In 1957, a secret letter finally arrived in Taiwan after twists and turns. Cao Xiuqing, Du Yuming's wife, saw the letter with trembling hands. She has been waiting for this moment for almost a decade.
Prior to this, she had always harbored a desire to return to the mainland, but it never came true. And this letter completely changed her fate. At that time, Taiwan and the mainland had not yet opened up exchanges, and Chiang Kai-shek still fantasized about the dream of "** mainland".
It stands to reason that as a close family member of Chiang Kai-shek, Cao Xiuqing should be properly resettled in Taiwan. However, the letter shattered all that.
So, why does Cao Xiuqing have a strong desire to return to the mainland? What was hidden in that secret letter? What is even more surprising is that after Cao Xiuqing returned to the mainland, no matter how Chiang Kai-shek threatened and lured, she never set foot in Taiwan again.
Du Yuming and Cao Xiuqing are both hometowns from Mizhi County, Shaanxi, although the Du family lives in Dujiawan and the Cao family lives in Caojiagou, but both families are famous local families.
In 1902, Cao Xiuqing was born, and her father, Cao Wanzi, was a well-known local wealthy businessman, who regarded her as the pearl of his palm and devoted all his efforts.
Cao Xiuqing was born in a wealthy family, and was taken care of meticulously since she was a child, with superior living conditions. She is not only outstanding in appearance, but also intelligent and intelligent, and has received a good education since childhood.
In her hometown, she is known as a talented woman, and everyone knows about it. In 1923, she married Du Yuming, whose family was also a landlord, and the two families were matched, making their marriage even more glorious.
Du Yuming entered the Whampoa Military Academy soon after graduating from Yulin Middle School, while Cao Xiuqing stayed in her hometown and was admitted to Yulin Women's Normal College for further study.
After accepting the impact of the new ideology, Cao Xiuqing chose to join the Chinese Communist Party, while her husband Du Yuming, who was far away in Guangzhou, took a different path.
During his studies at the Whampoa Military Academy, Du Yuming received applications from the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang to join the party, and after an in-depth understanding, he chose to join the Kuomintang. This was largely based on his origins, he was born into a family of landlords, and the Communist Party advocated class equality, which he feared would affect his family because of class differences after joining the Communist Party, so he made this decision.
Although the two men had different political positions, they were acceptable at the time. However, after Chiang Kai-shek seized the party, government, and military power, his ** ambitions were gradually exposed, and he began to implement the strategy of dividing the Communist Party.
With the outbreak of the "April 12 counter-revolutionary coup", the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke down, and Chiang Kai-shek began to arrest Communist Party members on a large scale, and Cao Xiuqing was implicated in his hometown.
When the local party organization learned that Cao Xiuqing's husband was a member of the Kuomintang, it decided to expel him from the Communist Party. Cao Xiuqing was well aware of the righteousness and did not have any complaints about the party organization, but instead had a bad impression of Chiang Kai-shek, who sabotaged the revolution.
Soon after, Cao Xiuqing transferred from Tianjin to Shanghai, and finally arrived in Nanjing, where she was reunited with her long-absent husband. At this time, Du Yuming had changed from a scholar to a Kuomintang officer.
Cao Xiuqing was by Du Yuming's side, took on the responsibility of the family, educated his children, and became a model for people. However, the pain in her heart is unspeakable. She was indignant at Chiang Kai-shek's order to ** the Communists, and Du Yuming, as a soldier, had to follow him in his position, and she always advised him not to do anything that violated his conscience.
In 1934, Gao Minfu**, a Communist Party member in Mizhi County, and his elder brother, who knew that Du Yuming held an important position in the Kuomintang army, immediately approached him, hoping to get help.
Cao Xiuqing fully supported her husband Du Yuming, ran around secretly together, and finally succeeded in rescuing Gao Minfu. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Du Yuming became the commander of the Second Division, stationed in Xiangtan, Hunan, and in the face of the displacement of refugees caused by the war, he was deeply sympathetic and decided to set up a sewing factory to help the refugees with profits.
Cao Xiuqing fully supported Du Yuming's decision and took the initiative to serve as the factory director, with his business background, he has a deeper understanding of management.
After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Cao Xiuqing thought that life could be restored to peace, but Chiang Kai-shek launched a civil war, and Du Yuming was already too high to come down. Cao Xiuqing hoped to prevent Du Yuming from attacking his own people, but he couldn't stop it.
When the Huaihai Campaign broke out, Cao Xiuqing's family was living in Shanghai, and she had already seen discord within the Kuomintang, so she was worried about Du Yuming, who was commanding at the front.
However, it was not long before she learned that Du Yuming had been killed by the People's Liberation Army. Chiang Kai-shek was very taboo about this, and immediately sent an order to inform Cao Xiuqing that Du Yuming's life and death were unknown, but as a high-ranking war criminal, his chances of survival were slim.
Chiang Kai-shek, on the grounds that Cao Xiuqing was a relative of a high-ranking Kuomintang officer, threatened her that if she did not take a special plane to Taiwan, her family might fall into the hands of the Communists and suffer accidents.
Although Cao Xiuqing understood Chiang Kai-shek's true intention to make her hostage, she had to board the last special plane to Taiwan for the safety of her family, and this decision changed the fate of her and her family.
Cao Xiuqing traveled to Taiwan in January 1949 with her five children and her mother-in-law, and her eldest daughter, Du Zhili, had been able to avoid the disaster by studying in the United States long before the Battle of Huaihai.
Cao Xiuqing came to Taiwan with his family, but their pillars fell, and their former relatives and friends ignored them. For the sake of her children's education, Cao Xiuqing had to visit Du Yuming's old colleagues frequently.
Although Du Yuming is not alive, and these old colleagues are reluctant to take over this trouble, considering the many years of working together, they still reluctantly help solve the problem of their children's schooling.
However, obtaining the admission qualification was only the first step, and then some people began to investigate Du Yuming's problems and the children's school status, and even claimed that Du Yuming had passed away and planned to make him a martyr.
Cao Xiuqing faced great challenges, but she never gave up and insisted on fighting for the future of her children.
Cao Xiuqing was convinced that the rumors were nonsense, but she was powerless to refute them, but the establishment of the martyr memorial tablet of Du Yuming allowed her to receive a meager tuition subsidy from the Taiwan authorities. But this subsidy is like a drop in the bucket, and it is difficult to meet the living needs of a family.
In desperation, Cao Xiuqing once again turned to Du Yuming's old colleagues, and found a job in the product factory of the Northern Thai Tobacco and Liquor Public Sales Bureau through connections to maintain the family's livelihood.
However, life in Taiwan was very difficult, and Cao Xiuqing hoped to take the family to the United States to join her daughter Du Zhili, but Chiang Kai-shek was firmly opposed, fearing that she would take the opportunity to return to the mainland.
In 1952, Du Zhili and Yang Zhenning were married in the United States and had a son, and when they learned that their family was in a difficult situation in Taiwan, they decided to visit.
When Du Zhili witnessed her family's plight in Taiwan, she felt empathy and decided to stay behind to help her mother, Cao Xiuqing, who worked as an English teacher at Hualien Middle School.
The arrival of Du Zhili and her grandson Yang Guangnuo regained Cao Xiuqing's confidence, and she hoped that the two sides of the motherland would be reunified at an early date, and at the same time, she also looked forward to a reunion with Du Yuming. Soon after, Du Zhili returned to the United States with his children, and the life of Cao Xiuqing's family also underwent earth-shaking changes, the eldest son Du Zhiren went to study at Harvard University in the United States, and his mother-in-law died due to overwhelm.
Cao Xiuqing's family lived in poverty, and Du Zhiren could only earn living expenses by working part-time when he was studying abroad, and he borrowed money from a Taiwanese bank for tuition fees. Unfortunately, the Bank of Taiwan suddenly stopped lending, and Du Zhiren had no choice but to ask his mother Cao Xiuqing for help.
Cao Xiuqing ran around, but still couldn't raise $3,000 for tuition. As a result, Cao Xiuqing had no choice but to ask Chiang Kai-shek for help, hoping that he could help them through the difficulties in Du Yuming's relationship.
Chiang Kai-shek eventually agreed to Cao Xiuqing's request for a loan, but only lent her $1,000 and asked for it to be paid in two years. In the end, Cao Xiuqing received only $500.
After receiving the $500 tuition fee from his mother, Du Zhiren was filled with disappointment and grief, and he felt worthless because of his father's years of struggle under Chiang Kai-shek, so he chose to commit suicide by taking medicine in a fit of anger.
This incident brought a deep blow to Cao Xiuqing, and her mother-in-law was also dying because she could not bear the pressure, and finally died. However, at this time, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly changed his attitude and showed great importance to the funeral of Du Yuming's mother and gave him a generous burial.
It was a sudden turn of events that caused speculation and **.
In 1957, Yang Chenning won the Nobel Prize in Physics, and Chiang Kai-shek admired Yang Chenning's talent and hoped to introduce him to Taiwan to work for the Kuomintang.
Yang Zhenning won the Nobel Prize, which is not only his personal glory, but also a major event for the whole nation. At this time, Yang Zhenning's parents settled in Shanghai, while his mother-in-law Cao Xiuqing's family settled in Taiwan.
** also attaches great importance to this matter, and he specially went to the Gongdelin War Criminals Prison to find Du Yuming, who was serving a sentence, hoping that he could write a letter to congratulate Yang Zhenning and indicate to him his current living situation.
Du Yuming gladly accepted ***'s request.
**Entrusted Zhang Wenyu and his wife Wang Chengshu to Sweden as a delegation of Chinese scientists to congratulate Yang Zhenning on winning the Nobel Prize in Physics. After receiving this hard-won letter, Yang Zhenning immediately replied to Du Yuming.
Du Zhili was keenly aware that this was a rare opportunity, and she immediately managed to get in touch with Cao Xiuqing. After Cao Xiuqing received this secret letter, he learned about Du Yuming's recent situation.
Du Zhili encouraged Cao Xiuqing to take this opportunity to go to the United States and try to return to the motherland from the United States to meet Du Yuming. Just when Cao Xiuqing was worried about this, an opportunity came unexpectedly.
In 1958, on this day, a luxury car drove into a dilapidated residential area, and Cao Xiuqing, who was cleaning up housework at home, heard the sound of the car, turned her head to look, and found that a person from the car walked straight towards her house.
After talking, Cao Xiuqing learned that this was sent by Song Meiling to take her to the Shilin Mansion to "catch up". Cao Xiuqing scoffed at this, but in order to be able to go to the United States smoothly, she readily agreed.
As soon as she entered the door, Song Meiling stood up, with a smile on her face, took Cao Xiuqing's hand, and said, "Ah! Mrs. Du, you are fat, the last time I saw you, you were very thin. ”
Cao Xiuqing listened silently, thinking about Song Meiling's words in her heart. The last time they met, Song Meiling pretended not to know her, and now that so much time has passed, she does feel that she has changed a lot.
Song Meiling saw that Cao Xiuqing didn't answer, so she said directly: "Mrs. Du, your son-in-law Dr. Yang Zhenning won the Nobel Prize, you should go to the United States to see him!" ”
Although Cao Xiuqing has always wanted to go to the United States, her previous applications have been rejected many times. However, now, because of the achievements of her son-in-law Yang Zhenning, no one thinks of her, and Cao Xiuqing replied: "I really want to see my daughter and son-in-law." ”
Cao Xiuqing was eager to go to the United States, but the key was whether Chiang Kai-shek agreed. Song Meiling did not respond directly to this, but asked Cao Xiuqing: "If you go to the United States, how will you explain it to Yang Zhenning?" ”
This seemingly casual question, in fact, Song Meiling is testing Cao Xiuqing's true thoughts. Cao Xiuqing replied calmly: "I don't know. Song Meiling continued: "Mrs. Du, we hope that when you come back from the United States, you can bring Yang Zhenning back to Taiwan and assist Jiang ** to complete the great cause." ”
Chiang Kai-shek suddenly appeared in the meeting room, as if he had been secretly listening to Cao Xiuqing's conversation with another person. He caught the key issue in time and then came uninvited.
Although Cao Xiuqing was angry at his appearance, she had to go to the United States in view of the situation at that time, and Chiang Kai-shek promised to help her. Therefore, she was very submissive, and she followed what the Jiang couple said.
Soon, she settled the matter of going to the United States. However, before going to the United States, Cao Xiuqing was worried about her children. She can leave Taiwan safely, but what about her children?
She's been bothered by it.
Cao Xiuqing begged Chiang Kai-shek to let her take a son to the United States, but the result was as she expected, and Chiang Kai-shek refused. She couldn't imagine what hardships her children would face if she returned to the mainland.
At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek also set a time limit for Cao Xiuqing's travel, she could only stay in the United States for six months, and if she did not return to China when it expired, she could extend it for another six months.
If she did not return after a year, Chiang Kai-shek would take advantage of her children. Chiang Kai-shek believed that with four children left in Taiwan, Cao Xiuqing would have no other ideas.
After all, the child is a part of the mother's body, and it is impossible for anyone to watch their child in danger.
Cao Xiuqing left Taiwan full of anxiety, and immediately got in touch with her daughter and son-in-law after arriving in the United States, and the first thing she did was to cancel the return ticket and choose to live with her daughter and son-in-law in the United States.
Time is passing, and in the blink of an eye, in 1959, Cao Xiuqing has been living in the United States for more than a year, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the founding of New China.
After a discussion, this proposal was put into practice. Among the first batch of Kuomintang war criminals to be released, Du Yuming was the first of the 33 people, and after being released from prison, he cordially received them and encouraged them to strengthen their ideological transformation and become new people.
When Cao Xiuqing learned the news, her heart was full of painful struggles. She longs to return to her motherland to reunite with Du Yuming, but the one-year period has expired, and not returning to China may be detrimental to her children, and may even cause Chiang Kai-shek's **.
After weighing the pros and cons, Cao Xiuqing decided to return to Taiwan first, and found a representative of the "Zhonghua **" embassy in the United States to ask to buy a plane ticket on his behalf. However, her request was met with difficulties from the embassy, and she struggled with it for years.
Finally, in 1963, Cao Xiuqing successfully returned to her long-lost motherland and met her husband Du Yuming, who had been separated for 15 years. When the couple met again, they were filled with emotion.
At this time, Du Yuming had already become the cultural and historical commissioner of the Cultural and Historical Materials Research Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference under the care of the party and the state.
On November 10, 1963, the premier cordially received Du Yuming and Cao Xiuqing, extended a warm welcome to Cao Xiuqing's return to China to settle down, and sent sincere greetings.
Cao Xiuqing also expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the Communist Party for giving her the opportunity to reunite with her husband and for taking care of her. Subsequently, Cao Xiuqing followed Du Yuming to visit all parts of the country, during which he was deeply educated and highly recognized the ruling philosophy of the Communist Party.
However, after Cao Xiuqing returned to the mainland, the four children who remained in Taiwan endured great suffering, among which the second son Du Zhiyong and the third son Du Zhiyan, as twins, since Cao Xiuqing left Taiwan, their situation has become very difficult and they have suffered the most.
In order to make a living and develop their careers, Du Zhiyan and Du Zhiyong had to face various challenges and difficulties in life. Their two daughters, Du Zhiyi and Du Zhilian, have also been severely restricted and disrupted in their lives due to political reasons.
However, the eldest daughter, Du Zhili, was able to develop freely overseas by virtue of her early study experience, away from Chiang Kai-shek's control and constraints. Despite the hardships of life, they remained resilient and fought for their ideals and lives.
On May 7, 1981, Du Yuming died of kidney failure in Beijing at the age of 77. When he was dying, he still cared about the great cause of national reunification and left a will: "I hope that my classmates, relatives, friends and compatriots will proceed from the overall interests of the nation and realize peaceful reunification as soon as possible, so that our country, an ancient civilization, will become a modern and powerful country and benefit future generations." ”
Du Yuming's death was a heavy blow to Cao Xiuqing, who longed to see the four children detained in Taiwan before his death, but Cao Xiuqing wrote a letter to the leaders of the Taiwan authorities, hoping to release the children back to the mainland to mourn Du Yuming.
However, the Taiwan authorities resolutely refused, so that Du Yuming could not realize his last wish and passed away with regret.
The confrontation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait convinced Du Yuming and Cao Xiuqing that it was wise to return to the mainland, and that the defeat of the Kuomintang in the War of Liberation was inevitable. Cao Xiuqing has strengthened her determination to continue her husband's legacy and will devote her life to the great cause of the reunification of the motherland.
Cao Xiuqing was elected as a member of the Fifth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and served as a staff member of the Committee for the Study of Cultural and Historical Materials of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, but the Taiwan authorities were stubborn, believing that Cao Xiuqing was alone on the mainland after Du Yuming's death, and that her four children were all in Taiwan, so they planned to persuade Cao Xiuqing to return to Taiwan.
In 1982, the Taiwan authorities forced Du Zhiyi, Du Zhiyong, and Du Zhilian to go to Hong Kong to meet Cao Xiuqing in an attempt to persuade her to return to Taiwan. Cao Xiuqing is nearly eighty years old, but she still decided to meet her children, and after more than 20 years of absence, she finally met them.
Despite the children's persuasion, Cao Xiuqing was still reluctant to return to Taiwan. In the end, the three children had to return in vain.
After a year's waiting, Ms. Cao Xiuqing went to Hong Kong again to reunite with her children, but she had no intention of returning to Taiwan. On 1 May 1984, on her way to Hong Kong to reunite with her children, Ms. Cao Xiuqing passed away and was unable to see her children.
Ms. Cao Xiuqing did not allow the conspiracy of the Taiwan authorities to succeed until her death, and resolutely refused to return to Taiwan. Looking back on Ms. Cao Xiuqing's life, she received the influence of communism in her early years and became an excellent Communist Party member.
During the Anti-Japanese War, she fully assisted General Du Yuming and made great efforts for the Anti-Japanese War. Decades later, Ms. Cao Xiuqing and General Du Yuming reunited and jointly dedicated the rest of their lives to the great cause of the reunification of the motherland.
The story of Mr. and Mrs. Du has shown the world that the Communist Party of China is an inclusive party capable of leading the people to rejuvenation.