The topic the two argued was about how to develop agriculture. Liang Shuming, under the wrong understanding of the situation, argued that farmers' lives already had serious problems. There was a saying of "Nine Heavens and Nine Lands", and the gap between urban and rural areas co

In September 1953, at a meeting to discuss the general line for the transitional period, the famous thinker Liang Shuming had a face-to-face argument with Chairman Mao Zedong.

The topic the two argued was about how to develop agriculture. Liang Shuming, under the wrong understanding of the situation, argued that farmers' lives already have serious problems. There is a saying of "nine heavens and nine places", and the gap between urban and rural areas cannot be further widened. He was considered to be opposed to the general line of the transitional period and had a dispute with the chairman..

The dispute reached the end, and the representatives participating in the meeting shouted: "Don't listen to Liang Shuming's nonsense. Democratic rights will not be given to reactionaries. Get off the stage." After that, Liang Shuming was finally kicked off the stage.

Liang Shuming

So, why did Liang Shuming, known as "China's last great Confucian" in Western intellectual circles, have such a big conflict with Chairman Mao, whom he had been dating for ten years? What is the final outcome of this matter?

Today, let all readers follow the author’s footsteps into this famous debate and feel the ironclad ironclad and construction enthusiasm of the revolutionary era...

1. Acquaintance for decades: the relationship between Chairman Mao and Liang Shuming

Chairman Mao and Liang Shuming met for the first time before the May 4th Movement. At that time, Chairman Mao lived briefly in Beijing and often visited the home of Yang Huaizhong, a teacher at Peking University . At Yang Huaizhong's home, Chairman Mao met When Liang Shuming arrived, Liang Shuming didn't have a deep impression of Mao Zedong when they met for the first time.

The second meeting between Yang Kaihui's father Yang Huaizhong was in 1938 during the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. At that time, Liang Shuming was employed by the National Government and had just completed the seven-year rural construction movement. He firmly advocated unity with the Communist Party in the war of resistance. , He was also very interested in leading the people to build northern Shaanxi into a prosperous situation. So Liang Shuming proposed to Chiang Kai-shek that he wanted to go to Yan'an . Contacted Yan'an through the National Government, Yan'an responded quickly and welcomed Mr. Liang to go north. In this way, Liang Shuming came to Yan'an and began another meeting with Chairman Mao.

After meeting Chairman Mao, the two of them first greeted each other enthusiastically. Chairman Mao mentioned the past events of that year: "We have met before, do you remember?" He reminded: "In the seventh year of the Republic of China, you were a lecturer at Peking University. I was a librarian there and attended your classes. At that time, you often visited Mr. Yang Huaizhong's house, and I always opened the door. Later, Mr. Yang Huaizhong After he died of illness, I also married his daughter, Ms. Yang Kaihui, and became the son-in-law of the Yang family."

When Chairman Mao said this, Liang Shuming remembered it. He nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, there is such a thing, there is such a thing. ” Soon, Liang Shuming was attracted by Chairman Mao’s profound knowledge, humble attitude and noble personality. He believed that Chairman Mao Zedong was far superior to Chiang Kai-shek in every aspect and would definitely become the leader of China in the future.

After that, Liang Shuming lived in Yan'an. In addition to visiting Yan'an, he also had in-depth discussions with Chairman Mao on topics such as the anti-war ideas and class struggle to build the country. Even though the two sides had disputes on how to build the country, they still It didn't hurt the harmony, but instead enhanced our understanding of each other.

Chairman Mao in Yan'an

The high-spirited spirit of the cadres and the masses in Yan'an left a deep impression on Liang Shuming. He believed in his heart that the Communist Party under the leadership of Chairman Mao would be able to save China, and only the Communist Party could save China.

After Japan surrendered, the question of where China should go was once again placed before all the Chinese people. Chiang Kai-shek wanted to establish a dictatorial dictatorship, while the Communist Party represented by Chairman Mao wanted to establish a people's democratic country. There were differences between the two paths.

At that time, Liang Shuming was the Secretary-General of the China Democratic League. He had his own ideas about what kind of country China would build after the war. However, when he was in Chongqing, not many people paid attention to him. So, he wanted to go to Yan'an again and listen to Listen to the Chinese Communist Party’s views on his political views.

China Democratic League

Chairman Mao expressed a warm welcome to Liang Shuming's arrival, and quickly put aside his busy work to meet with Liang Shuming. They were very happy to meet again after several years.

Liang Shuming proposed to Chairman Mao that he would find 10 CCP leaders, including himself, to listen to him state his current views on China's future path. If he could satisfy him, he would be extremely grateful. Chairman Mao immediately agreed after hearing this and told him that several major leaders of the CCP in Yan'an would come to meet with him tomorrow.

The next day, in the conference room of the Communist Party of China in Yan'an, Zhu De, Ren Bishi, Zhang Wentian, Peng Dehuai and other major leaders sat down on time. After Liang Shuming shook hands with them one by one, he started speaking excitedly.

Chairman Mao and Zhu De

In his speech, Liang Shuming believed that copying the European and American political system models does not meet the needs of China's historical development and national conditions. However, at present, if China wants to engage in economic construction and change rural areas and farmers, it must have strong government leadership, but According to my own observation of the Kuomintang, they have become seriously corrupt and are no longer serious about construction. I am very worried about this situation!

During Liang Shuming's speech, no one was distracted, and he carefully recorded the talking points in his notebook from time to time. This moved Liang Shuming very much. He predicted that the future of China would be in the hands of these motivated people.

After the founding of New China, Liang Shuming came to Beijing at the warm invitation of Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou. Seeing Liang Shuming, Chairman Mao asked kindly: "Mr. Liang, I see you again, how are you?" Liang Shuming held Chairman Mao's hand tightly and said with a smile: "Okay, everything is fine!"

"Liang Shuming and Mao Zedong" book and movie

After the welcome banquet, Chairman Mao invited Liang Shuming to his home as a guest. After the greetings, Chairman Mao asked Liang Shuming bluntly: "New China has just been founded. What opinions does Mr. Liang have on our governance and construction of the country? Please tell me everything you can!"

Liang Shuming replied: "When everyone adds firewood, the flames will rise. With the close cooperation between the CCP and the people, the country's construction will definitely get better and better!"

Chairman Mao lit a cigarette and continued: "Then can Mr. Liang participate in government work now?"

Liang Shuming hesitated for a moment and said : "It's better for people like me to be outside the government."

Chairman Mao said: "That's fine. There are many tasks in New China that need to be done by the democratic parties. The Communist Party cannot do without the democratic parties. Mr. Liang , the meal is ready, I know that Mr. Liang is a vegetarian, so I specially asked the chef to prepare vegetarian food today. We are all vegetarian today. This is also a 'united front'! " Liang Shuming was impressed by Chairman Mao's ten years of carefulness and thoughtfulness. Very grateful.

Liang Shuming's portrait

After dinner, Chairman Mao suggested that Liang Shuming go to the countryside in Shandong, Henan, Northeast and other places to have a look and make suggestions for the rural construction of New China. Liang Shuming readily agreed.

From April to September 1950, Liang Shuming took some cadres to inspect the vast rural areas in the north where Chairman Mao recommended him to go. He found that earth-shaking changes had indeed taken place in the rural areas of New China. The farmers had turned over and had land and food. Output has also increased significantly, and farmers' enthusiasm for work and production enthusiasm continue to rise.

In mid-September 1950, Liang Shuming’s rural survey work came to an end and he reported the results to Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao suggested that Liang Shuming go to the rural areas in the south to see the results of the land reform in the south. Liang Shuming accelerated his pace again. Went to the south for a four-month inspection.

Land reform

On the fourth day after Liang Shuming returned to Beijing, Chairman Mao took Liang Shuming to Zhongnanhai. After reporting the results of the inspection to Chairman Mao, Liang Shuming specifically proposed to Chairman Mao that there was a very capable local official in Sichuan named Deng Xiaoping.

Chairman Mao laughed out loud when he heard this and said loudly: "Mr. Liang is quite accurate. Whether it is politics, military affairs, or papers on martial arts, Deng Xiaoping is a good hand."

Since then, Chairman Mao has always After a while, Liang Shuming would be invited to his home for a long talk, which fully showed that the relationship between the two was very harmonious and they were already very good friends.

The above is the relationship between Chairman Mao and Liang Shuming for decades. It can be seen that after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao respected Liang Shuming's opinions very much and was very close to him; Liang Shuming was also very willing to put forward his own suggestions for the construction of New China. The two The relationship between people is good.

Liang Shuming and Mao Zedong

So, why did Liang Shuming publicly contradict Chairman Mao in 1953? What happened? How did Chairman Mao treat Liang Shuming in the end? Please read on.

2. The outbreak of the dispute: The whole story of the dispute between Liang Shuming and Chairman Mao in 1953

After the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea , the national industrial and agricultural production reached the highest level in history by the end of 1952. Under such historical conditions, the Party Central Committee proposed on September 8, 1953 The general line of the transitional period, that is, "The party's general line and general task during this transitional period is to basically realize the industrialization of the country and the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts, capitalist industry and commerce within a fairly long period of time. "

The next morning, the enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference opened. The CPPCC held a group meeting to discuss the general line proposed by Premier Zhou. Liang Shuming was one of the attendees and spoke in the group discussion, expressing his agreement with Premier Zhou's speech and He put forward some suggestions on how to implement the general line well.

At the enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

On September 11, Liang Shuming spoke again. The topic was still how to implement the general line well. He talked about three points, the last point being the issue of farmers. He said: "Some people say that workers live in Jiutian, and farmers live in nine days. "Living in nine places", there is a difference between 'nine heavens and nine places'". In the founding movement of our country, "the vast majority of the Chinese people - farmers, have been ignored. Some people say that you have moved into the city and dislike farmers. This is problematic. should attract our attention. ”

The reason why Liang Shuming made such a statement was because he had an incomplete understanding of the situation in rural China at that time. The rural areas he investigated did not represent the entire face of rural China. He believed that it was due to the national The promotion of industrialization has led to such "serious peasant problems".

Liang Shuming in his youth

On September 12, Liang Shuming and other representatives attended the enlarged meeting of the Central People's Government Committee. At the meeting, Peng Dehuai first confronted the situation on the battlefield of US aid to Korea. After making a report, Chairman Mao delivered a speech.

In this speech, Chairman Mao called "taking care of the farmers" a "small benevolent policy" and "developing heavy industry and resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea" as a "great benevolent policy." He bluntly stated that some people proposed The "serious peasant problem" is "implementing a small benevolent government instead of a large benevolent government" and "helping the American emperor."

Before the end of his speech, Chairman Mao criticized Liang Shuming again without naming him: "Some people actually It seems that our Communist Party has been engaged in the peasant movement for decades and still does not understand the peasants.joke! Our political power today is basically an alliance of workers and peasants. The workers and peasants have the same fundamental interests. This foundation cannot be divided or destroyed! "

Agricultural Construction in New China

This made Liang Shuming feel a little uncomfortable. He believed that he was not against the general line, but emphasized that the gap between workers and peasants brought about by the development of industrialization was a bit wide. He said something for the peasants, but he did not mean to take advantage of it. Talking about farmers' issues.

Feeling greatly aggrieved, Liang Shuming immediately decided to write a letter to Chairman Mao in the evening. In the letter, he mentioned that he had always supported the general line and hoped to have the opportunity to repeat his speech so that Chairman Mao could understand him. "goodwill".

On the morning of September 13, Liang Shuming handed the letter to Chairman Mao. In the evening, the two talked for twenty minutes in Zhongnanhai. Chairman Mao still believed that Liang Shuming's statement of "Nine Heavens and Nine Earths" was deep in his heart. He did not agree with the general line of giving priority to the development of heavy industry. Liang Shuming continued to request Chairman Mao to arrange for him to speak. There were frequent verbal conflicts between the two.

Liang Shuming like

On September 16, Liang Shuming took the stage as expected and gave another speech. He repeated what he had said in In his two speeches on September 9 and September 11, he repeatedly stated that he was not opposed to the general line, but enthusiastically supported the general line, but he believed that "it would be easy to fail to implement the general line if this continues."

On September 17, Premier Zhou He made a long speech, in which he mentioned Liang Shuming’s name for the first time. He criticized Liang Shuming’s speech as “essentially asking us not to industrialize, so that China cannot industrialize and cannot transform from an agricultural country to an industrial country. ..... Liang's so-called "Nine Heavens and Nine Earths" superficially represents the farmers, but in fact it represents the landlord class. "

After that, Premier Zhou mentioned Liang Shuming's performance in the negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. The general idea was that during the Liberation War, as Secretary-General of the Democratic League, Liang Shuming called on the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to "cease fire on the spot" and issued a "Message to China" in 1949. Communist Party", opposed the "unification of the country by force", and officially blamed Liang Shuming for being detrimental to the political performance of the CCP.

Liang Shuming was interviewed

After Premier Zhou spoke, Chairman Mao interjected: "At the critical juncture of our two peace negotiations with the Kuomintang, Mr. Liang's position was completely to help Chiang Kai-shek... To be honest, Chiang Kai-shek killed people with a gun, while Liang Shuming killed people with a pen, killing people without blood. "

In the following speech, Chairman Mao once again criticized Liang Shuming's so-called "Nine Heavens and Nine Earths", saying that this was a rhetoric that did not agree with the general line, with bad intentions and malicious intent.

Liang Shuming himself did not accept this statement. , decided to continue to defend himself, and asked to raise his hands to speak, but due to insufficient preparation, the rotating chairman of the conference asked him to explain his views at tomorrow's meeting.

At the meeting on September 18, Liang Shuming took the stage to speak again and asked Give him "sufficient time to speak" and ask Chairman Mao to be "magnanimous" so that he can talk about history one by one. At this time, many people sitting in the audience objected to Liang Shuming's approach and asked him to step down. Go, stop talking.

Liang Shuming and Peking University colleagues

Chairman Mao did not ask Liang Shuming to step down. He said in a gentle tone: "Mr. Liang, please don't talk too long today, just talk about the main points.

Liang Shuming disagreed. He hoped that the chairman could give him enough time because he still "had many facts to tell."

As a result, there was an uproar at the meeting, and several participants came to the stage to criticize Liang Shuming. When Chairman Mao saw this situation, he Prepare to give Liang Shuming another ten minutes.

Liang still disagrees and still demands that he be given fair treatment. In this way, the venue has reached a deadlock.

Finally, someone asked the chairman of the meeting to put it to a vote, Use a show of hands to vote whether Liang Shuming can continue to speak. The voting began. Most of the attendees did not approve of Liang Shuming continuing to speak, and the matter ended. It is worth noting that Chairman Mao finally voted for Liang Shuming.

A show of hands at the CPPCC meeting

After the vote, Chairman Mao said he would let Liang Shuming go to another meeting to speak. At a later meeting, Liang Shuming made a speech and statement, but he felt that he still "didn't have the opportunity to fully express his opinions. He mainly listened to everyone's criticism."

The above is the entire process of the dispute between Liang Shuming and Chairman Mao. So how did this storm finally subside? Has the friendship between Chairman Mao and Liang Shuming been affected by this? Please read on.

3. Final result: Liang Shuming admitted his mistake

Two days after the meeting, Liang Shuming’s two sons Liang Peikuan and Liang Peishu returned home from other places. Liang Shuming told his son what happened at the meeting and told himself There was a certain amount of reflection involved in openly arguing with Chairman Mao about this matter.

Liang Shuming and his two sons

After hearing this, the sons began to persuade Liang Shuming. The eldest son Liang Peikuan asked him, "Do you have any factual basis for what you said at the meeting? Is the problem of 'Nine Heavens and Nine Earths' really that serious?"

Liang Shuming suddenly slapped his forehead and said regretfully to his sons: "Oh my, this statement was told to me by my old friend Peng Yihu when I was chatting. I was excited at the time and thought of some of the questions I had during my research. , so I took my seat and brought the topic to the gap between urban and rural areas."

later said: "Premier Zhou also explained to us after the meeting that the gap between urban and rural areas in China is not as big as I said, and the government has been paying attention to this aspect. I was so angry at the time that I didn't even listen to what Premier Zhou said. I really made a big mistake!"

Mr. Liang Peikuan

As soon as he finished speaking, a "Okay!" came from outside the door. It turned out to be Liang Shuming's good friend. He Xiangning came to visit him, and several people quickly invited Ms. He Xiangning to come in.

After He Xiangning sat down, he said to Liang Shuming straight to the point: "Mr. Liang, I explained to some representatives who opposed you after the meeting that you have always been anti-Chiang in the past, and Premier Zhou removed you in order to dissuade you. Some of the mistakes that were made in the past have been revealed again. If you talk about how difficult the life of farmers is at the meeting and the huge gap between urban and rural areas, Chairman Mao will naturally misunderstand that you do not support the general line."

took a sip of tea to moisten his throat. He Xiangning went on to say: "When the atmosphere is already so tense, you still openly contradict Chairman Mao. Of course the Chairman's misunderstanding of you is even greater. You should quickly change things behind closed doors and save your future!"

He Xiangning is like

Liang Shuming hurry up Nodding and saying yes, he said to He Xiangning: "You said I made such a big mistake, will the chairman forgive me?"

He Xiangning replied: "Look at the meeting, although the chairman criticized you, but He still retains your status as a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and you have been good friends with the chairman for so many years. I believe he will not blame you too much!" After that, he left Liang Shuming's house.

After once again reflecting on his mistakes, Liang Shuming took the initiative to write to Vice Chairman Chen Shutong and Secretary General Li Weihan, who presided over the work of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, requesting a long vacation to better reflect on his mistakes.

The news reached Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao did not agree with Liang Shuming's thinking behind closed doors, so he did not reply directly. Li Weihan sent his subordinates to tell Liang Shuming: "In the future, we can do this: notices will be issued for meetings and activities that need to be attended, but you can decide whether to participate or not."

Chen Shutong is like

From then on, Liang Shuming began to study and study at home, seriously reflected on his mistakes, and did not go anywhere.

About a month or two later, North Korea's supreme leader Kim Il Sung came to visit China, and Chairman Mao A state banquet was held in honor of Kim Il-sung, and members of the democratic parties were also invited to attend.

Liang Shuming also received the invitation, but he did not attend the event. Later, some people criticized him and said that it was wrong not to attend the event, but Liang Shuming always thought that he had made a mistake It is a very serious mistake that must be taken seriously and cannot go out.

Since September 1953, Liang Shuming has still been a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. His salary has been paid as usual and there has been no punishment against him, which shows Chairman Mao's magnanimity.

" Literary character" Liang Shuming

After deep introspection, Liang Shuming began to continue to participate in the work of the CPPCC. He saw that the results of the country's industrialization were increasing day by day, and the farmers did not suffer serious damage because of giving priority to the development of heavy industry. Liang Shuming's mood also changed. Things are getting better every day.

In 1956, Liang Shuming, as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference inspection team, followed the inspection team to inspect other places. He found that under the leadership of the Communist Party, the lives of farmers were indeed getting better and better. Therefore, he sincerely expressed his sincere gratitude to the Communist Party of China and Chairman Mao Admiration.

In 1960, the second son Liang Peishu's son was born. Liang Shuming personally named his grandson "Liang Qindong", which means he admired Mao Zedong. It is enough to show that the public criticism not only did not hurt Liang Shuming's feelings for Chairman Mao, but actually This made Liang Shuming's admiration for Chairman Mao even stronger.

"The Complete Works of Liang Shuming" book and film

In 1986, more than 30 years after this incident, the 94-year-old Mr. Liang Shuming once said meaningfully: "In 1953, due to I was arrogant and arrogant, completely disregarding Chairman Mao's authority as a leader, and I contradicted him in public, prompting him to say some outrageous things in anger. If I was impulsive and lost control of my words at that time, then it was my opposition first, and then Chairman Mao’s criticism of me. "

Liang Shuming is still reflecting on his problems in his 90s, which shows the strong impact of this incident on him and the depth of his feelings for the Chairman.

On September 9, 1976, Chairman Mao passed away. In mourning for Mao Liang Shuming was in a very sad mood during the President's day. He believed that China had lost a great leader, and his magnanimity and character would remain in his heart forever!