In October 1985, it was the golden autumn season, and Deng Yingchao, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who had been away from Hongyan Village in Chongqing for nearly 40 years, returned to the mountain city.
The leading cadres of Chongqing went to the airport to greet Deng Yingchao, took her back to Hongyan Village, and introduced the development of Chongqing over the years.
When he came to the Hongyan Revolutionary Memorial Hall, Deng Yingchao frowned at the introduction above the former residence of Comrade Rao Guomo. The staff thought that she was too old to read the words clearly, so they read the words on it for her.
Deng Yingchao replied: "I know, I just think that your introduction to Mrs. Liu (Rao Guomo) is not well written, it is too light." She has contributed more than this star to the revolution!"
What kind of contribution did Rao Guomo make to the revolution, and what kind of relationship did she have with Deng Yingchao?
A family full of martyrs
Rao Guomo contributed his life to the revolution, and was evaluated by Deng Xiaoping as a "revolutionary mother", to understand her experience, we have to start from 1895.
In 1895, Rao Guomo was born in a scholarly family in Tongliang County, Sichuan. She was the third of four siblings in her family, and both of her elder brothers were progressive youths who opposed the Qing Revolution.
In 1911, in order to overthrow the decaying Qing Dynasty, Sun Yat-sen staged an uprising in Huanghuagang, Guangzhou. Unfortunately, due to the violent suppression of the Qing government, the uprising finally failed, and the revolutionary Pan Dawei risked his life to collect the remains of 72 martyrs.
Later generations called these 72 martyrs who sacrificed their lives to revolt as "Huanghuagang 72 martyrs", and Rao Guomo's second brother Rao Guoliang was one of the 72 martyrs, only 20 years old.
The death of the second brother was a huge blow to the 16-year-old Rao Guomo, and she was depressed for a long time after that. Soon after, she decided to follow her brother's will and embark on the path of revolution.
After the Xinhai Revolution and the establishment of the Republic of China, 17-year-old Rao Guomo came to Chengdu Yizhou Girls' Normal School to study with enthusiasm and joined the Sichuan Kuomintang.
However, in 1913, Yuan Shikai seized the revolutionary fruits of the Xinhai Revolution and wanted to restore the feudal monarchy. Soon after, the revolutionaries launched an anti-Yuan movement, but it ultimately failed, the Sichuan Kuomintang disintegrated, and Rao Guomo left the Kuomintang again.
When he was a student at school, Rao Guomo was deeply influenced by Cui Juemin, the principal of the Women's Normal School. The principal was committed to the cause of women's emancipation and was very supportive of the communist cause, and the revolutionary atmosphere of the whole school was very strong.
During school, Rao Guomo and Liu Guohua, a student of Chengdu Industrial College, became a pair of lovers. In 1915, after graduation, Rao Guomo married Liu Guohua and lived a sweet life for a while.
After marriage, Rao Guomo still did not forget his original intention, and resolutely went to schools in poor areas to teach, and his income was very meager. But her husband Liu Guohua gradually became contaminated with bureaucracy, and even became a "celebrity" around Sichuan warlord Liu Xiang.
Liu Guohua, who is "famous", naturally does not want to live in peace with his mediocre-looking wife, and wants to buy a young and beautiful aunt for himself.
As a progressive young man, Rao Guomo resolutely opposed her husband's behavior, and resolutely took her three children to Jiangbei County to run a small coal kiln.
She is a single mother with several children, and her life is very difficult, in order to save some living expenses, she picks up charcoal every day and goes home to subsidize the family.
Until 1931, Rao Guomo used all his savings to buy a piece of land in Hongyan Village, named it "Dayou Farm", and set up a farm to produce fruits, vegetables and flowers. Since then, she has officially formed an indissoluble bond with Hongyan Village.
Construction of an office for the Eighth Route Army
In 1937, the full-scale War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cooperated for the second time. In order to meet the needs of the Anti-Japanese War, the Eighth Route Army will open some offices in the Kuomintang-ruled areas.
In 1939, the situation of the Anti-Japanese War became more urgent, and the planes of the Japanese invaders continued to bomb the offices of the two parties over Chongqing, and the offices of the two parties were transferred one after another, and the Chongqing offices of the Eighth Route Army were also planned to be moved to the suburbs of Chongqing.
After choosing for a long time, Premier Zhou chose the location of "Dayou Farm" in Hongyan Village, because it is located between two mountains and is densely wooded, and it is difficult for Japanese planes to find it.
When the office staff came to Rao Guomo's farm, she decisively agreed to the request of the Eighth Route Army. She excitedly said to Qian Zhiguang, director of the Chongqing office:
"I can't find the Eighth Route Army even if I want to, but I didn't expect you to arrive at my door today, it's so happy!"
Of course, there were also people who objected, and Rao Guomo's friend persuaded her: "If you give your house to the Communist Party, what will the Kuomintang think of you? Not to mention how many children you have, so you should not wade into this troubled water." ”
Rao Guomo naturally disagreed with her friend's opinion, she retorted: "I don't care about any partisan disputes, I want to stand on the side of justice now, whether it is safe or not, I don't think about it!"
After that, Rao Guomo personally paid for the construction of a three-story house for the Eighth Route Army office, and she also built it on a sunny slope, and Premier Zhou was very grateful for her generosity.
The Eighth Route Army wanted to lease this small building and pay Rao Guomo 3,000 yuan to build a house, but she resolutely refused to accept it, and said: "Hongyan is the home of revolutionary heroes, so there is no need to charge money." ”
After the Eighth Route Army office began to operate, Rao Guomo also spent a lot of effort and time to help these Communists. She used her savings to build nurseries, clinics, etc., and even a cemetery for the fallen comrades.
In 1978, Deng Yingchao also said to reporters with emotion: "Rao Guomo handles the birth, old age, sickness and death of all our cadres as his own business!"
After the Southern Anhui Incident in 1941, the situation in Chongqing was tense, and the Eighth Route Army also had to prepare to leave various hidden traffic bases in Chongqing. After Rao Guomo learned about this, he used his youngest daughter as an excuse to buy several houses for the office in his hometown Tongliang.
On the way back to Chongqing, the mother and daughter were stopped by the Kuomintang military police in Aoki Guanzhen, and even wanted to detain them. The gendarmes saw that Rao Guomo's daughter Xia Jing was young, so they let her go, and Xia Jing was able to return to Chongqing to tell Premier Zhou about it.
Premier Zhou was furious when he heard this, and he personally called the Kuomintang military police headquarters and said: "Mrs. Liu is just a landlord, what are you doing to embarrass her?" Rao Guomo had to leave the cell and return to Hongyan Village with only three silver dollars.
After this incident, Rao Guomo's red heart beat even more enthusiastically, she wanted to join the party, but she was worried because she was a "landlord" with a farm.
With this, she hesitantly asked Premier Zhou: "Can a person like me become a party member?"
Premier Zhou immediately replied: "Of course, our party has long regarded you as a member. For the sake of your safety, we have not allowed you to join the party. ”
After hearing this, Rao Guomo relieved himself. Premier Zhou also understood her concerns, and no longer called her "Mrs. Liu", but "Comrade Rao Guomo".
Red Rock's "Revolutionary Mother"
In the past few years of living in Hongyan Village with the Communists, Rao Guomo composed more than 70 poems and made a poetry collection "The Help of Other Mountains". These poems with sincere emotions and rich connotations reflected the hardships of the revolutionary struggle in a dark and turbulent era.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Chiang Kai-shek's desire to start a civil war became active again, and Chairman Mao was invited to Chongqing many times to "discuss the state of the country".
In August 1945, Chairman Mao came to Chongqing for negotiations. During the first three months of the negotiations, Chairman Mao met guests in Guiyuan in the "Peace General" Zhang Zhizhong during the day, and returned to the office of the Eighth Route Army built by Rao Guomo to rest in the evening.
In order to thank Rao Guomo for his help to the Communist Party, Chairman Mao also specially held a banquet in Hongyan Village to thank her. After learning that her three children were all members of the Communist Party, Chairman Mao was very happy and praised: "This is really a big revolutionary family!"
On the eve of the start of the Liberation War, the staff of the Eighth Route Army Office was about to leave Chongqing and rush to Nanjing.
In the following years, Rao Guomo has been secretly funding the guerrillas in eastern Sichuan, and has been assassinated by spies many times because of this incident. After the failure of the Huayingshan Uprising, she used the topography of the farm to cover many guerrillas.
"In the end, the people win, and Hongyan will live in vain. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in October 1949 and the liberation of Chongqing the following month, Rao Guomo finally had to avoid the attack of the Kuomintang without fear.
Later, Rao Guomo was elected as a deputy to the People's Congress of Chongqing and Sichuan Province, and in 1950 he came to Beijing to reunite with more than 20 "old villagers" of Hongyan Village.
After returning to Hongyan Village, Rao Guomo donated all the Dayou Farm and other real estate under his name to the country free of charge, truly realizing her beautiful vision of "Hongyan is everyone's home".
At the opening ceremony of the Southwest People's Revolutionary University, Deng Xiaoping, then the first secretary of the Southwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, took the stage together with Rao Guomo to introduce the "revolutionary" mother of Hongyan Village to the students.
In 1954, Rao Guomo served as an executive committee member of the All-China Women's Federation. In order to commemorate her deep revolutionary bond with Hongyan Village, the Hongyan Revolution Memorial Hall was built in 1958, and it is still continuing to carry out patriotic education for children in Chongqing.
In 1960, 65-year-old Rao Guomo was admitted to a hospital in Beijing due to illness, during which Premier Zhou, Dong Biwu and other leaders made a special trip to visit her, and Rao Guomo was very moved.
On June 14 of the same year, Rao Guo died of cerebral hemorrhage, and her last wish was to send her ashes back to Hongyan Village, Chongqing for burial.
More than 20 years later, Deng Yingchao returned to Hongyan Village again, and the scene at the beginning of this article appeared. Subsequently, she came to Rao Guomo's cemetery and sent a bouquet of flowers to Rao Guomo's tombstone.
Today, Hongyan Village still retains the buildings of the revolutionary period, welcoming people who come to pay their respects and visit. Rao Guomo once wrote the poem "The heroes here leave traces of victory, and the red rock shines in a different day" has finally come true, presumably she also feels relieved in the sky.
epilogue
Ms. Rao Guomo, with her extraordinary courage and vision, has written her own legend. She is not only a successful businesswoman, but also a heroine with noble sentiments and patriotic feelings.
In the long river of history, she has always maintained a firm belief and made outstanding contributions to the liberation of the country and the nation.
Her Dayou Farm is not only a land full of vitality, but also a stage for her to realize the ideal of "industry to save the country". She used her wisdom and diligence to build this land into a revolutionary homeland full of hope.
Her legendary life will forever be engraved on the monument of history and become a model for future generations to learn from and admire. May her spirit live on forever and inspire us to keep moving forward.
#春日生活打卡季#
- Author: Wang Wang
- Editor: Wang
- Bibliography:
- [1] Meng Zhaogeng. Rao Guomo, who was honored by Deng Xiaoping as a "revolutionary mother" [J]. Century Style, 2021, (08): 44-48.
- [2] Zijun. The "Revolutionary Mother" in Hongyan Village [J]. Party Member Digest, 2018, (03): 35-37.
- [3] Petrochemical. The Story of Rao Guomo, the Master of Hongyan: The Story of Rao Guomo [J]. Hongyan Chunqiu, 1996, (04): 3-7+1. DOI:10.16684/j.cnki.hycq.1996.04.001.