In 1979, a Nationalist company commander risked death to swim back to the mainland from Taiwan. More than two thousand meters away, he swam for more than 3 hours.
Why did this national army company commander make such a choice, and what preparations did he make in order to swim back to the mainland?
After arriving on the mainland, what kind of life did he lead? Today, let's learn about the legendary story that happened to Lin Yifu.
Swim back to the mainland
Lin Yifu: "What touched me a lot was that I was in Kinmen at that time, looking at the mountains and rivers of the mainland, looking at those mountains every day, it really had the feeling of so many rivers and mountains. Like a call, like a mother's call to her son, standing in that place and looking at it, I really see this every time, especially in the morning, through layers of fog, across such a short strait, it is really a picture. ”
By 1979, the young Lin Yifu had already served as a captain and company commander at the outpost of the Kinmen Mashan broadcasting station.
The distance between Mashan where Lin Yifu is located and the mainland is very close, and as soon as you raise your eyes in Mashan, you can see the mountains and waters of the mainland.
One of the things Lin Yifu does every day is to look at the mainland as much as possible, and whenever this happens, Lin Yifu will always be excited.
In order to better listen to mainland radio stations, Lin Yifu also bought a semiconductor radio for himself. From the radio, Lin Yifu gradually learned more about the mainland, and his desire to return to the mainland became stronger day by day.
But how do you get back to the mainland? Lin Yifu was very anxious in his heart, but he still had no clue how to return to the mainland.
Until later, Lin Yifu overheard the story of a search platoon leader swimming back to the mainland, Lin Yifu was deeply inspired by it, and the idea of swimming back to the mainland instantly came to his mind.
Before the platoon leader swam back to the mainland, he did not tell anyone about his plan, and the platoon leader only said that he wanted to go to the sea to practice swimming.
The day after the platoon leader returned to the mainland, people heard the news of the platoon leader's "return from the uprising" on the mainland's radio.
After hearing this, Lin Yifu thought to himself: Since others can swim back to the mainland, then he can also swim back to the mainland.
Lin Yifu has such a thought is not a whim, Lin Yifu is usually a very sports-like person, therefore, his body is very strong. Lin Yifu is good at many sports, including swimming.
After having the idea of swimming back to the mainland in his heart, Lin Yifu took time out every day to practice swimming hard.
While practicing swimming, Lin Yifu did not forget to prepare his luggage.
He was ready for everything he could, and then waited for the right moment to come.
Finally, one night in May 1979, Lin Yifu took off his shoes, put on a life jacket, brought his things that he had packed up in advance, and jumped into the sea without hesitation when the tide was low.
Lin Yifu kept swimming forward in the cold sea, swimming for more than 3 hours, and finally swam back to the mainland.
Lin Yifu's decision to swim back to the mainland can be said to be risking his life, because he does not know when his swimming back to the mainland will be discovered by others, and all he can do is swim forward in the sea.
So, what exactly prompted Lin Yifu to make the choice to risk death to swim back to the mainland?
Lin Yifu was born in Yilan County, Taiwan Province in 1952. Lin Yifu's name at the beginning was not Lin Yifu, but Lin Zhengyi.
The name "Justice" was given to him by Lin Yifu's father, which contains his father's ardent expectations for Lin Yifu, and Lin Yifu's father hopes that he can be a righteous person in the future.
Lin Yifu also grew up more stable and sensible step by step as his father expected.
Later, Lin Yifu also lived up to expectations and was admitted to National Taiwan University, which is one of the best universities in Taiwan.
At this time, Lin Yifu can be described as an unlimited future in the eyes of others. However, just when many people were envious of such Lin Yifu, Lin Yifu himself made a shocking move.
After a year at National Taiwan University, Lin Yifu transferred to a military school. For Lin Yifu's choice, others said that it was difficult to understand.
Because in Taiwan, the social status of soldiers is not high, and there is even a saying that "good men are not soldiers", they can't figure out why Lin Yifu obviously has a good future, but he went to military school.
Lin Yifu was admitted to Taiwan University and voluntarily chose to study at a military school, and his affairs were hyped by the Taiwanese military as a positive example.
In order to show his attention to Lin Yifu, Chiang Ching-kuo also specially received him.
Lin Yifu is a man who will do his best to do everything he does, and by 1978 he had become an army captain and company commander at the Kinmen Mashan broadcasting station.
At this time, Lin Yifu was only 26 years old, and if he told the people around Lin Yifu at this time that Lin Yifu would swim back to the mainland in the future, then no one would believe it.
Because no one thinks that Lin Yifu will not let go of the great future and do that risky move.
What they don't know, however, is that in Lin's mind, Taiwan's future is so insignificant compared to returning to the mainland.
So, what was Taiwan's reaction after discovering that Lin Yifu had swam back to the mainland? What happened to Lin Yifu, who returned to the mainland?
Husband and wife reunion
Growing up, Lin Yifu has always paid attention to information about the mainland. Lin Yifu has strong feelings for the motherland, and in his heart, what he is most looking forward to is the day when Taiwan returns to the embrace of the motherland.
When Lin Yifu and his wife Chen Yunying knew and fell in love, Lin Yifu's gift to Chen Yunying was a picture album called "Splendid Rivers and Mountains", which painted the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Changbai Mountain and so on.
When Chen Yunying received this gift, Chen Yunying was also very happy.
Lin Yifu and Chen Yunying are very in love, they have a common topic, and later Lin Yifu and Chen Yunying also entered the palace of marriage, and the two after marriage are as loving as when they were in love.
After marrying his wife, Lin Yifu also said that he might mysteriously disappear in the future, and Chen Yunying wanted to be the "Wang Baochuan" who "guarded the cold kiln".
At this time, Chen Yunying was only joking as her husband. What Chen Yunying didn't know was that Lin Yifu really "disappeared" without saying a word.
After the Taiwanese military discovered that Lin Yifu was missing, all the officers and soldiers on Kinmen Island could not sleep, because they soon realized that Lin Yifu was not "missing", but had arrived on the mainland.
After realizing that Lin Yifu swam to the mainland, the Taiwan military immediately launched a "carpet" search for the entire island of Kinmen in order to prevent Lin Yifu from leaking secrets.
After a while, the Taiwan side also announced the information of Lin's "death" and issued pensions to Lin's family.
When the Taiwan side claimed that Lin Yifu was "dead," Lin Yifu, who swam back to the mainland, had already changed his name for himself, and he changed his name from "justice" to "Yifu", taken from "A soldier must not fail to carry on Yi, and the task is heavy and the road is long."
As early as 1975, Lin Yifu entered the Institute of Business Administration of National Chengchi University in Taiwan to study for an MBA. Shortly after returning to the mainland, Lin Yifu went to Peking University for graduate study.
Lin Yifu not only knows Western economic theory very well, but also his oral English skills are very good, such Lin Yifu is still very bright in Peking University, and soon he attracted countless attention.
In 1980, Theodore Schultz, winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Economics, visited China, during which time Schultz went to give a lecture at Peking University. It was this speech that allowed Schultz to see Lin's ability.
At this time, Lin Yifu was not only good at English, but also knew economics, so the translation of Schultz's speech fell to Lin Yifu.
After receiving the translation task, Lin Yifu completed it very well, and Schultz was full of praise for the talent shown by Lin Yifu.
After Schultz returned to the United States, he was still impressed by Lin, and later Schultz wrote to invite Lin Yifu to study for a doctorate at the University of Chicago.
In 1982, Lin Yifu, who received a master's degree in economics from Peking University, went to the University of Chicago to pursue a doctorate in economics.
Although Professor Schultz had retired for many years at this time and no longer brought doctoral students, after Lin Yifu went, Schultz, who admired Lin Yifu very much, made an exception and recruited Lin Yifu to his door.
After arriving in the United States, Lin Yifu studied and researched day and night, and obtained a doctorate in 4 years. Not only that, Lin Yifu is also the first student in his class to receive a doctorate.
It was also during his time in the United States that Lin Yifu and his wife Chen Yunying met.
When Lin Yifu swam back to the mainland in 1979, Chen Yunying was still pregnant, and she and Lin's eldest son were still very young.
While other family members thought that Lin Yifu had passed away and erected a tablet for Lin Yifu, Chen Yunying never believed that her husband was dead, and she believed that her husband was still alive in this world.
Chen Yunying loves her husband deeply, and she believes that she will one day wait for news from Lin Yifu.
Chen Yunying insisted and waited day by day, and later, Chen Yunying finally received the news that her husband was studying for a doctorate at the University of Chicago.
At that moment, Chen Yunying's eyes couldn't help but burst into tears of excitement.
In 1983, Chen Yunying went to the United States with her two children and reunited with Lin Yifu in the United States.
Settled in Beijing
The moment he saw Lin Yifu, the tears in Chen Yunying's eyes fell, those tears poured out Chen Yunying's thoughts about Lin Yifu, and Lin Yifu was also moved at this time, and the husband and wife hugged each other tightly.
Chen Yunying understood her husband's choice very well, and she never complained about her husband's choice.
Although Chen Yunying and Lin Yifu, who went to the United States, met each other, they did not spend much time together, because they did not live in the same city.
During her time in the United States, Chen Yunying not only obtained a master's degree in education from Edin Paul University in the United States, but also received a doctorate in education from George Washington University.
After Lin Yifu obtained his doctorate in the United States, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale University Economic Development Center in the United States, waiting for his wife to get her doctorate and return to China with his wife.
During Lin's time in the United States, many universities and research institutions in the United States saw his ability, and those universities and research institutions invited Lin Yifu, but Lin Yifu refused without hesitation.
No matter when and under what circumstances, Lin Yifu has never wavered in his belief in returning to China.
In 1987, after his wife Chen Yunying received their doctorate, Lin Yifu and his wife returned to Beijing with their children.
Lin Yifu became the first doctor of economics to return from overseas after the reform and opening up.
After returning to China, Lin Yifu exerted his strength to make many contributions.
In 1994, Lin Yifu returned to Peking University and founded the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University along with many economists, and Lin Yifu was appointed director of the center.
In 2008, he became Vice President of the World Bank.
While Lin Yifu is exerting his own strength to contribute, Chen Yunying is also using his own strength to contribute.
Chen Yunying is the first doctor of special education in mainland China and is known as "the first person in special education in China".
Lin Yifu and Chen Yunying are both very admirable people, and the relationship between the two of them is also very good, when they can't see each other every day, the two will text each other every night and say "good night" to each other.
Since Lin Yifu and Chen Yunying returned to Beijing with their children, the family has settled in Beijing.
Because of the obstruction of the Taiwan authorities, Lin Yifu was unable to return to Taiwan to mourn his parents and did not see his parents for the last time, which became Lin Yifu's lifelong regret.
In 1996, Lin's mother died. In 2002, Lin's father died.
After his father's death, Lin Yifu set up a spiritual hall in Beijing and said goodbye to his father through a live broadcast.
When his father's spiritual position appeared in Lin Yifu's sight through the screen, Lin Yifu instantly burst into tears.
Lin Yifu still knelt there long after the farewell ceremony and did not get up.
With the passage of time, Lin Yifu is still waiting for the day when he will visit his parents' graves.
Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and I believe that the day will come when Taiwan returns to the embrace of the motherland!
At that time, Lin Yifu will be able to return to Yilan to worship his parents without hindrance.
epilogue
Lin Yifu: "There were one billion people in this part of the mainland at that time, and only 20 million in Taiwan. Father Sun Yat-sen once said that if you have the ability of tens of millions of people, then your heart should serve tens of millions of people, and if you have the ability of hundreds of millions of people, your heart should serve hundreds of millions of people. The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will certainly require the rejuvenation of hundreds of millions of people, not the rejuvenation of 20 million people, and I think that the rejuvenation of hundreds of millions of people will also provide a better condition for the rejuvenation or prosperity of these 20 million people. So I think that if I were in Taiwan, I would only serve 20 million people in Taiwan, and I would not be able to serve hundreds of millions of people on the mainland. If I come to the mainland, I can serve hundreds of millions of people, and I will also serve 20 million people in Taiwan. ”
Lin Yifu said so, and even more so. What do you want to say to Lin Yifu? You can leave your own opinion in the comment area.