On July 1, 2021, on the occasion of the centenary of the Communist Party of China, the tribute film "1921" produced by director Huang Jianxin was released in theaters across the country. The film tells the details of the months before and after the first national congress of the Chinese Communist Party ("One Congress").
100 years ago, this group of revolutionary young people from all over the world, with an average age of no more than 28 years old, overcame many obstacles and successfully held a "big one" in Shanghai's ten-mile ocean field.
In order to restore the historical details, director Huang Jianxin specially went to the archives of the world to find historical materials from different angles, and party history experts participated in the production of "1921".
On the eve of the "Great Congress" of the CPC, the Shanghai French Concession Bureau suddenly dispatched hundreds of patrols to closely monitor Li Da, Wang Huiwu, Liu Renjing, and other Communists day and night.
Originally, the director's team rushed to France to find a written record of the French Concession in Shanghai in 1921 when the representatives of the Comintern came to Shanghai. This part of the content was added to the "1921" movie, making the play more full.
Why was the French Concession so wary of the representatives of the Comintern at that time? What are the untold stories behind this hidden affair?
Students who are familiar with the history of the Communist Party of China know that the Communist Party of China was founded in Shanghai and used Shanghai as an important base for activities.
For example, Zhou Enlai, Pan Hannian, and other underground transportation personnel of our party have been lurking in Shanghai for a long time, breaking through the obstruction of dark forces at home and abroad, and continuously providing important information to the party Central Committee.
The reason why the Party Central Committee regards Shanghai as an important activity base is related to Shanghai's unique urban space and the social structure of mixed Chinese and Foreign.
Because of Shanghai's unique concession system, the crowds of people are mixed. As a result, Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Mao Zedong, and others will designate Shanghai as an important base for activities and set up the central organs in Shanghai for a long time.
Some time ago, in a red revolutionary drama "The Age of Awakening" broadcast by CCTV, Chen Duxiu, played by Yu Hewei, also left a deep impression on the audience and friends.
In 1915, Chen Duxiu returned from Japan and came to Shanghai to found the magazine "New Youth". In 1920, around the founding of the Communist Party of China, the Comintern set up the "East Asia Secretariat" in Shanghai.
The so-called Secretariat used the "Shanghai Russian Life Newspaper" as the window medium, through which Chen Duxiu and others secretly issued instructions to contact the Comintern and other comrades.
From 1920 to 1927, Shanghai served as the information hub of the entire Communist Party. Until Gu Shunzhang's rebellion, it played an extremely important role.
The reason why Chen Duxiu and others chose Shanghai as the base camp of the revolution was that in addition to the mixed fish and dragons on the beach, it also included a unique concession system.
In many movies and TV dramas about the Republic of China, the two banks of the Huangpu River are bounded, and there are public concessions, British concessions and French concessions in various parts of Shanghai.
The concession has always had the characteristics of "a country within a country". Since the late Qing Dynasty, the colonial authorities such as France and Britain have set the tone of urban development in the concession.
In 1862, the British and the French signed an unequal treaty with the Qing court, establishing concessions throughout China. He also clearly pointed out that all the management rights in the concession belong to all countries, and even if chaos breaks out in the concession, without the consent of the countries concerned, the Chinese government must stand idly by, let alone send military and police into the concession.
From the late Qing Dynasty onwards, many revolutionaries used the Shanghai Concession as a cover to engage in revolutionary activities against the Qing, Yuan, and Chiang Kai-shek.
Therefore, under the joint pull and thrust, Shanghai has become a gathering place for all kinds of cultural people, revolutionaries and returned overseas Chinese, which has made Shanghai form a unique cohesion.
Otherwise, Li Da, Wang Huiwu, and Chen Duxiu would not have insisted on holding a "big" meeting in the French Concession of Shanghai.
After saying this, let's focus on the students, in the movie "1921", the Shanghai French Concession on the eve of the "big" meeting of the Communist Party of China, beware of the plot of the representatives of the Comintern coming to Shanghai.
Around 1920, the Comintern was willing to help Chinese establish communist organizations, and sent Wu Tingkang to lead Chinese comrades to form the "East Asia Secretariat". The "East Asia Secretariat" initially consisted of five people, namely Wu Tingkang, Chen Duxiu, Li Hanjun and others.
On July 2, 1920, the Shanghai Revolutionary Bureau set up the Sino-Russian News Agency, which was run by Yang Mingzhai, an assistant of Wu Tingkang, and the address of the Sino-Russian News Agency was set up at No. 6, Yuyangli, Xiafei Road, French Concession.
The Sino-Russian News Agency was the first news agency of the Communist Party of China and the Shanghai branch of the Rosta Beijing branch of the Central News Agency of the USSR. Its main task was to be responsible for the newspapers and periodicals sent from Moscow and Siberia by the Russian News Agency for the use of the Chinese revolutionaries.
In addition, comintern also set up a "full consumption cooperative" and a "Central Associated Press Office in Shanghai" in Shanghai. These institutions belonged to secret units and were financed by the Communist International to ccp organizations.
In 1920, the Comintern established contacts with Chen Duxiu and others, and under the guidance and promotion of the Comintern, Chen Duxiu established the Marxist Research Society in Shanghai, which was the rudimentary organization of the Communist Party of China.
The "History of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai" once clearly emphasized: "The Communist Party established in Shanghai in June 1920 was not a local party organization, but a founding group of the Communist Party of China, which was oriented to the whole country and the world from the very beginning, and there were organizations of the Chinese working masses."
In November 1920, Liu Qingyang and Zhou Enlai contacted Chen Gongpei and Zhao Shiyan in Shanghai, and then established the "Communist Party brigade group in France".
Chen Duxiu vigorously trained revolutionary cadres during this period, and in order to avoid investigation, the Communist Party of China successfully took root in the French Concession and gradually grew.
At that time, all the concessions in Shanghai had become the "protective umbrella" of the revolutionaries, and the Comintern also went to the Shanghai concession to secretly install and set up various special institutions in order to promote the development of the revolution.
However, in April 1914, the French Concession in Shanghai signed the Regulations on the Division of Police Powers on The Road Outside the French Concession with the Beiyang Government.
In this stipulation, the French promised to expel the revolutionary parties in the concession, allow the Beiyang government to rush to the French Concession to arrest the wanted criminals if necessary, and the French Concession police would give the Beiyang government a certain degree of cooperation.
However, the French were not without conditions, and they wanted the Beiyang government to recognize the area of the French Concession, which had swelled from more than 2,100 mu in 1900 to more than 15,000 mu.
It was from 1914 onwards that revolutionary party activities were often carried out in the French Concession, resulting in many uncontrollable factors such as assassinations and riots.
Through this agreement signed between the French and Yuan Shikai, it is not difficult to see that the French know that the Beiyang government particularly hates the revolutionary party. However, because of the characteristics of the concession, there is no way to directly arrest people inside.
Therefore, the French have long been two-sided, first providing protection to the revolutionaries, and at the same time bargaining with the Beiyang government. In this way, the French were not only able to expand the area of the concession, but also continued to make many unreasonable demands on the Beiyang government under the guise of revolutionary activities.
On July 23, 1921, the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China was officially opened at No. 106 Wangzhi Road (now No. 76 Xingye Road) in Shanghai, with a total of 13 delegates from all over the world attending the congress.
The Comintern sent the Dutchman Marin and the Russian Nikolsky to attend the meeting, and Marin was arrested in April 1921 while collecting a visa to China in Vienna, Austria. After his release, he was subjected to strict scrutiny on his way to China.
The Government of the Dutch East India was in close contact with the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Shanghai and kept him informed the authorities of the British and French Concessions in Shanghai of his situation.
On the eve of the "Great Congress" of the CPC, the French Concession in Shanghai was definitely going to guard against the representatives of the Comintern coming to China. Because the French had long used the revolutionaries to bargain with the Beiyang government, they knew that they needed to adjust the distance between the two forces.
The French knew that the Comintern had set up many secret institutions within the Shanghai Concession. However, the secret agency was controllable and did not cause great trouble. When the Chinese Communist Party is really established and a "big" conference is successfully convened, the French will be a little restless.
If the Comintern were to cooperate closely with the Chinese Communists, it would inevitably provoke a backlash from the Beiyang government. By then, the two sides were unbalanced, and it was the French who were unlucky.
The French Concession in Shanghai alerted the delegates of the Comintern to Shanghai and, if necessary, cooperated with the Beiyang government to crack down on the Comintern and the Chinese Communist Party.
In general, under the guidance and promotion of the Comintern, Chen Duxiu and others were eager to establish communist organizations belonging to the Chinese. Because of its special social structure and urban space, Shanghai became the main base of activities in the early days of the Communist Party of China.
These public concessions were controlled by foreigners, and the colonial authorities did not want to have a disagreement with the revolutionaries or the Beiyang government, which would seriously damage their own interests.
When the Comintern was truly united with the Communist Party of China and ready to do something great, the French Concession in Shanghai had to send people to warn them, search for relevant information, and intervene if necessary. Its purpose is still to protect its interests in China from being affected.
It is worth mentioning that in the 1930s, the French Concession changed the general patrol and vigorously rectified the situation in the concession, and many revolutionaries were forced to leave Shanghai.
During World War II, the French Concession came under the jurisdiction of the Vichy government. Later, Japan established a "Wang puppet government", and the French Concession was taken back and given to the Wang puppet government.
From the historical evolution of the French Concession, it is not difficult to see that this piece of fat is what everyone wants to possess. This also highlights the special importance of Shanghai's position.
In modern times, Shanghai's urban scale is superior, the population quality is high, and the elites of all walks of life are gathered, making Shanghai one of the large cities with strong innovation ability in China.
More than 100 years ago, Shanghai was also one of the few cities in China with a high-quality population and great cultural differences. It provides space for the gathering of many revolutionary heroes.
However, under the surging tide of darkness, the establishment and development of any party is bound to destroy the original power structure of Shanghai, which has to arouse the vigilance of the original concessions in Shanghai, including the Beiyang and the Republic of China government, and many revolutionary activities have arisen.