On New Year's Day 1979, China formally established diplomatic relations with the United States at the ambassadorial level. After the news was disclosed, the focus of ** quickly focused on the famous Chinese table tennis player Zhuang Zedong.
According to the usual view of historians, Zhuang Zedong's friendship hand extended to American athlete Glenn Cohen during the World Championships in Nagoya, Japan, eight years ago, is considered the most critical link in breaking the ice in Sino-US relations.
** Spoke highly of Zhuang Zedong's extraordinary courage, "turning the big ball with a small ball". Now, more than 40 years have passed, what happened to Zhuang Zedong later?
In 1940, Zhuang Zedong was born in Yangzhou, a beautiful water town in Jiangsu. His "nominal" maternal grandfather was Hartung, a British Jew who came to China to pan for gold in his early years, and made a fortune in Shanghai by speculating on land, and once became the "richest man in the Far East".
Zhuang Zedong's father, Zhuang Tishen, was originally a poor teacher, but after marrying Hartung's adopted daughter, his life rose to the sky, and he gradually became a well-known real estate businessman in Shanghai. Strictly speaking, Zhuang Zedong is not related to Hartung by blood, and he was born to his father and the side room, but in his later years, Zhuang Zedong often mentioned Hartung's name.
Zhuang Zedong was in poor health since he was a child and often fell ill, and his father sent him to a martial arts school to learn Xi in order to train him. Zhuang Zedong is not interested in martial arts, but he is obsessed with table tennis.
After studying Xi in the amateur gym for a while, his father sent him to the Children's Palace Sports School in Beijing for further study. During his days as a Xi student in Beijing, Zhuang Zedong began to show amazing talent for table tennis. Although he started late, his game has improved significantly, and by the time he was 14 years old, he had few opponents.
After winning the doubles title at the National Championships, Zhuang Zedong attracted the attention of the National Sports Commission, which absorbed him into the national youth team.
After years of training, Zhuang Zedong has created a unique direct shot and fast attack style of play, giving full play to his flexible physical characteristics, and disrupting the opponent's position with a stable and excellent speed and a strange and changeable serving style.
From the amazing moment when he appeared at the Scandinavian International Table Tennis Championships at the end of 1959 and won the men's singles championship, Zhuang Zedong opened his own glorious era in the world sports arena.
In the early 60s, Zhuang Zedong won the men's singles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships for three consecutive years, completely ending the traditional dominant position of Japanese players in this event. The young Zhuang Zedong, with a strong figure, elegant movements, and a momentum like a tiger descending from a mountain, his image on the screen does not know how many Chinese people have been inspired by national pride.
Zhuang Zedong, who is brave and fierce in front of the table, is nicknamed "Little Tiger", and he does have the courage of some newborn calves who are not afraid of tigers.
The call to break the ice in Sino-US relations has been around for a long time, but due to complex historical reasons, the two sides have not taken the first step for a long time.
During the 1971 World Championships in Japan, American players mistakenly boarded the bus of the Chinese delegation because they were late. In the face of the blond-haired and blue-eyed Americans, most of the Chinese athletes pretended not to see them. Only Zhuang Zedong stepped forward generously, talked with him, and presented a Hangzhou brocade as a meeting gift.
Zhuang Zedong was well-known in the world table tennis arena that year, and American athletes regarded him as an idol and gave him a cultural shirt made in the United States in return. After the exchange between the two was reported in the newspaper, it caused a great sensation all over the world. The two sides seized this opportunity to start and promote the negotiation process for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and finally formally established diplomatic relations in 1979.
If the two countries establish diplomatic relations, Zhuang Zedong will make a great contribution.
In 1972, Zhuang Zedong led a sports delegation to visit Washington and was received by the United States. After returning to China, Zhuang Zedong reached the pinnacle of his political career. He was not only elected as one of the top ten members, but also got the opportunity to enter the "first reading class" to learn Xi.
It is said that Zhuang Zedong's heroic appearance in the arena has deeply attracted the attention of the first, who believes that he is the best model and representative of athletes.
After getting closer to **, Zhuang Zedong gradually became the spokesperson of the "Gang of Four" in the sports world. In accordance with the instructions of **, Zhuang Zedong presided over the criticism of Wang Meng, the former director of the Sports Commission. In 1974, Zhuang Zedong became the new director of the National Sports Commission. With high popularity and strong politics, Zhuang Zedong has become the most perfect chess piece in the eyes of the "Gang of Four".
Driven by the counter-revolutionary clique, Zhuang Zedong pursued a series of ultra-"leftist" erroneous policies in the Sports Committee. Zhuang Zedong was the preferred candidate for vice prime minister of the "Gang of Four", and his ranking was even higher than that of Huiyong and **Hai. However, Zhuang Zedong's political ** period did not last long.
After crushing the "Gang of Four", he underwent a lengthy quarantine review.
In 1984, Zhuang Zedong returned to society and coached table tennis at the Beijing Children's Palace. After quitting the first place, Zhuang Zedong devoted all his energy to the promotion and development of China's table tennis career. In 2013, Zhuang Zedong died of illness in Beijing.