In 1971, outside the arena of the "31st World Table Tennis Championships" held in Nagoya, Japan, a "strange" scene occurred:
American table tennis player Glenn. Cohen actually got into the wrong car and got into the car of the Chinese delegation under a yin and yang mistake! Facing each other's exotic faces, everyone in the car fell into shock.
The World Championship is an international event, and it stands to reason that it is just a trivial matter. However, under the background of the era in which this incident occurred, the "weight" of this matter is not small at all.
Due to the Cold War, china and the United States had been facing each other for more than two decades, and there was a long period of diplomatic, economic, and even cultural exchanges between the two sides, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the relations between the two sides are "hostile".
However, in the face of this "uninvited guest", our representative athlete Zhuang Zedong showed a friendly side, with the help of the interpreter, the two had a pleasant conversation, and on the occasion of parting, Zhuang Zedong also took the initiative to give him a brocade Huangshan landscape painting from Hangzhou, China, as a symbol of friendship between the two sides.
This scene was filmed by the reporters at the scene, and then it was reported by the major media and became the focus of the world's attention. It even alarmed Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and others who were far away in Beijing, why did Mao Zedong attach so much importance to this incident?
We must mainly consider China's diplomatic relations at that time, China has been in a difficult situation in diplomacy, although China and the United States want to reconcile with each other and restore normal relations, but they are suffering from not having a good opportunity.
On this day, Zhuang Zedong paved the way for the resumption of diplomacy between the two countries! A few days later, under the decision of our leaders, an invitation was extended to the American table tennis delegation to visit China.
However, not long after, the Us side also invited my delegation to visit, and on December 28 of the same year, Premier Zhou appointed Zhuang Zedong as the head of China's first delegation to visit the United States and embarked on the road to the United States.
This back-and-forth, like the jump of a ping-pong ball on the table, successfully opened the door to Sino-US diplomacy. In February 1972, with the visit of Nixon and his party to China, a new chapter was opened in the diplomatic history of the East and the West.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > the "north drift" road from Yangzhou to Beijing, Zhuang Zedong</h1>
In 1954, the table tennis team of the Beijing Children's Palace Amateur Sports School welcomed a new member, that is, the then fourteen-year-old Zhuang Zedong, in the capital of the clouds, the fourteen-year-old teenager quickly stood out with his excellent performance, and won the men's singles competition at the Beijing Junior Table Tennis Championship the following year.
Zhuang Zedong's astonishing performance soon attracted the attention of Qiu Zhonghui, China's first women's table tennis world champion.
Many years later, whenever he talked about his impression of Zhuang Zedong, Qiu Zhonghui would always say very spontaneously: Zhuang Zedong plays, just one word, "cool"! Zhuang Zedong is characterized by taking the initiative to attack the opponent, rarely taking defense or pushing as a response.
He is extremely good at direct shooting in the near stage and two-sided fast attack, with excellent physical fitness, extremely fast, Zhuang Zedong playing as if with a "momentum", quite the meaning of the downhill tiger, therefore, he was also given a nickname by his companions: "Little Tiger".
In the end, under Qiu Zhonghui's decision, Zhuang Zedong, who was only sixteen years old, was selected to join the Chinese table tennis team.
I have to say that Qiu Zhonghui's choice is correct, and in the second year of joining the national team, Zhuang Zedong won his first national gold medal in the national table tennis championships - the mixed doubles championship.
Since then, he has become more and more courageous, and has traveled overseas many times and won many gold medals on the international stage.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > How strong was Zhuang Zedong at its peak? </h1>
He singles-handedly won the men's singles titles at the 26th to 28th World Table Tennis Championships.
Winning the world championship for three consecutive times caused a huge sensation that year, and can be called the first person in the world of table tennis, and Zhuang Zedong's record has not been broken so far.
It is also because of the endorsement of these achievements that this makes When Zhuang Zedong competes with American athlete Glenn. After Cohen met, it attracted the attention of the media at the first time, which in turn promoted the "ping-pong diplomacy" between China and the United States.
I have to say that in that special situation at that time, Zhuang Zedong's move was also a great risk, and no one knew what kind of impact this matter would have on the international community, but it was his brave step that made great contributions to China's diplomatic cause.
Afterwards, Mao Zedong gave strong praise to Zhuang Zedong's move, saying: "Not only does the ball play well, but also diplomacy, this person is a bit politically minded." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" > middle-aged, poor, Zhuang Zedong's second marriage</h1>
In 1972, Zhuang Zedong returned to his homeland after his visit to the United States, after which he was appointed as the manager and head coach of the national youth team and began his coaching career.
In 1984, the forty-four-year-old Zhuang Zedong gradually retreated to the second line, left the core post, taught at the Beijing Children's Palace, and began his semi-reclusive career by training young players.
Zhuang Zedong had two marriages in his life, the first in 1967, when he married Bao Huiqiao, a pianist with the Central Orchestra at the age of 27.
After marriage, the two gave birth to a man and a woman and two children, named Zhuang Biao and Zhuang Lan respectively.
At first, the family lived happily ever after, but as their relationship grew sour, they eventually divorced in February 1985.
At this time, Zhuang Zedong had already gone to the Children's Palace under the Beijing Municipal Education Bureau as an ordinary coach, and his life was very poor, and he could only live with his mother in a simple courtyard.
According to Zhuang Zedong's recollection many years later, when he taught students to play table tennis in the Children's Palace, he only had a few dozen yuan a month allowance and three world champions: thirty yuan per month.
After divorcing his wife, he had to give thirty yuan of child support to his mother every month, and he also had to give his ex-wife forty yuan to take care of the children, and the living expenses that really fell into his hands were often left.
If you look at it according to such a situation, your life is most likely to be buried in the rush for chai rice oil and salt, and completely bid farewell to the identity of the "athlete" who dared to fight in the past.
However, at this time, a person found him, and it was precisely because of the appearance of this person that zhuang Zedong brought a rare comfort to his later years, she was Atsuko Sasaki.
Born in 1944, four years younger than Zhuang Zedong, Sasaki grew up living with her parents in Shenyang, northeast China.
The first time the two met was when Zhuang Zedong returned to Japan as the world champion of table tennis, when Atsuko Sasaki was familiar with the chinese Chinese, and was deeply attracted by the world champion singing Peking Opera in front of him on the TV set. After that, the two got in touch and became friends.
Tuko Sasaki works for Itoman Corporation in Japan, and because of her familiarity with Chinese, she has been based in China since 1978, living in Beijing.
In the summer of 1985, by chance, the two old friends met again, at this time Zhuang Zedong was divorced, at the lowest point of life, seeing a withered old friend, Sasaki Atsuko was distressed.
In this lonely day, she poured everything into her side and accompanied Zhuang Zedong, and in this way, after a year and a half of getting along, the two finally came together and had plans to get married.
In 1987, the two finalized plans to get married, but when Zhuang Zedong submitted his decision to his superiors, it was "rejected" on the grounds that "you have state secrets and do not agree to the marriage." ”
At that time, China had not yet been fully opened, and even the Japanese Embassy in China was reluctant to grant them a visa, and if they wanted to have this marriage, it meant that Sasaki Oroko or Zhuang Zedong had to renounce their original nationality.
Faced with this situation, Zhuang Zedong did not give up, he ran in many ways to try to find a way, and finally he decided to write a letter to Deng Xiaoping, and finally with Deng Xiaoping's approval, on December 19, 1987, Sasaki Atsuko and Zhuang Zedong finally came together. Atsuko Sasaki thus became Chinese and renounced her Japanese citizenship.
After marriage, the two lived very happily, although at this time, Sasaki Tumiko lost her high-paying job in a Japanese company, but the two did not care about the difficulties in front of them. The two were married because of Peking Opera, so their biggest hobby after marriage was to watch Peking Opera together.
Whenever Atsuko Sasaki has something she can't understand, Zhuang Zedong patiently explains the plot to her. Slowly, Sasaki Tukiko herself became a fan of the play, and she especially liked to listen to Qingyi and Lao sheng.
In 1996, Zhuang Zedong also wrote an autobiography with Atsuko Sasaki based on their past, entitled "Sho Zedong and Atsuko Sasaki".
Zhuang Zedong also began his own life of seclusion, and even once, when his old friend former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visited China, he suddenly wanted to see him, so Kissinger also specifically found the Children's Palace where Zhuang Zedong was located, hoping to meet him, but Zhuang Zedong refused to meet with him on the grounds of "traveling on a business trip".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="14" > unfortunately suffering from cancer and want to "leave with dignity."</h1>
However, this retirement life in the old age came to an end in 2008.
This year, Zhuang Zedong's body deteriorated tremendously, and after going to the hospital for treatment, Zhuang Zedong was diagnosed with advanced cancer.
Zhuang Zedong's life has experienced great ups and downs, from the athletes on the international stage in the past, bravely moving forward, and then after retirement, he became an ordinary coach in the Children's Palace and enjoyed his old age.
In the face of such an ending, he showed amazing courage and calmness, and faced all this calmly.
In the days that followed, accompanied by his wife Atsuko Sasaki, Zhuang Zedong began his own path of medical treatment, and in the next five years, he traveled to Beijing and Shanghai, stayed in many hospitals for treatment, and underwent five CT liver radiofrequency ablation surgeries, but unfortunately, his condition did not improve.
And the operation also brought irreparable damage to his body, at this time his healthy liver is only about one-eighth left, although the doctor repeatedly persuaded him not to give up, but at this time, Zhuang Zedong, who was already physically and mentally exhausted, still put forward the idea of hoping to use drugs to "euthanize" himself.
For an athlete who once played on the field, collapsing in a hospital bed is undoubtedly the greatest insult to himself.
At the last moment of his life, Zhuang Zedong has realized his fate, and his only hope at this time is that he can "sleep with dignity" and leave this world completely, and at the same time, he also instructed his wife, Atsuko Sasaki, not to hold a farewell ceremony for his body after his death.
However, in the face of such a situation.
Zhuang Zedong's doctors did not give up hope, but continued to increase their efforts, hoping to save Zhuang Zedong's life, but unfortunately due to the spread of cancer cells, even excellent doctors can only be helpless in the face of such a situation, zhuang Zedong's condition continues to deteriorate.
At the time of his death, Zhuang Zedong wrote his suicide note and handed it to his wife, Atsuko Sasaki.
In Zhuang Zedong's will, he wrote:
"In a place not far from the end of my life, when I am about to leave the journey of life, say a few words of my heart. I am grateful to the noble holy land of the motherland for cultivating me; I am grateful to the industrious, kind, and sacrificial people for nurturing me; I am grateful to the leaders at all levels with wisdom and unique vision for their love for me; I am grateful to the unity, concerted efforts, and strong fighting collective for their sincere help to me; I am grateful to my relatives and friends who have multiplied joy and halved my pain in my career, and for their selfless support; and I am grateful to the medical workers in Beijing, Shanghai, and all over the country for their painstaking efforts to prolong my life and meticulously treat me. ”
This letter full of gratitude is the last trace of Zhuang Zedong left in the world.
Finally, at 17:06 on February 10, 2013, Zhuang Zedong, a famous table tennis player, died at the age of 73 in Beijing You'an Hospital due to ineffective rescue.
Zhuang Zedong's life has experienced countless ups and downs, he has competed in the world, famous in the world, but also for the country's diplomacy, his contribution to sports and diplomacy is indelible.
But his life has been repeatedly unsmooth, from the divorce from his ex-wife, to the end of life, to the final illness in bed in his old age, Zhuang Zedong is tenacious and unfortunate.
However, in the last scene after the last end of his life, Zhuang Zedong truly realized his wish, that is, to "leave with dignity".
"I remember the first time I took a picture with the world champion was zhuang lao, the first person to promote internationalization of table tennis, and the first person to win the world table tennis championships in a three-time championship. Although he died of illness, the spirit of the elders will always live in our hearts. ”
——Xu Xin, a Chinese male table tennis player