In 1985, a big shot suddenly came to the Yimeng Mountain District of Shandong Province: Zhuang Xinmin, a retired department-level cadre from Shanghai. The surrounding villagers were not shocked. Many of them knew that although the old lady and Zhuang Xinmin were not related by bl

"Mother, help me!"

In 1985, a big shot suddenly came to the Yimeng Mountain District of Shandong Province: Zhuang Xinmin, a retired department-level cadre from Shanghai Zhuang Xinmin .

As soon as he came to Yimeng , he was eager to find an old lady named Ming Deying .

When the car came to an ordinary farmyard, Zhuang Xinmin, who had been calm and composed just now, suddenly burst into tears. He knelt down in front of the mute old lady and cried out the opening sentence. .

The surrounding villagers were not shocked. Many of them knew that although the old lady and Zhuang Xinmin were not related by blood, the relationship between the two of them was closer than that of a biological mother and child.

What is going on?

A photo of Ming Deying and the soldiers

This story also begins with the life experience of the mute old lady Ming Deying.

(1) The miserable red sister-in-law

The mute old lady Ming Deying was a miserable person. In 1908, she was born into a poor peasant family by the embankment dozens of miles west of Henghe Village. When she was two years old, she suffered a serious illness. After recovering from the illness, Ming Deying found that she could no longer speak.

From then on, her life became even more difficult. Because the family was poor, the whole family had to wait for the rice to be cooked every day.

Ming Deying

When she was seven or eight years old, her parents both died. After that, Ming Deying could only live by begging, and she had been begging for more than 20 years.

When she was in her thirties, Ming Deying went to Henghe Village to beg for food and met Li Kaitian, a similarly poor farmer. The two got married as soon as they saw that they were suitable for each other.

In order to make a living, the couple became tombkeepers on the recommendation of the villagers. In addition to guarding the tomb,

also lived on the scraps of land in the corner.

During the Anti-Japanese War, Yimeng Mountain was the central area of ​​​​Shandong's Anti-Japanese War, and was even known as "Little Yan'an".

In order to destroy this anti-Japanese central area, the Japanese invaders organized raids again and again. Each raid brought heavy losses to the local residents.

Ming Deying saw everything and hated the Japanese devils who did all kinds of evil.

Ming Deying's statue

At the same time, she also saw with her own eyes that the Eighth Route Army was fighting the Japanese while organizing everyone to engage in production and cultural studies, and often helped the villagers with work.

Although Ming Deying was speechless, she was very smart. Naturally, she had a good impression of this team that fought against the Japanese aggressors and protected the people.

Because of this, when a young Eighth Route Army soldier fell in front of her door, she chose to lend a helping hand without hesitation.

(2) Life-saving milk

That was one winter, and the Japanese launched another raid.

This time, they gathered more than 50,000 people. Under the command of the commander, Lieutenant General Dohashi Ichi, they built a so-called "iron wall encirclement" to surround the mountain vertical headquarters stationed in Ma Muchi, hoping to kill them all in one fell swoop. Destroy the local anti-Japanese forces.

Our army is under the unified command of Chen Guang, acting commander of the 115th Division, and Luo Ronghuan, political commissar.

Ming Deying and Zhuang Xinmin

The enemy is outnumbered and there is a huge disparity in equipment. This battle is very difficult.

On November 2 of the same year, the enemies of Mengyin, Yishui , and Yingxian were the first to move out, approaching the Shandong column headquarters stationed in Ma Muchi, southeast of Mengyin, with the tactics of encirclement. On the 4th, the enemies launched a surprise attack.

Under the cover of the guard force , the Shandong column organization urgently moved, but the enemy was hot in pursuit. After several hours of fierce fighting, our army finally successfully moved to the area southwest of Xintai to Shilai, and jumped out of the enemy's encirclement. .

However, the battle continues. At dusk on the 5th, 20,000 enemy troops from Linyi , Mengyin, Yishui, Taiping and other places launched another attack, using their numerical advantage to build an encirclement.

Not only that, they also mobilized 7 aircraft and more than a dozen tanks to surround the Shandong column.

Zhuang Xinmin, who was only 16 years old at the time, endured the pain and rushed out of the encirclement despite injuries all over his body.

However, after he broke out of the encirclement, he still did not escape. Four or five Japanese soldiers clung to him.

In desperation, Zhuang Xinmin ran to the cemetery guarded by Ming Deying.

At this time, facing the extremely vicious enemy, he could only bear the pain and use the tombstones and terrain to "hide and seek" with the Japanese. The enemy became angry and shot at him.

Under the hail of bullets, Zhuang Xinmin was injured more and more, and he had no choice but to endure the pain and run to the north of the cemetery, hoping to escape from here.

By coincidence, Ming Deying was sitting at the door, taking care of her child who was under one year old.

She couldn't hear the gunfire, but saw Zhuang Xinmin running towards her in a hurry, gesturing to her to run.

Seeing this, Ming Deying understood everything. She quickly took the little soldier Zhuang Xinmin to her home to let him take shelter for a while.

At this time, Zhuang Xinmin was still worried about hurting others and refused to enter the house.

Exhibition board recording Ming Deying's deeds

But at this time, the Japanese were behind them, and the two of them had no time to pull.

Ming Deying pushed Zhuang Xinmin onto his bed and covered him from head to toe with a quilt.

Sure enough, the Japanese invaders came after them not long after. At this time, Ming Deying was calm in the face of danger. He didn't show any trace of panic even though there was a quilt hiding someone behind him.

When the Japanese entered the house and could not see Zhuang Xinmin, and saw that Ming Deying was a deaf-mute, their suspicions were mostly gone. They gestured and asked where the little soldier had gone.

Ming Deying remained calm and pointed to the west. The Japs didn't doubt his presence and headed west one after another.

After they were far away, she lifted the quilt and checked Zhuang Xinmin's condition.

Yimeng Hongsao stills

At this time, Zhuang Xinmin was covered in blood, his face was paler than paper, and he was unconscious.

How to save this man has become the top priority in Ming Deying's mind at this time.

However, her poor family situation prevented her from getting anything nutritious, and Zhuang Xinmin's life was in danger and she could not make a fire to cook. In desperation, she untied her clothes and poured milk into the little warrior's mouth. .

(Yimeng Mountain)

Because the injury was so serious, Zhuang Xinmin did not wake up until night, so he had no choice but to do so.

Ming Deying had no choice but to pierce his philtrum using local methods, and then fed him milk again, and then Zhuang Xinmin came to his senses.

Seeing him wake up, Ming Deying was very happy. She quickly took salt water to clean his wounds and killed the only old hen in the house to replenish his health.

At this time, her husband Li Kaitian was translating Ming Deying's words for him, saying that they had heard that milk could save people before, so they gave it a try and it really saved him.

Zhuang Xinmin, who woke up, was still very weak. After discussion, the couple decided to move him to a nearby empty tomb to avoid being searched by the Japanese.

They laid fine straw in the tomb chamber and blocked the tomb hole with firewood. During the few days when Zhuang Xinmin was recovering from his injuries, Ming Deying worked tirelessly to bring him food and water, clean his wounds, and even used the only new cotton in the house to Being covered by Zhuang Xinmin, he gave Zhuang Xinmin the best food to eat.

Exhibition board recording Ming Deying's deeds

While he was recovering from his injuries, the government troops had been successfully transferred. The Japs failed to encircle them several times, so they launched another clearing campaign, dividing the Yimeng mountainous area into four "clearing areas" in the southeast, northwest and northwest. They built fortifications in the huge mountainous area, dug blockade ditches, arrested strong men, and searched villagers' homes for house-to-house possessions. There is no Eighth Route Army hiding.

Fortunately, Ming Deying was deaf and mute, so the Japanese army could not ask anything from her. Li Kaitian was also calm and smart, and the two of them never revealed Zhuang Xinmin's whereabouts.

But even if the old couple didn't say anything, Zhuang Xinmin could still feel the tense atmosphere in the village.

He was worried about his comrades and feared that the Ming Deying family would be implicated. As soon as his health improved, he was anxious to return to the team.

But Ming Deying stopped him, saying that his body had not recovered yet, and going back at this time would be a drag on his comrades, so he just left him at home.

It was not until more than forty days later that Zhuang Xinmin's injuries were basically healed that he was willing to let him go.

Zhuang Xinmin's biological father died during the liberation of Zhoushan Islands. Looking at the kind Ming Deying and his wife, it was like seeing his father and mother who would never see him again.

Before parting, Zhuang Xinmin knelt down in front of Ming Deying and his wife with tears in his eyes and said with sobs, "Mom and dad, you are my lifesavers. I will definitely come back to see you!"

Ming Deying and her husband Li Kaitian

faced this ten-year crisis. The young warriors Ming Deying and his wife also had red eyes. Li Kaitian said: "Go and fight the Japanese. If you fight a few more, you can repay us."

said goodbye to the parents who saved his life, and Zhuang Xinmin returned to the team.

With the expectations of Ming Deying and his wife, he fought more bravely after returning to the team. He rushed to the front every time, always remembering the kindness of his reborn parents.

In early December of the same year, the revolutionary base area in Yimeng Mountain was successfully restored, and Zhuang Xinmin was transferred away from Yimeng. He did not even have time to say goodbye to Ming Deying and his wife.

didn't have time to ask why Ming Deying risked her life to protect him and why she treated him like her biological mother.

But for Ming Deying, saving an Eighth Route Army was a choice that did not require any hesitation.

(3) Reunion

Since leaving Yimeng Mountain, Zhuang Xinmin has never forgotten the people's kindness and expectations for him. He has never been afraid in battle and never violated discipline.

After Shanghai was liberated, he entered Shanghai with Chen Yi. The tense battle had passed. At this time, he once again thought of the more than forty days in Yimeng Mountain and the parents who saved him.

Zhuang Xinmin, who missed his mother eagerly, quickly found the post and telecommunications department, and contacted his comrades in Yimeng Mountain through them. He also contacted the Yinan County Government through his comrades, and after several rounds of contact.

Finally, in 1952, Zhuang Xinmin, who had been waiting for a long time, heard the news about his mother Ming Deying again, and then learned that Ming Deying was still living in Henghe Village at this time. After

contacted Ming Deying, Zhuang Xinmin found out that besides herself, all of Ming Deying's children were also outstanding. Five of her children and grandchildren joined the army and took on the important task of protecting their home and country.

Yimeng Hongsao Memorial Hall

After hearing that Zhuang Xinmin got what he wanted, his old leader Chen Yi was also very happy.

However, with the overall situation in mind, he still advised Zhuang Xinmin: "You have a good mother. Our Chinese revolution was raised by the mothers of millions of ordinary people. We cannot forget the nurturing grace of the people. I have time." , I also want to go to Shandong to see her. But I am too busy with work now, and even you can't go there for the time being. Work hard, and your wish to visit your mother will come true sooner or later."

Zhuang Xinmin listened to Chen Yi's advice and was not in a hurry. Then I went to visit Ming Deying.

However, he never forgot this mother. He sent money and things to Ming Deying every year, and kept in touch with her through letters. No matter how his position changed, he always kept his parents in Yimeng Mountain in his heart.

In 1956, Zhuang Xinmin, who finally found an opportunity, wanted to bring both Ming Deying and Li Kaitian to Shanghai.

Unfortunately, Ming Deying fell ill and could not go. Therefore, the eager Zhuang Xinmin took Li Kaitian to Shanghai, wanting to show his respect.

Linyi Grand Theater's "Ode to Yimeng" performance

As soon as Li Kaitian got off the train, Zhuang Xinmin rushed to greet him, shouting, "Dad, my son is here to pick you up!"

After arriving in Shanghai, Li Kaitian moved into Zhuang Xinmin's house and stayed with him The children share family happiness.

Zhuang Xinmin tried his best to honor Li Kaitian, and also proposed to bring Ming Deying and their two children to live together.

However, Li Kaitian, who has lived on the land for generations, cannot adapt to life in Shanghai. He always thinks about the fields at home, his wife and children.

After staying for just half a month, Li Kaitian felt uncomfortable all over and wanted to go back urgently.

There was no other way, so Zhuang Xinmin had no choice but to buy a lot of gifts and send Li Kaitian on the train back home.

Stills from the ballet "Ode to Yimeng"

Unable to bring Ming Deying and his wife over, Zhuang Xinmin thought of ways to send them various things to fulfill his wish to be filial to his parents.

Since then, Zhuang Xinmin has never had the opportunity to visit Ming Deying because of his busy work.

It was not until 1985, after he retired from his job, that he had free time and was able to go to the Yimeng Mountain Area, whereupon the touching scene at the beginning of the article happened.

Cover image of "Red Wife"

In 1989, Zhuang Xinmin once again went to Henghe Village to visit Ming Deying and his wife.

At this time, Zhuang Xinmin had already married. Every time he mentioned Ming Deying to his children, he said that she was his mother, and he always asked his children to call them grandma Ming Deying.

He often said to the children: "Without her, our family would never be possible, feeding me milk after milk..."

In 1994, 72-year-old Zhuang Xinmin was once again preparing to go to Henghe Village, but one day... Unfortunately, before setting off, he accidentally fell and fractured his lumbar vertebrae.

Unable to travel, he called his son to his side and told him to go to Yimeng Mountain to meet Grandma Ming.

This was also the first time Ming Deying met Zhuang Xinmin's son, Zhuang Jian. She was overjoyed and hurriedly asked her granddaughter to prepare meals and the family had a reunion dinner together. After dinner, we took a family photo together.

could not have imagined that this would be the last meeting between the banker and Ming Deying.

The statue of "Red Wife"

In March 1995, Ming Deying died without any illness.

When the news reached Shanghai, Zhuang Xinmin burst into tears and knelt down facing the direction of Shandong.

Afterwards, he set up a memorial tablet for Ming Deying at his home, and three generations of his descendants never forgot to worship him.

(4) Leave a name in history

Ming Deying left the human affairs department, but her spirit did not disappear.

In 1960, the story of Ming Deying rescuing a young soldier from the Eighth Route Army examination with milk was turned into a novel by a writer named Liu Zhixia, titled "The Red Wife". This is also the first time that the title "Red Sister-in-law" has been proposed.

The protagonist of this novel, Ming Deying, is also known as "the first red sister-in-law in Yimeng".

Later, her deeds were adapted into the movie "Ode to Yimeng" and the political film "Century Journey". Her deeds as a "red sister-in-law" were also widely disseminated, and were once adapted into a drama.

In addition to making Ming Deying's deeds well-known to everyone, these adaptations also tell everyone the stories of many women who are as staunchly patriotic, kind and brave as she was. These women are also called "red sisters-in-law".

The statue of Ming Deying

Among them is Wang Huanyu, who is called "Yimeng Mother". This woman actually has no official name at all. The reason why she was called Wang Huanyu was because she was exchanged for two buckets of millet to get married in the Yu family. The Communist Party gave her this name when they found out.

From 1939 to the end of 1942, she nurtured more than 80 descendants of anti-Japanese fighters and assumed the responsibility of "kindergarten director".

In order to allow the soldiers to cross the river, a woman named Li Guifang, who was called the "Sister Yimeng", led the women in the village to remove the door panels of their houses and jump into the cold river water in May to build a strong bridge of people.

It was precisely because of this human bridge that Huaye surrounded Zhang Lingfu 's army at a speed that the enemy had not expected, creating a miracle in the history of mobile warfare.

According to statistics, the women of Yimeng made more than three million pairs of military shoes and more than one million military uniforms during the war. They milled more than 10,000,000 kilograms of rice and flour. They mobilized nearly 400,000 people to join the army and rescued more than 60,000 people. The wounded and sick, protecting nearly 100,000 revolutionary comrades, became an unshakable monument on the road to victory of the revolution.

However, none of these "red sisters" who have created miracles compete for fame and fortune, no one asks the government for conditions for treatment, and no one even redeems the IOUs from the war years. Many of them have lived in rural areas all their lives, and even some people around them are unaware of their achievements.

In the face of these red sisters-in-law, Marshal Chen Yi once said: "Even if I lie in the coffin, I can't forget the people of Yimeng. They supported the revolution with millet and pushed the revolution across the Yangtze River with small cars."

One year In August, Chairman Mao watched "The Red Wife" performed by the Peking Opera Troupe in Beidaihe and praised it repeatedly.

Just as a folk song goes: "The Mengshan Mountain is high and the Yi River is long. I make chicken soup for my relatives. Add another piece of Mengshan firewood to make the fire more prosperous, and add a ladle of water from the Yi River to deepen the love..."

The melodious and beautiful singing voice sounded. It has spread throughout China and passed down the spirit of Hongsao.

References:

[1] Peng Peifa. Yimeng "Red Sister-in-law" Ming Deying[J]. Party History Wenhui, 2000(06):22-23.

[2] Zhang Jianguo, Li Zhenxing. "Red Sister-in-law" Ming Deying[ J]. Spring and Autumn Period, 1998(04):7-8.

[3] Guan Jie. The Ordinary Virgin—The prototype of Visiting the Red Sister-in-law Ming Deying[J]. Party History, 1995(06):25-27.

[4]Wang Shan. Resurrecting the revolutionary heroes with flesh and blood[J]. Party Building, 2004(02):42-43.

[5]Han Liwei, Bao Na. Yimeng Hongsao’s love is boundless[J]. Jilin People’s Congress ,2021(10):39-40.

[6] Li Qun. Ode to Hongsao[J]. Qiushi, 2006(01):64.

Editor: Lin Ling

Editor: Lin Hua