Chapter 117 "Female General" Peng Zigang Sacked

This poem, published in the seventh issue of "Wenhui Supplement" in 1980, is a "sketch" drawn by Peng Zigang's son Xu Chengbei for Peng Zigang in his later years. Indeed, in Peng Zigang's later years, what lingered in her mind day and night were "the glorious years of the past" and "the tomb of a deceased friend". What Peng Zigang misses the most is Pu Xixiu: in the "tough years" of the Anti-Japanese War, the two of them were sisters in the press circle in Chongqing; in 1957, they both became "You" "Capable female general"...

On August 1, 1957, the "People's Daily" published the following report: "The Bourgeois Journalism Viewpoint Poisoned Her Soul Peng Zigang Falls into the Rightist Mire The report said: The China Youth Publishing House held meetings for several days to expose and criticize the reactionary words and deeds of Peng Zigang, editor-in-chief of "Traveler" magazine and editor-in-chief of "Wen Wei Po". Peng Zigang is a member of the Communist Party and has worked as a reporter for Ta Kung Pao for more than ten years.She was born in a family of senior bourgeois intellectuals. For a long time, she has not changed her class position, and has always been at odds with the party.When the rightists rampantly attacked the party, this self-proclaimed "twenty years of party experience" and "famous reporter" Peng Zigang intensified.On the one hand, she participated in activities planned by key rightists Pu Xixiu and Fei Xiaotong to attack the party in an attempt to cover Chu Anping's fallacy of "the party under heaven" purely from a legal point of view; ignition.She posted big-character posters or clamored at symposiums, plotting to negate the leadership of the League Central Committee over China Youth Publishing House, and advocated the removal of party members and leading cadres, and the cancellation of China Youth Publishing House.She also advocated the suspension of "Rural Youth" and demanded that the "Traveler" magazine be changed to a "peer publication".

Peng Zigang, formerly known as Peng Xuezhen, was born in Wu County, Jiangsu Province (now Suzhou) on February 7, 1914.When she was studying at Suzhou Jingmei Women's Normal School, she wrote two poems "I Curse You" and "Moon Night", and wrote prose "Send Cold Clothes" and "Death" when she was in high school. Ye Shengtao took a fancy to these works and published them In "Middle School Students" and "Middle School Students Literature and Art" magazines.In this way, she fell in love with writing. In 1934, she changed her name to "Zigang" and was admitted to Peking University, majoring in English.Afterwards, her published works were also signed by "Zigang", which was handed down under this name, so that few people knew her original name.

However, Peng Zigang only studied in China University for half a year before leaving Beiping for Shanghai.At that time, her middle school teacher Shen Zijiu was editor-in-chief of "Women's Life" magazine in Shanghai, and she worked as a reporter for "Women's Life" magazine, and began her career as a reporter.Shen Zijiu later married Hu Yuzhi in 1941. Peng Zigang married Xu Ying, a reporter from Ta Kung Pao in 1936.Xu Ying, whose real name is Xu Xuhuan, styled Xixing.In 1937, Peng Zigang and Xu Ying both entered Jiangxi's "red zone" - the Central Soviet Area for interviews.It was a very bold move at the time.They used their own pens to report what they had seen and heard in the "red zone".

Soon, Peng Zigang also joined the "Ta Kung Pao" as a reporter. In 1938, Peng Zigang secretly joined the CCP.So she is an old Bolshevik in the "March 8 style".Her husband, Xu Ying, is also an underground member of the Communist Party of China. In this way, under the cover of his public identity as a reporter, Peng Zigang was doing secret work for the CCP. In the 1940s, Peng Zigang and Pu Xixiu successively came to the "accompanying capital" Chongqing amidst the anti-Japanese artillery.One is a reporter from "Ta Kung Pao" and the other is a reporter from "Xin Min Bao". They are evenly matched and interviewed side by side.

Peng Zigang once recalled the situation of interviewing side by side with Pu Xixiu: "At that time, our industry was called 'running' journalism. It was really running. There were so many stairs up and down the mountain city. We didn't take any means of transportation, we just walked. Let's just walk. It wasn't boring. Sometimes the alarm came, Then they hid in the nearby air-raid shelter. Sometimes it was too late, and no one came back from the two people's homes, so they looked for each other..."① The afternoon of August 28, 1945 was the busiest time for reporters in Chongqing, and Peng Zigang was also extremely busy.Because Mao Zedong flew from Yan'an to Chongqing at the invitation of Chiang Kai-shek, this was news that caught the attention of the whole country.

Peng Zigang rushed to Chongqing Jiulongpo Airport, waiting for Mao Zedong's special plane.As a secret member of the CCP, she wants to write this important news with the pen in her hand. Sure enough, the next day she published "Mr. Mao Zedong Arrives in Chongqing", a 1,500-word feature.She wrote so delicately: Mao Zedong's fingers scorched yellow by cigarettes, that brand-new white silk shirt, that brand-new shoe sole, that Hunan dialect... She wrote a living Mao Zedong.Among the many press releases, her feature is the most popular among readers. Peng Zigang wrote: Mr. Mao Zedong, fifty-two years old, in a gray-blue Chinese tunic suit, with long hair, seems to be similar to the portraits he is used to seeing. He has a medium to upper body, and his clothes are very loose. This person who passed through the Sichuan border nine years ago has stepped into the War of Resistance today. The land of the capital is gone.

... "Thank you very much." He almost said these three words with a northern Shaanxi accent, and when the reporter shook his hand, he was still repeating these three words.His fingers were browned from the cigarette burn.As he strode down the escalator, I saw that the soles of his shoes were still new.Undoubtedly, this is his new clothes. Frequent camera shots blocked his way, and Minister Zhang Zhizhong said, "All right." Hurley wanted to stand side by side with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, stroking his silver whiskers and saying, "This is Hollywood!" So they were taken into the camera, the camera that the whole of China likes to watch.

Minister Zhang urged by the car: "Chairman Jiang has prepared two residences in Huangshan and the cave to entertain Mr. Mao. It's very cool." As a result, it was decided that Mr. Mao would stay in the office of the 18th Army in Longqiao temporarily, and go to Huangshan and the cave another day Take a break. Mao, Zhang, He, and Thursday took the U.S. embassy car No. 2819 to Zhang’s mansion for a rest. Chairman Jiang specially allocated a caravan No. 2823 for Mr. Mao to use, and drove back with him. Zengjiayan is number 50.Chen Xizeng, the leader of the attendant room, was sweating profusely.

The reporters chased into Zhang's mansion.Guo Moruo and his wife also arrived.Mr. Mao took off his coat, revealing a brand new white shirt underneath.He broke a tureen teacup, and everything in the living room with the varnished floor was obviously unfamiliar to him. ... Minister Zhang reported to Chairman Jiang on the phone that Mr. Mao and Mr. Zhou Zhu were invited to dinner at the mansion in the cave at 8:30, so the Zhang mansion hurriedly prepared a late luncheon, and wanted Mr. Mao to wait for a short rest before going to the dinner party, as the concern of the world A handshake of victory and peace. ①

After liberation, Peng Zigang worked in the literature and art department of "People's Daily".In 1954, Hu Qiaomu proposed to start the magazine "Traveler" and nominated Peng Zigang as the editor.Therefore, Peng Zigang was transferred to China Youth Publishing House, where he edited "Traveler". When Peng Zigang was in Chongqing, he was very close to Zhou Enlai and his wife.In January 1957, Deng Yingchao also found a photo of her and Peng Zigang in Nanjing and gave it to her.Deng Yingchao personally wrote on the back of the photo: "Comrade Zigang: Taken in Courtyard No. 30, Meiyuan New Village, Nanjing, in 1946." Peng Zigang never dreamed that half a year later, she and Pu Xixiu would both become "extreme rightists"! On September 15th of this year, "People's Daily" published the article "Peng Zigang's Rightist Road" by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zong Zidu, which recounted that Peng Zigang first came to society from Peking University of China "with the vision of intellectuals pursuing progress". , to secretly joining the CCP, to becoming an "extreme rightist", "a black thread runs through Peng Zigang's 'wisdom eye' and 'magic pen'." This article draws the following conclusions from Peng Zigang's path: "From Peng Zigang's development of the rightist path, it is not difficult to see how urgent it is for an intellectual to carry out ideological remolding and resolutely accept the leadership of the Communist Party." After Peng Zigang was classified as an "extreme rightist", he was expelled from the party and was only paid 30 yuan a month for living expenses.Originally, she was going to be "exiled" to the Great Northern Wilderness.Zhou Enlai found out and ticked it off the list.However, she was still assigned to work in Anguo County, Hebei.Then, he worked as a handyman in the printing factory of China Youth Publishing House. Peng Zigang's husband, Xu Ying, was also classified as "right".As a result, another pair of "rightist couples" appeared in China. In the autumn of 1961, when there were rumors that her family was going to be "decentralized", she was suddenly notified to work as an editor for the Cultural and Historical Materials Committee under the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Unexpectedly, the person across the table from her was Pu Xixiu! It turns out that after Pu Xixiu was labeled as a "rightist", she was luckier than other "rightists" among misfortunes: she was still retained as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and when the first batch of "rightists" took off her hat, the list There is her above. Therefore, Pu Xixiu became a small deputy head of the cultural and educational group under the Cultural and Historical Materials Committee under the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.At this time, Peng Zigang became a member of Pu Xixiu's team! The two "capable female generals" who once galloped through the wind and cloud met in such a group, and they were deeply moved by each other. What made them both even more emotional was that many of the people they contributed articles to were the ones they interviewed back then! During the "Cultural Revolution", Pu Xixiu suffered from cancer and was admitted to the hospital, while Peng Zigang and her husband Xu Ying were sent to work in the "May 7th Cadre School" in Shayang, Hubei in 1969. It is also a coincidence that Fei Xiaotong, the "Great Rightist", was also in the "May 7th Cadre School" in Shayang, Hubei at that time.Fei Xiaotong once recalled: When I returned to Beijing from the May 7th Cadre School in Shayang, Hubei in 1970, I went to visit her, and her cancer recurred.We both knew in our hearts that this might be the last time we saw each other.She was sleeping on the bed, and her movements were already inconvenient, but she didn't look sad at all.She said she really wanted to eat the braised pork made by my wife.The next day my wife asked me to deliver the meat by bike.When we parted, she shook my hand comfortably and told me to take care of myself.I don't know what words to use to comfort her.Suddenly I looked up and saw the bicycle I was riding outside the window, and said, take good care of it, I will teach you to ride a bicycle, and we will go to the long embankment in Shayang to compete together.What a beauty it is, in this imaginary beauty we bid farewell.When she passed away, I was still in the cadre school. ① In November 1968, knowing that there were not many days left, Pu Xixiu wrote an autobiography on his hospital bed.She wrote about her condition in this way: "After the National Day in 1965, I fell ill. I didn't know it was rectal cancer until I went to the hospital in December. I had an operation in January 1966, and then I was recuperated in a nursing home. I was not discharged until June 7th. At that time, the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" had already begun. Unexpectedly, in November of that year, rectal cancer recurred after surgery. In December, I was still studying in the Democratic League. It was not until March 1967 that I couldn't walk. Leave. I have been sick for three years. When I was in the hospital, people from the Democratic League and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference still came to see me. In the second year, very few people came to see me. Knowing that my life was coming to an end, I worked hard to finish my autobiography for review by the headquarters of the CPPCC General Committee. I could not respond to Chairman Mao's latest instructions from the vast number of cadres to work, but I still have a breath, and I will study Chairman Mao's writings, Transform yourself..." Pu Xixiu died on April 23, 1970, at the age of sixty. Regarding the death of Pu Xixiu, Peng Zigang recalled so sadly: Later in the cadre school, I heard that she was sent home not long after she was admitted to the municipal hospital, and the neighbor's sister-in-law temporarily learned injections and took on all the nursing work.Later, I heard that she died in the observation room of that hospital, and there was no one around when she was dying, crying out in pain.What about my daughter who works in Beijing?Recently, when her daughter came to see me, I found out that she was going to the Henan Cadre School when her mother passed away, so she couldn't serve her.Later, from the relics, I found two autobiographies written by Xixiu herself, as well as a fan painted by her... ① After the rain, the sun shines.On March 19, 1981, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the Central Committee of the China Democratic League held a grand memorial meeting for Pu Xixiu in the Auditorium of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing—even though Pu Xixiu had passed away for eleven years! The memorial service was presided over by Kang Keqing, vice chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, and Sa Kongle, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League, delivered a eulogy. The eulogy spoke highly of Pu Xixiu: "Has the character and talent of a good journalist. She has a sense of justice and integrity. She has a strong journalistic sensitivity and a simple and sharp writing style. She is hardworking and loyal to her duty. She is full of hatred... She not only uses ink, but is Writing news with blood...she is a loyal friend of our party and has great trust in the party..." Pu Xixiu, who passed away with the scapegoat of the "female general of the Zhangluo League", if he could hear such a eulogy, he would be smiling! What moved Pu Xixiu's relatives was that on this day, they received two letters of apology written by themselves. A letter was written by Lu Dingyi.Although Pu Xixiu's "right" case was "imperially decided", it has nothing to do with Lu Dingyi.However, Lu Dingyi believed that he was the head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at that time, and he had a certain leadership responsibility.For this, he specifically apologized to Pu Xixiu's relatives. The other letter was written by cartoonist Hua Junwu.During the climax of the "Anti-Rightist Movement" in 1957, Hua Junwu painted a painting titled "Still Holding a Pipa Half-Hiding His Face" and published it in the "People's Daily". Playing the pipa, he hesitated there, looked forward and backward, and couldn't draw a clear line with the "Zhang Luo League".Hua Junwu also apologized to Pu Xixiu's relatives. Lu Dingyi and Hua Junwu were strict in self-discipline, and they learned and corrected their mistakes, which became a good story for a while. Peng Zigang was happier than Pu Xixiu. She finally survived those severe cold days. At the turn of autumn and winter in 1979, both her and her husband Xu Ying's "rightist" problems were "corrected".Their party membership was also restored. "Traveler" resumed publication, and Peng Zigang served as the chief editorial board member.She was about to return to her old job when she suddenly suffered from a cerebral thrombosis.She collapsed, was ill for many years, and finally died in January 1988 at the age of seventy-four.