Cheng Siyuan threw himself into the pen in his youth, followed Li Zongren before and after the horse, and from 1930 to 1934, he served as Li Zongren's secretary, thus forming an indissoluble relationship with the New Gui clan. From 1938 to 1942, he was Secretary to Bai Chongxi. As a think tank of the Gui clan, he was an excellent political activist. He participated in the planning of major historical events such as opposing Chiang Kai-shek, helping Li Zongren to run for "vice president," forcing Chiang to step down, and negotiating peace with the Communist Party, and in the 10 years from April 1956 to June 1965, Li Zongren sent Cheng Siyuan to Beijing five times to promote Premier Zhou Enlai. The two went to Europe to match and made full preparations for Li Zongren's return to the mainland. Finally, in July 1965, he accompanied Li Zongren and his wife back to the motherland and settled in Beijing with Li Zongren.
On July 26, 1965, Li Zongren and Cheng Siyuan went to the embrace of the motherland for just one week. This morning Chairman Mao met them in the lounge of the swimming pool on the south-central coast.
Accompanying the reception were Vice Chairman Peng Zhen and Vice Chairman Guo Moruo.
When Mao Zedong received guests, both in form and conversation, they seemed very casual and lifelike, making people feel very relaxed and unrestrained. They greeted each other for a while, and the chairman proposed to go for a swim. Swimming is one of Cheng Siyuan's favorite sports, and the chairman praised him for "swimming well!" After the swim, the chairman asked the guards to ask Cheng Siyuan to go over.
After Cheng Siyuan passed, he saw the chairman sitting on a wicker chair basking in the sun. The guard moved another rattan chair and let Cheng Siyuan sit next to the chairman.
Mao Zedong's first words when he saw Cheng Siyuan were: "Long-known names, like thunder through the ears", and then asked Cheng Siyuan about his academic qualifications and work experience, "From 1934 to 1937, he studied at the University of Rome as a graduate student." In 1937, he received a postdoctoral fellow in political science from the University of Rome and returned to China to participate in the War of Resistance Against Japan" Cheng Siyuan answered succinctly. Later, talking about the United States, Cheng Siyuan said: "U.S. President Kennedy had a copy of the "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" on his desk before his death, and it seemed that he wanted his subordinates to study China. Recently, a Kuomintang man said to me that he also used Mao Zedong Thought to do things, and he summed up Mao Zedong Thought in two sentences: 'Investigation is not enough, no decision is made, and conditions are not prepared and no action is taken.". ”
Chairman Mao laughed when he heard this, and suddenly asked Cheng Siyuan:
"Do you know what I eat on?"
Cheng Siyuan looked very dazed and replied, "I don't know." ”
The Chairman said, "I eat by experience. After a pause, he added, "In the past, when our People's Liberation Army fought a war, after each battle, it always summed up, carried forward the strong points, overcame the shortcomings, and then went into battle lightly, advanced with victory, marched from victory to victory, and finally established the People's Republic of China." ”
Later, I went to Fortress Garden, sat down in Chairman Mao's living room and talked about it again.
During the conversation, Chairman Mao suddenly asked Cheng Siyuan:
"Why is your name Cheng Siyuan?"
"To think far is to think far, and it is precisely because I think far that I have come back to talk to Chairman Mao and the Communist Party."
Cheng Siyuan did think far, and when he realized that the new Gui clan could not realize his dream of saving the country, in 1949 Cheng Siyuan resigned from the important post of the Chinese Kuomintang and went to Hong Kong to serve as a columnist for the "High Noon" newspaper, and lived a stable life.
In 1956, Cheng Siyuan visited the northeast of the mainland and other places, and when he saw that the ideals of that year were realized under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, he realized that China's future needed the Chinese Communist Party, so he changed his previous views and resolutely supported the Communist Party.
Chairman Mao smiled and asked, "Do you have a typo?"
"Nothing." Cheng Siyuan said.
"Well," Chairman Mao said at once, "I'll give you a few words." In ancient China, there was a great literary hero Han Yu, and his nickname was "Retired". Now I'm giving you the nickname: Near. ”
At that time, it was rare to hear Chairman Mao name people. The next day, when the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee invited Li Zongren and Cheng Siyuan, Guo Moruo called Cheng Siyuan "close" when he made a toast.
Near means "close to the Chinese Communist Party", and Li Zongren's return to China was promoted by Cheng Siyuan.
Since then, Cheng Siyuan has been active in Chinese politics as a non-partisan and has become a busy social activist and state activist.
Since the 1980s, Cheng Siyuan has warmly received and extensively contacted many visitors from all walks of life in Taiwan, listened to their opinions, exchanged views on the reunification of the motherland with them, patiently did their work, and hoped that they would participate in the great cause of the peaceful reunification of the motherland. Over the years, through in-depth investigation and careful consideration, Cheng Siyuan has put forward many very insightful suggestions on Taiwan work, which have been affirmed by the central leadership and relevant departments. Cheng Siyuan regarded the reunification of the motherland as the most important cause in his life. Even on his sickbed, he paid special attention to the reports on the situation in Taiwan in the newspapers.
In the late 1990s, he used the example of Li Zongren's return to China to shout to the other side of the strait, indicating that the Communists had a broad mind of putting the interests of the state and the nation above all else and hoped that the two sides of the strait could be peacefully reunified.