Zhou Enlai
preface
On January and 8, 1976, zhou Enlai, the people's good prime minister, died. When the bad news came out, the whole country was saddened. Many international friends also regretted this and spoke highly of Zhou Enlai.
UN Secretary-General Waldheim said: "In order to mourn Zhou Enlai, the United Nations lowered its flag to half-mast for two reasons. First: China is an ancient civilization, and her gold and silver treasures are countless, but her premier Zhou Enlai has never had a penny deposit! Second: China has a population of 1 billion, a quarter of the world's population, but her prime minister, not a single child! ”
Former U.S. President Richard Nixon said: "Without Mao Zedong, the fire of the Chinese revolution might not have burned." Without Zhou Enlai, China's revolution could have burned down and left with only a pile of ashes. ”
When Kim Il Sung, the North Korean leader who had a deep friendship with Zhou Enlai, learned of this bad news, he cried and called the funeral committee and asked to come to Beijing to send his old friend on his last journey.
However, due to the farewell ceremony of the body of the mainland party and state leaders after their deaths, there was no custom of inviting international friends, and Kim Il Sung's wish could not be realized.
Zhou Enlai died
Kim Il Sung did not want to miss it like this, and soon proposed again to come to Beijing as a civilian, not to live in the State Guest House, and to bid farewell to Zhou Enlai. But it still didn't work out.
In the end, Kim Il Sung made a large wreath of North Korean bamboo and tearfully wrote a pair of ties, sending the vice premier to take his own plane to Zhou Enlai's spirit and guard his soul for a quarter of an hour.
And Deng Yingchao, who had a relationship with Zhou Enlai for more than fifty years, was even more sad. After Zhou Enlai's death, she cried several times in sorrow.
Zhou Enlai died
In August 1975, Zhou Enlai's condition was already very serious. One day, taking advantage of his relatively clear mind, Zhou Enlai, despite the pain and suffering of illness, suddenly asked all doctors and nurses to retire to the outside of the ward, leaving only Deng Yingchao and Gao Zhengpu in the room.
Subsequently, Zhou Enlai asked Gao Zhenpu to bring paper and pencil. When Gao Zhenpu did everything and helped Zhou Enlai sit firmly, he was also ready to turn around and exit the ward, but was stopped by Zhou Enlai.
Subsequently, Zhou Enlai dragged the wooden board with his left hand where the paper was placed, raised his trembling right hand, and prepared to write.
Deng Yingchao, who was beside him, could not bear it and proposed to Zhou Enlai: "You dictate, I will write it!" ”
Zhou Enlai did not look up, and resolutely replied: "No, or I will write it myself!" ”
Zhou Enlai
In the letter, Zhou Enlai proposed to Chairman Mao that Deng Xiaoping replace him in the position of state and party.
After writing it, Zhou Enlai handed the letter to Deng Yingchao and asked her to forward it to the Central Committee on her behalf.
The following month marks the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Zhou Enlai once again proposed that he personally lead a central delegation into Tibet in order to realize his dream of personally going to Tibet.
However, The head of the medical team, Dr. Wu Jieping, considering Zhou Enlai's health, had to resolutely refuse: "The premier's current illness is very heavy, and he cannot adapt to altitude sickness such as lack of oxygen on the plateau." ”
Zhou Enlai's wish was thus frustrated.
Also this month, Zhou Enlai's condition took a sharp turn for the worse, the cancer spread rapidly, immunity dropped sharply, and even a few minutes of walking had to be canceled.
After that, Zhou Enlai often went into a comatose state. One day, Zhou Enlai, who woke up from his slumber, saw the busy medical staff and said to them very calmly: "My illness, staying in the hospital is not much interesting." Can I move in at home? There are still many patients here, and you should take care of them. ”
In this way, it is inevitable that the staff's heart will add a little sadness. Although they wanted to do their best to prolong Zhou Enlai's life.
Zhou Enlai in his later years
Unfortunately, on January 7, 1976, Zhou Enlai's condition uncontrollably went to a stage of serious deterioration and fell into a coma for a long time.
After waking up at 11 o'clock in the middle of the night, Zhou Enlai still had someone else in mind. He weakly said to the medical staff: "I have nothing to do here, you should still take care of other sick comrades!" They need you even more! ”
After saying this, Zhou Enlai fell into a coma again.
In the early morning of the next day, Zhou Enlai's pulse turned weak, and the experts in the state of "first-level preparation" immediately took their places and went all out to rescue them under the command of Wu Jieping, the leader of the medical team.
However, Zhou Enlai stopped breathing at about 9:40, and the electrocardiogram gradually showed a straight line.
Everyone did not want to believe that the premier left like this, Wu Jieping did not let the medical staff stop the rescue, there was a rescue work that lasted for ten minutes, but still failed to snatch Zhou Enlai back from the hands of the god of death...
Zhou Enlai's death was a state secret at the time. After the party and state leaders came to the 305 Hospital to offer condolences, at about 11 o'clock in the morning, Zhou Enlai's body was quietly transported to a small morgue in the Beijing Hospital for resettlement.
Wu Jieping
Until the evening, Master Zhu Dianhua, a hairdresser at the Beijing Hotel who had been giving Zhou Enlai a haircut, was invited to give Zhou Enlai a final haircut.
When Zhu Dianhua rushed to the hospital with his apprentice, he just saw Zhou Enlai's remains, and he was sad and cried bitterly.
He did not expect that Premier Zhou, who had been personable for decades, had become so haggard under the torment of illness that he was about to become unrecognizable!
In fact, before Zhou Enlai's death, the staff had proposed to let Zhu Dianhua help him get a haircut, but Zhou Enlai refused.
Therefore, he did not want Zhu Dianhua to see his sick face sad.
Before the haircut, the doctor reminded Zhu Dianhua that this haircut was very important because the farewell ceremony for the body was about to be held.
In addition, when shaving Zhou Enlai, be careful not to scratch the skin, otherwise there will be corpse spots.
Under the sad emotion, Zhu Dianhua's tears could not stop flowing, and the razor in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
In desperation, Zhu Dianhua could only let his apprentices come to repair Zhou Enlai's appearance.
After calming down, Zhu Dianhua instructed his disciples:
"The Prime Minister's beard is thick and hard, and when I shave the Prime Minister in the past, I had to soap it a few times and simmer it several times with a hot towel to shave it clean. But now that the Prime Minister is gone, he can no longer use a hot towel. If you use a hot towel, your skin will turn purple and you won't be able to remove it during plastic surgery and makeup..."
After Zhou Enlai's death, the masses carried portraits
Hearing Zhu Dianhua say this, his disciple was even more nervous, and he didn't dare to do anything about it.
Seeing that the time was not early, the doctor could only urge Zhu Dianhua again, and Zhu Dianhua finally picked up the razor again.
Because the bed on which Zhou Enlai was lying was very low, Zhu Dianhua directly knelt on the ground and carefully shaved Zhou Enlai's beard.
In the end, after careful trimming by Zhu Dianhua and his apprentices, Zhou Enlai's hair and beard were neatly arranged and clean.
Beginning at 5:00 a.m. on January 9, the Central People's Radio and Television Station announced to the whole country and the world the news of Premier Zhou Enlai's death.
Soon, the phone in the West Flower Hall was busy, and many people did not want to believe that Zhou Enlai had left, and they called one after another to ask if it was true.
Immediately after, the portrait of Zhou Enlai in Beijing was sold out, the black cloth in the store was sold out, and even the white paper made of small paper flowers was out of stock. In the streets and alleys of Beijing, men, women and children wear black veils, and the small pines in front of the Tiananmen Monument are also hung with white flowers.
On the morning of January 10, Deng Yingchao came to bid farewell to the body of his lover Zhou Enlai.
Deng Yingchao cried bitterly
On the wreath for Zhou Enlai, although there are only a few words "mourning Enlai's comrades-in-arms, Xiao Chao is silent", it fully reflects their camaraderie and the deepest love of the husband and wife.
Looking at Zhou Enlai's body, although Deng Yingchao was very sad, he did not cry loudly. However, the staff supporting Deng Yingchao could clearly feel that Deng Yingchao's body had been gently trembling.
The crematorium knelt down to pick up the ashes
On the afternoon of January 11, it was time for the people to say goodbye to Zhou Enlai for the last time, because his body would be sent to the Babaoshan crematorium for cremation that night.
Accompanied by the central leaders, all the staff of the Funeral Committee, and a small number of relatives and friends, two staff members supported Deng Yingchao, who was holding the portrait of Zhou Enlai in both hands, and staggered out of the condolence hall. The 4 ceremonial soldiers carrying Zhou Enlai's coffin followed closely behind Deng Yingchao.
As Zhou Enlai's white hearse slowly started, dozens of cars followed behind the hearse, forming a convoy of spirits.
In the cold wind, millions of people spontaneously took to the streets, huddled in an orderly manner on both sides of Chang'an Avenue, waiting for Zhou Enlai's hearse to pass. In the crowd, there were only shouts and cries, and no one poured in.
The crowd sends hearse
Many of them were white-haired old men and women holding children, each with tears on their faces. There are still many people who have been standing here waiting since the morning. They stood for seven or eight hours in the cold wind of minus ten degrees!
After Deng Yingchao's secretary Zhao Wei saw this scene in the car, he was both touched and sad, and immediately told Deng Yingchao the news, and gently pulled the curtains for Deng Yingchao to see.
Deng Yingchao did not want the masses to wait in the cold wind, so he wanted to speed up the car in front of him so that the masses could go home early.
However, there was no mobile phone at that time, and it was impossible to convey this message to the driver of the hearse in front of him in time. The hearse driver may not want to send Zhou Enlai away as soon as possible, or perhaps he wants the masses to look at Zhou Enlai more, this period usually only takes half an hour to walk, a full hour and 35 minutes.
When the hearse came to the downtown entrance, several elderly people suddenly intercepted the hearse and prevented premier Zhou Enlai from being cremated.
When the hearse reached the gate of Babaoshan Cemetery, it was once again surrounded by a large group of people. Many of them are workers in Shijingshan and members of Babaoshan Commune.
The masses bid farewell to the Prime Minister
They had been waiting here for a long time, wanting to beg the staff to keep the body of Premier Zhou Enlai and not to cremate him.
However, the cremation of the body was Zhou Enlai's last wish, and in the early years, he signed the relevant documents with Chairman Mao and others. Moreover, he also wanted to promote the reform of funerals through himself.
Before his death, Zhou Enlai repeatedly mentioned the cremation of the remains, and explained that Deng Yingchao must report his last wishes to the central authorities.
Therefore, the cremation of Zhou Enlai's body has become a foregone conclusion. After repeated explanations by the staff, these people who blocked the hearse slowly dispersed.
Since the second farewell room was relatively close to the place of cremation, the staff placed Zhou Enlai's body here.
After the farewell ceremony began, because everyone wanted to see Zhou Enlai for the last time, Zhou Enlai's nephews and nieces, in the crowd, could not walk up to Zhou Enlai.
Everyone could not accept the fact that Zhou Enlai was about to be cremated, and they cried to death and could not help themselves. Qiao Guanhua, who has always been in love with Zhou Enlai, is even more discouraged, lying on the glass coffin of Zhou Enlai's body, crying bitterly and making heart-wrenching sounds.
Qiao Guanhua
During this time, he instinctively rushed to the front, protecting Zhou Enlai's coffin and not cremating.
Deng Yingchao, who has been trying his best to control his emotions, saw this scene and could no longer suppress his feelings, and issued a heart-rending cry.
Thinking that he would never see his lover again in a few minutes, Deng Yingchao touched the coffin with both hands and said bitterly: "Enlai, I will never see you again..."
Deng Yingchao's crying caused more people to cry bitterly, and there was a cry in the room.
The staff was worried that Deng Yingchao was too sad to faint, so they constantly urged Deng Yingchao's secretary Zhao Wei to take Deng Yingchao away. Deng Yingchao was very reluctant, lying in front of Zhou Enlai's body, Zhao Wei could not hold it. She said sadly, "You're just asking me to look at him, and I'll never see Enlai again..."
At this time, the funeral staff repeatedly came to persuade everyone: the cremation time is up, please leave.
And Qiao Guanhua was immersed in grief and could not come out. While crying, he shouted: "Prime Minister, you have been childless all your life, so let me, as your children, give you the last ride!" ”
How the staff persuaded was useless, and everyone spent a lot of effort to pull Qiao Guanhua away.
Zhao Wei and Deng Yingchao took a group photo
After the mood gradually calmed down, the crematoria prepared to cremate Zhou Enlai's body.
When Zhou Enlai's body was pushed into the hearth, the workers could not bear to close the electric gate knife. Later, at the repeated urging of the rich and the wealthy, the workers shed tears, fell to their knees, and pulled down the gate knife with trembling hands.
In fact, long before the selection of the cremation industry, no one was willing to take on this heavy responsibility. In desperation, they could only elect an excellent party member through a meeting to be the main cremator.
The moment they opened the coffin and saw the remains, everyone cried bitterly, crying for twenty minutes, and their eyes were swollen.
In the end, everyone successfully completed the cremation task in accordance with Deng Yingchao's requirements.
Before cremation, Deng Yingchao made a four-word request: complete and safe.
Complete means that the ashes are all placed in a urn. Safety means cleaning the crematorium before and after cremation.
After the cremation work was over, several cremators all knelt on the ground sadly and picked up Zhou Enlai's ashes.
Crematography Liu Zhanhai
However, in the process of loading the ashes, everyone found that the urn prepared in advance could not hold Zhou Enlai's ashes at all, so they asked for a ceramic bottle from the Eight Treasure Mountain, which completed all of Zhou Enlai's ashes.
Keep the ashes rumored
Before Zhou Enlai died, he left a last word, hoping to scatter the ashes. On January 12, the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao approved Zhou Enlai's request to scatter his ashes.
At about 9:00 a.m. on this day, Deng Yingchao called Zhang Shuying, Gao Zhenpu and Zhao Wei together and solemnly explained to them a task - to find a suitable place to scatter the ashes.
Deng Yingchao also specially explained that the place should be well chosen, do not bother with the organization, and do not let others find out, otherwise it will become a place of commemoration again, so that it will violate Zhou Enlai's wishes.
However, at that time, Beijing was in the midst of nine cold days, and the frozen earth was everywhere. The three of them kept looking for the afternoon and didn't find the right place.
After returning, they were very uncomfortable, and after reporting the situation to Deng Yingchao, they proposed that they should report to the Party Central Committee to find a suitable place, and Deng Yingchao agreed.
In the end, the Party Central Committee decided to send a plane to Sa, and Luo Qingchang, Guo Yufeng, Zhang Shuying, and Gao Zhenpu went to carry out the task of scattering ashes. The places where the ashes were scattered were over Beijing, the Miyun Reservoir, the estuary of the Haihe River in Tianjin, and the estuary of the Yellow River in Binzhou, Shandong.
Luo Qingchang
On the day of scattering the ashes, Deng Yingchao held Zhou Enlai's urn and silently wept. Zhang Shuying could not bear deng Yingchao's sadness and proposed to hold the urn for Deng Yingchao for a while. Deng Yingchao shook his head and said in a voice that was already crying hoarsely, "Let me hold it!" This is the last time I'll be with Enlai..."
Deng Yingchao's words made Zhang Shuying cry on the spot. He understood. Deng Yingchao has always restrained his emotions in front of people and does not let others cry too much. However, her sadness could not be concealed.
As the staff around Deng Yingchao and his wife, they could not share her grief for Deng Yingchao, or even the weight of the urn in her hand.
Before Zhang Shuying and the others got on the plane, Deng Yingchao tightly held their hands and said, "This mission all depends on you, and I thank you on behalf of En!" ”
Subsequently, the plane took off slowly and continued to rise. After 4 hours, they successfully completed the task of scattering ashes. Since it was already very late, he did not report to Deng Yingchao.
Deng Yingchao held the urn in his hand
It was not until the next morning, Zhang Shuying and Gao Zhenpu, who came to the West Flower Hall, to report the situation to Deng Yingchao.
Before they came, Deng Yingchao had been waiting at the door for a long time, and she had not even slept all night.
Seeing Zhang Shuying and Gao Zhenpu walk in, Deng Yingchao burst into tears, opened his arms, and hugged them, and the three of them hugged and cried.
As for Zhou Enlai's ashes, there were rumors that some of them were preserved and were intended to be scattered in Taiwan after the return of Taiwan.
After Deng Yingchao read it, he refuted the rumors. Deng Yingchao said that Zhou Enlai's ashes were not preserved at all.
In order to express his concern for Taiwan, before scattering the ashes, the ashes were placed overnight in the Taiwan Hall of the Great Hall of the People.
Zhou Enlai has always been very concerned about Taiwan, as well as for his former friends in Taiwan, and before his death, he specifically mentioned not to forget those people.
In addition, Luo Qingchang, the minister whom Zhou Enlai finally summoned, once revealed that the reason why Zhou Enlai's ashes were scattered into the yellow river into the sea was not only because he wanted to scatter the ashes into the mother river to repay the mother who gave birth to him and raised him, which was also related to Taiwan.
Luo Qingchang said that another layer of Zhou Enlai's meaning is that he wants to bring his ashes to Taiwan through the sea.