Chairman Mao's teacher.
Because of his experience of studying abroad, Mr. Yang Changji's thinking is very progressive. In teaching his courses, he pays great attention to cultivating students' values in terms of ethics, morality and human conduct. At this time, Chairman Mao was in his youth, and his thinking was in the stage of gradual enlightenment, and the knowledge and ideas taught by Mr. Yang Changji in his class benefited him greatly.
During his tenure in the school, Mr. Yang Changji's classroom was always full, and when he talked about new ideas in class, he was sometimes depressed and sometimes enthusiastic, and often educated students with patriotic and progressive ideas and morality, teaching them to have ideals and ambitions and constantly strive for them, and to be a person who is beneficial to society.
Under the influence of his teacher, he began to understand the importance of "lofty ideals" for life, and greatly appreciated the kind of life realm of "worrying about the world before the world, and enjoying the world after the world", and his ideals and ambitions in life were initially determined.
In school, the young Chairman Mao was always a maverick and often wore a gray robe. In Chinese language class, his composition was scored by the teacher, and after repeated revisions, the teacher was still not satisfied, so he argued with the teacher. No matter how much others persuaded him, he still insisted on his own views and was not moved.
Seeing that he was so stubborn, the principal wanted to expel him, but in desperation, everyone invited Mr. Yang Changji over and asked him to help persuade Chairman Mao.
Mr. Yang did not directly accuse him of his composition and behavior like the Chinese teachers and principals, but first reassured him, and then put forward his own views, persuading him: "Your article is not wrong, but it is too rash, radical, and not very practical." ”
This time, the young Chairman Mao did not refute Mr. Yang, but first reflected on himself. He believes that it is because he is too impatient and eager to achieve results that today's situation will appear.
At the same time, Mr. Yang's understanding and patient persuasion also made the young Chairman Mao feel a long-lost warmth, and this remark also woke him up, making him examine his own problems more clearly and clarify the direction he would strive for and pursue in the future.
In 1915, the students went on a collective strike and organized a campaign to expel the principal Zhang Gan at the school, led by the young Chairman Mao.
The principal at that time was very angry and wanted to expel the leading students, and later, several teachers, including Yang Changji, jointly came forward, hoping that the principal would take back his life and leave these qualified students, which saved their qualifications to continue to study in the school.
At that time, Chairman Mao, although he had a little youthful childishness, was brilliant, had unique insights, and wrote good articles, and teachers and classmates praised him, and even Mr. Yang had high hopes for him, commenting that he was a "talent in the sea, with a great future."
Mr. Yang Changji's appreciation and appreciation of Chairman Mao did not stop at language, he also trusted his daughter Yang Kaihui to him with confidence.
In Mr. Yang's view, this young man is talented and ambitious, and will definitely make a difference in the future. Later, it turned out that Mr. Yang did not look at the wrong person, and this teenager who had some sharpness on campus did achieve a great career in the future.
Chairman Mao's friendship with Mr. Yang did not stop at the campus, and when he encountered uncertain problems, he often went to Mr. Yang's home to discuss problems, and during the holidays, he often gave up the opportunity to go home to the teacher's home for advice.
Chairman Mao and Mr. Yang Changji have a deep friendship, although they are teachers and students, they are more like close friends who talk about everything. In Chairman Mao's heart, Mr. Yang's subtle influence on his youth is indelible, and his teachings are like street lamps, guiding young Chairman Mao to constantly open up his thinking and pursue progress.
Therefore, Mr. Yang Changji is not only Chairman Mao's father-in-law, but also a teacher who has had a profound influence on his life.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="23" > fu coffin to Wuhan to bid farewell to the teacher</h1>
In 1919, Chairman Mao organized a campaign in Beijing to expel the Hunan warlord Zhang Jingyao. At the beginning of December 1919, Mr. Yang Changji, who was teaching at Peking University, was seriously ill and hospitalized due to overwork, and his condition not only did not improve for a long time, but also became more and more serious.
On January 17, 1920, the disease took the precious life of Mr. Yang Changji. Mr. Yang's departure was nothing less than a thunderbolt on a sunny day for Yang Kaihui's family, and Chairman Mao, as a student and son-in-law, was also deeply saddened.
At Mr. Yang Changji's memorial service, many relatives and friends came to mourn. Mr. Yang has devoted his life to education and has cultivated many outstanding students. At the memorial service, Cai Yuanpei presented the "tireless learning, tireless teaching, the school lost this good teacher" to praise his contribution to the cause of education.
After the funeral, Mr. Yang Changji's coffin will be sent to Changsha Bancang for burial. During this period, the Shanghai Xinmin Society sent a letter to Chairman Mao informing him to go to Shanghai for a meeting and to carry out a campaign to drive away tensions. The time of the meeting coincided with the time of Mr. Yang's coffin's return to his hometown, and Chairman Mao was caught in a dilemma.
If you escort enshi back to your hometown, you will delay the process of meetings and exorcism activities in Shanghai; if you want to attend the meeting in Shanghai on time, you cannot escort enshi's coffin back to your hometown, which makes Chairman Mao feel bad.
Mr. Yang Changji took great care of him before his death and placed high hopes on him. During his studies at school, Mr. Yang taught him knowledge and comforted his heart; when he faced punishment, he helped him intercede, even on holidays. Mr. Yang's kindness to him will never be forgotten. If he could not support the coffin, Chairman Mao would certainly regret it for the rest of his life.
But on the one hand, it was a meeting that was very important for the big picture, and on the other hand, it was a teacher who had a profound impact on his life, and it was difficult for him to choose between the two.
Yang Kaihui saw that his heart was restless, and after asking, Yang Kaihui made a very decisive choice. Since ancient loyalty and filial piety, she persuaded Chairman Mao that when his father was alive, he wanted him to put his career first, so he asked him to send the coffin to Wuhan, and this did not delay the Shanghai meeting.
Yang Kaihui's understanding and concern gave Chairman Mao great comfort, so when Mr. Yang Changji's coffin was returned to his hometown, Chairman Mao escorted him all the way to Wuchang, and then returned to Shanghai to attend the meeting.
Although he did not send his mentor to his hometown, the depth of the friendship between Chairman Mao and Mr. Yang Changji was beyond doubt, and escorting him to Wuhan and then returning to Shanghai to work did not disappoint the expectations of the teachers and students who wanted him to focus on his career, nor did he miss the last journey of the teacher.
Chairman Mao once said in a conversation with the famous American journalist Snow that Mr. Yang Changji was the teacher who had the greatest influence on him. He also said that Mr. Yang teaches ethics and is an idealist, but also a person of high moral character and worthy of admiration.
He has a lofty faith and firm belief in ethics, and during his time at school, he often encourages students to be diligent and self-disciplined, and strive to be a person who is beneficial to society. However, this teacher, who cared for him like a loving father, suddenly left him and his relatives and friends, and how could he not be sad?
When bidding farewell to his mentor, Chairman Mao once wrote down this pair of elegies: "Remembering the master's easy three calls, he worked hard and worked hard; he hated Haotian for not leaving behind the old man, and was ruthless and ruthless. ”
This pair recalls Mr. Yang Changji's lifelong enthusiasm for the cause of education and all the ideals and beliefs for cultivating outstanding talents, and recalls that the teacher always admonished students to be good at learning knowledge and work hard again.
In addition, he also believes that the teacher should not die as early as this, only hating that the sky is too eyeless, and fully expressing his nostalgia and sorrow for the death of the teacher.
Although he was deeply saddened by the death of his mentor, this did not hinder Chairman Mao's pace of continuing the revolution and pursuing progress, and he always kept in mind his teacher's expectations and obeyed his teachings in every word and deed in his future work.
Under his leadership, the people of the Chinese, through arduous struggle, finally ushered in the dawn of national independence, truly stood up, established the People's Republic of China, and achieved brilliant achievements that attracted the attention of the world.
Mr. Yang Changji's life is wonderful, he not only learned advanced knowledge and enriched his life experience, but also passed on this knowledge and experience to his students, not only teaching them to have noble morals, but also teaching them the truth of how to behave in the world.
Mr. Yang has dedicated most of his life to the cause of education, and his spirit of selfless dedication is touching and worth learning from each of us. As his proud protégé, Chairman Mao led the people to usher in a new era, and on the day of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Presumably Mr. Yang Changji also received the greatest comfort in the spirit of heaven.