In the spring of 1963, six-month-old Kong Jining was sent to his elderly and lonely grandmother He Zizhen. For He Zizhen, Kong Jining is his pistachio.
At this time, He Zizhen would not have thought that this tiger-headed little milk baby would make a documentary about herself more than 40 years later, and even went to the Soviet Union for this documentary, revealing an unknown history of more than 60 years.
The content of this article is based on authoritative historical data, and there are citations at the end of the article
A little grandson is born, bringing happy pistachios to the whole family
In February 1962, the son of Li Min and Kong Linghua was born, and Kong Linghua's father, Kong Congzhou, gave the child a nickname called Ning Ning.
Chairman Mao heard the news of his daughter's birth, he smiled from ear to ear, and he smiled and told others that the birth of this little grandson made his seventy-year-old self "promoted to one level".
Chairman Mao has always liked children, and now he likes this little milk baby with a tiger head and a tiger's brain, and he likes it even more.
People say that they are next generation relatives, but now Li Min has experienced it firsthand. Father will come to see this little milk baby whenever he has free time, and Xiao Ningning is also very well-behaved, lying on the small bed without crying or making trouble, whenever someone teases him, he giggles. Chairman Mao asked his daughter Li Min if she had a good name for the child, and Li Min said that the child's grandfather only gave her a nickname, called Ning Ning.
Xiao Ningning's birth date was similar to the October Revolution in Russia, and his grandfather Kong Congzhou gave him this name, which means Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution.
After hearing this, Chairman Mao felt that this nickname was very good, and he also wanted his little grandson to inherit the revolutionary cause, so he discussed with his in-laws, and gave the little milk baby a big name: Kong Jining.
Li Min has always been worried about her mother, He Zizhen, who lives alone in Shanghai, and when Xiao Ningning is six months old, she sends the child to her mother.
The arrival of her grandson made He Zizhen smile, she always paid attention to her little grandson's physical condition, and at the same time, Xiao Ningning also accompanied her lonely.
What the elderly need most is the company of their children, and the arrival of Xiao Ningning made He Zizhen's later life full of laughter.
Due to the fact that he had lost five children before, He Zizhen paid special attention to Kong Jining's physical condition.
At that time, He Zizhen had children from the staff's family with similar birth dates to Kong Jining, and whenever Kong Jining came, He Zizhen would always ask him to stand and weigh the children of the staff.
If it is the same weight, He Zizhen will be happy and cook food for Xiao Ningning according to the child's usual eating habits.
If Kong Jining is one and a half pounds lighter than other people's children, He Zizhen will strengthen Xiao Ningning's nutrition until he looks like others.
Spring goes to winter, the leaves are falling, and the little milk baby with the original tiger head and tiger brain has gradually grown up. Li Min often told Kong Jining that her grandmother was old and her health had not been good, so she should not make her angry.
Although Kong Jining is still young, he is very sensible. At his grandmother's house, when he saw her doing housework, he would run over to help her. The little grandson's sensibility made He Zizhen feel happy and warm-hearted.
Once, Kong Jining noticed He Zizhen's depressed mood, he didn't know why his grandmother was unhappy, but he wanted to make his grandmother happy.
In order to make He Zizhen happy, Kong Jining took out the suit He Zizhen brought back from the Soviet Union and put it on his body, and then found a belt to wear as a tie around his neck, and then walked in front of his grandmother He Zizhen.
He Zizhen looked at his little grandson, who was only seven or eight years old, wearing an ill-fitting suit, wearing a tie decently, and looking like a little adult, and was immediately amused.
Seeing that his grandmother was happy, Kong Jining hurriedly ran over and threw herself into her grandmother's arms, and the grandparents laughed together.
The time with his grandmother was a very important period in Kong Jining's life, when he was carefree when he was young, he listened to his grandmother tell him stories about the past battles, and he was full of admiration for his grandmother.
In 06, Kong Jining, who has been engaged in the dissemination of national spiritual culture, wanted to make a documentary about his grandmother He Zizhen, to commemorate the centenary of He Zizhen's birth, and at the same time let more people know about this outstanding female pioneer.
Rushed to the USSR with good expectations
He Zizhen rushed to the Soviet Union for treatment and study in the winter of 1937, and returned to China in 1948.
The story of He Zizhen's experience in China can also be asked by her old comrades-in-arms or friends who are still alive, but about her experience in the Soviet Union, few people in China know very much.
In order to make the documentary more complete and real, Kong Jining decided to go to the Soviet Union to find traces of his grandmother's life.
During the Long March, in order to protect his comrades-in-arms, He Zizhen was seriously injured by enemy fighters and was in a coma for several days. Her comrades called out to her beside her, but all she could hear was her breathing.
The Long March was a difficult and dangerous journey, and the seriously injured He Zizhen was carried on a stretcher in a coma, and the people in the company were worried that she would not be able to withstand the bumps along the way, so they wanted to leave her at the villager's house and let the villagers take care of her.
Sister Deng told the people in the company that Comrade He Zizhen is now seriously injured and in a coma and unable to speak, she is Chairman Mao's lover, and whether to leave her at the villager's house to take care of her, she should ask Chairman Mao before making a decision.
After Chairman Mao learned the news, he said that He Zizhen is now seriously injured, and the villagers have no medical conditions to treat her, so she must not be left behind.
Under the meticulous care of his comrades-in-arms, He Zizhen survived with his strong willpower and successfully broke through the ghost gate.
When it was time to cross the meadow, He Zizhen felt that it was really hard for several comrades to carry him over, so he insisted on letting people carry him along.
After crossing grasslands, ploughing snow-capped mountains, enduring severe cold and hunger, and walking 25,000 miles, the Red Army finally saw the dawn of victory, and they broke through layers of obstacles and reached Yan'an.
After arriving in northern Shaanxi, He Zizhen was appointed chief of the issuance section of the State Bank of the Soviet Union, but later, due to pregnancy, she left her employer.
Not long after, He Zizhen gave birth to her and Chairman Mao's fifth child, and seeing that the child was petite and cute, Sister Deng gave her a nickname: Jiaojiao.
Jiaojiao is Kong Jining's biological mother Li Min, and the only surviving child among the six children of He Zizhen and Chairman Mao.
He Zizhen, who had just finished giving birth, had not fully recovered from the provincial body, so he entered the Red University to study. Here, she spent a happy time studying.
However, the good times did not last long, and during a morning exercise, He Zizhen actually fainted, and after examination, she learned that this was due to her postpartum weakness and old injuries that had not healed. For physical reasons, He Zizhen had to leave school.
Seeing his comrades-in-arms and lovers working hard and studying hard, He Zizhen was anxious. She also wanted to be in good health, go to school, and be able to work independently, but her current physical condition did not allow her to do so.
In the autumn of 1937, He Zizhen decided to leave Yan'an and go to Shanghai for treatment and study. However, when she arrived in Xi'an by truck, she learned that Shanghai had fallen at this time.
After inquiring with the staff in Xi'an, He Zizhen learned that the Soviet Union could also treat diseases and study, so she applied to the organization to go to the Soviet Union for surgery and study, and the organization agreed to her request.
In the winter of 1937, He Zizhen rushed from Lanzhou to Urumqi and boarded a plane to the Soviet Union in Urumqi. He Zizhen, who was on the plane, was full of hope for the future, and she thought that after the surgery in the Soviet Union, she would no longer have to suffer from illness and could devote herself to her studies and work.
A hard time
In 2006, Kong Jining flew to Russia with a film crew to look for traces of his grandmother's life. "Since 1993, according to the relevant Russian law, archives that have been stored for 30 years can be made public."
After He Zizhen came to the Soviet Union, he assumed the pseudonym Wenyun, and the film crew found the resume file filled out by He Zizhen in 1938 in the Russian archives. The archive survived for more than sixty years, and it was not opened until the film crew arrived.
In 1937, on an extremely cold winter, He Zizhen arrived at the Liuks Hotel in the Soviet Union.
Looking at the high-rise buildings on the streets of the Soviet Union, with strange faces coming and going speaking the Soviet language she did not understand, suddenly, she felt a sense of strangeness and loneliness.
In the first two years of her stay in the Soviet Union, He Zizhen lived in the Communist Party's party school for Communist Party members, and studied with Lin Boqu's daughter Lin Li and Qu Qiubai's daughter Qu Duyi.
Lin Li told reporters that when she and He Zizhen were in school, they often argued over the issue of studying, but this kind of argument often did not affect their feelings, and the argument was over.
Before coming to the Soviet Union, He Zizhen was pregnant. In April 1938, He Zizhen gave birth to her and Chairman Mao's sixth child in Shechinova Hospital, a boy, and He Zizhen named him Liao Wa.
By the time Riova was six months old, it was already freezing in Moscow, and the poor boy died of pneumonia caused by a cold.
He Zizhen was devastated by the death of the child, and she often sat on the garden bench for a day and did not go anywhere, as if she was missing the young Liao Wa.
After knowing He Zizhen's experience, Chairman Mao, in order to comfort her, felt that he would send his three-year-old daughter Jiaojiao to He Zizhen's side.
Jiaojiao's arrival made He Zizhen's heart no longer lonely, and with her daughter by her side, she slowly accepted the fact that Liao Wa had passed away.
However, the good times did not last long, on June 22, 1941, Germany launched a war against the Soviet Union, and for safety reasons, the Soviet Union sent He Zizhen and others to the International Children's Hospital.
In the children's hospital, there is very little food to be served every day, not even much wood for heating.
To support the frontline, He Zizhen and other hospital staff had to knit warm socks and sweaters every day, and according to Jiaojiao's recollection, her mother often knitted sweaters late into the night.
In that cold winter, the young Jiaojiao suffered from the same pneumonia as Liao Wa, which made He Zizhen anxious, she really couldn't afford to lose another child.
In order to save the child, He Zizhen used the heating wood of the hospital without permission, which was criticized by the hospital. But how can it be considered wrong for a mother to go out of her way to save her child?
He Zizhen wanted to defend herself, but she couldn't speak Russian, and the hospital mistakenly thought that He Zizhen had suffered a series of psychological breakdowns, so she was sent to a mental hospital.
The film crew went to the psychiatric hospital where He Zizhen once stayed, but the hospital did not accept interviews, so we don't know about He Zizhen's experience.
After He Zizhen returned to China, he didn't want to mention this period, only saying that it was more bitter than the Long March. At the beginning of 1947, when Wang Jiaxiang went to the Soviet Union to recuperate, after many inquiries, he found Stalin and proposed to take Comrade He Zizhen back to China.
In the spring of 1947, He Zizhen and his daughter Jiaojiao embarked on the road back to China together, and after 10 years of hard work and several setbacks, He Zizhen finally returned to his beloved homeland.
Summary:
We must not forget every hero who has made dedication on the road of revolution, although the names and deeds of many heroes cannot be written in a short history book, as long as future generations pursue and remember, they will not be erased in the long river of history.
Eventually, someone will come from far and wide to open the dusty archives that have been sealed for 60 years, and the ordeal of the revolutionary pioneers will be brought to light before the eyes of all. History cannot be forgotten, and neither can heroes.
Resources:
HE Zizhen. Ji'an Municipal People's Government
The story of Mao Zedong's emotional tears. People's Daily Online
《贺子珍》CCTV