In September 1976, Chairman Mao's health began to deteriorate dramatically, and just as he was dying, his daughter Li Min rushed to her father's side. At this time, Chairman Mao was no longer able to speak, but his sanity was still awake, and facing his daughter, Chairman Mao stretched out his hand and made a gesture.
Li Min thought for a long time before reacting, Chairman Mao's gesture probably meant Gui Yuan, and his former wife He Zizhen, nicknamed Gui Yuan. It is a pity that this revolutionary comrade-in-arms who accompanied Chairman Mao through the most difficult moments could not appear at the chairman's side at this time.
Until Chairman Mao's death, He Zizhen never made it to Beijing, and it was not until three years later that she brought her daughter and son-in-law to Beijing to see Chairman Mao's remains. Before Chairman Mao's death, why couldn't He Zizhen come to Beijing?
Before the bad news of Chairman Mao's death, He Zizhen's originally fragile health had rapidly deteriorated, and even finally hemiplegia and lost his mobility. In order to treat the disease, after several rounds, he was admitted to Shanghai Huadong Hospital.
At this time, the news of Chairman Mao's death reached He Zizhen's ears, and after learning the bad news, He Zizhen maintained great restraint for the first time, but at the same time, she did not close her eyes for two days and two nights.
According to He Zizhen's niece He Xiaoping, at that time, everyone was worried that He Zizhen would have major health problems because of this. As early as after she returned from Moscow, although she was divorced, Chairman Mao still gave her a lot of care.
And He Zizhen often stares at the portrait of the chairman alone, and this emotion has not weakened over time, but has accumulated more and more. It finally peaked in 1976.
The most important thing is that this directly led to the overall deterioration of He Zizhen's physical health. It was not until 1979, when her physical condition improved, that she was finally able to come to Beijing, accompanied by her daughter Li Min and son-in-law.
In Beijing in 1979, the situation had fundamentally improved, and He Zizhen was finally able to realize his wish. Her only purpose in coming to Beijing was to pay tribute to Chairman Mao, who walked with her through the revolutionary years.
When Li Min and his wife accompanied her to the memorial hall, she presented a wreath that had been prepared long ago, and the ribbon of the wreath was written with the following two lines: "Always inherit your legacy, comrade-in-arms He Zizhen led his daughter Li Min and son-in-law Kong Linghua to pay homage."
Before the chairman's remains, He Zizhen burst into tears and did not want to leave for a long time.
Before 1979, He Zizhen had never been to the capital Beijing, and in the hardest years, she was the heroine of Jinggangshan, and her whole family participated in the revolution.
The three He brothers and sisters of Jinggangshan have made outstanding achievements in the revolutionary struggle of the Communist Party of China and have long been recorded in history. Not only that, in the early days of the revolution, He Zizhen's parents sacrificed their lives because of the revolution, and they were both heroes of the Republic.
With He Zizhen and her family's merits for the revolution, it is natural to work and live in Beijing. Moreover, from the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao had put forward the idea of bringing He Zizhen to Beijing. Moreover, he also discussed with Kishi Ying many times, and the latter also believed that "He Zizhen's mother should be taken to live in Beijing as soon as possible."
This matter was originally handed over to He Zizhen's sister He Yi for specific handling. However, just when He Yi sent He Zizhen to Tianjin, intending to transfer to Beijing, he encountered Kang Sheng's obstruction. Kang Sheng sent a word that if He Zizhen was sent to Beijing, He Yi would be expelled from the party.
This matter is very important for He Yi. Originally the wife of the martyr Mao Zeqin, she was imprisoned by the reactionaries during the most difficult period of the revolution, went through many hardships, and finally returned to the organization.
However, because she was arrested, during the previous reviews, a few people with intentions would often turn up the history of He Yi's arrest and lash out at her. In this case, He Yi had to proceed cautiously. The matter of receiving her sister He Zizhen into Beijing was under various obstructions, and finally ended without a problem.
For He Zizhen herself, her situation is also very difficult. During the special period, He Zizhen was persecuted for a long time. Many people do not know that He Zizhen was the only surviving female soldier of the Red Army who participated in the Autumn Harvest Uprising, so in 1979, He Zizhen was by-elected as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
However, when examining the archives, it was found that such a female soldier of the Red Army who had made meritorious contributions to the revolution turned out to be a black man without any identity file. It is obvious that some people are trying to completely erase He Zizhen from the history of the Chinese revolution, and the sinister intentions are chilling.
In fact, what many people do not notice is that after He Zizhen and Chairman Mao separated in Yan'an, although the two have divorced, Chairman Mao has always cared about her.
In 1939, when Zhou Enlai and his wife Deng Yingchao went to the Soviet Union for treatment, Chairman Mao asked Zhou Enlai to bring He Zizhen a letter and a box of books, telling her, "I am all right, I hope you study well, make political progress, and we will be comrades in the future."
When the two met again, it was 1950 in Lushan. This meeting was not made public at that time, and after many years, presumably the hearts of the two were also mixed.
As mentioned earlier, at that time, Chairman Mao planned to let He Zizhen go to Beijing to live and recuperate, but because of the obstruction, he could not make the trip. In the sixties and seventies, although He Zizhen was far away from Beijing, he was still devastated, and it was not until the fall of the Gang of Four that the situation began to improve.
After 1979, He Zizhen's physical condition began to decline again, and under the care of the organization, she was admitted to Shanghai 301 Hospital. At that time, many old leaders and He Zizhen's comrades-in-arms had visited her in the hospital.
On April 19, 1984, He Zizhen died of illness. On the day of the cremation, party and state leaders went to the Babaoshan Cemetery to bid farewell, and after the cremation was completed, it was discovered that her ashes still contained shrapnel left in the rain of bullets during the war years.
In the end, after the decision of the party organization, He Zizhen's ashes were placed at No. 1 Babaoshan Cemetery. As a former revolutionary comrade-in-arms of the founding leader, He Zizhen and Chairman Mao experienced the most difficult period of the Chinese revolution, and she witnessed the history of the Republic, no matter how young she was, history could not forget her name.