The most famous farmer in New China is none other than Chen Yonggui. He was originally a poor farmer in Dazhai Village, Xiyang, Shanxi. In the 1950s and 1960s, Chen Yonggui's name spread across the country along with the wave of "learning from Dazhai in agriculture". After becoming famous, Chen Yonggui quickly entered the political stage and served as deputy prime minister in 1975. From a poor farmer, he became a deputy national-level cadre.
The person we are going to talk about today is also from a peasant background. He was once compared to Chen Yonggui and his name is Chen Yimei. Chairman Mao once commented on the development of agricultural production: "We must rely on Chen Yimei of Chenjiazhuang and Chen Yonggui of Dazhai." However, compared to Chen Yonggui, Chen Yimei's career was very bumpy. He was dismissed three times and was later sentenced to death with a reprieve. So, what’s the story about Chen Yimei?
Chen Yimei was born in 1917 in Chenjiazhuang, Qufu County, Jining, Shandong Province. She was born into a poor peasant family. There is not much information left about Chen Yimei, and these information do not record Chen Yimei's gender. Judging from the name, Chen Yimei sounds like a woman's name, but the author consulted several elders of that era, and they all said that Chen Yimei was a seven-foot man.
Because Shandong was liberated earlier, the land reform movement progressed rapidly. In 1949, Chen Yimei began to establish an agricultural mutual aid group in the village, leading the old, weak, sick and disabled in the village to get rich together. In 1952, Chen Yimei was elected as the National Model Worker of China and won the May 1st Labor Medal. He also became a role model for people across the country.
Chairman Mao admired Chen Yimei's Agricultural Cooperative very much. He once specifically mentioned Chen Yimei's agricultural cooperative in the article "The Socialist Upsurge in Rural China". In 1956, Chairman Mao mentioned in another speech that "We must rely on Chen Yimei from Chenjiazhuang and Chen Yonggui from Dazhai", praising his contribution to local agricultural development.
At that time, Chen Yimei and Chen Yonggui echoed each other from afar. They were both model figures emerging in the agricultural field of New China and were very famous. In 1957, Chen Yimei was named a National Agricultural Worker Model. Two years later, he was invited to Beijing to attend the 10th Anniversary National Day ceremony.
However, compared to Chen Yonggui, Chen Yimei's career was more bumpy. In 1961, Chen Yimei was dismissed from his post. This was the first time he was dismissed. In his own words, he was seized of power by "class enemies". In 1963, Chen Yimei came back to power. In 1964, Chairman Mao mentioned Chen Yimei again and criticized Chen Yimei's "seizure of power." Chairman Mao said: "Chen Yimei in Chenjiazhuang, Qufu was beaten down, and the (grain) yield per mu dropped from 500 kilograms to 300 kilograms. Last year, the yield (grain) per mu increased from 300 kilograms to 500 kilograms."
In 1966, the ten-year special period began. In this year, Chen Yimei was dismissed from her post for the second time. However, Chen Yimei is a model worker after all. As the ten-year special period progresses, he gradually enters the political stage. In 1968, Chen Yimei made a comeback and was appointed deputy director of the Qufu County Revolutionary Committee. After that, he served as a member of the Jining City Prefectural Committee and other positions.
However, during that period, Chen Yimei gradually came together with the "Gang of Four" and implemented many of the "Gang of Four" lines. For this reason, in 1976, after the "Gang of Four" was crushed, Chen Yimei was censored and dismissed from her position for the third time. Two years after the review, in 1978, Chen Yimei was expelled from the party. In 1979, after a trial by the Jining Intermediate People's Court, Chen Yimei was sentenced to death with a two-year suspended sentence for "the crime of class revenge."
After this sentencing, Chen Yimei’s family believed that the sentence was too harsh and applied for an appeal. In June 1982, after a retrial by the Jining Intermediate People’s Court, Chen Yimei was sentenced to 12 years in prison for “retaliation”. In 1989, Chen Yimei was released from prison. After being released from prison, Chen Yimei returned to her hometown, where she mainly lived in her later years. She passed away in 1998 at the age of 81.
