Chapter 2 Chapter 1 The Death of Chen Boda

Anyone who has experienced the "Cultural Revolution" knows Chen Boda's "big name".Although he repeatedly referred to himself as a "little commoner", he was the "No. 4 person" after Mao Zedong, Lin Biao, and Zhou Enlai. A Pen", "Chinese Public Opinion Manager". This book is a long biography about Chen Boda. When Chen Boda accepted an exclusive interview with the author of this book, looking back on his life, he was deeply moved: I was a person who committed a great crime. During the "Cultural Revolution", I was extremely stupid and guilty. The "Cultural Revolution" was a crazy era, and I was a crazy person at that time.

My life has been a tragedy, I am a tragic figure and I hope people learn from my tragedy.It's been a long time, and I'm old. The memory of the elderly is not good, and they are often easy to defend themselves.If my memories can provide you with some historical materials, I will talk about them slowly.However, I want to say again and again that human memory is often unreliable.You have to check my recollections with those of others, especially with records, articles, and archives of the time.If my memory is inaccurate, please refer to the written records at that time. I am a sinner.My memories are only the memories of a sinner.

The ancients said: "He who can make up for his mistakes is a gentleman." But I am just a small "little man" who can't count, and I still want to criticize myself forever, in order to be able to make up for my sins... ※ ※ ※ Beginning in the evening of September 17, 1989, there was a sudden torrential rain in Beijing, which lasted all night.The next day, the temperature dropped sharply. At noon on September 20, 85-year-old Chen Boda was eating on the top floor of a six-story building in the outer suburbs of Beijing.His daughter-in-law Xiao Zhang was present at the time: "My father suddenly tilted his head, hit the wall, and spit out food..."

The daughter-in-law hurriedly knocked on Lao Xiao's door next door.Lao Xiao immediately called a certain hospital. Within 20 minutes, the doctor arrived.However, Chen Boda's heart had stopped beating, and rescue efforts were ineffective.According to the doctor's diagnosis, Chen Boda died of myocardial infarction due to the sudden cold weather. Chen Boda lived with his son Chen Xiaonong, daughter-in-law Xiao Zhang and grandson before his death.When he suddenly fell ill, Chen Xiaonong was not at home, but he was on the train from Beijing to Shijiazhuang, Hebei to visit his mother Yu Wenfei.Yu Wenfei is Chen Boda's second wife and has been divorced for many years.Chen Xiaonong is the child of Chen Boda and Yu Wenfei.

According to Chen Xiaonong told the author afterwards: "A few years ago, my father was diagnosed with senile coronary heart disease when he was hospitalized, but because his electrocardiogram has always been good, and he has never had obvious angina pectoris, only the ultrasound examination showed coronary atherosclerosis, so neither the doctor nor we have enough knowledge. Pay attention. On September 20th, the weather in Beijing was very cold, and it just rained in the morning. When I left at 9 o’clock, I saw my father was sleeping soundly, so I couldn’t bear to wake him up, so I added a blanket for him, and put woolen pants on the bed On the front chair. My wife said that after my father got up, he said it was cold. Now that I think about it, the sudden cold makes the blood vessels constrict, and the old man’s blood vessels are already brittle and unable to withstand it. This may be the cause of the myocardial infarction..."

In the afternoon of the same day, Director Xu, the person in charge of Chen Boda's unit, and others came to discuss with Chen Boda's relatives how to deal with the funeral.The relatives made it clear: "Follow the organization's opinion, and my father has repeatedly said before his death that everything will be kept simple after his death." According to the opinions of the leaders, Chen Boda was cremated in Babaoshan, Beijing under his original name, Chen Jianxiang. Although Babaoshan has held many farewell ceremonies for the body, Chen Boda's farewell ceremony is different: there is no obituary, no eulogy.Those who came to bid him a final farewell came after hearing the news, and did not receive any formal notice issued in the name of the organization.

At 10:20 am on September 28, Chen Boda's body appeared in the first farewell room in Babaoshan.Over the years, he has always avoided the lens of the camera, and he can't even find a ready-made portrait of him at home.Chen Xiaonong remembered that a friend took a photo of him last winter, so he hurriedly asked the photographer to find the negative and enlarge it so that he had a portrait. Amidst mourning, more than 40 people cast a last glance at his body.Some of these people were relatives of Chen Boda, some were his old friends, some were his old secretary, some were his old subordinates, and some were his students.Beside Chen Boda's body, there are many wreaths.The wreath reads: "Mr. Chen Jianxiang through the ages".Since most people don't know Chen Boda's original name, they didn't attract attention.There is a wreath signed "Liu Shuyan" to send.Liu Shuyan is Chen Boda's separated wife for many years.

She did not attend Chen Boda's memorial service.Although the farewell ceremony for Chen's body was only held in a small area, it quickly alarmed the journalists who were pricking up their ears. The first to disclose the news of Chen Boda's death was the "Voice of America" ​​and the British "BBC" radio station.They broadcast the news of Chen Boda's death in Beijing on September 29, introducing Chen Boda's life. At the same time, Hong Kong's "Ta Kung Pao" published two reports in the lower part of the second edition, which mentioned the farewell ceremony for Chen Boda's body held in Beijing Babaoshan.

On September 30, Xinhua News Agency sent a telegram from Beijing, the message is as follows: Our reporter learned from relevant sources that Chen Boda died at his home on September 20 due to myocardial infarction. Chen Boda, 85, was released last October after serving his sentence. Overseas journalists did not know the details of the "No. 1 farewell room in Babaoshan". They once reported that Chen Boda enjoyed "senior official treatment" after his death. On October 30, 1995, Chen Xiaonong, the son of Chen Boda, explained this in a letter to the author: "It is a mistake to say that the first farewell room in Babaoshan is the treatment of senior officials. Babaoshan has two parts, one is the revolutionary cemetery, which is the funeral place for leading cadres; the other is Babaoshan funeral home, which is the funeral place for ordinary people and ordinary cadres. There are walls between them. The ashes are interred in different places. Leaders are in the Revolutionary Cemetery, and ordinary people are in the Laoshan Columbarium. The first farewell room is not a place for senior officials to attend funerals, and its site conditions are far simpler than those of the Revolutionary Cemetery Auditorium.” Chen Boda’s ashes, It was initially placed in Laoshan Columbarium in Babaoshan, Beijing. In February 1991, he was escorted by Chen Xiaonong and his wife Xiao Zhang to his hometown in Hui'an, Fujian.In this way, Chen Boda went through the long and ups and downs of 85 springs and autumns from the beginning of his life, and finally returned there.From the time Chen Boda was released after serving his sentence to his sudden death, I visited him many times in Beijing.Just one week before his death—September 13, he talked to me all afternoon.Unexpectedly, a week later, his long life came to an end.

The color photos I took of him became the last photos of his life. His voice frozen on my audio tape became his last voice in this world. The "Chu Kuang Jieyu Song" inscribed by him became the last pen of his life. "The past should not be admonished, but the coming can still be pursued."——This became his "farewell speech" to the world. After he passed away, I listened to his voice again on the tape recorder, and my thoughts flew back to those days a year ago...