On March 16, 1998, the First Session of the Ninth National People's Congress opened in Beijing. At the meeting, Comrade Li Peng was elected chairman of the new NPC Standing Committee.
After the election results came out, Li Peng walked quickly to the side of Qiao Shi, the previous chairman of the National People's Congress, and shook hands with him for a long time, and there was a warm applause at the scene.
These heartfelt applause not only included congratulations on the smooth handover of the new and old leadership collectives of the NPC, but also expressed heartfelt appreciation for the various constructive achievements made by Qiao Shi in the work of the NPC during his term of office.
Since then, Qiao Shi has completed the mission entrusted to him by history and completely withdrawn from the political stage. A lifelong style of low-key and humble, he has since stayed away from the public eye, rarely appeared on major occasions in the country, and achieved a real sense of "retirement".
Then, as one of the important leaders of the party and the state after the reform and opening up, Comrade Qiao Shi, who is known as the "founder of the construction of the socialist legal system," has an extraordinary life?
Qiao Shi was born in Shanghai in December 1924, and his original name was Jiang Zhitong. Although born and raised in Shanghai, Qiao Shi's ancestral home is Dinghai, Zhejiang, and the surname Jiang is a traditional surname in the local area.
Qiao Shi's ancestors have lived in Dinghai for generations, and his grandfather made a living in the city by setting up salty stalls. Although there is not much culture, Qiao Shi's grandfather still attaches great importance to the education of his children. Qiao Shi's father was the third among his siblings, and he received a good new education from an early age and had a certain business acumen. When he was a teenager, he went to Shanghai to learn business, but due to the turbulent social situation in the late Qing Dynasty, he did not embark on the road of entrepreneurship, and finally worked as a bookkeeper in a furniture store.
Relatively speaking, Qiao Shi was more influenced by his mother. The mother's nurturing grace and words and deeds play an important role in Qiao Shi's character development and personal growth. In his own words:
"My mother is my best teacher."
Qiao Shi's mother grew up in poverty, in order to make a living, she was forced to enter the Japanese-owned spinning mill as a child laborer at a very young age, and the oppression and bullying of foreign capitalists made her hate the darkness of reality and the injustice of the world.
Shortly after Qiao Shi was born, the "May Thirtieth Movement" of patriotic people against imperialism broke out in Shanghai, and Qiao Shi's mother, as a member of the textile workers, joined the strike without hesitation.
Under the influence of his mother, Qiao Shi was very sensible in his childhood, because his parents were busy all day in order to live and had no time to take care of their children, Qiao Shi at home took the initiative to take care of his younger brothers.
Qiao Shi's mother attaches great importance to the education of her children, and she knows the truth that "knowledge changes destiny". To this end, she got up early every day and went dark, repeated long and intense labor in the spinning mill every day, and the meager salary she earned was all used by her to support her children's education, which also gave Qiao Shi the opportunity to receive a more formal school education.
When he was a teenager, Qiao Shi studied at Shanghai South Middle School and Guanghua Affiliated Middle School. During his time at the school, he was known for his diligence. At that time, the anti-Japanese salvation movement was surging throughout the country, and under the influence of his classmates around him, Qiao Shi came into contact with revolutionary and progressive ideas, and he keenly felt that only Marxism-Leninism could save the nation from peril and make the country truly strong.
Since then, Qiao Shi has aspired to devote himself to the cause of revolution. On the one hand, he actively participated in the Anti-Japanese Salvation Movement, and on the other hand, he eagerly studied the theoretical knowledge of Marxism-Leninism. He regarded the dozens of volumes of lenin's complete works that he had bought with thrift and thrift as a treasure, not only read it carefully many times, but also made more than 3,000 information cards, classified them and numbered them, and marked the title, page number, and content summary in detail on the back of each card.
It is this spirit of perseverance and perseverance that has benefited Qiao Shi for life and laid a solid theoretical and professional foundation for his future revolutionary career.
In August 1940, Qiao Shi joined the Communist Party of China. For him, this was a new starting point in life, marking his official embarkation on the revolutionary road. Under the arrangement of the party organization, he undertook the heavy responsibility of organizing and launching the student patriotic movement, and successively served in a number of important posts in the Shanghai underground party and student committee, becoming one of the important leaders of the Shanghai student movement.
In Shanghai at that time, the forces of the Japanese and Kuomintang reactionaries were intertwined, and the revolutionary environment was extremely difficult. Years later, Qiao Shi still remembers this work experience:
"During my days in Shanghai, I lived a very dangerous life, especially during the period of the White Terror of the Kuomintang, and I had to be constantly vigilant against being targeted by spies. But this was the most important period of my struggle for my ideals, because at that time I had a belief: the people should be fed and fed, which was also the ideal and motivation for joining the party at that time. ”
Qiao Shi, who came from a pure and hard-working background and felt empathy for the toiling masses, resolutely embarked on a revolutionary journey with the simple belief of "letting the people get food and clothing" and thorny road ahead. It is precisely in such a harsh reality environment that Qiao Shi's revolutionary will has been tempered, his thinking has been sublimated, and his organizational and leadership skills have gradually improved in practice.
After the liberation of the whole country, Qiao Shi successively worked in Hangzhou, Anshan, Jiuquan and other places, which allowed him to further enhance his experience, broaden his horizons, and accumulate rich grassroots work experience.
On the road of revolution, a person's struggle is often a bit of a shadow, at this time it is necessary to have a like-minded partner, who can go forward hand in hand in the storm and make greater contributions to the construction and development of the motherland.
In this regard, Qiao Shi is undoubtedly lucky. As early as the Liberation War, Qiao Shi met and fell in love with a young female journalist who was also engaged in the student movement in Shanghai. Her name is Yuwen, her original name is Weng Yuwen, she is a native of Cixi, Zhejiang, and she is still a fellow villager with Qiao Shi.
Many people may feel a little unfamiliar with this name, but when it comes to Yu Wen's uncle, it can be said that he is a well-known figure, he is Chen Bray, who is known as Chiang Kai-shek's "literary bladder".
Yuwen was born in Shuxiangmendi, his father Weng Da was a very famous local scholar, and his mother Chen Ruoxi was Chen Bray's fifth sister. Like Qiao Shi, Yuwen threw himself into the revolution as a teenager and joined the Communist Party of China during the War of Resistance.
According to Yuwen's brother-in-law, Qiao Shi and Yuwen have similar personalities and interests, they are generous and extremely affectionate in life, and they are serious and concerned about others in their work.
In 1952, Qiao Shi and Yuwen, who had been in love for many years, finally entered the palace of marriage. After marriage, their family life was plain and happy, and they had two sons and two daughters.
In April 1963, Qiao Shi was transferred to the Central Liaison Department and successively served as a researcher, deputy director and director.
During this period, Qiao Shi continued to play the strength of "making cards", and he collected information and accumulated business knowledge by copying cards. He was particularly meticulous and conscientious in his treatment of this work, and on each card, he left his neat pen handwriting, not only no typos, not even a trace of alteration.
During the "Cultural Revolution", due to the relationship between working in the underground party organization and the historical relationship of Yu Wen's uncle, Qiao Shi and his wife were greatly affected, but they always suffered together. Despite the cruel persecution, Qiao Shi still adhered to the principle of party spirit in the face of adversity, persevered, and resolutely fought against the "Gang of Four", and finally he was twice sent to the "May Seventh Cadre School" in Jiangxi to work.
After 1978, Qiao Shi successively served as director of the Central International Liaison Department, director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, director of the Central Organization Department, and other important positions, and his work enthusiasm, theoretical accomplishment, and low-key and pragmatic style were appreciated by Hu Yaobang and other high-level leaders.
After that, Qiao Shi was elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, a member of the Standing Committee, and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and successively served as the secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission and the secretary of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission. In these two extremely important leadership posts, Qiao Shi upheld lofty ideals and convictions and a strong sense of historical mission, and made outstanding contributions to the building of the legal system and the building of a sound party style and a clean and honest government after China's reform and opening up.
In March 1993, Qiao Shi was elected chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress at the first session of the Eighth National People's Congress. It is usually believed that to take office in the NPC means to take a back seat, but Qiao Shi does not think so.
During his term as chairman of the National People's Congress, Qiao Shi actively promoted the construction of socialist democracy and the legal system, drafted and introduced a number of draft laws and regulations, the speed and quality of legislation have been significantly improved compared with the past, and the legal framework system under the socialist market economy system has been initially completed.
The historical lessons of the "Cultural Revolution" made Qiao Shi have a profound understanding of the importance of the construction of democracy and the legal system. He has said several times:
"No organization or individual can be above the law."
In 1998, Qiao Shi stepped down from all party and government positions and began a truly retired life. Although he rarely appears in major occasions, he still has a low-key nature and silently pays attention to and supports the country's economic and social development in another way.
In December 2014, Qiao Shi donated the entire royalty of his book "Qiao Shi on Democracy and the Legal System" of 11 million yuan to support research on law-related topics and other public welfare projects.
Qiao Shi's daughter said: Her father's biggest dream is to build China into a country with democracy and rule of law.
Under the influence of the excellent family style of Qiao Shi and his wife, the children have also achieved self-sufficiency. Although Qiao Shi and his family gathered less and more because of his work relationship, he was extremely strict about the education of his children, and his daughters attended ordinary schools, but through their hard work, they eventually became doctors in professional fields.
For his family, the one he said the most was:
"Don't make a splash and do your own thing well; if you can speak in public, you won't be open, if you can't participate, you won't participate; don't show off yourself in the township."
Comrade Qiao Shi's life is undoubtedly a brilliant portrayal of this sentence. His low-key, diligent and pragmatic work style makes him look so different. Especially after retirement, he was even more indifferent to fame and fortune and completely retired.
Since 2006, he has not appeared in the public eye, including National Day military parades, important party and state celebrations, etc., and he has not attended, which is rare among leaders.
Although his style is low-key and he usually does not speak much, Qiao Shi actually has a funny and humorous side. In 1985, during his visit to Nepal, Qiao Shi made a special trip to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal to visit the staff.
After seeing Qiao Shi, the ambassador said excitedly: "Looking forward to the stars, hoping for the moon, today I finally look forward to Comrade Qiao Shi." ”
Qiao Shi smiled and said unhurriedly, "I am Qiao Shi, not a star, not a moon, just a small stone." ”
As soon as the words fell, there was a lot of laughter at the scene.
Comparing himself to a "small stone" is undoubtedly a vivid embodiment of Comrade Qiao Shi's humble character.
However, from the perspective of Qiao Shi's heart, he was also willing to be a revolutionary "small stone" to contribute to the construction and development of new China.