On September 18, 1969, Zhang Zhixin, who had the reputation of being a "talented woman of the National People's Congress", was arrested on charges of "counter-revolutionaries". Originally, as long as she honestly "confessed", the organization would not embarrass her, and she might be released after being locked up for a few years. But Zhang Zhixin has always insisted that she is innocent, and has repeatedly made public statements that were not allowed to be mentioned at the time, which completely destroyed her hope of survival.
At first, Zhang Zhixin just accepted a simple **, but later he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and then directly sentenced to death. After six years in prison, Zhang Zhixin, who had suffered so much and almost lost her mind, was shot at the Dawa Execution Ground in Shenyang at the age of 45.
Why was Zhang Zhixin arrested? Why did she give up a chance to survive?
What was the beginning and end of the Zhang Zhixin incident?
On December 5, 1930, Zhang Zhixin was born in Tianjin. It was a stormy era, the smoke of the warlords in the Central Plains had not yet dissipated, and the sky over the land of China was always shrouded in clouds that could not be dispersed. At that time, people had no freedom and security to speak of, and their seemingly peaceful lives could be shattered at any time, and everything they had could be lost at any time.
Fortunately, Zhang Zhixin was born into a relatively stable family. Her father, Zhang Yuzao, was a veteran revolutionary who participated in the Xinhai Revolution in the early years and was one of the first intellectuals in China to come into contact with advanced ideas. And her mother, Hao Yuzhi, is also a highly educated ladyUnder the influence of his parents, Zhang Zhixin received a good education since he was a child and showed a strong talent.
Before Zhang Zhixin was born, her parents had already given birth to three sons, so she naturally became the "treasure in the palm" of the whole family. In such a caring family, Zhang Zhixin was able to learn everything she liked freely, and she also developed a cheerful and generous personality with clear love and hate.
In 1950, at the age of 20, Zhang Zhixin graduated from Tianjin No. 1 Girls' High School and then entered the Education Department of Tianjin Normal University for further study. It is worth mentioning that her mother also graduated from a normal school, and she must have set an excellent example for her when she was growing up.
Soon after Zhang Zhixin entered Tianjin Normal College, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea broke out, and countless patriotic young people asked the country to go to the front line to participate in the battle. Zhang Zhixin is no exception, she actively responded to the call of "resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, defending the homeland and defending the country" issued by **, and submitted the registration form as soon as possible.
Naturally, there is no shortage of brave and warlike soldiers in New China, which has just emerged from the war years, but all kinds of talents who have received higher education are urgently needed by the country. After all, our opponent at that time was the United States, the most powerful country in the world, and we had to do our homework on every ring in order to win the final war.
At that time, our volunteer army was in urgent need of Russian interpreters, and in order to make preparations as soon as possible, the state immediately selected a group of young people who signed up to join the army and began to receive Russian language training. In this way, 20-year-old Zhang Zhixin was sent to the Chinese People's University, where her life will usher in a major change and meet her first relationship in her life.
Only two years later, Zhang Zhixin obtained the qualification to graduate early with excellent grades, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea also came to an end with the victory of our country. Zhang Zhixin suddenly felt that "there was nowhere to display her ambitions", so in order not to bury the results of her two years of learning, she chose to stay in the school, and has been in charge of translation work in the Russian language library since then.
Soon after, Zhang Zhixin met Zeng Zhen, secretary of the Youth League Committee of the Department of Philosophy of the National People's Congress, and the two soon established a relationship. Zhang Zhisheng was warm and romantic, while Zeng Zhen was calm and down-to-earth, and the combination of handsome men and beautiful women became a beautiful conversation on the campus of the National People's University at that time.
On the National Day of 1955, Zhang Zhixin and Zeng Zhen entered the palace of marriage, and they chose to complete the most important ceremony in their lives on the birthday of the motherland, which shows their patriotic feelings. In the second year after marriage, Zhang Zhixin gave birth to a lovely daughter, and a happy family of three was born.
Zhang Zhixin was particularly satisfied during that time, and she felt that life suddenly became colorful. Under the recommendation of her husband Zeng Zhen, Zhang Zhixin joined the Communist Party of China, and since then her patriotism has become more firm and pure. In 1957, the husband and wife were both selected to work in Shenyang, and since then they have been serving as cadres in the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. Later, because of the particularity of his profession, Zhang Zhixin was transferred to the Propaganda Department as an officer.
A few years later, the couple gave birth to another son, and have lived in Shenyang ever since. But the good times did not last long, and under the deliberate promotion of some people with ulterior motives, a political storm that swept the whole country gradually spread. For a while, everyone became nervous, for fear of being labeled as "counter-revolutionary" in various ways.
Zhang Zhixin and her husband didn't have too many worries at first, they have been working in universities and ** institutions for many years, and they will not be easily involved in any political turmoil. But as time passed, Zhang Zhixin witnessed too many inhumane atrocities, and all kinds of chaos in society triggered a series of thoughts and criticisms about the country and society.
On a Sunday in 1968, Zhang Zhixin visited a friend, hoping to get information from his friend when ** and others gave speeches. In the course of their conversation, friends offered to let Zhang Zhixin join their camp more than once, claiming that their camp represented justice and revolution. But Zhang Zhixin immediately refused, saying that what she was pursuing was the truth of the revolution, not the so-called faction.
This was a trivial matter, but Zhang Zhixin's tough attitude made his friend feel very uncomfortable, and the friend immediately wrote a report on the matter and handed it to his superiors. No one knows who the so-called superior is, and no one knows the specific content of this report, but this incident has buried a huge hidden danger for Zhang Zhixin's future.
Soon after this incident, Zhang Zhixin, together with more than 30,000 cadres from Shenyang, went to the cadre school in Panjin to receive study. Zhang Zhixin thought that more righteous voices could be heard here, but the result was extremely disappointing to her, and few people dared to stand up and say what they thought from the bottom of their hearts.
Zhang Zhixin's heart was gradually filled with anger and sadness, and she began to cry out for those who had been wronged, and at the same time criticized and ridiculed the wrong behavior of some people. As a result, Zhang Zhixin's behavior was quickly discovered and found out by the organization, and in order to thoroughly investigate her various reactionary acts, the organization even set up a special task force for this purpose.
In fact, many of Zhang Zhixin's remarks were inadvertently revealed when chatting with friends, and although the rhetoric was fierce, it never meant to be made public or disseminated。Her true thoughts in her heart have never been mentioned to outsiders, and even her husband has never revealed half of it, but some people still make a "big fuss" about some of her remarks.
After being detained by the organization, Zhang Zhixin refused to admit her mistakes, insisting that her actions were reasonable catharsis and criticism. Soon, the special case group interrogated her many times for "counter-revolutionary crimes" and even held internal meetings to criticize her behavior on many occasions.
In order to force Zhang Zhixin to admit his mistake, the interrogators not only often lynched, but also searched Zhang Zhixin's residence several times in an attempt to find some documents and other evidence that could prove her guilt. But no matter what means they used, Zhang Zhixin was not convinced, and made such remarks in public.
"I will never forget that I am a member of the Communist Party, and that no matter what the situation is, I must uphold justice and the truth, and it will not work if you want to force me to say that the truth is wrong. I don't want to enslave others, but I will never allow others to enslave me. ”
Zhang Zhixin's words were impassioned and deafening, and many people in the audience began to cry silently after hearing it, but no one dared to stand up and say a few words of justice for her. In fact, everyone who has justice in their hearts knows the truth behind it, but under the trend of the general environment, they have no chance to resist at all.
In fact, as long as Zhang Zhixin can have a positive attitude of "admitting guilt", she will only be locked up in prison for a few years at most, and there will be no danger to her life at all. But she always refused to admit her mistakes, and public criticism ensuedZhang Zhixin's mental state is also getting worse and worse, and the whole person is losing weight at a speed that is visible to the naked eye. Finally, one day, she could no longer resist the mental pressure and was forced to confess a lot of thoughts buried deep in her heart.
The more Zhang Zhixin speaks, the more serious those people think of her crimes, and they will dig into her innermost thoughts. In May 1970, the Liaoning Provincial High People's Court conducted a preliminary trial of Zhang Zhixin's case, and after seeing Zhang Zhixin sentenced to death, a director surnamed Gao frowned.
He said"* has already issued the instruction of 'not killing a single person, not arresting most of them', and Zhang Zhixin has not caused any substantial damage to society, but only expressed part of her views at an internal meeting of party members, does this constitute a crime? ”
Director Gao's remarks aroused deep thought, but soon the "Military Management Commission" dismissed Director Gao from his post on the grounds of ineffective enforcement, and the newly appointed Director had no choice but to increase the punishment of Zhang Zhixin.
He originally wanted to sentence Zhang Zhixin to two years in prison, but he was afraid that the organization would accuse him of "ineffective work", so he finally changed the sentence to 15 years.
As a matter of fact, as early as when Liaoning Province initially implemented "military control," Zhang Zhixin questioned this kind of measure. She thought that the military was not familiar with the local situation, and rash intervention was likely to cause problems, but she did not expect that the "problem" was her.
When the Liaoning Provincial High People's Court's preliminary opinion was sent to the "Military Control Commission," the military representative headed by him was furious, insisting that Zhang Zhixin's behavior should be punished with death, and immediately issued an order to "sentence the death penalty and carry it out immediately." What is even more tragic is that the delegates attending the meeting at that time actually unanimously passed the resolution on the death penalty, which is really chilling.
Fortunately, the commander of the Liaoning Provincial Military Region at that time stopped the matter in time, and he proposed to use Zhang Zhixin as a negative teaching material, and it was better not to kill, which allowed Zhang Zhixin to live for a few more years. Later, Zhang Zhixin was imprisoned in Shenyang Prison to accept **, when her whole person had been destroyed and she was not able to speak, and sometimes she couldn't even speak without the control of her brain.
During her detention, Zhang Zhixin repeatedly abused the prison director and repeatedly shouted various "reactionary" slogans in the prison, which directly led to her being sentenced to life imprisonment. By the end of 1973, Zhang Zhixin's spirit had completely gone out of mind, and she would often talk nonsense to herself, and sometimes she would laugh wildly.
Soon after, a meeting was held inside the prison to criticize Lin and Confucius, and as a result, Zhang Zhixin, who had gone insane, once again shouted some extreme "reactionary" slogans in public, and this unconscious act completely killed her. Subsequently, Zhang Zhixin was found to have "stubbornly adhered to a reactionary stance, and constituted a recidivism in **", and the prison was sentenced to death after being sentenced to **.
When Zhang Zhixin's death sentence was announced, some people in the prison raised the question of whether her sentence was too harsh and whether her "mental disorder" needed to be considered. However, the superiors had already decided on Zhang Zhixin's murderous intent, and made an instruction that "her illusion remains the same, and she will still be implemented according to the instructions", and then no longer refer to anyone's questions and opinions.
On April 4, 1975, Zhang Zhixin was escorted to the Dawa Execution Ground in Shenyang, where she was immediately executed at the age of 45. This should be the best age for a Communist Party cadre to do practical things for the country and the people, but Zhang Zhixin suffered and lost his most precious life. Her death caused a huge repercussion at the time, presumably in addition to her personal regret, but also many silent accusations of that dark era.
Throughout Zhang Zhixin's life, she is a "talented woman" praised by everyone, and a "female warrior" with sincere patriotism. Some of her later "reactionary" remarks were certainly inappropriateBut at the end of the day, her starting point is for the country and the people.
Some of Zhang's remarks back then were full of keen political insight, and they are still shocking even today.
It was not until October 16, 1978, that the Intermediate People's Court of Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, revoked the verdict against Zhang Zhixin and acquitted him. On March 9 of the following year, the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee held a special meeting on this matter, and Comrade Ren Zhongyi, then the first secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, made such remarks"Zhang Zhixin's case is a big case. She is a very good party member, she adheres to the truth, adheres to the party spirit, persists in struggle, would rather die than give in, and calls on party members and revolutionaries to learn from her. ”
On March 31, 1979, the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China publicly rehabilitated Zhang Zhixin and posthumously recognized her as a revolutionary martyr. After being rehabilitated, Zhang Zhixin was buried in the Huilonggang Revolutionary Cemetery in Shenyang, and her tombstone was engraved with this sentence"The search for the truth is important in practice, the bones of loyalty are destroyed, and the spirit of heroism is eternal." ”
In fact, the "haze" in society at that time had not completely dissipated, and the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee really needed some courage to make such a decision. But this is precisely the meaning of the existence of justice, if no one dares to stand up and speak up for Zhang Zhixin, her death will lose its meaning.
Now that Comrade Zhang Zhixin has been gone for more than 40 years, her name has gradually been forgotten by people. But just like the history that left a great scar on the country, not mentioning it doesn't mean we won't forget it. Zhang Zhixin's bravery, like the lessons left by history, will be deeply remembered in our hearts.