(Pictured) Portrait of the Qing Dynasty painted by foreigners
The American historian Fairbank once said that a modern history of China is a history of the collision of Chinese and Western civilizations, and it is precisely under the impact of Western civilization that China's modern times have bloomed the flower of progress. However, it is not difficult to find that from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the process of social change in China was actually slow and tortuous, and every step was extremely difficult. The reason is that the Confucian culture of a monopoly has made the Chinese people very conservative and closed. Even in the collision of Chinese and Western civilizations, many people are still stuck in their own hands and cling to their imperfections. In 1902, the exposé and anti-religious incident led by He Jinsheng in Shaoyang, Hunan Province, was a typical blind hatred of the ocean and extreme xenophobic farce.
He Jinsheng (1853-1902), formerly known as Shangyi (尚義), was a native of Shaoyang Dongxiang (present-day Shaodong). Although he studied Confucian classics such as the Analects and Mencius since childhood, his path to the imperial examination was not smooth, and he was only admitted to Xiucai at the age of 28, and he failed to pass the xiang examination repeatedly. As he grew older, he gave up the path of the imperial examination and taught at a private school in the countryside, but still immersed himself in the study of the application of the scriptures. It is said that his favorite books are "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and Qi Jiguang's "Ji Xiao New Book", hoping to emulate his predecessors and save the world.
He Jinsheng's family is well-off, and there is no pressure in life. However, as intellectuals, the feelings of national affairs and family affairs and concern for the world and everything in the world are always lingering. During his stay in the countryside, He Jinsheng performed heroic deeds and righteousness, was enthusiastic about public welfare, and gained a high reputation. In the sixteenth year of Guangxu (1890), he participated in exposing the county order Sun Yancheng to be corrupt and perverted the law, and his name was zhenxiangli. In the 20th year of Guangxu (1894), the new Zhixian Mao Longzhuo appointed him as the general of the Shaoyang Dongxiang Regiment (the leader of the local security regiment), during which he rectified the landlord bullies who ran rampant in the townships, which was highly praised by the townspeople. As He Jinsheng's influence in the local area increased, he had contact with both black and white figures, especially with the secret association of the Elder Brothers.
In the 26th year of Guangxu (1900), the Boxer Rebellion broke out in northern China under the slogan of "Supporting the Qing Dynasty and Destroying the Ocean", which led to the eight-nation alliance to capture Beijing. Subsequently, there was also an anti-foreign religious incident in Hengyang, Hunan. He Jinsheng, who was deeply influenced by the ideas of the world' practical application, saw this opportunity and was also eager to move, which attracted the attention of the government. Yu Liansan, the governor of Hunan at the time, was worried that He Jinsheng would incite the people to gather and make trouble, so he adopted a policy of envelopment and incorporated it. Yu Liansan appointed He Jinsheng as the right wing of the patrol battalion, and ordered him to return to his hometown to recruit three thousand Zhuang Ding people to take to the provincial capital, and the viceroy Zhang Qingyun supervised the exercises.
(Pictured) Boxers, also known as Boxers. The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the "Gengzi Incident",
In the recruit system at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the pipe belt belonged to the middle-level officers, which was equivalent to the detachment commanders under the armed police corps of the provinces today. He Jinsheng was promoted from a local security regiment leader to a detachment leader of the regular troops in the province, and he was naturally flattered by a helicopter. He Jinsheng thought that he had met the noble person in his life and was very grateful for Yu Liansan's promotion. With the belief of being grateful for the newspaper, He Jinsheng actively offered advice to Yu Liansan and at the same time promoted his own political ideas. Just over two months after taking up his post as pipe belt, he wrote to Yu Liansan four times, putting forward many suggestions such as "protesting and peace," "saving the Beijing division," "rushing to the front," "saving Sangzi," and "painting the land to defend oneself and supporting the troops and consolidating oneself.", and even requested that the reparations for the Sino-Japanese War and the taxes paid to the imperial court that Hunan shared every year should be withheld and used as military salaries. However, in Yu Liansan's view, most of He Jinsheng's suggestions and propositions were whimsical, and even vainly discussed the government. In order to avoid breeding incidents, Yu Liansan only perfunctorily used the excuse that "the time has not yet arrived", but in his heart he strengthened his precautions.
In the spring of the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1900), there was a famine in Shaoyang due to drought, and He Jinsheng applied to return to his hometown for disaster relief. At that time, the government had allocated 20,000 cartons of relief grain, but it was still not enough. He Jinsheng then raised money and grain from the landlord and gentry, but was unexpectedly boycotted by the landlord and gentry. Toast and don't eat it, then let you eat the penalty wine, He Jinsheng will arrest and imprison the leader in anger, and the others will have to obediently pay for food. Although it was forcibly apportioned, it won the support of the people, and the prestige of He Jinsheng was greatly enhanced, and people called him "He Qingtian" and "Living (He) Bodhisattva".
After the disaster relief, He Jinsheng returned to the patrol camp as a pipe belt. At this time, the Boxer Rebellion in the north was suppressed, and the Qing government signed the Treaty of Xinugu with the invading countries. In addition to the huge reparations, the Qing government also promised to suppress xenophobic activities to ensure the safety of foreigners. In Hunan, the Hengyang teaching case was also suppressed, and the case was closed with compensation for churches and compensation for losses. As a result, Western missionaries were more active in China. He Jinsheng was indignant at this scene, and once again wrote to Yu Liansan, proposing to stop adding churches, handle the teaching plan fairly, and order the missionaries to restrain their behavior. However, this kind of major event is not at all something that a Hunan inspector can decide. After Yu Liansan received He Jinsheng's proposal, he naturally ignored it.
If he had only written to the imperial court in vain, Yu Liansan would have been able to turn a blind eye and resign himself to it. But an incident occurred shortly after that shook Yu Liansan's confidence in continuing to implement He Jinsheng's policy of envelopment. At that time, a British military attaché came to Visit Hunan and was greeted by all military camps in the provincial capital. Only He Jinsheng openly declared, "If you come to my camp, you will stab it!" The British military attaché had to cancel the visit to the Hekinsheng barracks. This incident made Lian San very angry, and felt that He Jinsheng was like a time bomb, which would eventually lead to an incident and harm himself. In February of the twenty-eighth year of Guangxu (1902), Yu Liansan dismissed He Jinsheng from his pipe belt position and arranged for him to be transferred to an idle post by the battalion office, that is, he Jinsheng was relieved of his military powers.
(Pictured) Portrait of the Qing Dynasty painted by foreigners
In June (July) of that year, he Jinsheng, who was frustrated in the official field, returned to his hometown on leave under the pretext of provincial relatives. After He Jinsheng returned to his hometown, he found that the missionary activities in Shaoyang were becoming more and more active. The German missionary Kang Man has built a beautiful church in Shaoyang. The local inferior gentleman Li Yuanzhen gathered a group of people and, under the guise of a missionary in Hengyang, opened a gospel hall in Shaoyang rented a house and contracted the business of filing a lawsuit on paper. They claimed that those who need to write a petition to fight a lawsuit, if they enter the church and teach, will win the lawsuit. For a time, it attracted many people to join the religion. Li Yuanzhen charged them fees ranging from one yuan to one hundred and dozens of yuan. When He Jinsheng heard this, he was very angry and threatened to severely punish Li Yuanzhen, frightening Li Yuansheng into fleeing to other places. At that time, Shaoyang rumors were flying all over the place. There are rumors that missionaries poisoned the water, leading to an epidemic of disease in the area. There are also rumors that missionaries go around going around gouging out eyes, cutting kidneys, and caesareaning tires, mutilating Chinese.
In order to crack down on missionary activities, He Jinsheng decided to form an anti-foreign rebel army based on the former regimental Yong Old Department. On the tenth day of the first month of August (September 11), He Jinsheng held a township people's meeting at Shetian Bridge in Dongxiang, Shaoyang, and put up the banner of "Han Annihilation of foreign troops" and announced an "uprising". He called himself a marshal and appointed his fellow countrymen Su Daosheng and Zhao Xuegui as the left and right army divisions, Qiao Zhichen, Zhao Tiezhao, Zhao Xuan, and Jiang Yulong as the four generals, and Liu Zhaopeng as the vanguard of the former enemy. In order to expand the ranks, key members were sent to various places to recruit volunteers, and contacted the township regimental defense bureaus and members of the local Brotherhood of Elders to respond to the uprising.
On the eve of the uprising, He Jinsheng captured a spy named Zhu Er, who was said to have been sent by a Hengyang missionary to spy on the truth. Villagers spread the word that this person was bribed by foreigners and often abducted children. He Jinsheng then imprisoned Zhu Er in a cage and escorted him to all the townships of Shaoyang. During the march, Fuxian sent people to stop him and asked zhu Er to be sent to the government for interrogation, but was refused. After the parade on August 13 (September 14), He Jinsheng escorted Zhu Er to the Zhongxiang Lingguan Hall and burned him alive with fire.
On August 14 (September 15), He Jinsheng informed FuXian that the German missionary Kang Man must be handed over and burned to death like Zhu Er, or someone would be sent into the city to search him in a few days. The circular not only blatantly threatened the government, but also had an arrogant tone. He Jinsheng also issued the "Letter of Persuasion to the Clergy of Various Countries" and the "Book of Taking The Prisoners of The Religion", and sent people to post them everywhere. The "Exhortation to the Priesthood of All Nations" chronicles the crimes of foreign missionaries and strongly urges states to recall missionaries. The Book of Najiao Prisoners calls on the villagers to arrest missionaries and parishioners, and reward five hundred yuan for each one caught.
On August 18 (September 19), He Jinsheng led an insurgent army into shaoyang city, claiming to have captured the German missionary Kang Man. However, FuXian had already sent someone to escort Kang Man to the provincial capital, and He Jinsheng's plan to arrest the missionary failed.
Because of the hasty and hasty nature of the uprising, preparations were inadequate. After the rebel army entered the city, it was reorganized, only to find that there was a serious shortage of weapons and supplies. Many of the villagers who had been recruited were discouraged within a few days. He Jinsheng also did not formulate long-term strategic goals and a unified program of action, and the rebel army was unable to form cohesion and combat effectiveness.
Seeing that the situation was difficult to clean up, on August 19 (September 20), He Jinsheng wrote to Yu Liansan again, hoping to get support, and proposed a plan to recruit 30,000 soldiers, asking for the allocation of equipment for funding.
Recruiting soldiers and buying horses without permission has been suspected of the crime of rebellion, and He Jinsheng actually sought the support of the government at this time, which is really very naïve and naïve. Just two or three years ago, the Qing court used the Boxers to resist foreign aggression, and as a result, even the imperial capital Beijing was captured by the Eight-Nation Alliance, and Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fled to Xi'an in a hurry, and finally had to obediently seek peace and sign an unequal treaty. Having already suffered a big loss, how could the government repeat the same mistakes? Moreover, He Jinsheng's strength could not be compared with the Boxer Rebellion of that year.
Perhaps He Jinsheng did not really want to revolt at first, but only bluffed to pressure Yu Liansan in order to achieve the goal of anti-foreign religion. Later, due to the situation getting out of control, He Jinsheng had a hard time riding the tiger, so he had to play the real thing. But the game of uprising is really not so fun.
When Yu Liansan, the governor of Hunan, learned of He Jinsheng's uprising, he decided to kill the killer. On August 22 (September 23), Yu Lian sent luo Zhengjun, an alternate candidate from ZhiXian County, to Shaoyang to arrest He Jinsheng in conjunction with Fu County. Prior to this, Yu Liansan had made a thorough military deployment. First, an army of officers and men was dispatched, in the name of border defense, and the starry night rushed to Shaoyang. Then another army of officers and men was transferred to garrison Yongfeng and Jieling in Xiangxiang County as a countermeasure. He also ordered a group of officers and soldiers stationed in Hengzhou to secretly strengthen their vigilance. After the army was deployed, Yu Liansan planned to carry out the trap first. If the trapping fails, a military encirclement and suppression will be carried out.
After Luo Zhengjun arrived in Shaoyang, he went to see He Jinsheng together after secretly discussing with Pan Qing, the prefect of Baoqing, and Chen Yulin of Shaoyang Zhi County. Luo Zhengjun pretended that Yu Liansan had accepted his suggestion and came to offer his condolences and asked him to prepare to go to the provincial capital with the prefect Pan Qing to discuss important matters. Chen Yulin pretended to set up a banquet at the government to send off. He Jinsheng believed that it was true, and took Su Daosheng, Zhao Xuegui and others to the fuxue for a banquet, who knew that as soon as he entered, he was arrested by the officials who had ambushed there beforehand. Then, the officers and soldiers sent by Yu Liansan to Shaoyang entered the city and took control of the situation.
On August 25 (September 26), He Jinsheng learned that he would be escorted to the provincial capital the next day, knowing that he would undoubtedly die. That night, he wrote four suicide notes to Yu Liansan, his mother, relatives and friends, and his clan. And he wrote his own elegy: "Seeing death as a return as soon as it is, saying what force is sawn and cooked, it makes people afraid; and it is safe and regrettable, but the world is upside down and suffering, which makes me sad." The next day, He Jinsheng was shackled by officers and soldiers and sent to Changsha. It is said that along the way, villagers burned incense and petitioned for leniency. Yu Liansan, fearing a sudden upheaval, ordered the escort to be summarily executed after leaving Shaoyang County. On August 27 (September 28), He Jinsheng was killed at Qingshuping.
A figure of great prestige among the townspeople ended in tragedy, which cannot but be regretted. More than a hundred years later, when we look at the trajectory of this rural intellectual's life again, it is still difficult to understand his blind hatred of the ocean.
Shaoyang is geographically remote, and before the He Jinsheng Uprising, there were not many Western missionaries involved in Shaoyang's missionary activities. He Jinsheng also never dealt directly with missionaries. He Jinsheng's understanding of foreign religion is limited to hearsay. He Jinsheng wrote to Yu Liansan that the missionaries went around going to gouge out their eyes, cut their kidneys, cut their fetuses, and poison them, all of which were unsubstantiated rumors. As a reader, He Jinsheng should not be difficult to distinguish. In fact, Western missionaries have come to China to preach, most of them have attracted Chinese to join the religion by running hospitals and schools, which is quite popular with the people at the bottom. Almost all cases of missionary killings in various places have been caused by conservative forces stirring up dissension. Since He Jinsheng loves the people and is enthusiastic about public welfare, it is reasonable to say that he should not hate the ocean. Therefore, He Jinsheng hated the yang, and the vendetta was somewhat inexplicable.
He Jinsheng was born into a landlord family and was indoctrinated with the idea of respecting the scriptures and revering the ancients since childhood, which may be an important reason for his blind hatred of the yang. When he was a teenager, He Jinsheng was extremely hostile to the ocean. He not only hated foreigners, but also hated all imported goods, and even built railways and erected electric wires. When I was studying at Yuelu Academy, I saw that Changsha was erecting power lines, and the wood used as electric poles was piled up on the Xiang River. One night, he actually sneaked into the timber dump on the xiang river and set fire to all the wood. In order to escape the official investigation, he had to drop out of Yuelu Academy.
He Jinsheng lived in an era when the Western affairs movement was rising, and China had begun to learn and introduce advanced science and technology from the West. Kehe Jinsheng did not seem to be affected at all by the thought of "mastering and controlling Yi" by his fellow villager Wei Yuan, and was always extremely conservative. In 1898, before the He Jinsheng Uprising, the Qing court underwent the Penghu Reform Law. Although the reform failed, it further stimulated the enthusiasm of people of insight to seek the truth of saving the country from the West, and many young people went abroad to study and learn Western science and culture. But He Jinsheng, who lives in the countryside of Shaoyang, is still immersed in the study of his Confucian classics and the so-called study of the application of the scriptures. He Jinsheng's friend Quan is also some conservative diehards. In addition to Su Daosheng, Zhao Xuegui, and others who participated in the uprising, Zeng Lian, a representative of the diehard faction who killed Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, was also his friend.
The anti-Foreign rebellion launched by He Jinsheng ultimately failed to hurt any missionaries, but instead abused lynching to burn a Chinese named Zhu Er. In fact, Zhu Er was not a spy of a missionary, but a local vagrant who did not do his job. There is also no evidence that he abducted children. Burning Zhu Er is not that Zhu Er deserves it, but that He Jinsheng has other plans. He Jinsheng wanted to arouse the hatred of the villagers against the missionaries and parishioners, so as to mobilize more people to participate in the uprising. Obviously, this deceptive uprising has no legitimacy.
He Jinsheng's tragic life is undoubtedly a profound lesson worth learning for today's irrational, immature, and unobjective ultra-nationalists.
*Author: Xie Zhidong, invited author of the secret history of fish and sheep.