On September 9, 1976, a radio news shocked the whole Chinese people:
The great leader Chairman Mao passed away after multiple treatments after falling ill, but eventually died in Beijing at 0:10 on September 9, 1976 because his condition worsened and his treatment was ineffective.
Just the night before, Great Hall of the People was brightly lit, and Premier Hua Guofeng of the State Council was holding a thank-you banquet to welcome the head of state of Western Samoa to visit China.
A phone call broke the laughter and joy at the banquet, and news came from the other side of the phone that Chairman Mao was critically ill.
Before the banquet ended, Hua Guofeng hurried to Zhongnanhai . When he walked into Chairman Mao's bedroom, he saw Chairman Mao lying quietly there and had stopped breathing.
The great man of the generation, Chairman Mao, passed away, and the whole country was deeply saddened.
While sadness, how to handle Chairman Mao’s funeral has become the top priority.
For this reason, Hua Guofeng immediately held an emergency meeting in Room 202, Zhongnanhai.
"Emergency Meeting"
This urgent Politburo meeting mainly discusses funeral matters.
Three key points were put forward at the meeting:
First is how to handle the Chairman’s funeral;
Second is about Chairman Mao’s body, how to deal with it;
The third point is whether foreign delegations should be invited to Beijing to pay their respects.
After discussion, the meeting decided that the primary task was to preserve the Chairman's body so that everyone could come to pay tribute and pay condolences.
At the same time, a leading group office for protecting Chairman Mao’s body was established, called the “Ninth Office of the State Council”. There are 16 people, all of whom are cadres and experts selected from relevant departments of the State Council and Beijing. The office director is Vice Premier Gu Mu.
After the establishment of the "Nine Office", it immediately ordered that Minister of Health Liu Xiangping organize the protection of Chairman Mao's body. The group dedicated to protecting the body was quickly established, including Xu Jing, Huang Shuze, , Lin Juncai and others.
In the early morning of September 9, Dr. Xu Jing, the first deputy director of the Department of Morphology of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, took a car to Zhongnanhai and led by Liu Xiangping to the room at the end of the corridor.
Wang Dongxing, director of the General Office of the Central Committee, was waiting in the room. When he saw the two of them coming in, Wang Dongxing immediately stood up and walked towards the two: "You are Comrade Xu Jing, are you?" Xu Jing returned: "I am."
Then Wang Dongxing choked and said with a sob, saying the news of Chairman Mao's death in the early morning of the 9th. He told Xu Jing that the most important thing at the moment is to protect Chairman Mao’s body, which lasts about 15 days.
Xu Jing was at first hearing the news of Chairman Mao’s death and couldn’t believe it was true. She stood there for a long time without responding. At the same time, two teardrops as big as beans slid down the corners of her eyes.
Wang Dongxing asked, "Do you have any requirements? You can put it forward?"
Xu Jing came back to his senses, thought for a while, and made three requirements:
First, we must study the plan with our peers in the Medical Academy;
Second, we must look at Chairman Mao's body;
Third, we need to have enough time to prepare necessary drugs and devices.
Wang Dongxing said there was no problem, and then took the two to Chairman Mao’s bedroom.
The temperature in the room was very low, and Chairman Mao was lying peacefully on the bed, covering his body with a white towel.
Xu Jing asked for instructions and walked to the bedside and slowly lifted the towel from the side.
Dr. Xu Jing first carefully observed Chairman Mao’s skin condition, mainly checking whether the skin was damaged. Then he gently touched the skin with his hands to see the elasticity of the skin. Finally, he moved the joints and covered the towel.
Due to the tight time, Liu Xiangping and Xu Jing immediately stood up and left Zhongnanhai, and rushed to the Medical Academy to carry out research.
After reporting on this matter with Party Secretary Yang Chun, the hospital decided to include Xu Jing as the person in charge, plus Zhang Bingchang, deputy director of the Anatomy Office, and Chen Kequan, deputy director of the Morphology Office, to form a three-person group. The three immediately discussed the initial anti-corrosion plan for body protection.
Around 10 o'clock that day, three people rushed to Zhongnanhai with needed medicines and equipment.
A large conference room next to the chairman's bedroom was full of people. Hua Guofeng was presiding over the meeting. Seeing the three-person group coming, Hua Guofeng stopped the topic being discussed.
Wang Dongxing suggested that Xu Jing talk about the plan to protect the body. Xu Jing introduced the preliminary protection plan, implementation methods and the results that can be obtained in detail, and at the same time gave a brief answer to everyone's questions.
Although Xu Jing once studied for three years in the Soviet Union and has some understanding of the preservation of Lenin's body, since the protection of the body is a secret of the former Soviet state and has never been disclosed to the public, the specific details of the body protection are unknown.
After Xu Jing finished the explanation, Zhang Chunqiao pointed at her and asked, "How confident are you?"
In response to this, Xu Jing said: The three-person group is all the tutors of the teaching and research department of morphology and anatomy , and they have a lot of research on the preservation of corpses, but in the past preservation did not pay attention to body shape, face protection, etc.
The requirements for Chairman Mao’s body are very high. Not only should it not rot, but it also needs to be kept alive.
This is something that everyone has never tried before, so they can only do it and explore it with all their might.
Hearing Xu Jing's answer, Hua Guofeng said:
"Protecting Chairman Mao's body so that the people can admire is a glorious and arduous political task... Just do what you said!"
Time is tight, and after the plan is approved, the "three-person group" immediately began to implement it.
"Operation Begins"
First, the three of them came to Chairman Mao's room and carried out a comprehensive cleaning and disinfection. They decided to use this place as a workplace.
Then, they placed the corpse table in the center of the room for easy operation.
After everything was ready, the three began to perform preliminary anti-corrosion treatment on Chairman Mao’s body. The process of
lasted for more than two hours. With the close cooperation of the three people, all the operations were successfully completed.
Considering the importance of this task, the three of them did not leave immediately after the anti-corrosion treatment was completed, but stayed in the room, observing the changes in the body at all times and keeping records. The three of them stayed until late at night on the 10th. During
, Xu Jing was very worried about the swelling caused by the large amount of anticorrosion liquid injected. Zhang Bing often said that the swelling will subside after 24 hours.
Sure enough, on the next day, the body returned to normal, and Xu Jing also breathed a sigh of relief.
anti-corrosion work is over, and the next step is the public consultation activity.
The three of them measured the size of Chairman Mao’s body on the afternoon of the 10th. After getting the size, the Hongdu Garment Factory immediately made two sets of Zhongshan clothing, one thin and one thick. After discussion by the central leaders, they decided to use a thinner and light gray Zhongshan clothing.
Then, barber Xiao Zhou recombed the chairman's hair, and Ma Yanlong from Beijing Hospital made up his makeup for the chairman.
html From September 11 to 17, the Party Central Committee decided to move Chairman Mao’s body to the north hall of the Great Hall of the People to hold a mass condolence activity.
1html At 3 a.m. on the 11th, Hua Guofeng, Wang Dongxing and others escorted Chairman Mao’s body to the Great Hall of the People, and the body protection team also moved. In the North Hall, all staff were busy with the condolences.
11 at 10 a.m. on the 11th, condolences began, and the Great Hall of the People were crowded with people, and the People's Liberation Army band played mourning music.
The people were full of sadness and slowly walked to Chairman Mao, saluting, standing in silence in front of Chairman Mao's body, expressing their respect for the great man.
In order to protect the body, all refrigeration equipment in the hall is on and the indoor temperature is kept below 15 degrees.
But as more and more people come to mourn, the heat emitted by everyone causes the temperature in the room to gradually increase, and even the musical instruments of the performers and the lights in the hall emit heat.
In fact, leaders and experts have proposed to use a plexiglass coffin cover to isolate the body from the environment, and the coffin can be cooled down locally while also isolating oxygen.
is just the first day of the condolence activity, the coffin covers and covers the future. To protect the remains, experts also decided to remove the band and control the total amount of light.
During the condolences, Hua Guofeng held several meetings.
The first time is to understand the protection of the body, and Xu Jing mainly reports on the anti-corrosion treatment measures and results of the body. During
, Hua Guofeng repeatedly emphasized that the task of protecting the Chairman's body is heavier than Mount Tai, and there should be no mistakes.
The second time was a discussion about the temperature of the hall. When discussing the measures, Zhang Chunqiao and Jiang Qing suddenly asked to stop the activity and use photos to continue the activity. But if you do this, there will inevitably be adverse reactions, so the two sides are in a stalemate.
Seeing this, Gu Mu immediately introduced new cooling measures, and the atmosphere of the meeting eased.
The third time was to listen to the report of the inspection team in Vietnam, but unfortunately he returned in vain.
is like this, and the event lasts until the 17th.
At the same time, a new question is here, Where should Chairman Mao’s body be stored? It will take about a year to build the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. How should we protect it during this period?
After discussion, the central government decided to transfer the body to the "769" protection room.
After the body was transferred, the protection room immediately implemented 24 hours a day of protection. The guard work of
is still served by Chairman Mao’s guards during his lifetime. There are four guard posts from the gate to the protection room, and the deputy director of the Central Security Bureau is personally in charge. At the same time, in order to ensure the environment of the protection room, cars are not allowed to enter, and even Hua Guofeng must walk in.
In order to protect Chairman Mao’s body for a long time, the central government has also set up a scientific research leading group for body protection. Although the safety of the body has been temporarily guaranteed, the construction plan of Chairman Mao’s Memorial Hall is urgent.
"Where is the memorial hall built?"
The decision to establish the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall was issued on October 8, 1976.
In fact, as early as the establishment of the "Nine Office", a "Mausoleum Design Group" was also established to design Chairman Mao's tomb construction, but considering the establishment of the Memorial Hall , the group was also renamed "Memorial Hall Design Group". The first task of the
group is to select a site for the memorial hall.
htmlOn September 14, the group discussed the site selection and conducted a field investigation. They went to many places in Beijing, including Zhongnanhai, Tiananmen Square, , Xiangshan, etc.In two months, the team listed more than 30 design plans, but most of these plans have disadvantages and cannot be applied.
After discussion, everyone unanimously decided to build the memorial hall in Tiananmen Square. Because Chairman Mao once told Premier Zhou during his lifetime that Tiananmen Square would be built into the people's favorite place in the future.
On October 1, 1949, on the Tiananmen Gate Tower, Chairman Mao announced the founding of New China to the world.
and to the west of the square is the Great Hall of the People, to the east is the History Museum, and in the center of the square is the Monument to the People's Heroes .
Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is built here, which not only makes the political significance of Tiananmen Square more prominent, but also demonstrates Chairman Mao’s greatness.
At the same time, here, the masses can also see Chairman Mao’s body to commemorate Chairman Mao.
Finally, after careful thinking and comparing various solutions, the designers finally decided to build the Memorial Hall in the middle of the monument and Zhengyangmen . The position of
has been determined, and the next step is the design plan.
The architects made various architectural models. After reading it, the leaders agreed to the preliminary plan, but further modifications are needed.
However, the architects responsible for the modification at that time did not understand the underground project of the square, and the internal settings of the memorial hall were not sure, so they fell into a dilemma for a while.
At the urging of the construction commander-in-chief, the architects combined their opinions and drew a set of sketches overnight and handed them to Fang Boyi of the Beijing Architectural Design Institute.
After getting the sketch, Fang Boyi thought deeply and immediately started writing and gave a formal design plan.
After leadership review, the central government decided on the construction plan of the memorial hall, , square, eight-bedroom, two-layer red granite foundation, etc.
Hearing that the memorial hall was to be built in the square, the people of the whole country were very supportive and more or less helped.
There are millions of people participating in the construction in Beijing. In just half a year, Chairman Mao’s Memorial Hall has basically been built, and thanks to the help of the people across the country.
Finally, on May 27, 1977, the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall was officially completed with Tiananmen Square, with a total construction area of 28,000 square meters.
After determining the construction plan of Chairman Mao’s Memorial Hall, there is another work that is particularly important, which is related to the protection of the body, that is, the development of " crystal coffin ".
"Making Crystal Coffin"
The instructions to study the "Crystal Coffin" were issued the day after Chairman Mao's death.
The task of this task is very demanding, and I hope to develop a world-class crystal coffin. In addition to being majestic and unique national style, the coffin must also have the ability to deal with special circumstances, such as earthquakes, damage, normal losses, etc.
For this reason, on the evening of September 13, Gu Mu held a special office meeting and established a "Crystal Coffin Group" to be responsible for the development of "Crystal Coffin". Among them, , Han Boping, , and Xiao Yang are the group leader and deputy group leader respectively.
But you should know that the production of "crystal coffin" is a difficult and complicated task.
First of all, it must have a high definition in appearance. allows the public to clearly see Chairman Mao’s remains from all angles;
in the material is not only sturdy and durable, but must meet the requirements for body protection, and the interior must also maintain low temperature, oxygen-free, dust-free, moisturizing and other states.
The given completion deadline is September 9, 1977, which is to be completed before the first anniversary of Chairman Mao’s death, so time is also relatively tight.
With the continuous efforts of the research team, 11976, the first crystal coffin made of was developed with optical glass .
In terms of performance, it simulates the intensity of a magnitude 8 earthquake, and there are no abnormal phenomena.
After confirming that there were no errors, Gu Mu reported to the central government. The report content includes the successful production of sample coffins, sealing, cooling and other protective devices, which have been determined.
Currently, sample coffin and lifting device are in the Revolutionary History Museum. After the review of the central leaders is completed, it can be manufactured.
Soon, Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying and others came to the museum hall to check the production of the crystal coffin.
After careful observation, everyone believed that there was no problem with the quality of this crystal coffin. However, there was a reflection of the body on the tube wall. Everyone judged that this was related to the inclination, so they asked the team to solve the problem immediately. After being instructed by
, the relevant personnel worked overtime and finally made the second sample coffin in 1977.
This time, there was no image reflected from the body on the wall of the tube.
But in order to ensure foolproof, they made the third glass coffin in July. After testing, the quality was completely fine.
At the same time, the real crystal coffin is being made faster. When selecting materials, National Geological Administration decided to use crystals from 105 mines in Donghai County, Jiangsu Province. During the entire production period, about 52 tons of first-class melted crystal was used to ensure the quality of the crystal coffin.
Finally, in August, the crystal coffin was assembled in Beijing.
On August 18, 1977, the crystal coffin was moved to the lobby of Chairman Mao’s memorial hall under Xiao Yang’s command, waiting for Chairman Mao’s body to arrive.
htmlOn the 20th, the vehicle carried Chairman Mao’s body and arrived at the memorial hall successfully from "769". On the morning of that day, the crystal coffin was placed in the ceremony hall. At this point, the preservation of the entire body was completed.Conclusion
Chairman Mao Memorial Hall has been open on September 1, 1977 and has always adopted the method of paying attention to invoices, but it is very inconvenient for ordinary people who want to pay homage to Chairman Mao.
Until July 1, 1984, the central government decided to cancel the invoice.From now on, the people can line up to see Chairman Mao’s remains.
