(Vientiane History Special Author: Wan Song in Dreams)
[June 11, 1963] 56 years ago today, Shen Junru, who spanned the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, struggled for democracy until the old Shen Junru passed away
【The Last Jinshi of the Qing Dynasty】
On January 2, 1875, Shen Junru was born in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, into a family of eunuchs and received a good education from an early age. In 1903 (at the age of 28), Shen Junru took the imperial examination and finally ranked 75th in the second class, becoming the last batch of chinese imperial examinations.
In 1905 (at the age of 30), Shen Junru studied in Japan and entered Hosei University in Tokyo, where he had close ties with the Zhejiang Revolutionary Party Constitution Taiyan and others.
(Shen Junru in Tokyo in 1905)
【Three times to ask for a congress failed】
In 1908 (at the age of 33), Shen Junru returned to China after graduation and served as the supervisor of the zhejiang two-level normal school and the deputy speaker of the Zhejiang Provincial Consultative Bureau. He actively promoted the constitutional movement of the late Qing Dynasty, and three times went to Beijing to petition for the speedy opening of the National Assembly.
In 1911 (at the age of 36), the Xinhai Revolution broke out, and Shen Junru actively participated in the revolution, serving as the police chief of the Zhejiang Governor's Office and the director of the Zhejiang Provincial Education Bureau. The following year, he joined the Chinese League.
【Draft Repealed Constitution】
After the founding of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai became the president and Shen Junru became the secretary general of the Senate of the Beijing government. On April 8, 1913, the first Congress was proclaimed.
Shen Junru, as one of the 30 members of the Constitution Drafting Committee, completed the Draft Constitution of the Republic of China. But soon Yuan Shikai dissolved the National Assembly, and the draft constitution was also abolished.
【Disbanded Civil Rights Protection League】
In 1926 (at the age of 51), the Northern Expeditionary Army conquered Zhejiang, and Shen Junru became the political commissar and secretary general of the Provisional Government of Zhejiang Province. In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12" coup d'état, and Shen Junru was detained and later released. Shen Junru was very dissatisfied with the "fascist" behavior of the Republic of China government.
In 1928, Shen Junru became provost of Shanghai University of Law. In 1933 (at the age of 58), he joined the Chinese Civil Rights Protection League organized by Song Qingling, Cai Yuanpei and others, demanding that the government release all political prisoners unconditionally. Soon, the main member Yang Xingfo was assassinated, and the alliance was invisibly dissolved. Shen Junru strengthened his position even more.
(In 1936, Shen Junru took a group photo at the West Lake, behind him was Lan Ping (Jiang Qing))
【The Seven Arrested Gentlemen】
In 1935 (at the age of 60), he and Song Qingling initiated and organized the National Federation for national salvation from all walks of life to actively carry out the anti-Japanese salvation movement. In 1936 (at the age of 64), on the fifth anniversary of "September 18th", Shen Junru disregarded the authorities' ban and led thousands of people to the streets to demonstrate.
On October 21, Shen Junru presided over Lu Xun's public funeral, turning the funeral into a demonstration to resist Japan and save the dead, and tens of thousands of people spontaneously participated in an unprecedented grand funeral.
On November 12, he also delivered a speech on the anniversary of Sun Yat-sen's birth, saying that he would inherit Sun Yat-sen's three major policies of uniting with Russia, the United Communist Party, and supporting peasants and workers. Subsequently, in the name of the National Salvation Congress, he called Zhang Xueliang and others to support the "suspension of the civil war and the unanimous resistance against Japan."
These practices infuriated the Kuomintang, and on November 23, Shen Junru, Zou Taofen, Li Gongpu and other "seven gentlemen" were arrested, shocking the whole country. Soon, the Xi'an Incident broke out, and the release of the "Seven Gentlemen" was one of the conditions for peace talks. In the end, the Xi'an Incident was reconciled, and Zou Taofen was released.
(Group photo of "Seven Gentlemen")
【Outlawed NLD】
After his release, he prepared for the establishment of the General Association for the Fight Against the Enemy and the Salvation of the Dead, served as its chairman, and founded magazines such as "Weekly for the Whole People" and "War of Resistance for the Whole People". In 1939 (at the age of 67), Shen Junru initiated the Comrades' Association for the Unification of the Founding of the People's Republic of China in Chongqing, and later with Huang Yanpei and others, launched the Chinese Democratic Political League Alliance. In 1944, it was reorganized into the China Democratic League and became the most important democratic party in China, and Shen Junru was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee.
In 1946 (at the age of 71), Shen Junru represented the NLD in the Political Consultative Conference. Because the Kuomintang was dissatisfied with the NLD's opposition to the civil war and adopted secret agent means, the backbone of the NLD, Li Gongpu and Wen Yiduo, were killed one after another.
The following year, the Kuomintang declared the NLD an "illegal group" and banned it. Shen Junru was adamantly opposed to capitulation and compromise, and he presided over the Third Plenary Session of the First Central Committee of the Chinese Democratic League in Hong Kong, publicly declaring that he would cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party.
【Struggle for democracy to old age】
In 1949 (at the age of 77), Shen Junru represented the NLD at the First Political Consultative Conference and expressed unreserved acceptance of the Common Program and three other documents. After the founding of New China, he was re-elected as vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for three consecutive terms, and at the same time served as vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and president of the Supreme People's Court.
In 1953 (at the age of 81), Shen Junru participated in the drafting of China's first constitution and made important contributions to the construction of China's legal system. In the same year, Shen Junru was elected as the first vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Democratic League. In 1956, he was elected Chairman of the Central Committee of the Democratic League.
On June 11, 1963, Shen Junru died in Beijing at the age of 88. Zhou Enlai commented: "Elder Shen is the banner of the leftists of the democrats, and he once struggled for democracy and socialism until he was old. ”
(Shen Junru in 1962)
(The 374th work of the Vientiane History and Biography Writing Camp, the 30th work of the camper "Gentle Song in Dreams")