·
Be a good young man of the times who "listens to the party and follows the party".
——Read Liu Shaoqi's "Questionnaire of League Members"
Luo Chaoqun
Only when young people have ideals, dare to take responsibility, can endure hardships, and are willing to struggle can Chinese young people have strength and the development of the cause of the party and the country be full of hope. Liu Shaoqi, who was at the beginning of the 20th century, shouldered the mission of the youth of his time and showed his due responsibility. From one of the materials he filled out - the questionnaire of the members, we can get a glimpse of one or two.
In the exhibition hall of the Comrade Liu Shaoqi Memorial Hall, there is a questionnaire filled out by Liu Shaoqi for the members of the regiment. The table is designed in detail, with two lines of thickness and two lines for overprinting. The paper has been yellowed, about 28.7 cm long and 20.5 cm wide, and the contents are filled in with a black pen. This questionnaire was filled out on June 27, 1922, when Liu Shaoqi had just returned from studying in Moscow. In May 1922, the First National Congress of the Chinese Socialist Youth League was held, and the organization of the Chinese Youth League was officially born. From 1922 to 1924, in order to grasp the basic situation of the Youth League members and facilitate the better development of the work of the Youth League, the Chinese Socialist Youth League required its members to fill out a unified questionnaire for the League members. It was under such circumstances that Liu Shaoqi filled out the questionnaire for the members of the regiment.
The time to fill out this member questionnaire is not Liu Shaoqi's time to join the group. Liu Shaoqi joined the Youth League in Changsha, Hunan Province in the winter of 1920. In October 1920, Mao Zedong began to prepare for the establishment of the Communist League at the same time as the Changsha Communist Group. Mao Zedong attached great importance to the political quality of the League members and paid attention to recruiting "true" comrades into the League organization. At that time, Liu Shaoqi, who had participated in anti-imperialist and anti-feudal social revolutionary activities such as the opposition to the "21 Articles," the "Yuan Shikai Restoration," and the expulsion of the reactionary warlord Tang Qianming, as well as the May Fourth Movement, was very much in line with the requirements of the "true" comrades. At that time, there were 16 people in Changsha who joined the group, and he was one of them.
The questionnaire contains a total of 17 items, including name, year of birth, place of origin, and communications office. In the column "What do you want to do now?", fill in: workers' movement, youth movement. This aspiration not only combines Liu Shaoqi's own expertise and interests, but also meets the needs of the party's development. Since Liu Shaoqi entered the Yutan School in Ningxiang in 1913, he often participated in anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolutionary activities. In 1915, during the struggle held at the school against Yuan Shikai's acceptance of the "21 Articles" proposed by Japanese imperialism to lose power and humiliate the country, he wrote a bloody letter of "swear to snow the national shame and never forget the national shame"; he walked at the front of the procession and took the lead in shouting slogans such as "Severely punish traitors," "Properly perish the country," and "Resolutely abolish the 21 Articles." In the early days of the May Fourth Movement, while studying in Changsha, he and his classmates participated in a class strike to promote patriotism, boycott Japanese goods, and support the Beijing student movement. Later, without waiting to receive his graduation certificate, he went to Beijing, the center of the student movement, and had a more profound experience of this patriotic movement. While studying at the Shanghai Foreign Chinese Society, Liu Shaoqi and the revolutionary youths who studied at the same time not only learned theoretical knowledge such as Russian language and basic knowledge of communism, but also paid attention to social practice. He joined the Shanghai Socialist Youth League, took part in some practice of propagating Marxism, and threw himself into the workers' movement. During his studies at the Moscow University of Eastern Workers' Communism (hereinafter referred to as "Eastern University"), Liu Shaoqi mainly studied Russian, "The Communist Manifesto", "History of the International Workers' Movement", "ABC of Communism", "Political Economy" and other courses, and also participated in some political activities. On major festivals such as October Revolution Day and May Day, Chinese students participate in parades and rallies with the locals, and they often discuss the situation of the Chinese revolution and regularly visit local factories and villages. He later recalled his study experience at Dongfang University and said that we "knew some things about organization, such as stressing discipline, assigning work without paying for it, criticizing each other, and obeying the party in everything. Liu Shaoqi's study and revolutionary experience gave him a firm belief in communism, and also accumulated a theoretical foundation and practical experience for him to engage in the youth movement and the workers' movement. In July 1921, the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in Shanghai and Jiaxing, and the Communist Party of China was formally founded. The First National Congress of the Communist Party of China determined that the central task of the Party was to organize the working class, strengthen leadership over the workers, and develop the workers' movement. Liu Shaoqi, who was a member of the Chinese Socialist Youth League and a member of the Communist Party of China at Dongfang University in the winter of 1921, was very familiar with this central task. Since the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, with the gradual development of the workers' movement, the Party needs more Marxists with firm beliefs to engage in the organization and leadership of the workers' movement. In the spring of 1922, Liu Shaoqi returned to China from Moscow according to the arrangement of the party organization. After returning to China, he was assigned to work in the Secretariat of the Chinese Labor Organization (the open organization of the workers' movement led by our Party at that time). Later, he participated in and led a series of workers' movements in Anyuan, Guangzhou, Wuhan and other places, and grew into a famous leader of the Chinese workers' movement.
In the column "How do you feel about the present society?" fill in the following: "Capitalism can no longer rule the whole world, and the social organization of socialism will inevitably begin to be realized by human efforts. "The victory of the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 and the spread of Marxism in China made the revolutionaries who were in a state of confusion in China and who were looking for a way to save the country and the people find a new way out. Liu Shaoqi's feelings show his firm belief in socialism and communism, and embody the courage of young Liu Shaoqi to dare to take responsibility and his willingness to contribute his strength to the great cause of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
In the column of "Opinions on the League", fill in the following: "Pay attention to training the sense of responsibility of the members to the group, and make the group an action for external development." These trainings were based on military conditions in order to become a revolutionary group, but the method had to be determined by the circumstances of the time. This opinion reflects that the young Liu Shaoqi has some thoughts on the development of the regiment. He hoped that the League organization would be a united and powerful collective, a collective that could continue to grow and develop, and that it had the ability to act. In order for a regimental organization to become a revolutionary organization, it must have a strong armed force as a solid backing. As for "the method must be determined by the circumstances at the time", it also reflects his insistence on seeking truth from facts. It is necessary to "train League members to have a sense of responsibility for the group," which is not only a suggestion for the development of the League organization, but also a requirement for League members, to be a League member with a sense of responsibility, to unite closely around the League organization and the party.
A questionnaire of League members allows us to see Liu Shaoqi, a young man in the early 20th century, who is concerned about the fate of the country. He can closely link his future and destiny with the fate of the party and the country, and can unswervingly follow the party. This has a great deal to do with his later growth as an outstanding leader of the Chinese workers' movement and his emergence as a major leader of the party and the state.
A questionnaire of League members was written down by a young man who was loyal to the party and a confession of unswervingly following the party. Not only Liu Shaoqi, but also young people Shi Cuntong and Fang Zhimin filled out the questionnaire during the same period, which also reflected their firm determination to follow the party. Shi Cuntong wrote "the communist revolutionary movement" in the column "What are you willing to do now?" and Fang Zhimin wrote "I have nothing to think about except the revolution" in the column "What do you want to do now?" This questionnaire is a portrayal of the young people in the early 20th century, and let us feel that Chinese young people have always demonstrated the mission of youth in the mission of the times, realized their own progress in promoting the progress of the times, and bloomed the brilliance of life.
In the new era, in the face of the mission and responsibility of the new era, the majority of young people should learn from Liu Shaoqi and other revolutionaries of the older generation, unswervingly listen to the party, follow the party, cherish dreams and be down-to-earth, dare to think and act and do good work, and contribute wisdom and strength to the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. (The author is an associate research librarian of Comrade Liu Shaoqi Memorial Hall)
Selected from "Xinxiang Review" Issue 6, 2024
First instance: Chen Jiaqi
Second trial: Wu Jin
Third trial: Zhang Qinfan
Read the party journal in the palm of your hand
Xinxiang Review
Issue 6, 2024
Click on the cover
Go to the e-newsletter