A set of letters from the "Age of Awakening"

Source: People's Daily

Photo (1): The editorial office of New Youth, Beijing.

Figure (2): Letter from Chen Duxiu to Li Dazhao and Hu Shi on May 7, 1920.

Photo (3): The gate of the former site of the editorial office of Beijing New Youth.

Photo courtesy of Zhu Yuehua and Zhang Ding

Core reading

The correspondents of these letters are the prominent figures of the New Culture Movement, and the content involves the differences in the ideas of the "New Youth" magazine, and this is precisely the process of li dazhao, Chen Duxiu, and others changing into Marxists, and they are all rare and important historical materials for the study of the history of the new cultural movement, the history of the spread of marxism in the early days, and the history of the founding of the Communist Party of China

In the TV series "The Age of Awakening", there are many scenes of the protagonist writing letters, especially about the editorial policy of "New Youth", the future and fate, and other issues, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao and other people have returned with great enthusiasm and sincerity. These letters are a century old, and what is the true face of these letters, which has whisked away the dust of history? The former site of the editorial office of Beijing's New Youth, which was restored and opened in June this year, exhibits for the first time the correspondence between Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu when editing New Youth, as well as the correspondence codex between editors and authors.

Some of these originals are now in the collection of the Chinese Min University Museum. Chinese University Museum has a total of 13 letters between the editors of "New Youth", of which 11 are Chen Duxiu's handwriting and 2 are Qian Xuantong's handwriting. Written from 1920 to 1932, these letters involved the discussion of editorial policies by the editors of the New Youth and related activities in the early days of the founding of the Communist Party of China, which were precious historical relics and thus became the treasures of the museum of Chinese University.

Originally known as Youth Magazine, New Youth was founded in Shanghai by Chen Duxiu in September 1915 and renamed New Youth a year later. From its inception to 1917, the first three volumes of New Youth were edited and written by Chen Duxiu, and other major contributors were Li Dazhao, Hu Shi, Liu Bannong, Gao Yihan, Yi Baisha, and Wu Yu. In January 1917, Cai Yuanpei, president of Peking University, hired Chen Duxiu as the dean of liberal arts at Peking University. Chen Duxiu moved north to take office, and "New Youth" moved to Beijing, with the editorial office located at 9 Jianjian Hutong (now No. 20) where he lived. Chen Duxiu absorbed Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Hu Shi, Qian Xuantong, Liu Bannong, Gao Yihan, Zhou Zuoren, Shen Yinmo, Tao Menghe, and others who were teaching at Peking University into the editorial department. Since the fourth volume in 1918, all the authors and translators of "New Youth" have been co-authored by the editorial department, and each issue of the manuscript adopts a collective discussion system. Starting from the first number of the fifth volume, It was changed to Chen Duxiu, Qian Xuantong, Liu Bannong, Gao Yihan, Hu Shi, Li Dazhao, Shen Yinmo and other editors in turn.

The fifth volume of the "New Youth" was edited by Li Dazhao, and a number of articles propagating Marxism were published for the "Marx Research Special Number", which aroused Hu Shi's dissatisfaction, and the two had a dispute over "problems and doctrines". Therefore, starting from the seventh volume, "New Youth" was re-edited by Chen Duxiu. In February 1920, Chen Duxiu left Beijing for Shanghai, and the editorial office of the New Youth was also moved to Shanghai, and the editorial office was located at No. 2, Yuyangli, Huanlong Road, Shanghai French Concession, Chen's apartment. On April 26, on the eve of the publication of the "Labor Day Special Issue" in the sixth volume of the seventh volume, Chen Duxiu wrote to 12 fellow editors in Beijing, asking for their views on the editorial issue: "(1) The people in Beijing will take turns; (2) one in Beijing; (3) the brother in Shanghai." "Please get back to them as soon as possible.

On May 7, Chen Duxiu wrote another letter to Li Dazhao and Hu Shi. Subsequently, Chen Duxiu wrote to fellow editors on many occasions, all of whom solicited opinions on the editorial issue of "New Youth" and tried to maintain the unity of the new cultural camp.

At this time, Chen Duxiu was preparing to establish a Communist Party organization in Shanghai, and his thinking had shifted from a democrat to a Marxist position. As the person in charge of "New Youth", he is responsible for both the editing of each issue and the publication and distribution of the journal, and the editorial group has actually split, the source of manuscripts is not good, and there are also problems in the publishing and distribution work, which is bound to start a new stove. Chen Duxiu, such an ideological and public opinion position with wide influence as "New Youth", could not give up, so he maintained comradeship and insisted on his independent ideas in his letters to Beijing fans. Between the paper and ink, it is difficult to hide helplessness and regret.

Beginning with the first issue of the eighth volume in September 1920, "New Youth" has actually become the organ publication of the Shanghai Initiating Group of the Communist Party of China. Li Hanjun, Chen Wangdao, Shen Yanbing, and Yuan Zhenying, members of the Shanghai initiating group, successively joined the editorial department, dissolved the original relationship with the Shanghai Qunyi Book Society, established the New Youth Society, independently ran its own printing and distribution, and opened up a column on "Russian Studies." Chen Duxiu published "On Politics" to propagate Marxism, and "New Youth" became a theoretical journal of the Communist Party of China until it ceased publication in July 1926.

Letters from Chen Duxiu and others to Hu Shi were kept in Hu Shi's home for a long time, and after Hu Shi's death, they were preserved by his son Hu Zuwang and daughter-in-law Zeng Shuzhao. In the early spring of 2009, China Guardian Auctions collected the letters from Zeng Shuzhao's home in Washington, D.C., and planned to be publicly auctioned at the spring auction in May of that year. Before the auction, these letters were exhibited in the Peking University Library and the International Hotel, and after reading them by many cultural relics and party history experts, they were all identified as authentic, and they are an important historical document with the value of cultural relics and historical value.

The value of letter relics is generally judged from three aspects: the popularity of both parties to the communication, whether the content of the letter involves a major event, and whether the calligraphy is beautiful. As far as these letters are concerned, the communicators are the leading figures of the New Culture Movement, and the content involves the differences in the ideas of the "New Youth" magazine, and this is precisely the process of the transformation of Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, and others into Marxists, and they are all rare and important historical materials for studying the history of the New Culture Movement, the history of the spread of early Marxism, and the history of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Chen Duxiu's calligraphy skills are profound, and his faith is rigorous and simple, with a certain degree of artistry. Therefore, as soon as this batch of letters appeared, it immediately attracted widespread attention from all walks of life.

On the morning of May 30, 2009, 13 "Letters from Chen Duxiu and Others to Hu Shi" were packaged and auctioned, and after several rounds of fierce competition, they were finally successfully bid by a senior collector in Beijing. Chinese Min University immediately negotiated with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage to collect this batch of letters using the relevant provisions of the national cultural relics preferential purchase, and the funds collected were donated by two alumni. After intense work by all parties, on June 5, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage issued a letter to Guardian Auction Company on the Preferential Purchase of "Chen Duxiu and Other Letters to Hu Shi", and decided to exercise the state's right of first refusal to purchase the lots according to the transaction price. This move is the first time that the national cultural relics authorities have implemented the "right of first refusal to purchase cultural relics" in accordance with the provisions of the Cultural Relics Protection Law, which is considered to be of landmark significance. On July 27, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage delivered the precious letters to the collection of the Museum of Chinese University.

The letter, which has been well preserved for nearly 90 years, has finally returned to its place, quietly telling people about that unforgettable time. (The author is Zhang Ding, Research Librarian, Museum of Chinese Min University)

People's Daily (October 12, 2021, 20th edition)