During the Republic of China period, there were many women who "dared to be the first in the world", and Zheng Yuxiu was one of them. In her, there are many first titles, China's first female killer, the first female doctor, the first female lawyer...
She even spoke out for women's freedom in the last century, advocating monogamy, and almost changed "the fate of all Chinese women."
She did a lot of "unusual things", refused to bind her feet, Hugh fu left home, drifted north to study, anti-Qing to save the country, assassinated heavy ministers, and defended women's rights...
Such a life is a female legend in capital letters.
01
I don't tie my feet, what's wrong?
In 1891, Zheng Yuxiu was born in Guangdong to a family of Qing Dynasty officials. It can be said that she was born with a golden spoon. Since childhood, he has been brilliant and familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics. The personality is also cheerful and lively, noisy and active.
Unfortunately, the mother was not welcomed by her father and washed her face with tears at home all day. The unhappiness of her parents' marriage also prompted Xiao Yuxiu's rebellious personality.
At that time, the girl was less than 10 years old to wrap her feet, and when Yuxiu was 5 years old, Zheng Mu arranged: "The girls of good people will wrap their feet, you obey!" ”
Who expected that Zheng Yuxiu was born anti-bone, dead or alive. Even if he is familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, he disdains the "three from four virtues" and refuses to bind his feet.
This caused headaches for the elders, especially the grandmother, who certainly could not tolerate her being so foolish. When Zheng Yuxiu was 9 years old, she saw that her feet were about to be uncontrollable, and her grandmother tied her up again: "In the future, your feet will be as big as elephants!" No one dares to marry you!
Zheng Yuxiu still did not follow, rolling all over the ground. Anyway, the family had used any tricks, and they couldn't help her strange temper, so they had to give up. In those days, this kind of "rebellion" could be said to be cool.
02
I don't even know him, so why should I marry him?
She dared to swear not to tie her feet, to challenge feudal authority, and of course, to refuse arranged marriages.
At the age of 13, his father set a family affair for Zheng Yuxiu, who was the son of the governor of Liangguang, had the right to have wealth, and the door was right, and everyone envied him.
But why is she such a master of marriage? There is no room for others to deprive them of their liberty. Even if the other party is a noble family, he does not despise climbing relatives.
You are trampling on my freedom to marry, I will not marry!
Knowing that the persuasion of her family would be fruitless, she wrote a "letter of resignation" to her fiancé, whom she had never met, and asked the other party to cancel the marriage contract. The man was also a reasonable person, and he agreed.
The marriage was yellow, but the "Hugh" incident caused an uproar, and the locals talked about it. Suddenly, his parents were furious, his relatives and friends criticized, the people laughed wildly, and Zheng Yuxiu fell into an embarrassing place.
▲ Zheng Yuxiu, the third right in the front row
She had to take this opportunity to escape from the family, pack her bags alone, and run to Tianjin Girls' School to study.
It was also in the past few years that she used her excellent communication skills to haunt the upper circles of Beijing and Tianjin and gained a lot of insight.
03
The first female killer of the Republic of China
After studying in Tianjin for a while, 16-year-old Zheng Yuxiu followed her sister to Study in Japan, and through the introduction of a friend, joined Mr. Sun's "Alliance Association" and passionately boarded the revolutionary train.
After returning from studying abroad, with her family's influence in the capital, she became a well-known figure and engaged in anti-Qing activities. Father Zheng was also quite desperate, and he raised a daughter who was well raised, but he hoped that the imperial court would collapse.
▲ Group photo of Zheng Yuxiu (front row left 2) and Jiang Jie* Shi (front row left 1) and others.
In 1909, a handsome officer approached Zheng Yuxiu and asked her to help transport a box of bombs to Beijing. This person was Wang Jingwei, and at this time he was preparing to enter Beijing to assassinate the regent Zaifeng.
In order to avoid the search of the railway station, the two pretended to be lovers, and when they were separated, Zheng took the "package" from Wang's hand, and the other party instructed: "The action is extremely dangerous, the road search is strict, and the bomb may also explode." ”
Zheng Yuxiu joked: "If it doesn't explode, what kind of bomb it is, this matter will be left to me." After a hurried farewell, she carried the package and calmly boarded the car on the side of the road and successfully completed the task.
In 1912, when the Xinhai Revolution broke out, the plan to capture the thief first and assassinate Yuan Shikai was imminent. After careful planning, Zheng Yuxiu and the others prepared to assassinate Yuan Bijing on the road.
However, at the moment when the arrow was on the string and had to be sent, he was urgently told that Yuan was a force that could be fought for, and the real resistance was The Heavy Minister Liangbi.
She had to contact her comrades overnight, but someone carried out an assassination. When they arrived at the scene, there was a mess, guns and bullets, and more than 10 people were arrested on the spot and 3 people were shot.
In order to cover the evacuation of her teammates, she bravely pulled out her pistol, fired two shots into the sky with the pistol, and then fired several more shots, killing a horse. When she shot again, the trigger went wrong and her right thumb was caught, and the pain left her completely awake and immediately fled the scene.
The assassination was revealed, and Yuan retrieved an old life. Zheng Yuxiu learned his lesson, successfully assassinated Liangbi 10 days later, and actively contacted the pulse to bail out his comrades-in-arms from prison. She was only 21 years old.
After organizing the assassination of Qing court officials many times and cracking down on adulterous villains, Zheng Yuxiu also won the reputation of "the first female killer of the Republic of China", and her mother was also very proud, because Zheng Yuxiu proved that "women can also make big things".
04
A rose prevented a Paris peace conference
In 1914, Zheng Yuxiu's identity was revealed, and in order to avoid disasters, he had to go to France to study law at the Sorbonne University.
During her study abroad, relying on her high emotional intelligence and excellent results, she quickly became a prominent figure in the Chinese circle and helped younger generations of women complete their dreams of studying abroad. In 1918, Zheng became Ambassador of France, becoming China's first female diplomat.
Here, she completed another legend in her life - the famous "Rose Gun Incident".
In 1919, the Paris Peace Conference was held, when Lu Zhengxiang, the chief representative of Beiyang, pushed to accept instructions from his superiors, intending to sign the humiliating traitorous peace treaty.
When the news spread, there was an uproar, and more than 300 Chinese in France surrounded his place of accommodation. Zheng Yuxiu also thought the situation was serious, and when the Chinese asked her to negotiate with Lu Zhengxiang, she agreed.
Before entering the house to negotiate, Zheng Yuxiu was in a hurry, and casually folded a rose branch in the garden to hide in the sleeve, after seeing Lu Zhengxiang, she saw him deliberately playing with his head, she used the sleeve to cover his chest, and threatened him with a strong voice: "You have to sign, I will not let you go with this gun!" ”
This is the "Rose Branch Incident" that has become famous overseas. In the end, Zheng Yuxiu and the patriotic Chinese successfully prevented the signing.
▲ In the TV series "Our French Years", Zheng Yuxiu, played by Ke Lan
From 1917 to 1924, Zheng Yuxiu studied at the University of Paris for a master's and doctoral degree, becoming the first female doctor in Chinese history.
After returning to China in 1925, she was hired as the president of Beijing Women's Normal University. A year later, he and his classmate Wei Daoming opened a "Wei Zheng United Law Firm" in the French Concession of Shanghai.
According to the Interim Statute of Lawyers, which was in force in the country at that time, lawyers could only be held by male nationals over the age of 20. It can be seen that in the beginning, women were not qualified to be lawyers.
Where will Zheng Yuxiu easily compromise? She applied to the Shanghai French Concession Trial, and after some efforts, she successfully became the first female lawyer in China, which can be said to be very domineering.
05
Dare to be the first in the world, the first female lawyer
China produced its first female lawyer, and many unhappy women were willing to talk to Zheng Yuxiu. Coupled with her advocacy for women's rights, she worked diligently to open her business and made a small name in Shanghai Beach.
But to talk about the most "explosive" one, or in 1926, Meng Xiaodong and Mei Lanfang's divorce case.
At that time, Du Yuesheng, a big man on the beach, took the initiative to lead Zheng Yuxiu to mediate the lawsuit. In order to fight for the greatest rights and interests for Meng Xiaodong, she also worked hard to finally win 40,000 yuan of compensation for the woman, which is not a small amount.
Since then, Zheng Yuxiu has become famous, especially the women of Shanghai, who regard her as a savior. All this also paved the way for her future participation in women's legislation.
In addition, Zheng Yuxiu also gained real love. The other party is the partner Wei Daoming, the two met in 1919, the work is inseparable from the long-term love, in 1927 married a couple.
▲Zheng Yuxiu Wei Daoming group photo
These 8 years of long-distance running, but also because of Zheng Yuxiu's emotional road, is not smooth. And when he met Wei Daoming, Zheng Yuxiu also had no heart for love. Fortunately, she was happy in the end.
06
The Slovaks are gone, but their exploits are unforgettable
In 1927, Zheng Yuxiu held several important positions. At that time, she did not think that this was more interesting than being a lawyer, and she politely refused many times. It's just that she wants to prove to women that what men can do, they can do.
Later, when she participated in the drafting of the Draft Civil Code, she went through a large number of European and American laws and formulated a number of provisions on the protection of women's rights: women enjoy the same equal inheritance rights as men; recognize the right of adult women to make or cancel marriage contracts; married women have the right to keep their surnames, and can choose not to take the husband's surname.
To a certain extent, this has truly awakened the consciousness of Chinese women, allowing them to begin to protect their rights and interests, and contributing to the equal rights of men and women.
△ Zheng Yuxiu and the Republic of China tycoon Li Shizeng
However, no one is perfect, and behind Zheng Yuxiu's domineering life, there are also some controversies. For example, Hu Shi, he once commented that Zheng Yuxiu "this woman does not care about her face too much."
In 1942, Wei Daoming succeeded Hu Shi as ambassador to the United States, and Zheng Yuxiu gave up his career to accompany her husband to the United States. She is already good at interpersonal relations, helping her husband to make suggestions and connections, and many big people praise her.
▲ In 1943, Zheng Yuxiu attended the cocktail party as the wife of The Ambassador to the United States, Wei Daoming
Only 5 years later, due to the situation, the couple's political career was frustrated. Having to move from Taiwan to Los Angeles, Zheng Yuxiu was ill in his later years, coupled with business failures, and could only rub mahjong all day to kill time.
This should be the most cruel thing for a person with great ambitions. Far away from the homeland, miserable and drifting, a skill, has long been useless.
I heard that no matter where she went, Zheng Yuxiu took the French rose branch, set it in the picture frame, and hung it in the living room for many years, which should be the proudest time in her life.
On December 16, 1959, a generation of legendary women died in the United States, leaving their souls behind their backs, at the age of 68. Nineteen years later, Wei Daoming died, and relatives and friends followed his will and transported the body to the United States to be buried with his wife.
Looking at it this way, do you feel a little sorry? The first half of life is so proud and colorful, and the second half of life is also a desolate evening scene. But this is life, a woman of the Republic of China, can have such achievements, is already a legend.
The Slovaks are gone, and the past is like smoke. In any case, Zheng Yuxiu has made a lot of contributions to the cause of equal rights for men and women, and she deserves to be admired by more people.