In the feudal society of ancient China, since the prevalence of Neo-Confucianism, women's spirit and body were severely suppressed and destroyed. Since then, women can only be regarded as vassals of men, and they can't be seen in public. They can only teach their children at home, abide by three obedience and four virtues, and have no right to pursue their own free nature.
However, in the modern Republic of China, there was a new trend in the society, and many advanced ideas from the West also promoted people's ideological emancipation. More and more girls were educated and encouraged to stand up bravely against China's centuries-old stubborn feudal thoughts, which proved that women can also make great achievements.
At a time when our country is in turmoil and our nation is teetering, there is such a woman who has experienced the ups and downs of her life, gained her soul mate and struggled overseas alone, making great contributions to promoting the friendship between China and the United States.
such a strange girl and heroine is Chen Xiangmei, the wife of Chennault, the general of the Flying Tigers in World War II, an outstanding woman who combines the noble temperament of a classical family in China with the temperament of a smart and capable woman.
Born in the Dragon Boat Festival with plum blossoms, girls shed tears with emotion
On June 23, 1925, this day was the Dragon Boat Festival in the Year of Ugliness. Although this ancient land of China is still suffering, the suffering China people are still welcoming this ancient festival with their optimism and strength.
While everyone was eating zongzi and drinking realgar wine, a newborn baby was born in Peking Union Medical College Hospital and became the second daughter of the Chen family.
On this day's calendar, it is written: it is advisable to pray for blessings, seek heirs, and meet relatives and friends. As soon as this baby girl was born, it seemed that she had been blessed with the Dragon Boat Festival to get rid of evil spirits and start her extraordinary life.
Born in this sunny festival, which coincides with the Dragon Boat Festival, the baby girl's grandfather was very happy. Perhaps it was because he thought that a girl was born in such a masculine festival and needed to be pressed, so he chanted a poem by Lu Meipo, a poet of the Song Dynasty, in the courtyard at home: "Mei Xuxun's snow is white, but the snow loses a little fragrance", and immediately decided on the name "Chen Xiangmei".
Chen Xiangmei's grandfather, Liao Fengshu, was a very famous diplomat. He used to be an envoy to Cuba and an ambassador to Japan. And her daughter, Chen Xiangmei's mother, Liao Xiangci, has also studied in England, France and Italy, and is a gentle woman with great cultural accomplishment.
Chen Xiangmei's father, Chen Yingrong, was also a great talent at that time. He studied in Britain and the United States, obtained a doctorate in law from Oxford University in the United Kingdom and a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University in the United States, and worked as a professor and diplomat after returning to China.
It can be said that Chen Xiangmei was born in such a scholarly family and a diplomatic family, and almost won at the starting line, and a good family background and family education also laid the foundation for Chen Xiangmei's later success.
Chen Xiangmei is the second daughter in the family, and she didn't live up to her grandfather's expectations. She was a gentle girl since she was a child, and her academic performance has always been among the best.
She is beautiful and intelligent, and good family education makes her have unique intellectual beauty. When she was 16 years old, in 1941, because of the complicated domestic situation, she was taken to Hong Kong by her family to study.
At this time, Hong Kong was a British colony, and the Japanese army was afraid to start a war in Hong Kong because of the British reaction, so Hong Kong was still a pure land for the time being.
While studying here, she met the first man who made her heart beat, a man named bill in English.
As the saying goes, no girl is in love with spring. In her previous life, she never rebelled against her parents and was always a well-behaved girl, but this time, she burst into great enthusiasm.
Since seeing him in a speech contest, Chen Xiangmei fell in love with him at first sight. Since then, she has taken the initiative to chat with bill for dinner, go dancing and watch movies together, and enjoy the beauty of love at this age.
But the good times didn't last long. When the Japanese invaders' planes roared over Hongkong, Chen Xiangmei's precious first love came to an end.
In December 1941, Japanese planes began to bomb Hong Kong, and countless people fled in haste. Rich people fled overseas on cruise planes. And bill also decided to go to England to escape the war and finish his studies. He hoped that Chen Xiangmei would go with him, but Chen Xiangmei was silent in the face of his sweet lover.
She turned her back on him, covering her mouth and sobbing. She had her own insistence. She loved her motherland and nation, and she couldn't walk away. Her grandfather's character has been affecting her from beginning to end, and she decided to stay. She knows that the motherland is in a difficult time now, and even though her strength is so weak, the motherland needs her!
In this way, her first love was defeated by her love for the motherland, but this blow was a great growth for Chen Xiangmei.
I've known a general for half my life, and I got married in an interview.
During the war, my father went to the United States for work, but his father in the United States had a new love and forgot his original wife here in the motherland.
As the second daughter, Chen Xiangmei, although not yet an adult, has been very sensible to share the family affairs for her mother. In order to escape the war, the family trudged thousands of miles with the exiled team to the temporarily safe southwest rear and took root in the journalism department of Central University.
My mother, who worked hard to support her family, soon died prematurely. And at this time, Chen Xiangmei met her destiny takes a hand's man for the first time-"Flying Tigers" general Chennault.
Chennault and Chen Xiangmei's father, Chen Yingrong, knew each other in the United States, so after knowing that Chen Xiangmei was Chen Yingrong's daughter, General Chennault generously extended a helping hand to help Chen Xiangmei get in touch with his father who was far away from home.
Although my father has a new love in America, in the final analysis, he still has his own children. He asked the Chen Xiangmei sisters to go to the United States immediately and would arrange everything for them.
But the stubborn Chen Xiangmei refused her father. She put her brothers and sisters on a cruise ship to the United States, and resolutely turned around and returned to her small house.
She won't forget her mother who was abandoned by her father, and her first love that ended in nothing. She is determined to stay and make contributions to the motherland in her own way. She should have the pride of plum blossoms and live up to her grandfather's expectations.
What Chen Xiangmei didn't know was that her stubborn and tenacious appearance was noticed by General Chennault and kept in mind.
With these thoughts, Cui Xinyi's frown became tighter. He wants to arrange some easy work for Chen Xiangmei, such as arranging and responsible for manuscript typesetting, ink blending and so on.
However, Chen Xiangmei, who is strong, disobeyed the director's "kindness" and argued that she must go out to do the interview work. Cui Xinyi had no choice but to give her a difficult problem and wanted her to back down.
Cui Xin's first problem is to interview General Chennault's Flying Tigers. At that time, the official document of General Chennault's "Flying Tigers" was called the American Air Force Volunteer Team to China. It was not until Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States officially declared war on Japan that it was changed to the 14th Air Force of the United States.
why is it a difficult problem to interview Chennault? Because the newspaper was not equipped with professional English translators at that time, it was necessary to have fluent English to interview General Chennault. Moreover, General Chennault's air force is stationed in the suburbs of Kunming, which is dozens of miles away from the urban area. The cars in the city have been requisitioned by the army. If Chen Xiangmei wants to interview, he can only walk all the way by his own "No.11 bus".
Cui Xinyi, who was busy, forgot about it as soon as she turned her head, but ten days later, Chen Xiangmei, haggard but with glowing eyes, slammed the interview manuscript she had just finished on Cui Xinyi's desktop and looked at him proudly.
Cui Xinyi straightened her glasses, picked up this manuscript called Interview with Chennault and read it word for word. After reading it, Cui Xinyi was shocked, because this manuscript was very well written, with novel angles and fresh and smooth wording and sentences.
Looking at Chen Xiangmei, who was haggard but in excellent spirits, Cui Xinyi patted his head with a "oops" and immediately praised his interview ability in Chen Xiangmei. From then on, she never said that women are not as good as men.
Since this interview, Chennault's contact with Chen Xiangmei has gradually increased. Chennault always remembers the figure of stubbornly turning around after sending his younger brother and sister on a cruise ship. This time, Chen Xiangmei trudged for dozens of miles alone, and the hard work to interview made him see the girl's indomitable will.
Even General Chennault himself didn't realize that he had gradually developed an affection for her. Later, once, Chen Xiangmei was hospitalized with gastric ulcer because he was preoccupied with his work and ate irregularly.
After General Chennault heard that Chen Xiangmei was hospitalized, he called his driver to deliver the flower basket every day because it was inconvenient for him to come on business. Finally, when he was free one day, he went to the hospital to visit Chen Xiangmei.
Seeing Chen Xiangmei half lying in bed reading a book, General Chennault said jokingly after entering the door, "Little thing, who gave you so many flowers?"
"Little thing" was called by General Chennault when he first met Chen Xiangmei, and he simply regarded her as the daughter of an old friend. However, as the relationship gradually became more and more familiar, this title also became his exclusive pet title.
Listening to the strong teasing meaning in General Chennault's words, she pursed her mouth and joked back: "It's from your driver. You want to bury me with flowers before I die. "
When Chen Xiangmei was old, he always looked sweet when telling people interesting stories about his association with General Chennault.
Chen Xiangmei recalled with emotion: "At that time, he chased me for two years. But at that time, he was in his fifties, and I was only twenty years old, which was a whole generation away. But at that time, I was young, and I felt that true love was coming, so I had to seize it at all costs and overcome everything. As a matter of fact, I have never regretted marrying him. He is the best companion in my life. It is also fate that he can fall in love with me. A mature and excellent man like him has no shortage of women around him. I was still naive and dreamy at that time. Later, after I got married, he also said that he liked my stubborn temper, hehe ... "< P > Talking about these sweet memories that spanned half a century with the people who came to visit, the corner of Chen Xiangmei's eyes slowly moistened. As she spoke, she seemed to have become the shy girl beside General Chennault, and remembered the day they got married.
that day is December 21st, 1947! Chen Dongmei remembered this day all her life, and she will never forget it. On this day, she put on the most precious white wedding dress for a young girl and looked at Chennault, who was walking towards him leisurely and wearing the uniform of Air Force Lieutenant General. She gave her hand to him and swore to love each other forever under a flower stand woven by 1 white chrysanthemums, never giving up in life and death.
Chinese and American newspapers, large and small, enthusiastically reported this transnational wedding. The photos of "Flying Tigers General" and "Oriental Beauty" hugging and kissing are always fixed in the newspapers, which makes countless people envy them. Even Chiang Kai-shek and Song Meiling sent their blessings and sent the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs to Shanghai to congratulate them.
The husband and wife are separated by Yin and Yang, and they miss their motherland and live in other places.
It is a pity that this exotic love affair has not been completely sweet to the end. As a veteran soldier, General Chennault has escaped numerous gunfire, but he can't escape the ravages of illness.
General Chennault died early because of lung cancer, and it was only ten years before they got married. In the last operation before the end of his life, he left a suicide note to Chen Xiangmei, as if he had foreseen his fate.
He painted the best love for her in his heart with affectionate pen and ink, and he still said lovingly in his letter: "I love you and them (daughters) with the love that anyone can give, and I believe that love will last forever after death. ..... Remember and teach our children to remember the exact meaning of life-good conduct, honesty and loyalty, and kindness to others. Life should not be extravagant, don't envy others, enjoy the comfort of human life and don't worry about lack. Be humble and devote yourself wholeheartedly to your chosen career ... "
This letter has been treasured by Chen Xiangmei all her life. Every time she is exhausted in the dead of night, she will think of her husband's appearance, the sunny and heroic man, and silently cry at the letter.
General Chennault said in his letter, "I believe that love will last forever after death", and Chen Xiangmei did the same. General Chennault died in 1958, and Chen Xiangmei remained single for 6 years after that, posing as Mrs Chennault forever, and never wavered, and kept this unique love for General Chennault.
Chen Xiangmei was an independent and strong woman before and after her marriage. After her husband's death, she didn't want to live like a vase, just relying on her husband's reputation. She wanted to create her own new world, the life in live high.
So in 196, with no money and no power, she took her two daughters and resolutely set foot on the road to America, and came to her husband's hometown, determined to struggle here.
As an Asian, she is a single woman. Although she has the aura of a husband, it is not easy in the United States, and she is always vulnerable to discrimination.
Chen Xiangmei gritted her teeth and ate all the hardships. Perhaps it was her husband's blessing in heaven, and soon she had a chance to change her fate.
At a banquet, she met several Republicans. They were curious about this elegant Asian woman and asked where she worked. At that time, Chen Xiangmei was an ordinary teacher at the University of Georgia, and she told the truth about herself.
Perhaps because of her Asian identity, she caught the attention of * * * in Maryland and Shiweiya Herman, the president of the Party Women's Association. She asked Chen Xiangmei if she was interested in politics.
When she learned that she was the wife of General Chennault, Shiweiya became more interested in her. As a politician, she knew how much such an invisible legacy would help her in politics. So she told Chen Xiangmei that she was organizing a minority group to help Nixon elect and invited her, Mrs Chennault, to join in.
It hit it off with Chen Xiangmei's plan, so she readily agreed to join in. Although Nixon lost the election in that year, Chen Xiangmei took a big step in her politics, which made countless Americans