Chen Changjiang, who was once the captain of Mao Zedong's guard, met with some special people and events in the special era because of the particularity of his post, and also witnessed or participated in some special events. Among them, he has a special memory of the details of Mao Zedong's death.
Divergence over the arrangement of the remains
At 0:10 on September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong, a great man of a generation, stopped thinking! In his lifetime, he did not leave any legacy, nor did he give his last words to anyone. The "2002" bungalow in the Central South China Sea was ablaze with lights. The Political Bureau of the Central Committee held a meeting there, which lasted from about 1:00 a.m. to dawn. The issue under discussion is still inconclusive. The guards, such as Chen Changjiang, who are on duty at the entrance of the conference room, sometimes send some boiled water in. From the intermittent comments, Chen Changjiang knew that the main controversies focused on the arrangement of Mao Zedong's aftermath, the disposal of his remains, the form and scale of his funeral, and whether foreign delegations were invited or allowed to come to mourn.
The atmosphere of the meeting was more controversial than discussion. The voice was very loud. Chen Changjiang heard that the views of all parties were obviously opposed and his mood was very excited. One view is that according to the policy advocated by Mao Zedong that the central government has already decided, the remains of the central leaders should be cremated; the other holds that Mao Zedong is a symbol of the times, occupies a special place in the minds of the people, and his remains should be kept forever. Hours passed and the meeting was still fruitless.
Finally, it was Huaguofeng and Ye Jianying who, after deliberation, proposed two steps: first, to protect the remains, which was necessary to facilitate mourning and condolences; then, to seek the opinions of relevant parties, to make research decisions, or to cremate or preserve them, it was all possible. At present, the most urgent task is to preserve the remains. Otherwise, it will be difficult to maintain the mourning period for several days.
At about 3 a.m. on September 12, the hearse slowly drove out of the West Gate of the Central South China Sea and finally arrived at the North Gate of the Great Hall of the People. Since the original decision to protect the remains was only for the mourning of people from all walks of life. Therefore, the medical personnel who protect the remains only do general treatment, injecting some glycerin, alcohol, formalin and so on into the remains to prevent decay. However, during the condolences, the Central Committee of the Communist Party headed by Hua Guofeng decided to protect the body permanently and set up a memorial hall for Chairman Mao for permanent observation.
Establishment of "769" Corpse Protection Room
The mourning ceremony ended in the afternoon of September 17, when Mao Zedong's body was moved from the Great Hall to a place in the west of Maojiawan where it would be preserved. Before the launch, Mao Zedong's body was removed from the crystal coffin and moved to a sealed nitrogen tent.
From the point of view of security and confidentiality, the security team carefully considered the transfer operation. The transport of the remains was arranged in advance, and two convoys were organized, one of which undertook the confusing task. Zhang Yao Temple led Chen Changjiang's convoy to escort Mao Zedong's body out of the north gate of the Great Hall of the People and directly to a place west of Maojiawan. Wang Dongxing is sitting in this convoy. Before this action, Wang Dongxing and Zhang Yao Temple met with Chen Changjiang and other officials and said that the Central Committee had decided to build a memorial hall for Chairman Mao, where the remains of Chairman Mao would be stored for future generations to commemorate and admire. It may take one year to build the memorial hall. Prior to this, the protection of Chairman Mao's body was still under the responsibility of a squadron, and Chen Changjiang was designated to be responsible for it. It also emphasized that the situation here should not be told to anyone.
The "769" corpse preservation room was originally the underground operating room of a hospital with perfect facilities and complete conditions. At this time, according to the requirements of body protection, each room was transformed into a sealed, oxygen-insulated, low-temperature environment. In the center of the protective chamber is a huge titanium vessel that holds the remains. The container is filled with liquid medicine, and the body is immersed in the liquid medicine.
On October 6, Mao Zedong lay quietly in the "769" body preservation room. Chen Changjiang and his colleagues guarded Mao Zedong's body. Late at night, a group of people came in a hurry and stood in front of Chen Changjiang and other security personnel. They are Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying, Wang Dongxing, Zhang Yao Temple...
No one spoke, no standing arrangements, and this is a very serious matter in peacetime. The leaders stood in front of Mao Zedong's body, bowing and mourning. Later, Chen Changjiang heard only Hua Guofeng murmuring: "Chairman, we have fulfilled your will and solved the Gang of Four at one stroke... Please rest in peace, Chairman!"
The chiefs bowed again and hurried away.
Originally, just a few hours ago, the Central Committee took the "Ten Sixth" campaign, which shocked China and the rest of the world. It took only about 35 minutes for the whole campaign to kill the Gang of Four without firing a single shot.
It was not until the news of the crushing of the Gang of Four was made public that Chen Changjiang understood the origin of "769" late that night, such as Hua Guofeng and Ye Jianying.
Removal of the body into Chairman Mao Memorial Hall
In order to protect Mao Zedong's remains for a long time and make them absolutely reliable and safe, a leading group of scientific research on the protection of Mao Zedong's remains was formally established with the approval of the Central Committee. In the name of the Central Committee, the team invited scientists from Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and other places to meet and study. Finally, it was decided to adopt a combination of liquid and gaseous methods to protect the body temporarily: that is, the skin needs to be exposed to the outside part, mainly the head and two hands in the gaseous state; the hidden part, that is, the body is in the liquid state; usually in the gaseous state, the annual protection is in the liquid state.
As a result, Chen Changjiang and other security personnel and remains protection experts have become "underground workers" of the real tunnel, carrying out a special mission code-named "Mission 1". In this way, day after day, Chen Changjiang and others spent almost another year beside Mao Zedong.
After intensive construction, Chairman Mao Memorial Hall was completed on May 24, 1977. On August 18, a new crystal coffin was moved into the memorial hall. Mao Zedong's body was escorted to the memorial hall.