Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao
Yan Zhao, Zhou Enlai's English secretary. Zhou Enlai always called her "second eldest" because she was the second daughter of the revolutionary martyr Yan Pu. Yan Pu, Together with Zhou Enlai and Chen Yun, were old comrades-in-arms. Yan Zhao worked around Zhou Enlai for a long time, treating Zhou Enlai as a father, and Zhou Enlai also treated her like a daughter, so he used the name of Yan Pu's family and called her "second oldest".
I met Yan Zhao in November 1979. I was attending the Fourth Congress of Chinese Literary and Art Workers in Beijing when suddenly an elder sister (Yan Zhao) came to me, saying that she was a staff member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and asked me to write reportage for Professor Fu Ying, who had just died. Fu Ying was a member of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a member of the Faculty of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (i.e., an academician), and the vice president of Peking University, and died on September 7, 1979. Yan Zhao knew in advance that I graduated from the Department of Chemistry of Peking University in 1963, and Professor Fu Ying was my teacher, so he asked me to write Fu Ying's reportage.
Yan Zhao's enthusiasm and sincerity left an unforgettable impression on me. Later, Yan Zhao was transferred to the Science Popularization Publishing House, and she asked me to write About Peng Jiamu and Gao Shiqi, and we had a lot of correspondence on the work.
Zheng Gongdun, editor-in-chief of the Science Popularization Publishing House, is a senior veteran cadre who once served as the leader of the literary and art group of Red Flag Magazine. I know him very well and have a lot of contacts. Once, he talked to me about Yan Zhao, who was once Premier Zhou Enlai's foreign affairs secretary and Yan Weibing's sister. I was working on writing a long documentary, so I planned to interview Yan Zhao, who had already left at that time.
In the interview, I also gradually learned about Yan Zhao's own little-known life.
Yan Zhao came to Yan'an with his father Yan Pu and graduated from the English Department of Yan'an Foreign Chinese School. At first, she served as a secretary to Cai Chang and Wu Yuzhang in Yan'an. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, in 1946 Yan Zhao worked under He Long in the Northwest Jin Military Region. At that time, the Americans stationed an "observation group" there, and Yan Zhao, 24, served as an interpreter.
In 1947, Yan Zhao married Zhang Feiji during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the autumn of 1934, Zhang Feiji was admitted to the Department of Journalism of Yenching University, and joined the Progressive Student Organization Chinese National Liberation Vanguard (hereinafter referred to as "Minxian"), participating in the "12.9" patriotic student movement. In 1937, Zhang Feishi joined the Communist Party of China. In August 1938, Zhang Feishi came to Yan'an to engage in journalism. Yan Zhao said that Zhang Feishi was fluent in English, good at literature, and good at poetry. Zhang Feishi was a classmate of Huang Hua when he studied at Yenching University. Both Yan Zhao and Zhang Feishi loved classical poetry. I remember when I got married, 25-year-old Yan Zhao once recited the "Si Di Xiang" of wei Zhuang, a five-generation lyricist, and Zhang Fei replied: Who is the most mercurial? The Zhang family teenager is the most popular! Since then, Yan Zhao and Zhang Feishi have had a happy home. It was the most enjoyable time of her life.
Yan Weibing and Lu Dingyi
Later, Yan Zhao was transferred to the "three detachments", the temporary code name of the units directly under the central government. When the commander of the "three detachments" was Ren Bi, the political commissar was Lu Dingyi, and Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai were in the "three detachments". For the sake of secrecy, Mao Zedong changed his name to Li Desheng, Zhou Enlai changed his name to Hu Bicheng, Ren Bishi changed his name to Shi Lin (the commander's harmonic sound), and Lu Dingyi changed his name to Zheng Wei (the harmonic sound of the political commissar) - at that time, Hu Zongnan tried every means to find the main force of the Chinese Communists for a decisive battle and to capture the leaders of the Chinese Communists, and the situation was very dangerous. At this time, Yan Zhao was working by Mao Zedong's side. At that time, the army was pressuring the border, the traffic was blocked, and Mao Zedong could not see any newspapers, and he was very closed, wanting to know the news outside. So, Yan Zhao guarded an old vacuum tube radio, received short-wave English broadcasts from American radio, recorded them, and often reported to Mao Zedong. How Hu Zongnan's troops reveled after they captured Yan'an, how they transported hand-knitted sweaters from the border areas as "victory products" to the "exhibition" of the Kuomintang area, and all kinds of international news were all sent to Mao Zedong's ears through Yan Zhao's translation.
In his spare time, Mao Zedong was particularly pleased to learn that Yan Zhao understood ancient Chinese poetry and talked to her. Mao Zedong asked for his opinion on his poetry, and Yan Zhao said: "Chairman, your poetry is like a fantasy! When Mao Zedong heard the four-word comment of "heavenly imagination", he was very happy and laughed: "Second elder, your girl's family understands poetry, which is rare and rare!" Then Mao Zedong said, "Leave the meal!" So he kept her there to eat and talk as he ate. Mao Zedong's dish was very simple, three vegetarian and one meat, fried shredded potatoes, fried cabbage, and the meat dish was a large piece of bacon sent by He Long. Every meal of meat is always bacon. In addition, each meal is indispensable to a plate of fiery red fried peppers.
After liberation, Yan Zhao worked with Zhou Enlai for a long time.
In 1950, Zhang Feizhi was appointed secretary general and vice minister of the Propaganda Department of the Southwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. In 1954, he was transferred to the Secretary-General and Deputy Director of the State Sports Commission. Unfortunately, in August 1958, Zhang Feishi died of advanced cirrhosis, at the age of 41, and lived with Yan Zhao for only 11 short spring and autumn seasons, without children.
When Premier Zhou heard the bad news, he sent a wreath to mourn Zhang Feishi, and sighed at Yan Zhao: "Elder Two, you are really red-faced and short-lived!" Since then, Yan Zhao has been single for many years and lives in the home of His sister Yan Weibing in Zhongnanhai, that is, Lu Ding's family.
Later, I learned from a friend that in her later years, she died in loneliness in May 2008 at the age of 86.
——Excerpt from "The Great Pen of History: The Legendary Story Behind the Letters of Famous People" published by Sichuan People's Publishing House