It is now an accepted fact that smoking is harmful to health, but it is undeniable that smoking cessation campaigns are still difficult to implement even today. If you were to go to an old smoker with decades of smoking experience to quit smoking now, he would always ask you a question: "Why did Premier Zhou Enlai live more than seventy years without smoking, but Chairman Mao could live more than eighty years after smoking every day?" ”
But in fact, smoking itself has a great relationship with everyone's physical fitness. The smokers only know that Chairman Mao smokes, but they do not know that in addition to smoking, Chairman Mao also carries out a lot of physical and mental fitness exercises, such as cold bathing, swimming, mountaineering, etc. Even Chairman Mao himself is well aware of the harm of smoking, and warns the staff around him: "You must not learn to smoke, there is nicotine, it is harmful." ”
Pictured: Portrait of Chairman Mao at smoking
However, Chairman Mao himself could not do without cigarettes. According to the American scholar Ross Trier's biography of Mao Zedong, "He has at least 60 years of smoking history. In his decades-long revolutionary career, cigarettes were the longest thing that accompanied Chairman Mao, and in the smoke-filled air, Chairman Mao left many stories that were popular among the people.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="4" > and smoke: Chairman Mao said that "work is too hard to smoke."</h1>
According to historical records, Chairman Mao began smoking as early as 1927 when he inspected the local peasant movement in Hunan. However, at that time, Chairman Mao smoked the local "soil leaf tobacco", and at the forum held, Chairman Mao smoked while asking questions to the local peasants, which made the conversation full of relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, but Chairman Mao's smoking at that time was not guaranteed. Since leading the Autumn Harvest Uprising on Jinggangshan, a major source of Chairman Mao's cigarettes could only be captured from the Kuomintang army, and Chairman Mao often laughed at "eating a hundred meals and smoking a hundred cigarettes." During the Long March, Chairman Mao also began to look for leaves as a substitute for tobacco under extremely difficult conditions, which shows that from then on, Chairman Mao and cigarettes have formed an indissoluble relationship.
Pictured: Chairman Mao and Snow are talking eagerly.
The American journalist Edgar Snow, one of the earliest Western journalists to be able to directly interview Chairman Mao, came to China several times before his death and was warmly received by Chairman Mao. In 1936, when Snow first met Chairman Mao in Yan'an, he found that unlike most of the Red Army commanders and fighters, he was very addicted to smoking, and even studied with Li De on the Long March Road which plant leaves could replace cigarettes, and he was very curious about why Chairman Mao had such a big addiction.
Chairman Mao's explanation for this was as follows: "At that time, the work was too hard and I had to smoke a lot of cigarettes. ”
Pictured: Chairman Mao invites American journalist Snow to dinner
It is no wonder that in the 1930s and 1940s, when the Chinese revolution was at its most tense, Chairman Mao had to deal with a large number of documents and telegrams every day, and he had to work all night at night. When writing "On Protracted War", Chairman Mao did not close his eyes for two days and two nights, and cigarettes became a small means for him to relax briefly in his work, and many of his wisdom fires were born in the clouds, and in a sense, cigarettes were a "good medicine" that Chairman Mao used to enliven his thinking and stimulate wisdom.
After the founding of New China, the number of cigarettes consumed by Chairman Mao every day increased from the overall trend, which was mainly caused by two reasons: First, after Chairman Mao entered Zhongnanhai, the supply of cigarettes became stable; second, after the founding of New China, Chairman Mao needed to consider more things. However, although Chairman Mao often relied on smoking to refresh his mind, in fact, he inhaled not much into his mouth.
Pictured: Chairman Mao smoked a cigarette and smiled kindly
In this regard, Zhang Yaoci, a former guard of the Central Guard Corps, recalled: "Chairman Mao liked to sit on the sofa and smoke one cigarette after another while cocking his 'Erlang legs'. At this time, we know that Chairman Mao is thinking about important issues, and under such circumstances we generally do not dare to disturb the Chairman. ”
When thinking about problems, chairman Mao's cigarettes in his hands really did not smoke much, many of them burned naturally, Chairman Mao himself once mentioned this problem: "I really smoke cigarettes into the body is not much, but when thinking about the problem, if you do not light a cigarette, you feel empty in your hands, always feel as if something is missing." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="44" > the difficulty of quitting smoking: The cessation campaign in Zhongnanhai was abandoned halfway</h1>
Of course, in fact, in addition to Chairman Mao, many founding fathers and leading comrades of New China liked to smoke, so before the start of each important meeting in Zhongnanhai, cigarettes were absolutely indispensable items for the leaders attending the meeting.
Pictured: Chairman Mao smokes a cigarette and reads a newspaper
After the founding of new China, Li Weixin was transferred to Zhongnanhai to take charge of service work. Before each meeting, the veteran comrades with more than ten years of service experience held a large number of cigarette boxes, while placing cigarette boxes on the table of each chief, and introduced them to Li Weixin, who had just arrived: "Although the chiefs usually carry their own cigarettes and do not smoke the cigarettes on the table, sometimes they will encounter the situation that the chiefs have smoked or happen to forget to bring them. You have to listen well: Chairman Mao likes to smoke the 'three or five cards' the most, and the taste is relatively heavy; Comrade Liu Shaoqi likes to smoke 'Chinese tobacco', but he usually only smokes the 'front door', Comrade Shaoqi thinks that Chinese cigarettes are too expensive, if he smokes too much, he is afraid that it will increase the economic burden on the country. But even so, we have to put it on the table, if the meeting time is too long, Comrade Shaoqi's 'front door' is smoked, we can only smoke the cigarette on the table, after all, the meeting will always be open all day. "But in a few days, Li Weixin will be able to keep in mind the cigarette brands that the chiefs like."
In addition to cigarettes, tea should also be served in place, and the old comrade introduced to Li Weixin in a serious tone: "Chairman Mao and President Peng especially like to eat tea, and once they see that there is no tea in Chairman Mao's teacup, they must remember to add it in time." Chairman Mao likes to eat the tea residue that has been brewed several times, but Mr. Peng will eat the tea leaves almost the first time he brews tea, and you must remember these habits. ”
Pictured: In 1960, Comrades Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, and Deng Xiaoping talked in front of Fortress Garden
After Li Weixin respectfully poured the tea, Chairman Mao, Peng Dehuai, Liu Shaoqi, and other comrades all walked into the Hall of Diligence and Politics in pairs and began to hold a meeting. Li Weixin stood aside and saw that Chairman Mao and several chiefs of major tobacco addicts had already taken out cigarette rolls and began to swallow clouds and spit out fog, and the Hall of Diligence and Administration suddenly became a smoky place, and the topics of major meetings began.
Peng Dehuai is one of the few chiefs who do not smoke, but his addiction to tea is particularly large. Before the first cup of tea was finished, Peng Dehuai had already pulled out his thick fingers, picked the tea leaves in the teacup and put them into his mouth, and chewed them with relish. Li Weixin, who was beside him, hurriedly picked up Mr. Peng's cup and refilled tea and tea for him, and Mr. Peng blinked at him and praised his heart.
Pictured: Chairman Mao is talking eagerly with Peng Dehuai
At the beginning of the founding of New China, the concept of nicotine hazards had not yet been popularized, and at that time, Chairman Mao and other leaders only thought that smoking too much would cause bronchitis, resulting in the chiefs who smoked heavily always had to put a spittoon in front of them; the chiefs who did not smoke would also be inflamed with the bronchi because they were looking forward to smoking "second-hand smoke" in the conference room. For the sake of the health of the chiefs, health care doctors "outspoken advice", the Zhongnanhai conference room suddenly set off a "quit smoking" campaign, the most important of which is the so-called "melon seeds instead of smoking".
Before sniffing melon seeds, the staff of the Zhongnanhai Service Group also considered using the method of "replacing tobacco with sugar" to get the chiefs to quit smoking. But often the staff put sugar on the chiefs, the chiefs still smoke, and according to the feedback of the later chiefs, the sugar came to the mouth, do not know what is going on, the more you eat the more you want to smoke, the more fierce you smoke.
So in order to implement the smoking cessation campaign, since then, not a box of cigarettes has been placed on the table in the conference room of Zhongnanhai, not only no cigarettes, but also no candy, only various melon seeds.
Pictured: Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi, and Zhang Wentian (from right to left) have a cordial conversation in front of the Zhongnanhai Yinian Hall
According to Li Weixin's observation, Chairman Mao liked to eat fresh watermelon seeds the most, and the habit of eating melon seeds was not too frequent, always picking them up from time to time and sniffing them, and for the peels of melon seeds that were sniffed down, Chairman Mao also neatly placed them on the table, and when they were placed about the size of an ashtray, they began to pile up, and they could become a "hill" in one night, which Chairman Mao called Yan'an's "Pagoda Mountain", as long as the meeting time exceeded the night, again and again.
At that time, the opening of the central meeting was more than ten hours, and many chiefs sniffed melon seeds not only for entertainment, but also to fill their stomachs, because there was no way to eat on time. However, during the meeting, only Commander-in-Chief Zhu De was able to maintain the habit of eating on time during the meeting, and Chairman Mao took special care of Zhu De when he was old, so he allowed Zhu De to go to the Side of the Yinian Hall to "open a small stove" when he arrived at the meal point.
Pictured: Zhu De photographed Zhongnanhai in Beijing on July 8, 1952
However, the problem is that the melon seeds have been sniffed for more than a year, and they have not seen Chairman Mao and other smokers quit smoking, but they have one more habit of sniffing melon seeds at meetings, and the service team personnel can be said to have "lost their wives and folded their soldiers." Once, Zhu De came out of the smoky conference room to eat, he pointed to the smoke in the conference room and whispered to the staff: "The smoke inside is really too choking, or the air outside is fresh." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="45" > Smoke-linked: Chairman Mao's unique means of emotional contact</h1>
Chairman Mao himself liked to smoke and often gave smoke to others, which was a unique way of interacting with Chairman Mao in his life, in this way, he was able to close the relationship with the interlocutor and enhance the feelings between them.
Chairman Mao's smoking also had a gradual process. Before liberation, Chairman Mao "did not refuse to come" to smoke, and after the founding of New China, Chairman Mao selectively smoked camel, Three-Five, and front door cigarettes because they were very energetic. By 1959, Chairman Mao had also begun experimenting with pandas, Chinese cigarettes, and finally cigars. So who introduced the cigar smoking to Chairman Mao? Of course, it is Li Xiannian, who is also a smoker.
Pictured: "Front Door" brand cigarette case
It turned out that at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee, Chairman Mao saw Li Xiannian smoking a cigar, and he could not help but feel curious in his heart, so he glanced in his direction a few more times. Li Xiannian knew that Chairman Mao's addiction to smoking had been committed again, so he took a cigar from his pocket and handed it over. Chairman Mao immediately reached out and took the cigar, lit it, took a deep breath, and then humorously asked Li Xiannian: "Why didn't you take out such a good cigarette and give it to me earlier?" ”
Pictured: Li Xiannian and Chen Yun
Another time, at the Chengdu Conference in 1959, the secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee excitedly held two boxes of "cloud smoke" that had just been produced to present a gift to Chairman Mao. I saw Chairman Mao take out a cloud cigarette for the first time and put it on his mouth, then light a match, take a deep breath, and then close his eyes and sigh: "Good smoke, I didn't expect such a good cigarette to come out of Yunnan." Subsequently, Chairman Mao summoned Li Xiannian and said, "I said Comrade Xiannian, when you hold a meeting tomorrow, you will publicize it to everyone, so that everyone can buy this kind of cigarette and support domestic production." The next day, the two boxes of cigarettes were swept away by the delegates, Chairman Mao made a loud advertisement for Yunyan, and Li Xiannian also became a cigarette salesman.
Pictured: Chairman Mao smokes a cigarette on a train
In addition to this for comrades in the Party, Chairman Mao also used cigarettes to express his sincere feelings when he received democrats from all walks of life. Once, Chairman Mao met with a well-known professor who was just about to take out a cigarette box to entertain the guests, but Chairman Mao subconsciously touched it and found that there was a cigarette left in the box. It is not good to hand it to the guests not to smoke, and it is even worse to smoke and leave the guests aside by smoking themselves. So Chairman Mao split it in half and handed half a cigarette to the professor, who was deeply agitated by Chairman Mao's small act of not treating himself as an outsider.
Pictured: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill smoking a cigar
Another time, after the founding of New China, Chairman Mao received more than eighty commercial representatives from Shanghai, and in order not to make them nervous, Chairman Mao cordially said to them: "Why don't you smoke?" Smoking is not necessarily harmful to you, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who has smoked all his life and is in good health. In my memory, there is only one person who can live a long life without smoking, and that is Chiang Kai-shek. Chairman Mao's remarks made everyone present deeply feel that the leader of the Communist Party of China is not a big official, but a servant of the people who is single-minded in doing things for the masses.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="46" > Taste of Tobacco: Chairman Mao's Smoking Habits</h1>
In his lifetime, Chairman Mao especially liked heavy taste things, such as Hunan peppers, braised pork, stinky tofu, etc. Although these things were not healthy things in the eyes of Chairman Mao's health doctors, it was difficult for Chairman Mao to change his original intentions, and Chairman Mao's choice of cigarettes was the same.
Pictured: Chairman Mao meets with Marshal Montgomery
Chairman Mao smoked, did not pay attention to what brand of cigarettes it was, only paid attention to whether the taste of this kind of cigarette was stimulating enough, he liked cigarettes with heavy taste and great staying power. In 1961, when Chairman Mao met with the famous British general Montgomery, Montgomery specially gave Chairman Mao a precious gift, the "555" brand cigarette specially produced by Britain, which Chairman Mao gladly accepted; in return, Chairman Mao gave him an ink treasure of "Water Tune Song Head Swimming" as a souvenir. This "555" brand cigarette produced in Britain, unlike the traditional cigarette packaging, is packed in a tin box, and the taste of this tobacco is so large that ordinary people cannot bear it, but Chairman Mao is eager for it.
In order to make Chairman Mao smoke less, the only way that health doctors can think of is to split an ordinary cigarette in half, hoping to reduce Chairman Mao's smoking. However, because half-cut cigarettes are more likely to produce cigarette butts, this has triggered more interesting stories about Chairman Mao in his daily life.
Pictured: Chairman Mao dancing in Zhongnanhai
One day in the early 1960s, Chairman Mao was dancing ballroom dance with female comrades at the Ziguang Pavilion in Zhongnanhai. During the intermission, Chairman Mao sat on the sofa to rest, picked up the cigarettes on the coffee table, and habitually folded the cigarettes in half and put the other half into his coat.
The female comrades who had just danced with Chairman Mao asked curiously, "Chairman, why do you have to fold the cigarette into two pieces every time?" ”
Pictured: Chairman Mao is talking and laughing with a cigarette butt
Chairman Mao replied humorously: "Everything must be viewed in two." "Chairman Mao is actually talking about his own smoking, but the female comrades around him do not know that Chairman Mao has begun to reduce the amount of smoking, and they are puzzled: Is there anything particularly important to do with the philosophical division of a cigarette in half?
After a while, Chairman Mao smoked the cigarette so that there was only one cigarette butt left, he sucked the last point violently, and then pressed the cigarette butt deep into the ashtray, and as the residual smoke of the cigarette butt gradually disappeared into the air, Chairman Mao could not help but feel the scene: "Imperialism is already dying!" The comrades around them could not help but laugh happily, comparing cigarette butts to imperialism, and Chairman Mao's imagination was really extraordinary.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="47" > Twilight Farewell: Chairman Mao finally bid farewell to the "world of cigarettes."</h1>
Chairman Mao's earliest idea of quitting smoking was because of Stalin's death. When the Soviet delegation visited China in 1957, the chairman of the delegation, Marshal Voroshilov, told Chairman Mao: "After Stalin's death, Soviet medical experts generally believed that Stalin might not have died so early if he had followed the doctor's instructions to quit smoking." Perhaps marshal Voroshilov's advice played a role, and chairman Mao began a 10-month-long cessation of smoking. But later, Chairman Mao began to relapse again, and he once said self-deprecatingly: "The habit of smoking really can't be changed." ”
Once, Meng Jinyun, a nurse who took care of Chairman Mao, asked curiously: "I really don't understand why cigarettes are so addictive?" What if I don't smoke? Chairman Mao smiled and said: "There is a saying that goes: 'People are iron, rice is steel, and if you don't eat a meal, you will panic when you are hungry.'" I think this sentence should be changed to 'man is iron, smoke is steel, and he doesn't panic when he doesn't smoke a meal'. You naturally don't know how addicted you are to smoking. ”
Pictured: A characteristic cigar that was once made for Chairman Mao (infographic)
In his old age, Chairman Mao's body had all kinds of health problems, and even the specially developed cigars could not be smoked. After repeated persuasion by health doctors, Chairman Mao had to make up his mind to quit smoking, but how easy was it for Chairman Mao, a smoker who had been addicted to smoking for half a century?
At the beginning, after Chairman Mao's addiction, he habitually took out a cigarette and put it on his mouth, but did not light it, but resisted the temptation of tobacco in a psychological way. Gradually, Chairman Mao was able to hold the cigarette in his hand instead of holding it in his mouth when the addiction was onset, and he put the cigarette in his hand and fiddled with it carefully, sniffing it from time to time, and he really did not want this "old friend". After an unknown amount of time, Chairman Mao finally waved goodbye to the "world of cigarettes" and completely quit cigarettes, but this was already a year before Chairman Mao's death, but even so, this was still a fortunate thing.