Among the female senior leaders of New China, according to the rank of revolutionary seniority, the first is He Xiangning, the second is Song Qingling, and the third is Cai Chang.
Among these 3 people, He Xiangning's seniority is far ahead.
As early as 1903, He Xiangning met Sun Yat-sen and began to devote himself to the revolution. She was one of the first members of the Chinese League when it was founded in 1905, and when her husband Liao Zhongkai joined the League in 1906, she was introduced by He Xiangning.
Comparing Deng Yingchao, everyone understands how deep He Xiangning's qualifications are. Deng Yingchao was born on February 4, 1904, and Liao Mengxing, the daughter of He Xiangning and Liao Zhongkai, was born on the same day of the same month of the same year. Every time Deng Yingchao saw He Xiangning, he naturally and affectionately called him "Mother".
He Xiangning was born in 1878 in Nanhai County, Guangdong (present-day Nanhai District, Foshan, Guangdong). Nanhai County has produced many celebrities in modern times, such as Kang Youwei and Huang Feihong.
In modern times, most of the talents are born in wealthy families. Ho's father, Ho Ping-hwan, had a flexible mind and later became a rich man by running tea and real estate in Hong Kong. Therefore, He Xiangning has been a rich miss qianjin since she was a child, she has a strong sense of rebellion, resolutely refuses to wrap her small feet, and becomes a very famous bigfoot woman.
In 1897, 19-year-old He Xiangning married 20-year-old Liao Zhongkai, and the two were like-minded.
A native of Huizhou, Guangdong Province, Liao Zhongkai was also born into a wealthy family, and his brother Liao Fengshu (also known as Liao Entao) was a diplomat of the Qing government who represented Yuan Shikai at the North-South Peace Conference, while his younger brother Liao Zhongkai was a representative of the southern government. These two brothers, enough cattle.
The wife of Chennault, the captain of the American Flying Tigers, the famous Chen Xiangmei, is the granddaughter of Liao Fengshu. Chen Xiangmei's mother was Liao Xiangci, a famous lady of the Republic of China, and Liao Xiangci was the daughter of Liao Fengshu.
The Liao family and the He family are very powerful and talented.
He Xiangning was not only a revolutionary, but also an accomplished painter and poet. Her paintings are very powerful, her poems are very bold, and she has a real masculine atmosphere. Once, when her husband Liao Zhongkai was about to go to the front, He Xiangning wrote a poem to make a grand statement: "It is difficult for the national vendetta to die without repaying the heart, and it is difficult to endure the ordinary crying." Advise the king not to regret the head of the noble, to leave a name in Chinese history. ”
This poem is so well written.
After Sun Yat-sen's death, the highest-ranking people in the Kuomintang were Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin, and Liao Zhongkai.
Liao Zhongkai repeatedly promoted Chiang Kai-shek, who was still a small person at that time. Chiang Kai-shek was the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy, which Liao Zhongkai recommended to Sun Yat-sen. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek later assassinated many democrats, and even moved the idea of getting rid of Soong Ching Ling (because he was afraid of Soong Mei Ling). However, for He Xiangning, who was also a democrat, Chiang Kai-shek did not even dare to have any thoughts.
On August 20, 1925, when Liao Zhongkai was assassinated by the rightists at the mouth of the Kuomintang Central Committee in Guangzhou, his wife He Xiangning was nearby and witnessed this extremely cruel scene.
He Xiangning endured grief, wiped away tears, held his head high, and bravely inherited Liao Zhongkai's unfinished business, and did not waver or compromise in the slightest until the victory of the revolution.
In July 1935, He Yingqin, a leading figure in the Kuomintang, signed the "He Mei Agreement" with Umezu Mijiro, commander of the Japanese North China Garrison, and surrendered most of the sovereignty of Hebei and Chahar provinces, so that North China would exist in name only. He Xiang was filled with righteous indignation, and then sent someone to put one of his old dresses into a package and give them to Chiang Kai-shek, with a poem inscribed on the skirt and her drop:
He falsely claimed to be a boy and was willing to be enslaved.
Send mountains and rivers without war, and all the worlds will be ashamed.
My women, may I die on the battlefield.
Put me in your clothes and change your clothes!
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, He Xiang condensed vigorously and led the establishment of the earliest and largest women's anti-Japanese group, the Chinese Women's Anti-Enemy Support Association, which served as its chairman and head of the general affairs team, and later set up the Shanghai Working Women's Field Service Group to go to the front line to provide field service. She also appealed to international friends and overseas Chinese to support the War of Resistance. Every time she received a donation from overseas Chinese, she would give a painting of her own in thanks.
During the Liberation War, He Xiangning, together with Li Jishen, led the establishment of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang and declared acceptance of the leadership of the Communist Party of China.
From September 21 to 30, 1949, the First Plenary Session of the Chinese Political Consultative Conference was held in Huairen Hall, Zhongnanhai, Beijing. On Day 1, 71-year-old He Xiangning delivered a speech on behalf of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, saying: "I celebrate the long live of this new People's Democratic Republic... China's freedom and equality, moderation of capital, the tillers have their own land, and the unity of the nations in the world that await us with peace, all these aims of the Chinese revolution have been realized under the leadership of Chairman Mao, and we can comfort Mr. Sun under the Nine Springs! ”
After the founding of New China, He Xiangning served as a member of the Central People's Government, the first director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee, the only female chairman of the China Artists Association, the chairman of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Second and Third National People's Congresses, the vice chairman of the Second and Third National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and one of the leaders at the vice state level.
He Xiangning's Liao Chengzhi was later a member of the Politburo of the 12th CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress.
He Xiangning's grandson, Liao Chengzhi's son Liao Hui, served as vice chairman of the 10th and 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
All three grandchildren are deputy state-level leading cadres, which is rare in the world.
He Xiangning ignored his advanced age and worked selflessly. She said such touching words - "New China is really a thousand miles away, the beauty is boundless, how can the old people living in this era not work harder?!" ”
On September 1, 1972, He Xiangning died in Beijing at the age of 94.
In April 1997, the He Xiangning Art Museum, which was approved by the central government, was officially opened in Shenzhen. This is the first national art museum in China to be named after an individual, and the second national modern museum after the National Art Museum of China. History will always remember this outstanding democracy fighter and lovely old man. (Liu Jixing)