preface
In June 1924, as the chief representative of the Communist Party of China, Li Dazhao led a delegation of the Communist Party of China to Moscow to attend the Fifth Congress of the Communist International.
After the meeting, Li Dazhao was invited to give lectures at the Eastern University, and then visited moscow and Leningrad successively.
After staying in the Soviet Union for four or five months, Li Dazhao officially set off from the Soviet Union to return home.
After returning to Harbin, Li Dazhao came to the small hotel where he had stayed when he left the country!
Although the owner of the hotel was a Soviet, but he could speak fluent Chinese, he took out the Japanese-run "Shengjing Daily", which published the warlord government's arrest warrant for Li Dazhao, and advised him not to go home, but to go elsewhere for a while to avoid it!
After hearing this, Li Dazhao smiled and said, "Which revolutionary person is not wanted?" Can the dry revolution still be afraid of wanted? ”
In the face of the wanted warrant, the gentleman can behave so calmly, and his spirit is indeed admirable. After that, Li Dazhao returned to Beijing and soon threw himself into a new revolutionary struggle.
Figure | Portrait of Mr. Li Dazhao
Lead the revolutionary struggle
On March 12, 1926, Feng Yuxiang's Nationalist Army and Zhang Zuolin's Fengjun launched a fierce battle in the Beijing-Tianjin area.
Under the cover of Japanese warships, the Feng army smoothly entered the Dagukou Fort in Tianjin and launched an artillery bombardment on the Nationalist troops stationed here, and the Nationalists resolutely returned fire, successfully driving the Japanese warships out of Dagukou at the cost of more than ten dead and wounded.
At this time, under the pretext that the Nationalist Army had violated the "Xinugu Treaty", The Japanese imperialists gathered the envoys of Britain, the United States, France, and Italy, the signatories of the treaty, and on the 16th of the same month issued a so-called "ultimatum" to the Beijing Government, demanding the removal of mines and other obstacles in the sea at Dagukou and a reply within 48 hours.
This is the famous "Dagukou Incident" in modern history!
On the 17th, various imperialist countries sent more than 20 warships to Dagukou and began to threaten China with force.
The hegemonic act of imperialism in such a blatant way to force the Then Chinese Government to open its doors and commit theft immediately aroused great indignation among the entire Chinese people!
Under the leadership of the CPC Northern District Committee and Mr. Li Dazhao, tens of thousands of people in Beijing and students from various schools held a huge mass protest meeting in front of Tiananmen Square to strongly protest the shelling of Dagukou by Japanese warships. Li Dazhao delivered an impassioned speech at the conference.
Figure | Li Dazhao (stills)
After the congress, a procession of thousands of people, led by Li Dazhao, swarmed towards the Iron Lion Alley.
They demanded a petition to the beiyang warlord Duan Qirui's government, demanded that Duan Qirui protest to the Japanese government that Japan should not be allowed to interfere in China's internal affairs, and that the Beiyang government collude with Zhang Zuolin to launch a civil war.
As a result, at the instigation of the Japanese, the Duan Qirui government went so far as to order the guards to attack the unarmed marching crowd with bayonets and sabers.
The indignant masses put life and death aside, preferring death rather than retreating, and continued to attack forward. Finally, the guards began to shoot at the crowd, killing 47 patriotic students and citizens on the spot and wounding more than 150 people.
Among the dead were Liu Hezhen, a well-known student of Beijing Women's Normal University, li Dazhao and Chen Qinian, who were also unfortunately injured in the struggle.
Later, it was said that Duan Qirui was not in the government at that time, and the order to shoot was not under him, and that the defense of the city at that time was mainly responsible for the army of 'Lu Zhonglin', one of Feng Yuxiang's five tiger generals.
Ironically, when the military police came to clean up the scene later, they actually snatched all the belongings of the deceased, and even stripped off their clothes.
This is what shocked China and foreign countries - the "March 18" massacre!
Refused to leave Beijing
After the tragic incident, Duan Qirui was forced to go to the field under the public opinion and condemnation of the whole country, and Feng Yuxiang's nationalist army was defeated and retreated all the way to Nankou under the joint attack of the Zhi and Feng warlords.
With the support of the Japanese, Zhang Zuolin, the leader of the Fengzhi warlords, successfully entered Beijing and became the "last emperor" of the Beiyang warlords, the commander-in-chief of the An Guo Army!
After that, Li Dazhao, as the "bellwether" of several demonstrations and struggles, was also wanted by the warlords of the Fengzhi clan, and the crime they drew up for Li Dazhao was: "Under the pretext of communist doctrine, the masses gathered and repeatedly caused trouble." ”
In fact, in addition to Li Dazhao, in the north, the Warlords of the Feng clan have begun to sharpen their knives and openly kill the Communists.
In the eyes of the Japanese and Zhang Zuolin, the Kuomintang and communist party organizations active in Beijing are a serious problem for their confidants and must be eliminated.
In such a critical situation, Li Dazhao had to move the leading organs of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the north into the old Russian barracks next to the Soviet Embassy in Dongjiaomin Lane. This is the Beijing office of the Middle East Railways Bureau, attached to the Soviet Embassy.
The reason why it was chosen in "Dongjiaomin Lane" is mainly because according to the provisions of the "Xinugu Treaty": Chinese military and police are not allowed to enter the embassy area of Dongjiaomin Lane at will, let alone carry weapons.
So at the time, it was a relatively safe place to go.
Although Li Dazhao's situation was very critical at that time, he still did not give up the struggle against the warlord forces!
At this time, Li Dazhao had become a thorn in the eyes and a thorn in the flesh of the warlord forces, and they all wanted to eliminate it and avoid the trouble. But they were all hindered by this treaty, so it was difficult to get a hand for a while.
In order to arrest Li Dazhao, Zhang Zuolin sent people to contact the British, American, and Japanese envoys, asking them to agree to China sending military police into the embassy area to search the old Russian barracks next to the Soviet embassy.
These countries have always been at odds with the Soviet Union, so they acquiesced to their request and said in a dignified manner: This is a problem of public order within your Country, and we will not interfere with it.
In addition, the enemy also took advantage of the opportunity of recruiting workers for the Kuomintang Department organs, sent spies into the organs, grasped some of the situation of the organs, and successively arrested Yan Zhenshan, an underground party member in charge of transportation work around Li Dazhao, Zhang Quanyin, a cook, and Li Bohai, secretary of the Beijing Regional National Movement Committee.
Under the severe torture of the enemy, Li Bohai not only confessed his identity, but also took the initiative to defect to the enemy, and confessed all the information of Li Dazhao's hidden information at the Russian Embassy in Dongjiaomin Lane, as well as the list of other underground party members.
After that, the warlord forces began to send a large number of detectives to spy on secret surveillance around the Soviet embassy.
Seeing that the environment was so dangerous, many people wrote to persuade him to leave Beijing, but he refused, saying: "It is not difficult to leave Beijing, that is, work is inseparable, I will not leave." ”
Bad luck is finally coming!
Reject all coercion and inducement
In the early morning of April 6, 1927, with the acquiescence and support of imperialism, Zhang Zuolin, disregarding diplomatic practice and international public law, openly sent hundreds of soldiers and policemen to forcibly enter the Soviet Embassy and rush into the old Russian barracks.
Before the military police rushed into the embassy, the embassy staff Member Gambuk came forward to stop it, so he pulled out his pistol and fired a shot into the air, but this did not stop the footsteps of the military police, and they grabbed Gambuk and rushed in.
When the gunshots rang out, Li Dazhao was working in the house, the eldest daughter Xinghua was sitting on a bench outside reading the newspaper, and his wife Zhao Shulan was taking the younger daughter Yanhua for a walk.
Hearing the sharp and piercing gunshots, the eldest daughter Xinghua was frightened and threw away the newspaper and plunged into her father's arms. Li Dazhao calmed down and comforted his daughter: "Nothing, don't be afraid." ”
After a while, there was a chaotic sound of footsteps outside the house, and a group of policemen and gendarmes rushed in with Yan Zhenshan, who had been arrested earlier, and in a few moments surrounded Li Dazhao's residence.
Immediately afterward, more than a dozen wolf-like military police and agents swarmed in, and more than a dozen guns were pointed at Li Dazhao and his daughter Xinghua.
A plainclothes agent with a face full of flesh pointed at Li Dazhao and asked Yan Zhenshan, "Do you know him?" ”
Where Yan Zhenshan was willing to move, he shook his head and said perfunctorily, "I don't know! ”
At this time, Wu Yuwen, who was then the chief of the investigation department of the Beijing Police Department, suddenly stepped forward, sneered, and said: "Hmm, you don't know? I know, he is Li Dazhao! ”
Subsequently, the military and police forcibly arrested Li Dazhao, Tan Zuyao, Lu Youyu and more than 20 other people, and also arrested his wife Zhao Shulan and his two daughters.
Figure | Li Dazhao's wife Zhao Shulan (stills)
From his arrest to his bravery, Li Dazhao spent a total of 22 days in prison! During this time, the enemy interrogated him several times, but to no avail.
In order to force Li Dazhao to confess, the enemy can be said to have used everything to the extreme, such as electric chairs, tiger stools, bamboo sticks and fingers, etc., but all the torture in the prison at that time was used by Li Dazhao.
But no matter how the enemy tortured him, Li Dazhao never revealed a word to the enemy, and in the end, the enemy cruelly pulled out the fingernails of his hands. Ten fingers connected to the heart, in the face of such inhuman torture, can Mr. Li Dazhao still bear it?
The answer is yes!
As a pioneer representative of Chinese communism, a great Marxist, and an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, Mr. Li Dazhao firmly and tenaciously endured all this and never leaked any party secrets to the enemy.
In addition, in order to protect other comrades who were arrested at the same time, Li Dazhao also wrote the famous "Self-Description in Prison" with his bloodstained hands.
In his article "Self-Description in Prison", he reviewed his experience in the revolutionary struggle, expressed his firm beliefs and ambitions, and vigorously propagated a series of revolutionary ideas against imperialism and the transformation of the country.
In addition, he also said in the text that he "bears his full responsibility" and demanded that the enemy "treat such patriotic young people with leniency and do nothing."
Later, the enemy saw that the use of tough means could not make Li Dazhao confess, so he turned to the method of softening the lure, and Zhang Zuolin's chief of staff, Yang Yuting, personally dispatched the horse!
Yang Yuting's ancestral home was song daokou town in Hebei, Li Dazhao was a native of Leting, Hebei, and Yang Yuting tried to persuade Li Dazhao to surrender as a "fellow villager" and promised him a high-ranking official Houlu, Yang said: "Mr. Li, as long as you are willing to serve Zhang Dashuai and Wu Dashuai, ensure that your official position is above me." ”
After Li Dazhao listened, he smiled contemptuously and replied:
Zhang Zuolin is the son of a vicious man, and Wu Peifu is the son of a, how can I serve them? The eldest husband was born in the world, preferring coarse cloth to resist the cold, rough food as meat, and Anbu as a car, even if the severed head bleeds, he must maintain integrity! ”
Yang Yuting was suddenly speechless, did not know how to answer, and could only leave in a gray and slippery manner!
While suffering such a huge physical and mental torture, Li Dazhao did not stop his revolutionary propaganda in the slightest.
He not only encouraged the victims to persevere and maintain the passionate spirit of revolutionary struggle, but also actively propagated revolutionary ideas to the guards and policemen in prisons. Mr. Li Dazhao's dedication to the revolution is really admirable!
After Li Dazhao was arrested, the whole country was shocked!
The CCP's party organizations, the masses of workers, intellectuals, and progressives from all walks of life have all done everything in their power to carry out rescues.
For example, nine colleges and universities at that time, including Peking University, submitted an opinion to the then Beijing government and the head of the Feng Department, requesting that Li Dazhao be handed over to the court for trial according to law, and that All his wives and daughters and arrested students be released.
In addition, in order to rescue Mr. Li Dazhao, the press also created public opinion.
For example, the World Journal once published a letter from citizen Li Gongxia to Zhang Xueliang, which listed 10 reasons for asking for pardon for Li Dazhao.
It is worth mentioning that at that time, the railway workers also organized a prison robbery team to prepare to rescue Mr. Li Dazhao.
But when Li Dazhao learned of this news, he strongly opposed it, saying:
"My personal sacrifice for the revolution for the Party is glorious and deserved... I can no longer ask my comrades to take risks and expend revolutionary forces, and now you must preserve our strength... Do not let the revolutionary forces lose any more. ”
Faced with tremendous pressure from all walks of life and national public opinion, Zhang Zuolin began to waver, and he repeatedly considered whether to execute Li Dazhao.
Just as he was wavering and hesitating, Chiang Kai-shek personally intervened and sent a secret telegram to Zhang Zuolin, demanding that he immediately execute Li Dazhao.
Zhang Zuolin thought about it again and again, and finally believed that only by executing Li Dazhao could he win the support of imperialism and join hands with Chiang Kai-shek to talk happily.
Finally, Zhang Zuolin officially gave the order to kill Li Dazhao!
Figure | Portrait of Zhang Zuolin
Courage is righteousness, and death is calm
At 10:00 a.m. on April 28, 1927, the enemy suddenly convened a court and military trial. After interrogating the names, ages, places of origin and other information of the 20 "party members" in turn, they were sentenced to death in accordance with the provisions of the so-called Army Criminal Regulations.
The "Party" here mainly refers to the Communists and the Leftists of the Kuomintang!
At 12:30 p.m., Li Dazhao and others were loaded by the military police in six cars and escorted to the Jingshi Detention Center in Xijiaomin Lane for execution!
During the escort, the road leading to the detention center was cut off from traffic, and the security was extremely strict. The method of execution is not a shooting, nor an ancient beheading, but an extremely cruel torture - hanging.
After the "prisoners" are named in turn, they are sent to the gallows by the executive officers and military and police personnel.
At that time, there was only one gallows in the detention center, so only two people could be executed at the same time, and each person took about 18 minutes to die. From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., it took more than 3 hours and all 20 prisoners were executed.
And the first person to board the gallows was Li Dazhao!
Figure | The posthumous portrait of Mr. Li Dazhao before his heroic righteousness
Before Li Dazhao's heroic righteousness, he left a posthumous photo, from which we can see: In the face of death, Mr. Li Dazhao's face did not show a trace of fear, on the contrary, his eyes were pleasant, calm and self-assured, just like usual.
Li Dazhao's look remained unchanged, and he calmly went to his death, and this spirit made everyone present moved!
However, in order to torture Li Dazhao, the fierce and despicable enemy actually strangled him 3 times, which lasted 28 minutes, and finally died in pain.
When Mr. Li Dazhao was only 38 years old when he was heroic and righteous, it was precisely when he was rich and powerful, and his sacrifice was undoubtedly a major loss to the Chinese revolution.
On the night of Li Dazhao's murder, his wife and children were released to go home, but they did not know the bad news of Li Dazhao's murder.
Until the next morning, li Dazhao's uncle saw the news in the newspaper, and ran home crying, telling Zhao Shulan and her children about the bad news.
After Zhao Shulan learned the news of her husband's murder, she was heartbroken, wept bitterly, and finally fell ill on the bed.
Fortunately, when Li Dazhao was arrested, his eldest son Li Baohua was not at home because he was out of town and was spared.
Later, under Shen Yinmo's arrangement, Li Baohua hid in Zhou Zuo's house for more than a month, and finally changed his name to Yang Zhen and managed to send him to Japan to study.
Figure | Scene of Mr. Li Dazhao's Heroic Righteousness (Stills)
After Li Dazhao's heroic righteousness, his coffin was parked in Zhejiang Temple for 6 years and has not been buried.
It was not until April 1933 that Zhao Shulan, who had been driven back to his hometown of Laoting by the Beiyang warlords, returned to Beijing with her daughter and prepared to bury Li Dazhao's body.
But helplessly, she was plagued by illness, and her daughter was still young, and she had neither money nor energy to run the funeral. There was no way, Zhao Shulan had to take his wife and daughter to find Li Dazhao's former colleagues and friends Shen Yinmo, Zhou Zuoren, Hu Shi and others, and ask peking university to arrange the burial on behalf of Peking University.
In fact, the "risk" of burying Li Dazhao at that time was still very large!
Mr. Li Dazhao was a famous communist leader, and at this time Chiang Kai-shek was commanding hundreds of thousands of troops to "encircle and suppress" the Red Army, and there were constant reports of communists being arrested and killed in the Peiping area.
Therefore, the difficulty and danger of burying Mr. Li Dazhao in such a complex and dangerous situation can be imagined.
However, despite this, Shen Yinmo, Hu Shi and other 13 professors of Peking University resolutely and resolutely reached out to help and initiated a public funeral for Mr. Li Dazhao.
On the 23rd of that month, under the meticulous arrangement and organization of the beiping underground party organization, Mr. Li Dazhao's funeral became a huge political demonstration.
In front of the funeral procession, a huge elegy written in black and white paper is the most eye-catching!
Shanglian: "Struggle for the revolution, sacrifice for the revolution, die without hatred"; Xialian: "Live under oppression, groan under oppression, and the living are he can"; horizontal criticism: "Li Dazhao's spirit does not die." ”
postscript
Today, it has been 94 years since the death of Mr. Li Dazhao, but the great spirit of indomitable, adhering to the truth and willing to dedicate everything to the country in him has always remained in the hearts of every Chinese.
It is worth mentioning that several of Mr. Li Dazhao's children are very successful, among which the eldest son, Li Baohua, has also served as the second secretary of the Cpc Guizhou Provincial Committee and the president of the Chinese Minmin Bank, and has reached the level of a minister.
In addition, Li Dazhao's grandson, Li Baohua's son "Li Hongta", was also awarded the "July 1st Medal" a few days ago.
"Revolutionary traditions are passed down from generation to generation, adhering to the purpose for the people", this is a couplet written by Li Hongta himself, and it is also his motto!
At the end of the article, let us pay the highest respect to Mr. Li Dazhao!