Ma Junwu was once known as the "Grandmaster of a Generation", he was a political activist, educator and patriotic poet of the democratic revolution, occupying an important position in the history of modern Chinese education and enjoying the reputation of "Northern Cai Nanma". His noble character of envy and hatred, and his patriotic feelings, were widely recited in later generations.
Such a respected and admired Confucian once served as the governor of Guangxi, but only 10 months later declared: "In the future, I will no longer engage in political life." ”
(Stills of Ma Junwu)
What's going on? What exactly did Ma Junwu encounter in Guangxi?
Ma Junwu, a native of Gongcheng, Guangxi, was born into a family of eunuchs. His great-grandfather Ma Liwen was a Daoist jinshi and served as the inspector of Fujian Province. His father, Ma Hengchen, was a minor official in the local county court. However, when Ma Junwu was 9 years old, his father unfortunately contracted an illness and died, and the burden of life of the whole family of six suddenly fell on his mother. The strong mother did not give up, and barely survived by sewing clothes and inserting firecracker leads.
In such a difficult environment, Ma Junwu never gave up his studies when he was a child, and under the careful guidance of his grandmother and mother, Ma Junwu in his youth read the "History of History", "Book of Han", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "History of Song", "History of Ming" and other books, and has since laid a deep foundation of old learning.
Subsequently, Ma Junwu successively studied at Guangxi Sports School, Guangzhou Gongchong College, Shanghai Aurora College and other colleges and universities, specializing in English, mathematics, law and other subjects, and his cultural knowledge was further improved.
In 1901, Ma Junwu was admitted as a Japanese official student, and successively worked for Liang Qichao's "Xinmin Cong" newspaper. It was also during this period that Ma Junwu was introduced by the Japanese Miyazaki Minzang and met Sun Wen. The two admired each other and lived very closely. Ma Junwu had a comprehensive understanding and in-depth understanding of Sun Wen's revolutionary ideas and propositions, and since then he has wholeheartedly followed Sun Wen in revolutionary activities, and the two have formed a profound revolutionary friendship.
In 1905, Sun Wen formed the "Chinese League Association", Ma Junwu was responsible for drafting the charter of the League, and at the inaugural meeting of the League in Tokyo, he was elected as the secretary-general and became one of the editors-in-chief of the Minbao.
Due to restrictions imposed by the Qing government and the Japanese authorities on the anti-Qing activities of international students in Japan, Ma Junwu had to return to China and found a Chinese public school in Shanghai to continue his revolutionary activities under the cover of teaching. With the persecution of revolutionary progressives by the Qing government, Ma Junwu again crossed the ocean in 1907 to study in Germany.
In Germany, Ma Junwu studied at the Technical University of Berlin and obtained a doctorate degree in engineering, becoming the first person in China to obtain a doctorate for a student studying in Germany.
(Wuchang Uprising)
In 1911, after the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, Ma Junwu returned to China and participated in the drafting of the Outline of the Organic Law of the Provisional Government, and at the same time served as the deputy minister of industry of the Provisional Government and participated in the drafting of the Provisional Law. In 1913, after the failure of the "Second Revolution", Ma Junwu went to Germany again to study at the Berlin Agricultural University.
After Yuan Shikai claimed to be emperor, Ma Junwu returned to China again and was appointed secretary general of the Presidential Office. In 1921, Ma Junwu was appointed by Sun Wen as the governor of Guangxi and the military regent. When Ma Junwu was appointed in Nanning, he said: "I am coming back this time. It is to work with you to transform Guangxi. I am a public servant of the people of Guangxi, and I will do whatever my master wants me to do, and I will never resign! ”
At the beginning of his term of office, Ma Junwu was ambitious and exerted great efforts to govern the country, and successively put forward grand plans such as rectifying finance, developing industry, setting up education, building roads, and building a new army. However, due to the fact that the political situation in Guangxi was completely in the hands of the warlord Chen Jiongming stationed in Guangxi. He connived at the evil deeds of his subordinates, occupied houses, robbed property, beat up the masses, and was extremely arrogant. The whole of Guangxi fell into a situation of warlords running rampant, with the families of soldiers and bandits, thieves swarming, and the people living in poverty and suffering from it.
The local people and squires asked Ma Junwu several times to punish him, but Ma Junwu was helpless because he had no soldiers in his hands.
What is more serious is that the warlords in Guizhou, relying on their respective strengths, have appointed local officials at all levels without authorization, resulting in a situation in which the warlords are divided, the finances are chaotic, and they refuse to carry out the provincial orders. Even when Ma Junwu appointed a new magistrate, the warlords refused to recognize it and refused to relinquish power.
Ma Junwu understood in his heart that these difficulties stemmed from the fact that he did not have a strong army as a backing. Therefore, he tried to recruit new soldiers, or recruit some warlords and bandits to form his own new army.
However, due to limited financial resources, it was impossible to recruit enough soldiers and provide firearms and weapons for recruits. As a result, only one Battalion of Guards was formed, which was grossly understaffed.
(Old photo of Chen Jiongming)
Faced with the dilemma of not being able to implement the government decree, Ma Junwu was at a loss. In early May 1922, Ma Junwu, who was trapped in internal and external affairs, finally could not survive and asked the Government of the Protector of Guangzhou to resign as the governor of Guangxi.
On May 22, Ma Junwu packed his bags, led his family, escorted by a group of guards, left Nanning and prepared to take a boat to Wuzhou, where he set up a governor's office.
When the ship reached the vicinity of Gui County, Ma Junwu was intercepted by Yu Zuobai, the battalion commander under Li Zongren. He asked Ma Junwu to set up the governor's office in Gui County, but Ma Junwu refused. Subsequently, Yu Zuobai coveted a large amount of ordnance and property on Ma Junwu's ship, attacked and looted the ship.
In this conflict, Ma Junwu not only lost his best friend Shi Chu, but also his beloved woman Peng Wentou, but also lost the manuscript that had been painstakingly condensed over the years. He himself was fortunate to have the desperate cover of his concubine Peng Wentou to escape.
After coming to Wuzhou, Ma Junwu immediately set up the Governor's Office and appointed Yang Huangong to act as governor, while he himself took the road directly to Guangzhou, resigned to Sun Wen, and then returned to Shanghai.
After returning to Shanghai, Ma Junwu said to his friend Lu Feikui: "I don't care about the dangers and losses of this trip to Guangxi, but thousands of beloved books and many unpublished translations of poems have been completely lost, which really pains me." I will never again engage in political life. ”
Since then, Ma Junwu has been devoted to education, cultivated many talents for the country, and become a famous educator in China, and Cai Yuanpei, winning the praise of "North Cai South Horse".
(Reference: "A Generation of Grandmasters - Ma Junwu Commentary")