Being able to marry someone you like and live your life in peace and joy should be the dream of many people.
Such a wish is not a difficult task in today's era of free love and marriage.
However, in the past, when the parents' fate was the word of the concubine and the three wives and four concubines, most girls were arranged marriages by their parents, and the probability of getting married first and then falling in love was very slim.
The story told in today's article is the story of a 17-year-old girl who is forced to marry a 54-year-old man.
In 1936, Guo Yiqing, a 17-year-old girl, married Cheng Qian, a 54-year-old general of the Republic of China at the time, under the arrangement of her parents.
In the decades after marriage, Guo Yiqing conceived 16 children for Cheng Qian, and also remained widowed for Cheng Qian for a lifetime.
So, what are the unknown life experiences between the old husband and the young wife?
Let's take this question with us and walk into the story told in today's article.
The 54-year-old general married a 17-year-old wife
In 1882, Cheng Qian was born in Hunan. In that dark era, Cheng Qian witnessed the brutal rule of the Qing court and the chaotic situation of the people from an early age.
In 1900, at the age of 18, Cheng Qian decided to abandon Wen Congwu and was admitted to the Hunan Wubei Academy with excellent results.
After graduating from the Hunan Wubei Academy, Cheng Qian went to Japan to study, and he had a comprehensive contact with Western civilization, and his desire to return to China to change the backward appearance of the motherland became stronger and stronger.
While studying in Japan, Cheng Qian joined the Revolutionary Comrades Association and the League Led by Sun Yat-sen.
In 1911, Cheng served as a staff officer in the new army of Sichuan.
In the process of rushing to Beiping to participate in military exercises, he heard about the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising (Xinhai Revolution), and planned to lead the army he led to join the revolutionary army in Wuhan.
After the establishment of the Republic of China, Cheng Qian led his army back to his hometown in Hunan to develop.
At that time, Mao Zedong, who was studying at Changsha Normal Middle School, responded to the call of the Hunan revolutionaries and joined the revolutionary army led by Cheng Qian, where Cheng Qian and Mao Zedong met for the first time.
Chairman Mao later said in his memoirs that the first time he joined the army was through systematic military training in Cheng Qian's new army, and he affectionately called Cheng Qian his old superior.
At the beginning of 1924, the first national congress of the Kuomintang was held in Guangdong, and Cheng Qian participated in the congress as a representative of Hunan.
In April 1924, Cheng Qian was appointed by Sun Yat-sen as minister of military affairs and the principal of the Army Lecture Hall.
Two years later, Cheng Qian became the commander of the Sixth Army of the National Revolutionary Army and became a highly regarded officer leader at the top of the Kuomintang.
In 1936, Cheng Qian, who was highly qualified, was appointed as a general in the Kuomintang Army.
In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, Cheng Qian was always a veteran figure of the Kuomintang.
He worked for a long time in the Kuomintang's Central Military Commission, and even ran for vice president of the Republic of China with Li Zongren during the Liberation War, and was a core figure in the Kuomintang Xiang army faction.
In July 1949, Cheng Qian, who was in charge of the military and political power in Hunan, was forced by the situation to hold peace negotiations with the Communist Party of China.
After more than a month of consultations, the principal party, government, and military deputies of the Hunan Kuomintang actively called on cheng Qian.
Decided to accept the Communist Party's peace talks agreement. Cheng Qian and others held an uprising in Changsha, and the Central Hunan region was peacefully liberated.
After the success of the Changsha Uprising, Cheng Qian was entrusted with important tasks, becoming chairman of the Hunan Military and Political Committee, and after the founding of New China, he was appointed chairman of the Hunan Provincial People's Government.
Since 1954, Cheng Qian has long held important positions in the central organs and is one of the important leaders of the new China.
Looking back at Cheng Qian's military career, we can find that his life was extremely successful.
However, as a man, Cheng Qian's emotional life is very bumpy, and he has been criticized by people.
This is not only because Cheng Qian had three failed marriages in his life, but also because he once married a 17-year-old girl at the age of 54 and made the girl pregnant 16 times in thirty-three years.
The young girl who married 54-year-old Cheng Qian as a wife at the age of 17 was named Guo Yiqing.
So, why did Guo Yiqing marry Cheng Qian? What does she want?
A rich lady in an arranged marriage
Guo Yiqing was born in 1919 in Shantou, Guangdong Province, the Guo family is a well-known local wealthy merchant family, Guo Yiqing's father in the early years of business, accumulated a lot of wealth.
Due to the solid family, Guo Yiqing, who was regarded by his parents as a pearl in the palm of his hand since childhood, lived a rich life without worry.
Coupled with living in the coastal areas of Guangdong, Guo Yiqing received an enlightened Western education from an early age, and was a maverick, love and hate rich girl.
Guo Yiqing's mother is everyone's girlfriend, she attaches great importance to the cultivation of Guo Yiqing, and completely allows Guo Yiqing to develop and grow according to the model of high society.
Due to the guidance of his parents and the familiarity of the living environment, Guo Yiqing has studied in both China and the West, and has a comprehensive understanding of traditional culture and Western culture.
In addition to the knowledge that is difficult for his peers to reach, Guo Yiqing is also very dignified and generous, and is the object of pursuit of countless rich princes and brothers in the upper class of the Republic of China.
However, Guo Yiqing's heart is very high, and for those who only covet her beauty, she has a fervent yearning for free love, and she vows to find a Ruyi Langjun who matches her knowledge and beauty.
However, she has not found a suitable object.
As Guo Yiqing grew up day by day, more and more powerful families came to her home to seek relatives.
However, none of those cookie-cutter suitors could enter Guo Yiqing's eyes.
Whether it is a suitor who takes the initiative to come to the door or a rich brother introduced by his parents and friends, Guo Yiqing has turned a blind eye.
Guo Yiqing's parents originally thought that Guo Yiqing's heart belonged, so they found her to communicate calmly, but Guo Yiqing has stayed at home since she was a child, where will she meet any sweethearts?
She had always longed for her true destiny to appear a day earlier, but she waited and waited to become an "older leftover woman".
In fact, girls in the early days of the last century were still married very early, and they were already "older leftover women" if they could not marry out at the age of seventeen or eighteen.
Guo Yiqing's family is well-off, and her parents have not fallen to the point of selling their children and daughters.
It is not difficult for Guo Yiqing to find a Ruyi Langjun who is right at the door.
However, as Guo Yiqing grew up day by day, she never wanted to marry, which saddened Guo Yiqing's parents.
Because Guo Yiqing has been pampered since she was a child, her parents are very concerned about the future happiness of their daughter.
A big lady like Guo Yiqing, who has excellent knowledge and looks, is not the way to always hide in the deep boudoir and not see anyone.
Guo Yiqing's mother always persuaded Guo Yiqing to make plans for her life's events as soon as possible, and said that she herself was married to a wife and a husband and son at the age of fifteen or sixteen, which no one could avoid.
Later, Guo Yiqing, who could not stand his mother's nagging, patiently went to meet several fairly qualified suitors, but he still could not arouse interest.
Guo Yiqing has received a new education since she was a child, she longs for the outside world, and also longs to find her own ruyi through free love.
Guo Yiqing's parents watched Guo Yiqing not go home all day, and did not have a serious look, very worried that their daughter was deceived by people outside, and finally could not end up with a good home.
In other things, Guo Yiqing's parents can unconditionally accommodate her, but marriage is the top priority in life, especially in traditional society.
Guo Yiqing, who came from a wealthy merchant family, did not pay attention to this matter at the beginning, and she thought it didn't matter if she could meet the right person later.
However, Guo Yiqing's parents did not think so, in the feudal society, girls of the right age could not marry out will be considered insulting, will be regarded as a joke by the outside world.
As a wealthy merchant in Guangdong, Guo Yiqing's father will consider the face of himself and his family even if he does not think about the happiness of his daughter.
In the eyes of Guo Yiqing's parents, the female eldest is not left, Guo Yiqing will marry out sooner or later, even if she has a thousand unwilling, this matter cannot be decided by Guo Yiqing.
Guo Yiqing's parents are anxious to marry Guo Yiqing, not only because they are worried that their daughter will "smash in their hands", but also because the shrewdness of the rich merchant family is also vividly reflected.
In fact, Guo Yiqing's parents not only want to find a ruyi Langjun for Guo Yiqing, but also consider the issue of door-to-door reciprocity in order to bring benefits to the entire family.
This is a bloody reality in feudal society, and it is also a cruel problem that Guo Yiqing in the bride to be married has to face.
In 1936, guo Yiqing, who was already 17 years old, still had not found the man she liked, and in the previous years, she had been wandering among various suitors and had never made up her mind to marry.
In order to let Guo Yiqing marry out as soon as possible, Guo Yiqing's father issued an ultimatum to Guo Yiqing, asking her to choose a Ruyi Langjun to marry and have children before the age of 18.
One day, Cheng Qian's family also entrusted the matchmaker to come to Guo Mansion to ask for relatives, at that time, the 54-year-old Cheng Qian was already a prominent member of the Kuomintang government and was appointed as a general in the Nationalist Army.
At that time, Cheng Qian had three wives, but due to various changes, he became a lonely man.
Hearing that Guo Yiqing's father was recruiting a son-in-law, Cheng Qian's family entrusted a matchmaker to try his luck.
When Guo Yiqing's father learned of Cheng Qian's identity, he immediately raised his eyebrows, and whether Guo Yiqing wanted to or not, he promised to come down to this family affair with his mouth.
At that time, Guangdong was a place of change, the revolutionary movement was rising and falling, and Guo Yiqing's father was worried that one day the revolutionaries would also come to revolutionize his own life.
Then he started the wishful thinking:
If Guo Yiqing is married to Cheng Qian, the business and safety of their entire family can be guaranteed, and perhaps with the background of the military, the Business of the Guo Family can go up to a higher level, and this account is worth it no matter how it is calculated.
Since Guo Yiqing reached the age of marriage, her parents have found countless suitors for her, but Guo Yiqing has been pushing back her marriage, and when she pushed it to the end, her father became impatient.
After the Cheng family came to the Guo family to ask for relatives, Guo Yiqing's father issued a death order to his daughter, telling her to marry Cheng Qian.
However, Guo's father, who arranged the marriage for his daughter, did not tell Guo Yiqing all about Cheng Qian's situation, but only let her listen to her parents and marry a senior government official of the Kuomintang, so that she had a place in the second half of her life.
It's also a good thing for the whole family. So, what kind of life did Guo Yiqing live after marrying Cheng Qian?
Pregnant with 16 children for her husband, middle-aged widowed and widowed for life
Cheng Li had several sons in his three marriages, so when the matchmaker first went to guo Yiqing's father to ask for relatives, Guo Yiqing's father thought that it was to propose to Cheng Qian's son.
After hearing that the matchmaker was courting Cheng Qian himself, Guo Yiqing's father was shocked at first, but after settling the account, he found that he did not suffer a loss, so he decided to marry his daughter to this Kuomintang general.
One is a senior Kuomintang official who is more than half a hundred years old and has experienced three marriages, and the other is a 17-year-old female student who is waiting for a girl, and the age gap between them is really a bit shocking.
At the beginning, Guo Yiqing's mother was also worried that her daughter would be widowed in a few years, but after learning of Cheng Qian's strength, she was relieved.
I don't know if Guo Yiqing would obey this arranged marriage that her father had arranged for her if she knew that she was going to marry a bad old man who was older than her father.
Guo Yiqing's parents knew their daughter's temper, so they did not tell her Cheng Qian's age and emotional status at the beginning.
After Guo Yiqing returned home from school for the holidays, her parents asked her to pack up and prepare to marry. When Guo Yiqing first learned the news, he couldn't believe his ears.
She believes that her parents have set up their marriage without their consent, which is disrespectful to themselves.
In order to refuse this family affair, Guo Yiqing first smashed the whole family, and then locked himself in the house and went on a hunger strike. Later, Guo Yiqing's father was not accustomed to her and ordered her to marry on time.
And Guo Yiqing's mother also enlightened and comforted her, asking her to think more about the fate of her second life and the entire family.
Under the coercion and inducement of his father and the enlightenment of his mother, Guo Yiqing finally agreed to this family affair.
All her beautiful plans for the future have come to naught, and the Ruyi Langjun she is looking forward to in her heart can only appear in her dreams in the future.
On the day he got married, Guo Yiqing realized that the person he was going to marry was a 54-year-old bad old man.
After experiencing three marriages, Cheng Potential was already dead in his heart, and although he knew about the family's invitation to him, he did not expect that the marriage partner Guo Yiqing was only 17 years old.
Therefore, in the face of Guo Yiqing's big quarrel in Cheng Mansion, Cheng Qian also understood very well, he felt that the light difference between himself and Guo Yiqing was too big, and the two people would not be happy together.
However, the wood has become a boat, the Guo family has already received their own dowry, and they have no reason to repent.
Let Guo Yiqing live at home with peace of mind, and also clearly order the upper and lower members of the family to follow Guo Yiqing's temper and let her adapt to life after marriage as soon as possible.
After a few days of getting along, Guo Yiqing found that although Cheng Qian was 54 years old, he did not have any aging appearance.
He has a military temperament and masculine charm, and he has great respect for himself.
As a result, Guo Yiqing slowly let down his vigilance, and his good feelings for Cheng Qian also increased day by day.
Guo Yiqing is everyone's girlfriend, knowledgeable and elegant, and Cheng Qian also likes her very much.
Later, Guo Yiqing and Cheng Qian each discovered each other's strengths, both of them received Western-style education and shared a common language with each other.
After Mu had become a boat, Guo Yiqing gradually accepted his fate.
Over time, Guo Yiqing found that he was in love with Cheng Qian, he was not only strong and burly, elegant in conversation, but also very good to himself, so Guo Yiqing gradually took Cheng Qian as the reliance of his life in that chaotic world.
Deep down, she also admired this warrior who followed Dr. Sun Yat-sen in making a revolution.
In the following thirty-three years, Guo Yiqing was pregnant with 16 children for Cheng Qian.
For various reasons, only six daughters survived and grew up. After the founding of New China, Cheng Qian entered politics, and Guo Yiqing was also organized and arranged to work in the Hunan Women's Federation.
Cheng Qian has always loved Guo Yiqing, and he tried his best to let Guo Yiqing's mother and daughter live a happy life, and also provided military protection for Guo's family so that they could live a peaceful life in that chaotic world.
And Guo Yiqing is also grateful to her husband Cheng Qian, she takes good care of the children, and the family is well taken care of by her. In that era of war and chaos.
Guo Yiqing and Cheng Qian supported each other, walked through the difficult years together, and lived a happy life.
However, after all, Cheng Qian and Guo Yiqing have an age difference of 37 years, and their old husband and wife who have come from the difficult times are also facing the problem of life and death.
In 1968, Cheng Qian, who had accompanied Guo Yiqing through thirty-three years, died of illness at the age of 87, while Guo Yiqing was only 49 years old at this time.
After Cheng Qian's death, Guo Yiqing did not choose to remarry, did not choose to start a new life, but stayed in the Cheng family without hesitation, insisting on the love between her and Cheng Qian due to coincidence.
After Cheng Qian's death, he was widowed for 28 years until his death.
In June 1996, Guo Yiqing died of illness in Beijing at the age of 77.
After Guo Yiqing's death, her family buried her and Cheng Qian together according to the deceased's wishes.
Their ashes were buried together in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery in Beijing, and their love story has been passed down to this day.
epilogue
One is a 17-year-old girl in a boudoir, and the other is a soldier who is more than half a hundred years old and has been in the battlefield for a long time, and they may never intersect in the eyes of outsiders.
However, that era of chaos and chaos firmly tied the fates of Guo Yiqing and Cheng Qian.
Many people think that Guo Yiqing was a victim and victim of arranged marriages in the feudal era, and Cheng Qian only used the power in his hands to take advantage of the danger of others to marry Guo Yiqing.
However, it is undeniable that there is indeed love between Cheng Qian and Guo Yiqing.
After Guo Yiqing married Cheng Qian, she gradually let go of the mustard in her heart and raised six daughters for Cheng Qian.
Guo Yiqing and Cheng Qian used their own practical actions to break the outside world's doubts about the marriage of their old husband and young wife.
In Guo Yiqing's later years, whenever she remembered the years when she and Cheng Qian were in love, her face would always be filled with a happy smile.