Speaking of China's national ball, table tennis, the strength of Chinese players is absolutely dominant in the world.
There is also such a tradition in the national table tennis industry, and the difficulty of winning medals in international competitions is even lower than that of domestic competitions. The occurrence of such a situation shows the lofty status of table tennis in China.
In fact, China's indissoluble relationship with table tennis began many years ago. As the earliest national sport in New China, table tennis is deeply loved by the people of the whole country. Table tennis is also the earliest international sports event in Which China has participated.
In 1959, after the Chinese table tennis team won the first medal for Chinese athletes to participate in international sports events at the World Table Tennis Championships, Chinese table tennis players almost represented the highest level in the world in the event.
Coupled with many factors such as the "ping-pong diplomacy" incident in the 1970s, "table tennis" once became a sports business card that can represent China.
But when it comes to the glorious past of Chinese table tennis and "table tennis diplomacy", then we have to mention "Zhuang Zedong".
In the 1960s, China has achieved three consecutive world table tennis championships in the field of table tennis. The protagonist of this is Zhuang Zedong.
Zhuang Zedong was born in 1940 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. Zhuang Zedong, who has loved table tennis since he was a child, has always regarded table tennis as an ideal and belief.
Before liberation, sports were not very important in the hearts of the Chinese people. Therefore, Zhuang Zedong, who has been obsessed with table tennis since he was a child, has belonged to the category of not doing business since he was a child in the eyes of his father.
Fortunately, after the founding of New China, China attached great importance to the development of sports. Athletes who love sports also have the opportunity to prove themselves to the world from this time.
In 1959, under the leadership of the Chinese Sports Commission, the Chinese Table Tennis National Youth Team was officially established. At this time, Zhuang Zedong, who was already nineteen years old, participated in the selection of the national youth team.
Under the extremely strict layer of screening, the first generation of Chinese table tennis players represented by a number of outstanding chinese players such as Zhuang Zedong and Li Furong was produced.
And with their selection came the glorious achievements of Chinese table tennis in the following years and a period of enmity and hatred that belonged to that generation.
In 1960, the National Sports Commission decided to select athletes from the National Youth Team to participate in the 26th World Table Tennis Championships. To this end, the State General Administration of Sport specially selected 108 table tennis athletes from the representative teams of various provinces and the national youth team to participate in the training camp in Beijing. This includes Zhuang Zedong and Li Furong.
At the 26th World Table Tennis Championships in 1961, young players Zhuang Zedong and Li Furong, as outstanding young athletes, together with the eldest brother Xu Yinsheng, as well as predecessors Rong Guotuan and Wang Chuanyao, lifted the Swasilin Cup. And Zhuang Zedong and Li Furong finally reached the final round in the single event, winning the title of champion and runner-up.
In the 27th and 28th World Table Tennis Championships since then, the Chinese table tennis team has won the men's team championship twice, and Zhuang Zedong and Li Furong have also met twice in the final round. And these three competitions, the most popular person is naturally Zhuang Zedong.
His two final encounters with Li Furong, both of which ended with Zhuang Zedong's victory.
Especially in April 1965, in the 28th World Table Tennis Championships held in Ljubljana, the "heroic city" of Yugoslavia, the wonderful duel between Zhuang Zedong and Li Furong in the final is still an unforgettable scene for many witnesses for many years, which can be called a classic battle in the history of table tennis finals.
Zhuang Zedong and Li Furong in that era could be described as unique. Winning the championship and runner-up of the World Table Tennis Championships for three consecutive times is a miracle that has not been surpassed today.
Zhuang Zedong's fame in the domestic sports arena has reached its extreme. At this time, when people mention table tennis, they will immediately think of this athlete who represents the highest level of table tennis in China. In that era of relative lack of stars, Zhuang Zedong was definitely the "top class" of the sports circle.
It was precisely because of Zhuang Zedong's well-known sports status and the popularity of Table Tennis in China at that time.
After the World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya in June 1971, Zhuang Zedong, as the representative of the Chinese table tennis team, played a friendly match with the American table tennis sport invited to China. The game, which helped break the ice in Sino-US relations, was called "ping-pong diplomacy" by posterity.
With such an experience of participating in political activities, Zhuang Zedong justifiably stepped into the road of politics. Compared with the obsession of Li Furong in the game of table tennis, Zhuang Zedong's belief in table tennis at this time began to loosen a little.
After finishing the invitational match with the United States team, Zhuang Zedong returned to China and began to serve as the leader and head coach of the national youth team, and also served as the deputy secretary of the party group of the National Sports Commission.
Because of this period of time, Zhuang Zedong was single-mindedly focused on the struggle of his career. However, Zhuang Zedong spent most of his time with the racket from childhood to adulthood, so his understanding of "politics" was relatively naïve and lacked the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
At the instigation of some people, they fell into a whirlpool, although they later became the director of the Sports Committee, but because of this, they broke with their comrades-in-arms Li Furong and the old coach Xu Yinsheng.
It is precisely because of the various actions during that special period that since 1976, Zhuang Zedong has been isolated for more than 4 years.
After the end of the quarantine, Zhuang Zedong was sent to Shanxi for three more years. This period of displacement did not end until 1983.
In this more than 7 years of frustration, none of his former teammates and coaches have sympathized with him. On the way to another country, Zhuang Zedong finally came out of the vanity of those years and began to reflect on his behavior.
In 1983, Zhuang Zedong, who had ended a seven-year decentralization career, was transferred back to Beijing to work as a table tennis coach at the Children's Palace.
From a top athlete who won glory for the country, to the leader of the sports committee who was in the limelight, he could only be an ordinary teacher in the Children's Palace.
In 1985, Zhuang Zedong, who was in trouble, divorced his wife Bao Huiqiao, who is an older generation of piano performance artists in China. What was once a match made in heaven in people's eyes has now become the same forest bird.
There is a saying that God closes a door for you and must open a window for you. Just when his career and marriage were in a slump, Atsuko Sasaki, another confidant in Zhuang Zedong's life, came to his life.
The love between Zhuang Zedong and Atsuko Sasaki can also be regarded as a long-lasting strange relationship. The two who met in distress gradually developed a spark of love, and in order to be able to stay together for a long time, Atsuko Sasaki gave up his Japanese citizenship and the rich life in Japan at that time for Sho Nobuto.
Initially, because of international relations, the marriage of the two was heavily hindered. However, at the insistence of the two, and finally after receiving special approval from the relevant leaders of the central government, Zhuang Zedong and Atsuko Sasaki entered the palace of marriage in 1987.
After marriage, Atsuko Sasaki accompanied Zhuang Zedong out of the haze of life, and with the encouragement of Atsuko Sasaki, Zhuang Zedong finally plucked up the courage to write a letter to his former teammates in 2002.
In the letter, Zhuang Zedong expressed deep remorse for what he had done that year, and hoped that Li Furong and other former teammates could forgive him.
At the end of the letter, Zhuang Zedong quoted a poem by Mr. Lu Xun as a concluding remark: "The brothers who have crossed the robbery wave are here, and they will laugh and have a vendetta." ”
In fact, Li Furong and other former teammates already knew about Zhuang Zedong's situation. For this old teammate who has made mistakes, Li Furong both hates what he did in the past and sad about his situation over the years. He didn't say it in his mouth, but in fact, he also secretly focused on many major events in Zhuang Zedong's life.
After receiving Zhuang Zedong's letter of request for peace, Li Furong was full of emotions. Taking the opportunity of Zhuang Zedong's initiative to seek peace, at the invitation of his old friend Zhang Xielin and others, Zhuang Zedong, Li Furong, and Xu Yinsheng finally got together.
Zhuang Zedong expressed remorse in front of the two of them in the face of their own mistakes, and Li Furong and Xu Yinsheng also forgave the teammates who used to fight side by side at this moment. In this way, when Zhuang Zedong was nearly 60 years old, he finally regained the friendship of his youth.
In February 2013, Zhuang Zedong, who had advanced cancer, was admitted to the hospital. After several battles with cancer, it was ultimately unable to stop the deterioration of the disease. By the fall of that year, Zhuang Zedong's cancer, which had undergone five surgeries, had metastasized again.
Zhuang Zedong, who was physically and mentally exhausted, decided to abandon treatment after the drug treatment was fruitless. Zhuang Zedong wrote a suicide note to Atsuko Sasaki.
He hoped that he could "sleep with dignity" and asked Atsuko Sasaki not to hold a farewell ceremony for his body, because in addition to Li Furong, Xu Yinsheng and several other teammates who were good at that time, there were some people who never forgot Zhuang Zedong's deeds in those years.
Zhuang Zedong wrote in the "Testament": "In a place not far from the end of my life, when I am about to leave the journey of life, say a few words of my heart."
Zhuang Zedong also said in his Will:
"I am grateful to the noble holy land of the motherland for cultivating me; to the industrious, kind, and sacrificial people for nurturing me; to the leaders at all levels with wisdom and unique vision for their love for me; to the sincere help they have given me to me by the united, concerted, and strong fighting collective; to my relatives and friends who have multiplied joy and halved my suffering in my career; and to the medical workers in Beijing, Shanghai, and all over the country for their painstaking efforts to prolong my life and meticulously treat me."
Finally, at 17:06 on February 10, 2013, Zhuang Zedong died of illness in Beijing due to ineffective rescue.
To Zhuang Zedong's surprise, after his death, as soon as the obituary was issued, his former teammates came to mourn, not only Li Furong, Xu Yinsheng and others.
Finally, in the last scene after the end of his life, Zhuang Zedong finally got the forgiveness he spent the rest of his life waiting for, and finally he could truly "leave with dignity".