February 4, 1981 was an unforgettable day for Hua Guofeng. On this day, the Chinese New Year's Eve of the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese lunar calendar, Hua Guofeng is about to resign from all positions, and his political career is coming to an end.
That night, Hua Guofeng came to Diaoyutai Building 18 – the last time Hua Guofeng attended a state banquet. A simple but meaningful fried egg that seems like a microcosm of his political career.
Why did an ordinary fried egg affect Hua Guofeng's heart so much? All the origins have to start with Hua Lao's 70-year revolutionary career.
Persist in the war of resistance behind enemy lines
Hua Guofeng, formerly known as Su Zhu, was born in 1921 in Jiaocheng County, Shanxi Province, in a family of tanners. Born in the years when his family and country were weak and warlords were fighting, Su Zhu has been very concerned about the future and destiny of the country since he was a student.
He also took an active part in military training organized by the school, tried to make weapons, and prepared for direct participation in the armed struggle against Japan.
In the winter of 1936, after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War at Suiyuan Bailing Temple, he participated in the drama movement to raise funds for the anti-Japanese soldiers in Suiyuan; after the July Seven Incident in 1937, he witnessed the atrocities of Japanese militarism's all-out aggression against China, and was determined to resist Japan and save the country.
In June 1938, Su Zhu went up the mountain to join the Shanxi Sacrifice National Salvation League Jiaocheng Anti-Japanese Guerrillas.
In order to facilitate his work in the future and not implicate his family, Su Zhu changed his name to Hua Guofeng to show his determination to serve as the "pioneer of the Chinese nation's resistance against Japan and national salvation", and immediately joined the Communist Party in October of the same year at the age of 17.
At this point, Hua Guofeng officially embarked on the revolutionary road and began his 70-year revolutionary career.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Comrade Hua Guofeng successively served as the secretary of the Jiaocheng County Sacrifice League, the director of the County Anti-Japanese National Salvation Federation and the head of the sub-district peasant department, and the director of the Propaganda Department of the Jiaocheng County Party Committee of the Communist Party of China and the director of the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Federation.
He went deep into the coal miners, peasants, women, and children to mobilize the masses, aroused their anti-Japanese enthusiasm, and led capable armed workers to fight the enemy in guerrilla areas and enemy-occupied areas, and established an anti-Japanese regime.
He persisted in the War of Resistance behind enemy lines under extremely difficult conditions, and made contributions to the development and expansion of the local anti-Japanese armed forces and the anti-Japanese work.
During the War of Liberation, Comrade Hua Guofeng successively served as secretary of the Jiaocheng County Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, deputy director of the Organization Department of the Eighth Prefectural Committee of Luliang District, secretary of the Yangqu County Party Committee, and director of the Propaganda Department of the First Prefectural Committee of Jinzhong District.
He resolutely implemented the spirit of the instructions of the CPC Central Committee on the land issue, led the land reform in Jiaocheng, Yangqu, and other places, mobilized the enthusiasm of the broad masses of peasants, and enabled the masses to enthusiastically join the army and support the front, provided solid logistical support for the liberation of Gujiao, Taiyuan, and other cities, and made outstanding contributions to the victory of the Liberation War in Shanxi and the establishment and consolidation of the people's political power.
Contribute to the development of Hunan
In June 1949, 28-year-old Hua Guofeng went south with the army and went to Xiangyin County, Hunan Province to serve as secretary of the county party committee and member of the prefectural party committee, and from this time to 1971, he has been working in Hunan for 22 years.
In July 1951, Hua Guofeng was transferred to Xiangtan County, where he served as the secretary of the county party committee and the political commissar of the county people's armed forces department in the hometown of the great man, when he was 30 years old.
In October 1952, Hua Guofeng served as deputy secretary of the Xiangtan Prefectural Party Committee and secretary of the Xiangtan County Party Committee, concurrently serving as a commissioner, and two years later as secretary of the prefectural party committee.
Since 1945, when he served as secretary of the Jiaocheng County Party Committee in Shanxi, Hua Guofeng has served as the secretary of the county party committee for 10 years.
According to Hua Guofeng's recollection, the first time he met the great man was in July 1955 in Changsha.
At that time, the great man summoned four people, the other three were Tan Yubao, deputy secretary of the provincial party committee, Hu Jizong, Xu Qiwen, members of the standing committee of the provincial party committee, and only he was the secretary of the prefectural party committee.
The great man knew from his relatives and friends in his hometown that the secretary of the Xiangtan County Party Committee was a big northerner, and his work was careful and solid. Hearing is false, seeing is believing, he wants to meet his parents and officials in his hometown and inspect them face-to-face.
This year, Hua Guofeng was 34 years old, but he had participated in the revolution for nearly 20 years.
When he reported on the situation of schistosomiasis prevention and control in the Dongting Lake area, the great man asked him several questions in a row, and all of them were answered fluently, which made the great man quite satisfied with the young man in front of him, who was 28 years younger than himself.
At that time, the great man was making every effort to study and guide the issue of rural cooperation throughout the country, and Hua Guofeng had always been good at organizing the peasants. Therefore, not long after the land reform in Xiangyin, the first mutual aid group in Xiangtan District, that is, the guidance mutual aid group - Liu Zhengchun Mutual Aid Group, began to work.
Hua Guofeng has contributed a lot to this.
In August 1957, Hua Guofeng was transferred to the province to appoint the head of the United Front Work Department. In July 1958, he became vice governor, and after he went to work in the province, he had more opportunities to meet great people.
Since 1954, the great man has to return to Hunan every year, and he attaches great importance to united front work, especially because he is very familiar with the democrats in Hunan, and has many old friends.
In 1959, the great man returned to Changsha from his hometown of Shaoshan, Yang Kaihui's brother and sister-in-law Yang Kaizhi and Li Chongde, Li Shuyi, the widow of the martyr Liu Zhixun, Kuomintang veterans Tang Shengzhi, Cheng Qian, Cao Quqiu, and the great man's fellow countryman, Changsha No. 1 Normal classmate Zhou Shizhao, etc., these are very important people to the great man, and the great man is also relieved to let Hua Guofeng arrange to take these people one by one to settle down.
It can be seen that the great man recognized Hua Guofeng's ability and trusted his character.
After the Lushan Conference in 1959, the Hunan Provincial Party Committee was reorganized.
The great man talked with Hua Guofeng many times, knew that he was hardworking, meticulous in his work, and an honest man, and nominated him as a member of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and secretary of the Secretariat.
Hua Guofeng was only 38 years old at the time, and he was also young among the leaders of the provincial party committee in the country.
The great man later told the comrades of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and the Central Committee that there are two kinds of people in our party, one who tells the truth and the other who tells lies. Party cadres must tell the truth and be honest people.
He advocated that those who tell lies should be dealt with-for-tat, that they should not be allowed to take advantage, and that those who tell the truth should be supported and encouraged. This spirit has also been consistently advocated within the party.
The great man affirmed Hua Guofeng's realistic style and hard-working spirit. He said: "Hua Guofeng is an honest man. This evaluation of the great man was maintained until his death, which was also an important reason why he finally chose Hua Guofeng.
A wise man who can afford to put it down
At the beginning of 1971, Comrade Hua Guofeng was transferred to the Central Committee. He first assisted Comrade Zhou Enlai in taking charge of the relevant work of the State Council; After the death of Comrade Zhou Enlai, he presided over the daily work of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and played a positive role in the development of the mainland's economic construction and social undertakings.
On January 8, 1976, Comrade Zhou Enlai passed away, and in February, Hua Guofeng served as the acting premier of the State Council and presided over the daily work of the Central Committee at the suggestion of the great man and the approval of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee.
In April of the same year, Comrade Hua Guofeng was appointed first vice chairman of the CPC Central Committee and premier of the State Council.
After the great man became critically ill on June 25, 1976, Hua Guofeng, as the first vice chairman of the Communist Party of China and the premier of the State Council, had a heavier burden on his shoulders.
Regarding that period of history, some scholars put forward the following passage: "Chairman Hua is modest, steady, sincere, has a democratic style, and is a leader. Great men are discerning heroes. Hua was instructed to establish extraordinary achievements at the opportunity of crisis, extraordinary times, extraordinary things, and extraordinary people, saving the revolution and the party. ”
In September 1980, Hua Guofeng voluntarily resigned from the post of premier of the State Council, and in June 1981, he resigned from the posts of chairman of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
At the age of 59, Hua Guofeng voluntarily resigned as chairman of the party Central Committee, which was the first time in the history of the party.
Since resigning as chairman of the CPC Central Committee in 1981, Hua Guofeng has spent 27 years away from the political scene. After his retirement, Hua Guofeng almost disappeared and never made any public political statements.
He once said, "It's not good to show your head all the time." But he certainly "appears" twice a year: on December 26 and September 9, when the great man's birthday and death day are paid at Chairman Mao's memorial hall.
Every time he paid homage to Mao Zedong's remains, Hua Guofeng personally shouted with tears in his eyes: "Bow one, two, and three bows to the great leader Chairman Mao." ”
It was he who placed his body in a crystal coffin after the death of a great man and inscribed the words "Chairman Mao Memorial Hall" in front of the door.
In the center of Hua Guofeng's living room, there is a banner hanging with the word "quiet" in an atmospheric and calm manner, which is his work when he was 85 years old.
Hua Guofeng often said that he was born in the era of war and chaos, and there was no time to study and practice calligraphy at all, so he used his fingers and small wooden sticks as pens, and his legs and the ground as paper.
Hua Guofeng wrote, and the most written is Chairman Mao's poems. On one wall of his study, all the poems of Chairman Mao written by him are hung.
He once said more than once that it was his "favorite work, but even if he practiced for another hundred years, he would not be able to practice at Chairman Mao's level".
Looking back at Hua Guofeng's revolutionary career, it is full of too many ups and downs and difficulties and obstacles, after learning about these, you may be able to understand why Hua Guofeng has a soft spot for a fried egg in front of the delicacies of the mountains and seas.
During the banquet, when the usher handed Hua Guofeng a plate of fried eggs, Hua Guofeng was very surprised.
The chef of the state banquet knew that Hua Guofeng was about to resign and would not have the opportunity to come here again in the future, so he specially made this dish he liked. After the banquet, Hua Guofeng specially turned around and shook hands with the hostesses and chefs one by one, and said, "I have received the love of comrades!"
Since then, Hua Guofeng has never appeared at the state banquet again.
The fried egg seems ordinary, but it is fried after the yolk is removed, and Hua Guofeng usually likes this dish the most.
The egg yolk is removed and only the egg white remains, which not only represents Hua Guofeng's innocent and arduous years of struggle in the early years, but also represents Hua Guofeng's sincere heart that has always been simple and white.
Resources:
1, Hua Guofeng's resignation as chairman: Chen Yun suggested "let Xian"
Hatps://m.hyvinet.cn/middle/345831/2016/1214/content_30567464_1.html
2. Commemorating the 90th anniversary of Hua Guofeng's birth: a lifetime of struggle for the cause of the party and the people]
https://baike.baidu.com/reference/321888/533aYdO6cr3_z3kATPLYnfX4Zy_DZN34trPQUbNzzqIP0XOpX5nyFI899pk88LhtBhHM_8oyMYdYxrrlC0JavahONbhrBtojlXb5UTHE1-aiog
3. Why did the great man choose Hua Guofeng to take over?
http://ePaper.kmv.cn/R/HTML/2012-02/01/ED110000S_20120201_1-03.HTM