During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, after the fall of Hong Kong, nearly a thousand cultural people were trapped in Hong Kong, and the CPC Central Committee and the Southern Bureau were very concerned about the situation of patriots and cultural figures stranded in Hong Kong. At that time, Liao Chengzhi, the head of the Eighth Route Army's Hong Kong office, was instructed by Zhou Enlai to organize rescues in a continuous manner. After careful organization, the correct route of the big rescue was planned, and the big rescue was successful. Guangdong Longchuan Laolong was an important transit station for the great rescue at that time, and made an important contribution to the rescue of Hong Kong cultural celebrities. This paper focuses on the historical overview and era background of the rescue, and further explores the historical role and significance of Guangdong Longchuan in the rescue of cultural celebrities through consulting historical materials and field research.
When Hong Kong fell in 1941, through the unified deployment of the Party Central Committee, the Dongjiang Column rescued hundreds of patriots and anti-Japanese cultural celebrities who were stranded in Hong Kong at that time. According to the guidance of the CPC Central Committee and the Southern Bureau, Liao Chengzhi, director of the Eighth Route Army's Hong Kong Office, and other leading comrades of the Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Group jointly deployed rescue work with the CPC Southern Working Committee. The rescue of the Hong Kong Cultural People's Congress was called by Mao Dun as "the greatest rescue work since the anti-Japanese war.". Laolong Town, an important town in Longchuan County, played a vital role in the rescue operation as an important transit point on the rescue route.
I. Historical Overview of the Great Rescue of Hong Kong Cultural Celebrities
(1) Historical background
1. Hong Kong fell, and nearly a thousand cultural people were trapped in Hong Kong
The Pacific War broke out in December 1941, the Japanese conquered Hong Kong on the 25th of the same month, and when the Japanese army conquered Hong Kong, it blocked the traffic from Hong Kong to Kowloon, and imposed a curfew to resist the large-scale search for log soldiers and patriots, posted a notice, and let hong Kong's cultural people quickly go to the "Great Japanese Army Headquarters". The "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Circle," a secret service organ of Japan's "Southern Branch Dispatch Army," also published relevant information in the newspaper: "Please invite Zou Taofen and Mr. Mao Dun to participate in the construction of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere," and cultural agents specially put up a slide in the movie theater to "invite Mei Lanfang, Cai Chusheng, and Situ Huimin to meet at the Peninsula Hotel." ②
Why did the Japanese army hunt down cultural people after occupying Hong Kong? Li Jinliang, a former librarian at the "Cultural Celebrity Rescue Memorial Hall" in Shenzhen, once said: The Japanese army followed an idea for China's aggression, not only to make China submit in terms of force, but also to make China surrender spiritually. (3) According to his understanding, in 1941, Hong Kong cultural people mainly arrived in Hong Kong from Chongqing, Shanghai, Guilin and other places. At that time, people who still had illusions about the Kuomintang were awakened, and some of them were persecuted because they exposed the Kuomintang's active anti-communist and passive anti-Japanese policies, so they moved their families to Hong Kong. After the "Anhui Incident," when they learned the true face of the Kuomintang diehards, Kuomintang elders such as He Xiangning, Liu Yazi, and others jointly sent an open letter to the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee and Chiang Kai-shek, as well as Mao Dun, an anti-Japanese cultural figure, and nine others, jointly issued "Our Attitude and Propositions on State Affairs." These activities made the Kuomintang diehards even more hostile to the Japanese and the Japanese.
At that time, hundreds of cultural figures and patriots in Hong Kong actively carried out anti-Japanese rescue activities, and after occupying Hong Kong, the Japanese army blocked the traffic and docks for exports to the outside world, and at the same time imposed a curfew.
2. The CPC Central Committee urgently sent a telegram to urgently carry out the "great rescue" operation
The CPC Central Committee and the Southern Bureau government are very concerned about the patriots and cultural circles stranded in Hong Kong. According to historical records, it can be understood that when the Japanese army attacked Hong Kong, the CPC Central Committee sent a telegram to Zhou Enlai and others to try to protect and help the democrats and cultural figures in Hong Kong to evacuate and transfer them to guerrilla areas such as the Dongjiang Anti-Japanese Movement. Evacuation, funding and other details of the deployment.
The rescue of cultural celebrities lasted for 11 months, with a large number of participants, such as the Anti-Japanese Guerrillas in Guangdong and underground organizations in several provinces, and more than 800 cultural figures in Hong Kong were rescued. Among them, including: Mao Dun, Hu Feng, Zou Taofen and so on.
(2) The route of the great rescue
According to the historical records of the Great Rescue Memorial Hall of Shenzhen Historical and Cultural Celebrities, Zhou Enlai successively sent telegrams to Liao Chengzhi, so that Liao Chengzhi could rescue people from Hong Kong cultural circles and democrats, turn to the rear after passing through the Dongjiang or Guangzhou Bay areas, and make complete arrangements for the transfer route: In addition to the East River and Guangzhou Bay, you can also go to Malaya, which is the current Malaysian region, but it is better to go to the Dongjiang guerrilla and other areas, and it is not possible to leave hidden dangers, nor can it go south or guerrilla areas, and it is necessary to transfer to the interior to Guilin first.
Liao Chengzhi, the person in charge of Hong Kong, immediately mobilized the Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrillas and the Hong Kong underground organization, laid out detailed arrangements, planned the rescue route and participated in the rescue. In just half a year, they rescued the cultural and patriots trapped in Hong Kong by land and water routes, and entered the safe area of the rear after passing through the guerrilla area.
1. Take the eastern route waterway. From Kowloon to the eastern route, through Sai Kung, crossing Dapeng Bay to land at Shayu Chung, taking Ping Shan to Huizhou, taking a boat to Lao Long under the cover of business behavior, taking a car to Shaoguan, and finally going to western Fujian via Xingning, Meixian and Tai Po, or then to northern Jiangsu. The evacuation of this line included the family of patriotic businessman Li Boqiu and Shangguan Dexian, the wife of Yu Hanmou, commander of the Kuomintang Seventh Theater of Operations.
2. Take the western route overland. From Kowloon via Tsuen Wan, Da Mao Shan to Yuen Long, cross the Shenzhen River into Merlin Pass, and arrive at Pak Shek Lung. After a short rest, most of them set off from Baishilong to Huiyang Pingshan, Tamsui, Huizhou, Laolong, Shaoguan and other places, and finally returned safely to the rear. The evacuation personnel of this line include Contradiction, Zou Taofen, Hu Sheng, Yu Ling, etc.
3. Take the sea route to the east. Cross the sea via Cheung Chau Island by civilian boat, disembark from Shanwei or Magong, go to Haifeng, and then turn into the interior. The evacuation personnel of this line include He Xiangning and Liu Yazi.
4. Take the western sea route. Passing through Cheung Chau Island, crossing the Lingling Ocean to Macau Qi, then taking a boat through Sanzao Island to Taishan Shiqi or Jiangmen, and then along the West River in Zhaoqing, Wuzhou, Liuzhou, and finally reaching Guilin; Or take a boat from Macau to Zhanjiang in Guangzhou Bay and pass through Qinzhou, Lingshan and Liuzhou to Guilin or Chongqing. The evacuation of this line includes Xia Yan, Jin Zhonghua, Li Xiuwen (Lady Ye Ting) and so on.
Second, the main historical overview of the Laolong cultural celebrity rescue
(1) Why Lao Long has become an important transit station
First, the important town of Longchuan County is Laolong, which, as the end point of the East River shipping, can go east to Mei, Xing, Pu to western Fujian, northern Jiangsu and other regions, and west to Shaoguan, thus transferring to Hunan Sichuan, Gui, Qian and other areas. Second, both the Guangjiu and the southern section of the Guangdong-Han Railway were controlled by the Japanese army, while Longchuan in Guangdong had not yet been occupied by the Japanese army. Third, the people of Longchuan have excellent revolutionary traditions. Therefore, Liao Chengzhi and Lian Cong, who were in charge of the rescue, eventually chose Laolong, Longchuan, Guangdong, as a transit station.
(2) The establishment of the Lao Long rescue transfer station
At that time, Lao Long Shang was a "national unification area". The Diehard Kuomintang faction has received information that a large number of cultural and pro-democracy figures will set up checkpoints in Hong Kong through the Dongjiang guerrilla zone to the laolong hinterland through the Dongjiang guerrilla zone, set up checkpoints at stations, docks, and other major transportation areas, and at the same time send spies to try to arrest them in hotels. In such a dangerous situation, if you do not rely on the secret working methods of the underground party organizations, you will go that way. During this period, rescue personnel seized the opportunity to quickly set up secret transfer stations in Laolong, Huizhou and other locations, so that the protection work could be completed safely. This time it is The Huizhou "Yuan Ji Xing" of Manager Liao Anxiang, and the "Hong Kong Automotive Materials Line" and the "Yifu Line" of Lao Long.
Lao Long's transit station is coherent and personally mastered. In the "Yifu Line" and "Hong Kong Automotive Materials Line" in Laolongcheng (both of which have been destroyed, only the ruins of the Fujian Guild Hall of the next command station remain), the underground party and the owners of these two commercial houses have united front relations, and they are consistently Hong Kong merchants and shareholders, who can live here, and the CPC's Dongjiang Rear Special Committee will also work in coordination and consistency. In addition, there are Zheng Zhan and Hu Yisheng, who co-organized the "Hong Kong China News Agency" with Qiao Guanhua.
Lao Long is the only way to withdraw from Hong Kong to the rear. (4) By taking the boat by water, democrats and cultural figures jointly traveled from Huizhou to Laolong, and through these two business houses, Zheng Zhan and Lian Lian were found, and they were named "receiving family members", "Hong Kong shareholders", "overseas Chinese", etc., and properly arranged the food and accommodation of the rescued people. However, under the increasingly tight search by Kuomintang agents, in order to reduce the possibility of accidents, most of the people stayed here for only two nights, and then transferred to Shaoguan by taking the vehicles contacted by the transfer station, while the remaining small number of people would let Hu Yisheng escort them and use the name of "commercial houses" to move to western Fujian or northern Jiangsu after passing through Xingning.
(3) Anecdotes of the great rescue that occurred in Lao Long
1. The safe place of old Long City
After the efforts of Liao Anxiang, who once opened the "Dongli Transport Company" in Hong Kong, Liao Anxiang, who incarnated as "Boss Luo", issued "refugee cards" to senior officials of the Nationalist Army for their customers, merchants and partners through the "Wine Table Offensive". (5) On February 17 (the third day of the first lunar month), the "large army" from Huizhou to Laolong came out, and when they arrived in Laolong, they waited there early in the name of "Yifu Xing" and sent people to Shaoguan through well-connected cars, trains and other means of transportation, protecting their personal safety. However, there is also Zou Taofen who is stranded in Laolong.
2. The last rescued person - "Li Shangqing"
In late April, through the traffic officer, two people were brought back to The hands of Zheng Zhan, an assistant who was coherent to Lao Long, one of whom wore glasses and had a emaciated face, and the name registered on the refugee card was "Li Shangqing" and the occupation was "shareholder of a Hong Kong commercial bank", which was Zou Taofen, a well-known newspaperman and patriot.
On the second day after receiving Zou Taofen, Lian Lian sent his assistant Zheng Zhan to contact the car that could reach Shaoguan, but only two people were sent away, that is, Zou Taofen and Hu Sheng, who was traveling with him, Li Jinliang said that under the circumstances at that time, Zou Taofen was wanted and issued a killing order, and it would be very dangerous if he was also transferred from Hong Kong according to the route transferred by other cultural figures. Moreover, according to intelligence, it can be understood that the Kuomintang diehards at that time already knew that Zou Taofen had left Hong Kong, and specially ordered the secret service organs to investigate Zou Taofen's whereabouts, and also released relevant photos at various checkpoints.
Chen Qichang also participated in Zou Taofen's rescue operation, and after his recollection, it can be known that in the final countermeasures, the main thing is to stop the action and hide in place. Chen Qichang's hometown is in Jiangtou Village in Laolongmei County, and the village was once a Soviet village in the second revolution, and the mass base is relatively good. Chen Qichang was the son of Chen Zhuomin, an overseas Chinese who had returned to China, and after returning to his hometown as an underground party, he established good social relations with the local Yamen as the "manager of the commercial bank", and Zou Taofen followed him during this period and became "Li Shangqing" who was "sick and recuperating" and lived in Jiangtou Village.
Zheng Zhan also recalled that on September 25, he and Feng Shu escorted Zou Taofen out of Jiangtou Village, arrived in Xingning by small boat, and instead took a car transported by another coherent trading company, "Qiao Xingxing," to Shaoguan, and whenever they encountered checkpoint inspections, they would ask Feng Shu to take out a pass to deal with the past, and said that the boss was in poor health and could not get out of the car for inspection, and because the "Qiao Xingxing" had a good relationship with the military and police, it often gave small favors and small favors, and passed through the customs in confusion.
After the team arrived at Shaoguan, in order to shake off the "tail", they found a special accommodation boat by the river for one night, and the next day they boarded the train in Shuikou, passed through The Pass to the Northern Jiangsu Liberation Army, passed through Changsha, and after several turns, on November 22, 1942, Zou Taofen became the last rescued person in the Hong Kong rescue activities, and the operation was a complete success.
3, before the others, the coherent family in the old grand gathering
In late April 1942, a coherent accident in Lao Long saw his wife and children fleeing hong Kong and immediately put down the stone in his heart.
At the beginning of the rescue activities in Hong Kong, Coherence had some consideration for his family, because of the heavy task, he could not take care of his wife and children during the rescue, so he first transferred two thirteen and fourteen-year-old children to the Dongjiang guerrillas, and left a part of the money for his wife Han Xueming, indicating that he had an important task and could not lead his wife and children to go together, so that his wife and children would later go to Lao Long to find Coherence. After the meeting at the Haven in Causeway Bay, he never returned home. After that, Han Xueming could only take his three children to flee with the refugees, and in the middle of winter, he traveled a long distance, and when he was about to reach Huizhou, he was robbed by bandits and desperate. At that time, Zou Taofen and a group of escorted "cultural people" wanted to take a boat to Laolong, and Han Xueming showed his identity to them with a straight face, begging to take their boat to Laolong to find coherence.
Zou Taofen and others felt a little strange, Lian Lian and other rescue organizations arranged the operation in a precise and thoughtful manner, and each transfer station had special personnel to pick up and drop off, but how could his family members be living on the street, how could there be such an unreasonable thing? When the ship arrived at Lao Long and saw Coherence, it confirmed that the mother and son four were really Coherent's family members, and they were all impressed and deeply moved.
Third, the historical role and status of Lao Long in the rescue of cultural celebrities
The Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps (the predecessor of the Dongjiang Column) led by the party has opened up secret communication lines and cover from Laolong to Shaoguan after continuous twists and turns, and the underground party organizations have escorted Mao Dun and other cultural figures and democrats to successfully evacuate, and have brilliantly fulfilled the + tasks entrusted by the party. The victory of the great rescue of Hong Kong's cultural celebrities has had a major impact on the development and consolidation of the anti-Japanese united front and the international anti-fascist war.
(1) Laolong is geographically important and is a large transit station
Laolong has a waterway to south Huizhou, west of Shaoguan, east of Xingning, Meizhou, the geographical location is very superior, after the Japanese army invaded China in an all-round way, due to the dangerous terrain of Laolong, easy to defend and difficult to attack, it has never been occupied by Japan. It was precisely because of this special geographical location that Lao Long was selected as an important transit station for the rescue of cultural celebrities. A large number of Hong Kong cultural figures and democrats traveled north from Hong Kong through Shenzhen and Huizhou, and finally came to Longchuan, where they were transported to the rear area through different routes through the arrangements of the central authorities and the arrangements of comrades at the transfer stations. For example, Laolong can go east to Mei, Xing, Pu to western Fujian, northern Jiangsu and other areas, and the west can go to Shaoguan, thus transferring to Hunan Chuan, Gui, Qian and other areas. The escort from Laolong to Shaoguan was the responsibility of the Houdong Special Committee. In order to ensure that the rescue was foolproof, one of the responsible persons of the Eighth Route Army's Hong Kong office at that time sat in Laolong for medical treatment, and through the careful arrangements of the Houdong Special Committee and the Longchuan underground organization, strictly deployed, with the Fujian Guild Hall as a transit station, a series of rescue measures were carried out.
(2) The Revolutionary Soviet Area contributed to ensure the success of the rescue
As one of the counties in the Central Soviet District, Longchuan has always had a deep revolutionary growth soil and strong humanistic feelings. In late January 1942, the Party organization of the Dongjiang Rear Special Committee received instructions from the Party Central Committee conveyed by Liao Chengzhi and established a rescue transfer station under the auspices of Coherent. Throughout the rescue process, the Party organization of the Dongjiang Rear Area Special Committee actively developed the people of Longchuan and did a good job of covering for the cultural and democratic people who had returned from Hong Kong. From the Spring Festival of 1942 to September of the same year, after half a year, the Special Committee and the Longchuan Party Organization successfully set up four inspections on the Route from Laolong to Shaoguan under the investigation of the Kuomintang's Central Unification Agents, sending Hong Kong's cultural elites and patriots to Shaoguan unscathed, and the tasks issued by the Party were successfully completed.
(3) The Fujian Guild Hall retains memories for the rescue
There is an ordinary house on Xinhua Road in Laolong Town, Longchuan County, which occupies a small area, which is the famous Fujian Guild Hall, a transit station for the rescue of Hong Kong cultural celebrities. Lian Lian, one of the responsible persons of the Eighth Route Army's hong Kong office and one of the leaders of the "Great Rescue of Hong Kong," lived in the "Fujian Guild Hall" and meticulously arranged and directed the great transfer of people of democracy and cultural progress. Many famous people trapped in Hong Kong, such as He Xiangning, Xia Yan, Liao Mosha, Contradiction and other people, and patriotic democrats, a total of more than 300 people, crossed the heavy blockade line of the Japanese Kou, sailed north along the East River, safely transferred to the transit station - Laolong Town, Longchuan County, and were arranged in shops such as "Yifu Xing" and "Qiao Xing Xing" near the "Fujian Guild Hall".
It is understood that there were more than 200 progressives who were safely transferred from Lao Long in 1942. Zhao Xiaoqi, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Letters of Wuhan University, said in his treatise that in this cultural transfer incident that shocked China and foreign countries, Lao Long, as an important transit station, played an irreplaceable and important role in the success of the cultural people's congress transfer. ⑥
epilogue
The rescue of Hong Kong's cultural celebrities was a great feat under the leadership of the Communist Party of China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The cultural celebrities rescued in this great rescue have all become important pillars on all fronts of New China after the founding of New China, and from this point of view, this great rescue has also rescued a number of important cultural elites for the party. The spiritual outlook of Longchuan in Guangdong Province in this historical rescue is inextricably linked to the revolutionary historical tradition of the county as a central Soviet district. Today, it is even more necessary to inherit this red gene and write a more magnificent poem for the green rise of Longchuan in the new era.