Yang Du is definitely an odd man in modern history, and he is very subversive in political color: a loyalist faction that once did his best to help Yuan Shikai claim the title of emperor, and later became a secret member of the Communist Party of China recognized by Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou.
Young Yang Du
Yang Du's grandfather Yang Litang was a subordinate of the famous Xiang army general Zeng Guoquan, and of Yang Litang's four sons, only the eldest son Yang Ruisheng and the fourth son Yang Yi lived. After Yang Litang's death in battle, the eldest son Yang Ruishengyin attacked Yang Litang's official position, and later became the commander-in-chief of Nanyang, Henan Province, because of his military merits, so he settled in his hometown of Hunan and became a famous local family.
Yang Yisheng is Yang Du's father, from childhood physically weak, but talented, quite literate, Yang Ruisheng is quite concerned about this brother, but Yang Yisheng died of illness very early, Yang Du is Yang Yisheng's eldest son, from childhood like his father is as talented and intelligent, so he was adopted by Yang Ruisheng as a stepson. When Yang Du was 17 years old, Yang Ruisheng donated a prisoner for him, so Yang Du was eligible to participate in the township examination at the age of 19.
19-year-old Yang Du lifted people in one fell swoop, at that time, the people who lifted people in the exam were about 30 years old, Yang Du was more than 10 years younger than them, which can be described as a teenager who has achieved ambition, and it is inevitable that everything will be empty. In 1898, the Penghu Reform Law was brutally suppressed by Cixi and failed, and Yang Du's friend Tan Sitong was executed, which greatly touched Yang Du, who was extremely disappointed and ignored the opposition of his teachers and family to study in Japan.
In 1903, in order to save itself, the stormy Qing government set up the "economic special branch" examination to select talents, Yang Du was recommended to obtain the examination qualification, and the 28-year-old Yang Du ranked second, and the first place was Liang Shiyi, who was also famous in modern history. Soon, however, Empress Dowager Cixi, believing that most of the people who had passed the examination were reformers, angryly abrogated the results of the examination and ordered a thorough investigation, and Yang Du had to travel east to Japan to avoid disaster.
In 1902, the Qing government stipulated that all schools must have a "music song" course, at that time in China this area was completely blank, Yang Du in Japan heard about this, volunteered to write a lyric called "Yellow River", this lyrics in the "Xinmin Cong Bao" and "Ta Kung Pao" after publication, attracted Shen Xingong and other musicians to compose music, of which Shen Xingong composed music widely. At the end of the 20th century, Yang Du's "Yellow River" with Shen Xingong was rated as the first place in the "Classic Song of the 20th Century" by the Chinese music industry.
Sun Yat-sen (center stand)
Yang Du not only has excellent poetry, but also writes well, which can be called a calligrapher. The most famous inkblot handed down by Yang Du should be that in 1928, when the Communist Party of China organized the underground publication "Red Flag" magazine, Pan Hannian, secretary of the Cultural Committee of the Central Propaganda Department, asked him to write a masthead for the journal, which also became a powerful testimony to Yang Du's secret party membership in the Chinese Communist Party.
Yang Du is not a simple literati, but an active figure in the political arena. During his study in Japan, Yang Du established his belief in "constitutional monarchy" and became close friends with Liang Qichao, who advocated reform. In July 1905, Sun Yat-sen was preparing to set up an alliance association and looking for talents in Japan, and specifically sought out Yang Du to mobilize him to join the revolutionaries.
Sun Yat-sen and Yang Du had a fierce debate at Yang Du's home about how to save China, and after a long time of debate, in the end no one could say that anyone would not accept anyone, Sun Yat-sen very much wanted to persuade Yang Du to simply stay at Yang Du's house at night, and the two talked all night until dawn.
Yang Du believed in "constitutional monarchy", so he vigorously promoted the idea of constitutional monarchy, and did his best to help Yuan Shikai claim the title of emperor, and soon, Yuan Shikai claimed that the emperor had failed, was angry and corrupt, and died in fear, it is said that Yuan Shikai shouted "Yang Du mistook me" before his death, Yang Du was very unconvinced, he thought that his constitutional monarchy proposition was correct, it was Yuan Shikai himself who did not argue, but put the responsibility for the failure on him.
Yuan Shikai claimed that the emperor failed because Liang Qichao and his student Cai Yi launched a campaign to protect the country, overthrowing Yuan Shikai's Hongxian imperial system, and doing his best to help Yang Du, a think tank of Yuan Shikai's claim to be emperor, was at the top of the wanted list.
Yuan Shikai was proclaimed emperor
In his later years, Yang Du had more contacts with Hu Egong and Li Dazhao, especially Hu Egong and Yang Du had a lot of common interests, and the two were close friends, and Hu Egong believed that Yang Du's study of Buddhism and communist thought had some similarities, so he took some Marxist books and periodicals to Yang Du and asked Yang Du to take a look. At that time, the most outstanding propaganda and introduction of Marxism was Li Dazhao, so Yang Du became one of the earliest figures to contact Marxism and the communists at that time.
In March 1927, Hu Egong received the news that the Beiyang warlords might want to suppress the Communists, so he quickly hid Li Dazhao in his home and immediately transferred him to the Soviet legation. On April 4, Yang Du went to the Taiping Lake Hotel in Beijing to attend the wedding banquet of his friend Xiong Xiling's eldest daughter, and Wang Da xie, who had been the chief of foreign affairs, happened to be there, and Yang Du learned in small talk with Wang Da Xie that Zhang Zuolin was going to send someone into a foreign embassy to search.
Hearing this secret news, Yang Du immediately found an excuse to leave the table, and when he returned home, he quickly informed Hu Egong, and at the same time arranged for his son Yang Gongshu to rush to report to Zhang Shizhao, because Zhang Shizhao and Li Dazhao had a very good personal relationship. Originally, Yang Du's action was very timely, and Li Dazhao could completely evacuate safely after receiving the news, but many of the comrades hiding in the Soviet Embassy at that time could not believe that Zhang Zuolin dared to send someone to break into the Soviet Embassy.
Two days later, Yang Du sent his son Yang Gongshu to Dongjiaomin Lane to inquire about the news, confirming that Li Dazhao and others had been arrested. After learning this news, Yang Du immediately consulted with Hu Egong and others to rescue Li Dazhao. On April 9, Yang Du and Li Dazhao's friends discussed and believed that the best way to rescue them was to strive to transfer the "Li Dazhao Party Case" to the local court for trial, so that there was a lot of room for maneuver.
On the 10th, Yang Du and others met with Zhang Zuolin and proposed that the case should be transferred to the local court, but Zhang Zuolin did not approve. In order to raise funds to rescue Li Dazhao, Yang Du sold his apartment, but the rescue failed, and on April 28, Li Dazhao and 20 other people were hanged. Yang Du and Hu Egong spent all the money in their hands in order to help the parties in the case get out of danger and rescue the families of the victims. Yang Du admired Li Dazhao's personality, and also believed that Li Dazhao's talent was rare, and he was willing to do his best to rescue him.
Li Dazhao
From this period of history, it is not difficult to understand why Yang Du later became a secret member of the Communist Party of China, Yang Du joined the party in about 1929, it was Chen Geng who developed him to join the party, and was approved by Zhou Enlai. In 1931, Yang Du realized that his time was short, built a coffin for himself, and wrote a pair of elegies to summarize his life:
The Emperor's True Way is like the present;
Kuangmin saved the country and succeeded them with their own descendants.