The Paper's reporter Yang Zhe was sent from Anqing and Hefei, Anhui Province
【Editor's Note】
The blood of martyrs illuminates our way.
Since 2014, the state has legally designated September 30 of each year as the Chinese Martyrs' Memorial Day. Since that year, the annual commemoration of martyrs on 30 September has risen to the level of national will.
Martyrs are the most bloody people in a country, and they are also the people who bravely stand up when the country encounters danger. A nation that respects heroes and martyrs is a nation with blood and hope. Those who dye the red flag with blood and light up the dawn of the republic with their lives, those who turn their original intentions into conscious actions and practice the mission of the republic with their lives, are worthy of our eternal memory.
September 30, 2021 is the eighth Martyrs' Day in China. From this day on, the surging news launched the "This prosperous world as you wish" for eight consecutive days to pay tribute to the heroic martyrs special report, in order to show its virtue, but also enough to comfort future generations.
No. 22 Shuiguan Lane, Anqing, is the starting place of the lives of Chen Yannian and Chen Qinian, the sons of Chen Duxiu, the early leaders of the Communist Party of China.
Not far away, the Yangtze River rushes eastward. 500 kilometers away from Shanghai Longhua Martyrs Cemetery, the "Erchen Brothers" are buried here.
Young and away from home, never goodbye. Talking about the scene when the two uncles Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian bid farewell to their hometown, Chen Duxiu's granddaughter Chen Changpu burst into tears and told the surging news (www.thepaper.cn) that when her uncles Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian left Anqing to study in Shanghai, her father Chen Songnian was just five years old. "The two uncles hugged their father tightly, but they didn't expect that they would never see each other again."
Chen Yannian (left), Chen Qiaonian (right)
The hit TV series "The Age of Awakening" gave viewers across the country the opportunity to "re-discover" the heroic brothers Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian. However, compared with his father Chen Duxiu, the historical materials left by these two prematurely sacrificed brothers are very rare, and many people still have limited understanding of them. Standing in the depths of history and looking back at the centenary of the founding of the PARTY, the great contributions made by the "Erchen Brothers" to the development of the early revolutionary struggle of the Communist Party of China should be revisited and remembered by future generations.
On the eve of the 8th Martyrs' Day, the surging reporter came to Anhui to find the growth footprints of Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian, and also recorded the efforts made by several ordinary people over the years to inherit and carry forward the spirit of Yanqiao.
When you go to the juvenile body, return to the heroic soul
In Anqing at the end of September, there was still a little bit of sweltering heat in the air. Located in Duxiu Garden on the northern outskirts of Anqing, the exhibition hall on the second floor of the exhibition hall displays historical materials and pictures related to the "Erchen Brothers", and Chen Changpu is familiar with everything here. "The lives of both uncles were short, one 29 and one only 26. Although life is short, they are born for China and for the people of Chinese. In Chen Changpu's view, the two uncles who were originally born into a wealthy family did not choose a comfortable life. They chose faith to join the revolution, and because of this, they shed their blood and finally sacrificed.
Chen Changpu. In addition to the signature, the pictures in this article are all pictures of The Paper's reporter Yang Zhe
Chen Duxiu's eldest son, Chen Yannian, was born in Anqing in 1898. Four years later, Chen Duxiu's second son, Chen QiaoNian, was born. In Anqing, the "Erchen Brothers" spent the most precious juvenile time in their lives.
In their early years, the two uncles studied at Anqing's private school, Shangzhi Primary School and Quanwan Middle School. They studied together and grew up together, laying a solid foundation for the realization of ideals and beliefs. Chen Changpu said.
Chen Changpu recalled that in 1915, Chen Duxiu returned to Shanghai from Japan and began to organize the magazine "New Youth". At that time, 17-year-old Chen Yannian could no longer resist his inner desire for the world, and he wrote to Chen Duxiu expressing his desire to go out to study. Chen Duxiu readily agreed, and Chen Yannian took his brother to bid farewell to his mother and left his hometown.
After arriving in Shanghai, the brothers entered the Shanghai French Tuition School to learn French. Two years later, he was admitted to Shanghai Aurora University (the predecessor of Fudan University) to study.
In the second half of 1919, the work-study movement in France arose throughout the country. Chen Qiaonian and Chen Yannian were also attracted by this movement, and the brothers resolutely decided to go to France to work and study. At the end of December of that year, the brothers boarded a French mail ship and, after more than forty days of sailing, arrived at the French port of Marseille.
During their time in France, they overcame the difficulties of life with tenacious perseverance and studied hard. In France, the brothers became acquainted with their classmates Zhou Enlai, Cai Hesen, and Zhao Shiyan, who studied in France, officially bid farewell to anarchism and became communist fighters.
In 1922, the two young men joined the Communist Party of China. In April 1923, the European Branch of the Communist Party of China sent 12 students, including the brothers, to study at the Communist University of Eastern Workers in Moscow.
Under the situation of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, in 1924 Chen Yannian was ordered to return to China and succeed Zhou Enlai as the secretary of the Guangzhou District Party Committee. In the autumn of the same year, Chen Qiaonian also returned to the motherland and served as the director of the Organization Department of the Beijing Prefectural Committee. Although they are in one south and one north, the brothers are jointly wearing the liver and guts of the Chinese revolution.
In April 1927, Chen Yannian was transferred to the secretary of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang District Committee of the Communist Party of China. Soon, Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12" counter-revolutionary coup, and a large number of Communists and workers and peasants were brutally killed, and the shanghai beach was immediately filled with blood.
At this time, Shanghai was already in extreme danger, but Chen Yannian resolutely came to Shanghai from Wuhan "retrograde" for the sake of the party's work, regardless of his personal safety.
On June 26, 1927, chen Yannian was arrested while presiding over a meeting of the Jiangsu provincial party committee in Shanghai for betrayal by traitors, and imprisoned in the prison of the Kuomintang Longhua Garrison Headquarters.
In order to obtain the ccp's core secrets from Chen Yannian's mouth, the enemy severely tortured Chen Yannian and found nothing. On July 4, the enemy secretly escorted Chen Yannian to Longhua for execution. For declaring, "Revolutionaries can only stand and die, never kneel!" Chen Yannian was rushed up by the murderous executioners and slashed him to death with a knife in a frenzy, and the scene was unbearable to see. At the time of his death, he was only 29 years old.
Chen Yannian's sacrifice was less than a year. On February 16, 1928, his younger brother Chen Qiaonian was also arrested for informing traitors. During his detention, the enemy also used various kinds of torture against Chen Qionian, but he always gritted his teeth and thwarted the enemy's plot again and again.
Gui Jiahong, a fellow prisoner who was imprisoned with Chen Qiaonian at that time, recalled in a letter to Sun Qiming, a researcher in party history: Before the enemy decided to kill Chen Qinian and three other important communists, he separated the other arrested comrades from them and moved them out of Longhua Prison. When the comrades bid farewell to Chen Qiaonian, Qiao Nian encouraged everyone to take good care of the revolution and continue to work for the party after being released from prison. Everyone was sad that he was about to be killed, but he still said optimistically: "Let our children and grandchildren enjoy the happiness of our predecessors!" ”
On June 6, 1926, Chen Qiaonian died heroically at the same place where Chen Yannian was righteous, at the age of 26. But this heroic declaration of his year was forever fixed in the heavens and earth of Long Hua, and also echoed in the hearts of future generations.
Chen Changpu told the surging news that the two uncles were single-minded in the revolutionary cause and did not even leave much video material in the world. The few individual photos were taken from group photos.
"I really miss them and I want to use every moment to promote them. Propagating Chen Duxiu's thoughts and the revolutionary spirit of my two uncles is my unshirkable duty and obligation as a descendant of the Chen family. Chen Changpu said emotionally.
The restoration of the former residence is about to start
In the lens of "The Age of Awakening", the heroic and righteous pictures of Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian made countless audiences "run in tears". Many spectators spontaneously went to the martyrs' cemetery in Longhua, Shanghai, where the two martyrs rested in peace, to mourn, lay flowers and commemorate.
On the 94th anniversary of Chen Yannian's righteousness, his tomb was piled with flowers
In their hometown of Anqing, the surging journalists also worked hard to find their footprints in the places where the "Erchen Brothers" grew up and studied.
Wang Jun, president of the Anhui River Cultural Research Association, has been working for many years to call for the start of the renovation of the "Erchen Reading Office" and the restoration of the "Former Residences of Chen Duxiu, Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian". He told The Paper that in the early 1980s, due to the needs of waterworks construction, the local government demolished the "Former Residence of Sanchen", which is indeed a regrettable thing.
Most of the bricks and stones that demolished the old house of the Chen family were used to build the walls on the north and west sides of the water supply company, which are still well preserved. The stone components of the former residence found in the process of demolition and relocation of the water supply company shall be protected by the cultural relics department in accordance with its duties. Wang Jun suggested that it is necessary to persist in using raw materials to rebuild at the original site.
Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian Reading Office
This year's TV series "The Age of Awakening" landed on the screen, opening the hearts of many young audiences with sincerity. The experiences of the martyrs Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian began to be known to more and more people. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wang Jun sent a report to the municipal leaders in his personal name in April this year, hoping that in the centenary of the founding of the party, the work of restoring the former residences of the martyrs Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian would be launched at the original site of Nanshuiguan to meet the admiration of hundreds of millions of viewers for the martyrs. "The main leaders of the municipal party committee have given positive instructions to my report, and this matter of many years of hard work has finally ushered in the spring."
According to the Anqing Evening News, on the morning of September 17, 2021, the Anqing Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning successfully transferred 64.15 mu of land around the Dananmen Gate in Yingjiang District (for cultural facilities + commercial services and residences). The land transfer plan stipulates that the bidder shall, in accordance with the requirements of the final approved planning and design plan, fund the reconstruction of the "former site of Chen Duxiu, Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian" with a construction area of not less than 2,200 square meters in the transfer plot, and contribute to the restoration of the "Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian Reading Office" adjacent to the transfer plot with a construction area of not less than 825 square meters, and all must start construction within 3 months after the approval of the planning and design plan, complete within 1 year after the start of construction, and integrate with the historical and cultural commercial block to be built on the transfer plot. Synchronous opening.
"After the restoration, the former residence of Sanchen can be connected with the well-preserved reading offices of Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian nearby, forming a patriotic education base and an important propaganda base for the history of the CPC." In Wang Jun's view, this incident plays an important role in promoting national culture and enhancing national cohesion, pride and self-confidence.
Historical photos of chen duxiu, chen yannian and chen qiaonian former residences Wang Jun courtesy of Wang Jun
The pursuit of four people more than forty years ago
In addition to retracing the life of the "Erchen Brothers", if you want to know more about their stories, you need to find more abundant historical materials.
"To understand the story of Yannian and Qiao Nian, you should go to an old man who has made great contributions to the rescue collection of information on these two martyrs." Fang Qingzhai, an expert at the Anqing Municipal Party Committee's Party History and Local History Research Office, told The Paper.
The old man fang Qingzhai said was called Wan Fengyan, who is 92 years old this year. In the 1980s, she was a staff member of the Anqing City Library.
The interview site was about at Wan Fengyan's home, and when he learned of the arrival of the surging news reporter, the old man prepared a thick pile of information early.
"One by one, the people who collected information together went to see God, and now I am the only one left of the four people." Although she is more than ninety years old, Wan Fengyan's logic is still clear, and she still remembers the experience of going to many places across the country to pursue heroic stories more than 40 years ago.
Wan Fengyan, 92, told reporters about the collection of information that year
"The two heroes have paid too much for the revolution, and we, the city that nurtured them, should leave some memories." Wan Fengyan recalled that around 1980, a professor from Anhui University came to the library to check the materials about Chen Duxiu, but there was very little information about Chen Duxiu at that time. Zhang Jun, the director at the time, proposed that as the library of Chen Duxiu's hometown, it was necessary to make some efforts to preserve relevant historical materials. "If Anqing can't find it, go abroad and collect it."
Zhang Jun invited Wan Fengyan to participate in the collection work, and the members of the "research group" included Chen Yannian, Chen Qiaonian's brother Chen Songnian, and Li Fanqun, a former member of the CPPCC Municipal Committee.
The four not only carried out a lot of work in Anqing, but also made a special trip to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places to visit the former colleagues and friends of the Chen father and son. "At first, we wanted to find Chen Duxiu's materials to enrich the collection, but later in the search, we found that the deeds of his two sons were also very touching, and both made great contributions to the revolution, and all three fathers and sons are the pride of Anqing." Wan Fengyan introduced that in that era, because it was not easy to come out, Director Zhang Jun asked everyone to also look for information about Chen Duxiu's two sons as much as possible.
"The conditions were not good, so I took an old-fashioned camera and tape recorder with me. Looking for information everywhere, doing interviews with insiders, and recording while listening. Wan Fengyan told reporters that due to the political environment at that time, many interviewees were initially reluctant to talk about the story of the three fathers and sons of the Chen family, but under their repeated communication and efforts, they finally got a lot of precious historical materials and oral accounts of witnesses.
"Yan Nian and Qiao Nian's body is the real revolutionary spirit, young but tragic sacrifice. They are not for themselves, but for the suffering masses. "With the deepening of the collection work and research, Wan Fengyan felt more and more a sense of mission in herself, and she wanted to do something for the two brother martyrs." We wanted to publish the compilation of historical materials we collected, but at that time, the economic conditions were limited, so we could only shelve it for a while. ”
In September 2012, with the strong support of the Duxiu Garden Management Office, Wan Fengyan's compilation of Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian's relevant materials "Brothers and Blue Blood Reflecting the Red Flag" was finally published. This 320,000-word selection of materials brings together 45 deeds about Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian and more than 100 precious photos, including articles, letters, reports, and relevant literature, memoirs of relatives and comrades-in-arms, etc. Before the two lives, it is a rare book material for understanding and studying the "Erchen Brothers".
"Brothers and Blood Reflect the Red Flag"
Only a few thousand copies of the book were printed at that time. After the "Age of Awakening" hit, this book, which has been published for nearly a decade, was once again concerned, and people kept calling Wan Fengyan to ask for a book. "A friend told me that the four-person team at that time was able to go to many places to collect information under the conditions at that time, which was really prophetic. We did not dare to do this, but through doing this in those years, we did learn, inherit, and publicize the spirit of the martyrs, and today I still feel that it is meaningful. Wan Fengyan said.
Wan Fengyan told reporters that it was a great pity that three of the four-person group of that year had not been able to see the broadcast of "The Age of Awakening" and died one after another. But through this TV series, many young people today also know the story of these two martyrs and spontaneously remember them, which makes her feel very relieved.
The spirit of Yanqiao is passed down from generation to generation
As "The Age of Awakening" continues to trigger a craze for drama chasing, some viewers are pleasantly surprised to find that in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province, there is even a Yanqiao Road, which is named in honor of these two revolutionary martyrs. After the incident was spread through social media, it attracted a large number of people to spontaneously come, and people presented flowers and cards to remember and remember the two heroic brothers in front of the road signs.
Yan Qiao Road, toward prosperity. The name of the martyr, the ode to all. The naming of Yanqiao Road is not occasional, and it is inseparable from the impetus of an old man more than a decade ago.
"In March of this year, I saw news about Yanqiao Road on my mobile phone. At the same time, friends who knew me constantly called to ask me. Zhang Weiduan, the author of the Yanqiao Road Name Planning, who is nearly an elderly person, told the surging news that it was only then that he realized that the road he participated in naming ten years ago was completely on fire online and offline, and became a well-known "net red road" in the country.
In 2006, Zhang Weiduan was transferred to the newly established Hefei Geographical Names Planning Leading Group Office to engage in road name planning related work. The task of this temporary agency is to name nearly 3,000 roads in Hefei in five batches.
In Zhang Weiduan's office, there are many sketches of Zhang's road name planning, dense but orderly. He has a clear understanding of the more than 3,000 roads he has been involved in naming.
"Yanqiao Road is the fourth batch of named roads, and what prompted me to firmly engrave the names of the two on the road signs of the provincial capital city was a classmate of mine from my university." Zhang Weiduan told the surging news that this classmate had written a book about the deeds of the "Erchen Brothers" many years ago, and he was very touched after reading it.
"For many years, the image of the two brothers has been lingering in my mind." Zhang Weiduan confessed that although he would like to name the city road after the brothers, because their father, Chen Duxiu, made a right-leaning opportunist mistake in the late revolutionary period, he was worried that the name of the road related to it would not pass censorship.
However, Zhang Weiduan was unwilling, and after repeatedly reading the relevant materials, he insisted on the judgment that Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian had nothing to do with the wrong route of his father Chen Duxiu in the later period. "They have adhered to the right path, and their sacrifices are so tragic that they should be remembered by everyone."
Considering that everyone did not know the story of these two heroic brothers, Zhang Weiduan patiently publicized and did the work of other colleagues and experts in the Famous Office one by one.
If two paths are destined in the name of two brothers, how should they be distributed? Considering the current situation of road name planning in the named area, it is more important to respect the real situation of history. After repeated deliberations, Zhang Weiduan put forward the idea of combining the names of the brothers into one road. "The two brothers are inseparable, brotherly, and eventually sacrificed in the same place. Just call it Yanqiao Road, so that they will never be separated. "The road name of Yanqiao Road was unanimously approved by everyone, passed the step-by-step review, and finally obtained approval."
Although it took a lot of effort to name this road, Zhang Weiduan repeatedly stressed that the final name of Yanqiao Road is inseparable from the joint efforts of colleagues and the support of leaders at all levels.
"Naming a road after a martyr is an invisible monument. As long as the road remains, this monument will not fall. Zhang Weiduan told the surging news that there are more than 40 roads in Hefei named after the martyrs. Although the proportion is not high, this is not only a deep remembrance of martyrs, but also a profound educational significance for modern people.
Zhang Weiduan stopped in front of the Yanqiao Road sign
On July 21, with the approval of the local education authorities, Dongguan Primary School located on Yanqiao Road in Hefei was officially renamed Yanqiao Road Primary School.
After the fall semester began, the school's teachers unexpectedly found that with the school's name change, the children began to become proud. Dong Banglan, a teacher at Yanqiao Road Primary School, told the surging news that not long ago she found that there were children in the class who said dirty words after class, and after criticism and education, the children wrote a letter of guarantee. "This classmate took the initiative to write, 'As a student of Yanqiao Road Primary School, I have humiliated the two martyrs, and I will definitely pay attention to my words and deeds in the future.'" I really did not expect that although the children in the primary school stage may not be able to deeply understand that period of history for a while, I think the children have experienced the weight behind the spirit of Yan Qiao. ”
Principal Che Yong told reporters that on the day he received the approval of the name change from the Education Bureau, all the teachers and students of the school felt happy. This semester, the school carried out the "Little Explainer" club activity, organized students in grades 3-5, arranged teachers to teach the historical deeds of Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian, and then re-disseminated the stories of revolutionary heroes by children through propaganda, stage plays and other forms. In the future, the school will also combine the history of the party, red culture and school history to develop the school curriculum in different grades and sections to better carry forward and inherit the spirit of the revolutionary ancestors.
Zhang Weiduan told the children of Yanqiao Road Primary School the story behind the naming of Yanqiao Road
On the morning of September 22, after the flag-raising ceremony of Yanqiao Road Primary School, Zhang Weiduan told more than 2,000 children of the school the story behind the naming of Yanqiao Road, which was also the first time he walked into the school that was renamed because of its participation in naming the road. He admits that the naming of the road more than a decade ago has completely exceeded the expectations of the year.
"When Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian were sacrificed, they were at the age of prosperity, and the heroic and fearless qualities in them were very worthy of our study, and I hope that the students will cherish today's hard-won happy life, and in your hearts, they can also regard the two brothers as your mentors in life." Zhang Weiduan said to the children.
Editor-in-Charge: Shao Ke