Lu Xun on Sun Yat-sen and the Xinhai Revolution: The fastest improvement is still fire and sword

Liu Minggang

　　Lu Xun had never seen Sun Yat-sen, but he was full of respect for Sun Yat-sen. Lu Xun's few articles on Sun Yat-sen either discuss the reasons and lessons learned from his failure, or evaluate his historical merits and revolutionary spirit, which are profound and sophisticated, and arouse people's thinking.

　　"There is no party army, so we cannot move without others who have force"

　　The earliest appearance of Sun Yat-sen's name in Lu Xun's pen was in a private letter to Xu Guangping on April 8, 1925. Because it coincided with the death of Sun Yat-sen, it was natural to talk about Sun Yat-sen. Lu Xun wrote: "Reform is always necessary. But the fastest improvement is still fire and sword, Sun Yat-sen rushed to the first, and China is still like this, the biggest reason is that he does not have a party army, so he can not move without others who have force. In recent years, it seems that they have also become enlightened, and it is too late to open an officer school. ”

　　Lu Xun wrote many articles analyzing the reasons for the failure of the Xinhai Revolution, but the most to the point, the most grasping of the key points, and the most grasping of the essence are undoubtedly this exposition.

　　First, "Without a Party army, it is impossible to move others without force." ”

　　During the League period, Sun Yat-sen relied first on the party and then on the new army. The new army was formed by the Qing government to imitate the western modernized army model, and although it was superior to the old army in terms of organization, quality of officers and soldiers, and weapons and equipment, its leadership was also in the hands of the feudal bureaucracy. Sun Yat-sen himself "had no party army" and only relied on the new army, and in the end "others who could not but move and have force" and ceded the presidency and authority to Yuan Shikai.

　　After the defeat of the Xinhai Revolution, the League changed its name three times, namely the Kuomintang, the Chinese Revolutionary Party and the Chinese Kuomintang, and the Beiyang warlords stood against it. Sun Yat-sen did not learn from his past defeats in the anti-Yuan defense movement and the war to protect the Law, and still followed the old road of contacting existing military forces, relying on the southwest warlords and opposing the Beiyang warlords, and the result was still nothing. It was not until after the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists that Sun Yat-sen realized that he should "take Russia as a teacher" and must establish his own political party and army, so he convened the first national congress of the Chinese Kuomintang to reorganize the Kuomintang; opened the Whampoa Military Academy, and created the National Revolutionary Army. Unfortunately, less than five months after the opening of the Whampoa Military Academy, Sun Yat-sen died in Beijing.

　　Second, "the fastest improvement is still fire and sword." ”

　　Summarizing the lessons of Sun Yat-sen, Lu Xun wrote that "the fastest improvement is still fire and sword." What does "fire and sword" mean? It refers to armed struggle and violent revolution. After one failure after another, Sun Yat-sen also "became enlightened and opened an officer school." However, the Chinese Communists at that time did not have a deep understanding. Since there was no armed backing, at the critical juncture of the Great Revolution, like Sun Yat-sen, "others who could not but move and have force" came into being, and Chen Duxiu's right-leaning mistake came into being.

　　The bitter lesson of the defeat of the Great Revolution has made the Chinese Communists deeply aware of the extreme importance of opposing armed counter-revolution with armed revolution. Mao Zedong pointed out: "In China, without armed struggle, there is no position of the proletariat and the Communist Party, and no revolutionary task can be accomplished. In this regard, in the five or six years from the founding of our Party in 1921 until it took part in the Northern Expedition in 1926, there was insufficient understanding. At that time, I did not understand the extreme importance of armed struggle in China, did not seriously prepare for war and organize the army, and did not pay attention to the study of military strategy and tactics. In the course of the Northern Expedition, the army's struggle was ignored and one-sided emphasis was placed on the popular movement, and as a result, once the Kuomintang reacted, all popular movements collapsed. ”

　　Mao Zedong also had a maxim: "Inside the barrel of a gun comes the regime." This sentence and Lu Xun's statement that "the fastest improvement is still fire and sword" are basically the same meaning, and they all emphasize the extreme importance of the army and armed struggle.

　　"He is a whole, eternal revolutionary, no matter what he does, it is all revolution"

　　On March 12, 1926, the Kuomintang's Organ Newspaper of the Beijing Party Department of the Kuomintang, The Kuomintang Xinbao, published a special issue of "Special Issue to Commemorate the Anniversary of the Death of Dr. Sun Yat-sen", and Lu Xun was invited to write "The First Anniversary of Mr. Zhongshan's Death", which was the first time he publicly commented on Sun Yat-sen.

　　In this article, Lu Xun spoke highly of Sun Yat-sen's great achievements in leading the Xinhai Revolution and creating the Republic of China. He wrote: "As long as this previously absent Republic of China exists, it is his monument and his memorial." "To see a country as a monument to one is an unparalleled assessment.

　　Nowadays, people write articles to commemorate the deceased, often saying, "So-and-so will always live in the hearts of the people." Lu Xun also wanted to say this, but the way it was expressed was different, so it gave people a refreshing feeling. He wrote: "Who among the citizens who profess to be a citizen of the Republic of China, who does not remember the warrior who created the Republic of China, and who is the first?" ”

　　After Sun Yat-sen's death, some literati attacked and slandered, and "a few commentators said some cool words": the article "Zhongshan..." signed "Red Heart" contained in the Morning Post on April 2, 1925, which wrote: "After Sun Wen's death, the names of 'Zhongshan Province', 'Zhongshan County', 'Zhongshan Park' and so on were dizzy,...... Simply changing 'Republic of China' to 'Republic of Zhongshan' ,...... 'Asia Minor' to 'ZhongshanZhou' ,...... 'Kuomintang' to 'Zhongshan Party' is the most straightforward and appropriate. On March 13, 1925, Liang Qichao's answer to a reporter's question "The Value of Sun Wen" in the Morning Post said that "Dr. Sun Yat-sen's life was 'unscrupulous for the sake of ends' and 'there was no way to judge his true value'. ”

　　Lu Xun was very indignant about these disrespectful remarks, and righteously and sternly wrote: "The history of Mr. Zhongshan's life is embodied in the fact that standing out of the world is revolution, failure or revolution; after the founding of the Republic of China, it has not been satisfied, it has not been comfortable, and it still continues to advance towards the work of nearly complete revolution." Until his deathbed, he said: The revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still have to work hard! Lu Xun enthusiastically praised the firmness of Sun Yat-sen's revolution: "He is a whole, eternal revolutionary. Whatever is done, it is all revolution. No matter how much posterity begs him and snubs him, he is finally all revolutionary. ”

　　Regarding the "slaves" who attacked Sun Yat-sen, Lu Xun angrily wrote in the article "Warriors and Flies":

　　When the warrior died in battle, the first thing the flies saw was his shortcomings and scars, and the camp cried out, thinking that he was proud, thinking that he was more heroic than the dead warrior. But the warriors were already dead and no longer came and waved them. So the flies called out to their camps, thinking that they were immortal voices, because they were complete, far above the warriors. Indeed, no one has ever seen the shortcomings and traumas of flies. However, the flawed warrior is ultimately a warrior, and the perfect fly is nothing more than a fly.

　　For the article, Lu Xun made a statement at the end of the article "This Is the Meaning", saying: "In fact, the original intention of my short article is not to say that the current literary world. The so-called warriors refer to the martyrs who were martyred by Mr. Nakayama and the republic of China around the beginning of the Year and were ridiculed and ruined by the slaves; flies, of course, refer to the slaves. ”

　　"I only hope that the people in Sun Yat-sen University will always remember the front line although they sit and work"

　　Lu Xun arrived in Guangzhou on January 18, 1927, and served as the head of the Department of Literature and the director of academic affairs at Sun Yat-sen University. At noon on March 1, Sun Yat-sen University held the opening ceremony of the spring semester, and Lu Xun gave a speech at the meeting. For this speech, Lu Xun's diary has such a record: "At the opening ceremony of Sun Yat-sen University at noon, the speech lasted for one minute."

　　On the occasion of the second anniversary of the death of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the situation in which the Northern Expedition was being won day by day, Lu Xun pointed out in his speech: "Mr. Zhongshan devoted his life to the results of the national revolution, and the great commemoration left behind" is only the name of a country such as "Republic of China", in fact, "the revolution has not yet succeeded". Since "the revolution has not yet succeeded," Lu Xun exhorted the students of Sun Yat-sen University who were studying in the rear to bear in mind that "the mission is very important"; they must carry forward the revolutionary spirit and "must be pervaded by the spirit of revolution; this spirit is like the sun, eternal radiation, and nowhere to go"; we must "always remember the front line" and complete Sun Yat-sen's unfinished work.

　　It was a concise speech with only 561 words. It fully expressed the remembrance and respect for Sun Yat-sen, the words were sincere, the feelings were deep, and lu Xun's heart and ardent feelings of caring for and loving the youth were pinned on. The full text of the quotation is as follows:

　　Opening message of Sun Yat-sen University

　　Mr. Nakayama devoted his life to the results of the National Revolution, and the great commemoration that remains is: the Republic of China.

　　However, "the revolution has not yet succeeded".

　　Guangzhou, the birthplace of the revolution, is now in the rear of the revolution. Sun Yat-sen University, which was set up here, as the history of the university says, will "carry out the spirit of Premier Sun's revolution" and will begin his first steps from now on.

　　That mission was great, yet in the rear.

　　Mr. Nakayama was always on the front line of the revolution.

　　But Mr. Nakayama also has many books. I think that the relationship between Sun Yat-sen University and the revolution is probably equivalent to many books. But it is not a dead letter: he must have the spirit of revolutionary spirit, increase the talent of the revolution, and strengthen the strength of the revolution.

　　Now, there is no artillery fire, no flogging, no suppression, so there is no resistance, no revolution. Most of the young people who have been revolutionary, who are about to revolution, or who yearn for revolution, will spend their lives in the calm air and seek academics.

　　But this calm air must be filled with the spirit of revolution, which is like the sun, radiating forever, and reaching far and wide.

　　Otherwise, the post-revolutionary convenience becomes a place of happiness for the lazy.

　　Sun Yat-sen University is still meaningless.

　　However, many more good titles have been added to the country.

　　The congratulatory message at the end of the sentence is: I only hope that the people in Sun Yat-sen University will always remember the front line although they sit and work.