One day in 1953, in front of the office of the director of the United Front Work Department in Anqing City, Anhui Province, a man dressed in a worker's costume was hesitating to think, and finally after a while, he plucked up enough courage to knock lightly on the door. Immediately, the office door opened and a man in the form of a cadre came out.
Before the worker could speak, the other party asked him, "Are you Comrade Chen Songnian?" The worker hurriedly said, "Yes, I am Chen Songnian." The cadre continued: "I am the united front work director of the Anqing Municipal CPC Committee, and when Chairman Mao came to an Anqing a few days ago, he heard that your family was having difficulties in life, so he specially arranged for us to send you some living allowances. ”
Chen Songnian couldn't believe his ears for a moment, so he asked, "What are you talking about?" Chairman Mao arranged for the government to give our families a living allowance? The minister replied, "Yes, chairman Mao arranged it." Chen Songnian could no longer control his emotions at this time, and suddenly burst into tears and said, "Chairman Mao... Chairman Mao..."
Before Chen Songnian left, after seeing a portrait of Chairman Mao in the room, he went straight over, bowed respectfully to the statue three times, and finally said sincerely: "Chairman Mao, thank you!" ”
What kind of relationship did Chen Songnian have with Chairman Mao? Why did Chairman Mao specifically instruct local cadres and leaders to help Chen Songnian's family?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > Chairman Mao and Chen Duxiu's family</h1>
Chen Songnian is actually the third son of Chen Duxiu, and as a descendant of one of the founders of the Communist Party, Chen Songnian's life has always been very poor and complicated. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chen Songnian has been working as a brick mover in a kiln factory in Anqing, working hard, the salary is not high, and it is not easy to support a large family.
However, Chen Songnian never sought help from the organization because of his identity, and it was not until Chairman Mao came to Anqing City in 1953 to learn about some of the living conditions of Chen Duxiu's descendants, and the life of the Chen family was able to improve somewhat.
One night in February, a warship stopped on the anqing River, and a tall, burly, red-faced, radiant old man sent a staff member ashore and gave him a task to invite Fu Dazhang, the secretary of the Anqing Prefectural Party Committee.
After Fu Dazhang arrived at the Anqing Wharf, he boarded the warship in a speedboat, and after entering the cabin, he froze, and the old man in front of him was no one else, but chairman Mao Zedong, the great leader who he missed day and night. For a moment, he forgot to greet Chairman Mao and could not speak, until the entourage came forward to introduce Chairman Mao and said: "Chairman, he is Comrade Fu Dazhang, secretary of the Anqing Prefectural Committee of the CPC. Only then did he react.
So Fu Dazhang quickly said, "Hello Chairman! "Hello, Comrade Dazhang!" Mao Zedong replied to him with a smile, and said that he also extended his hand to Fu Dazhang. Fu Dazhang immediately clasped the chairman's hand tightly and burst into tears with excitement.
After everyone sat down, Mao Zedong casually handed Fu Dazhang a cigarette. In fact, this is the place where the warship temporarily decided to dock after Mao Zedong inspected Nanjing on the way to Wuhan. Because when he saw the Zhenfeng Ancient Pagoda, Mao Zedong asked the staff what this place was, and when he heard the other party answer "Anqing", he suddenly remembered many histories and figures in his mind.
He thought of Xu Xilin, a heroic martyr of the League, an important place in Anqing during the Battle of the River Crossing, and a special figure, that is, Chen Duxiu.
In the course of talking with Fu Dazhang, Mao Zedong asked some questions about Anqing's history, work, and so on. Mao Zedong was approachable and cordially inquired about Fu Dazhang's place of origin, age, family, time and position in the work, and so on, and Fu Dazhang respectfully replied one by one.
When Fu Dazhang talked about his work of fifteen or six hours a day, Mao Zedong said to him solemnly and seriously: "A secretary of a prefectural party committee cannot finish his work without fifteen or six hours a day. After talking about work, Mao Zedong's words turned sharply, and he suddenly asked: "Chen Duxiu is an Anqing person, right?" This question was somewhat unexpected by Fu Dazhang, but he did not ask much, and directly answered Mao Zedong: "Yes, his ancestral home is in Huaining County, born in Anqing." ”
"Who else is in Chen Duxiu's family?" It is said that there was also an old mother (that is, Chen Duxiu's adoptive mother Xie Shi, who died of illness in Jiangjin County, Sichuan Province in 1939). Chen Duxiu later married a female worker surnamed Pan, whose whereabouts are now unknown. There is also a son, named Chen Songnian, who now works in an Anqing kiln factory, works as a technician, the family has a large population, low income, and some difficulties in life, and it is said that he sold a house in Beijing. ”
"Is it Chen Duxiu's former residence in Beijing and the house of the editorial office of New Youth?" Mao Zedong interjected and asked. "Exactly." "Why sell a house, now life is a little difficult, you can take care of it!" Mao Zedong continued to speak with concern. "We didn't even know about it at the time, and we didn't hear about it until later. But we still have Chen Duxiu as a person..."
Fu Dazhang was halfway through his speech, and seemed to be a little timid, becoming hesitant. But Mao Zedong seriously analyzed it:
"Chen Duxiu, this person, is a meritorious person. Early contributions were made to the spread of Marxism and the creation of the Chinese Communist Party. He was the commander-in-chief during the May Fourth Movement, and when I was at Peking University, his influence was probably greater than anyone else's, and I was a student of his generation with Li Dazhao and others. After his release from prison in 1937, the Central Committee sent people to do his work, hoping that he would come to participate in the anti-war work, hoping that he would issue a statement admitting his mistake and returning to the party, but he refused. Therefore, this figure should be analyzed historically and concretely, and his family should still be taken care of locally. ”
Mao Zedong paused for a moment, took another puff of his cigarette, and then said: "Chen Duxiu's two sons, Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian, were still early revolutionaries and activists of the party, who fought bravely and tenaciously in prison and were martyrs of the revolution. For Chen Duxiu's family, that is, the family of the martyrs, they should be taken care of and treated specially by the government! ”
After Mao Zedong's remarks were explained, the United Front Work Department of the Anqing Municipal CPC Committee began to subsidize Chen Songnian's family with 30 yuan a month.
When Chen Songnian first received the notice to receive the subsidy, he couldn't believe it at all, and he didn't even dream of it. It wasn't until the leaders patiently explained to him that Chairman Mao and the local party and government leaders cared so much for his family that he finally believed it and couldn't help but burst into tears.
When I heard the cadre say to him: "Every month is 30 yuan, and you can come and get it on time." After that, Chen Songnian signed his name with a trembling hand and clutched the 30 yuan subsidy in his hand. Before leaving, the office staff also competed to shake hands with him and share the happiness of Chairman Mao's family.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="70" > Mao Zedong and Chen Duxiu's interactions</h1>
The two began with the New Culture Movement, in which Chen Duxiu, commander-in-chief, used his unique theoretical insights, solid literary theoretical skills, and sharp rafters to become an idol of a large number of aspiring young people, including Mao Zedong.
On September 15, 1915, Chen Duxiu founded the magazine New Youth, and soon New Youth had a large number of young readers, of which Mao Zedong was one. When Mao Zedong's "Research on Sports" was published in the magazine, "boldness and greatness" became Chen Duxiu's first impression on Mao Zedong.
In 1918, Mao Zedong and 23 other young people came to Beijing to organize a work-study trip to France. But in the end, for various reasons, Mao Zedong did not go abroad like his companions. Forced to make a living, he came to the Peking University Library to do errands with the help of Li Dazhao. It was in this foothold that Mao Zedong first met Chen Duxiu, whom he had admired for a long time.
The first time they met, the conversation was very short, but it made Mao Zedong excited. It wasn't until 18 years later, when recalling this meeting with Chen Duxiu, that Mao Zedong said to Snow: "Chen Duxiu has influenced me more than anyone else." ”
The second meeting was in early January 1920, when Chen Duxiu was arrested for distributing leaflets during the May Fourth Movement, and after being released on bail, he was recuperating at home, and Mao Zedong went to visit. Before that, Mao Zedong and many others had tried to rescue Chen Duxiu.
In the summer of 1920, Mao Zedong was returning to Changsha. While passing through Shanghai, Mao Zedong visited Chen Duxiu, the third time the two had met. This time, Chen Duxiu talked a lot about Marxism to Mao Zedong and infected Mao Zedong with the hot revolutionary feelings of a communist.
It was then that Mao Zedong transformed himself into a firm Marxist. More than a decade later, when he spoke to Snow, he also mentioned the profound impact of this conversation on his life: "His resolute faith is deeply imprinted in my mind and has become the reason for the transformation of my life. ...... In my life, this period of transformation, it can be said that Chen Duxiu's impression of me is extremely profound. ”
After returning to Hunan, Mao Zedong carried out the workers' movement with great success, and his talents were recognized and appreciated by Chen Duxiu. In January 1923, Chen Duxiu was busy preparing for the three major events of the Communist Party of China and decided to transfer Mao Zedong to work in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai.
In April, Mao Zedong arrived in Shanghai, and in June, the three major CCP congresses ended in Guangdong, chen Duxiu was elected chairman of the Central Bureau, and Mao Zedong was made secretary of the Central Bureau. So Chen Duxiu and Mao Zedong worked together in the Central Committee and began to work together, and the two also had substantial contact.
But slowly, Chen Duxiu has always advocated the ideal of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and wanted to transform society, but he always couldn't find the entry point for the problem, and even some of the decisions he made were not completely correct. Therefore, Mao Zedong vaguely felt that Chen Duxiu was already difficult to control this situation, could no longer lead the Communist Party to find a path to revolutionary success, and at the same time, some of the aura on his body gradually faded in Mao Zedong's eyes.
On August 7, 1927, in order to sum up the lessons of the failure of the Great Revolution, the Central Committee secretly held an emergency meeting in Hankou. At this meeting, Mao Zedong comprehensively analyzed the harm caused to the Chinese revolution by Chen Duxiu's erroneous guidance from the perspective of a witness, and put forward his own unique views on military work and peasant issues.
This was the first time Mao Zedong had criticized Chen Duxiu in public. In just 10 years, Mao's attitude toward Chen Duxiu changed from admiration to questioning, and now it has become criticism. So on September 10, Chen Duxiu left Wuhan and went into hiding in Shanghai, where Mao Zedong never met again.
But Mao Zedong was a truth-seeking man who opposed Chen Duxiu but did not forget his merits. On April 21, 1945, he pointed out at a meeting: "Chen Duxiu has been credited. He led the entire May Fourth Movement. He created the party, with credit. ...... Regarding Chen Duxiu, when we revise the history of the Party in the future, we will still talk about him. ”
After the founding of New China, Mao Zedong also mentioned Chen Duxiu's merits many times, reminding everyone that we should not erase his contributions to the party. It can be said that Chen Duxiu was Mao Zedong's teacher, and he influenced and changed Mao Zedong's life. Mao Zedong himself recognized this.
However, Mao Zedong was even more a person who "I love my teacher, I love the truth even more", although admiring Chen Duxiu's talent, Mao Zedong would not blindly follow everything about him, point out his mistakes, and at the same time not forget his contributions.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="71" > the sad Chen family</h1>
Chen Duxiu lost his father at an early age and was raised by his grumpy grandfather, so he not only lacked fatherly love, but also never knew what father's love was. After the birth of several children, Chen Duxiu also studied abroad for many years, participated in the revolution, and returned home for a few days, and when he arrived home, he was busy contacting friends, so he and his children were also very strange.
After Chen Duxiu and Gao Junman got married, it also directly affected Chen Yannian's views on marriage and family, so that when he grew up, he always buried his head in work, did not want to fall in love, and did not want to get married. After the Chen family was raided by the governor in 1915, Chen Yannian and Chen Qiao Nian fled to the countryside of Huaining for refuge. Soon after receiving a letter from their father asking them to go to Shanghai, the brothers bid farewell to their grandmother and mother, and never returned to their hometown.
When they first arrived in Shanghai, the brothers lived with their father's family, but soon moved out because they often had conflicts with their father, and began to work and study half-time. The brothers slept on the floor of the library at night and went out to work during the day, eating bread and running water. Later, the two were admitted to the French department of Aurora University, work-study, and gradually survived the difficult days.
In the new cultural movement, Chen Duxiu became a spiritual leader and idol in the minds of countless young people across the country, but the 17-year-old Chen Yannian did not think so. Before going to France, Chen Duxiu was arrested and imprisoned for distributing articles. When Chen Yannian learned of his father's arrest, he made this assessment: "It is a great pity that China has lost a learned person. ”
Because his expression was very indifferent, as if he was talking about a person who had nothing to do with him, Chen Duxiu's friends were very surprised.
When the two were in France, Chen Duxiu also wrote them a letter urging them to abandon anarchism and turn to Marxism. After Chen Yannian read the letter, he said to Chen Gongpei: "Duxiu this person, you should ignore him." Chen Gongpei was very surprised, he did not expect Chen Duxiu's son to call him by his first name, and he also showed a dismissive look between words.
However, the Chen brothers eventually turned to Marxism, and in 1923, the party organization sent the two of them and 10 others to study at the Moscow Labor University. According to the memories of the classmates who studied with them at that time, Chen Yannian was usually silent, but he was very active in arguing about issues. And the brothers "ate badly, dressed badly, and decided not to talk about women." ”
From the autumn of 1924 to the spring of 1925, because of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the brothers returned to China, Chen Yannian was sent to Shanghai, and Chen Qiaonian was sent to Guangdong for work. A chance to work, Chen Yannian saw his father again, but the result was completely without touching pictures, sat down and began to talk about work, looking flat as a passerby, Chen Duxiu was also equally at ease.
In the spring of 1927, at the Fifth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chen Duxiu was re-elected as general secretary, and the Chen brothers were elected as members of the Central Committee. On June 26, Chen Yannian was ordered to rebuild the party organization. However, when he burned secret materials such as meetings in the afternoon, he was suddenly arrested. After Wu Zhihui learned of this incident, he held a grudge against Chen Yannian and urged Yang Hu to kill him. On July 4, Chen Yannian was killed.
On February 16 of the following year, Chen Qiaonian held a secret meeting in Shanghai, but was unexpectedly informed by the traitors, and all the people who had no time to escape were arrested. In the process of being rescued by the organization, Chen Qiaonian's identity was accidentally exposed, so on June 6, 1928, at the age of 26, he also died.
Chen Songnian was only 17 years old when his eldest brother Chen Yannian died, and he had been staying with his mother until then. After learning this bad news, my grandmother and mother immediately fainted from crying. He then went to Shanghai with his sister to deal with the aftermath. After the second brother died the next year, it was still the aftermath of their sister and brother to deal with.
After seeing the tragic situation of Qiao Nian who fell in a pool of blood, her sister Chen Yuying was overly sad and devastated, and she did not take long to go with her second brother.
Later, Chen Songnian studied in the Department of Chemistry of Anhui University. In 1933, after Chen Duxiu was sentenced by the Kuomintang, Chen Songnian went to Nanjing for the first time to visit his father, and every winter and summer vacation since then, he has also visited.
In August 1937, after Chen Songnian fled to Wuhan with his family, he met his father, who had just been released, and pan Lanzhen, who was about the same age as his stepmother, and the family went up the river to Jiangjin, Sichuan. Soon after, Chen Songnian, under the care of Chen Duxiu's old friend, did general affairs work at Jiangjin National Ninth Middle School.
Chen Duxiu's family concept has always been weak, and his care for his children is also very little. However, in his later years, Chen Songnian often brought his own children to visit him, which made Chen Duxiu very happy, "I was very affectionate with several grandchildren, and after some time I didn't see them, I would send someone to pick them up."
In the last years of Chen Duxiu's life, Chen Songnian's family was the only relative who accompanied him, and he accompanied his father until his death. On May 27, 1942, Chen Duxiu died of illness in Jiangjin. With the help of relatives and friends from all sides, Chen Songnian and his stepmother worked together to properly handle his father's affairs.
Chen Songnian never received his father's love in his childhood, but he was very filial to his father and also respected his stepmother Pan Lanzhen. In the education of his children, he will call Pan Lanzhen "second grandmother".
In 1947, Chen Songnian finally managed to transport the coffins of his grandmother and father back to Anqing, and when he returned to Xi'an, he was worried that his father's name would cause trouble, so he wrote on the coffin the name that his father had used when he was in the imperial examination, Chen Qiansheng. After the father and mother were buried, a stone monument was erected. Since then, every year on the Qingming Festival, Chen Songnian has to take his children to visit the graves of his parents.
After liberation, Chen Songnian has been working in the kiln factory, living in stoicism, and slowly raising his 4 children to adulthood. It was not until Mao Zedong came to inspect Anqing, gave them a living allowance, confirmed the martyr status of Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian, and issued a martyr certificate to the family, that the family could survive in the future storms and waves.
Since Chairman Mao gave Chen Songnian the family living allowance, the Chen family's life has been greatly improved, not only can they eat enough, but also have money for their four children to continue to go to school. Later, Chen Songnian had three children admitted to the university, which was inseparable from the chairman's special care and fair evaluation of the Chen family.
At the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, Chen Songnian was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Anqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a librarian of the Museum of Culture and History, and a librarian of the Anhui Provincial Museum of Culture and History.
In 1979, Chen Songnian wrote to the relevant departments in Anqing, proposing that chen Duxiu's tomb could be rebuilt, and he quickly got a reply: in the name of his family, the funds were paid by the government. So soon after, there was Chen Duxiu's second stone stele in his homeland.
Chen Songnian has a gentle and stoic personality, there is no dispute with the world, Chen Songnian has a total of three daughters and a son in his life, and has developed very well when he grows up: the eldest son, Chen Changqi, is a professor at Hefei University of Technology, and his daughter Chen Changpu has served as deputy director of the Anqing Cultural Administration and vice chairman of the Municipal Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. A friend who was familiar with them once said: "These two are the most similar personalities to Chen Duxiu among the grandchildren." ”
Daughter Chen Changpu can be said to be the one who has paid the most for Chen Duxiu's historical research and other aspects, and she once ignored her father's warnings and secretly collected various materials about her grandfather in a special period. After nearly three decades of dedication by her and her family, Chen Duxiu's cemetery was finally expanded into a "Duxiu Garden" covering an area of 1.37 square kilometers, and the Chen Duxiu Memorial Hall was finally completed.
The inscription on Chen Duxiu's tombstone has gradually changed from "Qiansheng" to "Zhongfu", and finally became "Duxiu", and history is gradually returning to its original appearance.
In his later years, Chen Songnian's children all went to work and got married, and Chen Songnian himself had a pension, so he proposed to the government that there was no need for additional subsidies every month. But after he put forward this opinion, the subsidy not only did not stop, but also increased by 30 yuan per month.
Until his death, Chen Songnian did not forget Chairman Mao and the government's kindness and help to the Chen family, and Chairman Mao's fair evaluation of Chen Duxiu and the economic help to the Chen family were also rumored to be a good story in Anqing. In 1990, Chen Songnian completed his 80 years of ordinary and difficult life journey.