Grandpa Dong Biwu left me the wealth of life

On April 2, 1975, my grandfather Dong Biwu passed away. I was 5 years old that year. I was ignorant. I only knew that an old man in my family was gone, but my impression of him was extremely vague. After going to school, I read an article about him in my Chinese textbook. Apart from a little pride, I felt more that it was a very distant past. Later, as I grew older, I learned more and more stories about my grandfather, and the figure in the depths of my memory gradually became fresh and heavy......

 

Don't waste a cent of the country.

 

Everyone who worked and lived with his grandfather was deeply impressed by his simplicity and economy.

After the founding of New China, Grandpa always insisted on using the old-fashioned desk assigned to him when he first entered the city. He moved several times and the staff wanted to change to a new one, but he never agreed. Grandpa was sitting on an old swivel chair. Because the shaft was loose, it was neither stable nor safe to sit on it, not to mention rotating. However, he always refused to change it. He just had the base removed and four legs made of wood again, thus sitting until he died. Grandpa usually writes with a writing brush. When the writing head falls off, he uses thread or leather tendon to tie it tightly and continue to use it. He always uses newspapers to practice calligraphy, and writes poems and articles with waste paper such as old calendar cards and program lists used in the first year as manuscripts.

 

Dong Biwu and the author of this article in his childhood

 

Grandpa suffered from a variety of diseases in his later years, and some local responsible comrades asked him to go to a place with good conditions to recuperate, but he politely declined. He always said: "As soon as I move around, I will mobilize people and increase the burden on local manpower and material resources."

In the winter of 1972, because his grandfather's health was deteriorating, the central government approved him to go to Guangzhou to recuperate. At that time, my grandfather was living in the hospital. The staff was worried that he could not support his long-distance travel, so they proposed to go by plane and mobilized my grandmother He Lianzhi and her children to persuade him. But Grandpa insisted on taking the train and said seriously, "It's a matter of principle for me! "Later, he calculated in detail the amount of oil that would be consumed by flying, and patiently educated everyone:" At present, our country is in the construction period, and the oil production is not much. It takes a lot of oil to fly. And hanging a carriage on the train will not affect the railway transportation, but also can see the great rivers and mountains of the motherland along the way, why not do it? "He also repeatedly urged:" I am old, can not do more for the country and the people, so in the future, no matter what to do, should try to minimize the burden on the country and the people. "Our country has a large population and a weak foundation. The face of poverty and poverty cannot be changed overnight. We must strive to save."

 

Grandpa is frugal in life, but when he spends money on helping the nation rejuvenate and cultivating the next generation, he is unusually generous. Wuhan Middle School, located in Liangdao Street, Wuchang District, Wuhan City, was formerly a private Wuhan Middle School jointly organized by Grandpa and Chen Tanqiu in 1919. At that time, with the ambition of arousing the people, overthrow the great powers and eradicate the warlords, grandpa resolutely lost his only leather robe and used the 20 yuan money in exchange for school running funds. In today's Wuhan Middle School, a statue of my grandfather stands at the gate. On the wall behind the statue, there are four strong and powerful characters: Park, Cheng, Yong and Yi. This is the school motto of the private Wuhan Middle School drawn up by my grandfather himself. At that time, many students in this school became loyal and fearless outstanding Communist Party members under his careful training. In 1966, when grandpa met the representative of Wuhan middle school in Wuhan, he explained the school motto he wrote: "simplicity is hard work and plain living, honesty is loyalty and honesty, courage is courage, and perseverance is perseverance and perseverance......"

The four words "park, sincerity, courage and perseverance" deeply affect me and teach me how to behave and do things.

 

Use foreign exchange where it should be used.

 

In 1945, as a member of the Chinese delegation to the United States to attend the founding meeting of the United Nations, Grandpa received a considerable amount of installation, living and communication expenses from the National Government. He was careful about the use of the funds and tried to save as much as possible. Now, a bill of income and expenditure that Grandpa wrote down during his visit to the United States is still kept. From the above records, Grandpa bought a suit for $25 at a ready-to-wear store near his residence when necessary, saving $1275 in installation costs. In the United States, he wore this frugal, well-fitting outfit to the United Nations General Assembly and other diplomatic events. In addition, apart from attending banquets and other necessary banquets held by the United Nations, he never dined in big restaurants. Instead, he often dined in Chinese Street restaurants with Zhang Hanfu and Chen Jiakang, or bought simple food to pack and take back to his residence to eat. As a result, he saved 1240 US dollars in living expenses and 200 US dollars in communication expenses. Grandpa will save more than $2500 in installation, living and communication expenses, all of which will be used to supplement the public.

In 1945, Dong Biwu signed the Charter of the United Nations on behalf of the Communist Party of China and the people of the liberated areas.

 

At that time, Grandpa had several large expenses in the United States: first, under the auspices of Grandpa, Zhang Hanfu and Xu Yongying compiled and printed 5000 copies of the English pamphlet "Records of China's Liberated Areas" to publicize the real situation of China's Liberated Areas to all countries in the world and to expose and refute the rumors and slander of the reactionaries, when he was asked to order printing machines in the United States, Grandpa used the money saved and donations from some overseas Chinese to buy 30000 US dollars of printing equipment and other urgently needed materials for the country.

In September 1954, at the invitation of the government of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, Grandpa led a Chinese government delegation to attend the 10th anniversary ceremony of the Bulgarian National Day. The host country gave each member of the Chinese delegation a considerable amount of living expenses for the guests to buy daily necessities or souvenirs. However, the delegation's schedule of activities was so tight that there was no time to spend the money. Some members of the delegation asked for some free time to go to the local department store. Grandpa not only did not agree to this, but also discussed with everyone how to deal with the money at the delegation work meeting. He suggested leaving the money to our embassy for public use, but one member of the delegation did not agree, saying that according to the financial system, the embassy might not have this income item and was worried that it would not be easy to handle. Grandpa immediately asked the Chinese ambassador to Bulgaria who was present. When he got a positive answer, he took the lead in keeping his money without saying a word. Seeing this, other members of the delegation also left the money to the embassy.

 

Resolutely not to "profit" for the family"

 

In the early days of the founding of New China, some relatives and friends of Grandpa's hometown in Hong'an saw him become the deputy prime minister of the State Council, thinking that he had become a "big official", and wrote to him one after another to ask for work arrangements, work transfers, and life care. In response, grandpa replied politely and refused, and at the same time explained to them why they could not be taken care. In his reply, he said: to arrange and transfer work, one should ask for instructions from the organization, not from him personally; to despise labor, to have a better income and enjoyment if he wants to work or to work less, is a stale or even very bad old concept; to do work is not to be an official, but to work for the interests of the people, and the interests of the people are solved, and the personal interests of the revolutionaries are solved; we must not take revolution and joining the party as a means of personal interests......

　

Later, Grandpa simply wrote a circular letter, printed it out, and sent it to his family and relatives and friends respectively to educate them in advance and give them "vaccination".

My grandmother, he Lianzhi, joined the party in 1933. She was an old Red Army. During the Agrarian Revolution, she fought, was injured, and participated in the long March. She worked at the grass-roots level in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border region. During the Anti-Japanese War, she followed her grandfather to Wuhan, Chongqing, Nanjing, Shanghai and other places to fight side by side to deal with the encirclement of enemy agents and white terror. After the founding of New China, she served as the secretary of her grandfather's office. She worked hard and did her duty in her job. She never thought about getting any benefits from her grandfather's relationship.

 

Dong Biwu is writing

 

In 1956, Grandpa served as the president of the Supreme People's Court. This year, he was catching up with the adjustment of the ranks of state officials. In the promotion list drawn up by the personnel department, there is also grandma's name.

Grandma's level at that time was administrative level 13, which was not high. It was completely reasonable to raise the level. The list had also been discussed and approved by the Party Committee of the Supreme People's Court, pending the final approval of the president. After reading the list, grandpa agreed to the promotion of other comrades, but only mentioned the brush to tick off grandma's name. he also specially found the relevant comrades and told them not to mention he lianzhi's level, but to mention other comrades first.

In the second half of 1969, my father Dong Liangyi went to Jinxian County (now Jinzhou City) in Hebei Province to work in the countryside for just half a year. The local party organization planned to develop him to join the Party. When Grandpa heard this, he immediately asked Grandma to write to the party organization there: "You can't recruit him into the party so quickly because he is my son. He must be tempered for a while. "After that, he was still worried, and asked his grandmother to go to Jinxian County in person to repeatedly emphasize to the local comrades that you must not show affection just because the child is a cadre's child. You must be strict. Only when you truly meet the conditions of a Communist Party member can you recruit him. Join the party.

 

　Only buy books big hands and feet

 

One of Grandpa's students once said: Teacher Dong Biwu's lifelong hobby is "reading and revolution", which reflects Grandpa's living conditions from one aspect. Grandpa never smoked or drank in his life. After work, he loved reading, writing and reciting poems.

In the revolutionary war years, when the troops had to retreat and move in case of serious enemy situation, grandpa's clothes could be left behind, but books must be taken away. The horses assigned to Grandpa during the Long March were basically used to carry books, except for the wounded and sick.

Grandpa has to be careful in buying everything, but he is willing to spend money on books. When he was in Nanjing, he often went to the Confucius Temple to visit the old book stalls; when he was in Shanghai, he would go to the Commercial Press soon. At that time, although he needed a little disguise before going out, he enjoyed it. When he went to an old book stall or library, he always looked through all kinds of books carefully, looking for hours, picking and choosing, and finally buying what he liked. Grandpa bought some of the books are dilapidated, even can't see the cover, the staff around him asked: "you buy this broken book why?" Grandpa said: "don't look at it is an old book, there are treasures in it! Now that the country is in turmoil, this kind of broken book is not easy to buy."

Grandpa is very interested in history, and sometimes he can buy dozens of thread-bound books in one breath. Once, he found a set of "Zizhi Tongjian" and was extremely happy, but the boss asked to 5 million legal tender. The staff was too expensive, but grandpa insisted on buying it. On the way back to the office, Grandpa said excitedly, "This book is rare. I met it this time. I'm really afraid he won't sell it to us. "The staff said," He's not selling it? If we don't sell it, we'll buy a new one! "Grandpa shook his head:" In these days, who else will publish these new books? Even if there is, I'm afraid it won't be cheaper than this."

After decades of accumulation, grandpa's collection of books is considerable, including many precious ancient books. He said many times during his lifetime that these books would be given to the people of his hometown. After his grandfather died, in accordance with his wishes, all these books were donated to the country.

Grandpa love to buy books, but also love to learn. In order to facilitate reading foreign books and materials at work, grandpa has always insisted on learning foreign languages. He studied English tirelessly and then Russian as well. When he was in trouble, he always modestly asked the young comrades around him who were good at foreign languages for advice, never feeling embarrassed or "off the shelf". In order to learn foreign languages well, grandpa also wrote a lot of small notes, one side is foreign words, the other is Chinese explanation and phonetic symbols, tied into a bundle with rubber bands, put them in his pocket when he went out, and recited them when he was free. this habit lasted until a few years before his death.

Grandpa has been away from us for 43 years. Nowadays, the strength of the country is becoming stronger and stronger, the people's life is becoming more and more prosperous, and the objective environment has changed. However, the Chinese Communists carry forward the style of hard work and plain living, think about what the masses think, worry about the urgent needs of the masses, solve the difficulties of the masses, and strictly require the excellent traditions of their relatives and children. We must learn from Grandpa's excellent demeanor and continue to strive for the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new era.

 

Source: Party Building Magazine