Song Qisheng's wife Cui Hangmei (first from the left), Wang Jiabing's wife Kan Yunyu (second from the left), Wang Jiabing (third from the left) and Song Qisheng take photos in front of the "Song Gongji Meritorious Monument".
On May 18, Song Qisheng, son of Song Naide, came to the New Fourth Army Memorial Hall in Yancheng to meet Wang Jiabing, the grandson of his father's old friend Wang Qitian, in front of the "Song Gong Monument", thus unveiling a revolutionary story that has been 80 years apart, and continuing the red love affair separated by 80 years.
80 years ago, Song Naide met a farmer friend Wang Qitian
In the early 1940s, Song Naide led the people of Yanfu to build a 90-mile seawall to benefit the people, and the local gentry erected a monument to commemorate their merits, the name of the monument was "Song Gong Ji Gong Monument", so this sea wall is also known as "Song Gong Causeway". The story of "Song Gong and Song Gong Di" has been widely spread and well-known in the Yanfu region, but the story of Song Naide and his peasant friend Wang Qitian is little known. On May 18, when Song Qisheng, son of Song Naide, and Wang Qitian's grandson Wang Jiabing met in front of the "Song Gong Ji Meritorious Monument" at the Yancheng New Fourth Army Memorial Hall, Wang Jiabing took out a book written by his father Wang Shuxiang, "Century of Life", which contained a large article describing the interaction between Song Naide and Wang Qitian.
Song Naide knew Wang Qitian in January 1941, when Huang Kecheng led the Fifth Column of the Eighth Route Army to attack Ji Jiawei, which was occupied by evil bandits, and Wang Qitian, who was the captain of the stretcher team, made a number of simple stretchers made of grass ropes and bamboo bars, and used this stretcher to snatch down many wounded in the rain of bullets and bullets. After the war, Song Naide, who was then the county magistrate of the anti-Japanese democratic regime in Funing County, comforted the migrant workers, and Wang Qitian's bravery and wit left a deep impression on him, and he wrote down Wang Qitian's name, residence and other information in the notebook he carried with him. From May 15 to July 31, 1941, Wang Qitian participated in the construction of the seawall and served as the leader of the migrant workers. His diligence and simplicity once again attracted the attention and praise of Song Naide, the chief commander of the project. Since then. The two of them often talked about engineering, hostilities, and other issues, and formed a deep revolutionary friendship. After several tests, Wang Qitian was appointed as the underground traffic officer of the middle line of the three traffic lines east of Fucheng, and was soon promoted to the position of traffic station chief.
A stamp album of "Commemorating the Centenary of the Birth of Song Naide" given to Wang Jiabing by Song Qisheng.
In the past 80 years, the two old men have never forgotten their fighting friendship
"When my father was alive, he told me many times about Mr. Wang Qitian, and he always said that he had eaten two chickens at mr. Wang's house, which was the best chicken in memory." Song Qisheng, 74 years old this year, said with a smile when talking about his father's revolutionary friendship with Wang Qitian.
One evening in April 1942, Song Naide, who had been promoted to director of the Yancheng Administration, and his entourage of three people quietly came to Wang Qitian's home in Liufengang, Siming Township, Sheyang County (now Kaiming Village, Siming Township, Sheyang County), to learn about the hometown and enemy situation. The first time a friend comes to the door, he always has to get something delicious. But the Wang family was too poor to come up with anything. Therefore, Wang Qitian asked his wife Lu Zengfang to secretly kill the only two chickens in the family as a reception.
That is, on that day, when Song Naide said that he would issue the "Yanfu Anti-Coin" in the Liberated Areas and did not know what pattern to use, Wang Qitian, who had been a cow herder for many years, improvised a "calf" pattern on the table with chopsticks dipped in vegetable soup. When Song Naide saw it, he clapped his hands in disgust, and then took out a notebook and a fountain pen and asked Wang Qitian to draw the "calf" picture he had just drawn on the desktop again. Soon, Wang Qitian saw that his "calf" picture was really printed on the face of the newly issued "Yanfu Anti-Coin".
After the founding of New China, Song Naide traveled to many places with the change of his position, and Wang Qitian also lived a peaceful peasant life, but the two old men formed a deep friendship during the war years and have always cherished it in their hearts. Both old men confided in their children their desire to see each other again in their lifetimes. Unfortunately, Song Naide and Wang Qitian died in 1967 and 1976 respectively, and the desire to see each other again after the war years was never realized.
Wang Shuxiang wrote the book "Century of Life".
80 years later, the descendants of the two families continued the frontier in front of the "Song Gong Monument"
On May 18, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party, under the mediation of Guan Xiangsheng and Wang Naixiang, enthusiasts of the history of the New Fourth Army, Song Qisheng, son of Song Naide, and Wang Jiabing, grandson of Wang Qitian, came to Yancheng from Beijing and Suzhou respectively, and embraced each other in front of the "Song Gong Monument" in the Memorial Hall of the New Fourth Army.
"The revolutionary friendship that my fathers met in the fires of war, no matter how their status and status changed, their incomparable loyalty to the Communist Party and their lofty character of infinite dedication to the revolutionary cause were highly consistent, and they became deeply influenced by the red blood and passed on to future generations." Song Qisheng was born in Qiqihar, where Song Naide moved from Yanfu to Qiqihar in the northeast, he set up a life ambition to serve the motherland since he was a child, and after joining the Beijing Institute of Optoelectronics, he repeatedly broke through technical difficulties and made contributions to China's optoelectronic cause. On the same day, he presented a set of stamps issued by the China Philatelic Corporation to Wang Jiabing entitled "Commemorating the Centenary of the Birth of Song Naide".
"Grandpa had 5 sons, and I was the son of his eldest son." Wang Jiabing briefed Song Qisheng on the current situation of the family. Wang Qitian had many children, all of whom followed in his father's footsteps and embarked on the revolutionary road. The eldest son, Wang Shuxiang, joined the revolution in 1945 and successively served as a member of the Sheyang County Party Committee and director of the county party committee. He was also a famous penman in Sheyang, and in addition to participating in the compilation of many revolutionary historical books, he also wrote the book "Century Of Life" based on Song Naide's interaction experience with Wang Qitian. Wang Jiabing also told Song Qisheng that his father, Wang Shuxiang, wrote "Century of Life" in 2006 and died in 2012. Before dying, the old man also told Wang Jiabing to find Song Naide's descendants and continue the revolutionary friendship of his ancestors. In front of the "Song Gong Monument", Wang Jiabing gave Song Qisheng the book "Century of Life" written by his father. Wang Jiabing, 52, is a teacher at the Jiangsu Electric Power Technician College, who has held various leadership positions in the discipline inspection committee, trade unions, party building and other aspects of the hospital, and is also a 34-year-old party member.
"In the process of sorting out the family tree, I discovered that Wang Qitian and Song Naide had a touching revolutionary friendship." Wang Naixiang is a junior of Wang Qitian's clan and a fan of military history of the New Fourth Army, and after he learned of the situation, he contacted Wang Jiabing and learned that the descendants of the two families had the desire to continue the frontier of their ancestors, so they matched each other, and there was a scene where the descendants of the Song and Wang families met at the "Song Gong Monument" at the Memorial Hall of the New Fourth Army in Yancheng.
( Guo Jinglei / Wen Wang Naixiang / Photo)