(Text/Guo Dan)
"With the youth of me, to create a family of youth, a country of youth..." In the history memorial hall of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, the reporter saw such an exciting text on a wall of eye-catching celebrity quotes.
In the spring of 1916, a Chinese student in Japan, when he felt the breath of spring in the revival of all things, thought of the motherland in chaos, so he wrote a thousand words with a warm blood, from the spring of the seasons, to the youth of life, the youth of the country, and the youth of mankind. This article was published in "New Youth" under the title of "Youth", which sounded the morning bell of the awakening of countless Chinese people. He is Li Dazhao, one of the founders of the Communist Party of China and a great propagator of Marxism.
Hard work: Academic performance is quite good
Li Dazhao was born in 1889 in Leting, Hebei. In the winter of 1913, after graduating from the Hokyo Hokusho School of Law and Politics, he went to Japan to study with the support of his relatives and friends, and lived in the YMCA in Ushigaku-ku, Tokyo, and in September 1914, he entered the Department of Political Economy at Waseda University.
On the scanned copy of Li Dazhao's student registration card provided by the Waseda University Chinese Alumni Association, the reporter clearly saw that in addition to Li Dazhao's name, address, place of origin and other basic information, there was also Li Dazhao's enrollment information. Fumihiko Kawajiri, a research expert on Li Dazhao in Japan and a professor at Aichi Prefectural University, introduced that from the preparation column, it can be seen that Li Dazhao is admitted without exams.
At the Waseda University History Information Center, the reporter saw two "Textbooks for The Collection of Tuition fees of the Political and Economic Department of the University Department" related to Li Dazhao, which were clearly recorded with a fountain pen: Li Dazhao paid 5 yen for tuition on September 9, 4.5 yen on October 26, and 4.5 yen on November 9...
In his book "Waseda University and China: Building a Bridge to the Future," Waseda University Professor Emeritus and Yantaro Ando not only presented Li Dazhao's transcripts, but also compiled in detail the 11 subjects he studied in school and the corresponding related teachers, and commented that "compared with Japanese students, Li Dazhao's grades are quite good."
In the book, Yantaro Ando explains that this report card is the "Taisho Four-Year (1915) Degree and Progression Report Card", which is the report card of Li Dazhao in the first academic year of early college. In that year, Li Dazhao studied 11 subjects such as principles of state studies and constitutional law, principles of economics, applied economics, modern political history, civil law, criminal law, and classical political science, with a score of "40" and an overall evaluation of "C". At first glance, such results are not ideal, but Yantaro Ando explains: "In this examination form, a total of 106 people took the exam, of which 6 people were unqualified, and Li Dazhao's 40th place should be regarded as a good result." Moreover, the financial science textbook at that time was the original English textbook brought by Japanese teachers from the United States, and international students had to translate into Japanese answer sheets on the basis of reading English. Even for ordinary Japanese students, this kind of English-to-Japanese answer is very difficult. ”
Fumihiko Kawajiri also affirmed Li Dazhao's view of learning hard work and explained why Li Dazhao knew Japanese and English at the same time. Fumihiko Kawajiri said that during his time at the Hokyo School of Law and Politics, Li Dazhao had actively studied Japanese with the School's Japanese teachers, and in 1913 translated The Japanese Nakazato Yanosuke's "Tolstoy's Program" into Chinese published in the first issue of the magazine he founded, "Yanzhi". It can be seen that Li Dazhao already had a certain level of Japanese when he was in Tianjin.
Growing up: exposure to socialist ideas
In the YMCA at that time, Li Dazhao was exposed not only to English, but also to Professor Isoo Abe, whom he described as "deeply influential on himself.".
According to Fumihiko Kawajiri, Isoo Abe was the administrator of the YMCA where Mr. Lee lived. In the small courtyard where the Waseda University Library is located, we saw a bronze bust under a cherry blossom tree, smiling and full of affinity. On the back of the bronze statue reads: Waseda University Baseball Department Founder - Abe Isoo.
Isoo Abe is not only the founder of waseda University baseball and the "father of Japanese baseball", but also the pioneer of introducing socialism into Japan from a Christian standpoint. He actively promoted socialism and founded the Social Democratic Party of Japan in 1901 together with five prominent socialist activists, including Akimizu Yukitoku and Katayama Sō, to create the Japanese Social Democratic Party. He opposed the Russo-Japanese War and actively advocated "women's liberation."
Although Li Dazhao did not directly take the course taught by Isoo Abe during his time at school, Fumihiko Kawajiri believes that Abe Isoo's influence on Li Dazhao's spiritual aspects should be greater than his academic influence. Yantaro Ando also believes that Isoo Ahnbe's ideas triggered Li Dazhao's transformation into socialist thought.
Struggle: Resolutely Oppose the "Twenty-One Articles"
In January 1915, during The first year of Li Dazhao's studies at early university, then-Japanese Prime Minister Shigenobu Okuma and his cabinet secretly proposed to China the "Twenty-One Articles" aimed at destroying China. As soon as this incident came out, the response from Chinese students in Japan, especially those in early college, was very strong. Because Okuma Shigenobu is not only the prime minister of Japan, but also the founder of Waseda University. Li Dazhao's political economy discipline, Fueda Kazumin, who teaches the principles of state studies and modern political history, is a strong advocate of the "Twenty-One Articles." In the second academic year, Yuhe Changxiong, who taught the law of state, served as Yuan Shikai's legal adviser and was an active plotter to legalize Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne.
On May 7, Yuan Shikai signed the "Twenty-one Articles". The country will not be the country! Full of indignation, Li Dazhao began to actively organize international students to violently criticize Yuan Shikai, and he also refused to take courses taught by Japanese professors such as Kazumin Ukita and Nagao Ariga, and published articles such as "National Conditions" in the magazine "Jiayin" sponsored by Zhang Shizhao, criticizing Kazumin Ukita and Nagao Ariga.
In January 1916, Li Dazhao established the "General Association of Students Studying in Japan" in Japan and drafted a telegram "Warning to Fathers and Elders throughout the Country", which spread throughout China. Subsequently, he was also invited by the leader of the Progressive Party, Tang Hualong, to return to Shanghai for two weeks in early 1916 to join the anti-Yuan struggle. On February 2, Li Dazhao's tuition collection book was stamped with a "delisting" seal. His student registration card was also stamped with a red stamp of "Long-term Arrears and Removal".
In April, Li Dazhao, along with hundreds of Chinese students in Japan, gave up his so-called prestigious Japanese academic qualifications and returned to China to join the struggle against Yuan Shikai.
Infographic Li Dazhao Japanese Student Id Card
Source: Reference News Network