Chapter 55 Lessons from the May Fourth Movement that I will never forget

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of the beloved Premier Zhou.It has been 12 years since he left us. Premier Zhou was worried about the national economy, the people's livelihood, and world events day and night.It is really "devotion to one's best, only after death". After 1972, the Prime Minister, with a weak body, worked hard for the country and the people, taking care of every opportunity and working hard.His greatness is not only reflected in how he handles the ever-changing political events, but also in how he handles domestic comrades, foreign friends and his own medical problems.

Since 1957, I have had the honor to carry out medical work together with other medical staff under the direct leadership of the Prime Minister. In nearly 20 years of practice, I have received profound teachings, which I will never forget. The Prime Minister's warm care for comrades is meticulous.He not only personally intervened in the health problems of leading comrades of the central government and provinces and cities, but also cared about ordinary workers' patients.Comrade Bian Zhiqiang and I have been sent to some hospitals many times to visit sick comrades, understand the progress of the disease and treatment, and report to him.For example, Comrade Wang Jinxi, the "Iron Man of Daqing", was hospitalized due to cancer. He carefully questioned and reviewed the treatment plan, and gave many instructions.Even if it is an unknown wounded or sick person, he always finds time out of his busy schedule to ask us about the situation and give us instructions when he sees reports about his injury or illness in the newspaper.For example: In 1969, Comrade Wang Shifen, a female worker at the Beijing Fireworks Factory, pulled the switch to save state property when the gunpowder exploded, causing more than 90% of her body to suffer third-degree burns.After her deeds were disclosed in the newspapers, the Prime Minister immediately sent us to understand the treatment situation and instructed to set up a medical leadership group.

The Prime Minister told me that the two of us will come to grasp this point.I feel like the Prime Minister is lifting me up and helping me raise awareness in business.When Wang Shifen's shock test and infection test had passed, the Prime Minister warned: You must not think that the serious problem has passed.The Premier pointed out that attention should be paid to the transformation of major contradictions in different periods.For example, how to control the many visiting reporters, consider the possibility of bedridden for a long time and other diseases, malnutrition, and scars that hinder sweating and other specific issues, etc., have all been thought of.Later facts proved that the Prime Minister's prediction was quite correct.The Prime Minister is observant, thoughtful, and possesses profound scientific knowledge, not just in medicine.

The Prime Minister is very concerned about people. He cares about the comrades he comes into contact with, his comrades-in-arms, and the orphans of his comrades-in-arms.Whenever he went to the hospital to visit sick comrades, he always asked which other comrades were also hospitalized there for treatment and went to visit. I remember one time when he found the elevator was noisy when it was running in a certain hospital, he immediately asked for the elevator to be repaired as soon as possible, and he stopped taking the elevator when he went downstairs, so as not to affect the rest of the patients.When he heard a dog barking near the ward, he knew that it was an experimental dog, so he instructed to move the dog to a place farther away from the ward.

The prime minister treats patients with such care and consideration.When he hears or reads in the newspapers that there are new medicines and treatment methods for certain diseases, he always asks us whether the medicine and treatment methods are suitable for certain comrades.The Prime Minister is never satisfied with a general answer of "not applicable", and must make it clear why "not applicable".For some complex and difficult diseases, if foreign experts visit China, he will let us use every opportunity to find out whether there are new treatment methods.He often told us: Doctors need dialectics the most, and doctors are the easiest to understand dialectics. They should study Chairman Mao's "On Practice" and "On Contradiction."Doctors should tell their patients the actual situation and play two active roles. Doctors and patients should fight against diseases together.

When Anna Louise Strong was critically ill, the Prime Minister went to visit and found that she had not been given an infusion. The Prime Minister immediately asked why the infusion was not given.The medical staff said: The patient refused to accept the infusion.The Prime Minister was very dissatisfied after hearing this, and severely criticized the medical staff: You can't shift the responsibility to the patients, because you can't work at home.He personally explained to Strong the necessity of the infusion, and watched the patient receive the infusion before leaving with confidence.No matter which hospital the prime minister goes to, he always finds problems of one kind or another, such as poor sanitation, lack of quietness, lack of heating, food that needs to be improved, and so on.

The Prime Minister is very caring and caring for the medical staff, giving support from all aspects, and at the same time making strict demands.The Prime Minister's seriousness about his work is unparalleled.His work is so heavy, he often gives up his rest and takes an hour or two to listen to our report on the medical situation of his comrades.The time is often arranged until 11:00 or 12:00 in the middle of the night.His eyes were piercing, and he listened and thought.My personal feeling is that even for purely business issues, we are more carefully prepared and considered than when an intern reports to a professor.In addition to medical records, laboratory results, and X-ray photos, we always have to bring related materials such as viewing light boxes, atlases, and even models, microscopes, and microscope slides.Because the prime minister not only has to listen to conclusive opinions on diagnosis and treatment, but also asks a series of questions.A treatment plan will not be approved without clearly stating the basis for the conclusions drawn.

The Prime Minister's instruction on our medical report has given us a very profound education.He often re-punctuated every punctuation mark with a red pen on every report, and corrected any wrong symbols.If we only write the body temperature on a certain day in the report, the Prime Minister will use a red pen to add brackets after the number to indicate the temperature of the previous day.We are both amazed and admired by his meticulousness and memory.In the future, we will also know that we must add the body temperature figures of the previous day, so as to compare whether it is rising or falling.

When we explain medical issues, the Prime Minister often compares the explanations we have done in the past and asks: You say that a certain antibiotic is good, why not use it now?With regard to new drugs, the Prime Minister raised more detailed questions.He sometimes held the leaflet of the medicine and asked us what side effects the medicine had, and what practical experience do you have?Have you tried it yourself?etc. According to my own experience over the years, when I report to the prime minister, I always have to be asked.We can only seek truth from facts, what we know is what we know, what we don’t know is what we don’t know, and we must never be perfunctory.In front of the sharp-eyed Prime Minister, no one can avoid it.I remember once I was sent abroad to understand the medical problems there, and I was limited to return to China to report within 24 hours.Due to time constraints, I made full preparations in advance, considering that after I arrived, I would discuss with the comrades in the medical team there, and the relevant comrades would prepare materials separately, what I would read and understand.When I came back to report to the Prime Minister, it went well.When talking about the patient suffering from pneumonia, I said: There is inflammation and the lesion is serious, but the X-ray film is not good.The Prime Minister unexpectedly asked me what kind of X-ray machine I used to take the photos.I said it was taken by an X-ray machine next to the bed.The Prime Minister asked again: Which country's machine is it?what brand?Did you see the machine?I was immediately stunned by the question. I really didn't know, and I never thought of this question, so I had to honestly admit that I didn't see the machine, and I didn't know what brand it was.At that time, the Prime Minister did not blame me, but later I realized that the Prime Minister raised this question very specifically.He considers sending our technicians to assist, so he needs to know what kind of machine and product manufacturer, so that he can send technicians who are familiar with this type of machine.

Since the 1960s, the prime minister has sent us abroad many times to diagnose and treat foreign heads of state, and asked us to report the situation at any time.The instructions he gave before we set off were both principled and specific.He told us what are the characteristics of the country we are going to, what is the relationship with us in history, let us grasp the guidelines, policies, and what problems we should pay attention to.When we reported to the Prime Minister when we encountered difficult situations, his instructions were always both principled and flexible, which was convincing.

The Prime Minister's analysis of issues, whether related to medical or political issues, is a profound education for me.From comprehensive to partial, from theory to practice, he peeled off layers of bamboo shoots, making us suddenly enlightened, and applied dialectics to clinical thinking from unconscious to more conscious.His precepts and deeds have benefited me all my life.His scientific attitude and selfless spirit are also prominently reflected in how he treats his own medical problems. I've been involved in health care for prime ministers since the 60's.The Prime Minister's attitude is very clear. First, he believes in science, trusts doctors, and advocates the combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine; second, he arranges the treatment time properly so that his work cannot be affected;As far as I know, in April 1955, before the Prime Minister attended the Bandung Conference, he seized the time to have an appendix removed and flew to Indonesia before he fully recovered.One time I was admitted to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment, and I just came out of a grand banquet celebrating Women's Day on March 8; another time I just met Malaysian Prime Minister Razak.I remember that in 1964, the Prime Minister needed to be hospitalized for a minor operation. There was a good hospital that had already prepared for him.Another time, the Prime Minister was undergoing a blood transfusion. Chairman Mao wanted to receive foreign guests and informed the Premier to attend. He did not say that he was undergoing a blood transfusion, but told us to pull out the tube immediately, put on our clothes and go.This is the consistent style of the dedicated Premier Zhou. The Prime Minister's cancer was detected in 1972, and it was discovered relatively early.After the diagnosis, Chairman Mao instructed to set up a central leading group to lead the work of the medical group, including sister Deng Yingchao.The medical team repeatedly discussed the Prime Minister's illness, how to check it, how to treat it, whether to perform surgery, why it was done, how to perform the surgery, etc., and wrote a detailed report after obtaining the Prime Minister's consent.The diagnosis and treatment plan must be approved by Chairman Mao before the Prime Minister agrees to proceed.The Prime Minister has repeatedly emphasized that I will cooperate with your medical work; you should also cooperate with me and not affect my work.The Prime Minister's attitude is very calm and objective.He needs to look at the map, how the operation is performed, the level and process must be clearly explained.He also looks at the sections under a microscope to see what is normal and what is cancerous. The process of diagnosing and treating cancer for the Prime Minister is extremely complicated, because the development of the disease is complicated, and several types of cancer are concurrent.Each consultation has focused on the opinions of experts from all walks of life.Let's discuss it openly and honestly.There is only one purpose, to cure the illness of the beloved Prime Minister.Although it was a decade of turmoil at the time, we did our best, consulted a large amount of literature, and used the most advanced treatment methods and the best medicines that the world could provide on the prime minister.In the process of treatment, every step and every detail must not go wrong.In fact, the members of the medical team worked hard and did it. The Prime Minister is deeply loved by people all over the world, and his high prestige is also reflected in his illness. Condolence letters from all over the world have piled up like a mountain.The Prime Minister's illness has affected the hearts of tens of thousands of people, and they have donated prescriptions and medicines one after another.I didn't know there were so many folk remedies in foreign countries before.The various medicines and folk remedies recommended in letters from home and abroad are all investigated and studied by designated research institutions and hospitals to decide whether to choose or not. In 1974, when the "Gang of Four" was rampantly fighting for power, the Prime Minister dragged his seriously ill body to go to other places to meet Chairman Mao.He knew that running around like this would be bad for his health and would make his condition worse, but his first consideration was political needs, putting state affairs at the top of his list, and putting his personal safety above all else.He said: Since I was pushed onto the stage of history, I have to complete the historical task.This is really the language and sentiment of a selfless, fearless, thorough materialist, a great patriot dedicated to the country and the people. Before the fall of 1975, although we knew that the prime minister's condition was getting worse, we always hoped that we could do everything possible to prolong his life.Unexpectedly, starting from the fall of that year, the prime minister's systemic immunity was severely weakened, he became increasingly thinner, and his condition took a turn for the worse.The Prime Minister himself knows very well that he has stopped receiving foreign guests and participating in state affairs since autumn.But lying on the bed, he still cares about the political situation at home and abroad all the time, cooperates with the treatment firmly, and fights unremittingly against the disease.We know that the prime minister's health may go wrong at any time, so we are more cautious. Comrades in the medical team take turns guarding him day and night.But the shocking and unfortunate moment finally came, a superstar fell, and the beloved Premier Zhou left us.But his voice, smile, and teaching will remain in our hearts forever. After the memorial service, Ms. Deng Yingchao brought the Prime Minister's relatives and all the members of the medical team to the Taiwan Office and spoke very earnestly to us.She said to her relatives: She understands everyone's feelings very well. At this moment of grief, she wants to tell everyone that the medical team has done everything it should do.They did their best. I thank them, and my uncle also thanks them. They have a lot of affection for him.Do not doubt anything, do not have any wrong ideas.At that time, everyone was very moved and did not understand the far-reaching significance of Sister Deng's heartfelt words, nor did they expect that ten years later, someone would be slandering the medical team by slandering the truth.The people's love for the Prime Minister is the same heart and the same reason.The members of our medical team were limited by the level of medicine at that time, and we couldn't cure the Prime Minister's illness, and we were extremely distressed.But we have a clear conscience, we are worthy of the party and the people, and we are worthy of the Prime Minister. On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the birth of the Prime Minister, I couldn't help but think of the "Report on Intellectuals" made by the Prime Minister in January 1956.He said: The transformation of intellectuals usually goes through three paths: one is through the observation and practice of social life; the other is through their own business practice; the other is through general theoretical study.It was through these three paths that I tried my best to reflect, and I made some improvements in my world outlook and outlook on life, and grew into a Communist Party member. Over the past 20 years, the Prime Minister has taught me deeply and deeply. I deeply feel that although I have done a little work under the party's education, the achievements are very small. I can only say that I have trekked 70 years in the long journey of life. Look up to the great image of the Prime Minister, remember the words and deeds of the Prime Minister, and spur myself to contribute the rest of my life to the construction of the four modernizations.