April 20, 1956, was destined to be a different day. The city of Beijing was very lively, and representatives of advanced production from all over the country gathered to preside over the conference in the Great Hall of the People in person. At the meeting, it was proposed to mobilize all producers to ensure the realization of the first five-year plan. Five days later, on April 25, members of the Politburo were summoned in Zhongnanhai to reconvene the enlarged meeting. At this meeting, the great man put forward an important report entitled "On the Ten Major Relations," which clearly stated that New China should be developed into a powerful socialist country, and it was unanimously adopted.
Subsequently, a high-profile initiative was put forward to strongly advocate for the people of the country to implement a new funeral method, changing traditional burial to cremation, with the aim of better use and management of land resources. This initiative has been highly endorsed by the broad masses of the people. In full view, everyone was asked to sign the proposal. The people at the venue expressed their support, however, in front of the respected General Xu Shiyou, a small wave was about to be set off.
General Xu listened to the contents of the proposal, but he never signed it. Suddenly, he stood up and shouted loudly: "Burial is a tradition of our Chinese nation for thousands of years, and the common people believe that burial is safe, so why can't we continue to bury?" These remarks caused an uproar at the scene. After the meeting, ** personally asked General Xu why he was reluctant to sign the cremation proposal.
Xu Shiyou bowed deeply and said: "Chairman, your cremation concept is advanced, and I should have resolutely supported it, but I have something difficult to say. * smiled and asked with concern: "If there is anything unspeakable, you might as well say it directly, and everyone will discuss it together." General Xu pondered again and again, and finally said the reason why he did not want to be cremated.
Xu Shiyou left his mother to study art in Shaolin Temple when he was a child, and later joined the army and fought everywhere, and it was difficult to resolve his thoughts about his family. Especially for his mother, he felt that he lacked too much. On the occasion of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xu Shiyou was promoted to the rank of general of the Republic. In his busy schedule, he found time to go back to his hometown to visit his mother, who was over 70 years old. His mother told him that he wanted to be buried in the place where he was born. Xu Shiyou tried to take his mother to live in the city, but his mother insisted on returning to the countryside. After her mother died, Xu Shiyou buried her in her hometown according to her last wishes.
Before her death, the mother left a wish to be buried with her son. This became an unrelieved pain in Xu Shiyou's heart. Therefore, at the meeting, he firmly vetoed the chairman's cremation initiative. **After understanding the situation, considering the particularity, it was decided to give Xu Shiyou special preferential treatment.
On October 22, 1985, Xu Shiyou died of illness in the General Hospital of Nanjing Military Region. At that time, cremation had just been trialed across the country, and although Xu Shiyou had been allowed to carry out burial, there was an objection to this because the cremation policy had just begun. In the end, at the insistence of ***, General ** was dispatched to deal with Xu Shiyou's funeral. According to General Xu's last wishes, he finally carried out the burial.
Now, in the graveyard of General Xu Shiyou, he will always be by his mother's side, and he will be buried among the pines and cypresses in his hometown. The story of General Xu is deeply moving, and his patriotic spirit and filial piety to his mother are worth learning from Xi.