Chairman Mao was not in good health in his later years, and many things needed to be handled by a capable assistant. Hua Guofeng was one of the people he trusted the most. During his work in Hunan, Hua Guofeng's outstanding achievements attracted the attention and appreciation of Chairman Mao, and was eventually transferred to the central work and entered the core of power.
Hua Guofeng is reliable in his work, loyal and able to unite comrades. Since he was transferred to the Central Committee, Chairman Mao has entrusted important tasks and recognized his ability and loyalty.
On April 30, 1976, Chairman Mao wrote three notes in his own hand and handed them to Hua Guofeng around him. One of them reads the six familiar words "You do things, I'm relieved." This sentence shows Chairman Mao's infinite trust in Hua Guofeng in his later years.
Why is it said that Hua Guofeng is the "overtime worker" appointed by Chairman Mao? What is the evidence? On November 26, 1976, an article titled "Comrade Hua Guofeng is the successor selected by Chairman Mao himself" was published in " Hunan Daily ". At that time, this was a "proof" that Chairman Mao chose Hua Guofeng as the "overtimer".
At 10 a.m. on September 9, 1976, Chairman Mao, the great leader of the New China, closed his eyes forever and left us at the age of 83. After the bad news, Hua Guofeng presided over the relevant work and held an emergency meeting to discuss three issues in the aftermath work, namely: the handling of Chairman Mao’s body, the form and scale of the funeral, whether foreign delegations are invited or allowed to come to pay their respects, etc.
meetings are very efficient, and many issues have a unified opinion, which is how to deal with Chairman Mao’s body? This question is tricky and there are two different views.
Some people believe that Chairman Mao signed an initiative to cremate the body during his lifetime. According to relevant policies, it should be cremated and placed in Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery .
Some people clearly object to this view. Chairman Mao was a great leader. He led the victory of the New China Revolution and had a unique position in the hearts of the people. The body should be preserved forever and be admired by future generations.
The two opinions conflicted and it was difficult to decide for the time being. In the end, Hua Guofeng and others discussed that in order to smoothly proceed the subsequent funeral work, Chairman Mao’s body should be preserved first and treated with anti-corrosion, and then decide whether to cremate or permanently preserve it.
The decision was very good. After everyone had no objections, Hua Guofeng arranged relevant tasks and immediately started to arrange them after making it clear. Soon, Wang Dongxing invited medical expert Xu Jing, announced to him the news of Chairman Mao's death, and handed him an important task to protect Chairman Mao's remains.
Xu Jing admitted to the leaders that she was not sure that she could make Chairman Mao’s remains vivid and could only do her best to complete it. After hearing this, Hua Guofeng encouraged Xu Jing: Just follow your method and complete this task, the Party and the people will not forget you.
Xu Jing and his medical team withstood the pressure this time and completed the work well. During Chairman Mao’s memorial service, about 300,000 people came to pay their respects to Chairman Mao’s remains. During this period, Hua Guofeng was in charge of command and did not allow any mistakes in Chairman Mao's remains.
In order to better protect Chairman Mao’s body, the central government decided to set up a group, the abbreviation of this group is called "Nine Office". After discussion, members of the "Nine Office" decided to permanently protect Chairman Mao's body, and to find an address to build a Chairman Mao Memorial Hall to store Chairman Mao's body for future generations to admire.
The issue of site selection was undecided for a while. The relevant members visited all kinds of places in Beijing, with no unified view. Finally, at the suggestion of the comrades of the Memorial Hall, the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall was chosen to build the South of the People's Heroes Monument in Tiananmen Square at the Tiananmen Square.
Hua Guofeng guided the relevant work of the establishment of Chairman Mao’s Memorial Hall throughout the process. On November 24, 1976, the groundbreaking ceremony of the memorial hall was officially launched. Hua Guofeng delivered an important speech with a deep heart at the ceremony. The construction of the memorial hall was very large, and the staff took 6 months and finally all of them were completed.In August of the same year, crystal coffin and Chairman Mao's body were placed in the memorial hall in turn.
Since then, tens of thousands of people come to pay tribute to Chairman Mao’s face every year. Hua Guofeng came to visit Chairman Mao’s birthday and death day, and brought his family to bow three times to the portrait of Chairman Mao in front of the memorial hall, and then shouted: Say tribute to Chairman Mao!
Chairman Mao did not choose the wrong person. Hua Guofeng took over his work well, stabilized the national situation, and arranged it well in all work.
is in a high position but not arrogant. After the national situation stabilized, Hua Guofeng resigned from important positions one after another in June 1981 and began to retreat to the second line, handing over the burden to more capable people. This is also a correct and great choice.
