preface
On the day of International Labor Day in 1967, Chairman Mao went to the Tiananmen Tower to preside over the celebrations of the day in accordance with the usual practice.
On the way, Chairman Mao suddenly remembered his secretary Hu Qiaomu, who had accompanied him for 25 years, so he said to Zhang Yaoci, the head of the Central Guard Regiment who accompanied him: "Let the driver stop, let's go and see Hu Qiaomu." ”
Hu Qiaomu was Chairman Mao's secretary and accompanied the chairman for many years, and the two had close personal relations, and later for some reasons, Hu Qiaomu proposed to the chairman to move out of Zhongnanhai.
The two had not seen each other since Hu Qiaomu had left, and Chairman Mao missed him so much that he would ask to see him at this time.
Hu Qiaomu
Chairman Mao's travels had always been arranged in advance, but this sudden temporary change of plans surprised Zhang Yaoci, and he then came to Hu Qiaomu's home according to Chairman Mao's instructions.
Zhang Yaoci had never been to Hu Qiaomu's home, and did not know that Hu Qiaomu's family only went in and out of the north door, and on the same day, he knocked on the door of the east gate because the east gate was close.
But because the door was abandoned, he knocked for a long time without anyone opening it, and this move also drew the nearby crowds over.
Zhang Yaoci was worried that a large number of people gathering would cause security problems to Chairman Mao, and in addition, he was afraid of delaying time in presiding over the activities, so Zhang Yaoci persuaded the chairman to leave first and come back after knocking on the activities several times, and Chairman Mao had no choice but to agree.
After the group left, a nearby neighbor told him the news that Chairman Mao had come to visit Hu Qiaomu, and he felt very sorry for this. Zhang Yaoci's knock on the wrong door also deprived Hu Qiaomu of the last chance to meet Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao: Hu Qiaomu is a talent
One early morning in February 1941, Wang Ruofei, who had just finished a politburo meeting, braved the northwest wind and walked out of Chairman Mao's residence in Yangjialing and headed toward Dagou, where the Central Propaganda Department was stationed.
After a while, there was one more person in the room of the Central Propaganda Department, and this person was Wang Ruofei, and under Wang Ruofei's explanation, the comrades of the Central Propaganda Department took him to Hu Qiaomu's home.
Hu Qiaomu was very surprised to see Wang Ruofei come to his home, and he immediately beckoned Wang Ruofei to sit down, and after the two sat down together, Wang Ruofei told Hu Qiaomu something that he had never thought about.
Wang Ruofei
Wang Ruofei slowly opened his mouth and said to Hu Qiaomu: "Chairman Mao needs people there, and now it has been decided to transfer you to the chairman's side as a secretary." ”
When Hu Qiaomu heard Wang Ruofei's words, he felt very unreal, and he felt both happy and afraid of this news. Being able to work with the chairman was something he had never thought about, and he was afraid that he would not be able to help him if he agreed to go to the chairman's side.
Therefore, after thinking about it for a while, he whispered his concerns to Wang Ruofei: "As a secretary to Chairman Mao, I am afraid that I will not be good, I have never done secretarial work before." ”
Wang Ruofei understood Hu Qiaomu's concerns, and he comforted: "You can rest assured, I believe that you will be able to do your job, this time to work with Chairman Mao, but the chairman personally ordered you." ”
After Hu Qiaomu heard Wang Ruofei's words, he carefully thought about when he had met the chairman and let the chairman remember him. After thinking about it for a while, he didn't think about it, so he had to ask Wang Ruofei.
Wang Ruofei truthfully told Hu Qiaomu the reason why the chairman pointed out his point, and Wang Ruofei said: "The chairman noticed you when he saw your article "The Ideological Problems of the Youth Movement" in "Chinese Youth" before, and he once praised you for writing this article well, and also said that you are a talent. ”
Hu Qiaomu was very embarrassed to hear Wang Ruofei relay Chairman Mao's praise, so Hu Qiaomu became Chairman Mao's secretary and began to accompany the chairman for 25 years.
On the first day that Hu Qiaomu came to the chairman's side, Chairman Mao only met with him once, and left the room after a few simple greetings, because the chairman did not explain what Hu Qiaomu did, plus he did not know what he should do when he was a secretary for the first time, so Hu Qiaomu did not enter the role quickly.
During that time, Hu Qiaomu just watched the people around him come and go every day, and sometimes he would help with some chores. Several times he wanted to ask the chairman what he needed to do, but when he thought that the chairman was working, he was embarrassed to disturb him, and for several days, he did not know what he did every day, only that the days had slowly passed.
A few days later, Hu Qiaomu realized that it was not possible to continue like this, when Wang Ruofei called him to come, he said that he wanted him to help the chairman, and now he was doing something every day, after a period of thinking, Wang Ruofei finally made up his mind and pushed open the door of the chairman's office.
Hu Qiaomu walked in and was about to ask the chairman what he should do when he saw that the chairman was concentrating on the proofreading documents.
Chairman Mao
Hu Qiaomu then said, "Chairman, I'll help you proofread it!" Chairman Mao raised his head, smiled at Hu Qiaomu, and said, "Good! Then he handed the document in his hand to Hu Qiaomu.
Hu Qiaomu took the document, went to his office and began to proofread it carefully. Hu Qiaomu carefully read the document several times before finally handing over the revised document to Chairman Mao for examination.
With his carefulness, Hu Qiaomu not only eliminated many typos in the proofreading, but also corrected some of the places where the documents were originally misprinted, which made Chairman Mao very satisfied with his work.
Chairman Mao discovered his talents through this proofreading document by Hu Qiaomu, and from then on, Hu Qiaomu began to be responsible for sorting out the manuscripts and writing theoretical articles for the CPC Central Committee.
Originally, Chairman Mao had never ghostwritten articles before, but after Hu Qiaomu was favored by the chairman, this task was entrusted to him. At that time, Chairman Mao often went out to speak, and Hu Qiaomu accompanied the chairman to be responsible for sorting out and polishing many popular and wonderful speeches.
When Hu Qiaomu sorted out Chairman Mao's speech, he gave full play to his talents and was greatly praised by Chairman Mao; during his stay in Yan'an, Chairman Mao delivered a splendid speech at a literary and art forum, that is, the famous "Speech at the Yan'an Literary and Art Forum." This article was officially published after Hu Qiaomu sorted it out according to the on-site record system and after Chairman Mao reviewed and revised it.
Chairman Mao and Hu Qiaomu
In 1944, Hu Qiaomu was commissioned to draft the Resolution on Several Historical Issues for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This important party document, which was discussed and adopted by the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was included as an annex when editing the third volume of the Selected Works of Mao Zedong after the founding of New China, with the consent of Chairman Mao himself.
Chairman Mao has never included other people's articles in his own works, which is also the only time, which shows how much Chairman Mao attaches importance to Hu Qiaomu, and he has become an official representative to participate in the Seventh National Congress of the Party by virtue of his profound theoretical foundation and good literary cultivation, and participated in the collation of documents at the meeting.
During his work in Yangjialing and Zaoyuan in Yan'an, Hu Qiaomu would ask the chairman to discuss various books at home and abroad as soon as he had time, chairman Mao was very fond of reading, and the two had the same interest, so this common love for books also deepened the friendship between the two to a certain extent.
We read in prison
Chairman Mao trusted Hu Qiaomu so much that in August 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and Chiang Kai-shek invited Chairman Mao to Chongqing to discuss state affairs.
After receiving the invitation, Chairman Mao decided to go to Chongqing for an appointment after much consideration, and this time Chairman Mao deliberately asked Hu Qiaomu to go with him.
On the plane to Chongqing, the two talked about Chiang Kai-shek's purpose, and Chairman Mao humorously said to Hu Qiaomu: "Let Chiang Kai-shek be president, let's be vice president."
Hu Qiaomu couldn't help but look at Chairman Mao with a relaxed look and asked, "Chairman, do you think we can come back?" Chairman Mao pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Regardless of it, this time it is likely to be an inconclusive situation." ”
After a while, Chairman Mao asked again, "Are you afraid to go to Chongqing this time?" "Don't be afraid!" Hu Qiaomu echoed the other staff members.
Chairman Mao smiled and said, "That's fine, that's right." This time to Chongqing, there are only two possibilities. One is that if the negotiations are successful, then we will go home safely, and the other is that the negotiations fail, and then we are detained, imprisoned, or even beheaded. ”
Afterwards, Chairman Mao turned to Hu Qiaomu and said, "It's all right, if it is such a bad result, we don't need to be afraid, and if we go to jail, we will read and study in prison." ”
Soon after, the Chongqing negotiations ended, and Chairman Mao returned to Yan'an safely, but because Chairman Mao worked day and night during his stay in Chongqing, his health was not very good, so that just after arriving in Yan'an, Chairman Mao was seriously ill and lay in bed, and it was a long time to recuperate.
Tu Shu Hu Qiaomu was with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai
In December, when Hu Qiaomu returned to Yan'an after handling the matter, he saw Chairman Mao, who had just recovered, and after a long period of illness and suffering, Chairman Mao looked very weak, and Hu Qiaomu was very worried when he saw the chairman.
After that, he followed the doctor's instructions and accompanied the chairman to walk and talk with him every day. Hopefully, the Chair will be helped to recover as soon as possible.
One day, the two were walking and chatting, and unconsciously they talked about the Chongqing negotiations and Chiang Kai-shek, and Chairman Mao said to Hu Qiaomu: "I see that Chiang Kai-shek is very fierce, and he is very afraid of things." Now it has never been weaker since Chiang Kai-shek. He dispersed and the press checks were canceled. ”
In 1949, Chairman Mao led the crowd to "enter Beijing to catch the examination" and entered Beiping, and soon after, Chairman Mao left the Xiangshan Villa to live in Zhongnanhai, during which time Hu Qiaomu accompanied Chairman Mao.
Before and after the founding of New China, Chairman Mao's work tasks were very heavy, and Hu Qiaomu, as the secretary of the chairman, was not very easy at work, he often worked normally during the day, and at night, because he was afraid that Chairman Mao would have to find someone to work but could not find him, so Hu Qiaomu also began to work overtime with the chairman at night.
After a long period of strong spirits, Hu Qiaomu fell ill several times during that time, but each time he took a little rest, as soon as his body improved, he immediately threw himself into a new job.
Later, this matter was learned by Chairman Mao, and the chairman advised him several times to take care of his body first, rest more, these work matters can be slowly resolved, each time Hu Qiaomu promised to be good at that time, and then did not care about this matter at all, and continued to put into work.
Later, the chairman saw that he was very ill, and proposed to send him to the Moscow Kremlin Hospital for treatment, which was a very rare treatment for Hu Qiaomu at that time.
Recuperating from illness, he meets friends with poetry
Long-term overload of work, so that Hu Qiaomu suffered from severe neurasthenia, he can no longer be as desperate as before, for his own health.
In 1961, Hu Qiaomu asked Chairman Mao for a long period of sick leave to prepare for good treatment and recuperation, and Hu Qiaomu's request for leave was approved by Chairman Mao shortly after he proposed the leave.
Pictured: Chairman Mao and Hu Qiaomu taking a group photo
Chairman Mao, for the sake of his health, specially wrote him a letter in which he said:
"You must recuperate for a long time, without counting the days, in order to heal... It seems that it is advisable for you to recuperate in a relocated place, to move with the climate, to engage in sightseeing, to read idle books, not to read the main books, and not to care about current events, so that it may be better faster. Plan for one, two or three years of recuperation, and don't just plan for a few months. If you are in a hurry to work, I am afraid that it will recur. ”
Subsequently, Hu Qiaomu left Chairman Mao, who had been following him for 20 years, and began a life of recuperation for nearly five years. During his recuperation, Hu Qiaomu listened to Chairman Mao's instructions and no longer thought about work, but concentrated on poetry creation.
Hu Qiaomu was very fond of reading and composing poetry in his early years, and later followed Chairman Mao and was influenced by Chairman Mao to have his own unique views on poetry.
Chairman Mao loved and was good at writing old-style poetry, so Hu Qiaomu also developed the habit of appreciating old-style poetry. During this recuperation, Hu Qiaomu toured Harbin, Dalian, Changsha, Hangzhou and other places, and became fascinated by old-style poetry.
After that, he began to study the words of Xin Zhiyi and Su Dongpo assiduously, and called himself "Su Xin's disciple", in 1964, Hu Qiaomu began to try to fill in some old style poems on his own, and later, he copied some of the poems he wrote to Chairman Mao, hoping that the chairman could help him improve them.
Chairman Mao revised the manuscript of Hu Qiaomu's poems
After Chairman Mao received the poems written by Hu Qiaomu and knew that he liked them quite a lot, he often used his spare time to carefully read them and give him some suggestions of his own.
After reading the poems written by Hu Qiaomu, Chairman Mao found that some of his "words and sentences were somewhat obscure," and Chairman Mao admired this.
After that, Chairman Mao not only spent a lot of time changing hu qiaomu's words word by word, but sometimes asked Guo Moruo and others to put forward some constructive suggestions for these poems.
On November 23, 1964, Chairman Mao included some excerpts from Hu Qiaomu's poems in a letter to the People's Daily, and added the following sentence to the letter: "Please add an axe, and if you think it is possible, please publish it." ”
Soon after, the poem written by Hu Qiaomu was published in the Poetry Journal, and when Hu Qiaomu saw it, he was very grateful to Chairman Mao for his help.
On December 2, in order to express his gratitude, Hu Qiaomu specially wrote a letter to Chairman Mao, saying:
"I am very encouraged and grateful to you for reading the manuscript, changing it, and sending it for publication." You said that the words are a bit cryptic, and I completely agree with it, and I will definitely try to improve it. The revision of the three-word ending sentence was a great education for me. ”
In 1965, Hu Qiaomu's 16 poems were revised by Chairman Mao and corrected by Guo Moruo, and after a series of processes such as finalization, they were finally successfully published in the People's Daily.
After the poems were published, Hu Qiaomu was encouraged to continue to immerse himself in the creation of poems all day, and soon after, Hu Qiaomu sent more than 30 poems he wrote to Chairman Mao for advice.
Chairman Mao was very happy after receiving the poems written by Hu Qiaomu, and did not show any impatience, and then he began to carefully revise these poems, Chairman Mao always repeatedly deliberated on these poems of Hu Qiaomu, and Chairman Mao attached great importance to Hu Qiaomu's opinions, and the two often corresponded and exchanged in the process of revision.
Chairman Mao's concern for Hu Qiaomu was always kept in mind, and when he later talked about Chairman Mao's revision of his poems, he said: "The sentences and words that Have been modified by Chairman Mao are indeed like iron being ignited into gold. ”
Subsequently, Hu Qiaomu specifically listed several examples for this purpose. For example, the last two sentences of the "Water Tune Song Head: National Day Night Chronicle" were changed by Chairman Mao when it was published, "Ten Thousand Miles of Wind and Clouds, Only a Rong Cloak", and hu Qiaomu's original words at that time were originally "ten thousand miles and thousands of pounds, no need to worry about eyebrows".
Another example is the term "Qinyuan Chun Hangzhou Sentimental Affair", which was modified by Chairman Mao as "Whoever shares me, dances on the heavenly sword, sweeps away this absurdity", and Hu Qiaomu's original text is "Heaven gong me, dance and roar the wind and strange sword, sweep Ru Shengguang." ”
The two made friends with poetry, and through poetry, they also brought the relationship between the two closer, and later, because of the chairman's health, Hu Qiaomu did not send the chairman any more poems he wrote.
After Hu Qiaomu came to the chairman's side, he grew up rapidly under the guidance of Chairman Mao himself. He was grateful for Chairman Mao's teachings.
Hu Qiaomu once fondly mentioned Chairman Mao in his book:
"There is no doubt that, personally, without the guidance and teachings of Comrade Mao Zedong, it would have been difficult for me to write these articles, and it would have been difficult for my writing ability to make gradual progress as shown in this book."
Figure 丨 Hu Qiaomu
After Chairman Mao's death, because of Hu Qiaomu's identity, many people advised him to write some commemorative articles, but he never agreed to this matter.
Later, once, someone sent "Mao Zedong and His Secretary Tian Jiaying" to Hu Qiaomu for review, and looking at the things in the book, Hu Qiaomu fell into deep contemplation, and he began to have the idea of writing a memoir.
After Hu Qiaomu decided to write a memoir, many people had asked him why he did not write it in the first place, and Hu Qiaomu responded: "Although I am the secretary of the chairman, many important things are not executed by the secretary, and I can't say much weighty things. ”
Hu Qiaomu has always been a very serious person, when he decided to write a memoir, he immediately threw himself into work, he gathered a large number of people to complete the work with him, and personally formulated the writing program.
Hu Qiaomu devoted all his energy to the writing of his memoirs, often working overtime and staying up late, and his long working hours caused great damage to his body.
Later, Hu Qiaomu fell ill with cancer, and his body was even worse after the cancer spread, but he never wanted to give up his work, he wanted to make people realize the real Chairman Mao, and for this reason, he worked harder.
On September 28, 1992, Hu Qiaomu died of illness in Beijing.
Just a few days ago, Hu Qiaomu was still in a hospital bed and said to his wife: "I want to live to be ninety years old, and I want to finish writing my memoirs about the chairman." ”
But the disease did not give him this opportunity, let him leave this world with regrets...