Editor's note: It was the social atmosphere of the Mao Zedong era, and Mao Zedong's own respect for the peasants and the new face of the countryside became the biggest driving force for Huang Yanpei to be a good student of Chairman Mao. This is truly invaluable. Huang Yanpei's vision can go beyond his own family, and he can first focus on the history of the country, the fate of the country, and the face of the country. It can be said that at that time, Huang Yanpei realized that Mao Zedong was "a great man of a generation who led the Chinese people to completely change their destiny and the face of the country." As a very influential celebrity, it was remarkable to be able to have such an understanding at that time. At least now, there are still many celebrities inside and outside the party who cannot reach such a height of understanding.
Huang Yanpei (1 October 1878 – 21 December 1965) was a native of Chuansha County, Jiangsu Province (now Pudong New Area, Shanghai). He is a famous Chinese educator, industrialist and politician, and one of the main founders of the China Democratic League and the China Democratic Construction Association. After liberation, he served as the leader of the country.
One of the most influential things in Huang Yanpei's life was his conversation with Mao Zedong in Yan'an about the "cycle rate."
In 1945, when Huang talked with Mao Zedong in Yan'an, he said: In the more than sixty years since I was born, I have not heard about it, and what I have seen with my own eyes is really the so-called "his rise is also booming" and "his death is also sudden", one person, one family, one group, one place, and even one country, many units have not been able to jump out of the dominance of this cyclical law. At the beginning of the day, da fan concentrated on the mind, there was no one who did not care about anything, there was no one who did not work hard, perhaps at that time, hardship and hardship, only to find a life from death, and then the environment gradually improved, the spirit gradually let go. Some of them have naturally inert attacks because they have lasted for a long time, from the minority to the majority, to the cultivation of a general atmosphere; although there is great force, it cannot be reversed, and it cannot be remedied, and some have expanded step by step for the sake of the region, and its expansion, some out of natural development, some driven by the desire for merit, forced to develop, and when the cadres and talents are gradually exhausted and difficult to cope with, the environment has become more and more complicated, and the control has inevitably become weaker. In a history, there are also those who "slack off in politics", there are also those who "die in government", and there are also those who "seek glory and humiliation", in short, they have not been able to jump out of this cyclical rate. He said: "From the past to the present, I know a little bit about the CCP monarchs. It is hoped to find a new way to jump out of the domination of this cycle rate. ”
After hearing Huang Yanpei's opinion, Mao Zedong said to him:
"We've found a new way, and we can tune out this cycle rate." This new road is democracy, and only by allowing the people to supervise the government can the government dare not slacken off. Only when everyone rises up and takes responsibility will no one die in politics. ”】
Huang Yanpei believes that:
"That's right."] "Only when the general policy is decided on the public, personal merit will not occur." Only by making the affairs of every place public to the people of every place can we make the land and the land rich and the people. Putting democracy to break this cyclical rate is, I'm afraid, effective. ”】
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Huang Yanpei was appointed by the Central People's Government as vice premier of the State Council and minister of light industry, and also as a member of the Financial and Economic Committee of the State Council. In September 1954, he was elected as a member and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress at the first session of the National People's Congress.
Beginning in 1949, Huang Yanpei personally wrote more than 100 letters to Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong personally wrote more than 60 letters to Huang.
Huang Yanpei's daughter Huang recalled at the time:
"Chairman Mao regarded my father as a good friend and had great respect for him. Chairman Mao's letter first addressed Mr. 'Mr. Renzhi', and later 'Huang Lao' or 'Huang Ren Lao'. At the end of the letter, I wish my father good health. My father had several surgeries, and every time he was hospitalized, he had to ask Chairman Mao for leave. After the operation, he wrote a poem and sent it to Chairman Mao. He was willing to be Chairman Mao's good student. (Edited by the Literature Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China: Approaching the World of Leaders: Interviews with 100 Insiders, Chongqing Publishing House, June 2011, pp. 157--158)]
Huang Yanpei has 13 children. The eldest son, Huang Fanggang, died of illness in 1944, and the second son, Huang Jingwu, was killed by the Kuomintang on the eve of liberation. The other 11 were all successful. But on the road to growth, it has also experienced various twists and turns. The most serious of these was the anti-Rightist struggle of 1957, in which 7 were classified as Rightists.
With regard to the struggle against the Rightists, the Second Historical Resolution of the Party has already reached a conclusion and will not dwell on it here.
According to the available historical data, on the matter of his seven children being classified as this matter, Huang Yanpei was not found to have any unreasonable or complaining remarks. He has always been concerned about national affairs, and sometimes expressed some different opinions and suggestions on the country's principles and policies. But on the whole, he was a firm believer in the leadership of the Communist Party and was pleased with the country's growing prosperity. He had great respect for Mao Zedong.
On February 6, 1958, the 81-year-old Huang Yanpei spoke at the National People's Congress:
"I'm 80 years old." But to survive, I will now, and will continue to do so, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, conscientiously accept the transformation and take part in the work of socialist construction. At the same time, we should study well, learn from the working class, strive to learn and master the Marxist world outlook through ideological transformation, and thoroughly transform ourselves, who grew up and raised from decades of bourgeois society, into an intellectual of the working class who is loyal to socialism. I know that this transformation kung fu is not easy, but I must work hard to do it, and humbly and constantly look for my own shortcomings and mistakes. ”】
From December 1959 to February 1960, the joint meeting of the "Second Congress" of the China Democratic National Construction Association and the "Three Congresses" of the Federation of Industry and Commerce was held in Beijing. During the congress, after Attending the Preparatory Meeting on December 7, Huang Yanpei visited the Great Hall of the People with the deputies of the Tenth Anniversary of the National Day, and conceived a pair of long-term joints to show their hearts: "As long as you have a clear understanding of the current favorable situation at home and abroad, and receive on-the-spot education, who does not abandon the dark and cast light, changes his position, and gets rid of the inextricable old relations with the bourgeoisie; once you see that tens of thousands of working people everywhere have created a glorious new world, you will be happy and determined to transform and establish a sincere feeling of loyalty to communism." ”
On February 13, 1964, the Lunar New Year, at three o'clock in the afternoon, Chairman Mao summoned some leaders of the party and democratic parties to the Beijing Hall of the People's Congress to hold a New Year discussion and dinner together. 87-year-old Huang Yanpei did not hear clearly because of his ear impairment, and after a few days, he personally visited Zhang Shizhao, checked the parts that he did not hear clearly and recorded them before returning home.
In 1964, Huang Yanpei wrote "Eighty Years", from the preface:
"Look at today, think about yesterday, everyone knows what they are trying to do. Personally, under the leadership of the Party and Chairman Mao, I have a spirit for the whole country and an inch of time for the whole people, and I have encouraged myself with 'going up every day'; at the same time, I have a correct understanding of the excellent situation of the class struggle at home and abroad, so that we can learn from the old and transform ourselves into the old. ”】
At the end of the book, it reads:
"Chairman Mao has given me cordial teachings over the years, especially the great theory that there are still classes, class contradictions, and class struggle in socialist society, which I need to study even more. I am determined to follow the Party's teachings, accept the transformation, and transform to the end. I am willing to join the people of the whole country in listening to Chairman Mao's words, following the Communist Party, taking the socialist road, and further taking the communist road. ”】
For Huang Yanpei's performance, after entering the reform and opening up period, there are gradually different evaluations. For example, some argue that the post-liberation ideological reform movements have caused democrats such as Huang Yanpei to obey. In this regard, the author does not agree. In the past few decades, many works that reflect the intellectuals of that era have mostly liked to take artistic processing for granted. Therefore, if you want to truly reflect a historical figure, just review that person's life experience and check the historical data of that era, and the problem of "historical truth" will be solved.
Huang Yanpei is an old man who experienced the Xinhai Revolution, and he believes in "The Facts of the Xinhai Revolution I Personally Experienced" that the symbol of the success of the social revolution is to see whether there can be a new generation of new people and new fashions. He wrote:
"I have a friend, Yang Yasong, who told me very excitedly after the Xinhai Era, and told many of his friends: The Chinese revolution has succeeded, I want to be a new Person in New China, and from now on I will do three things: (i) never smoke opium again; (ii) never gamble again; (iii) never visit brothels again. If you break it, do your duty. It's just that I haven't quit drinking, so I'll drink less in the future! "He was representative of most of the progressive youth of that time."
From the point of view of the progressive youth, from the point of view of the changes in the hearts of the people in some parts, from the demands of the broad masses of the people, the people at that time were very willing to accept the call of the revolution and follow the progress. By 1925, because Mr. Zhongshan accepted Liao Zhongkai's suggestion, he decided to unite Russia, the United Communist Party, and support for peasants and workers as the three major national policies. Zhongshan's subordinate Hu Hanmin actually assassinated Zhongkai, who was also a member of the League. In 1921, the Communist Party of China was born, and after thousands of hammers and tribulations, finally under the leadership of Chairman Mao Zedong, China was liberated in 1949 and gradually entered socialist society. ”】
Deng Xiaoping said to foreign guests on November 26, 1979:
"If you came in the fifties or early sixties, you can see that China's social fashion is very good." ”】
The second volume of the history of the Communist Party of China also states:
"The more imperialism blockades, the more difficult the national economy becomes, and the more the people unite around the Party. This is because the masses of the people firmly believe that the party represents the fundamental interests of the Chinese the people. Under the leadership of the party, the people of the whole country have united as one to develop industrial and agricultural production, change the appearance of poverty and backwardness, and build a great socialist country. This is an era of hard work, an era of dedication, an era of ideals shining and an era of spirit. This contemporary social trend and ideological atmosphere have left a profound mark on the history of China's socialist construction. ”】
Is such a good society in line with Huang Yanpei's ideals?
Another point comes from his view of the peasants.
In old China, peasants, who accounted for ninety percent of the population, lived what kind of life, Liang Shuming described when he inspected the countryside in 1939:
"In the past thirty years of the Republic of China, nothing serious has been done, and in the future, it is necessary to seek progress from the countryside in general. The cause of this feeling is that we take more remote paths along the way, the so-called poor and remote areas, and see the poverty of the people's livelihood and the solid customs more realistically. For example, women in the interior of Shanxi are wrapped in their feet, so that they can hardly see their feet, so that they have to crawl for transportation. There is also the decoration of women's hair and green clothes and white skirts in the poor valley on the right bank of the Yellow River, which is exactly the same as what was seen in Beijing opera, and is still about the same as the old appearance of the Ming Dynasty. When it comes to poverty, it is even more difficult to say. It is generally undernourished and hungry. Its uncleanness and unhygienicity come with poverty and ignorance. Such a people, such a society, cannot exist on its own in modern times, even without tyrannical aggression. Therefore, how to urgently seek social progress is the first major event in China. However, this first major event, today, which has been thirty years since the Republic of China, has not done it. Year after year, it is as poor as ever, as ugly as ever. ”】
The main reason why the peasants of old China lived so hard was nothing more than the harsh exploitation of them by the ruling class.
Therefore, in the family training proposed by Huang Yanpei, the first one is:
"The peasants must be respected. In the history of our country, the working peasants have never been sorry for their ruling class. ”】
Regarding the situation of the peasants in New China, Fairbank, the most famous Sinologist in the United States, said it succinctly:
Regardless of Mao's reputation, his monument was built in the countryside. ”】
In the recent national fight against covid-19, Mao Zedong's poem "Sending the Plague God" has been frequently mentioned. Through Mao Zedong's concern for the eradication of schistosomiasis in the vast rural areas of southern China, this poem vividly embodies his feelings of worrying about the country and the people with the suffering of the vast number of peasants as their own suffering and the happiness of the vast number of peasants as their own pleasure. This also explains why even now, many peasants still have portraits of Mao Zedong hanging in their homes.
It can be seen from this that it was the social atmosphere of the Mao Zedong era, and Mao Zedong's own respect for the peasants and the new outlook of the countryside became the biggest driving force for Huang Yanpei to be a good student of Chairman Mao. This is truly invaluable. Huang Yanpei's vision can go beyond his own family, and he can first focus on the history of the country, the fate of the country, and the face of the country. It can be said that at that time, Huang Yanpei realized that Mao Zedong was "a great man of a generation who led the Chinese people to completely change their destiny and the face of the country." As a very influential celebrity, it was remarkable to be able to have such an understanding at that time. At least now, there are still many celebrities inside and outside the party who cannot reach such a height of understanding.