Dong Biwu of "People's Livelihood in Diligence, Sex in Frugality"

The original title: Dong Biwu, "People's Livelihood in Diligence, Sex in Frugality"

"People's livelihood is diligent, but diligent is not lacking. Sex is learned from thrift, and thrift is used to maintain integrity." This is the motto set by Dong Biwu, one of the "Five Elders in Yan'an" at the beginning of the founding of New China. It is now engraved in the Dong Biwu Memorial Hall in Hong'an County, Hubei Province. With this, he encouraged himself and strictly required his family and staff to adhere to the life style of hard work, plain living, diligence and thrift.

Use money to account

During the Anti-Japanese War, Dong Biwu worked in the Kuomintang-controlled area and often educated the staff: We Communists should talk about revolution instead of lavish. He always wore the most common robe and mandarin jacket, the cheapest hat, and the most common leather shoes. He went through the streets and fought hard in the enemy's den.

In 1945, Dong Biwu attended the United Nations Constitutional Convention in New York. As a member of the delegation, Dong Biwu had a considerable amount of installation and living expenses, but he not only did not touch a thousand dollars, but also "deducted" his own expenses, calculated carefully in his personal life, and donated the money saved to the party. And the cause of the people. At that time, the installation fee paid to him was 1300 US dollars. When he arrived in the United States, he asked his comrades to help him buy clothes. He asked not to choose too expensive clothes. Finally, he bought a suit of 25 US dollars in a ready-to-wear clothing store and attended the United Nations General Assembly in this simple and well-fitting clothing, saving 1275 US dollars in the installation fee. In his daily life in the United States, he is also very frugal. He does not live in luxury hotels, never eats in big restaurants, and often cooks for himself. In the end, he saved $1260 in living expenses and $200 in social expenses. Dong Biwu used it to supplement the purchase of the printing press, English typewriter, and the publication of the English version of "Pre-Liberation Record" that Xinhua Daily urgently needed, all used for revolutionary undertakings.

After the founding of New China, Dong Biwu served as deputy prime minister, the People's Republic of China vice chairman, and acting chairman of the Government Council. However, the higher the status and the greater the honor, the more Dong Biwu abstain from extravagance and thrift. He not only refused additional special care, but also tried to simplify the normal treatment. After getting up early every day, he soak a cup of ordinary West Lake Longjing, and he can only refill water without tea within a day. He likes to use toothpicks, but he is always reluctant to throw them away after using them. He always uses them for steaming and then uses them until they are rotten. The same is true for toothbrushes. If the bristles are rolled up, they will not be changed. If they are broken, they will be baked on the fire and glued for further use.

The same is true for the use of paper. Dong Biwu himself said: "I am the richest and poorest on paper". He often writes, so he uses a lot of paper and is rich. However, he is reluctant to waste a small piece of paper. Many works are written on old desk calendar paper, party program lists and old invitation cards, and both sides are written on them. Therefore, self-deprecation is the most "poor.

He is the same to the children, a penny, a grain of rice can not be wasted. Daughter Dong Lianghui still remembers her father teaching her that "every grain is hard. At that time, she was still young, and she would run away after picking up the rice and throwing the bowl. Her father stopped her and said, "How many rice grains are there in the bowl and on the table?" Every grain is hard to do ". You can't throw every grain! Her father asked her seriously: pick up the rice and eat it. She sighed and said: At that time, I really thought it was dirty and didn't want to eat it. Later, I experienced life and went to the cadre school to work. Only then did I understand my father's painstaking efforts.

In normal life, Dong Biwu requires children to keep accounts with money. He said to his children, "If you want to keep accounts with money, you should not only be afraid of spending more money, but also have a good idea. In doing so, we will form a habit of serving the country and the people in the future. When we need money, we will proceed from reality.

Never ask for special care

Dong Biwu has a high status and reputation in the party, but he never does private affairs through personal relationships, and he also teaches his children that he must not ask for special care and enjoy privileges in his name.

After the founding of New China, some relatives saw that Dong Biwu had become a "high official" in Beijing and hoped that he would "take care of him" in private affairs ". Dong Biwu resolutely rejected all the unreasonable demands of his relatives, and said: Even if it is a reasonable request, don't make an idea from him, you should apply for a solution through the normal channels of your unit. He wrote a "circular letter" to his relatives and friends, telling them that they should not do private affairs through the personal relationship of leading cadres.

Dong Biwu, a staff member around him, is very strict. He has a famous "three rules": you are not allowed to ask for things from the local government, you are not allowed to specialize in any department under your own name, and you are not allowed to accept gifts. Whenever a new comrade came to work with him, he would declare these three rules face to face and seriously say: whoever violates me will be sent to the Public Security Bureau.

Under Dong Biwu's strict education, his three children have developed good living habits since an hour. They never eat snacks, treat people honestly, never mention that their father is "Dong Biwu", never put on airs, and his son Dong Liangyu mocks himself as "I can't put it up if I want". After his son Dong Lianghui graduated from Senior high school, Dong Biwu asked him: "Cadre children cannot be special, Lianghui still goes to the countryside to jump in the queue", and sent him to a remote rural area in Hebei Province to jump in the queue and settle down. Dong Lianghui worked very hard in the countryside and was praised by the local people. The party branch of the production team wanted to develop him to join the party. Dong Biwu resolutely opposed it after learning about it. He said: You have only been in the countryside for two years, and the time is too short. Time, take a look again, and make a serious investigation. Two years later, Dong Lianghui became a cadre of the brigade step by step with his own efforts. Dong Biwu specially urged him: you are a descendant of the revolution, and you should be strict with yourself, live hard and plain, share weal and woe with the masses, and never be superior.

At work, Dong Biwu demanded that his wife and children not enter his office and that of his secretary. There is something to greet him at the door. He is one or two meters away from the small tea table where the documents are placed. He first folds the documents in half to reveal all white paper. He never talks about things at work, nor does he want the children to inquire and discuss them casually. Dong Lianghui recalled: there is such a tacit understanding between my father and me. My father never tells me things that should not be let me know, and never talks about work in our presence. We also never ask for any state secrets.

You must be persistent in learning, especially concentrate.

Reading and studying is not a rule for some people, but here in Dong Biwu, it is a real Dong rule.

Dong Biwu was a scholar of the former Qing Dynasty, full of poems and books. Later, he took part in the revolution and did not forget to read books. Even on the Long March, he carried books with him and wrote wherever he went. After the founding of New China, Dong Biwu was always in his spare time. At the age of 65, he also taught himself Russian, and his learning spirit was very touching.

Dong Biwu not only studied tirelessly, but also encouraged his children's relatives and all the younger generation to study. He also made study plans for the staff around him, delineated good articles in newspapers and periodicals and asked them to study, and regularly checked their study results.

Dong Biwu is very strict with his children's learning requirements, and he does it himself. He taught the children to practice big characters hand in hand, saying: "Chinese characters are square. To write well, you must master the essentials of flat, upright, uniform, and familiar." He also personally picked out books for the children and said many times: "If I die, I will give you three brothers and sisters a set of" Zizhi Tongjian "." Dong Lianghui was in poor health for a period of time and was absent from school. Dong Biwu went to the bookstore and squatted in the pile of books to rummage up and down. It took most of the day to pick out a picture album called Vientiane for her daughter to learn. Reference.

"Get up your strength and fight for a long time. Youth will no longer be wasted." This is a poem written by Dong Biwu to Dong Liangyu, which teaches him to cherish time and to be persistent in learning. He said that "the biggest problem in young students is that they are not easy to learn" and suggested that children can practice the learning methods passed on to them by their father: "learning should be persistent, especially attentive". On one occasion, Dong Lianghui asked his father a geometry problem he didn't understand. He thought about it for a long time and didn't do it. However, he wrote down the idea of solving the problem for his daughter's reference and asked her to think about it again. After two days of conversation and talking about geometry, Dong Biwu told her daughter to ask her teachers and classmates to understand the topic. When my daughter went to his room that night, she found that he was half lying on the bed under the light and was too tired to sleep. She was still holding the yellow piece of paper in her hand, thinking about the geometry problem.

"The scroll is sentimental like an old friend, and the morning is faint and the sorrow is happy. Every blind date." I'm afraid the pleasure and function of reading cannot be overemphasized. "The best family style must be a family style with a traditional reading tradition." Each person has different talents. After reading a book, he may not be famous and ranked as a senior official, but he must be a reasonable and useful member of society. Good reading and good reading are probably Dong Biwu's precious private legacy to his children.

Wang Daiyang

Source: Learning Times