Group photo of colleagues in the editorial department of The Morning Bell (the 5th person from left is Li Dazhao)
On April 29, 1927, the 38-year-old Li Dazhao was secretly murdered in the Jingshi Detention Center in Xijiaomin Lane, Beijing. His coffin was buried in a temple outside Xuanwu Gate for 6 years. His wife Zhao Shulan took her children to seek the help of peking university colleagues, and 13 peking university professors, including Jiang Menglin and Shen Yinmo, took great risks and initiated a public funeral for Li Dazhao under the secret arrangement of the underground party organization in Beiping. This is not an ordinary public funeral, but a protest and demonstration against the reactionary ruling clique that killed Comrade Li Dazhao; a revolutionary propaganda to the broad masses of the people; and an oath to Comrade Li Dazhao: Inherit the legacy of the martyrs and carry the revolution through to the end.
On April 28, 1927, Li Dazhao, the main founder of the Communist Party of China, was hanged by Zhang Zuolin and a special court controlled by him at the age of 38 in the Jingshi Detention Center in Xijiaomin Lane, Beijing.
Li Xinghua was the eldest daughter of Li Dazhao, who was only 16 years old at the time. She recorded in "Remembering My Father Li Dazhao":
After my father's sacrifice, at the gate of our house in Chaoyang, the hooligans and spies did not decrease, but increased. Sometimes they even publicly ran to our homes to search, and the police station ordered our family to return to their original hometown within a limited period of time. We can't live in Beijing. We went back to Changchun Temple, Xiaxia Street, outside Xuanwu Gate, to bury my father, and then suspended the coffin in the Zhejiang Temple on Miaoguangge Street. On May 11, my mother took me, my two younger brothers and two younger sisters back to the countryside of Laoting, and my brother also left Beijing. Our family was thus separated.
After his father was in trouble, due to the white terror, he could not find a suitable cemetery to bury him. Later, with the help of his friends, it took a lot of trouble to try to temporarily stop his father's coffin in the Zhejiang Temple of Miaoguang Pavilion outside Xuanwu Gate. The coffin was required to pay the rent on time every month at Zhejiang Temple; but at that time, our whole family had returned to the countryside, where could we come to Beiping in time to pay the rent? Month after month, year after year, the more the rent money accumulates, and we can't afford to pay it. In this way, his father's coffin was parked in the Zhejiang Temple for six years; in these long years, no one dared to pay tribute to him during the New Year's Festival.
In early April 1933, Zhao Linglan came to Beiping from Laoting with her children and lived in the Yihe Apartment in Xicheng District's West Blacksmith Hutong, preparing to take care of Li Dazhao's aftermath. When the party organization learned of this news, it immediately sent a comrade from the "Mutual Masonic Society" to discuss the burial with Zhao Shulan.
Regarding the results of this consultation, Li Xinghua recorded in his memoirs: "The comrades who came conveyed to their mother the opinions of the party organization: My father sacrificed himself for the revolution, and this time he was given a funeral, and a mass mourning activity should be carried out; through the funeral, the atrocities of the reactionaries in brutally killing the Communists should be exposed, and revolutionary justice should be upheld." The comrades who came asked the mother if she agreed to do this? Without hesitation, the mother replied: 'Mr. Li belongs to the Party, he died for the revolution; As long as I can do it, I will try my best to do it. ’”
Singing the Internationale at the ceremony
According to the arrangements of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, the Mutual Masonic Association formed a preparatory group for the public burial of Li Dazhao. In mid-March, the preparatory group held its first meeting in Xianglai Street. At the meeting, the spirit of the instructions of the party organization was conveyed and the specific implementation methods were discussed. The members of the various Masonic branches in Beiping Dongcheng, Xicheng and Nancheng who accepted the task separately went to collect photographs, biographical materials, resumes of martyrs, compile and print propaganda materials, make party flags, and carve stone tablets. In mid-April, the preparatory group met again at the Hubei Guild Hall outside Xuanwu Gate to discuss the transportation of stone tablets.
On April 19, an obituary was published in the advertising column of the Beiping Morning Post. Peking University then took two steps: First, Peking University President Jiang Menglin came forward to go to The Xiangshan Wan'an Cemetery to handle the procedures for purchasing the tomb. It turned out that the Wan'an Cemetery had already learned that Li Dazhao had been hanged, and refused on the pretext of "dying of death" and "destroying feng shui". After several negotiations, he reluctantly agreed, but only gave an acupuncture point in the Renzi group of the southwest corner soil area. Secondly, Professor He Jihong of Peking University came forward to consult with manager Di Qinsun in the Xincheng Bar Room in West Huangcheng Outside Di'an Gate. When he heard that it was the spirit of Li Dazhao, he was already aware of the arduousness of this "task.". The old manager suggested to Mr. Ho that funerals should preferably take the traditional form and follow the old customs to disguise the eyes and ears of the authorities. In fact, these things have long been arranged by the underground party organizations.
Funerals are more expensive if they are handled according to the old custom. To this end, Peking University President Jiang Menglin and 13 other people launched a fundraising campaign, each donating 20 yuan; in addition, Liang Shuming and others donated 50 yuan each, Ma Yi junior donated 20 yuan each, li Siguang, Zheng Tianting and others donated 10 yuan each. Lu Xun, a former friend from other places, donated 50 yuan, Dai Jitao donated 100 yuan, Chen Gongbo donated 300 yuan, Wang Jingwei donated 1,000 yuan, and so on. The donation was collected by the Accounting Department of Peking University, and the documents still exist. According to statistics: the first phase of donations of more than 300 yuan, the second phase of donations of more than 270 yuan. In addition, various revolutionary groups in Shanghai also sent donations of 200 yuan.
On April 22, a public festival was held at the Zhejiang Temple in Miaoguang Pavilion, Xia Xie Street, Xuanwu Gate. According to the Morning Post reported on April 23, 1933: "The widow of the late professor Li Dazhao of Peking University held a public sacrifice for Li Dazhao at the Zhejiang Temple of Xuanwai Miaoguang Pavilion yesterday... Li's former friends Yi Peiji, Li Shuhua, Huang Shaogu, Ma Yuzao, Zhou Zuoren, etc., all personally went to pay tribute. In terms of groups, there are the Peking University Gonggong Festival Mr. Li Dazhao Alumni Association, and the Literary and Art Frontline Society. ”
The World Journal reported on Li Dazhao's funeral
At about 8:00 a.m. on April 23, 500 or 600 people, mostly young students, as well as workers and soldiers, were already making offerings to Li Dazhao's shrine and preparing to attend the funeral.
At 9:30 a.m., Meng Santou, who was on the bar room, led 16 barmen into the spirit hall, and tied a lifting rod to each of the four corners of the coffin with a large rope and a live buckle. After filial piety is done, let each class of loudspeakers blow in front of the spirit in turn. At this time, a student approached the band conductor and asked if he could play the Internationale, but the band did not accept it. With the big gong of the official drum, the national form of trumpets and whistles sound in unison. Then, the Qingyin gong and drum "Nine Fu Ban" played the song "Nine Emperor Heavens" with sheng and flute, and finally the orchestra played mourning music with pipe trumpets and large and small brass gongs. Without Allowing Meng Santou to shout" "Filial piety of the Family, please rise", the temporarily elected emcee in the student team shouted: "All solemn!" "Sing the Internationale!" "Three minutes of silent mourning to martyr Li Dazhao!"
The tragic song resounded inside and outside the Zhejiang Temple. At this time, outside the gate of Zhejiang Temple, there was already a sea of flags, umbrellas, and flags, and the students' self-made slogans, banners, and links were also mixed in, which was very impressive. There are no less than a thousand people gathered around the city.
When the bar was raised, the barmen were not asked to shout "add money" to thank the reward, but the students shouted: "Li Dazhao's spirit does not die!" "Revenge for the martyrs!" Red and green leaflets and white paper money fluttered on the spot, and the paper money also had slogans printed with red stamps in advance. After lifting the bar, the bar man put on his shoulder and headed for the cemetery. The 32 barmen carried a large red lacquer bar on their shoulders, on which li dazhao Lingzi was attached, and a roll of red satin embroidery was set up on the outside.
The funeral ceremony alarmed the authorities to intervene in the interception
The Morning Post reported on April 24, 1933 that Li Dazhao's coffin "went straight to Xizhimen through Xiaxiao Street, Caishikou, and Xuanwu Gate after being introduced from Zhejiang Temple." It can be seen from this that the route of the public burial of Li Dazhao in that year was out of the Zhejiang Temple Mountain Gate, turn left, go east, still take the alley of Miaoguang Pavilion, go to xia diagonal street, turn right, go south to Guang'anmen Inner Street, then east to Caishikou, then north to Xuanwu Gate, Xidan Archway, West Fourth Arch, Xinjiekou, and then to the west, out of Xizhimen to Wan'an Cemetery.
In order to cover Li Baohua, Li Zhenhua, a relative of the Li family, was responsible for the incident of beating the flag in front of the bar. The inscription on the soul-inducing banner reads: "The late Chinese Manifest Examination Li Fujun Shou often conceals the spirit of the Great Zhao Soul Banner." He was born on the sixth day of the first month of October in the fifteenth year of the Qing Dynasty, and died on March 29, the sixteenth year of the Republic of China. ”
The crowd of funeral personnel gathered more and more, and the crowds crowded the road, and cars, trams, and various vehicles were cut off. The small buildings lined with shops along the street were also full of people, and some people were taking pictures with cameras. From the moment the procession entered Xuannei, every time they went to a prosperous place, there were revolutionary mass groups blocking the way for public sacrifice. At the xidan intersection, the procession suddenly stopped, and someone took out a Chinese communist flag that had been prepared and draped it on Li Dazhao's coffin.
The local authorities already knew about the public burial of Li Dazhao. Later, after passing through the downtown area many road festivals, leaflets were distributed, sacrifice texts were read, and slogans were shouted, but they also really alarmed the authorities. The Special Service Group of the Central Gendarmerie Corps, the Peiping Detective Team, and the Inner Fourth District Police Station dispatched police to intercept them. At about 12:00 noon, the funeral column passed by the West Fourth Arch Building, where there was Li Zhi's old and The Leting Tongxiang Road Festival. While the altar was being read, several trucks suddenly drove, full of heavily armed military police. After the policeman got out of the car, he first knocked the butt of the gun reading the sacrifice to the ground, and then kicked the offering table over. As a result, the young students came into physical conflict with the police constitution sent by the authorities. In the end, the police constitution violently dispersed the funeral procession, and many people were bleeding and injured.
When mr. Xincheng saw that something was wrong, he hurriedly summoned Meng Santou to remove the "hood" on the coffin cover and the "embroidery piece" on the deacon and hold it in his arms. At this time, the barmen, deacons, drummers, monks, and others who carried the spirits all ran to the tea house in the small courtyard of the Xi'an Market on the east side of Xisi North Road to "take refuge." Only a large bar, coffin and hood were left on the road.
Li Xinghua remembered very clearly, "In an instant, the West Fourth Arch Became a Lonely and Cold Empty Field. At this time, only the mother sitting in the carriage and the old groom who drove the carriage remained, as well as our group of funeral children and a few relatives and friends, and then the crimson coffin."
The underground party disguised as Li Dazhao's relatives and friends immediately studied countermeasures. If the gendarmes stop the coffin from advancing, they will park the coffin on the street in protest as originally planned. If they do not obstruct, they will move on. Because the gendarmerie only snatched away the party flag and dispersed the masses, they did not stop the coffin. After the military police, secret agents, and gendarmes had collected their troops, the deacons found the crowd and continued to move forward. However, some police officers still followed until they reached the Baishi Bridge outside Xizhimen.
In 1920, Li Dazhao initiated the establishment of a communist group and founded the weekly magazine "Labor Voice"
The stone tablet is buried in the ground with the coffin
Xiangshan Wan'an Cemetery has finally arrived. Li Xinghua wrote: "When we walked to my father's cemetery, we saw a new stone stele lying on the path next to the tomb, facing the sky, and the bright red sickle axe engraved on the stele glittered in the sun. The next paragraph of the inscription indicates the revolutionary mass organization. ”
The stele is bluestone, 183 cm high, 46 cm wide and 16 cm thick. The stele is engraved with a red five-pointed star, and the center of the five-pointed star is engraved with a black sickle axe. The obverse of the stele is inscribed "Tomb of Comrade Li Dazhao, the Leader of the Chinese Revolution", and the inscription on the back is as follows:
Comrade Li Dazhao is the most loyal and resolute believer in Marxism-Leninism, who launched the movement to organize the Communist Party of China in 1921 and actually led the toiling masses of workers and peasants in the north to struggle for their own interests and the interests of the entire class!
1925 - In 1927, the Chinese Revolution broke out! As a result, the National Bourgeois Kuomintang shamelessly surrendered to the imperialist and feudal forces, and under the direct command of imperialism, yu Xuan launched a large-scale anti-communist campaign on the sixth day of the sixth month, colluded with Zhang Zuolin to search the Soviet embassy, arrested Comrade Li Dazhao and more than 80 other people, and was hanged to death in the detention center of the Beijing Normal District Court on the 28th of the 28th month, with 20 victims. This great spirit of sacrifice is laying the foundation for the victory of China's anti-imperialist and agrarian revolution and giving the proletarian fighters the most powerful and best example. The consolidation and expansion of the Chinese Soviet and the Red Army is now the result of the great sacrifices of the comrades who died!
In April 1933, various groups of the Three Beiping Citizens' Revolution held a public funeral for Comrade Li Dazhao at the Xiangshan Wan'an Cemetery
After much deliberation, everyone felt that under the circumstances at that time, such a stone stele could not be openly erected in front of the tomb, and had to be buried in the ground with the coffin. Therefore, it was not until March 18, 1983, during the burial of li dazhao martyrs, that it was discovered.
On May 28, Zhao Shulan died of illness, and Peking University tongren came forward again. Mr. Liu Fu was asked to write two stele and erect them in front of the tomb. In Mrs. Li's inscription, the word "卒" is used - died in a certain month of a certain year; Mr. Li Dazhao's use of the word "death" means "died of tyranny" or "died of non-life". In early June, Zhao Shulan and Li Dazhao were buried together in Wan'an Cemetery.
The original tomb of Li Dazhao and his wife Zhao Shulan was outside the south wall of the present-day Li Dazhao Martyrs' Cemetery, facing west and east. The two stone monuments are both more than 1 meter high and 1 meter wide. The inscription was written by Professor Liu Bannong. After the completion of the Li Dazhao Martyrs' Cemetery, the original tomb was repaired back to the soil, and the original tombstones were retained at the original site for posterity to hang.
——Excerpt from Yanhuang Chunqiu, Issue 04, 2019
Author: Zhou Jingbao
Editor: Zhou Yiqian