Peng Dehuai
In the winter of 1974, when Duan Junyi was still the secretary of the Sichuan Provincial CPC Committee, he took great risks and meticulously organized us to protect Peng Dehuai's urn so that Comrade Peng Dehuai's urn could be kept in good condition and safety in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, for four years, until the winter of 1978, when the CPC Central Committee held a grand rehabilitation and memorial meeting for Peng Dehuai, he promptly sent the urn to Beijing to ensure that the conference would be held on time.
At that time, I was doing secretarial work next to Du Xinyuan, secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee. I was assigned by Duan Junyi and Du Xinyuan, and I and some comrades directly participated in the protection of Peng Dehuai's ashes.
Peng Dehuai was one of the founding fathers of our country, a famous military and politician, deeply loved by the majority of party members and the masses of the people, but later he was persecuted and died unjustly in Beijing 301 Hospital on November 29, 1974. After Peng Dehuai's death, the special case group at that time said in a report to the central authorities: "Peng Dehuai is an anti-party element who has been involved in foreign countries and plotting to seize power. ”
One day in late December 1974, Peng Dehuai's urn was secretly sent to Chengdu by two men in military uniforms by plane from Beijing. The urn was only a small note with the words "Wang Chuan, male" written on it. The two servicemen who delivered the urns came to the provincial revolutionary committee office group with a letter of introduction from the central special case group and proposed to a responsible comrade that they personally meet Liu Xingyuan, first secretary of the Sichuan Provincial CPC Committee, director of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee, and political commissar of the Chengdu Military Region; Li Dazhang, secretary of the provincial party committee and deputy director of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee; and Duan Junyi, secretary of the provincial party committee and deputy director of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee.
When they met the three principal leaders of the Sichuan Provincial CPC Committee, they said: "According to the instructions of the central leaders, we sent this urn containing Peng Dehuai's ashes, and after the organization decided to change his name and surname, he sent it to Chengdu for storage. This urn is placed where the general public stores the urn... These situations, the three of you know, are not allowed to disclose to anyone, and must be kept absolutely confidential. Finally, the instructions of Premier Zhou Enlai were conveyed to the three main leaders of the provincial party committee: it should be carefully kept, checked frequently, and no boxes should be changed, nor allowed to move places, so as not to make mistakes when searching. This can be seen from the good intentions of Premier Zhou, who was terminally ill and in a dangerous situation at that time.
Liu Xingyuan, Li Dazhang, and Duan Junyi listened to the introductions of the two soldiers, and their moods were very heavy, and they bowed their heads for a long time without speaking. Under the circumstances at that time, although they were very sad, they did not dare to show it, but only said: "The provincial party committee must follow the instructions of the central authorities and carefully store Peng Dehuai's urn, which is absolutely confidential." After the two soldiers who sent the urns back to the station, Liu Xingyuan, Li Dazhang, and Duan Junyi immediately studied the issue of how to store Peng Dehuai's urns, and decided to safely transfer Peng Dehuai's urns to the crematorium in the eastern suburbs of Chengdu for preservation as soon as possible.
Duan Junyi was in very bad health at that time, meniere's disease recurred, and he was bedridden. He entrusted this matter to Du Xinyuan, secretary of the provincial party committee, to be specifically responsible. However, according to the "discipline" at that time, he could not tell Du Xinyuan whose urn it was; at the same time, in order to be safe and safe, he asked Du Xinyuan to call the specific managers to him, and he had to directly explain to these comrades in person. At that time, the provincial party committee was holding a meeting of the secretaries of the prefectural party committees at the Jinjiang Hotel, and Du Xinyuan was responsible for the specific organization of the meeting. Therefore, Du Xinyuan has been living in Room 41 on the west third floor of Jinjiang Hotel. Du Xinyuan asked me to invite Zhang Zhenya, deputy head of the office group, to his room. He said to Zhang Zhenya and me: "The central government sent a special person to send an urn to Chengdu to keep, the time is very urgent, the responsibility is very heavy, and it will be handled directly by the two of you." Now the two of you will immediately take my car to Secretary Duan Junyi of the Provincial Party Committee. He is waiting for you to personally explain to you how to handle this matter well. If there is anything in the process of handling, you will report it directly to me. ”
Duan Junyi lives in Building 7 of the Provincial Party Secretary's Office. He asked his secretary to take us to his bedroom on the second floor, where the doors and windows were closed, and even the curtains were tightly closed, and there was no light in the room. Secretary Yu took us to his bed and said softly, "Secretary Duan, the two comrades you are looking for, Comrade Du Xinyuan called them here." ”
Duan Junyi could not move, still lying quietly, his eyes slightly closed, but tears poured out of the corners of his eyes and rolled down his cheeks to the pillow towel. He did not wipe his tears, but said to us gently and slowly: "Comrade Xinyuan has already made it very clear to you that I cannot move or see the light when I have this disease; but I still want to invite you to come, and I will say to you two comrades who are specifically handling this matter in person--next, it is because this urn is of great importance and there can be no mistake." At this point, he lay on the bed with his eyes closed and rested for a while before he said, "You must safely transfer this urn to the crematorium in the eastern suburbs of Chengdu as soon as possible to store it." It is necessary to make it clear to the comrades in the crematorium that the safety of the urn must be absolutely guaranteed. After the urn is stored, no one is allowed to move it or replace the box without the approval of the provincial party committee; you must always check its safety..."
Duan Junyi was a little sad when he said this, the corners of his eyes were full of tears, and he stopped talking. After waiting for a while, we were standing up to say goodbye to him, and he said, "Don't worry, sit down and listen to me." Keeping this urn in good hands, Premier Zhou has instructions, and there must be no mistakes. You must guarantee: one is absolute security, the other is absolute confidentiality. "We all agreed one by one.
Peng Dehuai (left) and Zhou Enlai
With the consent of Du Xinyuan and Duan Junyi, this matter was handled by Du Xin, deputy director of the administrative department who was able to handle affairs, and I contacted and handled it. On the morning of December 23, after Du Xin came to the hotel to discuss with me, he went downstairs to get the urn from two soldiers from Beijing, and through the Civil Affairs Bureau, he went to the crematorium in the eastern suburbs of Chengdu that afternoon to store the urn. Du Xin also told the specific manager of the crematorium about the importance of keeping the urn and asked them to ensure the absolute safety of the urn.
Du Xin stored the urn and immediately returned to Du Xinyuan's room at the Jinjiang Hotel to report to him on the storage of the urn. Du Xin said: "Comrade Xinyuan, everything is done well, and the storage number of the urn is No. 237. However, in case the ashes are to be taken, they must be obtained with a card. How to save the urn register card now? Where is the safest insurance place? ”
This problem was not thought of by everyone beforehand, and Du Xin only felt that it was a problem when he raised it. Everyone thought about it for a long time, but they didn't come up with a solution, and they were a little anxious. Finally, I said: "This urn storage card, which is related to the safety of the urn storage, is not suitable in the hands of any of the four of us comrades, and it is easy to lose it; it is best to store it in the archives of the office of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee, register it, and keep it as an important archive." ”
Du Xinyuan listened to my suggestion, thought it was feasible, and said happily: "Good! It is stored in the office file room. After Zhang Zhenya and Du Xin picked up He Shuqian from the archives, Du Xinyuan explained to He Shuqian the importance of protecting the urn storage card, and said: "We must keep this urn storage card in the archive room, which is limited to the five of us here, and it must be absolutely confidential to the outside world." In the future, without the instructions of the leader of the office group, this deposit card cannot be handed over to anyone. You go back and make up a number and write a note. "For future reference, I also wrote down in my notebook the storage of the urn and the card storing the urn.
After these tasks were completed, we made a special report to Duan Junyi. He was very satisfied with our work and said that you were safe, flexible and efficient. Since then, Duan Junyi and Du Xinyuan have always kept this matter in mind, and have repeatedly asked us about the safety of this urn. Therefore, Zhang Zhenya and Du Xin went to the eastern suburban crematorium many times to check the storage of the urn.
In December 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, on the basis of Comrade Chen Yun's proposal, examined and corrected the erroneous conclusions of Peng Dehuai and reaffirmed his great merits in Chinese revolution and construction, and the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission decided to hold a solemn memorial service for Peng Dehuai.
However, it has been exactly four years since Peng Dehuai's unjust death, and the urn was secretly handled by a few people under such chaotic circumstances, coupled with the emphasis on "absolute secrecy" at every level, the people who participated in the treatment of the urn have been mobilized, and it is impossible for others to know the whereabouts of Peng Dehuai's urn. How can a memorial service be held without an urn? How to explain to the world? This made the comrades preparing for the memorial service very confused and anxious. Therefore, the Central Military Commission issued instructions to quickly search for Peng Dehuai's ashes.
After intense searching, the comrades of the preparatory group found the clue that Peng Dehuai's urn might be stored in Chengdu, Sichuan. Therefore, in mid-December, the Office of the Central Task Force sent two comrades to Chengdu, Sichuan Province, to find the main responsible person of the provincial party committee and find Peng Dehuai's urn. However, after four years, the three principal leaders of the Sichuan Provincial CPC Committee who were in charge of installing Peng Dehuai's urn at that time had all been transferred out of Sichuan, and Liu Xingyuan and Li Dazhang had died, and duan Junyi, who was still alive, had been transferred to Beijing; at that time, the principal leaders of the Sichuan Provincial CPC Committee were meeting in Beijing, and they did not know that Peng Dehuai's urn was stored in Chengdu, and Secretary Du Xinyuan, who was presiding over the work at home, and the comrades who participated in the protection and storage of Peng Dehuai's urn at that time, nor did they know that Peng Dehuai's urn was stored in Chengdu, let alone think of "Wang Chuan." It is Peng Dehuai's pseudonym.
Statue outside the Peng Dehuai Memorial Hall
When the comrades in the office of the special case group handed over the letter of introduction to find Peng Dehuai's urn to Zhang Zhenya, then deputy secretary general of the provincial party committee, Zhang Zhenya was surprised and hurriedly explained: "I am clear that Peng Dehuai came to Sichuan to work, but I have never heard of his urn stored in Sichuan!" Are you mistaken? ”
The comrades in the office of the special case group listened to Zhang Zhenya's answer, were disappointed and anxious, but asked in a tentative tone: "In the winter of 1974, did two PLA people send an urn from Beijing to Chengdu for storage?" ”
"Yes! That was done by Comrade Duan Junyi and Secretary Du Xinyuan, then executive secretaries of the provincial party committee. However, it was not Comrade Peng Dehuai's urn, but the urn of a man named 'Wang Chuan'! As soon as the comrades in the office of the special case group heard the words "Wang Chuan," they immediately cheered up and said, "Yes!" The urn of 'Wang Chuan' is Peng Dehuai's urn! The two comrades in the office of the special case group knew that Peng Dehuai's urn was still intact in the crematorium on the eastern outskirts of Chengdu, and they were very happy, and they did not go to the storage office to verify, immediately reported to Beijing, and rushed back to Beijing to resume their lives with confidence.
When Secretary Du Xinyuan heard Zhang Zhenya's report, he was stunned for half a day, and he couldn't believe it, and when he came back, he fell on his desk and cried with a headache. Zhang Zhenya and I also cried sadly. It took a long time for everyone to calm down from their grief. Comrade Xinyuan said: "We must properly protect Comrade Peng Dehuai's urn, and at the same time we must continue to keep it secret and listen to the arrangements of the central authorities." After Zhang Zhenya left, he was sad for a while. He said: "Comrade Duan Junyi protected Comrade Peng Dehuai's urn in accordance with Premier Zhou's instructions; he thought carefully, considered it thoughtfully, organized it properly, and commanded it well. ”
A week later, on the morning of December 22, two days before the memorial service, the General Office of the Provincial CPC Committee suddenly received a telephone call from the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the Central Military Commission: "A Civil Aviation Plane of China has been sent to pick up Comrade Peng Dehuai's ashes, the plane has landed at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, and General Peng's ashes must be safely transported to Beijing; on the 24th, the CPC Central Committee will hold a rehabilitated Zhaoxue and a memorial meeting for Comrade Peng Dehuai..." Zhang Zhenya immediately submitted the duty report to Du Xinyuan. After Du Xinyuan read the duty report, he instructed Zhang Zhenya to take out the ashes from the archives, and the General Office immediately sent someone to the crematorium in the eastern suburbs of Chengdu to take Peng Dehuai's urn back to the provincial party committee, and when the Beijing plane came, he would send it immediately.
After the leaders of the provincial party committee and the military region bid farewell to Peng Dehuai's urn, the staff members around Peng Dehuai, filled with tears, held Peng Dehuai's urn in both hands, took a heavy step, and walked toward the car parked in front of the gate of Building No. 4 to deliver Peng Dehuai's urn. Du Xinyuan led us to escort us in the rear. Before getting on the bus, Du Xinyuan once again led us to bow three times to Comrade Peng Dehuai's urn. Then, with tears in his eyes, he held Peng Dehuai's urn with trembling hands and said, "Mr. Peng, you have gone all the way!" ”
The car that delivered Peng Dehuai's urn arrived at the airport safely, on time and smoothly, and the civil aviation plane that picked up Peng Dehuai's urn also arrived in Beijing safely and smoothly in the afternoon of the same day. On December 24, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a solemn memorial service for Peng Dehuai on time at the Great Hall of the People.
Peng Dehuai's memorial service, held the day after the closing of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was of a very high standard, with more than 2,000 party and state leaders and representatives of the masses in the capital attending the memorial meeting. Duan Junyi was in tears at the memorial service and was very sad. Fortunately, Peng Dehuai's unjust case was finally rehabilitated, and the memorial meeting was so solemn, Peng Dehuai's urn was finally stamped with a bright red Communist Party flag and placed in the center of the rostrum in a dignified manner, and a huge bust of Peng Dehuai was hung on the back curtain.
——Excerpted from the Sixth Volume of the Oral History Series of the Communist Party of China, published by the Communist Party History Publishing House
Author: Chen Wenwen
Editor: Zhou Yiqian