Fang Zhiminzhao
Today, when we read "Lovely China" and "Poverty Alleviation", our admiration for the martyr Fang Zhimin and the bold loyalty to the revolution are born.
But in that year, after being arrested, how did Comrade Fang Zhimin insist on writing, and how did he send the manuscript out?
In the winter of 1934, in the mountains at the junction of Gansu and Anhui, the anti-Japanese advance team of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was in a bitter battle with more than 7 times as many Nationalist government troops.
After the fierce battle, in addition to more than 500 people, including Le Shaohua, political commissar Of the regiment, Su Yu, chief of staff, and Liu Ying, director of the Political Department, Fang Zhimin, chairman of the Military and Political Committee, Liu Yuxi, commander of the regiment, Wang Ruyi, commander of the 19th Division, and Zhou Qun, director of the Security Bureau, were all captured by the enemy.
A copy of Fang Zhimin's posthumous manuscript
"Unfortunately, we did not escape from the enemy's net, but were captured by the Forty-third Brigade of the White Army on the Longshou blockade line."
This is the opening text of "Fang Zhimin's Self-Description".
After being captured by the White Army, they were first dragged to the White Army's battalion headquarters, and then immediately sent to the White Army Headquarters at Longshou.
Just outside the regimental headquarters, the enemy heard that a senior officer of the Red Army had been captured, and the regimental commander personally ran out to see it.
Fang Zhimin, who did not lose his gentlemanly demeanor, also smiled at the other party.
That night, he was asked to write something.
Therefore, Fang Zhimin happily agreed, and he wrote a "Self-Statement" of more than two hundred words. Fang Zhimin not only revealed his identity, but also said his revolutionary resume over the years, and once again lost no time in showing his political beliefs.
Fang Zhimin's manuscript
He also deliberately ridiculed the enemy, saying that what he had done over the years was just and upright, and he had never hidden it, so many details would not be repeated.
Not long after the "Self-Description" was written, Fang Zhimin and his comrades-in-arms Liu Yuxi and Wang Ruyi were escorted from Longshou to Yushan, and later to Shangrao, and finally to Nanchang.
On the way, their feet were nailed with heavy shackles and they could not walk a single step. After arriving in Nanchang, they were detained in the military justice detention center.
When they were first escorted to Nanchang, several of their comrades-in-arms were locked up in a cell.
Having lost their freedom, they began to slowly accept this harsh reality. Liu and Wang, two old comrades-in-arms, play chess every day to pass the time, while Fang Zhimin can only read books every day because he does not understand chess.
Statue of Fang Zhimin
After a long time, Fang Zhimin came up with the idea of writing.
However, in prison, reading books is acceptable to the enemy, and it is absolutely impossible to say that it is writing.
In order to be able to get to the pen and ink and paper smoothly, he expressed his thoughts to the guards, saying that he wanted to write about the course of the struggle and the construction of the Soviet Red Army over the years.
At that time, the warden Ling Fengwu made a mistake in judgment, and cleverly thought that Fang Zhimin wanted to write some confession materials, so he prepared a pen and paper for him.
They hoped that this senior Communist Party official would be able to write useful things so that he could also be promoted and rich.
As a result, Fang Zhimin officially started his own prison writing.
Yiyang Fang Zhimin Memorial Hall
Because of the confusion, his initial writing was incoherent, and he remembered what to write, and he planned to write it and then slowly organize it.
One day, he suddenly said to his comrades-in-arms: "Lao Wang, don't play chess all day, you should also write about the construction of the Red Army." ”
"If you can't write it out and send it out, it's better not to write it." will! Wang Ruyi continued to play chess while saying to Fang Zhimin without raising his head.
This is a very practical situation, and the passion that Fang Zhimin just wrote at the beginning has also been extinguished. Not only did he stop writing for more than ten days, but he even tore up the manuscript of more than 10,000 words that he had written before.
The Nationalist government never gave up on Zhimin's persuasion, and in order to succeed, they later imprisoned him in the so-called preferential room.
In February 1936, Fang Zhimin was escorted by the enemy to the city of Nanchang for public display
It was in solitary confinement, and although the room was better, it was a pity that no one could talk. Lonely all day, Fang Zhimin can only read and write every day.
At this moment, he could no longer consider whether he could send the manuscript out.
One day, Ling Fengwu came to see how Fang Zhimin had written. But it was all incoherent fragments, so he asked Fang Zhimin what he had written.
Fang Zhimin told him that he was now in a lot of trouble, and he could only think of what to write, and then slowly sorted it out.
Because he was held in the privilege room, he was visited every day by many people, jailers, administrators, prisoners with status, even curious people and many sympathizers, and of course, most importantly, some were persuaders and lobbyists.
The image of Fang Zhimin in the movie "Believer"
It was in the frequent contact, although the conversation was restricted, but Fang Zhimin was gradually looking for someone who could help him send out the manuscript.
One of them is Gao Jiajun, a 23-year-old caretaker who has been to the Soviet union and participated in the student movement, and is not only curious about the Communist Party, but also full of affection.
In his daily contact with Fang Zhimin, he often heard systematic revolutionary ideas, which gradually had an impact on Gao Jiajun.
Not only did he often secretly bring fang zhimin some necessities, but he also helped him pass notes to Liu Wang and the two liu wang who were imprisoned in other cells.
He even wants to plan to help Fang Zhimin escape from prison. When Fang Zhimin proposed that someone needed to send the manuscript out, Gao Jiajun did not hesitate to agree.
The martyrs' commemorative stamps issued by China Post are Fang Zhimin on the left and Ye Ting on the right
In another preferential cell opposite Fang Zhimin, a man named Hu Yimin was held, who had served in the Nationalist government and served as chairman of the Central Adjudication Commission and director of the Nanjing Prison.
He was arrested on charges of "leaking a plan to encircle and suppress" and for secretly releasing the Communist Party. However, the Nationalist government did not have sufficient evidence, so it gave Hu Yimin relative preferential treatment.
In prison, Hu Yimin can not only walk around, but the guards and managers of those prisons also know his identity background, so he is also quite preferential in all aspects of daily life.
Gradually, he became intensely curious about the Communist Party, who had been writing all day in the cell next to him. So when something was okay, he took the initiative to talk to Fang Zhimin.
Over time, Fang Zhimin also knew something about this curious person, so he often chatted with him about various issues in the current situation and society, so as to impress Hu Yimin.
In this way, Hu Yimin also promised Fang Zhimin that he would definitely help him take the manuscript out when he had the opportunity in the future.
With the hope of taking the manuscript out, Fang Zhimin's enthusiasm for writing is even higher. Since Fang Zhimin's arrest time was in late winter and early spring, the weather became hotter day by day, and the environment in which he wrote became even worse.
Moreover, the enemy will always search suddenly. In order to cope with such a sudden inspection, Fang Zhimin would often prepare some random or unimportant words in advance, and even if he suddenly searched, the enemy would not get anything.
Toshih Katashi Comrade Images
As the days passed, the accumulation of manuscripts gradually increased, and in order to facilitate preservation, he asked Gao Jiajun to find oil paper wrapped and hidden in the pillow.
Even so, it is difficult to ensure that the manuscript is not searched. Moreover, most of the time searches are carried out suddenly.
Once, he had just sorted out the manuscript and wrapped it, and the jailer came again under the leadership of the management, Fang Zhimin did not have time to tuck the manuscript into the pillow, and in a hurry, he threw the oil-paper package into the toilet next to him to successfully escape the disaster.
Later, Fang Zhimin carefully searched every corner of the cell where he could hide the manuscript. There is a layer of straw paper on the wall, and when you look at it, the wall is brick.
Therefore, he secretly asked Gao Jiajun for a half-cut saw blade, and in the dead of night, he used the saw blade to cut out the stucco in the brick crack.
Soon, the bricks came loose, and Fang Zhimin took the bricks out and stuffed the manuscript into them, while the bricks were under the pillow.
He also specifically explained to Gao Jiajun that if he was in trouble, he would try to take out the manuscript and give it to the organization.
"Yesterday afternoon, the Military Justice Department took Comrades Li Shubing, Hu Tiantao, and Zhou Qunsan out and executed them! Comrades! You die for a few days, we're going to die soon, and I don't have to grieve for you!" ”
This is a passage from Fang Zhimin's "A Brief Description of My Revolutionary Struggle." He knew that he could be in trouble at any time, so the manuscript needed to be sent out as soon as possible.
One day, Hu Yimin's wife came to Yingxin to bring food to her husband, and Fang Zhimin asked her to send a letter to the owner of a tea house in the city, whose name was Huang Yunbo.
Here is a secret contact point, and Fang Zhimin wrote about the situation of the manuscript and his own prison escape plan in the letter.
Xiang Yingxin promised to send a letter, and soon came back with a reply. The organization replied to him, the manuscript could be sent out at any time, and the addresses of Song Qingling, Lu Xun and others in Shanghai were also attached.
However, the plan to escape from prison is not mature, and it is necessary to try to drag the enemy as far as possible to buy time for rescue.
Therefore, Fang Zhimin handed over a part of the manuscript to Xiang Yingxin and asked her to take it out as soon as possible to give it to Boss Huang.
However, there was no further news of this trip, and Hu Yimin secretly entrusted the prison guards to inquire about the news, but the information obtained was that Xiang Yingxin had moved and his whereabouts were unknown.
What exactly happened, Fang Zhimin had no way of knowing.
The cover of Fang Zhimin's "Lovely China" posthumous work
Later, Fang Zhimin entrusted Gao Jiajun to bring the remaining manuscript to Boss Huang, but Gao Jiajun brought the manuscript back.
He told Fang Zhimin that the tea house had been closed and that Boss Huang was gone.
The situation is extremely critical, and if the manuscript cannot be sent, there will be no chance again. Just at this time, Gao Jiajun's girlfriend Cheng Quanzhao came from Hangzhou to visit him, so Fang Zhimin and Gao Jiajun discussed whether she could personally run to Shanghai and send the manuscript out.
Cheng Quanzhao agreed, took Fang Zhimin's letter and manuscript, according to the instructions, she arrived in Shanghai and was admitted to Baolong Hospital, and then sent four letters and business cards under the pseudonym Li Zhen to the residences of Song Qingling, Lu Xun, Zou Taofen and Li Gongpu, and then she needed to wait.
Fang Zhimin's daughter Fang Mei
Soon, a woman who claimed to be surnamed Song and was extremely gorgeously dressed came to the hospital residence to find her, and Cheng Quanzhao saw that the other party took out the business card he had sent out, so he handed the manuscript to her without any doubt.
However, Cheng Quanzhao, who had no experience, was told: You have been targeted by spies and must leave immediately.
It turned out that the residence of Song Qingling and others had been monitored by secret agents, and when strangers were found to be coming and going, they would follow them.
Cheng Quanzhao had been to four residences, and she must have been followed by the agents throughout the whole process, but she herself still did not notice it at all.
Without further ado, the noblewoman who claimed to be surnamed Song took off her outside clothes and dressed up as an old woman and went out first.
Bearded baby, the person who received Fang Zhimin's manuscript in Shanghai that year
Cheng Quanzhao followed her instructions and put on the clothes of the noblewoman and rushed back to his hometown of Hangzhou overnight. This led to Gao Jiajun and Fang Zhimin in Nanchang suffering from not receiving a reply. Fang Zhimin determined that there had been an accident.
So on June 10, 1935, Gao Jiajun personally went to Shanghai with Fang Zhimin's instructions, but he did not pick up and found that there were spies following him.
Gao Jiajun, who only brought letters, did not return to Nanchang, but went to Hangzhou to find the whereabouts of his girlfriend. In this way, Fang Zhimin also lost contact with him.
Seeing that the time left was short, Fang Zhimin entrusted Hu Yimin with all the remaining manuscripts and the addresses of Song Qingling and Lu Xun in Shanghai.
On August 6, 1935, he witnessed the enemy taking Fang Zhimin out and taking him to the execution ground. Soon, Hu Yimin was released on bail.
Fang Zhimin wax figure
He immediately rushed to Shanghai, but went around, because of Song Qingling's move and the absence of others, he still could not send the manuscript out.
It was at this moment that he thought of Zhang Naiqi, the chairman of the Shanghai Salvation Congress, who had close ties with the Communist Party, and perhaps he had a way.
A stranger rushed to the door, and Zhang Naiqi was inconvenient to say more. He took out his business card and tore it in half, telling the other party that someone would go to him at night, and if it could match it, he could just hand over the manuscript to the person who came.
That night, sure enough, a woman came to find Hu Yimin, and the code agreed in advance was correct, and Hu Yimin was finally relieved. What Hu Yimin didn't know was that the manuscript sent by Gao Jiajun's girlfriend Cheng Quanzhao was also taken by this woman.
Fang Zhimin wrote portraits in prison
Who is she? She is The Bearded Baby, the wife of Zhang Naiqi.
It turned out that when Cheng Quanzhao sent Zou Tao fenxin before, Zhang Naiqi and his wife learned of this matter, and since there was no way to distinguish between true and false, the bearded baby disguised himself to go to the joint and successfully retrieved the manuscript.
After the first batch of manuscripts were retrieved, they were handed over to Bi Yuncheng, the party leader at the Life Bookstore, who handed the manuscript to the Central Special Branch, and Wang Shiying of the Special Branch transmitted the manuscript to Wu Yuzhang in France.
At that time, Wu Yuzhang hosted the "National Salvation Times" in France, and on January 29, 1936, the "National Salvation Times" published two articles, "Letter to All Compatriots in Prison" and "Words Before We Die".
The second batch of manuscripts was later forwarded to Feng Xuefeng, director of the Shanghai office, and it was not until the founding of New China that Fang Zhimin's manuscript was revived.
Cover of Fang Zhimin's complete collection
However, at that time, because Fang Zhimin had no normal communication channel with outside the prison, and the people who helped him deliver the letter were not Communists, let alone had any experience in struggle, the whole process of sending the manuscript was dangerous.
Moreover, the time has passed, the specific details of the beginning, and the letters and manuscripts that other people know and have contacted Fang Zhimin, are now unknown.
For example, the process of receiving the manuscript by the bearded baby has other different theories.
In 1936, bearded baby met a Jiangxi man dressed as a small trader near his residence, who said that there were fresh vegetables in the house and the price was cheap, and bearded baby followed the small trader to his house.
In a hut, the vendor took out a packet of manuscripts and told her that it had been entrusted to Mrs. Sun by a revolutionary martyr.
The peddler begged Bearded Baby to send the manuscript to Song Qingling, and Bearded Baby agreed. When Song Qingling got these manuscripts, he sent them to Lu Xun's residence and told them to keep them in secret and wait for the opportunity to publish them.
No one knows who the vendor who is in contact with the bearded baby is.
In any case, these manuscripts, which were soaked with Fang Zhimin's painstaking efforts, were still sent out of prison, and many years later, they deeply affected his daughter Fang Mei.
Fang Mei was born in 1932, when the White Terror was at its most severe, and her mother Miao Min gave birth just in time for the encirclement and suppression of the Nationalist army.
In danger, she bit off the umbilical cord and was carried away by Red Army soldiers. As a result of fighting everywhere, Fang Mei was born in the home of a Red Army family member in northeastern Jiangxi.
Manuscript of Fang Zhimin's "Qing Poverty"
When Fang Zhimin died in 1935, she was not yet three years old.
Fang Mei and her mother were separated for more than ten years, and it was not until the liberation of the whole country that her mother Miao Min found her daughter in Yiyang, Jiangxi.
Fang Mei, who had never read a book, was sent to the school for the children of martyrs. But she is an adult, and it is very difficult to read from scratch. Under the pressure and encouragement of her mother, Fang Mei insisted.
After her daughter became literate, the first book her mother gave her was Fang Zhimin's last work in prison, "Lovely China".
It was then that she understood why her mother forced herself to read and read. The manuscript made by her father with blood, Fang Mei looked at the words one by one, as if she could talk to her father in the air.
Portrait of martyr Fang Zhimin
After that, Fang Mei consciously insisted on learning cultural knowledge, and revised it more than twenty times before and after, and wrote the "Complete Biography of Fang Zhimin".
For the daughter, this is the best consolation for the father.
When Fang Zhimin was killed in Xiashawo, Nanchang, the enemy stuffed a towel in his mouth in order to prevent him from shouting slogans.
The master who was present to take pictures of him after his death saw with his own eyes that the enemy had shot Fang Zhimin in the back of the head.
Fang Zhimin Memorial Hall
As Fang Zhimin wrote in his article "Lovely China": "If I can't survive - dead, where I bleed... Maybe it will grow a cute flower...
In the breeze, if the flower is nodding up and down, it can be seen as my warm salute to the patriots who fought for China's national liberation;
If the flower is swaying from side to side, it can be seen as me singing the song of revolution and encouraging the soldiers to move forward! ”
What can be congratulated to the martyrs is that your comrades did not give up the struggle and finally opened up a new world for your "workers and peasants" and "Chinese nation".