N Haidu all-media reporter Wu Xuewei
Image courtesy of the interviewee
Recently, the Wisdom Haidu APP reported that "the 74-year-old Nanjing old man returned to Rong to find his relatives and recognized his cousin after a 58-year absence" (previously reported: "Tears in the eyes! Nanjing old man returns to Rong to find relatives, and his dream comes true after 58 years!"), which is moving. In addition to returning to Rong to find relatives, Duan Qishun, a 75-year-old man in Nanjing, told reporters about another significance of his return to his hometown Fuzhou after a 58-year absence: looking for his family story.
A man with many aspirations
It's been hard to find for a long time
"My mother often said that there were two sages in the family who participated in the Xinhai Revolution. One was my grandfather, Li Shufan (1883-1947), a native of Minxian (present-day Fuzhou), and the other was my grandfather's younger brother and uncle, Li Hui (1886-1930), who was known as Zhongmou. Duan Qishun's mother, Li Xiaoqing, was the second daughter of Li Shufan, a member of the China League who had assisted Lin Sen in organizing the "Fujian Student Association in Shanghai," and his father, Duan Qiangzhong, was one of the leaders of the "June 2" student movement launched by progressive intellectuals and young students in Anqing, Anhui Province in 1921. The children and grandchildren have respect for their fathers who participated in the Xinhai Revolution, and it will be passed on from generation to generation.
Li Shufan and his family (provided by the interviewee)
Li Shufan (provided by the interviewee)
"The revolution in modern China can succeed step by step, and the society can achieve today's development results, after all, it is 'standing on the shoulders of giants', which is the result of generations of revolutionaries with their struggles. As a descendant of people with lofty ideals, I am sorry for our fathers if I don't sort out and record their deeds. Based on this idea, from 2011 to 2014, Duan Qishun, who retired from Nanjing Electric Power Automation Equipment Factory, began to systematically sort out his family history.
But under the specific action, Duan Qi discovered the difficulties by the way. Although his mother left a lot of photos, after all, the Xinhai Revolution has been a hundred years ago, and the people, times and places in many photos, as the third generation of aspirants, Duan Qishun has been at a loss and needs his parents to help identify them. My parents have passed away, where can I find my deceased?" First, there is an extreme lack of information at hand; second, Pepsi is busy, which delays progress; and third, the descendants of Xinhai have been bumpy for a hundred years, and it is inevitable that they will lose their ambition in their hearts. Talking about the difficulties encountered on the way of exploration, Duan Qishun concluded. In October 2022, the Nanjing Forum NJF, a non-governmental organization in Nanjing that is committed to exploring modern Chinese history since the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and commemorating the sages who have contributed to the nation, launched an interview program entitled "Oral History of the Descendants of Xinhai Scholars". With the assistance of volunteers and the visits and investigations conducted by relatives in the United States, Shanghai, Taiwan and other places, Duan Qishun slowly pieced together the distinctive face of his maternal grandparents in history.
Brotherhood Revolution
Li Shufan and Li Hui brothers were born in a family of physicians, and their father Li Huaikui has medical expertise and travels everywhere. Later, he went to Taiwan to practice medicine and unfortunately passed away. The Lee brothers relied on their mother to raise them. The two were smart since childhood, and were influenced by Zheng Chenggong and Huang Daozhou to resist the Qing Dynasty and restore their sights when they were young, hated and hated the corruption of the Qing Dynasty, cared about the country's peril, and studied very hard. In 1901, Li Shufan was admitted to the Jiangnan Naval Academy, where he met his classmate Yang Yunke, Zhao Sheng, who was later the commander-in-chief of the Huanghuagang Uprising, and others. In the spring of 1903, Li Shufan returned to Fuzhou and participated in the establishment of the "Yiwen Society", and later moved to Shanghai to assist Lin Sen in organizing the "Fujian Student Association in Shanghai" and carrying out liaison work, and later participated in the China League established by Sun Yat-sen. In 1904, Li Shufan served as the superintendent (i.e., principal) of Hunan Changsha Industrial School, and appointed a number of Huanghuagang scholars, including Zhao Sheng, Huang Xing and others. After the success of the Wuchang Uprising in 1911, Li Shufan also responded positively and participated in the battle to recover Hunan. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Shufan was awarded the "Anti-Japanese War Medal" and served as a member of the Central Supervisory Commission of the Republic of China. In his lifetime, he successively served as the dean of Fujian Overseas Chinese Public School, the director of the Fujian Patrol Police Training Institute, presided over the Hunan Changsha Industrial School three times, and in 1932, he also served as the compilation of the "Central Party History and Historical Materials Compilation Committee".
At the beginning of April 1911, before the Huanghuagang Uprising, some members of the Fujian Provincial League took a group photo with Yu Peilun in Hong Kong, from the right in the front row Shi Ming, Huang Zhanyun, Huang Guangbi, Gao Yishu (a member of the Ten Han Troupe), Li Hui, and from the right in the back row Wang Xuewen, Zheng Lie, Lin Wen, and Chen Yangbi. (Nanjing Forum NJF)
The younger brother Li Hui studied in the Hunan Changsha Industrial School, where his brother was the superintendent, and knew Song Jiaoren and Huang Xing very well, and later joined the Huaxing Association. In 1905, he entered Keio University in Japan. After the Huaxinghui, Guangfuhui and Xingzhonghui merged into the China League, he organized the 14th branch (Fujian member) with Lin Wen and others, served as the publisher of the League's organ newspaper "Minbao", and was one of the first ten Fujian students studying in Japan to join the League. In the summer of 1906, after the establishment of the Fujian branch of the League, Li Hui and Lin Wen were designated as the liaison between the headquarters of the League and the Fujian branch. In the spring of 1911, Li Hui participated in the preparations for the "March 29" uprising in Guangzhou with Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing, but when he arrived in Guangzhou from Guangxi, he learned that the uprising had failed, and comrades such as Lin Wen, Fang Shengdong, and Lin Juemin, who were close friends with him, were martyred. He was very sad and indignant, and thought that he "did not die as a great regret", and often cried out to the heavens: "Wow! I must not die with yellow flowers!" After that, he continued to participate in the Fuzhou Uprising in November 1911, and went to Nanyang to solicit military debts for the revolution, raising a total of one million and returning.
Go to Rong to visit relatives and remember the past
"My grandfather Li Shufan once collected and sorted out the posthumous works for his brother Li Hui, but his own life history and the twists and turns of the Xinhai Revolution were not written and sorted out, and what I learned was only very rare, which is regrettable. Duan Qishun said that through the online public documents and the archives of the Second Historical Archives of China in Nanjing, he successively obtained limited materials of Li Shufan and Li Hui. There are many records about the deeds of his uncle Li Hui, but more details about his maternal grandfather Li Shufan are hidden in the dust of history. This became an important reason for his visit to Fuzhou. After the release of the oral history manuscript of the Nanjing Forum, the Fujian Xinhai Descendants Association contacted Duan Qishun and provided him with more information about Fujian. In addition to Li Shufan and Li Hui, Duan Qishun's uncles Li Chulian and Li Chuyao were also underground workers in Fuzhou before the liberation, and the Li family can be described as a man with lofty ideals. Since 1966, Duan Qishun, who was busy with work, has never returned to Fuzhou, and everyone is very happy to be in touch this time. "I didn't even care about eating, so I communicated with everyone at the dinner table. Even his aunt in Macau sent some information, which greatly enriched Duan Qishun's family tree. He also found more traces of his ancestors in Fuzhou's Xinhai historical materials and the collection of Fuzhou Municipal Archives.
In 2024, Duan Qishun (the person in the middle and blue clothes) and Fuzhou Li's relatives and friends gather (provided by the interviewee)
"My mother often talked to me about the deeds of my ancestors, and my upbringing was also deeply influenced by my father, who aspired to be a strong country. Duan Qishun recalled that under the influence of his father, from going to the countryside to the flood control work of the Jiangpu County Water Conservancy Bureau, and then to the Nanjing Electric Power Automation Equipment Factory, he was still down-to-earth and willing to work hard in his turbulent career, striving for the first place in the country's construction: "I have strong hands-on ability, and I have some technology, and I am afraid of starving to death in the famine year?" Today, the descendants of the Li family are scattered in Fujian, the United States, Taiwan and other places, but the cape of the world is constantly separated from each other. The national wind and rain in the transition period of the times often make families and individuals taste honor and sadness in the changes. Duan Qishun felt that the rise and fall of the country and the family shared honor and disgrace, which also made him feel that the responsibility of recording the footprints of his ancestors was heavy. But unfortunately, during this trip to Fuzhou, there is still little information about Li Shufan, and he is still committed to searching for more traces of his ancestors in the sea of history.
With the help of relevant people from the Fujian Xinhai Descendants Association, the old man Duan Qishun found more traces of his ancestors from Fujian historical materials
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Editor: Xiao Yan