On the eve of liberation, the situation in China was settled, and the kuomintang forces were broken one by one by the People's Liberation Army, and the scope was getting smaller and smaller. With Chiang Kai-shek's current strength, there is no possibility of success at all.
Under these circumstances, Chiang Kai-shek regarded Taiwan as his refuge.
Before fleeing to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek packed up a large amount of gold, silver, treasure, weapons and equipment in order to have economic strength to develop Taiwan and regard Taiwan as a base area in the future.
In addition to money, Chiang Kai-shek specifically ordered that one person must be brought to Taiwan together.
The man designated by Chiang Kai-shek to be brought to Taiwan was called Kong Decheng. Chiang Kai-shek believed that Kong Decheng would have a bearing on his plan to "counterattack the mainland" in the future, and even more on his "orthodox status."
So, why did Comte play such an important role?
All this has to start from Kong Decheng's identity.
(Photo of Chiang Kai-shek)
Kong Decheng and Yan Sheng Gong
Kong Decheng was a descendant of Confucius and the last YanShenggong in China.
In addition to the identity of the Confucian lineage, the identity of Yan Sheng Gong was also an indispensable part of Chiang Kai-shek's plan.
In ancient feudal society, Yan Sheng Gong was a privileged nobleman. These privileges were given to them by successive emperors in order to attract the world's readers.
After Confucius's death, the titles of Confucius's descendants were granted partly out of respect for Confucius and partly out of the need for someone to preside over Confucius's sacrifice activities.
However, in the continuous development of Confucius culture, the rulers found that this culture was more conducive to imprisoning the minds of the people and consolidating imperial power. Naturally, the descendants of Confucius became the object of the emperor's solicitation.
Especially after the feudal dynasty began to use the examination system to select officials, Confucian culture was the main content of the examination, and the people who read books in the world could be regarded as Confucius protégés.
There are more and more Confucius protégés, and the right to speak is getting higher and higher, and even the emperor himself may be Confucius's protégés. Although the rest of the people were not readers, they were indoctrinated with feudal Confucianism from an early age.
Therefore, in the feudal dynasty, the posthumous title of Confucius was not only related to whether he could gain the support of the world's readers, but also whether the people recognized the emperor's orthodox status.
In order to declare their orthodox status, successive emperors will posthumously seal Confucius's descendants more than the last time.
(Portrait of the 65th Generation of the Holy Father)
In this way, from the eight titles of the Eight Pins during the Song Dynasty, to the head of the civil officials in the Ming Dynasty, and finally to the Qing Dynasty, they could ride horses in the Forbidden City, and the power of the Yan Sheng Gong became more and more powerful. Moreover, this privilege is hereditary, passed down from the previous Episcopal Father to his eldest son or other concubine.
By the generation of Kong Decheng's father Kong Lingyi, Yan Sheng Gong had been passed down for 31 generations. However, at this time, the country was in a state of turmoil, and the status of Yan Sheng Gong was also in jeopardy.
After the Xinhai Revolution, the feudal dynasty ended, but the treatment of Yan Shenggong was retained by Yuan Shikai. This move was enough to see Yuan Shikai's wolf ambition to become emperor.
In order to continue his family's privileges, Kong Lingyi supported Yuan Shikai's activities of worshiping Confucius while continuing to propagate the ideas of the Confucius family and brainwash the people for Yuan Shikai's restoration.
(Yuan Shikai photo)
With the support of Kong Lingyi, Yuan Shikai's act of claiming the title of emperor had a justifiable reason to change his name.
Although Kong Lingyi's treatment did not change due to the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the inheritance of the Sheng Gong faced a major problem: Kong Lingyi had no sons.
The Duke of Yansheng has always been inherited by the eldest son of the concubine, and if the eldest son of the concubine has an accident, there will be other concubines who will inherit or pass the throne to the younger brother. However, Kong Lingyi was the only boy in the Kong family at that time, and his wife left no heirs, and the side room only gave birth to two daughters.
At this time, Kong Lingyi was already seriously ill and did not have much time to deal with this matter. This means that no one can inherit the title of Yan Sheng Gong, and the Kong family is likely to be extinct.
When Kong Lingyi was in despair, the news of Baocui's pregnancy brought him the last glimmer of hope.
(Photo of Kong Decheng as a child)
In order to protect his unborn child, Kong Lingyi wrote a letter to Xu Shichang:
The side chamber of the Royal Family is pregnant, and it is now more than five months old, if she can give birth to a male, she will become a progenitor of the Holy Father, according to the law.
On the day of Kong Decheng's birth, the Shandong Provincial Overseer personally led the soldiers to stand guard outside the delivery room for protection, and the elders of the Kong family also came to the scene to prevent the descendants of the Kong family from being persecuted by people with ulterior motives.
All this, Kong Lingyi could no longer see, but the letter he wrote to Xu Shichang played a huge role at this time. The overseer of Shandong Province was ordered by Xu Shichang to protect Wang Baocui and the child in his belly.
Wang Baocui in the delivery room had difficulty giving birth, and everyone outside the delivery room was praying that this fetus was a boy. After tossing and turning for a day, Kong Decheng was finally born.
In order to celebrate the continuation of the Kong family's bloodline, the Beiyang government fired thirteen salutes. When Kong Decheng was in the hundred days, Xu Shichang responded to Kong Lingyi's last wish and ordered Kong Decheng to inherit the title of Duke of Yansheng.
From birth, Kong Decheng was doomed to the extraordinary of his life. In that turbulent situation, Kong Decheng was doomed not to enjoy peace.
Kong Decheng and Chiang Kai-shek joined forces
With the expectation of birth, Kong Decheng learned the way of Confucius and Mencius with the aura of a saint from a young age, and presided over the Confucius sacrifice activities as a Yan Sheng Gong.
However, Kong Decheng's life was far less comfortable than that of other Yan Sheng Gong. At that time, there was a strict hierarchy in the government, and outside the government was anti-Kong revolutionary activities.
(Photo of Kong Decheng when he was young)
The tenants and anti-Confucian masses oppressed by the Confucius government gathered together in front of the Confucius palace, shouting revolutionary slogans and taking back all the rights of the Confucius government. This scene was something that the Kong family did not want to see, and it was also something that Chiang Kai-shek did not want to see.
In the wave of national anti-Kong, Kong Decheng once again stood on the opposite side of the revolution as a Yan Sheng Gong. At this time, although Kong Decheng was young, he could understand that anti-Kong's activities meant that his privileges would be taken away. He believed that the only thing that could be relied on at that time was probably the National Government.
At the beginning of the establishment of the National Government in Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek used Confucius as a signboard and asked everyone to bow down to him.
Chiang Kai-shek, Dai Jitao, and others distorted Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Three People's Principles and used the feudal Confucian viewpoint to officialize the Three People's Principles, completely violating the connotation of the original Three People's Principles.
Subsequently, the "New Life Movement" promoted by Chiang Kai-shek also took the Way of Confucius and Mencius as the theme, advocating that everyone take feudal Confucianism as the criterion and further expand the scope of the Confucian views of the Nationalist government. Their actions both opposed the revolutionary practice of the Communist Party's advance and prevented the spread of Marxism in China.
(Photo of Confucius House in Qufu)
Marxism, as a new scientific theory, has been hindered in China by the already distorted traditional Confucius thought. For those who pursue advanced ideas, Confucius and Mengmeng Thought has become the target of public criticism, pushing it to the cusp of the storm.
Kong Decheng did not want to lose the privilege of Yan Sheng Gong and did not have the ability to fight against the masses, so he could only choose to rely on a big tree. He chose Chiang Kai-shek.
In the implementation of Chiang Kai-shek's activities to honor Kong, Kong Decheng played an irreplaceable role.
In order to provide strong support for Chiang Kai-shek's "New Life Movement," Kong Decheng went to Shanghai to deliver a speech advocating the national salvation significance of the New Culture Movement. At the same time, he used his identity to promote the Confucian and Mencius way under Chiang Kai-shek's political purposes and practice feudal rule under the banner of the Three People's Principles.
In gratitude for Chiang Kai-shek's protection of the Kong family, Kong Decheng openly entangled the counter-revolutionary forces and maintained Chiang Kai-shek's regime. In order to show his determination, Kong Decheng proposed to cancel the title of Yan Sheng Gong, on the grounds that it was now the Republic of China and could not continue to use the title of feudal dynasty.
(New Life Movement Photo)
After consultation with Kong Decheng, Chiang Kai-shek revoked the title of Yan Sheng Gong, but changed his title to "Dacheng Most Holy Ancestor Worship Official". In general, it is a change of title, but the treatment is still unchanged.
After the defeat at the Battle of Songhu, Chiang Kai-shek's Nanjing government was about to fall, so he chose Chongqing as another center of Kuomintang power.
While taking away weapons and important materials, Chiang Kai-shek had Kong Decheng's family safely taken to Chongqing.
(Photo of Kong Decheng and his wife Sun Qifang in Chongqing)
At that time, chiang kai-shek was not only the one who wanted to take advantage of the background of Confucius's descendants, but also the Japanese invaders.
Japan has repeatedly invited Kong Decheng to the Temple of Confucius in Japan to preside over sacrifices in order to control Kong Decheng as a hostage in Japan and to dampen China's morale. Fortunately, Kong Decheng saw the intentions of the Japanese and did not invite him on the grounds of illness.
During his stay in Chongqing, Kong Decheng continued to propagate Chiang Kai-shek's Confucianization of the Three People's Principles, while also constantly spreading counter-revolutionary ideas, thus showing his special position.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Kong Decheng came to Nanjing at the invitation of Chiang Kai-shek. When he thought that he could make the family prosperous, Kong Decheng received the news of the liberation of Qufu. It didn't take long for the PLA to spread across the country.
(Taiwan Confucius Temple)
When Chiang Kai-shek hurriedly prepared materials to retreat from Taiwan, he did not forget to invite Kong Decheng to Taiwan as well.
Kong Decheng, who came to live in Taiwan, established a family temple in Taipei to promote "Confucianism".
However, life was difficult at the beginning, and Taiwan was in ruins. It wasn't until Kong Decheng taught at National Taiwan University that life gradually got back on track.
Kong Decheng in Taiwan advocated Confucianism while studying gold scripts and bronzes. Chiang Kai-shek gladly agreed to his proposal to "celebrate the rejuvenation of Chinese culture" and to designate Confucius's birthday as Teachers' Day.
However, Kong Decheng did not hold any official positions with real power, most of them were civilian officials with an academic nature.
After his death in Taipei, his title of "Dacheng Most Holy Ancestor Consecration Official" has been inherited by his descendants.
(Photo of Kong Decheng in his later years)
Throughout Kong Decheng's life, he was doomed from birth.
So, why did Chiang Kai-shek spare no effort to honor Kong?
To put it simply, he was trying to achieve his righteous goal of "counterattacking the mainland."
Chiang Kai-shek exalted the purpose of Confucianism
When Chiang Kai-shek had just taken over the Kuomintang regime, the officials within the Kuomintang were not ideologically unified. Warlords of different factions are mixed together, and the clash of ideas brought about by different classes often leads to contradictions.
(Photo by Sun Yat-sen)
The Confucianized Three People's Principles, while holding high the banner of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, retained Chiang Kai-shek's own ideas. This will not only provide theoretical support for Chiang Kai-shek's reforms within the Kuomintang, but will also be able to justify his series of shameless acts by learning from the past and the present.
In addition, the vast majority of Chinese at that time were poor peasants and workers, who received education in traditional Confucianism from an early age and did not have the opportunity to be exposed to advanced ideas.
In Confucian thought, ideas such as "loyalty to the king" and "gangchang" have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Even after some new-style ideological movements, the reverence for Confucianism that remains in the hearts of the people is still very heavy.
With Kong Decheng as the posterity of Confucius as the signboard, Chiang Kai-shek could easily gain the support of a populace corrupted by Confucianism (the distorted Confucianism). With the support of these people, they not only have the guidance of public opinion in favor of Chiang Kai-shek, but also make their rule more orthodox.
Based on this aim, Chiang Kai-shek falsely called it "communist bandits" when he brutally encircled and suppressed the Communist Party, which deliberately distorted the nature of the Communist Party in saving the country and the people, and confused his intention to engage in civil war.
Looking back, Chiang Kai-shek, in the name of democracy, actually wanted to exercise dictatorial means in his heart, and Confucianism could become Chiang Kai-shek's spiritual weapon.
However, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to have the position of the supremacy of imperial power, so he made some changes to Confucianism, combining love for the emperor with patriotism. That is to say, in Chiang Kai-shek's Confucianism, the most important manifestation of patriotism is to listen to his words.
In the process of spreading, this kind of Confucianism greatly imprisoned the minds of the people, and at the same time fundamentally affected the ideological progress of the new youth.
Most importantly, Chiang Kai-shek vigorously promoted Confucianism in order to counter the spread of Marxism in China, thereby suppressing the Communist Party and achieving the goal of his dictatorship.
Confucianism has dominated Chinese ideology for more than two thousand years, and there are many contradictions with Marxism-Leninism, which has just been introduced to China. Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of this feature to suppress the spread of Marxism-Leninism and at the same time to suppress the development of the Communist Party.
Chiang Kai-shek not only attempted to achieve hegemony militarily and politically, but also wanted to completely imprison people's thinking. Therefore, the existence of the Communist Party not only threatened Chiang Kai-shek's military and political position, but also the rule of the ideological field was impacted.
The fusion of fascism, the Three People's Principles, and feudal Confucianism to form the Confucian thought needed by Chiang Kai-shek is, in the final analysis, the implementation of cultural dictatorship, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the Communist Party and its ideas, so as to accomplish its own dictatorial goals.
When Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek promoted Confucianism with another layer of plan: to build Taiwan into his own political base.
When Chiang Kai-shek was on the mainland, he intended to enslave the people with Confucianism, and bringing Kong Decheng to Taiwan may have been the same plan. If Chiang Kai-shek wants to use Taiwan as a rear area for a counter-offensive against the mainland, he must turn Taiwan into a territory that is completely in line with his intentions.
Bringing Kong Decheng to Taiwan, on the one hand, was the hope that Confucianism would blossom and bear fruit in Taiwan and facilitate Chiang Kai-shek's cultural rule. On the other hand, it is based on the consideration of the identity of Confucius's descendants.
In ancient societies, only orthodox emperors could canonize Confucius's descendants. Chiang Kai-shek brought Kong Decheng to Taiwan, perhaps to announce to everyone that he was legitimate, and that there was no longer a proper name and a bad name for the Communist Party that could be sealed by the descendants of the Kong family.
If there is a real opportunity to counterattack the mainland in the future, Kong Decheng can also use his identity to gather Confucian protégés on the mainland, and use his status as a descendant of Confucius to create public opinion and facilitate Chiang Kai-shek's plan to enter the mainland.
In addition to Kong Decheng, Zhang Jia and Zhang Enpu were brought to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek for the same purpose.
Four, two other masters to Taiwan
Zhang Enpu is the 63rd Generation Heavenly Master of Longhu Mountain and has considerable influence in the south.
As a native Chinese religion, Taoism also has a very large scale. In ordinary weddings and funerals, Taoist priests will be asked to choose a date and explain the precautions.
(Photo by Zhang Enpu)
As a spokesman of the Taoist generation, Zhang Enpu's status is very noble.
After following Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan, Zhang Enpu's life was not as smooth as Kong Decheng's. Local religion and Taiwanese Taoism have formed a certain scale, and Zhang Enpu has been under a lot of pressure to promote his own Taoism.
Despite the support of the Nationalist government, Zhang Enpu's Taoism did not have much influence in Taiwan, and its influence became smaller and smaller.
However, as long as Zhang Enpu is in Taiwan, it proves that mainland Taoism is tied to the Kuomintang. If he re-led his troops to the mainland in the future, Zhang Enpu's position could completely pull the Daoists into the Kuomintang camp and increase the chances of victory.
(Zhangjia photo)
Another master, Zhang Jia, was a living Buddha from Tibet and Qinghai, who not only held a very noble position, but also held great military and political power.
In Tibet, Qinghai, Mongolia and other border areas, almost everyone who lives in the local area is a buddhist believer, and the living Buddha has a very high status in the hearts of believers. As long as Zhang Jia raised his arm, the huge number of believers in Tibet and other places was enough to cause a headache.
When Zhang Jia brought Tibetan Buddhism to Taiwan, he was also unable to compete with the indigenous beliefs that were already entrenched. However, Zhang Jia continued to fight for the interests of Tibetan Buddhism, and also invited master Xuanzang's parietal bone back to Taiwan, making no small contribution to the development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan.
Like Zhang Enpu, Zhang Jia also failed to fulfill his dream of developing Buddhism.
summary:
If it is said that bringing scientists and educators is for Taiwan's post-war reconstruction work, the purpose of bringing Kong Decheng and the three people can be called a thief's heart.
(Photo by Kong Decheng)
The Confucian disciples in Shandong, the Taoist monks in the southwest, and the Buddhist believers in Qinghai, Tibet, Chiang Kai-shek painstakingly returned to the mainland in the future.
Kong Decheng, Zhang Enpu, and Zhang Jia were representatives of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, respectively, and these three people used Chiang Kai-shek to consolidate their position, and Chiang Kai-shek used these three people to prepare for a future counterattack on the mainland.
When these three men and the National Government stand on the united front, it means that they are on the opposite side with the people.
Although Chiang Kai-shek had made all plans for a comeback, he never had the opportunity to realize them. On the contrary, under the leadership of the Communist Party, the people's lives are getting better and better.