This year marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of Marshal Chen Yi, a proletarian revolutionary of the older generation and an outstanding communist fighter. January 6 next year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Marshal Chen Yi.
On the eve of the National Day, Chen Haosu, the eldest son of Marshal Chen Yi, was interviewed by "political affairs" to remember his father. Chen Haosu said, "Father always reminds us not to go outside and say who your father is or what position he holds in the army. If you study well on your own, you will be able to do many things in the future; not because you are the children of anyone and you can do anything in the future. Don't think that you are the son of a commander, you will not study, you will not work, then you will have everything, you cannot have this kind of dependent thinking. ”
This year marks the centenary of the founding of the Party. Chen Haosu said, "Every era requires hard work, but the content of the struggle is different. In the face of new challenges in the future, we must unswervingly support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, unite and move forward, and solve difficult problems when encountered. ”
Born in May 1942, Chen Haosu graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China, and has served as the secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the vice mayor of the Beijing Municipal People's Government, the deputy director of the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television, the vice president and president of the Chinese Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and after retirement, he served as the president of the Beijing New Fourth Army Research Association, and was a member of the Ninth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a member of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Chen Haosu
Talk about the 120th anniversary of Marshal Chen Yi's birth
"My father has many noble qualities that are worth learning from our descendants"
Political Affairs: This year marks the 120th anniversary of Marshal Chen Yi's birth, what are the main commemorative activities?
Chen Haosu: According to the needs of epidemic prevention and control, this year's commemorative activities have controlled the scale, mainly organized by the Beijing New Fourth Army and the Central China Anti-Japanese Base Area Research Association. One was a concert to read the poems of Marshal Chen Yi to understand the history of the Chinese revolution through reading poems; the other was a symposium to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of Marshal Chen Yi, which was attended by a number of revolutionary descendants, including Zhou Bingde, niece of Zhou Enlai, nephew Zhou Binghe, peng Xiaofeng, son of martyr Peng Xuefeng, grandson of Zhu De, Liu Jian, grandson of Zhu De, Zhang Guangdong, son of Zhang Yunyi, Chen Renkang, son of Chen Shiyu, and Luo Yuan, son of Luo Qingchang. My father's hometown of Sichuan and Shanghai, where he once worked, also held commemorative events.
Overall, the commemoration was rich and the impact was good. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 120th anniversary of my father's birth. From the perspective of the descendants of the revolution, I realized that my father had many noble qualities that were worth learning from our descendants.
Talk about father's education
"Father always reminds us not to think that you are the son of the commander, you will not study, do not work, then you will have everything."
Masayoshi: When you were a child, did your father control you strictly?
Chen Haosu: Our family is a loving father and a strict mother. During the war years, my father's work was very busy, he was in the front, and my mother Zhang Qian took a few of our brothers and sisters in the rear, and when we reached school age, we went to school. Most people's children, after returning from school, their fathers have to ask how they are doing. Father didn't have time, but he was still very concerned, and when he had time, he would write a letter to encourage us to study hard. Occasionally, during his military journeys, he would also ask about his studies.
But such homeschooling is rare. Sometimes we had to fight ambushes, and when we couldn't take care of us, my father sent our brothers and sisters to the homes of ordinary people to help take care of us. I remember one time, when it was time to march to war, he found us a donkey with two baskets next to it, and put me and my brother in a frame and followed the troops.
The war years were always a lot of people, but there was a chance that my father was very concerned about our learning, health and growth. He often said that after the founding of New China, everyone must have knowledge, and only with knowledge can they serve the construction of the country. After the liberation of the whole country, our family settled down in Shanghai, and my father concurrently served as the mayor of Shanghai and the commander of the East China Military Region, traveling back and forth between Shanghai and Nanjing.
Growing up in the military, we were used to this kind of life and understood our father. Occasionally, after seeing my father, we were very happy, we told him to take care of his body, and he told us to listen to our mother's words and be disciplined. We all work hard to do this, and we can't let our parents worry about us.
Compared to the father, the mother is strict. From a young age, our mother asked us to develop good habits, wash our hands and pay attention to hygiene when eating, and be stricter, but our father was busy with work and would not take care of it too carefully. We were scared when we saw our mothers, and our fathers never lost their temper with us, and they were relaxed when we saw our fathers.
Marshal Chen Yi and his wife Zhang Qian (Courtesy of the interviewee)
Masahiro: You once said, "Father used to tell us not to lie in his book of merit. Are there many such reminders?
Chen Haosu: My father didn't say that every time. He always reminds us not to go outside and say who your father is or what position he holds in the military. If you study well on your own, you will be able to do many things in the future; not because you are the children of anyone and you can do anything in the future. Don't think that you are the son of a commander, you will not study, you will not work, then you will have everything, you cannot have this kind of dependent thinking. In the future, when you go to work, everyone will not look at whose son you are, but to see if you have the ability and ability.
In 1961, my father wrote us a poem "Show Your Children": "We should know the truth and build a tall building on the ground." We should know the ideals and be more strategic to the world. I will be ashamed of all, for selfishness. He asked us to be modest and cautious, strict with ourselves, strengthen our self-cultivation, and be down-to-earth.
Father's teaching is consistent, and in our daily words and deeds, we are asked not to put on the posture of a high-ranking cadre, so that people will look down on us.
Talk about marshal Chen Yi's poetic feelings
"He realized his literary dreams in the manner of a military poet"
Political Affairs: In addition to his status as a politician, military man, and diplomat, Marshal Chen Yi is also known as a revolutionary poet. How do you understand your father's poetic feelings?
Chen Haosu: When my father lived in Sichuan as a child, he was very attentive to the culture of Sichuan. He grew up with a literary dream of becoming a poet when he grew up. Later, after he joined the work in Beijing, he wrote a lot of poetry, and he was very persistent about his literary dreams. After joining the revolution, he submitted fewer articles to magazines, and on the way to the march and fight, he felt the war and wrote poems. He realized his literary dreams in the manner of a military poet.
My mother once commented on my father's poems, saying that his poems were "a record of his own perseverance in fighting and hard work, and at the same time, to a certain extent, reflected the historical path that his contemporaries had passed in the cause of social revolution and construction under the guidance of Chairman Mao." Time has passed, and my mother's evaluation still seems accurate and meaningful.
Masato: Did your father's poems have an impact on you?
Chen Haosu: When I was in high school, I also liked to write poetry at school, but I didn't read much of my father's poems. At that time, his poems were not collected and published, and there were some manuscripts in the family, which were not shown to us, and I did not know that my father would write so many poems. Later, famous chapters such as my father's "Three Chapters of Meiling" were circulated in the society, which had a subtle impact on us.
On January 6, 1972, his father died of illness and his mother fell seriously ill. When she was ill, she resolutely took on the responsibility of compiling and editing her father's poetry works, and I, as the eldest son, took on the specific work of transcribed and transcribed. While sorting out and copying, he learned more about his father as a very diligent poet, he recorded his life experience and combat experience, and also deepened his understanding of his father's poetry. Later, when I wrote poetry, I learned some of my father's habits of writing poetry, and some people said that the poems you wrote were very similar to Marshal Chen Yi.
This year marks the 120th anniversary of my father's birth, and next January marks the 50th anniversary of his death. Not long ago, I selected 50 nostalgic poems written over the years and compiled them into a collection to express the remembrance and longing for my parents for half a century and every moment.
Political Affairs: When Marshal Chen Yi died, Chairman Mao attended the memorial service. What was the scene like?
Chen Haosu: On January 10, 1972, my father's memorial service was held at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, and everyone did not know that Chairman Mao was coming to attend. At the beginning of three o'clock in the afternoon, Chairman Mao came to the scene of the memorial service. Many people didn't think of it, and neither did our family. Chairman Mao asked his mother about his father's situation and expressed his condolences and condolences. He said to the four of us, "You must work hard! Comrade Chen Yi is a good man and has made meritorious contributions. ”
Although his father encountered some adversities in his lifetime, he unswervingly listened to the party's words and followed the party, believing that China would certainly get out of the predicament and go to glory under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.
Marshal Chen Yi and Chairman Mao (Courtesy of the interviewee)
Talk about not forgetting the original intention
"Every era requires hard work, but the content of the struggle is different"
Politician: September 30 is the national Martyrs' Day, and commemorative activities are held everywhere. What do you think that the country is now paying more and more attention to the protection of heroic martyrs?
Chen Haosu: After the founding of New China, the state has always attached great importance to the protection of heroic martyrs, but later, the values of society were diversified, and the contributions of the martyrs were slowly forgotten, and some bad phenomena appeared. For example, when a star dies, society mourns it, but the death of a hero is little known. It is now completely correct to uphold the correct values, and to place the reverence for heroes and martyrs at the level of the country.
Political Affairs: This year marks the centenary of the founding of the party, how should we not forget our original intentions and inherit the legacy of our revolutionary ancestors?
Chen Haosu: First of all, we must vigorously publicize what is the original intention, otherwise it will be a long time and many people will not know what happened a hundred years ago. Second, we must dare to criticize and struggle against erroneous ideas. Many people believe that the revolutionary years required bloodshed and sacrifice, which required dedication, and now the peace years do not need it. This is a wrong idea, and he does not understand that revolutionary tasks have different characteristics in different periods.
Every era requires hard work, but the content of the struggle is different. In the face of the great powers in the revolutionary years, the patriotism of the Chinese people was to go to the front line to resist the invasion of the great powers, and it was necessary to shed blood and sacrifice. Expressing patriotism now is how we build a good country and make people's lives better. This original intention is consistent with the original intention of the war years. We must unswervingly listen to the party, follow the party, and make contributions in the great practice of comprehensively building a modern socialist country.
"Political Affairs" (xjbzse) Writing, photography / He Qiang Some of the pictures provided by the interviewee Proofreader Liu Yue