Song Shilun, from Liling, Hunan, was a student of the fifth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, and one of the first batch of generals in my country in 1955. As an "old revolutionary" who has been working since 1927, Song Shilun not only had extremely high military command qualities, but was also known as a "Confucian general".
He has a love story spanning half a century between his sisters Zheng Jisi and Zheng Xiaocun.
hard years
1907, Song Shilun was born in Huangcun, Beixiang, Liling, Hunan. At this time, China was in the midst of turmoil and chaos in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and the vast majority of people lived in dire straits. But Song Shilun was lucky. In that era when he was a top student after graduating from elementary school, he successfully entered Liling County Middle School and obtained a middle school degree.
Not long after, in 1923, he joined the officers' teaching regiment of Wu Peifu with his outstanding learning ability. After three years of study, Song Shilun was admitted to the fifth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy and became a cadet of Huangpu .
During the Whampoa Military Academy, Song Shilun, like many aspiring young people in China at that time, always hoped to use his own knowledge to change the current situation of poverty and weakness in China and build a more prosperous and independent China.
Because of this, Song Shilun actively contacted the party organization when he was in school. After a period of contact, the party organization decided to absorb this positive and positive young man with the common ideal of . So Song Shilun joined the Communist Youth League and became a glorious member of the Communist Party of China the following year.
After joining the Communist Party of China, Song Shilun actively participated in the revolutionary work of saving the country and the people. Song Shilun had just joined the party less than a year before he encountered the "April 15" tragedy launched by the Kuomintang against the Communists and progressive people. In this tragedy, Song Shilun was unfortunately arrested and imprisoned.
After being detained for a year, Song Shilun’s first thing after leaving the prison was to continue to devote himself to the revolutionary cause. In the years that followed, Song Shilun participated in the guerrilla struggle in the areas of Liling and Pingxiang, served as a political commissar in the Soviet area, and participated in previous anti-encirclement and suppression battles.
Song Shilun is such a general who has been trained in the war. In the war of resistance against Japan and the war of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea, this young general has always insisted on fighting on the front line of needs of the Party and the people.
The most famous thing is that in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, under his leadership, the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army and the US troops equipped with far more advanced equipment started a fierce battle in the Changjin Lake area, and finally defeated the US troops in the Changjin Lake area, and eventually reversed the war trend of the entire War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.
However, it is such a general who has made great achievements for the Party and the people on the battlefield, his life, especially his emotional life, was not so smooth. Compared with Song Shilun's military achievements, his emotional life was full of ups and downs, and even a little sad.
Song Shilun got married three times in his life. Although every wife is virtuous and considerate, every marriage of Song Shilun failed to end in a perfect way, and every marriage ended with farewell.
Troubles and twists and turns
Song Shilun's first marriage was an arranged marriage, but even after getting married, Song Shilun still treated his wife Zou sincerely.
Their married life was quite stable. Soon Zou gave birth to a daughter for Song Shilun. They named their daughter Song Lanying and later changed her name to Song Zhixian. After having children, it means that they have to take on the responsibility of being parents, and the family's life has gradually gained a bright future.
But the good times didn't last long. Because Song Shilun had joined the Communist Party of China and began to engage in party work, Song Shilun, who was fighting against the enemy on the secret front, also knew at this time that there would inevitably be unpredictable factors in his work, and danger would always accompany him.
Therefore, in order not to let his affairs drag down his wife and children, Song Shilun decided to divorce his wife after careful consideration and sacrificed his family for everyone. Song Shilun, who had no family concern, quickly devoted himself to the revolutionary cause. This was the first time he said goodbye in his life.
But soon, something that Song Shilun was worried about happened. He was arrested and imprisoned in the "April 15" tragedy launched by Chiang Kai-shek . Fortunately, his wife and daughter were not implicated because of this, which is a blessing in disgrace.
For many years since then, Song Shilun devoted himself to the revolution, and his marriage was put behind his back, and he never mentioned it to others. Such days lasted until 1941. In this year, Song Shilun met Zheng Jisi, who would have lived with him for 26 years.
Zheng Jisi, born in 1914, has similar experience to Song Shilun, when Zheng Jisi was 14 years old, she was admitted to Shanghai Feng Junior Normal School with excellent results. Two years later, 16-year-old Zheng Jisi entered the Advanced Nursing School of Yixian Hospital again. While she was in school, she also worked as a handyman at Sun Yixian Hospital in Guangzhou to earn a part-time job.
Although the days of working part-time study were very hard, she also grew up quickly during this period and began to think about the future of the country and the nation. After the outbreak of
th Incident, Zheng Jisi resolutely participated in the protests and actively contacted students from all walks of life. Under her influence, her cousin also participated in the protest.
After this protest, Zheng Jisi deeply felt that as an ordinary student, he had a passionate but nowhere to show his helplessness when facing the destruction of the country and the family. So, she worked harder and worked hard, hoping to do her part in her position in the future.
In 1935, Zheng Jisi, who had become a backbone of students, once again actively participated in this massive anti-Japanese movement when he heard that students across the country were carrying out the vigorous "January 29" movement.
Zheng Jisi's long-term high revolutionary enthusiasm quickly attracted the attention of the local party organization. During the contact with Zheng Jisi, the members of the party group also discovered the extraordinary features of the young female student and quickly agreed to absorb her into the party organization. So one year after the "January 29" movement, in July 1936, Zheng Jisi also joined the Communist Party of China.
After joining the Communist Party of China, she still actively participates in underground work and fulfills the solemn oath she made when she joined the party with her actions. In October 1937, after the outbreak of the full-scale war of resistance, the Kuomintang reduced its restrictions on the activities of the Communist Party of China, and Zheng Jisi had to go to Yan'an. After arriving in Yan'an, Zheng Jisi did not rest, but directly entered the new battle and continued to shine in the new battle post.
Perhaps, the love between Song Shilun and Zheng Jisi is already destined. Four years after Zheng Jisi came to Yan'an, the two, who were nearly 10 years apart in age in 1941, quickly met and fell in love. They got married in Yan'an soon after. Shortly after the marriage, Zheng Jisi gave birth to a daughter for Song Shilun, and the two named the daughter Song Chongshi.
The situation has just improved. It should have been a happy thing for Song Shilun to still get such a daughter, but unfortunately, at this time, Song Shilun had been reunited from Shanghai to Beijing with his first wife, Zou's daughter. This made Song Shilun difficult at once. He didn't know how to talk to his current wife Zheng Jisi for a moment.
Just when Song Shilun was still in trouble, Zheng Jisi's performance was beyond his expectations. Zheng Jisi did not have any objections or prejudice against Song Lanying just because she was not her child. On the contrary, Zheng Jisi treats Song Lanying as much as his own daughter Song Chongshi.
or even, she will take care of Song Chongshi more in many places. Many people did not understand her approach, and some even directly asked her why she treated Song Chongshi better than her own daughter.
Whenever people ask this question, Zheng Jisi's answer is the same.It turned out that in Zheng Jisi's heart, when Song Lanying was still very young, Song Shilun was unable to take care of Song Lanying because of the busy revolutionary work. Now what she has to do is help Song Shilun make up for the part she owed Song Lanying in her childhood.
Song Shilun finally calmed down when he saw his current wife care about her first child so much.
The family has lived together for a few years like this, and this may be the happiest years for their family. When the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea broke out, Song Shilun was ordered to lead the Ninth Corps to help North Korea fight against the invasion of the United Nations Army, and the stable life that had just begun for the family came to an abrupt end.
At this time, the eldest daughter was also influenced by her father and decided to join the Volunteer Army and enter North Korea to fight, but in the end, she failed to get what she wanted due to an accident.
said goodbye, bid farewell to
After returning from the battlefield of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea, Song Shilun became one of the first Chinese generals in 1955. But for the old revolutionaries of that generation, military rank is no longer important to them. Song Shilun, who had already fought for the country and the people for the first half of his life, also wanted to enjoy the family life they deserved with his family.
However, even such an ordinary wish was not realized. Although Song Shilun's work had been reduced a lot at this time and he had a lot of his own time, due to work needs, his wife Zheng Jisi was successively dispatched to work in multiple units, and often worked in Jiangsu and other places, and the family was always together.
It was 1958 when the family could really live together. During this year, Zheng Jisi returned to Beijing to work due to work needs. Their own life belongs to Song Shilun and Zheng Jisi's family only began.
But, it seems like fate was playing a joke on the family, maybe it was when Song Shilun and Zheng Jisi met and fell in love. The family lived together for not many years, and Zheng Jisi was diagnosed with lung cancer.
When this bad news came, Song Shilun, who had been through the battlefield for a long time, was also stunned. He couldn't believe that his wife, who was more than ten years younger than him, would leave him like this.
So, in the last period of Zheng Jisi's life, Song Shilun briefly put down his work for the first time in his life, and was with his wife with peace of mind. Zheng Jisi is worthy of being an old revolutionary. In the last period of her life, she did not make any requests to the organization. She just told Song Shilun when she was dying, hoping that he could bring his sister to Beijing for care.
After seeing Song Shilun agree, the last stone in her heart was also put down. In December 1967, the revolutionary who also fought in a revolutionary position for the rest of her life passed away.
This is also the second farewell in Song Shilun's life.
In order to fulfill his wife's last wish, Song Shilun took Zheng Jisi's sister Zheng Xiaocun to Beijing soon after.
In fact, Song Shilun already knew what his wife meant. Zheng Jisi wanted Song Shilun to bring her sister to Beijing, and more importantly, she herself was not at ease with Song Shilun. She hoped that her sister could continue to take care of Song Shilun for her side.
Although Song Shilun knew his wife’s idea, there is a realistic problem that although Zheng Jisi and his sister Zheng Xiaocun are a pair of sisters, the age difference between the two is too big, and the difference is 24 years. When it comes to Song Shilun, the age difference between the two is 35 years old, which is really inappropriate.
But in the next few years, although Song Shilun had a difficult life after losing his wife, Zheng Xiaocun had never left him, and tried his best to continue taking care of Song Shilun as his sister. This moved Song Shilun very much, and their relationship gradually heated up over the past few years.
In 1972, after organizational approval, Song Shilun, 67, and Zheng Xiaocun, 32, completed their wedding and officially got married. Although the two are 35 years apart, the huge age gap has not affected their married life, and they have always been very loving.
It was also at this time that Song Shilun had his third daughter in his life. Song Shilun, who was old, was still very happy. After discussing with his wife Zheng Xiaocun, he decided to name his third daughter Song Baiyi.
And the origin of this name is also full of romance. The sum of the ages of Song Shilun and Zheng Xiaocun happened to be 101 years old in the year when the child was born, so the child was named Song Baiyi.
The two and a few children lived like this until 1991. Over the years, Song Shilun and Zheng Xiaocun have been very loving. They have gone through these 19 years while taking care of each other.
In September 1991, Song Shilun, who was already 84 years old, welcomed his last farewell in his life, but this time it was his wife and children who bid him farewell. This general who worked hard for the country for his whole life finally left the land where he fought for his whole life on September 17, 1991, leaving his longing for the family, and reunited with his ex-wife in another world.
Conclusion
Many people have questioned the love between General Song Shilun and Zheng Jisi and Zheng Xiaocun.
It is true that many times people cannot understand this kind of "year-old love", but don't forget that such a veteran who has sacrificed most of his life for the cause of liberation of the country and the people, can have someone who can accompany him and be willing to accompany him for the rest of his life by his side in his seventies. It is also a kind of consolation for his regret for the first half of his life.
References:
[1] Historical Window, Zheng Jisi was seriously ill in 1967, and held her husband Song Shilun's hand and told me: I hope you can take care of my sister, September 8, 2022.
[2] Shanwei Humanities: "Zheng Jisi" - Shanwei Times Network, April 13, 2020.
