On September 9, 1976, Chairman Mao, the great leader of the Chinese, passed away in Beijing, and the people of the whole country were immersed in grief. After Chairman Mao's death, the Politburo began to prepare Chairman Mao's memorial service and eulogy.
At 3 p.m. on September 16, the eulogy discussion chaired by Hua Guofeng was held in the main hall of Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai. Zhou Qicai, who was working in the General Office of the CPC Central Committee at the time, took the lead in standing up and making comments: "Comrade Wang Dongxing asked me to bring a message, and I must add an important instruction. ”
After listening to his words, the members of the Politburo present were all immersed in contemplation, and even Hua Guofeng was silent, and the venue was silent. Seeing that no one had spoken for a long time, Hua Guofeng took the lead in making a decision, and the plan was finalized: "I am in favor of adding instructions!" ”
So, what opinion did Wang Dongxing put forward? Why did Hua Guofeng agree to include it in Chairman Mao's eulogy?
Hua Guofeng
Since Premier Zhou's death, Chairman Mao's physical condition has become worse and worse. Friends and comrades-in-arms around him passed away one after another, making his mood always in a dull state, and he hardly had any smiles on weekdays.
On January 30, 1976, the last Spring Festival that Chairman Mao spent, only on this day did the Chairman seem a little happier. Chairman Mao's family did not have guests to celebrate, nor did he have his own family to accompany him, and only a few staff members who took care of him silently took care of him.
Near the Chinese New Year's Eve meal, the staff brought the Chairman's favorite Wuchang fish and a little rice to the bed, and the Chairman had no strength to serve the meal himself, so he could only lie on his side on the sickbed and feed it by the staff around him.
Just after a few bites, the chairman waved his hand and signaled that he would not eat it. Zhang Yufeng, the staff member in charge of taking care of him, was very distressed and advised the chairman to take a few more bites, but the chairman shook his head and said, "I'm going to sit in the living room for a while." ”
Zhang Yufeng carefully lifted the chairman up and sent him to the living room. He rested his head on the couch and sat there quietly with his eyes closed. There was no one in the house to speak, there was silence, but there was a faint sound of firecrackers outside the house.
At night, the sound of firecrackers not far away became louder and louder, and the chairman looked at the staff members who accompanied him day and night, reminding him of the lively scene of firecrackers set off in the New Year before. The chairman said to Zhang Yufeng in a slightly hoarse voice: "Put down some firecrackers, you young people must have the atmosphere of the New Year." ”
Zhang Yufeng nodded, then called on several staff members who were on duty and prepared a few firecrackers in the courtyard. As the New Year bell rings, the firecrackers in the courtyard crackle and burn.
Chairman Mao and Zhang Yufeng took a group photo
Only then did the chairman's tired, thin face barely show a smile. But several staff members were not pleased, because they all understood that the Chairman's rare smile was comforting the staff who accompanied him.
The older people get, the more they miss the places where they grew up, and Chairman Mao is no exception. He was born in Shaoshan, Hunan, and has strong feelings for it. After the founding of New China, although he stayed in Beijing for a long time because of official business, he still cherished the land that nurtured him, and he was very fond of every grass and tree there.
Chairman Mao very much wanted to return to the roots of the fallen leaves, hoping that he would be buried in his hometown after death, so not long after the Spring Festival, he put forward such a wish to the Politburo of the Central Committee: return to his hometown of Shaoshan to recuperate and live there for the rest of his life.
However, the Central Committee did not agree to the Chairman's request. First of all, his physical condition is not optimistic, and any short-distance movement may pose a threat to his life, not to mention the nearly 1500-kilometer distance from Beijing to Shaoshan.
Former residence of Chairman Mao
Secondly, almost all the senior leaders of the Central Committee live in Beijing, and it is more convenient for them to ask Chairman Mao for advice if they have something to do, and it is not very convenient if he returns to Shaoshan to recuperate.
When the Politburo of the Central Committee informed Chairman Mao of this opinion, he let out a long sigh and agreed to the result after a long silence.
In the summer of 1969, as his physical condition became worse and worse, the chairman rarely saw guests, and even Yang Kaizhi, the brother of his deceased wife Yang Kaihui, came to Beijing to see him, and the doctor did not recommend him to go.
Gradually, the 83-year-old began to like to reminisce about the past. In his contacts with the staff around him, he often inadvertently talked about the past events, participating in the revolution, joining the party, uprising, resisting Japan, and liberating China, and the past events were played in front of his eyes like a movie, and the chairman always talked with Zhang Yufeng about getting along with Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu when he was studying and when he was making a revolution.
Chairman Mao
Although the chairman's speech was already vague at that time, as long as he recalled the past events, his face would appear a rare brilliance. He often talked about the war years and the early days of the founding of the country, and he was willing to watch films that shot these contents. Once, when the film showed the picture of the People's Liberation Army attacking a certain city and being warmly welcomed by the people along the way, Chairman Mao was emotionally excited and could not help but cry.
The chairman asked the staff to turn over some of the old photos of that year and gently wipe them on their hands. Among them, the photograph of him giving a report to the division cadres in Yan'an when he was young and his photograph of him riding a horse to fight in northern Shaanxi were Chairman Mao's favorites.
Originally, the chairman's health was not very good, and the impact of the Tangshan earthquake dealt a heavy blow to the dying old man. At this time, Chairman Mao was in a coma and semi-coma for most of the time, living on nasal feeding, but his mind was still awake.
After the Tangshan earthquake, the chairman asked the staff to send materials on the earthquake situation every day, and sometimes when he could not hold the newspaper or could not read the words, he asked the staff to read it on his behalf. When he learned that the Tangshan earthquake had caused extremely heavy damage, the chairman wept sadly.
He summoned the secretary to personally explain that he wanted the party Central Committee and the State Council to urgently mobilize PLA troops, medical teams, and engineering and technical personnel to rush to Tangshan day and night to rescue and rescue the disaster.
By September 7, the Chairman sensed that he was running out of time, but he still insisted on reading books and listening to staff read documents in a critically ill state.
He asked the staff to bring him a book, but because of his weak voice and indistinct words, the staff could not accurately judge the Chairman's thoughts. Chairman Mao was a little anxious, and with a trembling hand holding a pen, he wrote a crooked "three" character, and then laboriously raised his other hand to knock on the wooden bedside.
The staff had a flash of inspiration and thought of Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki, so they asked the chairman if he wanted to read his book, and the chairman nodded with satisfaction. But within a few minutes of watching, the chairman fell into a coma again.
Chairman Mao loved to read
The next day, not long after the chairman woke up, he had to read books and documents again. At this moment, Chairman Mao is in a state of rescue, with an intravenous infusion catheter in his upper limb and an ECG monitoring wire in his chest, and a nasogastric tube inserted in his nose, and his physical condition is already very critical. Zhang Yufeng was worried about his body, and whispered in the chairman's ear: "You should still rest more!" ”
But the chairman shook his head slowly, and Zhang Yufeng knew that the chairman's mind had been decided, and he no longer advised. Bring books and documents to him and hold them in front of his eyes with both hands. Under such conditions, the chairman read the book for up to 30 minutes, during which he was in a coma many times.
That night, Hua Guofeng was in the lively Great Hall of the People, holding a farewell dinner for foreign guests. Suddenly, the guard ran to Hua Guofeng in a panic and said softly, "The doctor has issued an emergency critical illness notice, and the chairman is about to die..."
Hua Guofeng immediately put down his wine glass, apologized to the foreign guests, and then rushed to Zhongnanhai by car. As soon as he got out of the car, he pulled out his leg and ran to Chairman Mao's residence, No. 202. But unfortunately, he missed the opportunity to meet Chairman Mao for the last time.
Chairman Mao and Hua Guofeng
In the early morning of September 9, 1976, Chairman Mao, with the admiration of the people, left forever the revolutionary cause he had struggled all his life for. At that moment, Hua Guofeng was devastated.
After Chairman Mao's death, the Politburo decided to convene a meeting in Huairentang to discuss the text of Chairman Mao's eulogy.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Wang Dongxing summoned Zhou Qicai to the temporary office in the Great Hall of the People and solemnly said to him: "There are two things you report to Comrade GuoFeng on my behalf: First, I cannot attend this afternoon's seminar, and I want to stay here to protect Chairman Mao's body, and you ask Comrade Guofeng for leave; second, I have carefully examined the draft of the eulogy and think that it is basically available, but I must add the chairman's 'three wants and three don'ts' in an appropriate place. ”
The content of the "three wants and three don'ts" is an important instruction put forward by Chairman Mao, the content of which is: We must engage in Marxism and not engage in revisionism; we must unite and not split; we must be upright and upright, and we must not engage in conspiracies and tricks. This directive is intended to unite the people, gather strength, and point out the direction for China's progress.
Zhou Qicai also thought that it could be added, so he said: "Well, I will definitely convey it to Comrade Guo Feng." ”
Wang Dongxing and Chairman Mao
Near three o'clock, members of the Politburo who attended the meeting arrived at the venue one after another, and Hua Guofeng announced the meeting. Zhou Qicai immediately stood up to convey Wang Dongxing's opinion, which aroused the thinking of the people present, and most people very much agreed with this opinion.
Hua Guofeng nodded after thinking for a long time, pointed to Yao Wenyuan, the person who revised the eulogy at the meeting, and said: "No one has raised a different opinion, so add this important instruction of the chairman to the appropriate place in the eulogy." ”
In this way, the directive of "three wants and three don'ts" was added to Chairman Mao's eulogy.
On the afternoon of September 18, 1976, the main venue of the "Memorial Conference for The Great Leader and Mentor Chairman Mao Zedong" was solemnly held in Tiananmen Square.
The colossus of Chairman Mao hanging in the center of the Tiananmen Tower was covered with a black veil, and in front of the tower, a red platform was erected with wreaths laid by the party and leaders. On the east and west sides, wreaths sent by various provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions are displayed, and the large Tiananmen Square is full of solemn atmosphere.
Radio, television, and newspapers all covered the chairman's memorial service, and the people of the whole country were immersed in infinite grief.
Countless people in the capital spontaneously came to the scene of the memorial service, wearing black veils on their arms and white flowers on their chests. The send-off procession continued from Tiananmen Square to Dongdan and Xidan.
The mourning crowd slowly walked past the sides of Chairman Mao's body, looking at the most beloved leader, whose face was so kind and kind, as if he had just fallen asleep and had not left the people who loved him. Everyone could not suppress the great sorrow in their hearts, and they lost their voices and cried bitterly, and many people shouted: "Chairman Mao, Chairman Mao, we will always miss you..." The weeping sound was incessant all day, and the tears were all over their clothes, and they could not bear to leave for a long time.
Many old comrades who have passed the age of flower armor and even ancient rarity have cried bitterly like children: "For decades, as long as Chairman Mao has been in front of us to guide the way, we will not get lost." Now that we have lost him, we really feel like we have suddenly become 'orphans'..."
Luo Ruiqing, who was seriously ill, came to Tiananmen Square in a wheelchair, and despite the persuasion of his family, he must stand up and bow to the chairman. Guo Moruo came to the crystal coffin early to pay respects to Mao Zedong's remains, and then struggled to guard the chairman's spirit in an extremely weak state. Gao Zhi's tears kept hitting the ground, and the chairman refused to leave.
At exactly three o'clock in the afternoon, Comrade Wang Hongwen, vice chairman of the CPC Central Committee, announced the beginning of the memorial meeting. Millions of people stood solemnly and collectively observed a three-minute silence for the chairman. The 500 members of the military band played a tragic and majestic mournful music, and the sad music resounded in people's hearts.
The live broadcast of the congress was broadcast through radio and television to all parts of the country, and all of them stood in tears to see off Chairman Mao, the most beloved of the people.
On September 18, 1976, Hua Guofeng delivered a eulogy at Mao Zedong's memorial service
Hua Guofeng, first vice chairman of the CPC Central Committee and premier of the State Council, delivered a eulogy. In the process, Hua Guofeng choked back tears several times, his body was almost out of balance when he tilted forward, and finally he had to endure the grief in his heart to read the eulogy, and then he led all his personnel to bow three times to Chairman Mao and bid farewell to Chairman Mao, the great leader of China.