On January 6, 1972, Marshal Chen Yi, one of the ten marshals of the mainland and a great revolutionary, died of illness
In order to send this old revolutionary on his last journey, Marshal Chen Yi's memorial service was decided to be held on the afternoon of January 10 at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing.
At that time, Chairman Mao's physical condition was not very good, and he had not planned to attend the memorial service.
However, on this afternoon, an hour before the beginning of Marshal Chen Yi's memorial service, Chairman Mao, who was seriously ill, disregarded his old age and frail health, dressed in pajamas, got up from his bed with difficulty, ordered the guards to immediately prepare a car to go to Babaoshan, and insisted on personally attending Marshal Chen Yi's memorial service.
Just as Chairman Mao was speaking at the memorial service, Marshal Ye Jianying, who was beside him, stood up from his seat, quietly walked over to Premier Zhou Enlai, and handed over two pages of the manuscript to Zhou Enlai.
When Premier Zhou opened the manuscript, everything suddenly opened up, and Premier Zhou immediately understood.
However, Chairman Mao was plagued by illness and had no good plans, so why did he suddenly personally attend Marshal Chen Yi's memorial service? In the short two-page manuscript that Ye Jianying handed over to Premier Zhou, what exactly was written? Why did Marshal Ye Jianying entrust this manuscript to Premier Zhou before the memorial service began?
Marshal Chen Yi died
Marshal Chen Yi and Premier Zhou Enlai met when they were working and studying in France. After returning to China, they jointly participated in the Nanchang Uprising, and from this point on, the two embarked on the same path, establishing a deep revolutionary friendship in the decades of military career.
At the time of the "Great Award" after the founding of New China, because Chen Yi served as vice premier of the country, although he was the commander and political commissar of the Third Field Army, he had nothing to do with the army, some people did not agree with Chen Yi's selection as one of the "Ten Marshals".
Chen Yi felt that it didn't matter, no matter where he went, he was serving the people, and no matter what position he held, he was also serving the people.
However, Premier Zhou Enlai disagreed, believing that Chen Yi was the second commander of the New Fourth Army after Ye Ting, representing the New Fourth Army, which had waged a guerrilla war in the south for three years, and it was impossible to say without a marshal.
Moreover, although the main force of the Red Army traveled twenty-five thousand miles on the Long March and suffered countless hardships, the southern guerrillas led by Chen Yi, who did not participate in the Long March, suffered no less than the main force.
Under the reasoning of Premier Zhou Enlai, Chen Yicai was shortlisted for the "Ten Marshals".
Between Marshal Chen Yi and Marshal Ye Jianying, there was not only a deep revolutionary friendship, but the two were also "poet friends".
In the "Selected Poems of Ye Jianying", there are four poems written by Chen Yi, and the poetic style is bold and bold, with profound meaning, which fully reflects the deep friendship between the two marshals.
In December 1954, at the enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, Chen Yi gave a shark skin bag to Ye Jianying, and Ye Jianying did not know how to return the gift for a while, and immediately replied with a poem: "The old man gave me a leather bag, how to repay the mango is good, the mango is in the distance, why will it be an iron bird." ”
From July 1970 onwards, Marshal Chen Yi's physical condition took a sharp turn for the worse, and he often felt abdominal pain accompanied by diarrhea, which Marshal Chen Yi originally thought was just an ordinary illness. However, on January 16, 1971, during the appendectomy, the doctor found that Marshal Chen Yi had suffered from bowel cancer, and the cancer cells had spread, and the situation was not optimistic.
During the period when Marshal Chen Yi was seriously ill, Marshal Ye Jianying visited the hospital almost every day, and he wrote in the poem "Comforting Comrade Chen Yi": "Gentlemen are frank and frank, and people know Haoran. Gannan is insurmountable, and Fujian is wrong. The Slovak people have diseases, and they can smell Zen when they hear the Tao. The letter is powerful, and the road ahead is very difficult. ”
The poem is titled "Yi Gong lies ill, poetry to comfort" eight big characters, Ye Jianying with poetry Mingzhi, hope that after Marshal Chen Yi sees this poem, he can overcome the disease, regroup, and continue to fight with himself.
On January 6, 1972, Chen Yi was critically ill, and at the behest of Chairman Mao, Ye Jianying went to the hospital again to visit Chen Yi, and Ye Jianying said: "Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee want me to come and see you, let you rest assured that everything will be fine." ”
Chen Yi's daughter Shanshan sat at the head of the bed and said softly to Chen Yi, "Dad, if you can hear what Uncle Ye said just now, close your eyes." ”
Chen Yi closed his eyes.
However, Marshal Ye Jianying did not expect that this would be the last time the two would see each other.
After Ye Jianying left, at 11:55 p.m. that night, Marshal Chen Yi could no longer hold on and died in Beijing.
After Chen Yi's death, Ye Jianying went to say goodbye to Chen Yi's body many times, and every time he burst into tears, he also wrote a poem "Mourning Comrade Chen Yi" to express his sorrow: "The ghost stings shoot with sand, and Yuan Liang breathes on his shoulders." Ercao stood out and the relay raced forward. ”
Marshal Chen Yi's memorial service was originally scheduled to be held on the afternoon of January 10, 1972.
Because Ye Jianying and Chen Yi formed a deep friendship, so entrusted by Marshal Chen Yi's family, Marshal Ye Jianying undertook the task of reciting the eulogy at the memorial service, and Marshal Chen Yi's eulogy was also written by the relevant departments before handing it over to Ye Jianying, who received a short eulogy of only 600 words and repeatedly silently recited it, and tears once again appeared in his eyes.
At that time, Marshal Chen Yi was no longer a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and according to the relevant provisions of the Central Document, his memorial service could only be organized by the Central Military Commission, and members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee were generally not allowed to participate, so the scale of the memorial service was very small, the specifications were very low, and the number of people attending the memorial service was only five hundred.
At this time, Chairman Mao's physical condition was not optimistic, he was plagued by diseases, his face was yellow, his appetite was weak, his body was very weak, and he was even more sad after learning the news of Marshal Chen Yi's death.
Chairman Mao and Marshal Chen Yi, who have been old comrades-in-arms since the Jinggangshan period, have fought together for many years. Not only that, Chen Yi was also one of Chairman Mao's few "confidants", and when the two were idle, they liked to recite poems against each other, and Chairman Mao praised Marshal Chen Yi on many occasions for his noble personality.
Marshal Chen Yi also often wrote to Chairman Mao asking him to help revise the poems for himself, and Chairman Mao replied frankly: "I am not very familiar with the five-word poem, and only changed one of your poems, "Journey to the West." ”
The whole poem reads as follows: "Thousands of miles westward, riding the wind and space." Not because of the wingspan, which bird passes. The sea brews a thousand bells of wine, and the mountain cuts ten thousand onions. The wind and thunder drive the earth, and there are relatives and friends everywhere. ”
At the same time, Zhou Enlai, who was the premier of the State Council, was also very sad, and the memorial service was scheduled to be held at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery at 3 p.m. on January 10, but according to the secretary, since about 12 noon, Premier Zhou Enlai has not entered the water, and has been pacing back and forth in the West Flower Hall, sighing from time to time.
At about 2 p.m., an hour before the memorial service began, Chairman Mao, who was taking a lunch break in Zhongnanhai, suddenly sat up and said to the guards next to him: "Immediately transfer the bus, I am going to attend Comrade Chen Yi's memorial service!" ”
Chairman Mao personally attended the memorial service
Originally, Marshal Chen Yi's memorial service was very small, Chairman Mao had no intention of going there, and the guards accompanying him naturally did not make preparations.
For a long time, Chairman Mao had not participated in the memorial service or anything like that, nor had he been to Babaoshan Mountain, and now the sudden request caught the guards off guard, and they hurriedly informed Premier Zhou of Chairman Mao's words, and at the same time immediately mobilized the vehicles needed by Chairman Mao to prepare for this trip.
In order to ensure Chairman Mao's safety, the members of the guard each brought long and short weapons and enough ammunition, and were on standby in a van accompanying them.
Premier Zhou Enlai was so excited when he learned of the news that Chairman Mao was coming in person, and he immediately dialed the telephone number of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee: "I am Zhou Enlai, and I would like to ask you to immediately inform the members and alternate members of the Political Bureau in Beijing and tell them that they must attend Comrade Chen Yi's memorial service, and at the same time inform The secretary of Vice Chairman Soong Ching-ling, the PEOPLE's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; in short, anyone who requests to attend Comrade Chen Yi's memorial service can attend it." ”
Finally, on balance, Premier Zhou Enlai contacted foreign guests, Prince Sihanouk, the head of state of Cambodia, and Mrs. Monique.
Pressed for time, Premier Zhou Enlai immediately rushed from the West Flower Hall to Babaoshan and informed the staff of Babaoshan that Chairman Mao was coming.
Taking into account Chairman Mao's physical condition, Premier Zhou Enlai asked the staff to immediately arrange for more than a dozen electric stoves to be opened in advance. At the same time, the number of wreaths was increased, the number of people who actually attended the memorial service was increased to 1500, and newspapers were notified and journalists were invited.
From 2 p.m. when Chairman Mao issued the order to go to Babaoshan, to 3 p.m. marshal Chen Yi's memorial service officially began, in just one hour, everything was in detail, from the participants to the on-site arrangements, Premier Zhou Enlai completed these meticulous and complicated preparations in a very short period of time, and directly upgraded the specifications of the memorial service.
Premier Zhou's move can be said to have been smoothly completed, and originally Marshal Chen Yi's memorial service would have specifications and restrictions, and many political commissars who had befriended him before his death were inconvenient to attend. Premier Zhou, on the other hand, understood Chairman Mao's hint that the specifications of Marshal Chen Yi's memorial service should be raised.
Therefore, Premier Zhou Enlai traveled in many ways, and important friends of Marshal Chen Yi's life, such as Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia and Vice Chairman Song Qingling, also naturally arrived at the scene.
As a speaker, Marshal Ye Jianying had already rushed to the meeting hall, and after learning that Chairman Mao was going to personally attend the memorial service, he was filled with tears of excitement and was also relieved by Marshal Chen Yi, who accompanied Premier Zhou Enlai to deal with the practice at the memorial service site while quietly planning another matter.
Soon after, Chairman Mao's motorcade stopped in front of the small auditorium of the Babaoshan Cemetery, but the entrance to the auditorium was very deserted, and there were not many people outside as in the past, so the guards entered the door and said to Premier Zhou Enlai: "Chairman Mao is here." ”
Premier Zhou Enlai immediately instructed others to find Zhang Qian, the widow of Marshal Chen Yi, while he himself immediately went out to meet Chairman Mao.
Premier Zhou Enlai and Chairman Mao met in the front hall of the Babaoshan Auditorium, and the two shook hands cordially; Premier Zhou Enlai saw that Chairman Mao was wearing only pajamas and an overcoat on the outside, his face was haggard, his hair was long and messy, and his beard was not shaved, so he said to Chairman Mao with pain: "Why did you come so early?" ”
Chairman Mao replied weakly, "Oh, I can't sleep." ”
Looking at Premier Zhou's complaining eyes, the guards quickly explained: "Chairman Mao said he would leave, and we couldn't stop him." We grabbed a coat in our hands, and before we could put it on For Chairman Mao, Chairman Mao hurried out. ”
Premier Zhou's depression faded, so he led Chairman Mao to the middle of the crowd.
Just as Chairman Mao shook hands with them, Zhang Qian came, and when Zhang Qian saw Chairman Mao, she rushed forward to greet them, shook Chairman Mao's hand, could not hide her excitement, and cried uncontrollably: "Chairman, how come you have come?" ”
Chairman Mao also cordially shook Zhang Qian's hand, burst into tears, and said to Zhang Qian: "I have come to mourn Comrade Chen Yi, and Comrade Chen Yi is a good comrade!" ”
Chairman Mao hastily calmed Zhang Qian's mood and said: "Comrade Chen Yi and I are confidants in private, he has made great contributions to the Chinese revolution and the world revolution, and he is a good man. ”
Chairman Mao wiped away his tears and said many words of encouragement to these children, hoping that they would inherit the wishes of their father, Chen Yi, and do a good job for the motherland and the people.
Chairman Mao could not stand for a long time, Zhang Qian hurriedly led him to the sofa and asked him to sit for a while, Zhou Enlai also came to greet the guests and friends to sit down, Chairman Mao sat on the sofa in the center of the room, Zhou Enlai sat on the left, Zhang Qian sat on the opposite side, and at the same table were Ye Jianying, Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen, Song Qingling, Guo Moruo, and other state leaders.
Ye Jianying entrusted the eulogy
Just as Chairman Mao was sitting on the couch and speaking, Ye Jianying, who was beside him, quietly stood up from his seat, walked over to Premier Zhou, and handed over the two pages of manuscript he was holding tightly in his hand.
Since Chairman Mao was speaking, Ye Jianying did not make a sound, looked at Premier Zhou quietly with both eyes, clasped his fists, and then quietly turned around and returned to his seat.
Premier Zhou also wondered for a moment what was written on these two pieces of paper, why Ye Jianying could not wait a little longer, but had to hand it over to himself before the memorial service began.
On these two pages, there are less than 600 words, and these six hundred words are Marshal Chen Yi's eulogy!
Originally, due to the relatively small specifications of the memorial service originally prepared for Marshal Chen Yi, marshal Ye Jianying could only read the eulogy. Chairman Mao's arrival directly raised the entire memorial service to the highest level, and if Ye Jianying read the eulogy at this time, it would not be in line with the specifications of the memorial service.
At this moment, Premier Zhou Enlai was higher than Ye Jianying in terms of rank and influence, and Ye Jianying specially entrusted this heavy responsibility to Premier Zhou Enlai, hoping that through Premier Zhou, he could give some comfort to the deceased Marshal Chen Yi.
Ye Jianying, with his understanding of Premier Zhou Enlai over the years, had great trust in him, and when the memorial service was about to begin, he handed these two manuscripts to Zhou Enlai, and the two old revolutionaries did not need to say much to understand it.
After Chairman Mao finished speaking, because she was worried about his body, Zhang Qian asked Chairman Mao to take a break for a while, but Chairman Mao said that he would also attend the memorial service, and asked Zhang Qian to find a black veil for himself. Since Chairman Mao was wearing only one pajama at that time, Zhang Qian put a black veil on the sleeve of Chairman Mao's pajamas.
After the memorial service began, Premier Zhou took the two pages of Marshal Chen Yi's eulogy that Ye Jianying had given him and walked to the statue of Marshal Chen Yi.
The short 600-word eulogy provides a rough overview of the 50 years of revolution in which Marshal Chen Yi joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in 1922 and died in 1972, and the eulogy pointed out: Marshal Chen Yi was an excellent Communist Party member, and in the decades of revolutionary struggle, he has been working hard for the socialist revolution and socialist construction, and he is a great fighter. His passing away has made us lose an old comrade-in-arms and comrade, and is a great loss for our party and our army.
Chairman Mao stood in the middle of the queue, quietly listening to the eulogy and quietly wiping his tears...
The 600-word eulogy was quickly read out, and under the organization of Premier Zhou Enlai, Chairman Mao, together with everyone, bowed to marshal Chen Yi's portrait and ashes, and sent marshal Chen Yi on his last journey.
After the memorial service, Chairman Mao found Zhang Qian again, told her not to be overly sad and to take care of her body, and turned her head to instruct Chen Yi's children, hoping that they would study hard and contribute to the people in the future.
After making these instructions, Chairman Mao looked back at Chen Yi's portrait before reluctantly bidding farewell, and when he was leaving, Zhang Qian sent them all the way.
Chairman Mao, who had been standing for a long time, was so weak that he could no longer lift his legs, so the guards helped Chairman Mao into the car.
It was also after attending Marshal Chen Yi's memorial service that Chairman Mao, who was already weak and lacked rest, fell ill after returning to Zhongnanhai due to excessive grief, and this time he was very ill, with two shocks, and if it were not for the doctor's emergency rescue, the consequences would be unimaginable.
epilogue
When Marshal Chen Yi was young, he wrote a poem: "Here go to Quantai to recruit the old department, and cut down Yan Luo with 100,000 banners." ”
He had already thrown himself into the torrent of revolution, closely linking his personal struggle with the party's cause, as Chairman Mao said: "Chen Yi was also tempered into a true communist fighter in this struggle. ”
The older generation of revolutionaries is our eternal wealth, and we can feel the revolutionary enthusiasm that is like fire in their bodies, and we can feel the fiery revolutionary friendship between Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, Marshal Xu Qianqian and Marshal Chen Yi.
They are all fighters who truly struggle bravely for the communist ideal, they have a firm revolutionary stand, they are not shocked by the spoils of the past, they are passionate about the lofty ideals of the future, they are firm in their faith, and they embrace hopes:
"Take righteousness and become benevolent today's affairs, and plant free flowers all over the world!"
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REN Long. Talking about how to accurately grasp the intention of leadership: Starting from Premier Zhou's improvement of the specifications of Comrade Chen Yi's memorial service[J].Secretarial Work, 2005,(08):47-49.
CHEN Changjiang. Recalling Chairman Mao's participation in the memorial service of Marshal Chen Yi[D].People's Liberation Army Publishing House, 2012.
GUO Ming. A Moving Scene at marshal Chen Yi's memorial service[J].Party History Wenhui,2001,(03):34-35.
CHEN Changjiang. The signal released by marshal Chen Yi's memorial service[J].Moving Forward in the Same Boat,2012,(09):52-54.