Abstract: Wu Lengxi (1919-2002), a native of Xinhui, Guangdong, joined the Communist Party of China in April 1938; He once served as the president of Xinhua News Agency, the secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, the deputy director of the Central Literature Research Office, the director of the Radio and Television Department, the honorary chairman of the All-China Journalists Association and the honorary president of the China Radio and Television Society. He is an alternate member of the 11th and 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, a member of the Standing Committee of the Third, Fourth and Fifth National People's Congress, and a member of the Standing Committee of the Seventh and Eighth National Committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Biography
Wu Lengxi (1919-2002), formerly known as Wu Shizhan, was a native of Xinhui, Guangdong; After the "918" incident, he actively participated in the anti-Japanese rescue activities. In 1937, he left Guangzhou for Yan'an, entered the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, and joined the Chinese National Liberation Vanguard. He joined the Communist Party of China in April 1938. In June 1938, he entered the Marxist-Leninist Institute in Yan'an and served as a researcher in the Marxist-Leninist Research Office. In September 1939, he was transferred to the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, where he served as an editor and review section member and the editor of liberation, an organ of the Party Central Committee. In 1940, he was transferred to Chairman Mao Zedong's side to edit the "Current Affairs Series". In September 1941, he was transferred to Jiefang Daily, an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and successively served as the editor, editor-in-chief and director of the international department of the international edition. In 1946, he was responsible for the international department of Xinhua News Agency. In 1947, he was appointed secretary of the editorial board of the Xinhua News Agency and presided over the work of the editor-in-chief's office. In 1948, he became the director of the editorial department and a member of the editorial board of the Xinhua News Agency. In February 1949, he became the deputy editor-in-chief of the Xinhua News Agency. After the founding of China, in October 1949, Wu Lengxi became the editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency. In December 1951, he became the president of Xinhua News Agency. In June 1957, he became the editor-in-chief of the People's Daily and the president of xinhua news agency. In July 1964, he was also appointed deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee.
During the Cultural Revolution, he was brutally persecuted several times by the Gang of Four. In 1972, he resumed his work at the People's Daily. In 1975, he became a leading member of Mao Zedong's Selected Materials Group and served as a leading member of the Political Research Office of the State Council.
After the smashing of the "Gang of Four", in October 1976, Wu Lengxi participated in the work of the provisional leading group responsible for the preparation of the Editorial and Publication Committee for Mao Zedong's Works, and in March 1977, he was appointed deputy director of the Office of the Editorial and Publication Committee of Chairman Mao Zedong of the CPC Central Committee and deputy secretary of the Party Committee.
Wu Lengxi and Mao Zedong were appointed secretaries of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee in April 1980, and from May 1980 to April 1982, they also served as deputy directors of the Central Literature Research Office. In April 1982, he was appointed Minister of Radio and Television and Secretary of the Party Group. He served as Chairman of the Presidium of the All-China Journalists Association, Chairman of the Second, Third and Fourth Councils, and President of the China Radio and Television Society. After retiring in 1998, he became the honorary chairman of the All-China Journalists Association and the honorary president of the China Radio and Television Society.
He is an alternate member of the 11th and 12th Central Committees of the Communist Party of China, a member of the Standing Committee of the 3rd, 4th and 5th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and a member of the Standing Committee of the 7th and 8th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Comrade Wu Lengxi died in Beijing on June 16, 2002 at the age of 83 due to ineffective medical treatment; Comrades Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Hu Jintao, Wei Jianxing, Li Lanqing, Ding Guangen, Tian Jiyun, Li Changchun, Li Tieying, Wu Guanzheng, Chi Haotian, Zhang Wannian, Huang Ju, Wen Jiabao, Zeng Qinghong, Song Ping, Song Renqian, Huang Hua, Yang Chengwu, Ma Wenrui, and Deng Liqun expressed their deep condolences on his passing away in different ways and expressed cordial condolences to their families.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > experience</h1>
Wu Lengxi, Liu Shaoqi and other comrades were born on December 14, 1919, in Wenlou Village, Gujing Town, Xinhui District, Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province. Although he left his hometown at the age of 13, he is still a well-known celebrity in Wenlou Village. It is also because he left home at a young age that the details of Wenlou people's memories about him are disappearing. "Article Huaguo", there is such a character on the archway of Wenlou Village, as if to remind the world that Wu Lengxi's "big pole" was born here. Wenlou Village: This is a typical old village in Guangdong, quiet, old, green brick and gray tile alleys on both sides, three or three pairs of white-haired old people and children frolicking around, the village rarely see young adults, because they all go to the city to work.
The "Wenlou Old People's Club" is almost the most popular place in the village, gathering a lot of old people who play mahjong, chat, and drink tea. Everyone knows that Wu Lengxi is the "biggest official" and "the pen is very powerful" in Wenlou, but few people can say the details of his and his family's life here. Leng Xi left Wenlou to study in Guangzhou at the age of 13, and later his family also left Wenlou for Beijing, rarely returning. Now leng Xiruo is alive, they are all 90 years old, and there are not many old people in the village who are similar to his age and are still alive!" Wu Yongyu, the person in charge of the "Old People's Association", told reporters that in 1966, Wu Lengxi's two daughters returned to Wenlou and lived in Wenlou Village with Wu Yongyu's sister for two years.
In order to find traces of Wu Lengxi's life in Wenlou Village, Wu Yongyu took the reporter to Fuqing (1) Eight Lane, which is the home of Wu Lengxi's father and the place where Wu Lengxi was born. This well-preserved two-storey mansion, the painted calligraphy on the gatehouse, the thin white lines drawn between the green brick seams are still very clear, and the old mansion is equipped with reinforced anti-theft doors and stainless steel window frames, and the doors and windows are tightly closed, "This is Leng Xi's brother who came back last year to repair." No one has lived here for a long time. The old man next door who was chilling in the alley told reporters.
Wu Lengxi's private school "Chongrang Hall" in Wenlou Village was later made the Wu Ancestral Hall and became one of the six ancestral halls in the village. "The six sons of the old ancestor, one son and one ancestral hall, this is the ancestral hall of Wu Lengxi's family." Wu Yongyu pointed to a tall building on the shore of a pond and weeping willows. However, apart from the large characters of "Wugong Ancestral Hall of Mountain Spring", there are no features that show that this is an ancestral hall, which has even been rented to a small garment factory as a factory.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > journalism</h1>
After receiving an enlightenment education in "Chongrangtang", in 1932, Wu Lengxi left Wenlou Village to study at Guangzhou Provincial Guangya Middle School. During this period, he was diligent and studious, pursued progress, and actively participated in the student patriotic movement. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he left Guangzhou for Yan'an in December 1937 and joined the revolution. In June 1938, Wu Lengxi graduated from the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University and entered the Yan'an Marxist-Leninist College as a researcher. In September 1939, he was transferred to the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, where he served as an editor and editor of the Party Central Committee's organ publication Liberation, as well as a cadre of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University and a senior class teacher of the Shaanxi Northern Public School, as well as a theoretical study counselor for cadres of the Northwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
During this period, he paid close attention to the changes in the international situation and published a series of comments on international issues. In the winter of 1940, Wu Lengxi was transferred to his side by Mao Zedong's name and edited the "Current Affairs Series", which lasted for three months. In September 1941, he was transferred to Jiefang Daily, the organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and successively served as the editor, editor-in-chief and director of the International Department. During his work at Liberation Daily, he participated in the revision of Liberation Daily, studied international issues, wrote a large number of international current affairs commentaries, and hosted several columns, thus beginning a long career in journalism.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > go to the countryside</h1>
When Wu Lengxi returned to Wenlou Village, it was 26 years later, when he was the secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, in charge of publicizing culture, education and science and technology (Editor's note: There was a first secretary of the provincial party committee at that time). This is also one of the rare non-journalistic work experiences in his life. It also happens that some details of this period were recorded by an old man in the Wenlou. Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, and Wu Lengxi (first from the left) waited together on the first day of the wenlou interview, and after dark and the reporter had left, the enthusiastic Wu Yongyu finally found the old man who had dealt with Wu Lengxi. In order to interview the old man, the next day, the reporter came to Wenlou Village again.
The new old man of Wu Wei studied with Wu Lengxi in the "Chongrang Hall" when he was a child. In 1958, during the Great Leap Forward, Wu Lengxi, accompanied by two guards, came to Wenlou Village to inspect production. Wu Weixin was a veterinarian in the production brigade at the time, "I was giving injections to pigs, and the captain of the brigade, Wu Guanglu, came with a person, and when I looked, wasn't this Leng Xi?" Also wore glasses. Wu Weixin said that after a brief chat with Wu Lengxi about the production situation, he took a photo with him and Wu Xiangze, Wu Niansheng and Wu Guanglu. Unfortunately, Wu Weixin did not have this photo, and the other four people in the photo were all deceased. After taking pictures, Wu Lengxi came to the big canteen with everyone to eat. Wu Weixin recalled that at that time, when the "Great Leap Forward" was being carried out, everyone went to the production team to eat a big pot of rice. Although Leng Xi has been promoted to the secretary of the provincial party committee, he is also sitting on the bench in the large canteen with the villagers. "Leng Xi doesn't talk much, but there is no shelf, mixed among the villagers, and even many people don't know that he has become the secretary of the provincial party committee." Wu Weixin said.
Since then, the Wenlou people have never seen Wu Lengxi return to his hometown. "He must be too busy to have time!"
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Xinhua</h1>
In May 1946, according to the instructions of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao, Jiefang Daily and Xinhua News Agency were merged, and Wu Lengxi was responsible for the work of the International Department of Xinhua News Agency until February 1949, when he served as deputy editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency.
In October 1949, Wu Lengxi became the editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, becoming the first editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency in New China, and in December 1951, he was appointed president of Xinhua News Agency. After Wu Lengxi became the main leader of the Xinhua News Agency, under his direct leadership, the Xinhua News Agency put an end to the fragmentation of domestic branches during the war years, completed the unification of organization and work, and quickly became a unified and centralized state news agency.
During this period, Wu Lengxi put forward eight requirements for news writing and led the "pen training campaign", which greatly promoted the improvement of the quality of news reports of xinhua news agencies and the improvement of the work style of editorial staff. He put forward the fundamental principle that Xinhua News Agency should become a "news gathering" and led everyone to make unremitting explorations and efforts to achieve this goal. He also devoted himself to improving and strengthening the work of the Xinhua News Agency's "Internal References," so that it played an important role as the party's eyes and ears and was valued and praised by the party Central Committee and Chairman Mao.
In the mid-1950s, Wu Lengxi, in accordance with the instructions of the Party Central Committee, led Xinhua News Agency on a journey to build a worldwide news agency. By 1965, the number of Xinhua news agencies abroad had increased from 4 in the early days of the founding of New China to 51; On the basis of the original English, The foreign broadcast has added Russian, French, Spanish and Arabic, and has opened a special line broadcast for different regions; At the same time, more than 20 publishing stations have been set up abroad to send Xinhua News Agency press releases to more than 100 countries.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > newspaper</h1>
In 1956, the "socialist camp" changed dramatically. From the end of 1956 to the beginning of 1957, Mao Zedong presided over politburo meetings or enlarged meetings of the Politburo Standing Committee at the Yinian Hall almost every day to discuss the situation at home and abroad. On June 1, 1957, Wu Lengxi, then president of xinhua news agency, received a notice that Mao Zedong wanted to talk to him. At that time, China was in a period of "loud and loud".
After the meeting, Chairman Mao said to Wu Lengxi: "Have you read today's newspaper?" Now the newspapers are very attractive, and many people talk loudly about helping the Communist Party rectify the situation. Then, Chairman Mao said that the central authorities had studied it repeatedly and hoped that Wu Lengxi would go to the People's Daily to work and strengthen the leadership there.
Wu Lengxi replied: "Although I studied and studied at the Marxist-Leninist Institute in Yan'an for two years, and gave lectures on Marxism-Leninism at the Kang Da and northern Shaanxi Public Schools, I have been engaged in journalism work for more than a decade, have not engaged in theory, and know less about academic issues and literary and artistic issues, so it is not suitable for me to go to the People's Daily."
Mao Zedong gave Wu Lengxi ten days to consider. Ten days later, Wu Lengxi still said that he was not suitable for the People's Daily, but he was willing to obey the decision of the Party Central Committee. So Mao Zedong asked him to work as Hu Qiaomu's assistant to the People's Daily first, and after working for a while, the Central Committee would officially announce the appointment of him as the editor-in-chief of the People's Daily, and at the same time continue to serve as the director of the Xinhua News Agency, unifying the propaganda of the two units.
Then, Mao Zedong solemnly admonished Wu Lengxi: "When you work in the People's Daily, you must be fully prepared ideologically, prepared to encounter the worst situation, and have the spiritual preparation of 'five not afraid.'" The 'five are not afraid' is: one is not afraid of dismissal, the second is not afraid of expulsion from the party, the third is not afraid of the divorce of his wife, the fourth is not afraid of going to prison, and the fifth is not afraid of killing his head. With this preparation for the 'five fears,' we will dare to seek truth from facts and dare to uphold the truth. In 1963 Wu Lengxi met with The British reuters president Gerald Lang"
Mao Zedong went on to say that dismissals and expulsions from the party were not uncommon and that preparations should be made. The current central authorities are different from Wang Ming's "left" line leadership and from Zhang Guotao's time. However, it is necessary to be mentally prepared for imprisonment, and there are still cases of Communist Party members who have been wronged for a while, but under the leadership of the correct line, they will eventually be rehabilitated and corrected. A Communist Party member who has to stand the test of being wrongly punished may be beneficial to himself...
After this conversation, Wu Lengxi went to work at the People's Daily. Half a month later, the "anti-rightist" struggle began. As the mouthpiece of the party, the People's Daily has obviously played a more important role in guiding public opinion and a propaganda tool, and Wu Lengxi, as the editor-in-chief, has also endured unimaginable pressure from ordinary people and begun an extremely difficult life as an editor-in-chief.
During his term of office, Wu Lengxi formulated the policy of running newspapers in accordance with the requirements of the party Central Committee and Chairman Mao, and personally wrote many important editorials and news. He also paid attention to the training of cadres, which laid a good foundation for the later construction and development of the People's Daily.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the Cultural Revolution</h1>
Mao Zedong attached great importance to propaganda work, and many times let Wu Lengxi attend meetings of the Politburo Standing Committee, so he was very clear about the decision-making process of the Central Committee. From 1956 to the beginning of 1966, Wu Lengxi also attended many important meetings of the Party Central Committee during the past 10 years and participated in many international conferences of the Communist Party. In 1962, the Central Committee set up a document drafting group directly led by the Politburo of the Central Committee, and he was appointed as the deputy head of the group, and participated in the drafting of many important documents of the Party Central Committee, such as "On the Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat", "On the Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat", and a series of commentaries on international issues, which aroused strong repercussions at home and abroad.
During the Cultural Revolution, Wu Lengxi was brutally persecuted by the "Gang of Four" several times. During the period of censorship, he still tirelessly read a large number of Marxist-Leninist works.
In 1972, Wu Lengxi resumed his work at the People's Daily with chairman Mao's approval. In 1975, he was appointed as a leading member of the material group of the "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" and a leading member of the Political Research Office of the State Council. During this period, he participated in the editing of Mao Zedong's "On the Relationship between the Ten Congresses" and other important works, and the drafting and revision of important documents such as the "Outline of the Report of the Chinese Academy of Sciences". In the struggle to smash the "Gang of Four," Wu Lengxi actively threw himself into the struggle to expose and criticize the "Gang of Four" and participated in the revision of several batches of materials approved and issued by the central authorities.
In October 1976, he participated in the work of the provisional leading group responsible for the preparation of the Committee for the Editing and Publication of Mao Zedong's Works, and in March 1977, he was appointed deputy director of the Office of the Editorial and Publication Committee of Chairman Mao Zedong of the CPC Central Committee and deputy secretary of the Party Committee, and participated in the editing of Mao Zedong's works after the founding of New China. At the same time, he also participated in the drafting of important central documents such as the "Resolution on Several Historical Issues Concerning the Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China."
In April 1980, Wu Lengxi was transferred to Guangdong Province as the secretary of the provincial party committee, in charge of publicizing culture, education and science and technology. From May 1980 to April 1982, he also served as deputy director of the Central Literature Research Office.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > unblocked</h1>
From April 1982 to April 1985, Wu Lengxi served as Minister of Radio and Television and Secretary of the Party Group. During his term of office, while adhering to the correct guidance of public opinion, he organized and implemented a series of major radio and television reform measures, and also lifted the ban on Li Guyi's "Nostalgia" on the spot in the background of the first Spring Festival Gala. At that time, many people called in to demand it, because Wu Lengxi made a decision and was able to lift the ban, so later some viewers wrote to CCTV, saying that they were "the people's own television station."
The "Outline of the Report on Radio and Television Work," which was drafted by Wu Lengxi and is of epoch-making significance in the history of China's radio and television development, and the Eleventh National Radio and Television Work Conference presided over by him, put forward the task of "being determined to reform, giving play to our strong points, and striving to create a new situation in radio and television work," defining the short-term planning and long-term goals for the future development of radio and television, and formulating various specific reform policies for developing the radio and television industry in the new period. Under his leadership, radio and television have made unprecedented achievements in public opinion orientation, program quality, and coverage, explored a new path for the development of radio and television with Chinese characteristics, and created a new stage in the reform, development, and prosperity of the new Chinese radio and television industry.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > later years</h1>
Between 1987 and 1997, Wu Lengxi wrote a memoir of great value for the study of contemporary history, "Remembering Chairman Mao -- Fragments of Several Major Historical Events I Personally Experienced" (Xinhua Publishing House, 1995) and hundreds of thousands of words of "Ten Years of Controversy -- Memoirs of Sino-Soviet Relations" (Xinhua Publishing House, 1995). The book "Remembering Chairman Mao" focuses on the speeches of Chairman Mao that Wu Lengxi heard during the "Great Leap Forward" from 1958 to 1959, including Chairman Mao's special conversation with him.
Through detailed historical recollection, Wu Lengxi enables readers to truly see Chairman Mao's basic ideas in the process of the "Great Leap Forward," and provides valuable first-hand information for the analysis and thinking of later generations.
After 1998, Wu Lengxi served as honorary chairman of the All-China Journalists Association and honorary president of the China Radio and Television Society. He dedicated his life to the party's journalistic cause.
