On July 14, 1949, a solicitation notice was published in newspapers such as " People's Daily ", " Tianjin Daily ", " Xinmin Daily ", " Dazhong Daily ", and " Guangming Daily ".
After the publication of this notice, Hong Kong and overseas Chinese newspapers also reprinted it, which caused a strong response in society. People from all walks of life, regardless of gender, age, participated enthusiastically, contributing their own strength to the founding of New China.
pic: People's Daily published "Notice on Soliciting the National Flag, National Emblem and National Anthem Lyrics"
Zeng Liansong, the secretary of Shanghai Modern Economic News Agency, also saw this notice in the newspaper. Although Zeng Liansong studied economy and his work was not designed during his studies, he had a good artistic foundation and liked calligraphy and painting very much. He also worked in a woodcut club during the Anti-Japanese War .
Therefore, he decided to participate in this design to express his sincere admiration for the party and the country, and to express his most sincere respect to the new China.
, and his work also provided convenient conditions for him to design the national flag. Shanghai Modern Economic News Agency (referred to as the current Economic News Agency) was established in 1946. It is a news enterprise directly led by the underground party of the Communist Party of China. The magazine "Modern Economic News" published by the agency is a professional publication engaged in publishing Shanghai market information and economic reviews. The agency gathers many knowledgeable professional talents.
The current Economic and Social Security can not only provide publications with novel information and rich content, but also have many progressive books and magazines, such as Chairman Mao’s " on the Protracted War " and " on the New Democracy on " written by Chairman Mao. Zeng Liansong read many of Chairman Mao’s works at the current Economic and Social Security, which greatly enriched Zeng Liansong’s thoughts.
After the liberation of Shanghai, the current Economic and Social Security completed its one-stage task and immediately announced that the task was closed for business and inventory were closed. During the completion of the processing, all the staff of the current Economic and Social Security had a transitional leisure time, and their work was much easier and they had a lot of leisure time.
It was at this stage that Zeng Liansong saw the national flag request notice in the newspaper, and he decided to use his leisure time to design the national flag well. He carefully studied the national flag solicitation notice and copied the design requirements in it:
should be noted: (A) Chinese characteristics (such as geography, ethnicity, history, culture, etc.); (B) regime characteristics (the people's democratic dictatorship based on the working class leadership of by the working class); (C) form is rectangular, with a ratio of three to two, mainly solemn and simple; (D) color is mainly red, and other colors can be used.
Picture: Zhou Enlai's instructions on "Notice on Soliciting National Flag and National Emblem Patterns and National Anthem Lexicons (Draft)"
He repeatedly studied these four requirements more than ten times, and various ideas flashed through his mind, but when he really fell into the writing and entered into specific ideas, Zeng Liansong realized that design is not easy, and it is even more difficult to design a solution that meets the requirements and is satisfactory, but Zeng Liansong naturally would not give up.
He sometimes had a lot of thoughts, sometimes he was drawing pictures, and the drawings were finished and abandoned. After more than ten days, he still couldn't find his design direction.
One day, when he was painting at his desk, there was Shanghai Opera singing style floating outside the window: "Hope for the stars, the moon, the Communist Party of China..." Zeng Liansong repeatedly recited: "Stars, stars..."
He finally found inspiration. The Communist Party of China is the savior of the Chinese people. He decided to use the big five-pointed star to symbolize the Communist Party of China and use four small stars to symbolize the vast majority of the people (including the working class, the peasant class, the urban petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie , inspired by Mao Zedong's "On the People's Democratic Dictatorship").
With the idea of five stars, the next step is the overall design.How the five stars should be arranged, where to place them on the flag, how to match the colors, etc., all require repeated consideration and design.
On the basis of fully considering the requirements of the national flag design, he took into account the traditional style of Chinese painting and the aesthetic psychology of the nation, focusing on "simple and traditional", "small and big", "guest and main", "static and dynamic", and "longer than broad", striving to be solemn and gorgeous, simple but not monotonous, graceful and imposing, bright but not gloomy. This is not a simple thing. For this reason, Zeng Liansong spent a long time designing.
He went to a paper store to buy a large bundle of colorful greased paper : red, yellow, blue, green and purple. also bought special scissors, paste and ruler.
With these tools, he conceived, gestured and drew pictures when he went to work during the day. After get off work, he cut and pasted the national flag at home. That summer, Zeng Liansong, who should have been very leisurely, spent all his time designing the national flag.
Picture: Zeng Liansong
In order not to be disturbed, he locked himself in the attic and worked busy every day after get off work. He couldn't take care of anything when he was busy. Even if he had to eat, his family would call him repeatedly. The family didn't know which step he had designed, nor did he know when he could finish his work. But when he swept the floor every day, he would scan out a lot of colorful greased paper.
A piece of discarded paper made Zeng Liansong get closer and closer to his ideals.
He thought that under the leadership of the Party, the people fought in unity, worked hard, and continued to win, so he considered designing each small star with a central point facing the big star, expressing the intention of hundreds of millions of people to the Communist Party, which is the characteristic of the regime.
and the ellipse formed by five stars, such as begonia leaves, symbolize my country's territory, which is a geographical feature.
stars turn yellow because the Chinese nation is a yellow race, which is a national characteristic. The base image is red, symbolizing revolution.
He also embedded a sickle and axe in the big stars, indicating that China's revolution has international significance. The Chinese revolution is part of the world revolution (inspired by Mao Zedong in "Theory of New Democracy").
After such a general design, the last thing to consider is the placement of five stars on the flag. Zeng Liansong cut out the stars and placed them one by one. When he placed the five stars on the upper left, the momentum of the national flag suddenly came out. The solemnity and gorgeousness, simplicity and grandness of
were well expressed. Zeng Liansong was very excited. He knew that this was his best solution.
After nearly a month of busyness, Zeng Liansong finally completed his national flag design draft, and then sent it to the preparatory meeting of the new political consultation meeting before August 20, the final deadline required for soliciting the notice.
Picture: On August 11, 1949, after Zeng Liansong completed this design, Zeng Liansong also ushered in a new job. He was organized to work at the East China Supply and Marketing Cooperative Administration Bureau. With a new job and a new beginning, he became very busy again and didn’t have so much time to pay attention to the national flag contribution, but when it was late at night, he would also wonder if his design draft would be selected? What happens if selected? If not selected, what kind of design pattern will be selected?
How could he know that the national flag pattern he designed almost didn't have the chance to appear in front of the world.
Since the release of the national flag pattern solicitation notice, people from all over the country and even many patriotic overseas Chinese have devoted themselves to the design of national flag patterns. In just one month, the preparatory meeting of the new political consultation meeting collected 1,920 national flag design drafts and 2,992 patterns (there is also a saying is 3,012). The future national flag will be selected from these design drafts and patterns.
The first person responsible for formulating the national flag, national emblem and national anthem plan was the sixth group under the Standing Committee of the Preparatory Committee of the New Political Consultative Conference, , and the head of the sixth group was Ma Xulun, and the deputy heads were Ye Jianying and Shen Yanbing (later added). Other members were: Zhang Xiruo , Tian Han , Ma Yinchu , Zheng Zhenduo, Guo Moruo , Jian Bozan, Qian Sanqiang , Cai Chang, Li Lisan, Zhang Lan, Chen Jiageng , Ouyang Yuqian, Liao Chengzhi, etc.
The first meeting of the sixth group decided to form the primary election committee for the national flag and national emblem pattern. After
and other manuscripts were sent from all over the country, the sixth group hired Xu Beihong , Liang Sicheng and Ai Qing as expert consultants for the National Flag and National Emblem Pattern Primary Selection Committee.
At the same time, the preparatory meeting of the new political consultation meeting set up a temporary selection room for national flag patterns in the reception room No. 413 of the Beijing Hotel , and the design drafts of all applicants are displayed in the temporary selection room, and the selection and reading will be performed by members of the selection committee and expert consultants. This workload is very large.
htmlOn August 22, the National Flag and National Emblem Pattern Primary Selection Committee held its first meeting. The meeting made a preliminary selection of the national flag patterns based on the requirements of the national flag patterns listed in the original solicitation notice.
Two days later, the sixth group held the third plenary meeting at the Beijing Hotel to further discuss and review the initially selected national flag patterns. The meeting initially had relatively unanimous opinions. At that time, a design pattern was widely accepted, namely the National Flag Design Pattern No. 11.
Picture: The picture of the national flag pattern modified in the 11th primary election is the fourth
No. 11 design picture is white on the top, symbolizing light, and two-thirds below are red, symbolizing the revolutionary regime. There is a red star on the upper left, representing the leadership of the Communist Party, concise and generous.
However, later Chen Jiageng raised objections to this, believing that it is similar to the national flag of Indonesian , and that the white on it is a little farther away from the sun, and it cannot be seen, and it cannot represent the Alliance of Workers and Peasants. Later, the white part of this design draft was modified to yellow, and some other design drafts that looked good were also selected for partial modification.
It was soon September 14th, and the fourth plenary meeting of the sixth group was held at the Beijing Hotel. The meeting selected modified pictures of the national flag patterns No. 11 and No. 17 for reference by the Standing Committee.
The meeting also decided that Tian Han, Zheng Zhenduo, Ai Qing, Xu Beihong, and He Luting were responsible for organizing the national flag patterns, selecting better patterns and printing them into brochures, distributing them to all representatives of the CPPCC, discussing in groups, and making fourteen national flag patterns and putting them in the conference lounge. This meeting has eliminated a considerable number of national flag patterns design drafts.
htmlOn September 22, the sixth group selected 38 pieces from the national flag pattern manuscripts, including the original manuscripts of the applicants, and some were modified based on the review opinions. These manuscripts were accompanied by text descriptions and were compiled into "National Flag Pattern Reference Materials" without remembering their names.
Because at the second plenary meeting of the preparatory meeting of the new CPPCC held on the 17th, the work on the national flag and emblem was handed over to the first plenary meeting of the CPPCC. So the compiled "Reference Materials for National Flag Patterns" was submitted to the first plenary session of the just-convened Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for review, and a new round of discussion, modification and selection were conducted.
Zeng Liansong's design draft was also included in the "National Flag Pattern Reference Materials", but it was not the original design draft designed by Zeng Liansong, but the revised draft after the review opinion was revised. The sickle and hammer pattern in the original manuscript was removed and compiled into the No. 32 of the Complex.
Fuzi No. 32 has been receiving mediocre responses since the primary election. In fact, there are many people who like it. After all, the national flag pattern designed by Zeng Liansong is indeed beautiful, but there are also many people who don’t like it. The points that don’t like it are mainly concentrated on its explanation: "The big five-pointed star represents the Communist Party of China, and the four small five-pointed star around indicates workers, farmers, petty-bourgeois and national bourgeoisie."
In the eyes of many people, the statement that the four small stars around represent four classes was inappropriate at the time, so Fuzi No. 32 did not receive much recognition, but some people still like it very much, so it still stood out from about three thousand patterns and became one-thirty-eighth in the "National Flag Pattern Reference Materials".
htmlOn September 23, more than 600 representatives who attended the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference were divided into 11 groups to participate in the discussion on the national flag, national emblem and national anthem.
Figure: The national flag pattern for the 17th primary election is the third
Perhaps influenced by the sixth group, in this discussion, two patterns received the highest demands, namely the third fuzi (the seventeenth primary election) and the fourth fuzi (the modified picture for the 11th primary election). Chairman Mao also tends to the third fuzi: A big five-pointed star in the upper left corner of the fuzi, and there is a yellow bar below that represents Yellow River .
However, these two pictures did not get everyone's recognition, and there were still strong opposition. Therefore, the specific pattern of the national flag was not decided. After the meeting, the sixth group held the sixth plenary meeting and summarized the results of the daytime meeting.
Secretary Peng Guanghan first mentioned the No. 3 Fuzi, who likes everyone, said that many people like it, but people who don’t like it have a lot of opinions on this pattern. If you barely pass it, you will definitely have a follow-up opinion. And the pattern of Fuzi No. 32 has been liked by many people, but many people are more likely to be accepted.
Zhou Enlai listened carefully to Peng Guanghan's opinions, and looked at the two patterns, pointed to the No. 32 of Fuzi and said to Peng Guanghan: "Okay, you draw a bigger one according to this pattern and make a big banner. Leave it to me the afternoon of the day after tomorrow."
On the same night, Chairman Mao and Zhu De invited 26 Kuomintang uprising generals including Cheng Qian, Zhang Zhizhong, Fu Zuoyi, Cheng Xingling, Chen Mingren, etc., to celebrate the achievements of the Kuomintang generals in holding uprising and responding to the people's peace movement. Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi, Liu Bocheng, Nie Rongzhen, Li Jishen, Cai Tingkai and more than a dozen people accompanied him.
During the meal, when Chairman Mao and Zhang Zhizhong were talking to Zhang Zhizhong, Zhang Zhizhong took the initiative to ask Chairman Mao : "Now everyone is discussing the national flag pattern, what about your opinion?"
Chairman Mao said directly: "I agree with the kind of a big five-pointed star plus a Yellow River. What do you think?" Chairman Mao knew about Zhang Zhizhong's inquiry The question was not aimless, so I asked Zhang Zhizhong about his opinion on this. Zhang Zhizhong did not hide it and said bluntly:
"I oppose using this national flag pattern. Didn't you say that you should carry out the revolution to the end? Add a horizontal bar in the middle of the national flag and split the country in half. Will it not be a splitting country? Besides, it is not scientific to use a bar to represent the Yellow River. People will think of Sun Wuzi's golden cudgel ."
Picture: Zhang Zhizhong and Mao Zedong in Yan'an
Chairman Mao didn't know that some representatives did not like this pattern, and they strongly opposed it, but he really didn't expect that Zhang Zhizhong would have such an explanation. He was shocked and felt that it made sense, and then he said seriously : "This is a serious problem. However, many people have some reasons to use this picture. Let's do this, I'll find a few more people to discuss. "
htmlOn the evening of September 25, Chairman Mao convened a consultation symposium on the national flag, national emblem, national anthem, calendar, and national capital issues in Zhongnanhai . Those who attended the symposium included Zhou Enlai, Guo Moruo, Contradiction, Huang Yanpei , Chen Jiageng, Ma Xulun, Tian Han, Xu Beihong, Liang Sicheng and others.
The symposium went smoothly, and there was After a lot of work before, most of the topics could easily reach consensus, but when discussing the national flag issue, everyone's opinions on whether the Fuzi No. 3 is used or not, as if no one could convince anyone. Although most people held a "available" attitude, the fierce opposition of a few people cannot be ignored.
Chairman Mao summarized everyone's discussion and expressed the reasons for Zhang Zhizhong's opposition. After Chairman Mao finished speaking, many people also realized the problem that Zhang Zhizhong was considering, and for a moment he didn't know whether to use it. At this moment, Tian Han recommended Fuzi No. 32 to Chairman Mao.
In fact, Tian Han had long liked Fuzi No. 32, especially after the pattern was enlarged, Tian Han felt that the national flag of New China should look like this. Whenever he looked at this pattern seriously, he would always be jealous, so he seriously put Fuzi No. 30. No. 2 was recommended to Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao took the No. 32 of Fuzi, and looked at it carefully. The more he looked, the more he liked it, he said to everyone seriously:
"In the past, we always wanted to paint Chinese characteristics on the national flag, so we painted a piece to represent the Yellow River. In fact, the national flags of many countries may not necessarily have the characteristics of the country... Our five-star red flag pattern shows the great unity of our revolutionary people. We need great unity now and great unity in the future, so whether it is now or in the future, it is both unity and revolution. "
picture: The modified Fuzi No. 32 flag pattern
Chairman Mao's explanation was recognized by everyone. Indeed, the explanation of Fuzi No. 32 is ignored, which is a very good flag pattern itself.
The next day, on the afternoon of September 26, the first meeting of the National Flag, National Emblem, National Anthem National Anthem National Anthem National Dramatic Review Committee was held in the East Restaurant of Beijing Hotel. Regarding the opinions on the national flag, everyone carefully studied Fuzi No. 32. Because it is solemn, beautiful, concise, easy to make, and meets the conditions solicited, except for Su Jing and Jian Yuting who did not express their opinions, the other representatives agreed to take Fuzi No. 32. The explanation for modifying it is as follows:
- (A) Red symbolizes revolution
- (B) Star symbolizes the great unity of the Chinese revolution
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Figure: September 30, 1949 On the 2018th, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference closed successfully
Zeng Liansong saw the five-star red flag pattern from the newspaper. When he saw the pattern, he was very excited, but at the same time he had questions in his heart: "Why is it similar to my pattern?"
Yes, the five-star red flag pattern in the newspaper made him feel strange and familiar. He didn't know that the national flag pattern he designed had been adopted. After all, in his initial design, there was a sickle and axe inside the big star, and the five-star red flag pattern published in the newspaper did not have a sickle and axe. This is the only difference, but Zeng Liansong could not confirm whether it was his own design.
But in fact, he didn't care whether it was his own design. He only knew that the new China was about to be established, the national flag of the new China was about to rise, and the Chinese people were about to usher in a new life, which was enough for him to burst into tears.
at 3:00 pm on October 1, Lin Boqu, Secretary-General of the Central People's Government, announced the start of the founding ceremony. The military band played the national anthem. Chairman Mao personally pressed the button. The first five-star red flag on New China rose slowly, floating over the Tiananmen Square, and also floating in the hearts of the people.
This is the most exciting moment in Chinese history. From then on, the old ends and the new beginnings. Under the leadership of the Party, the Chinese people have devoted themselves to the construction of the New China and pursued a better and happy life.
Zeng Liansong also continued to serve the people at his job. He seemed to have forgotten the original design of the national flag, but the people of the motherland did not forget Zeng Liansong's contribution to the design of the national flag.
Picture: Zeng Liansong and his national flag pattern design manuscript
A year later, during the National Day in 1950, he was invited to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to attend the first anniversary of the founding of New China. It was his first time to climb the Tiananmen Gate Tower. The excitement at that moment was never before. When he saw the rising five-star red flag, he couldn't help but burst into tears.
Not long after, he received a letter from the General Office of the Central People's Government Committee marked "Document No. 1137", with the content as follows:
Mr. Zeng Liansong: The national flag of the People's Republic of China you designed has been adopted. Here I will give you a commemorative edition of CPPCC , RMB 5 million, and send it to the post office and People's Bank of China respectively. As a reward for your contribution to the country and pay deep respect. Reply to you as soon as you receive it. This tribute. Central People's Government Committee.
The RMB 5 million here refers to the old coins used before 1955, which is equivalent to 500 yuan after 1955.
This is the honor of Zeng Liansong.
Regarding the design of national flag patterns, Zeng Liansong humbly stated : "In fact, the successful design of the national flag is not my own credit, but the collective wisdom of the majority of CPPCC members , which has been modified to make the entire pattern more simplified and clear, and the theme is prominent."
Now Mr. Zeng Liansong has passed away for more than 20 years, and the five-star red flag has long become a symbol of our great motherland.
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