Today in history 10/21

(1) The famous patriotic overseas Chinese leader Chen Jiageng was born

October 21, 1874

Chen Jiageng was a famous patriotic overseas Chinese leader, entrepreneur, educator, philanthropist, social activist, and a native of Jimei Society, Tong'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province (now Jimei District, Xiamen City).

In 1913, he returned to his hometown Jimei and successively founded Jimei Primary School, Jimei Middle School, Normal School, Aquatic Products, Navigation, Business, Agriculture and Forestry (collectively known as Jimei School) and Xiamen University. The teachers and students of Xiamen University and Jimei Village all respectfully call him "school master".

In 1949, he returned to China at the invitation of Chairman Mao Zedong to participate in the preparatory meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He has served as Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and Chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. It was once praised by Mao Zedong as "the banner of overseas Chinese and the glory of the nation".

On March 11, 1990, the International Minor Planet Center and the Committee on Asteroid Nomenclature named an asteroid numbered 2963 "Chen Jiageng Star".

Chen Jiageng, who grew up in Zheng Chenggong's stronghold of resisting the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, made outstanding contributions to the Xinhai Revolution, national education, the War of Resistance Against Japan, the War of Liberation, and the construction of New China. In his later years, Chen Jiageng asked someone to burn the "complete map of Taiwan Province" in Ao Yuan to never forget the reunification of the country.

Although Chen Jiageng is located in Nanyang, he has always been concerned about China and actively supports revolutionary activities in China. He became acquainted with Sun Yat-sen, joined the League in 1910 and actively supported his revolutionary activities. After the Xinhai Revolution, Chen Jiageng served as the chairman of the Fujian "Security Association", raising funds to support Fujian and stabilizing the local situation.

Chen Jiageng is also an active supporter of cultural undertakings. He supported the "International News Service" and "Huashang Pao" sponsored by Fan Changjiang, Xia Yan and others, and also sent money to support Zou Taofen to resume the "Popular Life" weekly.

After the Jinan Massacre in China in 1928, overseas Chinese in Nanyang set off a huge solidarity movement, and Chen Jiageng served as the chairman of the "Shandong Disaster Relief Association", actively raised funds for relief of refugees, and also launched a boycott of Japanese goods.

In 1937, when the Anti-Japanese War broke out, the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Association for Refugees to the Motherland (hereinafter referred to as the "Nanyang Overseas Chinese Association") was established in Singapore, and Tan Kah Kee was elected as its chairman. He himself spearheaded donations and organized various events. In the past 1939 alone, overseas Chinese in Nanyang sent more than 360 million yuan to the motherland, and in the four and a half years from the Lugou Bridge Incident to the outbreak of the Pacific War, a total of about 1.5 billion yuan was donated, which greatly supported China's domestic anti-Japanese forces.

In October 1938, after the loss of Guangzhou and Wuhan one after another, the mainland's foreign communications were on the verge of paralysis. The newly built Burma Road became the main artery of the military movement. Not only is a large number of military vehicles needed, but also a large number of skilled drivers and auto mechanics are urgently needed. The General Manager of Southwest Import and Export Material Transportation of the Military Commission of the National Government asked Mr. Chen Jiageng to recruit drivers and repairmen (commonly known as "Nanqiao Mechanics" or "Overseas Chinese Mechanics") in Nanyang. In February 1939, the Nanqiao General Association led by Chen Jiageng quickly issued Circular No. 6 of "Recruiting Automobile Repair and Driving Personnel to Return to China to Service". On the one hand, Chen Jiageng called on overseas Chinese to donate money and materials to buy a large number of cars and military supplies, and on the other hand, he personally went to various ports in Nanyang to give speeches and mobilization, and the vast number of overseas Chinese young people enthusiastically responded and signed up one after another. Bai Qingquan and others first registered in Singapore, and 30 were immediately approved; Liao Guoxiong, Lai Yuguang and others took the lead in applying in Bazhu and Baba, and 50 were immediately approved. On February 18 of the same year, the first batch of 80 members of the Nanqiao Mechanics Return Service Group set off in Singapore, and the Nanqiao Federation held a grand farewell party. Chen Jiageng encouraged everyone: "You are returning to serve on behalf of tens of millions of overseas Chinese, and you must persevere to the end." Singaporean newspapers published farewell special issues praising the first batch of returning mechanics as the "Eighty Vanguards".

Chen Jiageng persisted in resisting Japan to the end, and in view of the compromise plan of Wang Jingwei and others, he put forward the famous proposal of "before the enemy leaves the country, peace is a traitor." The telegram proposal was censored and revised five times, the original intention was distorted, and the edge was cut off, but nevertheless, it still had an increasingly extensive impact, aroused the hearts of the people of the whole country and the vast number of overseas Chinese, and also played a great role in encouraging the main war faction in Chongqing at that time.

(Note: The above-mentioned "before the enemy leaves the country, words and words are traitors" is a popular 11-character proposal, which is different from the facts.) The original text of the proposal is not only 11 words, but three articles and more than 100 words. Wang Jingwei and his gang deleted their second and third proposals, and amended the first article several times in order to obscure the pertinence of the proposal, and deleted it to "civil servants are not allowed to talk about peace cases." After intense discussion among the members of the conference, they held that the nine-character amendment bill was vague, nondescript, and child's play, and expressed their opposition. In the end, the 19-character sentence, that is, "Before the Japanese invaders withdrew from the mainland soil, civil servants must not speak of peace", became an official document of the National Council of Political Participation, and was published in the Chongqing "Central Daily" on November 2, 1938. Since this is Chen Jiageng's famous proposal to resolutely oppose the surrender of traitors and traitors at home and abroad, the original excerpt is as follows:

Chen Jiageng opposed Wang Jingwei's famous proposal to surrender and sell the country

Speaker and Secretary (Chair):

TEPCO Learned. Geng was unable to attend the meeting due to the incident, and apologizes.

There are two proposals, and the consent of the political participants is sought and submitted to a referendum.

1. Before the Japanese invaders withdrew from mainland China, all civil servants who talked to anyone about the terms of peace were treated as traitors and thieves.

2. Universities, middle schools, and during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, summer vacation is prohibited.

3. The long-coat coat shall be abolished within a time limit in order to revive the martial spirit of our nation.

In March 1940, Chen Jiageng led the "Nanyang Overseas Chinese Return to China Consolation Expedition" organized by the Nanyang Overseas Chinese General Association to comfort the soldiers on the anti-Japanese front and the soldiers and civilians in the rear, which was a major turning point in his life. From 1927 until his return to Chongqing in 1940, he was a resolute "pro-Chiang faction," saying that "Chairman Chiang is the only leader supported by 47,000 compatriots inside and outside China" and "the will of Chairman Chiang Kai-shek is the will of the Chinese people." All donations for the War of Resistance were transferred to the Executive Yuan of the National Government. After visiting Chongqing and Yan'an, he learned the truth of China's War of Resistance, distinguished right from wrong, made a leap in his ideological understanding, and concluded that "the Communist Party will win and the Kuomintang will lose."

Chen Jiageng's visit to Yan'an was a milestone in his political life. He said: It was not easy to come to Yan'an this time to offer condolences, and the Kuomintang spread rumors to undermine the reputation of the Communist Party and set up obstacles everywhere to prevent us from reaching Yan'an. Chiang Kai-shek praised him, wooed him, and interfered with his contacts with the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. In order to find out the truth of the friction between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and persuade the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to unite in the war of resistance, Chen Jiageng arrived in Yan'an on May 31, 1940. He was originally scheduled to stay in Yan'an for three days, but happened to be hospitalized due to a car accident involving Li Tiemin, who was accompanying him, so Chen Jiageng stayed in Yan'an for four more days, and in the early morning of June 8, he left Yan'an to travel east and went to the Shanxi Theater for condolences and inspection.

After the outbreak of the Kuomintang-Communist Civil War in 1946, Chen Jiageng opposed the US aid to Chiang Kai-shek and sent a letter to the President of the United States and Congress in his capacity as chairman of the General Association of Overseas Chinese of Southern Overseas Chinese to protest. He also boycotted the National Convention convened by Chiang Kai-shek, pointing out that Chiang Kai-shek "was dictatorial and did not hesitate to flatter foreign countries to consolidate his position and eliminate dissidents, which was no less than Shi Jingyu, Qin Huan, Wu Sangui, and Wang Jingwei." In 1947, he also organized the "Singapore Federation of Overseas Chinese to Promote Peace and Democracy in the Motherland" (abbreviated as "Pakatan Union") to actively support the democratic parties in their struggle to stop the civil war.

In May 1949, Chen Jiageng was invited by Mao Zedong to return to China to participate in the preparatory meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and in September of that year, he participated in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as the chief representative of overseas Chinese. On October 1, he attended the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China at the Tiananmen City Tower. Since then, Chen Jiageng has successively served as a member of the Central People's Government, a standing member of the First National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a member of the Central Committee for Overseas Chinese Affairs, a vice chairman of the East China Administrative Commission, a chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, a member of the Standing Committee of the First National People's Congress, and a vice chairman of the Third National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.