On the streets of East Broadway in New York, there is a full-body bronze statue of Lin Zexu and a Lin Zexu Square. As we all know, New York, as an international metropolis, the entire city is in short supply. So, as a Chinese, why does Lin Zexu's bronze statue and memorial square appear here? It's so weird!
Lin Zexu's life
Born in 1785 in Houguan County, Fujian Province, Lin Zexu was a famous politician, thinker and poet of the Qing Dynasty, as well as a great national hero. he
The most well-known feat of his life is anti-drug, and the smoke of Humen makes people remember him!
Lin Zexu's first half of life has been very smooth, although his family is poor, his parents are extremely enlightened, and the teachers he contacted as a child were either just and upright, or they were aware of the world, so that he had the ambition to save the world through the country since he was a child. At the age of nine, he was able to write
"The sea is endless, the sky is the shore, the mountain is the peak of me"
verses. When he grew up, under the teachings of Da ru Zheng Guangce, Chen Shouqi and others, Lin Zexu made great progress in his studies and family.
After Jiaqing's nine-year mid-year move, he married Zheng Shuqing, the daughter of a fellow villager, and the husband and wife loved each other for a lifetime. In the eleventh year of Jiaqing, Lin Zexu served as the secretary of Xiamen Coastal Defense Tongzhi, and his main responsibility was to deal with the relevant documents and records of foreign ships.
At that time, the problem of smuggling opium was particularly serious at the Xiamen port, foreign businessmen were taking bribes, and all the colleagues in the past were corrupt because of bribery, and no one had the heart to crack down on smuggling.
That's where it is.
Lin Zexu recognized the problems of smuggling and opium. Although corruption became a common practice, Lin Zexu held a solemn body and did not want to go along with the flow, and his character was also appreciated by Zhang Shicheng, the inspector of Fujian at that time.
It is said that Zhang Shicheng read the congratulatory letters from all over the place and felt that Lin Zexu wrote the best, so he specially summoned Lin Zexu to the mansion on the night of the Chinese New Year's Eve to draft a prayer for him.
Not only did he make it difficult, but he also harassed Lin Zexu with the sound of firecrackers in the middle of the night, and as a result
Lin Zexu's attitude from beginning to end was rigorous and not arrogant, which made Zhang Shicheng greatly appreciate.
After that, Zhang Shicheng summoned Lin Zexu as his staff, and the two cooperated to suppress pirates and rectify coastal defense, Zhang Shicheng praised Lin Zexu, saying that he could fight and defend, and could also organize mobilization, which was a rare talent.
After that, Zhang Shicheng appreciated Lin Zexu more and more, so he took him with him to teach one-on-one, and passed on to him his experience in public affairs. Lin Zexu served as the secretary of coastal defense for five years, went to Beijing to take the examination, entered the army and the first, and stepped into his career from then on. After that, whether it was water treatment, disaster relief or the main examination, Lin Zexu did an excellent job. he
When he was serving as an envoy and inspector in Jiangsu, he rectified the administration of officials, cleaned up Chen cases, and sometimes personally conducted autopsies, which was called Qingtian. At that time, the flow of opium in Jiangsu was very widespread, and Lin Zexu presided over anti-drug and smoking cessation in Jiangsu.
Lin Zexu Humen sold cigarettes
In the eighteenth year of Daoguang, because opium invaded the whole country, the people were weak and silver flowed out. The Daoguang Emperor was interested in investigating and punishing, so he ordered Lin Zexu, as the minister of Chincha, to go to Guangzhou to investigate and punish the smoking ban. After receiving the appointment, Lin Zexu did not rush to take office, but first went to many parties to investigate, find out the opium trade and influence in Guangzhou, and then looked for information on the Guangzhou Tobacco Museum.
Three months later, Lin Zexu summoned foreign merchants from the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou, ordered foreign opium dealers to pay their cigarettes within a time limit, and demanded that they make a pledge that they would not bring opium with them in the future when they entered China. To this end, Lin Zexu also solemnly declared:
"If the opium continues for a day, Lord Ben will not return for a day, and he will swear to be consistent with this matter, and there is no reason to stop it."
The foreign merchants naturally refused to let go of the profiteering business of opium, and the two sides began to tug-of-war, after which Lin Zexu strictly implemented the anti-smoking policy, confiscated 20,000 boxes of opium, about 1,200 tons, and destroyed them in public on Humen Beach, in order to shock The Humen tobacco was sold!
Unfortunately, the Qing government was already weak and decaying. Under the pretext of the rise of the cigarette sales incident into aggression, the Western powers launched the First Opium War against China, breaking the door of China with the help of strong ships and cannons. Since then, China has entered a humiliating modern history and become a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. As a non-smoking minister, Lin Zexu, who made Humen tobacco sales, was also punished without guilt and was demoted to Ili, Xinjiang. In this regard, Lin Zexu wrote a famous poem -
If a country lives and dies by profit, it is better to avoid it because of misfortune and happiness.
In Ili, he recorded many of the local topographies and landforms, helping Zuo Zongtang recover Xinjiang. Yes, Zeng, Zuo, Peng, and Hu of the four famous ministers of the late Qing Dynasty Zhongxing all highly respected Lin Zexu. A few years later, Lin Zexu was revived again, and successively served as the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, the governor of Shaanxi, and the governor of Yungui.
When he went to the localities, he was always able to actually observe the local people's conditions and make policies suitable for local development.
However, at this time, many places are deep and deep, and it is difficult to return to the accumulated shortcomings. Thirty years after Daoguang, the imperial court once again made Lin Zexu a minister of Qincha to supervise the military affairs of Guangxi, but unfortunately Lin Zexu was critically ill and died on the road before he arrived in Guangxi, at the age of sixty-six. After his death, the Qing court gave him the title of Prince Taifu (太傅) with the courtesy name Wenzhong ( 文忠!
In memory of Lin Zexu
Lin Zexu has been in politics for forty years, and has been an official in thirteen provinces, although as a feudal official, he is not immune to the influence of the thinking of the time, but he advocates opening his eyes to the world, advocating the introduction of advanced Western science and technology, developing national industry and commerce, and actively collecting foreign books and periodicals for translation, in order to promote the Chinese people's understanding of the West.
He sought truth from facts when he was an official, observed the people's feelings, and adapted measures to local conditions. It also resolutely implements the practice of smoking bans and tobacco sales, resists foreign armed aggression, and defends national sovereignty and territory. When innocence is degraded and wronged, he still does not forget to report to the state and make a wish for the people. It has won the support of the people and the respect of future generations. Many places in our country have Memorial Halls of Lin Zexu.
This bronze statue of Lin Zexu in New York Plaza was built under the leadership of overseas Chinese. At that time, there was very little understanding of China overseas, little about the Sino-British issue, and little about the Opium Wars.
In 1995, the Chinese in the United States registered the Lin Zexu Foundation, and the chairman of the foundation is Mr. Huang Kejung, a Chinese. In order to let the world know the historical truth of the Opium War, and in order to guide the spirit of anti-drug and anti-drug in the United States, the foundation applied to build a full-body bronze statue of Lin Zexu in New York Square.
The application reads:
"In today's world, once drugs exist, Lin Zexu's name will be universally respected by the world. In addition to Lin Zexu, the Chinese nation needs Lin Zexu, the history has produced Lin Zexu, and the reality and future also need Lin Zexu. ”
Today, most of the world's countries are deeply affected by drugs, and the United States is no different. The hippie movement that once emerged in the United States made drug use a popular fashion for young people at that time, and it has been left to this day.
Since then, with great social impact and high crime rates, the U.S. government has begun to pay attention to the problem of drug proliferation. Lin Zexu, who led the sale of cigarettes in Humen, unconsciously became an image representative of anti-drug.
In 1987, the United Nations General Assembly designated June 26, the date of the sale of cigarettes in Humen, as the International Day Against Drugs.
The United States has set up a special anti-drug agency for drug control, and the power of the United States Drug Control Agency is very large, in addition to its own offices and sub-bureaus, there are overseas agencies in more than sixty other countries, which can track down drugs across borders, which is a right that other police agencies in the United States do not have!
epilogue
Lin Zexu's image is exactly in line with the anti-drug ideas advocated by the US government. Therefore, after approval, the Lin Zexu Foundation deliberately selected in 1997 to erect a bronze statue of Lin Zexu in the Chinatown Center of New York Plaza. Later, the New York City Council voted 48 to 0 to approve the 2000 proposal for the construction of Lin Zexu Square. The pedestal of Lin Zexu's bronze statue is inscribed with the Chinese "World Drug Control Pioneer Lin Zexu" and "Pioneer in the War Against Drugs" in English.