Famous Quotes That Everyone Should Know in a Lifetime

Author: Ruan Yulu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: 3. Hope that in the future, the two of us will be like Liebknecht and Luxemburg, going to the guillotine together. — Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao met during the May Fourth Movement. At that time, Zhou Enlai, who had returned from studying in Japan, was already quite famous among the students in Tianjin. Deng Yingchao, meanwhile, was studying at the Beiyang Zhili Women's Normal School and served as the speech team leader of the "Women's Patriotic League." Zhou Enlai enjoyed acting in plays because there were no girls in the male schools, so he often played female roles. Deng Yingchao, whose school had no boys, would wear long gowns and hats, dressing as a male news reporter. Zhou Enlai often guided female students in acting in plays, and his relationship with Deng Yingchao began at that time when Deng was 15 years old. Deng Yingchao once wrote in an article about Zhou Enlai, "We were not instantly infatuated with each other, nor did we believe in love above all else." Soon after, Zhou Enlai went to Paris as one of 197 students studying and working in France, while Deng Yingchao became a teacher at Beijing Normal University primary school. From then on, the two corresponded with each other but did not think of it in that way. Until 1923, Deng Yingchao suddenly received a postcard from Zhou Enlai in France. On the postcard, which featured portraits of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Zhou Enlai wrote, "I hope that the two of us will, in the future, be like them and go to the guillotine together." It was only then that Deng Yingchao understood Zhou Enlai's feelings. Deng Yingchao later said that she "understood Enlai" and that "what he needed was a companion who could dedicate their entire life to revolutionary work and endure the hardships and storms of the revolution." In this regard, Zhou Enlai, who chose a partner for the revolution, proved to have excellent judgment. The two continued to deepen their bond through correspondence, and during this time, Zhou Enlai joined the Communist Party of China, while Deng Yingchao joined the Communist Youth League. However, they both strictly maintained the secrets of the party and did not inform each other. This habit also continued into their later married life. On August 8, 1925, Deng Yingchao became Zhou Enlai's wife, and the two became a couple who shared the same ideals, faced difficulties together, and fought side by side. In the years that followed, whether during times of war or peace, work often separated Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao, but they remained inseparable in thought and heart at all times. In 1972, Zhou Enlai was diagnosed with cancer and was hospitalized in the summer of 1974. During the year and a half that followed, Deng Yingchao visited him every day, no matter the weather. During his surgery, she always waited outside the operating room until late at night. When Zhou Enlai passed away in the early hours of July 1, 1976, he struggled to say, "There is so much I haven’t told you yet." Deng Yingchao replied, "I have so much I want to tell you too." Then, she gently said, "We’ll just have to leave it for later."
On January 8, 1976, Zhou Enlai passed away. Deng Yingchao bid farewell to her lifelong companion, using the affectionate name Zhou Enlai had for her, presenting a wreath made of flowers inscribed with "Comrade—Deng Yingchao’s Sorrowful Offering."
Zhou Enlai (1898–1976): Known by the courtesy name Xiangyu, the childhood name Daluan, and other aliases such as Wu Hao, Shaoshan, and Guansheng. Born in Hua'an, Jiangsu, his ancestral home was Shaoxing, Zhejiang. From 1920 to 1924, he studied and worked in France and Germany, promoting Marxism among Chinese students and workers in Europe and founding the European Chinese Communist Youth League (later renamed the European Chinese Socialist Youth League). Upon returning to China, he served as the Political Director of the Whampoa Military Academy and the Political Director of the National Revolutionary Army’s 11th Army. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, he held numerous high-ranking positions, including Premier of the State Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs (), Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 5th National People’s Congress, and President of the 2nd and 3rd National People’s Congresses.
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