In 1939, after careful and careful consideration, Chen Jiageng made the decision to return to China for a consolation inspection. At that time, the motherland was in the midst of an all-out war of resistance, and he had left the motherland for a long time, without any understanding of the current situation of the motherland, as a patriot, Chen Jiageng still decided to risk going back to see.
At the beginning of 1940, the famous overseas Chinese Chen Jiageng returned to China for a consolation inspection.
As a leading figure in the overseas Chinese community, his return to China was warmly welcomed by people from all walks of life, including the Communist Party, the Kuomintang, and patriotic democrats.
Since he had never really come into contact with the Communist Party, Chen Jiageng's understanding of the Communist Party was one-sided and limited. Before Chen Jiageng came to Yan'an, he was still worried in his heart, and on his way to Yan'an, Chiang Kai-shek had already arranged for the "mass actors" to hand the "Communist Party Complaint Letter" to Chen Jiageng's car.
Fortunately, Chen Jiageng, who has experienced countless experiences, was not deceived, and simply tore up the "complaint book" and threw it on the side of the road.
After arriving in Yan'an, Mao Zedong entertained Chen Jiageng with two dishes and one soup, which was a difference between cloud and mud compared with the Kuomintang's expensive hospitality. Even so, Chen Jiageng was thoroughly impressed by the sincerity of the Communist Party. Since then, Chen's concept of the Communist Party has completely changed, and he has changed from a "pro-Chiang Kai-shek faction" to a loyal supporter of the Communist Party. Shortly after his return to Canada, he also donated batches of anti-war materials to the Communist Party.
So, what happened to Chen Jiageng when he went to Yan'an? Why did his attitude change so much?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > Chen Jiageng to Yan'an</h1>
On the evening of May 31, 1940, Chen Jiageng and his party came to Yan'an. When he got out of the car, he was still shocked by the scene in front of him: he saw that more than 5,000 people gathered outside the south gate were waiting for Chen Jiageng to arrive, and the faces of the people were full of happy smiles, and they were all expressing the warmest welcome to this returnee.
Thinking of the harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes in the Kuomintang-ruled areas and the people's lack of livelihood, Chen Jiageng could hardly believe that the scene in front of him was real, and in order to further verify, Chen Jiageng decided to continue to observe.
That night, the receptionist took Chen Jiageng to live in the "cave room" of the Border District Government Communication Office, which was a world away from Chiang Kai-shek's residence where Chen Jiageng was entertained, but Chen Jiageng did not have a hint of disgust, but had a sense of intimacy and reality.
The next morning, Zhu De and his wife met with Chen Jiageng. When he first met Zhu De, Chen Jiageng could not even associate him with senior Communist Party officers, because his dress was too simple to be different from ordinary soldiers. Later, Mr. and Mrs. Zhu De accompanied him to visit Yan'an Women's University.
In the afternoon of the same day, Zhu De accompanied Chen Jiageng to Yangjialing. Yangjialing was Mao Zedong's residence, and Mao Zedong had been waiting here for a long time before Zhu De and them came, which showed the importance he attached to Chen Jiageng. Chen Jiageng got out of the car, and Mao Zedong greeted his warm and generous right hand, and then tightly held Chen Jiageng's hand.
Chen Jiageng felt Mao Zedong's enthusiasm, and the precautions in his heart were immediately lowered, and then the two went into the cave together.
As soon as Chen Jiageng entered the house, he had a panoramic view of the whole room, because the layout of the house was too simple, and there was a yellowed map on the wall, a dilapidated table, and a few tall, fat, and thin wooden chairs.
After the two sat down and exchanged a few words of greeting, they began to enter the main topic. Chen Jiageng did not speak around the bend, and directly in front of Mao Zedong, he said that he did not understand the ccp's friction struggle, because after all, it was in the period of the War of Resistance, and the two parties of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party should unite and unite to resist Japan.
In the face of Chen Jiageng's doubts, Mao Zedong immediately made an objective evaluation of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists: the two had lost either side, and the united front could not be imagined.
After speaking, Mao Zedong also said to Chen Jiageng: Our general policy is unity, but only on the basis of progress can we achieve true unity.
Seeing that Mao Zedong was so sincere, Chen Jiageng was deeply moved, he knew that Mao Zedong was bent on serving the country and the people, and how could such a people's leader be a "bandit" and "robber" in the mouth of the Kuomintang? That night, Mao Zedong specially prepared a "dinner party" for Chen Jiageng.
Through this "dinner party," Chen Jiageng felt for the first time the Communist Party's simple and people-friendly style, which also became the beginning of Chen Jiageng's change of inherent concept of the Communist Party.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="67" > two things that changed Chen's view</h1>
The dinner was open-air, with four people eating together, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Chen Jiageng and Chen Shaoyu. After Chen Jiageng sat down, he found that the table in front of him was very uncoordinated, but a square table was covered with a round tablecloth, and the round tablecloth looked old, and the staff also used four pieces of white paper as table towels.
The meal was a chicken sent by the neighbor's wife, and the chef stewed it into a pot of chicken soup, plus cabbage and salty rice, so that two dishes and one soup were put together, which was the level of the Communist dinner.
After Chen Jiageng learned this, he was quite touched by the Communist Party's simple and people-friendly style of life, and he knew that the Communist Party had tried its best to give him the best, even if the meal was simple, but he felt a strong sense of friendship, not as extravagant and false as the Kuomintang.
Chen Jiageng spent eight days in Yan'an, during which time he ate many meals with Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and others, and had many things together. Whenever he mentioned the friction between the two parties, Mao Zedong always replied enthusiastically, spoke directly, and never distorted or smeared the Kuomintang, all of which were objective facts. Chen Jiageng also began to change his preconceived notions of Mao Zedong.
Mao Zedong and Chen Jiageng for a group photo
The real ideological change in Chen Jiageng's attitude toward Mao Zedong was due to two things he experienced with Mao Zedong. Once, when Mao Zedong and Chen Jiageng were talking in the office, overseas Chinese students from Nanyang also rushed to participate in the conversation, and as soon as the students entered the door, they found a seat and sat down, and did not salute, as if they had long been accustomed to this kind of unrestrained conversation.
Suddenly, the office was full.
The people in the room were talking, only to see a service soldier come in, saw that there was a little gap next to Mao Zedong's seat, and sat down directly, Mao Zedong saw it and hurriedly moved his body to the side, afraid that the service soldier would be uncomfortable sitting.
Chen Jiageng saw this small act of Mao Zedong in his eyes and remembered it in his heart. Chen Jiageng never thought that the top leader of a party could do this, it can be said that it is unique, there is no shelf for subordinates and the people, and he really treats them as friends and relatives, and even he feels ashamed of himself.
The second thing happened was when Mao Zedong accompanied Chen Jiageng to the new market in Yan'an. Chen Jiageng went to the market only to find that Mao Zedong's clothing was no different from that of ordinary people, and even worse than those of ordinary people. What surprised him even more was that Mao Zedong was walking on the street, and people who came and went always had to stop and chat with Mao Zedong for a few words before they were willing to leave, and the conversation was not a big deal, it was nothing more than the parents who were short, or who made some suggestions with Mao Zedong.
No matter what the people had to say to Mao Zedong, Mao Zedong always listened carefully and carefully, and always greeted them with a smile, so that the distance between the people and Mao Zedong's heart gradually narrowed. Chen Jiageng was surprised to see such a scene, because many of the leaders he met were "high up" and it was difficult to be as approachable as Mao Zedong.
Later, Zhu De accompanied Chen Jiageng on many places, and along the way told Chen Jiageng a lot of deeds of the Eighth Route Army's active resistance to the War of Resistance, of course, during this period also mentioned all kinds of discrimination against the Eighth Route Army by the Kuomintang, such as not recognizing the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government, and so on. Chen Jiageng knew it in his heart, but in order to collect more evidence, he maintained a neutral attitude towards this, and then continued to investigate.
Mr. Chen Jiageng is a cautious person, through the above incidents, although he has a great good feeling for the Communist Party in his heart, but he does not say anything in his mouth, just silently observe, in order to be responsible for the vast number of overseas Chinese, he still decided to go to the Overseas Chinese students in Nanyang alone to ask for a clear question.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="68" > a glimmer of light in the darkness</h1>
One day, Chen Jiageng specially invited overseas Chinese students from Nanyang to come and talk, many of whom were from Xiamen University and Jimei School, which he founded, and later defected to Yan'an. Those overseas Chinese students felt very cordial after seeing Chen Jiageng, and in the face of Chen Jiageng's doubts, they all answered them one by one.
The students told Chen Jiageng all about what they had seen and heard in Yan'an in recent years, including touching stories between the Communist Party and the people, the happy life in Yan'an, and so on. After listening to the students' statements, the doubts in Chen Jiageng's heart finally dispersed, and their statements corresponded to what Chen Jiageng had seen and heard in Yan'an in the past few days, and Chen Jiageng's heart finally let go.
Chen Jiageng's visit to Yan'an this time can be described as a fruitful harvest, if he had not personally come to the field to investigate, he probably would not have believed the current situation in Yan'an. Unlike the Kuomintang-ruled areas, Yan'an has never imposed harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and the Communist Party is even closer to the people than family, let alone plundering the "people's fat and people's anointing".
The communist leaders dressed very low-key, simple, upright, kind, honest and honest officials, and served the public, and their allowances were in stark contrast to the rich salaries of senior Kuomintang officers, basically the same as ordinary soldiers, but they were doing busier work, and these qualities of the Communist Party were incomparable to those of the Kuomintang.
In the areas of the Communist Party, although people's lives are not rich, they have not reached the point where the People of the Kuomintang do not have a good life. Moreover, the people live and work in peace and contentment here, and the people live happily, which is the place that many people dream of, and many foreigners go to Yan'an to visit and study.
Yan'an was the cradle of the Red Revolution, where communist democracy was truly realized. The Communist Party encouraged people to actively open up land and engage in productive work, and also implemented people's elections in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, thus fully realizing the rights and interests of the masses of the people. It is worth mentioning that the communist leaders and the masses of the people are equal relations, they are not as hierarchical as the Kuomintang, so there will always be people who dare to make suggestions to the Communist Party, so that the politics will be clearer and a virtuous circle will be achieved.
The people of Yan'an welcomed Chen Jiageng
June 7, 1940, was the day Chen Jiageng left Yan'an. On this evening, representatives from all walks of life in Yan'an held a farewell party for Chen Jiageng in the Central Auditorium, and Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and others came one after another, and the farewell party was very lively. After Zhu De's speech, Chen Jiageng took the stage to speak.
Chen Jiageng said meaningfully: "When I came to Yan'an this time, I really saw the cpc's firm stand and sincere attitude of upholding the unity of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and persisting in the War of Resistance to the end; I really felt the spirit of arduous struggle inspired by the party, government, and the people of Yan'an, and the good social atmosphere formed from it. Through this expedition, I am very confident in the war. ”
Through this visit to Yan'an, Chen Jiageng saw a political party with a bright future, a political party that truly serves the people and relies on the people. When most of the country was in darkness, Chen Jiageng saw a glimmer of light, and he firmly believed that the savior of the Chinese people was the Chinese Communist Party.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="69" > position shift</h1>
On July 17, Chen Jiageng and his party returned to Chongqing. At that time, Chen Mingshu, chairman of the National Association of Foreign Affairs, invited Chen Jiageng to give a speech entitled "Perception of the Northwest". The speech was so loud that many people came to watch, including journalists. With an attitude of seeking truth from facts, Chen Jiageng shared what he saw and heard in Yan'an to the people from all walks of life present here.
Chen Jiageng said that his stay in Yan'an in the past few days had completely changed his previous view of the Communist Party, and then listed for the audience the things that Mao Zedong gave up to the service soldiers, as well as the lively streets of Yan'an and the happy life of the people. Chen Jiageng also specifically proved that Yan'an did not implement the "what absurd" system, and the term "communist bandits" is even more nonsense!
After delivering his speech, Chen Jiageng did not forget to add: "I am based on facts, and there is absolutely no exaggeration. ”
This speech caused a great sensation in Chongqing, which was a huge blow to Chiang Kai-shek, who thought that Chen Jiageng, as a capitalist, would not believe in the Communist Party's set, but the Communist Party instead captured Chen Jiageng's heart.
From 1927 to 1940, Chen Jiageng was a loyal "pro-Chiang Kai-shek faction", and he always claimed: "The will of Chairman Chiang Kai-shek is the will of the people of China." During this period, Chen Jiageng's material donations were also handed over to the National Government. However, during his inspection tour of China, Chen Jiageng saw the corruption of the Kuomintang and the current situation of the people in the Kuomintang-ruled areas, and was deeply disappointed in the Kuomintang.
The Kuomintang greeted Chen Jiageng
Through this trip to Yan'an, Chen Jiageng saw the truth about the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and also truly understood what kind of political party the Communist Party was. Since then, Chen Jiageng, convinced that the Chinese Communist Party will be able to save China, has begun to support the Communist Party. After Tan returned to Singapore, he publicly stated: "China's hope is in Yan'an." ”
In the following days, Yan'an received batch after batch of anti-war materials donated by Chen Jiageng, which showed Chen Jiageng's strong support for the Communist Party.
In 1946, Chen Jiageng made it clear that he would resolutely resist Chiang Kai-shek's civil war. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, our party also invited Chen Jiageng to participate in the founding ceremony of the country, and later Chen Jiageng directly returned to China to settle down and participate in the discussion of state affairs, on the other hand, he also actively did charity work and promoted the construction of the motherland.
Chen Jiageng died in Beijing in 1961 at the age of 87. Before his death, he donated more than 3 million yuan of his inheritance to the motherland, leaving nothing behind. Later, Zhou Enlai personally presided over the funeral for Chen Jiageng.
The deceased is gone, but his contribution to the country is indelible. The kindergartens, middle schools and colleges he founded are still standing on the land of the motherland, including Xiamen University and Jimei School.