After the September 18 Incident in 1931, the national crisis became increasingly serious, but the Kuomintang authorities pursued a policy of non-resistance and brutally suppressed the student patriotic movement. Soong Ching-ling, who lives in Shanghai, resolutely issued the "Declaration of Soong Ching-ling" (that is, "The Kuomintang is No Longer a Political Force"), which clearly stated: "I cannot bear to see 475 million people in China, because the Kuomintang has abandoned its own doctrine and died of imperialism." "With her lofty prestige, she has effectively done a lot of work to promote the anti-Japanese salvation.
Condolences to the rumbling front line of the cannon
On January 28, 1932, the Japanese army launched the 1.28 Incident in Shanghai and raided the Zhabei area. The Nineteenth Route Army, enraged by the indignation of the nation, rose up to resist.
On January 30, Song Qingling and He Xiangning braved the wind and snow together, carrying two truckloads of belongings to the front line headquarters of the 19th Route Army to offer condolences. She enthusiastically praised the army for washing away the shame of retreating without a fight in September 18, and also addressed the officers and men on the position where the cannon rumbled: "As soon as the gunshots of your war of resistance rang out, men, women, and children at home and abroad, all felt out of breath!" Hundreds of millions of compatriots stand in your support and support you! On February 6, Song Qingling and Mrs. Song Ziwen's wife Zhang Leyi went to Zhenru Yijun again, and when she inspected the battlefield, she invited the commander Cai Tingkai to take a group photo, and told Cai Tingkai: "With Mrs. Liao He Xiangning, Mr. Yang Xingfo, and others are preparing to set up a national hospital for wounded soldiers, specializing in rescuing and treating the brothers of the Nineteenth Route Army who were injured on the front line. ”
In January 1932, Song Qingling took a group photo with Cai Tingkai in Zhenru
On February 12, Song Qingling went to the fierce battle of Wusong to offer condolences, she greeted the officers and men on the position, and encouraged the brigade commander Weng Zhaoyuan: "The merits of defending Wusong are extremely great, and You Hope to continue to struggle so that China will not have an inch of land in the hands of the enemy." Weng Zhaoyuan immediately replied on behalf of the officers and men of the whole brigade: "The soldiers who take the responsibility of defending the land will never let the enemy be a little arrogant, so that the enemy will never have the opportunity to cross the thunder pool one step." Lu Yao's "Song Qingling in the Early Stages of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression" said that when he went to the 156th Brigade of wusong's 19th Route Army as a trainee reporter of the Shanghai "News" to interview, Weng Zhaoyuan told him: "Several enemy attacks have been bravely repelled by our army." "What excites us most is that Sun Qingling was accompanied by a female secretary two days ago and ventured to the Wusong front command post to offer condolences."
Because the Kuomintang authorities did not issue cotton clothes to the troops and owed salaries to the troops, the officers and men of the Nineteenth Route Army wore only thin clothes and pants in the severe cold of the Ninth Army. When Song Qingling returned from the front line, he immediately mobilized all walks of life to urgently provide warm clothing, and received an enthusiastic response. Within a few days, more than 30,000 sets of cotton clothes and silk cotton vests were sent to the positions in batches.
During the Battle of Songhu, Chinese soldiers fought against the Japanese
At the same time, As a leading member of the International Anti-Imperialist Alliance, Soong Ching Ling also called on famous personalities in various countries to uphold justice and condemn Japan's aggression against China. This move caused great repercussions, such as Goul's March 2 publication "In Response to the Appeal of Sun Yat-sen's Wife Soong Ching-ling" in the Soviet newspaper Izvestia, in which he said: "Aiding China – an expression of the unity of the world proletariat – is a great cause." ”
The military and people of Shanghai shared the same hatred and dealt a heavy blow to the invading enemy during the Songhu War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression for more than a month. As Cai Tingkai, commander of the Nineteenth Route Army, recalled: "After the outbreak of the Songhu War of Resistance, the underground organization of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai carried out enthusiastic pre-support work for the Nineteenth Route Army through trade unions, student unions and other mass organizations. They instigated people from all walks of life to organize volunteer armies, death squads, intelligence teams, ambulance teams, stretcher teams, signal teams, transport teams, and so on; some of them cooperated in operations at the front line, and some of them took on the task of rear service, thus playing a positive and effective role in all aspects of operations and supply. Soong Ching Ling kept in touch with the CCP organization and did a lot of work.
Song Qingling took a picture of him holding a cannonball next to the ruins of the front line
In early March, the Japanese landed on the Liuhe River in Taicang, and the 19th Route Army was forced to evacuate from the belly and back of the enemy, and many of the wounded remained in the area. At this time, the National Hospital for Wounded Soldiers was established in Xujiahui Jiaotong University, which "has 300 beds" and treats "often 600 or 700 wounded soldiers every day, and as many as 2,000 people return to the front line after being wounded." In an interview at the National Hospital for Wounded Soldiers, Song Qingling once said: "Because of the heroism of the Nineteenth Route Army in defending the country and resisting the war, it is really a real popular force, and my generation should do our best to protect its wounded soldiers... All staff members of the hospital shall perform their duties and shall not pay any salary. American journalist Edgar Snow's "She Fights for the Chinese People" recounts: "When the Nineteenth Route Army stationed in Shanghai turned to revolution and refused to cede the city to the Japanese, Soong Qingling worked day and night. She built a large international hospital at Jiaotong University, recruited women to prepare quilts, sheets, bandages, etc., and used her house as a warehouse, from which she distributed these items every day. ”
Group photo of all the staff of the National Hospital for Wounded Soldiers
Presided over the Far East Anti-War Congress
In August 1932, the World Congress of War Against Imperialism was held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at which the World Committee for War Against Imperialism was established, and Soong Ching Ling was elected honorary chairman. At the end of the year, the World Anti-War Committee decided to organize a delegation to China to investigate the Japanese invasion of Northeast China and to hold a Congress of the Far East Pan Pacific Against Imperialist War in Shencheng. After Receiving the notice, Song Qingling began to make plans.
On June 18, 1933, the Communist Party of China issued the "Circular of the Central Committee on Welcoming the Delegation of the International Anti-Imperialist and Non-War Grand Alliance to China and the Anti-Imperialist Congress"; Feng Xuefeng, director of the Propaganda Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Cpc Committee of the Communist Party of China, was responsible for the specific implementation, and set up a special agency to publish a special issue of "Anti-War News". Soong Ching Ling actively worked as the chairman of the Preparatory Committee and published "Against imperialist war!" - Statement of the Chinese representative of the World Committee against Imperialist War, which called for: "The fighting forces of the world working class and the whole toiling masses must be organised, and only they can bring to zero the war plans of the imperialist powers" "All those who are willing to participate in this movement" "All delegates to the anti-war congress in Shanghai in September" must be organized. When the representatives of the World Anti-War Committee, Including Malai and Gu jiuli, arrived in Shanghai, she personally went to the dock to greet them.
Former site of the Far East Anti-War Congress
On September 30, the Far East Anti-War Conference was held at No. 85 Huishan Road (now Huoshan Road) in Shanghai, attended by more than 60 international and domestic representatives, presided over by Song Qingling. Due to all kinds of obstructions, the preparations for the meeting were tortuous, and they could only adjust the scale and hold it in secret, and many deputies could not attend the meeting. The meeting elected nine members of the presidium, including Ma Lai, Gu Jiuli, and Song Qingling, and Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Lu Xun, and Gorky as honorary chairmen. After Malay reported on the situation of the war against imperialism in various countries, Soong Ching Ling gave a speech entitled "Freedom and Anti-War Struggle in China", pointing out: "If there is no terror and interference from the imperialists and the Kuomintang authorities, and we can hold a conference openly, there will be tens of thousands of deputies who will voice their voices for the hundreds of millions of exploited people in China." Although the number of delegates to the meeting had to be limited for obvious reasons, the smaller rally was still fully representative of the interests of the toiling masses, representing their protests against the murderous war of the Japanese and other imperialists against the Chinese. At the same time, she issued a call: "Unity in the struggle against Japan and other imperialism, that is, in the struggle for the unity, independence and territorial integrity of China!" The meeting adopted the "Resolution and Declaration on Opposing the Imperialist War and The Anti-Fascist Ti", the "Resolution against the White Terror", the "Protest Against the Five "Encirclement and Suppression" of the Red Army in the Soviet Area" by the Imperialist Kuomintang, and so on, and also established the China Branch of the World Anti-War Committee chaired by Soong Ching-ling.
Enthusiastically helpEd Snow go to northern Shaanxi
In the spring of 1936, Snow made a special trip to No. 29 Moli'ai Road (now No. 7 Xiangshan Road) in Shanghai to visit Song Qingling.
Song Qingling first met Snow in September 1931. At that time, Snow, who had been in China for three years, interviewed Song Qingling in Shanghai in order to write a biography of Song Qingling in accordance with the requirements of the Herald Tribune in New York. Soong Ching Ling's great charisma deeply infected Snow, allowing him to "experience the most beautiful thoughts and emotions in China." Snow's Journey to the Beginning mentions: "Thanks to my early acquaintance with Soong Ching-ling, I realized that the Chinese people have the ability to fundamentally reform their country and quickly raise China, which has a very low status, to the position that it deserves in the world by virtue of its history and large population." It can be seen that due to the enlightenment of Soong Ching-ling, Snow fundamentally changed his understanding of China.
Song Qingling and Snow
After the January 28 Incident in 1932, Snow, as a war correspondent, almost covered the entire process of the Songhu War of Resistance. He saw with his own eyes that in order to support the Nineteenth Route Army, Song Qingling actively mobilized Shanghai citizens to donate money, sew cotton clothes for officers and soldiers, and went to the front line with He Xiangning with consolation goods, and also fed medicine to the wounded in the National Hospital for Wounded Soldiers. He was so moved that he reported in the Shanghai Miller's Review.
In the spring of 1933, Snow and his wife went to Beiping (present-day Beijing), where he was recruited as a lecturer in the journalism department of Yenching University, and successively served as a writer for the Saturday Evening Post in the United States in the Far East, a reporter for the New York Sun, and a special correspondent for the British Daily Herald. Through his contacts with Song Qingling and others and the information obtained from many sources, Snow gradually learned that there was a different army active in the yellow land of northwest China, the Red Army, and became interested, and he decided to accept the manuscript of the British Daily Herald and the publishing company and go to northern Shaanxi for an interview. He talked to Song Qingling about his ideas and asked for help. After Song Qingling listened, he readily agreed.
Soon, Soong Ching Ling learned that the CPC Central Committee hoped to invite a "sincere Western journalist" to inspect northern Shaanxi to learn about the party's policy of the anti-Japanese national united front; and invited a "well-trained Western doctor" to help create a medical cause. She recommended Snow and George Heidham, M.D., and George Haydem, M.D. (i.e. Ma Haid). At this moment, Snow thought that the road was full of dangers and obstacles, and could not help but be a little worried, according to Louis Eli's "Fragment of Memories of Edgar Snow": "Song Qingling reassured him and made him aware of the great political significance of this trip for the cause she supported and for which many people sacrificed." On June 3, 1936, Snow set off from Beiping by train to Zhengzhou Station to meet George Heidham, and the two arrived in Xi'an together. With the assistance of "Pastor Wang" (i.e., Dong Jianwu) entrusted by Song Qingling, he broke through the blockade of the Kuomintang army and secretly entered northern Shaanxi. From early July to mid-October, Snow conducted extensive and in-depth interviews in northern Shaanxi.
After Returning to Beiping, Snow quickly sent the full text of his conversation with Mao Zedong and his overview of Northern Shaanxi to the Shanghai Miller's Review. The Shanghai Miller's Review received the manuscript and published it in full on November 14 and 21, 1936, under the title "Meeting with the Communist Leader Mao Zedong", and published a large photograph of Mao Zedong wearing an octagonal hat of the Red Army. At the same time, Snow also published reports about northern Shaanxi in other English newspapers. On this basis, Snow wrote the book "Red Star Shines on China". In October 1937, he gave the book to Soong Ching Ling, and the title page read: "To comrade Qing Ling, a brave revolutionary, you are the first person in China to encourage me to write this book, and you are the first reader of this book." Please forgive me for any inadequacies in the book. In February 1938, the Shanghai Fushe Publishing Society published its Chinese translation, and in order to facilitate circulation, the title of the book was translated as "Journey to the West".
In February 1938, the Shanghai Fu Society published "Journey to the West"
The call for justice has attracted international attention
On August 13, 1937, the Japanese army launched the August 13 Incident and frantically attacked Shanghai. The Chinese garrison stubbornly counterattacked and began the three-month Battle of Songhu. Song Qingling stepped forward again and worked tirelessly to run around.
When the smoke of gunfire was thick, Song Qingling repeatedly delivered speeches on the War of Resistance, which had a great impact. For example, once, Song Qingling came to Shanghai Nanyang Girls' High School to introduce the war situation to teachers and students, and called on everyone to contribute money and efforts to the War of Resistance. With her encouragement, teachers and students went deep into the community to carry out fundraising activities, and within a few days, residents in the area of Xiaoshadu Road (now Xikang Road) alone rushed to make more than a thousand silk cotton vests.
While leading the work of saving women's lives, Soong Ching Ling enthusiastically supported the work of the Shanghai Cultural Circles Salvation Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Cultural Association"). When the "Cultural Association" ambulance group launched the collection of first-aid products and condolences, she took time out of her busy schedule to participate and did her best to raise funds for it; the "Cultural Association" organized an ambulance team to go to the front, and she hired two trucks at her own expense to pick up the wounded, and risked the danger of riding to the position to comfort the soldiers.
Soong Ching Ling has been actively seeking assistance from the Democratic Forces for World Peace. On September 17, Soong Ching-ling denounced the British government's indifference to Japan's invasion of China in his "Letter to the British Labour Party" and eagerly expected the British Labour Party to "do its utmost to support the Chinese nation's heroic war of resistance on all occasions of action." On October 3, Soong Ching-ling issued a letter to the British Labour Party's Delegation to China to Investigate Japanese Aggression: "The Chinese nation has now stood up like a giant to resist the Japanese aggressors. Such unity of spirit, action and will throughout the country is unprecedented in the history of our country. On October 14, Soong Called the U.S. General Workers' Union, hoping that the country's workers would boycott Japanese goods and prevent the shipment of military fire to Japan. On October 20, Soong Ching Ling gave a speech to the United States in English on the Shanghai American Radio, pointing out: "The Japanese warlords will certainly suffer annihilation on our territory" and "We will wage war against these fascist thugs, not only for ourselves, but also for all those who still love freedom and democracy." Song Qingling's call for justice has aroused strong repercussions in the world, such as Einstein, Dewey, Russell, Roman Roland, etc. have jointly called on all countries to "jointly boycott Japanese goods and fully assist the Chinese people". Some of her important anti-war remarks were later compiled into the anthology The Theory of China's Immortality (published by Shanghai Life Bookstore in January 1938).
Song Qingling's Theory of China's Immortality
On November 12, 1937, Shanghai fell. On this eve, Soong Ching-ling published an article condemning "the Japanese fascist aggression and its unimaginable barbarism and cruelty, which have caused disturbance and infinite terror on our territory", and said without fear: "We will resist the modern machinery they destroy with the courage of the fire." In the war against their corrupt Bushido, we will raise the torch of our own new life. She held on to the "isolated island" until 40 days later, when she accepted the opinion of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and moved to Hong Kong. In June of the following year, she founded the League for the Defense of China in Hong Kong, enlisting more broadly international friends and overseas Chinese to support the Chinese people in the War of Resistance.
This year marks the 41st anniversary of Soong Ching-ling's death and the 90th anniversary of the January 28 Incident. Looking back at the scene when this great man went all out in Shanghai to promote the anti-Japanese struggle to save the dead, it is really admirable!