On December 3, 1953, in an editorial, the People's Daily for the first time proposed the management method of organizing intellectual youth to go to the countryside by the state, and the movement of intellectual youth to go to the mountains and go to the countryside began.
In the nearly thirty years since the founding of New China, about 20 million intellectuals have enthusiastically thrown themselves into the production and construction of the countryside, among whom there are many outstanding representatives who are well-known, such as Guo Fenglian, the "Iron Maiden" of Dazhai, and Dong Jiageng, an agricultural model.
Guo Fenglian
Xing Yanzi is also one of the excellent ones, after graduating from junior high school, she took the initiative to give up the comfortable life in the town, resolutely returned to the countryside, led the villagers to rely on themselves, and made great achievements.
In the 1960s, Xing Yanzi's deeds were constantly reported by major media, becoming a model for young people everywhere to learn from, and the fire spread throughout the country, and even Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou personally met her.
Time flies, the years fly by, and more than forty years of reform and opening up have passed, what kind of life is Xing Yanzi, who was once famous throughout the country, living now? What extraordinary achievements did she make at the beginning?
Xing Yanzi
The story of Xing Yanzi, the heroine of Zhiqing, should also start from when she took the initiative to go to the countryside.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="169" > female intellectuals who do the opposite</h1>
Xing Yanzi, formerly known as Xing Xiuying, Swallow is her breast name, born in Beijing in 1941, her hometown is located in Sijiazhuang Village, Dazhongzhuang Town, Baodi County, Tianjin, since childhood grew up around her grandfather in the countryside, and her grandfather has a deep affection.
Xing Yanzi's parents are both workers, her father Xing Yu is the deputy director of the North China Enamel Factory in Tianjin, and her mother also works in a sewing factory in Tianjin.
Workers at that time
When Xing Yanzi was 8 years old, when she reached the age of school, Xing Yujie took her daughter back to the city and arranged her to study at the Tianjin Railway Bureau Workers' Primary School, because there was no pressure on life, Xing Yanzi devoted herself to studying, and her grades were very good.
Xing Yu was very happy to see the situation, so she went all out to cultivate her daughter, and decided to let her go to the best junior high school in the city after graduating from primary school, but at that time, Xing Yanzi's grandfather was already very old, and he was still alone in the countryside, Xing Yanzi was not at ease, and wanted to go back to take care of his grandfather.
Xing Yu also wants to do filial piety, but the country is carrying out intense construction, the factory is naturally no exception, he as the deputy director of the factory really can't open his body, seeing that his daughter has such filial piety, he gladly agreed to her request.
In this way, in 1953, at the age of twelve, Xing Yanzi returned to her grandfather in Sijiazhuang Village and attended a local primary school, during which she often did housework and laundry for her grandfather, and gradually fell in love with the simple life of Sijiazhuang Village.
The countryside at that time
Three years later, Xing Yanzi was admitted to Ba zhuangzi middle school thirty miles away from home with excellent results, at this time, after the economic construction of the early years of the founding of the people, the living standards of the people have been restored, in response to the call of the state, Bazhuangzi Middle School was officially renamed agricultural middle school soon after.
In addition to learning theoretical knowledge in school, Xing Yanzi also participated in three days of agricultural labor every week, and everyone was very motivated at that time, and she was naturally no exception, although she was very young, she was no less than a senior student in doing farm work.
In September 1955, Chairman Mao issued a call to the vast number of young people that "all intellectuals can go to the countryside, where there is a broad space, and there will be great achievements", which deeply affected Xing Yanzi, who was studying and working in school, and she was determined to be "the first generation of educated peasants in New China" at this moment.
Chairman Mao
After graduating from junior high school, Xing Yanzi's parents, including relatives and friends, suggested that she go to the city to find a job, because in the society at that time, it was not difficult for her to find a comfortable job with the level of initial Chinese, but Xing Yanzi was already ready to take root in the countryside.
Fortunately, the enlightened Xing Yu finally supported her daughter's idea, so in July 1958, xing Yanzi, who was only 17 years old, actively responded to the call of the state, took the initiative to give up the comfortable life in the city, and did the opposite, resolutely returning to her hometown of Sijiazhuang Village.
At first, a large part of Xing Yanzi's return here was to take care of and accompany her grandfather, so she came to the village full of enthusiasm but did not know where to start.
Therefore, the next morning Xing Yanzi came to the home of Dong Delin, the secretary of the village party committee, and expressed to him his determination to stay in the countryside, Xing Yanzi said firmly: "You can directly arrange tasks for me, do whatever you want, I obey the assignment!" ”
Xing Yanzi (middle)
Dong Delin saw that Xing Yanzi was still a small doll, so he did not let her go to the field to participate in labor, and just when there was still a shortage of a cook in the village commune canteen, he asked her to go and help.
Xing Yanzi came to the canteen to work with excitement, but since she was a child, where would she do this, and even she had not even entered the kitchen of the family a few times, which made her panic for a while.
One day, the teacher in the canteen had a temporary trip out, so he asked Xing Yanzi to stay here and stare at the porridge that was being cooked in the pot for a while, but it didn't take long for the pot to open, and the porridge immediately spilled out, because she hadn't encountered this situation before, so she shouted urgently: "Come on people!" Come on people! Porridge is going to run! ”
At this time, the teacher Fu just rushed back, saw Xing Yanzi's embarrassment, and suddenly laughed, which then became everyone's laughter after dinner.
Public Corporation Cafeteria
But Xing Yanzi was not discouraged, she was like the thousands of young people who participated in the labor at that time, for the construction of new China, she was always full of energy, and soon, she mastered the skill of cooking under the careful guidance of her teacher.
At that time, in order to transform our country from a backward agricultural country into an advanced industrial country as soon as possible, the central authorities called on the people of the whole country to practice steel, and the vast number of young men in the countryside responded positively, thus causing a shortage of rural labor.
In 1959, the whole country suffered decades of natural disasters, grain production was greatly reduced, the country faced serious economic difficulties, and the restoration of agricultural production became a top priority.
After all, Xing Yanzi had been to school, and she soon noticed the shortage of male labor in Sijiazhuang Village, so she took the initiative to organize a kindergarten in the village, responsible for teaching children to read and write, and most of the women in the village were liberated.
Commandos are discussing
Subsequently, Xing Yanzi personally organized the idle women and set up the "Women's Production Commando Team" (that is, the Xing Yanzi Commando Team, which was later famous throughout the country), with herself as the captain, leading everyone to carry out the same production self-help operation as the male comrades, that is, at this time she officially changed her name to Xing Yanzi.
At first, the villagers did not understand Xing Yanzi's behavior very well, and the commando team counted xing Yanzi only seven people to participate, but she never planned to give up, but led by example, taking the remaining six women to work on time every day.
After a while, the villagers were impressed by the enthusiasm of this little girl who was less than 20 years old, and the women joined in, and the team gradually expanded to 16 people.
Three years of natural disasters have forced the people in most parts of our country to endure hunger, but Sijiazhuang Village has reclaimed up to 560 acres of wasteland under the leadership of Xing Yanzi and her women's commando team, and grain production has been maintained at a high level every year, which can not only solve the problem of food and clothing, but also hand over the surplus grain to the state.
The joy of a harvest
Xing Yanzi did not have a day of leisure throughout the year, and after the autumn harvest, she organized the women of the commando team to weave fishing nets, straw hats, reed mats and other objects, and then took them to the town to sell and supplement the family.
In the winter, the fields were covered with ice and snow, and the village stopped all labor, but Xing Yanzi was still "soaring" in the wind, and she personally took the women to the river on the edge of the village to fish, and the winter was much colder than now, and the river had already formed a three-foot thick ice.
Only to see Xing Yanzi and others pick up the mallet and smash it on the ice, everyone worked hard, finally smashed out an ice cave, and then took out the fishing net that had been prepared, and caught a hundred and ten pounds of fish in a net, although the cold wind was biting, Xing Yanzi's hands were also frozen, but everyone smiled happily in the face of the joy of the harvest.
The commandos are at work
In this way, fishing during the day, weaving straw hats at night, others are resting, Xing Yanzi and the members of the commando team are working hard, during that time she can only sleep an average of five or six hours a day, but the kung fu pays off, they earned 3600 yuan all winter, which was not a small amount at the time, providing a great guarantee for the production and life of the next year, and the villagers clapped their hands and applauded after learning about it.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="199" > "10,000 people learn Xing Yanzi"</h1>
Soon, Xing Yanzi's deeds spread throughout the ten miles and eight townships, and soon after, he was learned by the leaders of the provincial party committee that the country was in a difficult period at that time, and a large number of urban youths were unwilling to suffer in the countryside after the natural disaster, and chose to stay in the city, which caused great pressure on the employment situation in the town.
In this difficult era, the state urgently needs Xing Yanzi, a female intellectual who has taken the initiative to take root in the countryside and has made achievements, to stand up as a model to encourage the vast number of urban youth to enthusiastically go to the countryside.
Big training steel
To this end, on August 15, 1960, the Hebei Daily reported the deeds of Xing Yanzi on the front page headline "Xing Yanzi Runs Agriculture", and then various media in the province reprinted it and sent reporters to the local interview, and soon the People's Daily also published an editorial "taking Xing Yanzi as an example", and the name Xing Yanzi was popular throughout the country in less than a month.
On September 12, Guo Moruo, a famous poet and writer who was then vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, praised Xing Yanzi's deeds and poem, entitled "Xing Yanzi Song", as follows:
"Xing Yanzi, a good example... The whole family is in the city, and they are willing to stay in their hometown. The kindergarten is full of young children, and the nets are full of fish on the ice. It is cold and frozen, and it is necessary to rush to plant and open up the land, so that the stones will grow grain. Suffering in the front and pleasure in the back, all work obeys the party ... Youth dedicates to the countryside, youth never grows old..."
Learn about Xing Yanzi's report
Under the praise of successive reports and Guo Moruo, Xing Yanzi has become a model for young people across the country to learn, and the slogan of "ten thousand people learning swallows" resounded throughout the north and south of the river.
Sijiazhuang Village also instantly became a "holy place" for the people of the whole country to go to, and soon, the roads in the village were also rebuilt, the houses were built, and the villagers' lives were greatly improved.
At the same time, some unmarried young men have written letters of admiration to her, and some have even sent her love letters, which makes her both excited and distressed.
But the secretary of the village party committee is a person who understands, knows that the remarkable changes and high-profile in the village are brought by Xing Yanzi, and must leave her behind, so he has a family affair for her.
On this day, the secretary called Xing Yanzi, who was working in the field, and smiled at her: "Swallow, you are not young, and it is time to consider the marriage event." ”
Wang Xuezhi (left), Xing Yanzi (right)
Xing Yanzi said somewhat shyly, "Secretary, I am still very young, and I am leading everyone to farm recently, so I don't have time to think about that." ”
The secretary also said: "Well, the organization arranges a marriage for you, the village production team leader Wang Xuezhi is just single, still a party member, the key is as capable as you, how about the two of you get married?" ”
Xing Yanzi was shocked at first, and then hesitated slightly and said, "It's him, I... I obey the Party's arrangement."
It turned out that as early as last year, when the ice fishing, Xing Yanzi knew him, at that time Wang Xuezhi, as the only technical person in the village, was called by Xing Yanzi on his own initiative, and the method of digging a hole in the ice was taught to her by Wang Xuezhi, and she felt good about this young man.
And Wang Xuezhi is also full of good feelings for this energetic and fighting young girl, but Xing Yanzi has no feelings for him, because Wang Xuezhi is 6 years older than her.
Xing Yanzi (right)
However, Xing Yanzi's grandfather tried his best to match, the old man thought that Wang Xuezhi was a reliable person, just at this time, the organization also let her marry Wang Xuezhi, Xing Yanzi then agreed, after the New Year in 1961, the two were officially married.
After Xing Yanzi became a role model, the time to personally participate in labor became less and less, and Wang Xuezhi was also less and more separated, before and after she held a total of 16 positions of different sizes, and her daily life was almost filled with various meetings, which was very busy.
However, Xing Yanzi did not forget her original intention, and said in her own words, "When I go to work, I am a leader, and after work, I am an ordinary farmer, and I participate in labor with the villagers."
It is worth mentioning that even when Xing Yanzi was the secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, she did not receive a penny of salary from the state, her household registration has always been a farmer, she has always lived with farmers, and she has never asked the state for any help until she retires.
Propaganda poster about Xing Yanzi at that time
On December 20, 1964, the first session of the Third National People's Congress was held in Beijing, and Xing Yanzi was invited to attend the meeting as an advanced and typical person, and he served as the executive chairman of this meeting for the first time.
What was even more shocking was that just before the meeting began, Chairman Mao, Vice Chairman Liu Shaoqi, Premier Zhou Enlai, and other state leaders personally received her, and Chairman Mao cordially greeted her: "You are Xing Yanzi, and you have done a very good job!" ”
Premier Zhou also walked up to Xing Yanzi and said to her with a smile: "Swallow, your name is very familiar to me, I already know you!" ”
Premier Zhou Enlai
When Xing Yanzi saw the great people who could only be seen in the newspaper before, she was very excited, she did not expect Chairman Mao to even call out their names, and what moved him even more was that later Chairman Mao personally took her hand and took her to the rostrum.
On December 26 of that year, it was Chairman Mao's 71st birthday, and just as Xing Yanzi was holding a meeting in Beijing, Chairman Mao sent his secretary to invite her and Dong Jiageng and other advanced models to come to dinner.
Chairman Mao smiled and said to Xing Yanzi and other typical people: "I didn't let my children come today because they grew up eating honey, they haven't gone to the countryside, they don't deserve it!" Xing Yanzi was even more flattered after hearing this.
Chairman Mao receives Xing Yanzi (second from right)
In the past ten years or so, Xing Yanzi has been received by Chairman Mao five times, Premier Zhou 13 times, and has served as a deputy to the National People's Congress and a party deputy for many consecutive terms, and has put forward many practical suggestions at some meetings.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="226" > bland old age</h1>
Xing Yanzi worked until 2001 before officially retiring, and she was not ashamed of the country and the people, but for her husband, Xing Yanzi was full of guilt.
In the past forty years, Xing Yanzi often had to leave every few days every time she went home because of her work, but Wang Xuezhi never complained, and even raised their children personally, which should have been Xing Yanzi's job.
At that time, the sijiazhuang village had not yet built a road, the potholed dirt road was muddy as soon as it rained, in order to let his wife safely go to the town for a meeting, Wang Xuezhi carried Xing Yanzi on his back every time in the rain until the village built a cement road.
What makes Xing Yanzi even more reluctant is that every time she is sick, Wang Xuezhi is accompanied by her 24 hours to take care of her, and when Wang Xuezhi suffers from angina, she has never told her in order to be afraid of her worries.
Until one night, Xing Yanzi did not wait for Wang Xuezhi to come home at home, and she went outside to look for it in a hurry, but she did not expect to go out and find her husband lying on the side of the road with angina attacks, and Xing Yanzi could not cry.
Later, a reporter interviewed whether Xing Yanzi had ever had a love affair with Wang Xuezhi, Xing Yanzi replied with a smile: "We have been together for more than forty years, we have never quarreled, he has no remorse when I have an affair, and I will be very worried about his accident, if this is not love, then what is still love." ”
After retirement, Xing Yanzi took the initiative to fade away the glory of the past, and now she often goes to the street with her wife, and the two live an ordinary life.
Wang Xuezhi (left) and Xing Yanzi (right)
In order to do something for the elderly and have fun for the elderly, Xing Yanzi also took the initiative to enroll in the university for the elderly, learned calligraphy and singing, and also participated in the community song team, and lived a very fulfilling life every day.
Once, after hearing about Xing Yanzi's deeds, an entrepreneur came to visit from other places, heard that the old man was practicing calligraphy, and planned to let her write the words "pride, backbone, domineering" for herself to motivate herself to run the business with her heart.
Xing Yanzi slowly took out a pen and paper from the cupboard, and casually wrote on it the six big characters of "ambition, bone, and popularity", and the entrepreneur was very puzzled by her changes.
Xing Yanzi said with a smile: "I think arrogance and domineering are not good, giving people a feeling of being too tough, everything we do is for the country and the people, with ambition and backbone can we achieve great things, and only with popularity can we be closely associated with the people." The entrepreneur readily accepted it.
At the same time of leisure, Xing Yanzi has never forgotten the country and the people, she is always paying attention to the development of the country, every night the Central Radio news has become her must-see program, whenever she sees the country's great achievements, she is always excited to applaud on the side.
This year, the elderly Xing Yanzi is 80 years old, although the action has been somewhat slow, but the fighting spirit in her bones has not diminished in the slightest, as a retired cadre, in recent years she is still concerned about state affairs, but also often for welfare institutions and old party members and comrades in need of help.
Someone asked Xing Yanzi: "How do you feel now from the peak to the end, from the state cadres to the ordinary people?" ”
Elder Xing Yanzi said calmly: "I was originally an ordinary rural girl, under the cultivation of the party, I did some things for the country that I should do, which is not commensurate with the status and honor given to me by the party and the people. ”
Xing Yanzi (left)
The life of the old man Xing Yanzi is glorious and great, she has achieved the change of the times with her own practical actions, the original intention has not changed, after the prosperity, the insult is not shocked, this kind of indifferent fame and fortune, the spirit of serving the country is worthy of tribute and learning from each of us.