(Liu Zhaopeng Family Tree)
"Liu Zhaopeng, you are surrounded, come out and surrender!" At dawn on May 18, 1909, when the Xinhai Revolution to overthrow the Qing Dynasty was being intensely planned, the originally quiet Baoqing Province, Shaoyang County, Shaoyang County, Zhongxiang Yajiangchong (now Shuidongjiang Town, Shaodong County), was suddenly broken by several crisp foreign guns and birds, and a group of Qing soldiers armed with live ammunition, under the command of a battalion commander, shouted at the people inside a surrounded adobe house under the guidance of a middle-aged man.
"Old Huang Mu, you yellow-eyed beast (Shao Dongfang, meaning ungrateful), I will dig you to death with a rake!" Suddenly, accompanied by a roar and a loud opening of the door, I saw a tall man rushing out of the house, ignoring the firing of the Qing soldiers' guns, and grabbed a pig rake and rushed left and right in the encirclement circle, killing Lao Huang to the ground. After that, a dense burst of foreign gunshots and birdshots sounded rapidly in the air above the Nha River, and the surrounding team suddenly became a pot of porridge, and from time to time there was a scream and wailing sound...
(The first on the right is the portrait of Liu Zhaopeng)
After the remaining Qing soldiers trembled and pushed the tall man down with a bamboo pole, they found that the pig rake head handle that the tall man was holding in both hands had left four blood finger marks deeply! On the ground around Liu Zhaopeng, there lay the bodies of one or two dozen Qing soldiers lying horizontally and vertically, and two Qing soldiers who had been raked out of their heads and fell at his feet, were making a final struggle.
This tall man who fell in a pool of blood was None other than Liu Zhaopeng, known as "Righteous Hero", with the name Chaopeng, the character Linghan, and the number Zhaopeng; Now Shaodong County, Baoqian Township Wuyi Village. He was an important leader of the "Brotherhood of the Elderly" organization in Hunan, and this time he was entrusted by Cai Yi, a fellow villager in Shaoyang, and Du Xinwu, Sun Yat-sen's bodyguard, and other revolutionaries to secretly return to Hunan to prepare to gather the old ministry and organize the masses to carry out a revolution with them.
(The pig feces rake used by Liu Zhaopeng before his death are still stored in the homes of his descendants)
Liu Zhaopeng is about 1.92 meters tall, has a strong physique, great strength, and runs fast. It is said that he can catch up with a dog with firecrackers flying on its tail, and can pull the tail of a galloping bull and make the cow stop.
In all fairness. Not far from Liu Zhaopeng's hometown, there was a man named Liu Blacksmith, who was anxious about not receiving a disciple who could inherit his own skills. His name was a blacksmith, but he was not actually a blacksmith. At this time, he was over sixty years old and was a master of black tiger boxing with high martial arts and proficient in traditional Chinese medicine. Therefore, when the six blacksmiths heard that Liu Zhaopeng was running fast, they moved the idea of accepting him as a closed disciple.
(The original statue enshrined in the He Jinsheng Memorial Hall, of which the person holding the weapon on the left is Liu Zhaopeng)
One afternoon, the six blacksmiths were strolling on the street in front of the fort, when they suddenly saw Liu Zhaopeng carrying six nan bamboo with branches and leaves on his shoulder (it was rumored that liu Zhaopeng was carrying nan bamboo weighing about three hundred pounds), and the bamboo branches and leaves dragged on the ground. When he stepped on it, Liu Zhaopeng, who was carrying Nanzhu on his back, couldn't walk and had to stop. When he stopped twice before, Liu Zhaopeng turned back and smiled friendly at the six blacksmiths, not anxious or annoyed. The third time, Liu Zhaopeng also greeted him with a smile and said softly, "Old man, please don't tease me, it's getting dark, I still want to send Nanzhu to my grandmother's house, they are waiting for an emergency." ”
Early the next morning, the six blacksmiths ran to Liu Zhaopeng's house and introduced themselves to his father, Liu Shunxiang. Hearing that one of the top masters in the Zhongxiang circle wanted to teach his son martial arts and medical skills, Liu Shunxiang was overjoyed and respectfully invited the six blacksmiths to his home.
(Aerial view of Liu Zhaopeng's former residence)
Liu Zhaopeng practiced martial arts very hard, and in just one year, the six blacksmiths taught all the things they had learned in their lifetime. When the six blacksmiths who loved Cai left, they recommended Liu Zhaopeng to Liu Minghou. It is rumored that Liu Minghou was proficient in Black Tiger Fist, Qigong and Medicine, and his kung fu was far above that of the Six Blacksmiths. Liu Minghou stayed at Liu Zhaopeng's house for more than three years. Liu Zhaopeng's wife, Liu Shi, also practiced martial arts at this time and became proficient in medical skills (another theory is that Liu Zhaopeng learned the essence of black tiger fist, qigong and medicine by taking Master Li of Hunan Xinhua as a teacher).
One day shortly after the separation of the master and apprentice, someone saw two foreigners riding horses to Liu Zhaopeng's house, and immediately ran to Liu Minghou's house to stir up trouble, saying that someone from Twin Peaks had come to ask him to teach martial arts, and your apprentice Liu Zhaopeng had deceived people that your kung fu was inferior to his, and he was ready to bypass yourself to become a martial arts instructor.
(Liu Zhaopeng's birthplace, in the picture stands for his descendant Liu Zaifan)
Upon hearing the apprentice say that he could not do it and that he wanted to rob his own job, Liu Minghou hurried to Liu Zhaopeng's house and had to compete with him. He said that his ability was to stand on a T-shaped wooden stake and let the other party hit one hundred and eight hammers hard without shaking, falling, or getting hurt. If Liu Zhaopeng can withstand his 108 hammers, everything is good to discuss.
Liu Zhaopeng was forced to be helpless and had to do as his master asked. As a result, Liu Minghou punched Liu Zhaopeng with more than one hundred and thirty hammers, but he still did not move.
"You are much better than my kung fu, you can boldly go out", after figuring out the original commission, Liu Minghou said to his apprentice Liu Zhaopeng, who was tearfully trying to keep himself for a few more days of rest, "This kung fu you have now, people are not good, unless it is a gun." ”。 Unexpectedly, many years later, Liu Zhaopeng was really killed under random gunfire.
(The white fruit tree next to Liu Zhaopeng's former residence, it is said that Liu Zhaopeng often practiced under the tree when he was young)
Liu Zhaopeng's hometown has a big mountain called Dayun Mountain, located on the border of Hengshao, far from the government seats on both sides of Hengshao, Wang Fuzhi took refuge here for three years after the failure of the anti-Qing, and had a lot of contacts and contacts with the locals, and preached many anti-Qing ideas. The Tea Horse Ancient Road on Dayun Mountain is the only passage connecting Hengshao and Liangyang, where various people rest and stay, which is the place where the "Brotherhood of Elders" organization activities are more active at that time, and many local people are members of the organization. During his studies with his teacher, Liu Zhaopeng was also developed by his master Liu Minghou (said to be a master surnamed Li) into a member of the "Brotherhood of Elders" organization, and later became the leader; His home has also become an important place to do the activities of the organization.
Not far from Liu Zhaopeng's hometown, there is a villain in the Yellow Soil Shop in Qidong, who has raised twenty or thirty thugs under his command, specially set up casinos to force people to gamble and gamble fraudulently, bullying the villagers who sell straw paper and tobacco there, and people hate him to the bone. After Liu Zhaopeng heard about this incident, he went to the casino alone to persuade the villain, not wanting the villain not only not to listen, but to organize people to beat him. As a result, Liu Zhaopeng used the kung fu he learned to teach the villain and his men a lesson and remove a "cancerous tumor". After the news spread in Hengshao Liangyang, many people rushed to his door to learn martial arts, and a team of apprentices and members of the "Brotherhood of Elders" quickly gathered around him.
(Long-range view of Liu Zhaopeng's former residence)
Soon, Liu Zhaopeng led more than a dozen people in this team who were highly skilled in martial arts, using sharpened bamboo poles as weapons, overnight to destroy all the bandit villages on Dayun Mountain, kill a bandit leader who committed many evil deeds, and return all the grain and other things they stole to the local people, winning unanimous praise from the people. The name of "righteous hero" Liu Zhaopeng has never gone away since.
In the face of the increasing influence of Liu Zhaopeng's team, the main officials of the Baoqing prefect and Shaoyang Zhixian at that time could not sit still, and tried their best to win him over and suppress him. Later, Zhao Fengchi of the Hunan Army hired Liu Zhaopeng as the commander of the Zhenxiang battalion, and asked him to lead his own team to Guangdong to suppress the bandits. After "ping-serving guangdong eight-card bandits", Liu Zhaopeng was awarded the post of "Five Pins Of Blue Linglang Supplementing Jiangxi Commandery".
In the process of leading the troops to fight, Liu Zhaopeng saw that every time it was the team he brought with him that was charging into the battlefield, and the other troops were watching the battle or coping with it. He realized that the real intention of the Qing government was not to reuse him, but to use him and his team as cannon fodder, to destroy him at the hands of dummies, and soon resigned and returned to his hometown.
(Group photo of Liu Zhaopeng's descendants and He Jinsheng's descendants in front of He Jinsheng's study, from left are Liu Zaifan, He Shunfu and Liu Xingchun)
Because he was "enfeoffed as a lieutenant of Wude and registered as a wulin" by the Qing government, Liu Zhaopeng was even more famous after his return (it is speculated that he may become a leader of the "Brotherhood of Elders"), and there was an endless stream of people from Shaoyang, Hengyang and Shuangfeng who came to his disciples to worship his apprentices and defectors. Later, he served as an important general in the He Jinsheng Uprising, such as Zhao Xuegui and Zhao Xuan, and successively became his close friends.
After learning that Liu Zhaopeng had more influence after returning to his hometown, Pan Qing, the prefect of Baoqing, and Chen Yulin of Shaoyang Zhi County, were worried that he would take advantage of the people's general hatred of the "Boxer Rebellion" after the "Boxer Rebellion" to agitate and cause a mutiny. So they adopted a combination of enveloping and suppressing, first asking for help and then arresting.
(The picture shows the group photo of He Jinsheng's descendants and Liu Zhaopeng's descendants in front of He Jinsheng's birthplace, from left are Liu Xingchun, He Shuhuai, Liu Zaifan and He Shunfu)
When the officers and men put on makeup to arrest Liu Zhaopeng, once, with the cooperation of other members of the "Brotherhood of Elders," he performed a two-thousand-kilogram oil mallet and three oil mallets in the oil mill; once he disguised himself as a farmer who cultivated the field and asked the Qing soldiers to wait for him, and he picked up the cattle cultivating the field with both hands and leisurely washed his feet in the pond... Frightened, the Qing soldiers were scattered and did not dare to come again, which also aroused the government's greater dissatisfaction and worry about him, laying a foreshadowing for him to be shot in the future.
(The picture shows Liu Zhaopeng's cemetery)
Soon after, He Jinsheng announced the uprising at the Shelin Bridge in Shaoyang, and established the "Great Han Youmin Annihilation Foreign Army", self-proclaimed Grand Marshal, and erected the banner of "Honoring the Inside and Outside". Liu Zhaopeng also led his own team to participate, and was named the vanguard of the former enemy (said to be the captain of the pro-army team). Within a few days, the number of rebels had reached more than 200,000.
When Yu Liansan, the governor of Hunan, learned of this, he sent Luo Zhengjun, who was directly subordinate to Zhi County, to Shaoyang at night, pretending that he agreed with He Jinsheng's proposal to send him a letter, "He came to announce his consolation and welcome him and the prefect Pan Qing to immediately discuss the grand plan of the provincial capital." Chen Yulin of Shaoyang Zhi County arrested He Jinsheng and his entourage in the name of setting up a banquet at the Temple of Literature. Before the trapping, Liu Zhaopeng, Su Daosheng, and others had already learned of the news and suggested that He Jinsheng "take the opportunity to kill Luo Zhengjun and others and attack Changsha." However, He Jinsheng "thought that the general trend had gone, so he harmed the people, insisted on not taking action, and voluntarily stood still."
(The picture shows the record of Liu Zhaopeng in relevant information)
Liu Zhaopeng "escaped from prison and infiltrated the county office on the day he was captured, in an unsuccessful attempt to kill Chen Yulin. The next day, he gathered more than 20 capable generals and directly attacked the prison where He Jinsheng and others were being held. When he led 6 people to break through the prison and wanted to rob him, He Jinsheng once again expressed his determination to take righteousness and benevolence, and did not want to involve others and the people.
After killing He Jinsheng, the Qing government decided to cut the grass and remove the roots, sending troops to kill all of He Jinsheng's family. After learning of one of the news, Liu Zhaopeng immediately disguised himself and left Baoqing Province, rushing to He Jinsheng's home in the Luanshan Shuihu Temple shortly before the arrival of the Qing soldiers, grabbing his 9-year-old son He Zhengang in one hand and carrying a double sword in the other (according to He Jinsheng's third-generation grandson He Shunfu), quickly climbing over the wall behind his house and running away from the hill at the back door.
(The picture shows the relevant information about the uprising of He Jinsheng and Liu Zhaopeng and others)
Liu Zhaopeng took He Zhengang to Yunnan and Guizhou and lived for more than 7 years. During these days, due to the care and cover of the "Brotherhood of Elders" organization and many disciples and disciples who had joined the army and had already held official positions in the army, Liu Zhaopeng still went around fighting heroically and righteously, and used his mastery of medical skills to treat diseases and save people, leaving behind the reputation of "Yungui Hero".
In Yunnan, Liu Zhaopeng became acquainted with revolutionaries such as Cai Yi, who was also a fellow Shaoyang compatriot, and Du Xinwu, Sun Yat-sen's bodyguard. It is said that At that time, Du Xinwu was chased and injured by many killers of the Qing government, hiding in a guild hall to heal his wounds. After Liu Zhaopeng learned about it, he used his medical skills and connections to purchase drugs and other substances, which healed Du Xinwu's injuries, and the two became friends. Later, Cai Yi, Du Xinwu and others warmly invited him to lead the original team to participate in the revolution organized by Sun Yat-sen many times, and Liu Zhaopeng agreed after careful consideration. Liu Zhaopeng told them that he would send He Zhengang, who was about to become an adult, back to his hometown as soon as possible and hand him over to his relatives for training, so as to ensure that he would have a good reputation; then, as soon as possible, he would gather the apprentices and members of the "Brotherhood of Elders" who were willing to participate in the revolution in the contingent in his hometown to join the revolution led by Sun Yat-sen.
(Pictured is Liu Zhaopeng's tombstone)
After Liu Zhaopeng took He Zhengang back to Hunan, he immediately sent him back to his hometown and entrusted his people to cultivate and care for him.
After settling down He Zhengang's affairs, Liu Zhaopeng rushed home. When he walked to the Nha River Chong section, Liu Zhaopeng saw that it was late in the day, and thought that if he was caught by the eagle dogs of the Qing Dynasty, not only would he not be able to protect his life, but also hurt his family, it would be better to find a place to settle down first, inquire about the wind and then go home before going home.
(The picture shows a bird's eye view of Liu Zhaopeng's cemetery)
It was this worry that eventually harmed Liu Zhaopeng. When he came to the home of Shen Delai, the most trusted apprentice of Nha Jiang Chong, he had long become an eagle dog of the Qing Dynasty, and after drunk Liu Zhaopeng, he ran to Baoqing Mansion overnight to inform and bring soldiers to arrest him. So at dawn the next day, the scene at the beginning of the article occurred.
After Liu Zhaopeng was killed, he was transported by the Qing soldiers to Baoqing Province for autopsy, buried outside the West Gate of Baoqing, and then moved back to his hometown by his family for burial. In the year after the victory of the Xinhai Revolution, it is said that Du Xinwu heard the news of Liu Zhaopeng's death and immediately reported to Sun Yat-sen. After Sun Yat-sen heard about Liu Zhaopeng's deeds, he deeply regretted it and posthumously awarded Liu Zhaopeng the title of lieutenant general in the army. Hunan Baojing beckoned Tan Xinxiu to build a tombstone for Liu Dapeng at the Xianren Well outside the West Gate of Shaoyang and inscribed the inscription "Seal the Corpse of Liu Zhaopeng, a Shaoyang Man".
(The picture shows the record of Liu Zhaopeng's second son Liu Tingjie in the Liu clan genealogy)
Liu Zhaopeng's three sons all studied martial arts and medicine, and his eldest son Tinghua and third son Tingcai had a relatively uneventful life. The second son, Tingjie, that is, Liu Jianwu, learned martial arts medicine from an early age, and at the age of 23, he was hired by the military men Zai Xianyuan to serve the "Yao Bandits" of Lianshan, Guangdong, and awarded liupin military merits, and then he was again ordered to go to Guangdong to ask for salary and capture bandits, because of his outstanding military merits, he was asked by the government to award the five pins of blue plume to wait for the sanjiang association left camp guard, in the first year of the Republic of China, he was recruited by Hunan Baojing to make Tan Xinxiu "the governor of the second district of the Hunan garrison", and in the second year of the Republic of China, he was selected by Zhao Chunting as an adjutant and a lieutenant colonel of the Kuomintang army. It is rumored that he later supported the Anti-Japanese Resistance and Revolution, joined the troops of Zhang Daye of the Xiangzhong detachment, and was poisoned by the Kuomintang military commanders and died of chronic drug poisoning.
Among the five male descendants of the third generation, Tingcai was the most martial artist and potential Wan Lu, but unfortunately this person ran away from home in the early years of the incident, and it is said that he also joined the military camp and served as a high official of the Kuomintang, but he has not had any contact with his family. Wanfu later retired from the Guangxi railway department, and everyone else was more ordinary.
(The picture shows the certificate that Liu Zhaopeng's descendants have dedicated some of the weapons he used to the state)
Among the 10 male descendants of the fourth generation, Zailiang was restored to Jiangxi Province as a soldier and served as the leader of the geological brigade, Zaiwen, Zaiwu, Zaida, Zaixu, Zaizhi and Zaiyang became state workers, and the others either died prematurely or lived an ordinary life. But in martial arts, except for Zai Fan, who is also Liu Liangyuan, who won the 1984 Hunan Provincial Sanda Championship, the others are basically not famous.
Among the 12 male descendants of the fifth generation, except for 4 people such as Xingyun and Xingjiang, who participated in the work, the others were more ordinary.
"Although everyone in my family's ancestral lineage has learned martial arts and medicine, our next generation no one is willing to learn martial arts and medicine, and there are only a few people who are proficient or have a certain understanding of medical skills." After Liu Liangyuan introduced the situation of Liu Zhaopeng's descendants, he said to me with tears in his eyes, "I am worried that if this continues, my family's ancestral skills such as black tiger fist, qigong and medicine will be lost!" ”
(The picture shows Liu Zaifan performing the kung fu left by his ancestors.)
Seeing the cold feeling of Liu Zhaopeng's dilapidated old house in many red brick and tile houses, I thought of Liu Zhaopeng's tomb still lonely there without even a decent tombstone... Thinking of Liu Liangyuan's sentence" that "this is the thing I am most worried about and afraid of, I don't want to bring what my ancestors passed on to me to the ground", the author's heart is heavy.
(The picture shows Liu Zaifan being interviewed by the author of this article)
Special thanks: This article has received strong support and relevant materials from people from all walks of life, such as Ouyang Zhilin, Liu Zaifan, He Shuhuai, He Shunfu, Liu Xingchun, Li Yuming, He Xiaohua, Chen Shengqiao, Liu Yizhong, Li Honggang, Chen Huiguo, zeng chao, secretary of the party committee of Yuanbaoqian Township, Li Zhigang, chairman of the National People's Congress, Zhou Wenfu, principal of Baoqian Township Central School, Luo Wei, principal of Yuanbaoqian Township Middle School, and other people from all walks of life. Some of the pictures in this article are provided by Liu Xingchun, a descendant of Liu Zhaopeng, and I would like to express my deep gratitude!
The relevant information in this article comes from historical materials, manuscripts of other researchers and oral accounts of some of the descendants of the parties, which may be inconsistent with the story of Liu Zhaopeng circulating in society, coupled with the rush of time, the editors have many inaccuracies and omissions in sorting out and editing, please criticize and correct the relevant Fang family and all sectors of society. If there is infringement, please contact the author to delete the post.
About the author: Zhou Zhihui, pen name Guanyin Shi, civil servant, idle time to run the "rural Shaodong" WeChat public account, "promote the countryside, inherit people's feelings", has launched a series of more than 100 articles; published more than 3 million words of works, scattered in various newspapers, magazines and online platforms.