In 1946, Zhang Xueliang was escorted to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek . From then on, he could only keep his deep attachment to the motherland in his heart. As he got older, Zhang Xueliang's desire to return to the mainland became stronger and stronger. Frankly speaking, Feelings for Mainland China: “I think about it so much.”
However, due to various reasons, Zhang Xueliang failed to return to his motherland in his later years, and this became his biggest regret. Finally, in 1993, Zhang Xueliang's son Zhang Lulin was about to return to China. After telling his father the news, Zhang Xueliang was overjoyed and repeatedly told his son: "Follow a wish for me."
So, what did Zhang Xueliang want his son to do for him?
His homesickness was out of control
Since the September 18th Incident in 1931, Zhang Xueliang has never returned to the Northeast. It has been 60 years. Since coming to Taiwan, he has not set foot on the mainland for 45 years. land.
But what can he do? Dusk came quietly, and when he thought that he was about to celebrate his ninetieth birthday, he couldn't help but feel a little desolate. He could only look at the setting sun and cold moon day after day to find those fragmented memories of his hometown.
In September 1970, Zhang Xueliang's friend Luo Zuguang in Taiwan asked him for a word. Zhang Xueliang pondered for several days and wrote a poem " Untitled " by Li Shangyin.
Luo Zuguang was silent for a moment after receiving it, and said to the people around him: "The young commander is getting old, and he is homesick."
The last two sentences of the untitled poem: Liu Lang already hates that Pengshan is far away, and even more separated by Pengshan 10,000 layers . can better express his feelings of missing his hometown.
Zhang Xueliang
This year, Zhang Xueliang just turned 70 years old. Since then, his homesickness has become deeper and deeper, and he has become out of control.
In 1980, Zhang Xueliang and his wife came to Kinmen Island, which is close to the mainland. This was the closest place to the mainland since they bid farewell to their hometown. When they came here, his homesickness was released for a while. As soon as he landed on the island, he hurried I ran to the telescope set up high on the coast, eager to see the continent on the other side of the sea.
Through the telescope, he saw Xiamen and the five-star red flag flying in the wind. This was the first time in many years that he had seen everything on the mainland so close. This sight made this octogenarian old man excited. Incessantly.
He quickly called over Zhao Yidi and let him take a look. Zhang Xueliang was as excited as a child and said: "It's so close, it seems like you can cross it in one step."
It seems so close, it seems like one step is just a step away. It can be passed, but for Zhang Xueliang, this is an insurmountable gap. He is separated from the mainland by thousands of mountains and rivers, and he can only stare in the direction of the mainland in a daze.
walked around Kinmen for most of the day. Zhao Yidi was afraid that his body could not bear it, so he walked around for a while and then went back.
Zhang Xueliang
The next day, the news of Zhang Xueliang and his wife's visit to Kinmen was reported in major newspapers in Taiwan. When a reporter interviewed Zhang Xueliang and asked him to talk about his thoughts on this trip, he just said lightly: " This trip was extremely pleasant. "Obviously, it can be seen that this is not Zhang Xueliang's true feelings.
Not long after, Zhang Xueliang expressed his thoughts about his trip to Kinmen in a letter to a friend. When he mentioned the mainland, his homesickness struck him again, and he quoted a poem written by Yu Youren in his later years:
I am buried on a high mountain, looking at the mainland;
The mainland is invisible, and I can only cry bitterly.
In just a few words, Zhang Xueliang’s homesickness is vividly reflected on the page.
After his trip to Kinmen, Zhang Xueliang often immersed himself in longing for his hometown.
Zhang Xueliang's wife Zhao Yidi is the most vocal. She said, Her husband would often chat with her, talking about his hometown and old friends. He talked about it every day and never felt tired. Whenever he talked about these past events, he His eyes always shine with excitement, and then gradually dim, immersed in memories and unable to extricate themselves.
In his later years, Zhang Xueliang and Zhao Yidi
After Li Tenghui came to power, he lifted Zhang Xueliang's ban and restored his freedom.
After freedom, the first thing he thought of was to return to his motherland, but he remembered that the relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait was very delicate at that time. If he proposed to return to the mainland now, Lee Teng-hui would probably be unhappy, so he decided to contact the mainland first and wait until about the time to tell him. He would definitely agree to it then.
So he communicated with the relevant departments through his friend Wang Ji, hoping that the mainland leaders could write an invitation letter to Zhang Xueliang, and then Zhang Xueliang would go to Li Tenghui himself to ask for instructions. In this way, he would not be able to refuse in person.
Zhang Xueliang was very excited during the days when he was planning to return to the mainland. He had already made arrangements for his itinerary. He would first stay in Beijing for two days to meet Deng Xiaoping as a courtesy, and then also stay in Shenyang for two days.
He said that he must go back to his hometown in Shenyang to see his parents and fellow villagers and his old team. Then he would give a speech on Shenyang TV station and talk about his guilt for the people in his hometown.
Zhang Xueliang
Soon, the mainland sent an invitation letter immediately after getting the news about Zhang Xueliang, but unexpectedly the invitation letter was not handed over to Zhang Xueliang, but the Taiwan authorities got it. Zhang Xueliang's plan failed, and Li Tenghui was certainly not happy about this.
That day, Li Tenghui found Zhang Xueliang, took Yang Shangkun's invitation letter, and asked Zhang Xueliang:
"How can you do such a trick behind the scenes? Are you going to do another Xi'an Incident or Taipei Incident?"
Li Tenghui was then Very angry, and what he said was not listened to. Zhang Xueliang's heart sank, knowing that it might be even harder for him to return to the mainland than to climb to heaven. After
, Zhang Xueliang could only tell his friends that he had offended the Taiwan authorities and the mainland had been deceived by him, so he could not go back. And he didn't want to stay in Taiwan anymore, so he applied to go to the United States to spend his remaining years.
The bumpy road back home was never realized
On March 10, 1991, Zhang Xueliang and his wife left Taiwan to visit relatives in the United States. At the airport, media reporters were waiting for Zhang Xueliang. When the reporters asked him when he would return to his hometown, Zhang Xueliang said: "I don't rule out the possibility of going to the Northeast." "I can go whenever I want."
What he said The statement immediately attracted the attention of all sectors of society. When the mainland of the motherland learned of Zhang Xueliang's eagerness to return home, it immediately expressed its position: "Mr. Zhang Xueliang is very welcome to come back to his hometown."
Zhang Xueliang
Taiwan also received news of Zhang Xueliang's speech at the airport. Taiwanese newspapers even published news that Zhang Xueliang would return to his hometown in the near future. Such news naturally made the Taiwan authorities uneasy, because Zhang Xueliang did not report to Taiwan before going to the United States and went to the mainland via the United States.
At this moment, Taiwan received news that before Zhang Xueliang left Taiwan, he had sent Zhang Jie to the mainland to make arrangements for his subsequent return to his hometown.
In fact, this is not the case. Zhang Jieqian also asked Zhang Xueliang if he wanted to return to the mainland, but Zhang Xueliang said: "I can't go back secretly, I want to go back openly."
Zhang Xueliang also knows that if he goes back from The United States is detouring back to the mainland. Isn't this embarrassing Taiwan?
In order not to embarrass both parties, on April 22, 1991, Zhang Xueliang clarified when asked by reporters: "I have no plans to return to the mainland in the near future." Later, he also publicly told reporters: "Although Mr. Lee Teng-hui advised me to be free, I This person just doesn’t want to feel sorry for others.”
Lee Teng-hui
In June of this year, Zhang Xueliang returned to Taiwan from the United States and said that Taiwan is his home. Zhang Xueliang's move was to prevent the two sides of the Taiwan Strait from harming the harmony because of him, so he had no choice but to sacrifice himself.
In 1992, Zhang Xueliang once again got the opportunity to return to his hometown, and the newspaper also said that Zhang Xueliang's trip had been approved by Taiwan.
Coincidentally, when Zhang Xueliang was preparing to go, it was when Emperor Akihito of Japan was about to visit China. In this way, the two of them might visit at the same time.
Zhang Xueliang hated the Japanese so much that his father Zhang Zuolin died in the hands of the Japanese. The September 18th Incident that happened later caused Zhang Xueliang so much that he could not return home and suffered infamy. Even Zhang Xueliang himself said that his life was ruined by the Japanese.
Therefore, he could not accept that he and the Japanese were in the mainland at the same time, so Zhang Xueliang decided to cancel the plan to return home.
In 1993, the opportunity to return to his hometown beckoned to him again. In this year, Northeastern University, where Zhang Xueliang had been president, planned to resume school in the spring of this year, and he also hinted in an interview that he would probably use Northeastern to resume school to return to his hometown.
Northeastern University
But in April, he suddenly changed his mind and would not return to the mainland for the time being.
In fact, Zhang Xueliang had many concerns at the time. The main reason is that in April this year, the first semi-official cross-strait "Wang Gu Talks" will be held in Singapore. During this sensitive period, I don't know what will happen if I go back.
In addition to this reason, Miss Zhao Si at that time was suffering from osteoporosis and was hospitalized, and he himself had bone spurs disease. So he could only decide to postpone his return to his hometown until 1994.
In May of this year, Zhang Xueliang and his wife were preparing to return to Shenyang to inspect Northeastern University, and decided to fly to Shenyang on May 21. However, Northeastern University was originally going to establish a board of directors in late May, because of some things, the board of directors of Northeastern University was not established as scheduled. An invitation letter could not be issued to Zhang Xueliang, so Zhang Xueliang's plan to return home this time was delayed again.
Zhang Xueliang and Zhao Yidi
In his later years, Zhao Yidi's physical condition was not objective and he was worried about Zhang Xueliang returning to his hometown alone, so he was very opposed to his return.
Zhang Xueliang's physical condition was also not very good. He was hospitalized due to pneumonia at the age of 99 and his condition was very critical. Although he survived safely in the end, he was too old and could no longer adapt to long-distance travel, so he had no chance to return to the mainland. And this has become Zhang Xueliang's lifelong regret.
However, Zhang Xueliang’s son Zhang Lulin also returned to the mainland twice, and this may be a kind of compensation for Zhang Xueliang’s failure to return to the mainland.
Zhang Lulin visited the mainland twice
When Zhang Xueliang applied for a green card in 1993, he applied for it on the grounds that he went to live with his son Zhang Lulin in old age.
Zhang Lulin is the son of Zhao Yidi and Zhang Xueliang. Zhang Xueliang's love for Zhao Yidi is true and pure, so he attaches great importance to this child.
After Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned, Zhao Yidi and his son lived together in Hong Kong. At that time, Zhang Xueliang was building Wenyangming Cave in Guizhou, and Yu Feng was preparing to go to the United States for medical treatment, so Zhao Yidi could only be asked to take care of Zhang Xueliang.
When they were young, Zhang Xueliang and Zhao Yidi
For the safety of their children, Zhao Yidi decided to entrust Zhang Lulin to Zhang Xueliang's American friend Yiyage to take care of them. He is a Scotsman, but he has lived in China since he was a child. He has a very good relationship with Zhang Xueliang, so Zhao Yidi entrusted his son to him.
When Yi Yage went to the United States, Zhang Xueliang gave him a large sum of property for safekeeping. So, Zhao Yidi brought Zhang Lulin to the United States and personally handed his son to him, telling him to take good care of his son and let him Go to school and study, but don't tell anyone about the child's background.
So, Zhao Yidi cruelly left the child in the United States and came to Zhang Xueliang's side. The child didn't know what happened, so he could only hold his mother's legs and cry. After his mother left, he could only cheer up and face the next life.
During those long years, Zhang Lulin adapted to life in a foreign country alone, became an American citizen, and in the end could not even speak Chinese. This also left Zhang Xueliang helpless, but Zhang Lulin often thought about when he could return to his motherland.
Zhang Xueliang and Zhang Lulin
Finally in 1959, Zhang Xueliang had a certain degree of freedom, and Zhang Lulin was allowed to visit her parents in Taiwan. When her father turned 90, Zhang Lulin went to celebrate his birthday in person.
But during this period, Zhang Lulin never had the chance to return to her motherland.
However, it was also an opportunity that prompted him to return to China.
Zhao Yidi's third aunt has a daughter, a Chinese-American, who is married to Bei Yukun, the younger brother of the great architect I.M. Pei . In recent years, the Bei brothers have often traveled to the mainland. Under the introduction of the Bei brothers , an aviation technical expert from mainland China, had the opportunity to participate in the Sino-US Engineering Technology Seminar and met Zhang Lulin and his wife at San Francisco , so he invited Zhang Lulin and his wife to visit the mainland.
In 1993, Zhang Lulin told Zhang Xueliang about her intention to return to the mainland. Zhang Xueliang was very excited after learning about it and told his son: "Follow a wish for me." She repeatedly told him:
"I must go back to my hometown in Northeast China after arriving in Beijing." , Go and see our old residence in Shenyang and Fushun your grandfather's empty mausoleum outside the city for me. I really have no way to go back to the Northeast. "
Zhang Xueliang was with his family
Finally on April 20, 1994. , Zhang Lulin and his wife came to Hong Kong with their father's instructions. After resting here for three days, they came to Beijing.
Prior to this, the motherland had already understood the wishes of Zhang Lulin and his wife, and only received them as ordinary foreign experts. All activities were carried out quietly without publicity. Therefore, what greeted him at the airport was Song Duoliao, Director of the Liaison Department of the State Council's Foreign Experts Affairs Bureau, accompanied by Pei Yukun and Li Tang. After
arrived, he arranged for them to rest and invited them to the Aerospace Industry Corporation Launch Vehicle Research Institute for a visit and discussion the next day. On the 5th, I visited the Satellite Research Institute of the Aerospace Industry Corporation. On the 6th, we visited Yonghe Temple in Beijing. On the 7th, we also participated in Tiananmen and Great Wall . During the visit, I also met Yang Zhengmin, Yang Hucheng’s son, and held a banquet in the Shanxi Hall of the Great Hall of the People.
Yang Zhengmin (left)
html On the evening of 08, Zhang Lulin and his party set off for Shenyang in accordance with his father's instructions. Prior to this, the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the State Council issued a special document asking them to receive foreign experts according to the specifications. However, in order to express their welcome to Zhang Lulin, Liaoning set very high reception standards and rented a large Lincoln car, with police cars clearing the way.After the Foreign Experts Affairs Bureau learned about it, they immediately called them and said that the reception was too warm and was not good for Zhang Xueliang's return to his hometown. Therefore, Liaoning canceled the greeting methods such as police cars clearing the way, and did not replace the big Lincoln.
html On the morning of the 9th, Zhang Lulin and her party arrived in Shenyang. They visited the September 18th Incident Memorial Hall in the morning and the Shuaifu, the former residence of the Zhang family, in the afternoon.When he saw Miss Zhao Si's building outside the hospital, Zhang Lulin was stunned for a moment.. When
was in the United States, he watched a lot of videos, but he didn't feel much at the time. But now that I have seen it with my own eyes and been there personally, I feel a sense of intimacy when I think that this is the place where my mother lived.
html On November 11, he also visited Northeastern University on behalf of his father. At the school gate, he felt as if he was in another world when he looked at the school badge filled in by his father.
Northeastern University school badge inscribed by Zhang Xueliang
That evening, the deputy mayor of Shenyang hosted a banquet for them at the Shaoshuai Mansion Restaurant, which is the memorial hall of the former residence of General Zhang Xueliang. In order to give Zhang Lulin a taste of his hometown, they also cooked Zhang's Shuai Mansion family dishes, each dish having a different story.
Living in a foreign country, Zhang Lulin had long forgotten his living habits in mainland China. He was deeply moved by being able to eat Northeastern food this time.
11 They returned to Beijing in the evening. The next day, the Executive Deputy Minister of United Front Work of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China hosted a banquet. They also talked about Zhang Xueliang, saying when Mr. Zhang Xueliang would return to his hometown, where he would go after he came back, and those people he wanted to meet, we would all respect him. Opinion. We can send a special plane to pick him up and ask him to relieve his concerns. We will not impose anything on him.
In the next few days, they met the descendants of their aunt and uncle, and also visited the Forbidden City , Summer Palace and other scenic spots.
When she returned to her hometown this time, Zhang Lulin fulfilled her father's wish and paid a visit to the Marshal's Mausoleum.
In June 1995, at the invitation of Yan Mingfu, Yan Mingguang and others, Zhang Lulin visited her hometown for the second time.
Yan Mingfu and Yan Mingguang are the children of Zhang Xueliang’s good friend Yan Baohang. After 1991, Yan Mingguang also went to the United States to celebrate Zhang Xueliang’s birthday. June 18, 1995 was the 100th anniversary of Yan Baohang’s birth. For this reason, Zhang Lulin and his wife made a special trip here to participate in the commemorative activities held by Liaoning Province.
Zhang Lulin and Zhang Xueliang
After Zhang Lulin and his wife returned to the United States, they also showed their father the photos they had taken and told him a lot about what they had seen and heard in mainland China. Zhang Xueliang could not calm down for a long time after hearing these things, and wrote a poem: "The crane has returned to its nest, and the cloud has not left its heart." Then he sent it to the old headquarters of the Northeast Army.
Zhang Xueliang knew that he might not be able to realize his "dream of returning to the nest", so he wrote down his feelings, which was an explanation for those who missed him in the Northeast. "My hometown is so far away, it's so easy to think about it when I return home." After he started writing, he felt as if he was lost...
