Tan Sitong was one of the "Six Gentlemen of Wushu" who was killed by the conservative faction led by Empress Dowager Cixi after the failure of the Wushu Reform during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. When he was alive, he was full of enthusiasm to participate in the change of the law, but when he had the opportunity to escape, he regarded death as a homecoming, and used his death to wake up future generations, and they threw themselves into the great revolutionary movement to overthrow the feudal dynasty.
Tan Si with stills
Let's talk about the extraordinary story of Tan Sitong's life.
1. Born as an official eunuch, he has studied chinese and Western studies
Tan Sitong, born in a family of official eunuchs, his father Tan Jixun jinshi, who had been in the official field for decades, had served as the governor of Hubei, and even served as the governor of Huguang for a time, and was a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, one of the most powerful local officials and feudal officials at that time.
The superior conditions of the second generation of officials allowed Tan Sitong to learn from a number of teachers from an early age, including the famous liuyang scholar Ouyang Zhonghu, the famous scholars Tu Qixian and Liu Renxi, who also became interested in Wang Fuzhi's thought and was enlightened by his patriotism.
Tan Sitong's reading strives to be broad in content, not only absorbing the essence of China's sinology and materialistic ideas, but also reading the books that introduced western science, history, and politics at that time, so as to enrich his knowledge and lay a good foundation for his future participation in the transformation of the law and the writings and articles.
Tan Sitong's famous quote
In addition, Tan Sitong also admired those reckless heroes who robbed the rich and helped the poor, and he once befriended a "righteous hero" in Beijing at that time, and the two became life-and-death close friends. Tan Sitong has traveled to Zhili (present-day Hebei), Gansu, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanxi and other provinces to observe the customs and customs of various places, make friends with celebrities in the world, and enrich his experience.
Second, actively participate in the "Penghu Reform Law"
Because of living in the eventful late Qing Dynasty, seeing the chaos of the government's corruption and being forced to sign many unequal treaties, Tan Si was worried about the country and the people, and at the same time deeply resented the only way to take the eight strands at that time, and he once wrote the words "Why is this reasonable" in his textbook. In his lifetime, he never took the imperial examination like his father.
On April 17, 1895 (the twenty-first year of Guangxu), China and Japan signed the "Maguan Treaty", when the 30-year-old Tan Sitong, more worried about the fate and future of the country, decided to take immediate action, first in his hometown to strive to promote new learning, call for changes in the law, and organize arithmetic society, study with colleagues, and at the same time set up new courses in history, palm history, public opinion and other new courses in Nantai Academy.
On May 2, 1895 (the twenty-first year of Guangxu), Kang Youwei united more than 1,000 people who participated in the examination in Beijing to write to the Qing government, demanding that they refuse peace, move the capital, and change the law (on the bus). Under the influence of the trend of changing the law, Tan Sitong began to "examine the changes in the world in the past few decades and investigate the facts" and painstakingly sought a fundamental plan to save the nation from peril. He felt that "where the trend of great transformation is, where the atmosphere is drowned, and those who are not those who can be saved by the old", must carry out reforms to the decadent feudal autocratic system in order to achieve the purpose of saving the people and trying to survive.
Tan Sitong on the movie poster
After thinking about it, he began to act, and in February 1896 (the twenty-second year of Guangxu), Tan Sitong rushed to Beijing and befriended the leaders of the reformist faction, Liang Qichao, Weng Tonghe and others. After initially understanding the program of the reform of the Reform School, he returned to his hometown in Hunan and initiated the establishment of the School of Current Affairs with Tang Caichang and others. He also distributed books containing nationalist consciousness, such as "Records of Ming Yi to be Visited" and "Ten Diaries of Yangzhou", and instilled in them revolutionary consciousness, so that the Shiwu Academy truly became an institution for cultivating restorationists.
Tan Sitong then founded the Southern Society, set up the Xiang Bao, publicized the change of law, attacked the old government, and became a radical faction of the Restoration Movement. He also advocated the opening of mines and the construction of railways, publicized to the people at that time the reform of the law and the restoration of the new law, and implemented the new policy, making Hunan the most vigorous province in the country. Full preparations have been made for the work of changing the law.
On June 11, 1898 (the 24th year of Guangxu), Guangxu promulgated the "Dingguo is the Edict", marking the official beginning of the "Penghu Reform Law". On September 5 of the same year, Guangxu issued an edict to Tan Sitong and Lin Xu, Liu Guangdi, and Yang Rui, and ordered them to participate in the change of law. The next day, Guangxu summoned Tan Sitong again and said, "Ru and others who want to change can play at will, and I will obey." That is, I have made a mistake, ru and so on rebuke me in person, and I will change it quickly. ”
Tan Sitong (second from left) poses with the teachers of the Shiwu Academy
In this way, Tan Sitong, with the strong support of the Guangxu Emperor, together with Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and other leaders of the reformists, jointly led and participated in the vigorous "Penghu Reform Law" movement. In order to create a theoretical basis for the transformation of the law, Tan Sitong also personally wrote "Renxue", which was the first philosophical work of the Reform School and an important work in the history of modern Chinese thought.
Third, treat death as a homecoming and alert revolutionaries
Because the "Wushu Reform Law" touched on the fundamental interests of the conservative faction headed by Empress Dowager Cixi, on September 21, 1898 (guangxu 24), Empress Dowager Xi launched the "Wushu Coup" and began to suppress the change. She issued several edicts in a row to arrest the Reformers.
After Tan Sitong heard the news, he did not panic, he disregarded his personal safety, the first thing he thought of was to rescue the Guangxu Emperor, after many activities and rescue plans failed. Knowing the danger of his situation, he was determined to use his sacrifice to make one last revolt against the feudal stubborn forces.
When someone advised him to flee abroad like Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, he made a generous statement: "All countries that change the law are caused by bloodshed, and today China has not heard of anyone who bleeds because of the change of law, and the reason why this country is not prosperous." If so, please start with the same heir. ”
Statue of Tan Si Tong
Finally, on September 24, 1898 (the 24th year of Guangxu), Tan Sitong was arrested at the Liuyang Guild Hall. Four days later, Tan Sitong was only 33 years old at the Caishikou Execution Ground outside Xuanwu Gate in Beijing. At the same time, the restorationists who were also killed were Lin Xu, Yang Shenxiu, Liu Guangdi, Yang Rui, and Kang Guangren, and the six people were also called the "Six Gentlemen of Penghu".
In fact, Tan Sitong had a chance to survive, but he used the feat of seeing death as a homecoming to try to inspire the surviving reformists to continue to fight and complete the great cause of changing the law. However, his death declared that the method of changing the law and striving to become stronger through reform was a failure, and let the people who came after him soberly realize that only through revolutionary insurrection and overthrowing the feudal dynasty that had ruled China for a long time could we completely change China's backward situation and realize the dream of rejuvenating China.
Fourth, the author commented:
Tan Sitong, one of the "Six Gentlemen of Wushu", was full of enthusiasm to participate in the change of the law, and when he had the opportunity to escape, he regarded death as a homecoming, and used his death to wake up his descendants, and they threw themselves into the great revolutionary movement to overthrow the feudal dynasty.
Tan Sitong on the execution ground
Tan Sitong is a politician who stands at the forefront of the times and is keen on reform and does not consider personal gains or losses; his revolutionary spirit of not being afraid of danger and treating death as a homecoming deserves people's praise; he has done everything possible to care for comrades and realize that the change of law must be shedding blood, which is beyond the understanding of politicians who advocate innovation in history and is very worthy of admiration.
However, Tan Sitong pinned his hopes on the emperor for a "top-down" social reform, and when he was dying, he still believed that in order to protect the cause of "changing the law", he must first protect the emperor, rather than relying on the broad masses of the people, so the process of subsequent historical development was exactly the opposite of his wishes.
In the end, Tan Sitong's bloodshed did not announce the revival of the reform movement, but the end of the reform movement, which fully demonstrated his class limitations. His experience enlightens us that the decadent and backward feudal system that has ruled China for a long time must not be gentle and frugal, but must use thorough revolutionary means to overthrow it and establish a brand-new system conducive to the development of the country and the happiness of the people.
Tan Si Tong sculpture
This article is original by "Such As Day Zhongtian 54", welcome to pay attention, learn together, and make progress together!