In the TV series "The Age of Awakening", Liu Shipei did not appear much, but he left a deep impression on the audience. This conservative faction, who is not in good health and is on crutches, does not agree with the political views of Chen Duxiu and others, but he will never fall into the well, and he has a clean and handsome style of a literati. In history, Chen Duxiu and Liu Shipei also had a different and conspiratorial gentleman's friendship, which was admired by future generations.
01 1903-1907 Revolutionary colleagues, academic friends
Chen Duxiu and Liu Shipei's lifelong friendship can be divided into three stages. Between 1903 and 1907, they were fellow revolutionary and intellectual friends. Chen Duxiu was 5 years older than Liu Shipei, but they were absolutely dangerous in the eyes of the government at that time. In 1903, Chen Duxiu was wanted for giving a patriotic speech in his hometown of Anqing and fled to Zhang Shizhao for refuge. Liu Shipei also defected to Zhang Shizhao from his hometown yangzhou to Shanghai for political reasons, and the two began a 16-year friendship.
At that time, Liu Shipei was by no means a timid character in the TV series, but a bold master. He actively propagated the revolution in Shanghai, wrote articles for newspapers and periodicals such as the Alarm Bell Daily to propagate revolutionary ideas, and also launched the "Comrades' Association with Russia" with Cai Yuanpei and others. This organization created a special publication, "Russian Police", to expose the crimes committed by Tsarist Russia in China and to attack the traitorous policies of the Qing government. It can be seen that Liu Shipei at this time was extremely dissatisfied with the rule of the Qing government. In addition, he even joined the assassination group earlier than Chen Duxiu. In November 1904, the duo planned to assassinate the Diehards of the Qing court in Shanghai with explosives, but it ended in failure. However, after this incident, the two people obviously have a life-changing friendship.
In 1905, the Alarm Bell Daily was shut down, and Liu Shipei was wanted for it. Invited by Chen Duxiu, he taught at Anhui Public School. Chen Duxiu founded the Yue WangHui, an anti-Qing secret military group. Liu Shipei was the main person in charge of the GuangfuHui and also established the "Huang School", which specialized in assassination activities. Later, the two studied in Japan.
It can be said that during this period, the two men have always been comrades-in-arms who have been walking side by side on the road of revolution. At the same time, the two often discussed primary school and academic issues together, and their interaction was very close.
02 1908-1916 Political disagreements and drifted apart
Liu Shipei and his wife and Chen Duxiu came to Japan together to continue the revolutionary cause, but during this period, their ideas had diverged. Chen Duxiu went farther and farther down the road of radical revolution. Liu Shipei, on the other hand, was influenced by anarchism. He initiated the "Socialist Seminar" to actively promote Kropotkin's anarchist ideas, which were very influential among the young people of the time. What is even more incredible is that Liu Shipei in this period has already begun to advocate communism and organize the translation of the Communist Manifesto. If he follows this path, perhaps his life will be rewritten.
In the end, Chen and Liu were suspicious, and what gradually drifted away was a move by Liu Shipei's wife, He Zhen. Due to the poor living in Japan, He Zhen accepted Duanfang's offer. It needs to be said that one of the biggest characteristics of Liu Shipei's personality is the fear of inwardness. Therefore, after returning to China, Liu Shipei openly entered the shogunate of Duanfang, which met with great criticism at that time, and many of his former friends, such as Qian Xuan, cut off contact with him. He and Chen Duxiu also embarked on two completely different paths, gradually drifting apart in political advocacy, and the relationship was much colder than before.
End-side
However, the friendship between the two has not been broken. At the end of 1911, when Liu Shipei went to Sichuan with DuanFang to suppress the Road Protection Movement, he was detained by the Sichuan military government. Chen Duxiu, then secretary general of the Anhui Governor's Office, immediately called Sun Yat-sen when he learned of this. In the cable, he said that he hoped that in order to leave the seeds of reading, Liu Shipei would be released and let him teach schoolwork to atone for his sins. It can be seen that Chen Duxiu has always been very concerned about this old friend and recognizes his academic achievements.
Liu Shipei, who had come out of the Duanfang shogunate, did another stupid thing. That is, he joined the "Preparatory Society" in 1915 and became one of the "Six Gentlemen of Chipping", advocating the imperial system and endorsing Yuan Shikai's restoration. In the same year, Chen Duxiu founded Youth Magazine in Shanghai. Liu Shipei, a former revolutionary, is now completely on the opposite side of the revolution, and his relationship with Chen Duxiu has dropped to a freezing point.
03 1917-1919 The friendship of gentlemen, the two are not negative
After Yuan Shikai's death, his adviser trees fell and scattered, and Liu Shipei lost his place to live and had to live in a broken temple. And years of turbulent and displaced life have also made his body go down and down. It was still his old friend Chen Duxiu who reached out to him and recommended him to Cai Yuanpei to teach at Peking University. The friendship between the two was also reshaped and sublimated during the Period at Peking University.
Liu Shipei
At this time, Peking University was the center of the new cultural movement, and various ideas stirred each other. In particular, Chen Duxiu's "New Youth" magazine has had a huge impact, and has lashed out at the old culture, old morality, and even the Chinese characters. Liu Shipei, who is immersed in traditional Chinese studies, naturally cannot sit idly by. Together with Huang Kan and others, he founded the magazine "Guogu" to preserve the essence of the country and promote the study of Chinese culture, "with the inherent scholarship of Changming China". It is worth noting that Liu Shipei only opposed Chen Duxiu's propositions, and never opposed Chen Duxiu himself. In private, he and Chen Duxiu have a deep friendship, mutual respect, and never say that Chen is not behind his back.
On June 11, 1919, Chen Duxiu was arrested and imprisoned for publicly distributing the Beijing Citizens' Declaration. At that time, Liu Shipei had been ill for a long time, and after learning that he was imprisoned, he helped himself up and ran to major universities in Beijing, contacting more than 70 professors and scholars to write to Chen Duxiu on bail. Judging from the existing information, this bail letter should have been written by Liu Shipei himself. This was the last thing he did for his old friend, and it was also a kind of gratitude for his many times of help. The friendship of the two men who are different and conspire with each other can be seen in general.
04 The winding path of the dangerous bridge has been experienced, and it is still a chant when it comes out
On September 16, 1919, Under the strong demands of Liu Shipei and others, Chen Duxiu, who had been imprisoned for 98 days, was released. And Liu Shipei also came to the end of his life. On November 11, Liu Shipei died in Beijing. After his death, Chen Duxiu presided over his funeral and sent this old friend who had a rough life with peking university to make the last trip. Liu Shipei's widow He Zhen was mentally stimulated by the death of her husband, and he also sent someone back to yangzhou to live. This 16-year friendship finally began and ended after knowing each other and knowing each other.
At the funeral, Chen Duxiu summed up Liu Shipei's life with Kang Youwei's poem "The winding paths and dangerous bridges have all been experienced, and it is still a chant when they come out". Indeed, Liu Shipei's academic achievements in this life alone, he is a genius who has never been born, and in just thirty-five years of life, he can live up to the title of "Master of Traditional Chinese Studies". On the political career, one has to lament his confusion, and most of the controversies in his life stem from this.
Coincidentally, 23 years later, Chen Duxiu completed his controversial life in Jiangjin in poverty. After hearing the news, Gao Yihan, a friend of Peking University in the past, also used this poem as a link to send Zhongfu to Zhongfu. Perhaps this poem is also an interpretation of the life of Chen Duxiu, a literati revolutionary.
Today, when future generations look back on this history, they can also feel the friendship between Chen Duxiu and Liu Shipei throughout their lives, but they do not lose each other.