Information sources:
The Editorial Department of the Red Boat of China National Expo Magazine and the Editorial Department of the Special Issue of "Beacon Love" of the Choir of the Descendants of the Founding Generals of Beijing - Beacon Love丨The Legend of the Marriage of Revolutionaries
Preface
One day in 1944, General Li Tianyou, the founding general of the People's Republic of China, and his girlfriend Du Qiyuan, prepared to meet their future father-in-law and mother-in-law.
As soon as he entered the door, Du Qiyuan was busy preparing to introduce Li Tianyou to his parents.
But she wasn't done yet.
Her father went up first, grabbed Li Tianyou's hand, and said excitedly: It turned out to be you...... Thank you for your help!
Du Qiyuan was stunned for a while, and then realized that it turned out that it was such a coincidence that they actually knew each other.
So, how did Li Tianyou get to know his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and what are the legendary stories between him and Du Qiyuan?
Chen Changhao is the matchmaker
In 1914, Li Tianyou was born in the countryside of Lingui County, Guangxi.
Born in that chaotic era, he was destined to have a stable life.
When he was a child, he went to a private school for two years and knew some words.
But his family was too poor to afford to study, so when he was 8 years old, he followed his parents to work in the fields.
But even if you want to farm steadily, God won't give you this opportunity.
12岁那年，临桂县遭遇天灾，粮食颗粒无收。
In order to survive, Li Tianyou fled with his family to Longsheng County to live.
In Longsheng, their family has no land, and they can't even plant it, and it is common for the family to run out of cooking.
His parents took him up the mountain to chop wood, and when he went home, he burned it into charcoal and sold it for food.
Chopping wood and burning charcoal are all manual work.
But the children of poor families have long been in charge, and Li Tianyou has a tough personality since he was a child, and he is not afraid of hardship or sweat.
And it was this tenacious character that made him later become a god of war who terrified his enemies.
In 1928, 14-year-old Li Tianyou joined Gui Jun.
Relying on the cultural foundation laid by the two-year private school, he was quite valued by the superiors, and was sent to Nanning to study in the second year of joining the army.
At that time, there were some communist soldiers in the Nanning teaching team, and Li Tianyou received communist ideas.
With his in-depth understanding of Marxism, he felt that only communism could save China and those villagers who were oppressed.
Therefore, he decisively chose to join the Communist Party, and in December 1929, he followed the general Zhang Yunyi to participate in the Baise Uprising.
After joining the Communist Party, with the blessing of faith, Li Tianyou took the lead in every battle and was extremely brave.
In 1931, in the face of the heavy encirclement and suppression of the Kuomintang troops, Li Tianyou led the soldiers of the whole company to open the passage with blood and ensure the safe evacuation of the leading organs.
In this battle, he won the title of "Little Tiger Company Commander".
In the later battle of Ganzhou, Li Tianyou personally led his soldiers to climb the city wall to fight, and he was still fighting to the death with three bullets in his body.
However, it is precisely because of the bravery in the battle that he has been injured many times, and he is too busy with work in peacetime.
His body gradually became overwhelmed and he suffered from a serious stomach problem.
By 1939, he was too sick to work.
The organization attached great importance to Li Tianyou's condition, and after discussion, it was decided to send him to the Soviet Union, where medical conditions were better, to recuperate.
And this trip to the Soviet Union was the beginning of the legend of his marriage with Du Qiyuan.
After arriving in the Soviet Union, Li Tianyou was arranged to recuperate in a Red Cross sanatorium.
Sharing his ward was a Chinese man in his thirties, his name was Chen Changhao.
Chen Changhai also suffered from a serious stomach problem in a long-term and arduous struggle environment, and was sent to the Soviet Union to recuperate.
The two did not know each other before, but in a foreign country, they met comrades with the same ideals, and they were very happy.
On weekdays, the two often chat together.
When chatting, it is inevitable to talk about marital status.
When he learned that Li Tianyou was not married, Chen Changhao, who was older, immediately said that he would introduce her to a good girl after returning to China.
And the good girl in Chen Changhao's mouth is Du Qiyuan.
Chen Changhao has a classmate named Wu Liangping.
And Du Qiyuan happens to be Wu Liangping's sister-in-law.
Du Qiyuan has received a new education since she was a child, and she is a standard woman in the new era, she doesn't care about etiquette, what she pursues is freedom and independence.
When she was in junior high school, she was already a member of progressive organizations.
After being admitted to university in 1937, he naturally joined the Communist Party of China and devoted himself to the cause of the Chinese revolution.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Du Qiyuan came to Yan'an Kang University to study Marxist theory.
During her time in Yan'an, she often visited her sister and brother-in-law, and over time, she became acquainted with Chen Changhao.
Du Qiyuan is beautiful, educated, and extraordinary.
Most importantly, her understanding of politics has a maturity and rationality that does not fit her age.
This left an excellent impression on Chen Changhao
This is also the reason why he wanted to introduce Du Qiyuan to Li Tianyou, the two are really a good match.
Li Tianyou was also very happy about Chen Changhao's media fiber, and he agreed to it in one bite.
Since then, the name Du Qiyuan has been remembered by Li Tianyou.
It's just that he was far away abroad at the time, and the two never had the chance to meet.
Until 1941, when the Soviet-German war broke out, the Soviet Union was no longer a pure land, and Li Tianyou was ordered to return to China.
After returning to Yan'an, Li Tianyou quickly devoted himself to the work of resisting Japan, and worked hard every day.
And in Yan'an, he also saw many old comrades-in-arms who had fought side by side.
During the chat, these old comrades-in-arms invariably talked about Li Tianyou's marriage, and they all pulled the media to protect him.
And every time he encounters an old friend urging him to get married, Li Tianyou will unconsciously think of the name Du Qiyuan.
In fact, after Li Tianyou returned to China, he also inquired about Du Qiyuan.
But by chance, the two missed frequently and never saw each other.
And this missed came in 1944.
Legendary romance
In the summer of that year, the central authorities organized a ball.
Du Qiyuan's ballroom dancing skills are very good, and he has danced with Chairman Mao before, so he naturally received an invitation to this ball.
After Li Tianyou learned the news from his friend Li Guohua, he was excited, thinking that he could meet each other at the dance.
In order to leave a good impression on Du Qiyuan, he also made some preparations before participating in the dance.
can only be said to be worthy of a fierce general who crawled out of the pile of dead people, and chasing his girlfriend is also brave and strategic.
He took off the military uniform he had worn for many years and put on a white jacket.
At that time, Li Tianyou had just turned 30 years old, in his best years, handsome and compelling.
In addition, after years of battlefield baptism, he exudes a kind of stability and fortitude that belongs to a soldier from his bones.
As soon as he entered the ball, Li Tianyou's outstanding appearance attracted the attention of many people.
But he didn't care, but walked straight to Du Qiyuan and invited her to dance together.
Although Du Qiyuan was a little confused, he still readily agreed.
According to Du Qiyuan's later recollections, she didn't know that Li Tianyou was a fierce general in the army at that time, but she vaguely felt that the other party was a soldier.
Since they were not familiar with each other for the first time, the two simply danced and did not communicate more.
But Li Tianyou's resolute temperament still left a deep impression on Du Qiyuan.
And Li Tianyou also fell in love with Du Qiyuan at first sight.
A few days after the dance ended, Li Guohua took Li Tianyou to officially meet Du Qiyuan.
During the chat, Li Guohua introduced Li Tianyou's situation intentionally or unintentionally.
At this moment, Du Qiyuan realized that the person who danced with him a few days ago was actually a senior general of the Eighth Route Army.
At the same time, she also understood what happened when Li Tianyou came to the door.
However, although she has a good impression of Li Tianyou, she has always been very cautious about marriage, otherwise she would not have been unmarried.
She decided to get a good understanding of Li Tianyou's situation first.
And the old comrades she asked all spoke highly of Li Tianyou without exception, and praised him as a good comrade who had experienced a hundred battles.
At this moment, Du Qiyuan was finally relieved, and soon, the two came together.
Since then, Yan'an has had another pair of like-minded revolutionary couples.
After the two have been dating for a while, it is time to meet their parents.
At that time, Du Qiyuan's parents happened to be in Yan'an, which was a good opportunity to meet.
On the day of the appointment, Li Tianyou went out early to meet his father-in-law and mother-in-law.
But what I didn't expect was that before his daughter introduced, Du Qiyuan's father just saw Li Tianyou, grabbed his hand, and said in his mouth: "It turned out to be you, we really have fate, I didn't expect to meet again today, thank you for your help last time."
Du Qiyuan's mother also echoed on the side: Yes, I really should thank you.
The enthusiasm of his parents made Du Qiyuan on the side a little confused for a while.
When did they meet?
Perhaps seeing his daughter's doubts, after sitting down on both sides, Du Qiyuan's father talked about a past incident six years ago.
At that time, Li Tianyou served in the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and under the command of his superiors, he successively participated in a series of battles against Japan, such as the Battle of Pingxingguan.
And Li Tianyou's condition is already very serious, and he suffers from stomach problems every day.
His superiors arranged for him to go to the Eighth Route Army office in Xi'an for treatment.
At that time, the office of the Eighth Route Army was set up outside the city, and in addition to being responsible for liaison with the Kuomintang, it was also responsible for providing accommodation for comrades passing by.
But there were too many comrades passing through Xi'an at that time, and the Xi'an office was often overcrowded.
That night, an elderly couple passed by the office and wanted to stay overnight.
But at that time, the office had long since run out of vacancies, and the staff could not do anything.
The two old men were also a little worried for a while, and now it was getting late, and they couldn't find a place to stay, so they could only sleep on the streets.
And at this moment, after Li Tianyou learned of the situation, he immediately gave up his room to the two old men.
He lived with the guards.
And these two old men are Du Qiyuan's parents.
It's no wonder that as soon as they met, Du Qiyuan's parents pulled Li Tianyou to thank him, if the two old people really slept on the street overnight, maybe something would happen?
However, I am afraid that the two old men would not have thought that 6 years later, the cadres of the Eighth Route Army who had helped them would actually become their sons-in-law.
Li Tianyou met his parents for the first time and ended perfectly, Du Qiyuan's parents were naturally very satisfied with such a son-in-law.
On New Year's Day in 1945, Li Tianyou and Du Qiyuan officially became husband and wife, and on the day of their wedding, the organization also sent two quilts to congratulate.
Since then, the couple has been running together for the revolution.
During the War of Liberation, Li Tianyou was the most important general under the command of Siye, invincible in the direction of the soldiers, and made great contributions to the founding of New China.
In 1955, Li Tianyou was awarded the rank of founding general.
Of course, as the so-called husband and wife are concentric, their profits are broken, and Li Tianyou's success must also have Du Qiyuan's credit.
Tribute to this revolutionary couple.