Farewell ceremony for Liu Siqi's body
This rare photo was taken on the morning of January 13, 2022, in the East Auditorium of the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing, which is the scene of the farewell ceremony (funeral) of Comrade Liu Siqi's body. In the photo, Liu Siqi's body lies quietly among flowers and cypresses, covered with the flag of the Communist Party of China.
In the middle of the condolence hall, a portrait of Liu Siqi is hung, and wreaths are placed in the corners of the surrounding walls below. For many people, Liu Siqi is a rather unfamiliar name, but in fact, her identity is not simple. Liu Siqi was Chairman Mao's daughter-in-law and the wife of martyr Mao Anying. At 1:47 a.m. on January 7, 2022, Liu Siqi died of illness in Beijing at the age of 92.
After the news of Liu Siqi's death was announced, it immediately became the headline news of major media. With the release of Liu Siqi's obituary, her life story has once again become a hot topic. With the beginning of the farewell ceremony, Chairman Mao's descendants came to Liu Siqi's body one after another to stand and bow in silence, including Mao Xinyu and his wife, Kong Dongmei, Wang Xiaozhi and others.
Liu Siqi's four children are in the same frame
However, Chairman Mao's daughters Li Min and Li Ne did not come to the scene because the two were too old to walk independently. At the same time, Li Min and Li Ne's physical condition was not very good, but their children came to the scene to say their final goodbye to Liu Siqi on their behalf.
If you know Liu Siqi's life, you will know that she remarried after Mao Anying's death and had four children with her second husband. However, Liu Siqi maintained a low-key life in her later years, so much so that many people thought that she was long gone. With the release of photos of Liu Siqi's funeral, Liu Siqi's four children finally appeared in public, standing side by side next to their mother's body, touching to tears.
One thing is for sure, if it weren't for Liu Siqi's death, her four children would still continue to keep a low profile. Now the question is, what did Liu Siqi experience after Mao Anying's sacrifice? It all starts with Mao Anying's sacrifice. On November 25, 1950, Mao Anying died heroically in the Korean War at the age of 28.
Mao Anying and Liu Siqi
On the afternoon of Mao Anying's death, Peng Dehuai, commander-in-chief of the Chinese People's Volunteers, reported the news to the Central Military Commission. This is a top-secret telegram that was not officially made public until 2020. According to declassified information, this top-secret telegram was less than 200 words, and Peng Dehuai wrote it for a long time, during which time it was changed again and again. The full text of the telegram is as follows:
"The Military Commission and Gao (Gang) and He (Jinnian): We entered the air-raid shelter at 7 o'clock today, and Mao Anying was in the house with three staff officers. At 11 o'clock, when four enemy planes passed by, four of them had already come out. After the enemy planes passed, the four of them returned to the house, and suddenly four more enemy planes came, dropping nearly 100 incendiary bombs, hitting the house, at that time two staff officers ran out, Mao Anying and Gao Ruixin were burned to death before they could escape, and there was no other loss. Shiji 5th at 16 o'clock"
At that time, Premier Zhou was in charge of the daily work of the Central Military Commission, and he first received a top-secret telegram from Peng Dehuai, and immediately found Zhu De and others to discuss. The reason for this was that Chairman Mao was concentrating on the telegrams on the Korean battlefield at that time, and he suffered from a severe cold.
Chairman Mao and Mao Anying
After deliberation, Premier Zhou and others decided not to report to Chairman Mao for the time being. In other words, Chairman Mao was not the first to learn the news of the sacrifice of his eldest son Mao Anying. In fact, Liu Siqi had no idea that Mao Anying had gone to North Korea to participate in the war. According to Liu Siqi's recollection, Mao Anying told her in the name of a "business trip" that she was going to a distant place, where it was not convenient to write letters, and if she didn't receive his letter for a while, don't worry.
Soon after Mao Anying went to North Korea, he brought a letter to Liu Siqi through the organization, telling his wife that he was fine, but the two rarely lived together after marriage, and expressed guilt for this. After this letter, Liu Siqi never received a letter from Mao Anying again. On January 2, 1951, more than a month after Mao Anying's death, Chairman Mao finally saw Peng Dehuai's telegram.
At that moment, Chairman Mao was very sad, but he did not shed tears, and he demanded that all those who knew must keep Liu Siqi secret. One day in 1952, Hou Bo, head of the Central Photography Group, returned from the Korean front, and she gave Liu Siqi a photo of Mao Anying. At that moment, Liu Siqi was directly stunned, and he found that Mao Anying was wearing a military cap of the Korean People's Army in the photo.
Mao Anying and Liu Siqi
Liu Siqi went to Zhongnanhai desperately, and when Chairman Mao saw Mao Anying's photo, he knew it was time to tell her the truth. In this way, Liu Siqi learned the bad news more than a year after Mao Anying's death, and she cried for a long time in front of Chairman Mao. Since then, Chairman Mao has cared about Liu Siqi's life and study, regarded her as his own daughter, and wrote letters to Liu Siqi many times.
Looking through these letters, we find that Chairman Mao mostly called Liu Siqi "Siqi", "Siqier", and "daughter". To only know such a title, it only appears in Chairman Mao's letters to his own children, which shows Chairman Mao's concern for this daughter-in-law. For example, in August 1955, Chairman Mao wrote a letter to Liu Siqi, who was studying at Moscow University, which read:
"Siqier: Letter received. Suffering from a severe cold, it is good to recuperate and recover physical strength in order to go abroad. Today is better, look here; Otherwise, don't come. The most important thing is to fight for a breath and learn to serve the country. Best wishes. Father's Character August 6, 1955"
Chairman Mao and Liu Siqi
However, there is one thing that Chairman Mao is most looking forward to in his heart, that is, Liu Siqi can remarry as soon as possible and re-establish his own family. In the autumn of 1961, 31-year-old Liu Siqi graduated from Peking University and was immediately assigned to work in a scientific research department of a certain department of the People's Liberation Army.
At this time, Mao Anying has been sacrificed for 11 years, and Liu Siqi is still single, and he has no idea of remarrying at all. Chairman Mao thought that he could not continue like this, so he once again wrote a letter to Liu Siqi to persuade her to remarry, and at the same time mobilized his mother-in-law Zhang Wenqiu to persuade her.
Chairman Mao wrote in the letter, "Why don't you listen to the persuasion? Make up your mind to get married, it's time. The five hearts are uncertain and lose cleanly. High or low is not enough, it is a common problem for girls like you. Isn't it? This time, Liu Siqi agreed, she knew that she couldn't go on like this, and said that everything was up to Chairman Mao's arrangement.
Liu Siquan family portrait
In February 1962, Liu Siqi and Yang Maozhi got married in Beijing. Yang Maozhi was 2 years younger than Liu Siqi, a native of Tangshan, Hebei Province, and had a strong sense of self-motivation, and was an instructor in the Strike Aircraft Teaching and Research Department of the Air Force Academy at that time, and was appreciated by Liu Zhen, then deputy commander of the Air Force and president of the Air Force Academy, for his outstanding performance.
In fact, Liu Siqi and Yang Maozhi had a meeting in Moscow that year, and they both participated in a fraternity of Chinese students. Liu Siqi and Yang Maozhi had two sons and two daughters after marriage, namely Yang Xiaoying, Yang Dongmei, Yang Mi, and Yang Jun. When the eldest son was born, the couple unanimously decided to name it "Yang Xiaoying" to commemorate Mao Anying, who sacrificed his life for the country.