Gao Junyu: Born like lightning

Source: Shanxi Radio and Television Station

Author: Hu Yaozu

Statue of Gao Junyu

"I am the sword, I am the spark, I wish to be born like the light of lightning, I wish to die like the swiftness of a comet." This is a poem by the famous German poet Heine. In the era of deep suffering of the Chinese nation, this poem was introduced by the young Communist Party member Gao Junyu to write a self-titled poem. Inspired by this magnificent poem, Gao Junyu embarked on the revolutionary road.

In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen broke out, and Gao Junyu, who was a teenager, was also inspired by the revolutionary wave. In 1913, at the age of 17, Gao Junyu was admitted to Shanxi Provincial No. 1 Middle School.

On May 9, 1915, Yuan Shikai recognized the "Twenty-One Articles" of Japan's destruction of China in exchange for the support of Japanese imperialism as emperor and the restoration of feudal autocracy, and the national crisis was further deepened. In October 1915, the students of The Provincial No. 1 Middle School went on strike. Gao Junyu and the whole school took to the streets and demonstrated.

In May 1918, the Duan Qirui government signed the "Sino-Japanese Military Agreement on Joint Defense against the Enemy" with Japan, and Gao Junyu, who was studying at Peking University at the time, led more than 2,000 students to the front of the presidential palace. Gao Junyu delivered a speech: "The warlord government has no right to betray China, and China's fate should be in the hands of the common people." Let us unite to overthrow the warlord government and drive out imperialism! Shortly after the student parade, Gao Junyu and others organized the Beijing Student Patriotic Association.

In January 1921, Gao Junyu graduated from the Geology Department of Peking University, at this time, at the commission of Li Dazhao, Gao Junyu returned to Taiyuan to help create the Socialist Youth League.

In July 1921, the Communist Party of China held its first national congress in Shanghai, announcing the official founding of the Communist Party of China. Although Gao Junyu did not participate in the party congress, he was one of the earliest more than 50 party members in the country at that time.

In mid-May 1924, Li Dazhao gave Gao Junyu an important task, asking him to return to Taiyuan to help establish the Communist Party organization in Shanxi and promote the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in Shanxi. After Gao Junyu returned to Taiyuan this time, he lived in a safe and reliable place under the arrangement of the "Youth Society", a progressive organization in the province. Within a few days, he summoned the progressive youth of Taiyuan to several secret meetings in succession. After careful investigation, he also introduced Hou Shimin, Pan Enpu, and several other members of the Socialist Youth League to join the party, and together with Fu Maogong and several other party members who had developed the previous year, formed the first party organization in Shanxi.

In October, the Guangzhou reactionary business group, instigated by the British, launched a rebellion against Sun Yat-sen and killed more than 20 workers and students. The Party Central Committee also entrusted Gao Junyu and others to fully assist Sun Yat-sen in directing the battle. Due to overwork, Gao Junyu died of illness in the early morning of March 6, 1925, at the age of 29.

(Source: Institute of Party History, SHANXI Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China)