In China's modern history, although Yang Du is not a well-known figure, as long as he knows that Yuan Shikai is called emperor, he may know this person. Yang Du was once the most famous clown in the process of Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne, and after Yuan Shikai's fall, Yang Du once fled abroad, but his notoriety has long been far away. But what is dramatic is that such a person, who once firmly supported the imperial system, unexpectedly completely reversed his position in the second half of his life and resolutely stepped forward on the road of democratic revolution. Yang Du's behavior was also rare under the bloody rule of the reactionary forces at that time. However, most people do not know as much about Yang Du's gratifying changes in his later years as they do about his early support for Yuan Shikai.
Comrade Wang Yeqiu, former director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, mentioned in his article "Unforgettable Memories" that on the eve of his death, the beloved Premier Zhou once told Comrade Yeqiu in person that "when editing Cihai," do not forget the fact that Comrade Yang Du joined the Communist Party of China in his later years. Seeing such a record, it is estimated that many people feel strange, Yang Du has also joined the Chinese Communist Party? In fact, Yang Du's Qingqi experience is not only that, before he joined the Communist Party of China, he also gained the trust of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and arranged a secret mission for him.
Below, we will take a comprehensive look at Yang Du's important life experiences and understand the story between him and Mr. Zhongshan and the Chinese Communist Party.
Yang Du (1874-1931) was a native of Xiangtan, Hunan, known as Zhiduoxing. When he was young, he studied scriptures with Wang Minyun as a teacher. In 1894, China was defeated by Japan in the Battle of Jiawu, and the country's strength was weakening day by day, and the people's sentiment was indignant. Like the patriotic youth of China at that time, Yang Du, in order to seek the road of salvation and survival, under the influence of the modern theorist Zheng Guanying's "Dangerous Words of the Prosperous World", Yan Fu's "Theory of Heavenly Evolution", and Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao's theory of restoration and change, "with patriotism as their own responsibility" and "taking patriotism as their duty to save the people", Yang Du gradually entered the ranks of the reformists of "Togu reform system". After the failure of the Penghu Reform Movement in 1898, Yang Du followed Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao to study in Japan.
In November 1902, Yang Du founded the "Translation and Compilation of Youxue" with Yang Dusheng, Huang Xing and others in Tokyo, and in the same year he was elected as the president of the Chinese Student Union studying in Japan. (See Wu Yuzhang's "Xinhai Revolution") In 1903, Tsarist Russia unreasonably invaded and occupied the three eastern provinces and refused to withdraw its troops, and for this reason, students studying in Japan launched an anti-Russian movement called "rejecting Russia, but in fact revolution", and the class strike and demonstration rebuked the Qing Emperor for relying on Russia for his crime of betrayal, which was unreasonably banned by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and a large number of students studying in Japan could not bear to immediately return to China to carry out anti-Qing activities. However, a small number of students were also bribed by the Qing Emperor after returning to China with the "special examination" as bait. Yang Du was one of these bribed people, and after passing the examination, Yang Du was soon appointed by the Qing court as a constitutional editor. In 1905 he drafted a report for the five ministers of the Qing court who went abroad, and in 1907 the monthly magazine "China New Daily" that he edited began to advocate reforms, and wrote to the Qing court proposing to convene a national convention to achieve constitutionalism.
In 1911, the Wuchang Uprising was victorious, and most provinces were "bloodless, passed on", overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and establishing the Republic of China. However, the fruits of victory were soon stolen by Yuan Shikai, and later, the warlords began a civil war that divided the territory, leaving the people deeply involved in water and fire. At this time, Yang Du actively pledged allegiance to Yuan Shikai, and gradually became appreciated by Yuan Shikai.
In 1914, Yuan Shikai began to plan the restoration of the imperial system, he forcibly dissolved the National Assembly, and appointed Yang Du as the National Suffrage Committee to participate in politics. During this period, Yang Du often gathered with Sun Yujun, Yan Fu and others who supported the constitution and rebelled against the revolutionary action, believing that "at the beginning of xinhai, it was emotionally aroused, and the republic was suddenly established." Is the national system suitable for national conditions? Didn't think twice... If this scuffle lasts, the country will not be a country, and the misfortune will be endless..." (see Declaration of the Preparatory Committee). Yang Du and others, under the conspiracy of Yuan Shikai's father and son, used the funds for the activities of 200,000 taels to contact Sun Yujun, Yan Fu, Hu Ying, Liu Shipei, Li Xiehe, and six other people to form the imperial tool for Yuan Thief's restoration, the Preparatory Security Council, "under the guise of raising public order for one country." After publishing articles such as "The Theory of Saving the Country by the Constitution of the Monarchy", Yuan Shikai praised them after reading them. Yuan Shikai personally wrote a banner with the inscription "KuangDai Yicai" and rewarded Yang Du (see "The Biography of Yuan Shikai"). Yuan Shikai's royal newspapers, the Minbao and the Asia Minor, were even more trumpeted for him, and the name of "Six Gentlemen of Raising Security" was gradually removed. At that time, the people of Beijing did not consider them gentlemen, but evaluated them as a curse that "the Preparatory Committee was the output of the emperor's private son". (See Popular Interpretation of the Republic of China).
In 1915, Yuan Shikai was anxious to claim the title of emperor, and on December 12 of that year, he decided to change the five years of the Republic of China to the first year of Hong Xian, and in December one month, he was awarded the titles of "meritorious servant" five times, and 130 people were awarded the titles of duke, marquis, uncle, son, and baron. However, Yang Du, who worked hard for the ascension of the Hongxian Emperor to the throne, did not have the opportunity to obtain these titles, and Yang Du was greatly disappointed by this.
On December 25, 1915, Tang Jiyao and Cai Yi of Yunnan sent them to curry favor with Yuan, and sent a telegram to the whole country calling on all provinces to join forces against Yuan. Qian, Gui, Sichuan and other provinces were the first to respond, and the fire of Yuan Yuan quickly burned throughout the country. They listed Yuan Shikai's nineteen counts in the telegram and listed Yang Du as the culprit of restoration. Later, he also put forward the initiative of "killing Thirteen people such as Yang Du and Duan Zhigui who were attached to the rebellion to thank the world".
At this time, Yang Du, who had been busy for a while, realized that he was very indebted, and not only did he not get the position of a high-ranking official, but he was accused of being the culprit of restoration, which made him regret it. On March 22, 1916, Yuan Shikai finally ended his brief dream of being an emperor, and Yang Du temporarily fled abroad amid the sound of wanted people. Since then, Yang Du's constitutional illusions have been completely shattered.
The wheels of history are rolling forward. The success of the October Revolution in Russia in 1917, the rise of the "May Fourth" patriotic movement in China in 1919, the founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921, the first Kuomintang-Communist cooperation in 1924, the victory of the Northern Expedition... This series of major historical events caused Yang Du's thought to have a strong self-struggle, gradually awakening him, recognizing the correct path and strength of the Chinese revolution, and gradually realizing in the later period that the Communist Party of China is the fundamental force that can truly save China.
What are the stories worth knowing about politicians in the late Qing Dynasty? Friends who are interested in this period of history can read the following set of "Late Qing Trilogy: Zeng Guofan, Zhang Zhidong, Yang Du" to read, the whole book is a total of nine volumes. In this set of books, we can learn about Zeng Guofan's literary and martial strategies, advance and retreat, life attitude, personality cultivation, philosophy of dealing with the world, authoritarianism in governing the army, and administrative skills; Zhang Zhidong's young Xie Yuan, young tanhua, middle-aged supervisor, and zaifu's career path in his later years; Yang Du's complex thoughts in life, and how he strung together the trajectory of the times of Yuan Shikai, Yuan Keding, Cao Chao, Wang Jingwei, Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, Cai Yi and many other figures. This book is the author's covered work of Tang Haoming's historical novel. Its structural layout, story arrangement, character design, and text tempering are perfect. It reproduces the road of national salvation taken by Chinese in the entire ups and downs of the early 20th century, and composes a sad song of the modern intellectual class.
Tang Hao tomorrow night Qing trilogy: Yang Du and others ¥504 to buy