In addition to Hong Kong and Macau, there is another place in China that has been "forcibly leased" for 99 years, do you know where it is? History is always full of drama and twists and turns, and a small area has been forcibly leased by foreign powers for nearly a century. How many tragic stories have happened in this land? What price did the Chinese people pay? How did this war-torn region finally return to the embrace of the motherland? Let's trace this humiliating history and find out.
A small and humble fishing village
The mountains are rippling, the sea is wide and the clouds are rolling, and a small fishing village on the coast of the East China Sea is originally peaceful and peaceful. It is surrounded by mountains, backed by the sea, lush forests and a pleasant environment. The endless blue sea is home to countless fish, shrimp and shellfish, and has become the home of generations of fishermen.
The villagers have lived a living from fishing for generations, and although they live in poverty, they also live a carefree life. When night falls, I see the lights on the sea, and the fishing boats returning, loaded with shrimp, crabs and fresh fish, and men, women and children compete to divide the delicious food.
In the evening, the salty and wet sea breeze blows slowly, with a strong fishy smell, and the old fishermen will steam the oyster pot and desserts one by one, tasting this salty and delicious taste. The children chased after me in the moonlight, frolicking and playing, full of carefree and innocent smiling faces.
There is an ancient Tanah Lot temple in the middle of the small fishing village, the temple is tall, and the vicissitudes of life are still the same. Every festive season, the villagers bring their families and relatives to worship the Buddha and ask for peace.
In the early morning, a round of fiery red sun slowly rose, and the old fishermen walked out along the trestle bridge with fishing baskets, fish jumps, nets and other fishing gear. The children squatted on the beach to build sandcastles, build stones, catch shells, and play innocently. The children's laughter was mixed with the undulating sound of the waves, which was cheerful and melodious, causing the waves to dance with them.
Such a peaceful and tranquil scene is just like a picture of paradise, which is desirable. But who would have thought that this place would also arouse the covetous eyes of the great powers. The iron hooves of greed will soon be trampled on this side of the world, and the era of peace will be completely broken.
The iron heel of the great powers has leveled the era of peace
In the second half of the 19th century, the Western powers set off a frenzy to carve up China's territory. For a time, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and other countries relied on force to achieve great results on Chinese soil and seize a large number of colonies. In this frenzied wave of aggression, the Western powers eyed the rich land of China, aiming to use colonial rule to extract the rich resources of the Chinese nation.
As a small and inconspicuous fishing village, it also became a coveted target of the Great Powers. In 1897, a mysterious French steamer, the Blanc Watt, set sail from France, loaded with the conspiracy of the French invaders, and slowly sailed towards the waters of China.
At that time, France was in the midst of an important period of the Industrial Revolution, and there was a huge demand for raw materials and labor. At this time, this small fishing village with a strategic location near the bay came into the eyes of the French. The French believed that the establishment of a naval base here would greatly promote the development of their ocean-going trade.
So, the French went into action. They took great pains to name the small fishing village "Bayard City" as a sign of the coming colonial rule. On April 22, 1898, a formidable French fleet gathered momentum and quickly seized the small fishing village and raised the French flag, declaring the occupation of the land.
The corrupt and incompetent Qing government hesitated in the face of the French hooves, and finally signed the Sino-French Treaty of Concession of Guangzhou Bay in 1899, ceding the small fishing village and the vast sea area around it to the French colonists for a period of 99 years.
In this way, a small fishing village that was once peaceful and quiet became the object of French colonial rule in the blink of an eye. Here, the French burned, killed, looted, and ran rampant, completely trampling the homes of the local people. A peaceful scene was trampled by iron hooves, and was replaced by a tragic situation of mourning and gunsmoke.
The indomitable struggle of the people of the fishing village
In the face of the iron hooves of the French colonizers stepping on their homes, the people of the fishing village were not afraid, but with an unyielding fighting spirit, they spontaneously organized themselves and waged a stubborn struggle against colonial rule.
At first, a group of patriots risked their lives to secretly plan an armed uprising. They quietly collected weapons, formed vigilante groups, propagated patriotism everywhere, and called on the people to defend their homeland together.
One night in 1902, patriots set up an ambush on the garrison of the French colonial authorities. In the darkness, the gunfire suddenly rang out, and a brutal colonial war began. The warriors bravely marched forward and engaged in a fierce gun battle with the colonial army, and the scene was very chaotic for a time.
However, the uprising ended in failure. The French colonial forces quickly crushed the armed revolt, arresting the ringleaders and severely punishing them. What is singing and crying is that in order to incite the people to revolt, a group of people with lofty ideals would rather die than give in, shouting the slogan of "recovering the homeland", and remained loyal until the execution.
The blood of patriots has ignited the hope of more people in fishing villages to fight. Several intellectuals who had studied in Hong Kong returned to their hometowns and responded to the call for protest, using their new knowledge to promote the idea of national independence to the villagers and organize the masses to carry out strikes, marches and other peaceful protests.
Although the people of the fishing village were unarmed, whenever the colonial army oppressed, they would gather in groups, holding up patriotic slogans and shouting the slogan "French colonizers get out". The women did everything they could, some sewing the protest flags with needles and threads, while others secretly provided food and cover for the patriots.
The firm power of the Motherland will eventually triumph
In the face of the iron-fisted rule of the French colonizers, although the people of the fishing village fought hard, their strength was limited. It was not until the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 that the Chinese government gained enough strength to begin working to regain the occupied territories.
At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai, then Premier of the Chinese Government, personally wrote a letter to the French Government, demanding that the French side earnestly implement the provisions of the "Sino-French Special Article on the Extension of the Hong Kong Concession" and return Guangzhou Bay to China on December 31, 1997, when Hong Kong's sovereignty was handed over.
However, the French government turned a blind eye to this. Zhou Enlai had to negotiate with the French again to show the Chinese government's determination to recover the leased territories. In November 1963, Zhou Enlai, then Premier of the State Council, publicly pointed out in his government work report: "The term of the Hong Kong and Guangzhou Bay concessions expired in 1997, and we insisted on recovering them all." ＂
At the insistence of the Chinese government, the French government finally agreed in 1966 to negotiate with China on the return of Canton Bay. At the beginning of the negotiations, there were serious differences between the parties over the length of the lease. The French side insisted on extending the lease until 1997, while the Chinese side insisted on recovering the territory as soon as possible and took a resolute attitude.
After a long period of mediation, the French side finally made concessions under the tough attitude of the Chinese government. In June 1973, China and France signed the Agreement on the Early Recovery of the French Concession of Guangzhou Bay, and decided to shorten the lease period of Guangzhou Bay to April 20, 1976. This meant that France would have to return the concession to China more than 20 years in advance.
At this point, Guangzhou Bay finally got rid of nearly 80 years of colonial rule. On April 20, 1976, the Chinese government sent a commissioner to formally hand over the French representative. When the five-star red flag was raised over the fishing village again, the people spontaneously cheered, and the scene that they had been looking forward to year after year finally came. Since then, this small fishing village has returned to the embrace of the motherland, and has undergone a gorgeous transformation, injecting new vitality and vitality.
Patriotism is passed down from generation to generation
This humiliating history has witnessed the indomitable and tenacious struggle of the Chinese nation under the iron heel of the great powers. Nearly 80 years of colonial rule have brought untold suffering to this small fishing village, but at the same time, it has also forged the people's indomitable patriotism.
Even during the period of French rent, the people of the fishing village still tried to inherit this love for the motherland in their own way. They named the children "Revenge" and "Return", hoping that the new generation would always remember the ideal of reclaiming their homes. The stories of the past struggles are passed on from generation to generation, and the patriotic blood is passed on in one line; Every festival, the villagers gather together to miss their homeland and sing about their homeland.
It wasn't until 1976, when the five-star red flag was raised again over the fishing village, that people's patriotic fervor was finally released. The older generation of protesters climbed the stairs and kissed the national flag with tears; Young people shouted the slogan of long live the motherland, filled with exhilarating joy; The women gathered around and applauded and cheered. It was as if at this moment, all the suffering was swept away, and only pride and pride in the motherland remained.
After liberation, this small fishing village was quickly renovated. The new Chinese government funded the construction of schools, hospitals, docks and other infrastructure, which completely changed the backward appearance. Under the appeal of the party and the government, the people of the fishing village have also learned new knowledge and skills, and have lived a new life of peace and prosperity.
However, no matter how life has changed, people will always remember the memories of these eventful years. Some of the old objects left over from the past in the fishing village reflect those eventful years, such as the execution bench left during the period of legal lease, which have been properly preserved by the locals and have become a valuable resource for promoting patriotic education.
As a result, the government has built a memorial hall in the area, so that future generations can forever remember this humiliating colonial history and draw strength and wisdom from it. On major festivals, patriotic education activities are in full swing here, and the older generation of witnesses will be invited to tell the past, so that the spirit of patriotism will burn and be passed on from generation to generation.