The name "Li De" may not be unfamiliar to everyone, he was a German Communist from the Soviet Union, who served as the supreme decision-maker and leader of the Fifth Anti-"Encirclement and Suppression" of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the early stage of the Long March, causing the Red Army to suffer heavy losses.
Reed
On August 27, 1939, Li De, who was in Yan'an, received a telegram from the Comintern asking him to return to the Soviet Union immediately, so he flew out of Yan'an on the same day, but he did not take his wife Li Lilian, who had only been married for more than a year.
Born in 1900 in Munich, Germany, Li De grew up in an orphanage due to the death of his parents, which gave him a reclusive and grumpy personality.
In 1918, Li De joined the German Communist Party, and later he came to the Soviet Union, and joined the Soviet Red Army, he went from soldier to squad leader, platoon leader, company commander, soon promoted to chief of staff of the Soviet cavalry division, and later entered the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow, he published a number of military papers, with a high level of military theory.
In August 1932, after graduating, Li De was sent to Shanghai by the Moscow Intelligence Headquarters, where he met Bogu, the head of the CPC Central Committee, and Li De's experience and military insights made Bogu very impressed.
Bogu
After Li De arrived in the Soviet area, he showed a stronger desire for courtship than the Orientals, and General Chen Shiyu once recalled:
"Li De just came to the army and put forward a condition that seemed very funny to us, that is, he hoped that a Chinese female soldier would sleep with him, which may not be a big deal in Germany or Austria, but in China, especially in the Red Army, it seems a little ridiculous. We also talked at the bottom that foreigners are really casual, but fortunately he can't understand them. ”
In order to tie Li De's heart, Bogu decided to find him a wife as soon as possible, and after consideration, he entrusted this task to Li Jianzhen, the head of the Central Women's Department.
Lee Kin-jeong
Bogu found Li Jianzhen and gave her this task, and stressed: "Finding a wife for Consultant Li is also a revolutionary need, remember: first, the birth should be good, the second is that the party spirit should be strong, the third is that the personality is docile, and the fourth is that the body should be good..."
After Receiving the task, Li Jianzhen searched in many ways and found Xiao Yuehua, who was a native of Dapu, Guangdong, who was not very pretty and had a low level of education, but she was very virtuous and strong, loved to play basketball, could sing and dance, and comrades called her "Little Lark."
After Xiao Yuehua received this task, she felt very embarrassed and embarrassed. From the heart, marrying a foreigner with different nationalities, language barriers, different living habits, very different personalities, unattainable status, and 10 years older than herself, she was not mentally prepared and very reluctant, but in the end she obeyed the decision of the organization and married Li De.
Xiao Yuehua
After marriage, the two had language barriers, different national psychological and cultural backgrounds, no feelings, and Li De was grumpy and often scolded Xiao Yuehua, but Xiao Yuehua always put the overall situation first, and has been silently endured, and gave Birth to Li De a son after arriving in Yan'an.
But in the end, Xiao Yuehua could not stand Li De's despotism and rudeness, and formally separated from him, and the relationship between the two husband and wife also existed in name only.
In late August 1937, a group of progressive young people came to Yan'an, including Shanghai actresses, Mao Zedong and Li De went to meet them together, Li De was attracted by one of the beautiful, healthy and beautiful faces, her bent eyebrows flashed a pair of Dan phoenix eyes, eyes like talking windows, nose just right upturned, showing enthusiasm and no lack of arrogance.
After the girl saw Li De, she took the initiative to greet him in English, which made Li De feel very surprised that such a beautiful girl could speak English! Reed was completely captivated by her.
This girl is Li Lilian, whose ancestral home is Guangdong, born in Shanghai in 1914, she was originally a Cantonese opera actress, and likes to sing, known as "Lingnan Singer", she has made many records, including a popular song called "Peanut Rice", famous in the music scene, so some people call her "Peanut Rice".
Lilian Lee
In 1931, Li Lilian entered the famous Tianyi Film Company in Shanghai and began to make films "cross-border", she successively played roles in "Miss Shanghai Han Xiuwen", "Flower of Society", "Qiankun in Dreams" and other films, and soon became a famous movie star at that time, and the famous dramatist Ouyang Yuqian once praised her:
"Ms. Li has played many roles in dramas, she never chooses roles, people say that she is best to play a special personality, such as crazy horror and extremely tragic roles are the most suitable for her, but she is also quite competent in playing roles of ordinary personality." 」
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Lilian joined the Shanghai Rescue Drama Team and came to Yan'an in August 1937, which led to an encounter with Li De.
Li Lilian (second from right) starred in the play
After meeting that day, Li Lilian invited Li De to watch a song and dance party, and her singing of the northern Shaanxi folk song "Driving Out the Spirits of Animals" made Li De listen to it like crazy, Li De felt that Li Lilian was far better than his wife Xiao Yuehua, plus Xiao Yuehua had been separated from him, she decided to pursue Li Lilian.
Soon after, Li Lilian was assigned to study at Kang Da, and it happened that Li De was also teaching at Kang Da, so as soon as he had the opportunity, he offered Li Li Lian courtesy and closeness. Soon after, Li Lilian fell seriously ill because of the water and soil and was sent to the General Hospital of the Central Military Commission for treatment.
After Li De knew, he insisted on walking more than 20 miles from KangDadu every day to the hospital to visit Li Lilian, either sending flowers or food, and a month later, Li Lilian's illness was cured, and the feelings between the two were sublimated.
The matter of Li De and Li Lilian soon reached Xiao Yuehua's ears, and one day, Xiao Yuehua went home to get something, and found Li De and Li Lilian together, she couldn't stand it anymore, and scolded Li De: "What kind of internationalist are you?" You are imperialists! You seduce other people's women and violate party discipline and state law, I will go to the central authorities to sue you, I want to divorce you! ”
Xiao Yuehua then went to Mao Zedong to cry and complain, and Mao Zedong sighed and said: "Bogu then worshipped Li De as a god, obeyed his words, and provided you with what he wanted and a woman, which was really absurd, causing this marriage tragedy." ”
But Mao Zedong still advised Xiao Yuehua: "You have been married for several years and have children, it is better not to divorce." ”
Mao Zedong
However, Xiao Yuehua still insisted on divorce, and after mediation by all parties was ineffective, she finally went through the formalities with Li De, and the child was also awarded to Xiao Yuehua to raise.
Soon after, Li Deda applied to marry Li Lilian, but after Li Fuchun, director of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, saw the report, he thought that this Li De really liked the new and tired of the old, and that he had already apologized to Xiao Yuehua last time, and this time he could not let him harm Li Lilian again, so he suppressed the report.
Bogu also disagreed with Li De's marriage, because Li Lilian's history in Shanghai has not been very clear, and Li De has too many core secrets of the party, and if he is not careful, he will cause heavy losses to the party.
Li De's approval was never approved, so he had the idea of returning to the Soviet Union, and just at this time Wang Ming had just returned from the Soviet Union, Li De made this request to him.
Wang Ming
However, Wang Ming told Li De that at this time the Soviet Union was engaged in "repression," and if he returned, he would probably be held responsible for the failure of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign and might be exiled or shot. After hearing this, Li De was so frightened that he did not dare to mention it back to the Soviet Union again.
One day, Li Lilian returned from the classroom to the dormitory, and a person suddenly secretly hugged her from behind and forcibly courted her, which frightened her, and she later cried to Li De about it.
Li De was very angry and reported the matter to Luo Ruiqing, the education chief of the Kang Da, who in turn reported it to Mao Zedong, and finally Mao Zedong made a decision: "Men should marry, women should marry, as long as they conform to the Border Region Marriage Law, they should be approved to marry." ”
In April 1938, Li De approached Chen Yun, head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, and asked to become a full member of the CCP and asked to marry Li Lilian, chen Yun, after consideration, approved Li De's two requests.
Reed stills
Soon after, Li De and Li Lilian were officially married, li Lilian graduated from Kang University, was assigned to Li De's strategic reference room to do research work, at this time Li De can already say some simple Chinese, the couple's life is still harmonious.
After marriage, Li De has no specific position, he has a lot of time, and the living treatment is still very generous, every morning after Li Lilian goes to work, he begins to serve his own flowers and plants at home, or use the local tobacco in northern Shaanxi to roll cigars, or think about how to use the only two or two coffee beans left at home to make authentic European-flavored coffee, and the days are still comfortable.
In 1939, after Li De received a telegram to return to the Soviet Union, just that day Zhou Enlai was going to fly to the Soviet Union to treat his wounds, Li De also accompanied him, mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian and others came to the airport to send them off.
At this time, Li Lilian also rushed over, and she said to Zhang Wentian: "I also want to go to Moscow!" ”
But Zhang Wentian said: "You don't have a visa for the Soviet side. ”
In the end, Li De said goodbye to his wife in tears and returned to the Soviet Union alone, and he has never returned to China or seen Li Lilian since.
After Li De left, Li Lilian did not interrupt her artistic practice, she acted and taught, while collecting style, collecting and sorting out folk songs in northern Shaanxi. In 1939, Lu Yi decided to rehearse Cao Yu's drama "Sunrise", and director Wang Bin decided to have Li Lilian play the main character Chen Bailu.
In 1940, "Sunrise" was performed in Yan'an, causing a sensation, because the play had a good reputation, it was performed in Yan'an for 8 consecutive days, and nearly 80,000 people watched the performance, Yan'an's "New China News" specifically reported the grandeur of the performance, Li Lilian as the lead actor, indispensable, she also became a famous drama star in Yan'an.
In January 1940, the first congress of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Cultural Association was held, and Li Lilian, together with Mao Zedong, Luo Fu, Wu Yuzhang, Zhou Yang, Ding Ling and 97 others, was elected as the executive committee of the Cultural Association.
After that, Li Lilian married Ouyang Yuqian's son and playwright Ouyang Shanzun. They returned to Yan'an from Shanghai in early 1946.
Ouyang Shanzun
On May 4, 1946, in order to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement, Li Lilian and Ouyang Shanzun performed the opera "Brothers and Sisters Opening up the Wasteland" in Shanghai, which caused a sensation in Shanghai.
"Brothers and Sisters Open the Land"
The famous writer Li Rui also saw this drama that year, and he once recalled:
"For me, this is the first time in my life that I am most excited about literature and art... I've never seen them in my life. Their waists stood so straight, their chests seemed so wide, their eyes so bright, and their singing voices so loud and cheerful. They are really their own people, Chinese peasants, Chinese peasants who are really standing up! ”
After the founding of New China, Li Lilian left the literary and art front, and she served as the director of the Children's Work Department and the Foreign Liaison Department of the All-China Women's Federation. She also contributed to the preparation of the Beijing People's Art Theater and the Central Song and Dance Theater.
In April 1965, Li Lilian died of illness in Beijing at the age of 51.
After Returning to the Soviet Union, Li De was censored but exempted from punishment, and soon after, he was assigned to the Soviet Foreign Literature Publishing House to work as a compiler, and he not only translated many works of Ma, En, Lenin, and Slovak, but also participated in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, which was well received by the Soviet Union and Germany.
In 1949, Li De finally returned to the GDR, where he continued his work as a translator. After Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated in the 1960s, Li De published many articles distorting history in order to cooperate with the Soviet Union's anti-China policy.
Li De in his later years
On August 15, 1974, Li De died of illness in Germany at the age of 74.