In 1976, the people's good prime minister Premier Zhou left us, and the 83-year-old Song Qingling, with the support of her adopted daughter, came to the hospital to say a final farewell to the body of Premier Zhou, but she did not want to have someone behind her back, so that she was extremely angry.
With a heavy heart, Song Qingling resisted her anger, but she never expected that at the memorial service a few days later, those people would actually be inching forward, so that she was finally angry and left the scene.
Why is Song Qingling, who has always been dignified and calm, so angry? At the age of 83, why did she go to great lengths to attend Premier Zhou's memorial service? What kind of past and friendship did the two of them have?
On January 8, 1976, the beloved Premier Zhou passed away, and the whole country fell into grief and mourning, and when the news reached Song Qingling's ears, she was first shocked, then silent, and finally the tears could not help but flow out.
"The country has one less good helper..."
You know, at that time, Song Qingling was already 83 years old, and his health was not very good, and he couldn't even walk steadily, so that he had to take two adopted daughters and let them support themselves.
But even so, she still came to the hospital where Premier Zhou died on the afternoon of January 10 to say a final farewell to Premier Zhou.
When she was in the hospital, Song Qingling was so full of pain from the departure of her friend that even if others were saying something, she didn't care at all.
It wasn't until she got home that she was told that the people who spoke were criticizing her and questioning why she had taken two "irrelevant people" to the hospital, so that Song Qingling's breathing became short after hearing this, and she said angrily.
"I'm old and my health is not good, can't I take two people to help me?"
"Besides, these two children were also raised by the prime minister, so what is the problem with letting them say one last goodbye to the prime minister?"
When she thought of getting angry, Song Qingling even wanted to fight with those people in person, but in the end she still resisted her emotions, because in a few days it would be Premier Zhou's memorial service, and he didn't want to make too much of a fuss during this period.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was January 15th, and Song Qingling also came to the venue of Premier Zhou's memorial meeting early and extended his most sincere remembrance to Premier Zhou.
But just after the end of the event, Song Qingling heard someone around whispering,
"She is Premier Zhou's faction."
Hearing this, Song Qingling could not bear it any longer, so that he finally left the table in anger and left the memorial service directly.
Back at home, she said even more aggrievedly,
"Premier Zhou is devoted to the people and has never sought any selfish interests, and I have also had a revolutionary friendship with him for decades, and I have seen the light everywhere I go, so how did he become a faction?"
"I still resign, go back to Shanghai for the elderly, and save people from being criticized."
Hearing this, everyone on the side rushed to dissuade her from being impulsive, while Song Qingling herself was silent, as if caught in that long and profound memory.
The friendship between Soong Ching Ling and Premier Zhou stemmed from a meeting in Guangzhou in the 1920s, which was between Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the Whampoa Military Academy.
At that time, Dr. Sun Yat-sen was the premier of the Whampoa Military Academy, Soong Ching Ling was his wife, and Premier Zhou was the director of the political department of the Whampoa Military Academy.
Premier Zhou has great admiration for Soong Ching Ling, not only because of her status as the mother of the country, but also because of her extraordinary ability to speak and speak, as for Song Qingling's evaluation of Premier Zhou is also very high, she said such a sentence in that period.
"He was young, but he was already a strong, clear-cut, versatile and well-trained leader of the revolution."
During this period, the friendship between the two could only be regarded as mutual appreciation, but after the death of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the departure of Soong Meiling to Moscow in 1927 to seek the victory of the Chinese revolution, the friendship between the two was gradually sublimated.
Because they also recognized communism, and there was no lack of courage to sacrifice for it, Song Qingling of that period once openly declared,
"Only the Communist Party of China is the greatest driving force among the revolutionary forces within China."
This was not only the beginning of their revolutionary friendship, but also the cornerstone of in-depth cooperation between CCP leaders such as Soong Ching Ling and Premier Zhou.
But just when Soong Ching Ling was determined to throw himself into the communist revolution and carry it forward, something changed- the old Chiang kai-shek launched the 412 counter-revolutionary coup, and Shanghai fell into a white terror.
The situation at that time was so critical that the Kuomintang reactionaries even sent spies to keep an eye on Soong Ching-ling for 24 hours, and if it were not for the fact that Soong Ching-ling was Soong Mei-ling's sister and Sun Yat-sen's widow, then I am afraid that Old Chiang kai-shek would not have spared her.
But even so, no one could be sure whether old Chiang Kai-shek, who had been blinded by his dictatorial ambitions, would do anything irreparable, so Song Qingling's situation at that time was very dangerous, but even so, she did not waver in the slightest, but still stood with our party with great determination.
In the blink of an eye, in 1936, Song Qingling took the American journalist Snow to visit northern Shaanxi and helped Snow complete the writing of "Journey to the West", which described the 25,000-mile long march of the Red Army, which caused a huge sensation in the world and helped our party win great prestige in the world.
On July 7, 1937, the July 7 Incident broke out, and our party sought opinions from Soong Ching-ling on the domestic situation at that time, and Soong Ching-ling really showed his true insight.
"Kuomintang-Communist cooperation is a must, and only by uniting China's forces together can we defeat the aggressors!"
Later, our party not only won the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, but also won the Victory in the War of Liberation, so that Soong Ching Ling was quite pleased and wanted to retire from his old age.
However, our Party learned at that time that the Kuomintang reactionaries were trying to kidnap her and leave Shanghai, and in order to protect her safety and also to let Soong Ching-ling better help our Party in its work, Premier Zhou specially wrote a letter to Soong Ching-ling, and even asked his wife to go to Shanghai to visit Soong Ching-ling.
There were not many things written in the letter, but it deeply touched Song Qingling,
"Now that the national victory is imminent, the construction of new China has yet to be instructed by Mr. Zheng, and he dares to take advantage of Yingchao's special trip to meet the convenience of the enemy, and only Chen longs for Mr. Chen's feelings of going north." It is a blessing that Jingxi is destined to drive today. ”
This remark was not only extremely sincere in his words, but also cut to the heart of Song Qingling's point, so that Song Qingling temporarily changed his mind and followed Deng Yingchao to Beijing to witness the founding of New China.
He was subsequently elected Vice President of the People's Republic of China and often consulted with Premier Zhou on major international and domestic issues.
At that time, because New China was deeply smeared by the basic capitalist countries, Premier Zhou wanted to set up an international magazine to highlight the new atmosphere and new look of New China, but who should run this magazine became another problem.
After consulting with Soong Ching-ling, Premier Zhou finally entrusted this task to Soong Ching-ling, and Soong Ching-ling also lived up to expectations, and finally launched "China Construction", which published the magazine to more than 150 countries around the world, which greatly changed the understanding and impression of many countries on New China.
Although Premier Zhou entrusted the task of running a magazine to Song Qingling, he himself still paid attention to it at all times, and on the 5th anniversary of running the newspaper, he even personally wrote an inscription to encourage everyone.
"Continue to do a good job in enhancing understanding and friendship with the people of all countries!"
It can be said that Premier Zhou and Soong Ching Ling jointly solved many of the construction problems in the early days of our country, and in the process, they also established an extremely deep revolutionary friendship.
It is precisely because of this that when he learned of the death of Premier Zhou on January 8, 1976, Song Qingling was so sad and wrote the article "Remembering Premier Zhou".
“...... Premier Zhou loves the people, and the people love Premier Zhou. ”
Therefore, remembering the friendship with Premier Zhou, Song Qingling finally did not resign because of a momentary discouragement, but returned to Shanghai to live for a while.
It can be said that it is precisely because of the continuous efforts of people like Premier Zhou and Song Qingling that New China can achieve rejuvenation in a short period of time.
Salute to Premier Zhou, Song Qingling and others, and salute the great revolutionary friendship!