It has been 12 years since Comrade Zhou Enlai left us.In another month, on March 5, it will be his 90th birthday. In order to express the remembrance of Comrade Enlai by Chinese Communists, non-Party figures and the masses, the Literature Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China invited old comrades such as Nie Rongzhen and Bo Yibo, and old friends such as Gu Gengyu and Cheng Siyuan to write reminiscence articles; Comrade Deng Yingchao also wrote miss the article. After gathering dozens of manuscripts, the comrades in the Literature Research Office asked me to write a short article for this collection as a preface.

Comrade Zhou Enlai is my old comrade-in-arms and old leader, who has always been respected by me, so I am naturally happy to accept this task. Comrade Zhou Enlai is a staunch communist who is worth remembering forever.Since he participated in the famous May 4th Patriotic Movement in 1919, he has experienced many difficult, complicated and glorious struggles: the founding of the Communist Party of China, the first KMT-CPC cooperation, the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army, the armed struggle of Shanghai workers, the Nanchang Armed Uprising, the The underground struggle under terror, the anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign in the Central Revolutionary Base Area, the Red Army's 25,000-mile Long March, the peaceful settlement of the Xi'an Incident, the realization of the second Kuomintang-Communist cooperation, the whole nation's war of resistance, the united front work in the anti-Japanese rear area, after Japan's surrender Peaceful negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the People’s War of Liberation until the defeat of the Kuomintang reactionaries, the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the defense of the country by resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea, restoring the national economy, carrying out the construction of the first five-year plan, overcoming the economic difficulties after the “Great Leap Forward”, and carrying out the first The construction of the second five-year plan was followed by ten years of turmoil during the "Cultural Revolution".Comrade Enlai finally died of a serious illness due to physical and mental exhaustion, and died on January 8, 1976.This period of more than half a century has been the age when the exploited, oppressed, and bullied Chinese people are engaged in earth-shaking struggles, and it is the time when the weak, poor, and backward China is beginning to move towards a strong, prosperous, and civilized era. Comrade Enlai Not only did he uninterruptedly participate in these great and difficult struggles led by the Party Central Committee and Comrade Mao Zedong, but he also unreservedly devoted all his energy to the glorious cause of revolution and construction until his last breath.

Comrade Zhou Enlai established a close relationship with the broad masses of cadres inside and outside the party and the masses of the people during his long-term struggle.Especially during the ten-year period of turmoil, when the environment was complex and dangerous, he was like "sneaking in the thorns and fighting hard in the mud". He almost exhausted all his energy and did everything he could: reduce political losses, maintain economic life, protect the vast cadres, support the righteous masses, improve foreign relations, and so on.Comrade Enlai's selfless and fearless dedication to the ideal of communism has established a lofty image of loyalty, kindness, diligence, perseverance, selflessness, and fearlessness among the cadres and the masses, and even among international people.When the news of his death came out, hundreds of millions of people wept bitterly, and an unprecedented crowd of mourners spontaneously appeared in Tiananmen Square in Beijing for several days. On January 15, 1976, more than a million young people, old and young, women and children in the capital stood in the bitter cold wind for several hours to say goodbye to the hearse of their most beloved one.It is unprecedented for so many people to take to the streets to mourn a leader of the Communist Party and the country with the deepest grief.This makes me think that for a political party, the trust and love of the people is a foundation far stronger than steel.Whether there is such a foundation is related to the survival of the party.The same is true for proletarian revolutionaries.

In this short article, there is no need to repeat Comrade Zhou Enlai's great contributions to the party, the motherland and the people, and his great achievements in various aspects as a proletarian politician, military strategist, economic construction leader, and diplomat .History will record these achievements passed on to future generations.Here I will only talk about a few points of my deep feelings, which are also worthy of my study with you. Comrade Zhou Enlai was a communist with both revolutionary courage and pragmatism.He was good at combining the two in every major struggle.He is a very pragmatic person who always keeps in mind the principle of seeking truth from facts.For every job, he has to figure out the actual situation, taking into account the front and back, the pros and cons, as well as the current and long-term, domestic and international conditions and actual effects.He is famous for his thoughtful and meticulous consideration of problems.I believe that as a national leader, it is necessary and worthwhile to be cautious and considerate when dealing with major issues, even the daily work that you are responsible for.Comrade Enlai's serious and down-to-earth style of dealing with things comes from his attitude of being absolutely responsible for the cause of the party, the country and the people.Communists, first and foremost leaders, should be responsible for the cause of the people, this is a fundamental one.Comrade Enlai's realistic style has a lot to do with his humility.Even when the work is going well and successfully, he has no arrogance.This is indeed not easy to do.Not everyone can be a great person with great achievements.Now, our tasks are heavier and our work is more complicated, so we should, like Comrade Enlai, insist on a realistic attitude and a modest and prudent style of work.

Another outstanding strength of Comrade Zhou Enlai is that he is good at uniting people.He was indeed able to unite all who should and could be united.This characteristic of him has long been recognized within the party and is even more famous outside the party.Working with him, it is natural to have a friendly atmosphere of stability and unity.For a long time, he did not agree with the "struggle philosophy" of fighting everything and everywhere, and sometimes resisted it.Of course, the reason why Comrade Enlai unites the majority is to fight against a very small number of enemies and win victory at the least cost. Therefore, this kind of unity is a principled unity, which is conducive to the success of the cause.And the practice of fighting at every turn, and expanding boundlessly after one fight is an unprincipled struggle and a harmful struggle.This "philosophy of struggle" has nothing in common with Marxist materialist dialectics, and is contrary to the principles of Marxism.

Our party and the Kuomintang cooperated twice and fought two serious armed struggles, and finally won.During the two cooperations, especially during the Anti-Japanese War, Comrade Zhou Enlai achieved outstanding success in implementing the party's strategy of uniting and fighting.At that time, he was in charge of uniting people from all parties and factions and people without party affiliation in the Kuomintang ruled areas, including some people in the Kuomintang with democratic and progressive ideas, as well as upper-level figures who supported the resistance to Japan.At the same time, in-depth work has been carried out among young students, teachers, workers, farmers, businessmen and other strata, influencing and uniting the majority.In this way, the Kuomintang reactionaries' active anti-Communist and passive anti-Japanese features were fully exposed, and they fell into an extremely isolated political situation and lost the hearts of the people throughout the country.On the contrary, because of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army actively fighting against the enemy and puppets, as well as their effective work in the anti-Japanese rear area, our party established a high prestige among the people of the whole country, and became one of the important factors for the rapid victory of the liberation war.

Comrade Zhou Enlai was a communist with a high degree of democratic spirit.In his activities within the party, in his coexistence with people outside the party, and even in his foreign exchanges, people feel that he treats people equally and has a democratic style.At work, he is willing to discuss with everyone and listen to various opinions.He listened to opinions different from his own, even if they were spoken by ordinary cadres or the masses, he could seriously consider them.He never criticizes the other party's mistakes, but listens patiently, and then explains his point of view with facts and reasons.For a leader, democracy means resourcefulness.Only those who are resourceful can make good judgments, and those who are less resourceful are easy to be decisive.This truth is often said by the ancients.Now building socialism and implementing policies of reform, opening up, and revitalization, the problems are much more complicated. Only by being more resourceful in major decisions can we be more correct and make fewer mistakes; mistakes can be found and corrected more quickly.In a certain sense, only by resourceful leaders can mobilize the enterprising spirit and centripetal force of the broad masses of cadres and the people.We Communists are principled, but it is always beneficial to our cause to carry forward the democratic style, listen to all kinds of opinions and brainstorm.

Comrade Zhou Enlai's hardworking spirit has reached an astonishing level.In the decades before the "Cultural Revolution", he usually worked more than 12 hours a day, and sometimes he only rested for five or six hours a day, concentrating and working hard day and night.Many comrades know that during the three-year difficult period, in order to ensure that the urban people did not have food, he often had to work until the early morning to distribute, transport, and store food.He personally calculated the grain stocks and the amount of transfers in and out, and personally called the leaders of the provinces and cities, and did not rest until they were properly handled.We often say that we must serve the people wholeheartedly. How can we be wholehearted?I see Comrade Enlai as a role model.During the "Cultural Revolution" period, Comrade Enlai worked even harder, often day and night, and could only rest two or three hours a day, sometimes even half an hour of rest.He later fell seriously ill, which was inseparable from overwork and mental depression.Even when he was seriously ill, he still kept in mind the prosperity of the country, the interests of the people, and the health of cadres, and used various forms to resist the sabotage plots of Lin Biao and the "Gang of Four".Comrade Enlai asked himself that the day's work must be done on the same day, and he has never stopped for decades.He always devotes all his energy to his work because he has a high sense of responsibility for the cause of the party and the country and has a high degree of love for the people.The Communist Party of China has indeed gained glory because of Comrade Zhou Enlai, and the Chinese people have indeed increased their sense of pride because of Comrade Zhou Enlai.

Comrade Zhou Enlai is a person who is strict with himself.He has relatively lenient requirements on others, but is very strict on himself. He takes into account the influence on the party and the country in every word and deed, and strives to prevent the party and the country from being damaged or tarnished in the slightest.His strict self-discipline is especially manifested in his attitude towards mistakes.For bigger mistakes, he sincerely made self-criticisms over and over again, and made self-criticisms whenever he had an opportunity.For small mistakes, he also carefully checked.When he conducts self-criticism, he never emphasizes objective reasons. He first focuses on finding the root cause from his own thoughts, style, standpoint, viewpoint, and method.If there is a problem with the work under his leadership, he should first take responsibility for it, never assign it to others, and help the comrades concerned to make up for the loss as soon as possible.His good style of paying attention to self-criticism at all times is well-known in our party and has been praised by many comrades, who regard him as a model worth learning.

Lin Zexu has a self-encouraging couplet: "The sea is tolerant to all rivers, and it is great to be tolerant; a wall stands on a thousand feet, and there is no desire to be strong."This applies to Comrade Zhou Enlai. Although it is not complete, it can represent his main characteristics.Comrade Enlai's chest is indeed like an ocean, with a huge capacity.If he sticks to his principled position, he is like a thousand-ren mountain.And this is possible because he has no selfishness in his heart, only the interests of the party, the country, the people, and the great ideal of communism.

The lofty image of Comrade Zhou Enlai will forever be engraved in the hearts of the Chinese people.