October 14, 2001 Zhang Xueliang died of illness at the Straube Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA at the age of 101.
After learning that Zhang Xueliang had passed away, she was already 104 years old. She didn't speak for a long time, and her thoughts drifted back to the distant memories. She remembered her most of her lifelong friendship with Zhang Xueliang, and her deceased husband, Chiang Kai-shek, and Zhang Xueliang's half-century grievances. In the end, she was overly sad and vomited a mouthful of blood and couldn't control her tears.
Song Mei-ling lived in New York, USA in her later years. After Zhang Xueliang's death, she once wanted to go to the funeral, but because she was old and she also understood Zhang Xueliang's nature and knew that he was unwilling to go to see him at this time.
After all, she and Zhang Xueliang have known each other since they were young, and their relationship was extraordinary. She knew that this handsome young man, who was once handsome and elegant, should not want her closest friend of the opposite sex to see his old ending.
So So Soong Mei-ling did not go to the funeral in the end, but out of the friendship between the two, she still asked someone to give Zhang Xueliang a wreath and wrote an elegy couplet in his own handwriting: "Send Mr. Zhang Hanqing to a long journey, Jiang Song Mei-ling respectfully gave it to him."
Soong Mei-ling's elegiac couplet has only 14 characters, and the core content is only 8 words "Send Mr. Zhang Hanqing to a long journey". It seems ordinary, but in fact it is the legendary journey of the three celebrities in the Republic of China, Zhang Xueliang, Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling, who have been in the lives of grievances.
Compared with the 16-character elegiac couplet sent by Zhang Xueliang to Chiang Kai-shek when he was mourning after Chiang Kai-shek on April 5, 1975: "The kindness of care is like flesh and blood; the dispute over political views is like hatred." It means that Chiang Kai-shek's care for him was like a brother and brother. However, the two of them made a fuss like enemies because of political disputes.
The elegiac couplet written by Soong Mei-ling to Zhang Xueliang is indeed very ordinary, but it is better because of its deep feelings. It represents the sincere and reluctant relationship of Soong Mei-ling, a centenarian, for another centenarian, Zhang Xueliang.
Speaking of the friendship between Soong Mei-ling and Zhang Xueliang, it was also a well-known story in the Republic of China.
The two first met in Shanghai in 1925. When Zhang Xueliang met Soong Mei-ling, he was immediately attracted. The two of them could also talk about it. They had many common topics, often dancing and playing together, and they got along very happily, leaving a good impression on each other.
It is said that Zhang Xueliang also wanted to pursue Soong Mei-ling, but he already had his wife, eldest sister, Yu Fengzhi , had children, and Gu Ruiyu , who was deeply in love with him and was loyal to him, so Zhang Xueliang had to give up in the end.
Perhaps because both parties get along happily but have no love, and have no experience of "love but not being able to" together, they all respect each other and cherish the friendship between them.
Wait until 1936, when Zhang Xueliang was detaining Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Mei-ling went to Xi'an to negotiate. Before going, she was afraid of being humiliated, so she specially told her subordinates to shoot her if anyone was disrespectful to her.
The result was beyond her expectations that Zhang Xueliang treated her with courtesy after seeing her, which furthered the friendship between the two. In the end, Soong Mei-ling and her brother Song Ziwen guaranteed that Zhang Xueliang was fine. In order to show his sincerity, Zhang Xueliang also followed Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanjing. However, he did not expect that this time he was imprisoned for 54 years.
Therefore, in his later years, Zhang Xueliang recalled his life and said "My business is that when I was 36 years old, I will never be there since then." . It means that after the age of 36, your life will be repeated and monotonous, and even blank.
After Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned, Soong Mei-ling and her brother Soong Zi-wen were also particularly guilty and took care of him in various ways. Song Ziwen often visited Zhang Xueliang. Zhang Xueliang liked pictorials, so he ordered it for him and gave him cars and other items. Zhang Xueliang's original wife Yu Fengzhi wanted to go to the United States to treat her illness, so Song Ziwen helped her solve the problem.
Song Mei-ling had a deep friendship with Zhang Xueliang. Because Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned, he felt more guilty, so he was also very good to Zhang Xueliang.
Soong Mei-ling's guilt towards Zhang Xueliang. After Lieutenant General Zhang Zhi went to Taiwan to visit Zhang Xueliang in 1947, he came back to mention Zhang Xueliang's situation to Soong Mei-ling. Soong Mei-ling's response can be seen. She was speechless for a long time, and then said in a low tone: "Wen Bai (Zhang Zhi's Chinese name Wen Bai) Brother, we are sorry Han Qing."
According to Zhang Xueliang's later recollection, after Chiang Kai-shek imprisoned him, he had the intention to kill him for a while, but Soong Mei-ling tried his best to dissuade him, so he lost the intention to kill him.
At first he was not aware of Soong Mei-ling's efforts. Later, he saw the manuscript written by American Minister Johnson, and found out that Soong Mei-ling had a big fight with her husband Chiang Kai-shek in order to protect him, saying that if Zhang Xueliang had something to do, he would shake out the things he was afraid of.
Soong Mei-ling also entrusted his client to visit Zhang Xueliang many times, and he was very caring about Zhang Xueliang.
For example, in the late 1950s, after Chiang Kai-shek summoned Zhang Xueliang, he asked him to move to Taipei. At the beginning, the living conditions were actually pretty good, but after Soong Mei-ling visited him, he complained to the Jiang Jingguo, who was responsible for Zhang Xueliang's safety work, and how could he let him live in such a bad place, which eventually led to Zhang Xueliang's own money to build his residence in Beitou, Taipei, becoming his only private property in Taiwan, and lived for 33 years.
After the Kuomintang retreated from Taiwan, China, Soong Mei-ling often visited and gave gifts to Zhang Xueliang because of the closer distance. For example, in 1952, I gave Zhang Xueliang an orchid , which I planted by myself. It means that Zhang Xueliang's character is as noble and elegant as an orchid, which made Zhang Xueliang very happy. Since then, he also fell in love with orchids. In his later years, he not only loved to raise orchids, but also often gave it to friends.
In 1957, Soong Mei-ling learned that Zhang Xueliang's eyesight had decreased, so she sent someone to send a desk lamp and some candy. She was very considerate in her care for Zhang Xueliang.
Because of this, Zhang Xueliang later sighed: "Mrs. I can live for one day."
Perhaps another reason for Soong Mei-ling is that her husband Chiang Kai-shek broke his promise and imprisoned Zhang Xueliang for most of his life, so she is compensating for Zhang Xueliang.
But no matter what, Soong Mei-ling is indeed good to Zhang Xueliang, and Zhang Xueliang is indeed very grateful to Soong Mei-ling for his care.
The friendship between the two is a complex and pure friendship, with love but no gain, guilt, mutual respect, mutual appreciation and compensation.
So after Zhang Xueliang's death, Soong Mei-ling was sad and helpless, and had thousands of words in her heart. In the end, she just returned to peace. She just insisted on writing the short sentence "Send Mr. Zhang Hanqing to a long journey" in his own handwriting, which embodies the friendship between the two for most of their lives, and the legend of Zhang Xueliang's life, and is so deeply intimately hidden in the literal form.
Two years after Zhang Xueliang passed away, on October 24, 2003, Soong Mei-ling passed away peacefully in her sleep at home in Manhattan, New York, USA at the age of 106.
Two old men in the century have withered one after another, and with Chiang Kai-shek who had been dead for many years, the grudges and entanglements of the three people throughout their lives have completely come to an end, although this end is not perfect.
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