Affectionate sword
2024-01-16
Chen Dingxiang felt pitiful and distressed. Accordingly, he tried to find an old hen laying eggs, asked his wife to slaughter it, and stewed the chicken for Mrs. Jian. He Long and Jian Xianren were very grateful. They wanted to pay for it, but were refused by Chen.
The Red Army was about to leave Qiaoziping Village. He Long wanted to pay for it again before leaving. But Chen Dingxiang resolutely refused to accept and said repeatedly: “Mr. He, the Red Army has difficult time at war. Keep the money at critical time.”
He Long took off a sword carried with him and gave it to Chen when he knew that Chen refused to accept the money. He said with an accent in Sangzhi County: “You can take this sword well! The Red Army will surely come back.”
Collecting the sword for five generations
Chen Dingxiang carefully observed the sword left by He Long after the Red Army left. It was an exquisitely carved commanding sword made from bronze and white steel with 90.5 centimeters long and 1.42 kilograms weight. Chen dug a hole, wrapped this commanding sword, and hid it under the ground. He did not dare to divulge any information to anyone, let alone show it to others.
Chen Dingxiang hoped to return this commanding sword to He Long one day. However, he failed to wait for this day. He called his children before his death and told them repeatedly: “This commanding sword was given to our family by Commander He Long of the Red Army. You should give it back to He Long. Take good care of it and pass it down as a family heirloom.” Therefore, this commanding sword was collected as a precious item and passed down for generations.
He Long became a marshal of the People’s Republic of China after its founding. The whole family was so excited that they dug out this sword. They regarded it as a family heirloom. When the elderly passed away, they handed it over to the next generation. After more than 80 years of inheritance in the family, it is the fifth generation for the 26-year-old Chen Fei.
Affectionally return the sword
In October, 2015, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Red Army’s Long March, the Historical Records Office of Yuanling County and some relevant departments learned that Chen Fei’s family collected a commanding sword of He Long through the investigation and verification of the route of the Long March.
When Chen Fei showed the rusty commanding sword, everyone was shocked. It was a typical sword with a dragon head handle by the New Army in the late Qing Dynasty. The handle was rubbed into the smooth texture. Although it was dark with rust stains, the flickering blade was still very sharp. If you hold it in your hand, you can still hear the buzzing. According to the research, it was the commanding sword that He Long took when he was appointed as the commander of the first division in the Sichuan Army in 1925.
In April, 2017, the relevant departments in Yuanling County proposed that He Long’s commanding sword should be requisitioned as a revolutionary cultural relic. Chen Fei agreed to donate it to Yuanling County People’s Government. He said that the five generations of his family treasured this commanding sword so much out of their respect for the Red Army and Marshal He Long. The donation of this sword to the government ensured that more people could understand the hardships of revolution, the selflessness of revolutionary predecessors, and the inheritance of revolutionary cause. It was the luck of the Chen family and the commanding sword. His only greatest wish was to “see the descendants of Marshal He Long as a descendant of Chen Dingxiang”. It could be the happiness of the whole family and he was able to fulfill the dreams of several generations. He only hoped to meet Marshal He Long’s descendants and state the destination of this sword face to face.
Yuanling County People’s Government held a donation ceremony for General He Jiesheng, the daughter of Marshal He Long on May 22, 2017. They carefully held up Marshal He Long’s commanding sword that was inherited and treasured by Chen Fei’s family for five generations, and returned it to General He Jiesheng.
This commanding sword finally returned to General He Jiesheng after 82 years, the daughter of Marshal He Long.
