Before the founding of the party: Chen Duxiu was in Shanghai

"Southern Chen And Northern Li, Meet to Build the Party" is a good story that was often praised in the early days of the founding of the Communist Party of China. "Nan Chen" refers to Chen Duxiu, a native of Huaining, Anhui; "Northern Li" is known as Li Dazhao, a native of Leting, Hebei. Speaking more deeply, the difference between the north and the south in the so-called "Southern Chen and Northern Li" is actually not only the place of origin of Chen and Li, but also the city where the two of them are mainly active, one is Shanghai and the other is Beijing. Beijing is the imperial capital of the Ming and Qing dynasties, Shanghai is the concession of various countries, the city has different characters, the living atmosphere is very different, and the "Tale of Two Cities" in modern China is also another excellent way to look back at the revolutionary years and deeply understand the great men of the times in the past century.

Chen Duxiu's life and career development are closely related to the trade port of Shanghai. Chen Duxiu's life was highlighted, from the time he founded the Youth Magazine in September 1915 to the time he was escorted from Nanjing to Shanghai in October 1932, during which time, in addition to three years as the dean of liberal arts at Peking University, he spent about 14 years in Shanghai. From this simple data, we can see the weight of Shanghai in Chen Duxiu's life.

Go to Shanghai to run the newspaper for the first test cry

Chen Duxiu was born on the 24th day of August (October 9, 1879) in Anhui Province on the 24th day of August (October 9, 1879), and before going to Nanjing Township to take the test, he spent his time in the small city of Shancheng "Anqing City around nine miles and thirteen steps", and learned nothing more than the Four Books and Five Classics. In 1897, at the age of 18, Chen Duxiu wrote a "Treatise on the Situation on the Yangtze River" with more than 7,000 words sprinkled on the yangyang, and the article was quoted next to the article, and the style of writing was magnificent, and the thoughts in the teenager's mind had already overflowed into Anqing City, tracing this "largest waterway in the eastern hemisphere", talking about the "Yangtze River Estuary", talking about Chongming, Talking about Wusong, talking about Chuansha, but not talking about foreign concessions. In fact, if we read carefully, we will find that whenever the objects of the defense of the Yangtze River are discussed between the words, the so-called "great enemy", "foreign insult", and "iron armor of Europe and the West" are all related to Shanghai.

A year later, the Jiangnan Township Trial Tour completely changed the trajectory of Chen Duxiu's life. "The Jiangnan Township Examination was a major event in society at that time, although after the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War, everyone was still in a dream", the young Man still clearly remembered the absurd scenes of the examinations in those days 40 years ago: "At the beginning of the examination, I saw a big fat man in Xuzhou, a big braid coiled above his head, his whole body was completely naked, he stepped on a pair of broken shoes, holding the test paper in his hand, walking around in the long alley of fire, walking, his head swaying from side to side, dragging a strange voice to read his proud article, reading to the most proud place, Slapping his thigh hard, he raised his thumb and shouted, 'Good! This is the middle of the science! This scene made Chen Duxiu forget about the scientific expedition, and he was "stunned for an hour or two", and the big fat man in Xuzhou thought of the tragic scene of how the country and the people would suffer after all the candidates " this class of animals" won the zhi, and finally could not help but sigh that what Liang Qichao's group said in the "Times" was somewhat reasonable! This was the biggest motivation for his transformation from a scholar to a Kangliang sect. He had never been to Shanghai at that time, but "I had heard people say that Shanghai was many times more lively than Nanjing." Because Nanjing left Chen Duxiu's most profound impression of the city was "the tall city gate like YifengMen", he "fantasized that the city gate of Shanghai was even more tall"... (Chen Duxiu: The Autobiography of Shi'an)

Chen Duxiu, an adult with a weak crown, soon had the opportunity to see the "city gate" of Shanghai with his own eyes. Since 1898, Chen Duxiu has passed through Shanghai many times and rushed to the northeast and east to Japan, but how many times have he transited here, stayed for a few days, and what he has seen and heard, he is bitter that there is no historical material left, and various biographies and writings are rarely mentioned. The city gate of Shanghai is actually far less tall than that of Nanjing, and later there was even no city gate, but it was indeed "lively" and did not disappoint Chen Duxiu like Nanjing.

In 1903, Chen Duxiu came to Shanghai from Anhui again and participated in the founding of the National Daily with Zhang Shizhao, Su Manshu and others. Although he had been to Shanghai many times before, he was only a hurried visitor in the end, and this time the newspaper was planned to stay for a long time, and the meaning was different. The National Daily was published in the public concession "The Secluded Building of Changshouli" (according to research, it is believed that it is Meifuli, Xinma Road, now Lane 125 of Huanghe Road). In the past, running a newspaper was very different from today's. In order to facilitate the distribution of newspapers by newspaper personnel, the location of the location of each newspaper or the printing and distribution point is always relatively concentrated in a certain urban area. If we examine the newspaper activities of the new periodicals in Shanghai during the Restoration Period, we will find that a considerable number of newspapers are concentrated in and around Xinma Road. There are not only the "National Daily", but also the famous "Shiwu Bao", "Agricultural Journal", "Integration Daily" and more than a dozen newspapers. They are still a group of young people, the price of goods in the Shanghai concession is not low, and life is very poor. Zhang Shizhao recalled afterwards: The two lived in a stalk, wrote a pen in the palm of their hands, stayed at home, lived without discipline, did not wash their heads, and their clothes were not easy, and they were not huan. One morning, I saw his black coat, white stars, and innumerable. Yu Was horrified: "Zhongfu (Chen Duxiu, the word Zhongfu), what is it?" Duxiu slowly looked at himself and replied calmly: "Lice ears." "Its ascetics are like this. (Gu Tong: "Wu Jingheng - Liang Qichao - Chen Duxiu", Jiayin Weekly, Vol. 1, No. 30) At that time, at the end of the "Su Bao" case, the "National Daily" was indeed founded to replace the "Su Bao" that had been seized, and it was called "Su Bao No. 2", but on closer reading, the tone of this new newspaper was still much more "soothing", and the words published were sometimes discussed, academic, ideological introduction, as well as Chinese and foreign and local news. Because the authors of the articles are anonymous, it is difficult to confirm which article is Chen Duxiu's own handwriting. The National Daily newspaper was not successful, and it was discontinued after only 3 months and 25 days.

Chen Duxiu, who failed to start a business, had to leave Shanghai and return to his hometown, and he was unwilling to host the "Anhui Folklore Newspaper". The purpose of running this newspaper is, in Chen Duxiu's own words, "First, to tell the people of Anhui about the various affairs"; "The second is to put on performance all kinds of superficial learning in common colloquialisms, so as to teach us That Anhui people who have no money to read more, and if they read this 'Folklore Newspaper', they can also have a long insight" ("The Reason for The Establishment of the Anhui Folklore Newspaper", Anhui Folklore Newspaper, No. 1, 1904). It can be seen from this that Chen Duxiu's willingness to enlighten at this time is strong, and the objects of enlightenment are classless. But because there was no printing house in Wuhu, where the colloquial newspaper was located, Chen Duxiu had to send the edited manuscript to Shanghai, where it was printed by the Dongzhou Bookstore, where he was familiar with it, and then sent back after printing it. "Anhui Folklore Newspaper" was run like this for less than two years, and Chen Duxiu suddenly chose to "teach and go", and it automatically stopped publishing. (Wang Yuanfang: "Memories of Yadong Library", Xuelin Publishing House, 1983)

In the meantime, Chen Duxiu once returned to Shanghai, and this time his experience in Shanghai was very different from before. In the autumn of 1904, he was invited by Zhang Shizhao to join the "Assassination Regiment of the Military and National Education Association" (a "Patriotic Association"), the purpose of which was to "first snipe the second and third important Manchu ministers in order to support the military". For about a month, Chen Duxiu worked day after day with Yang Dusheng and other revolutionaries to try out bombs. At this time, he also talked with Cai Yuanpei, who "often came to the laboratory to practice", and the two formed a deep friendship from then on. Due to the failure of the Changsha uprising of the HuaxingHui, coupled with the failure of the revolutionary Wan Fuhua to assassinate Wang Zhichun of Guangxi in Shanghai, the assassination of the assassination regiment organ was raided, the plan was terminated, and the revolutionaries scattered. (Chen Duxiu: "Reflections of Mr. Cai Xiaomin after his death"; Cai Yuanpei: "My Experience in the Education World")

The founding of "New Youth" became famous

Twelve years later, chen Duxiu is 37 years old, and China no longer has an emperor, but the political situation seems to be worse. The Republic of China has its own appearance, and the retro trend of Zun Kong has risen in the dregs of the Land of China, opening the way for Yuan Shikai's imperial restoration. Chen Duxiu experienced the life and death of the "Second Revolution", fled to Japan, and returned to China again at this time, renting in Jiyili, Songshan Road, French Concession (according to research, it is now Lane 119 Taicang Road). At that time, the Shanghai French Concession had just expanded its boundary site here, and the land that turned out to be a large piece of farmland suddenly had commercial value, and the housing prices were much cheaper than the old areas of the French Concession and the public concessions. The Jiyili rented by Chen Duxiu is also the first floor and one bottom, brick and wood structure house that has just been built for less than 1 year. He reunited with his wife Gao Junman, who had been away for a year and "coughed up blood", and lived in No. 21, along with three sons Chen Yannian, Chen Qiaonian, Chen Songnian and the eldest daughter Chen Yuying. Living in Shanghai, it is not easy, Chen Duxiu's family burden can not be described as heavy, because Chen Yannian often quarrels with him, family life can not talk about harmony, but what makes him more distressed is the continuous decline of the country.

Chen Duxiu held that to save China and build a republic, we must first carry out an ideological revolution, and to change our thinking, we must run a magazine. He gave up the comfortable life in Anhui and once again chose to "live in Shanghai", with a package plan to start a large publishing company and a magazine. This business seems to be completed only in Shanghai. At this time, Shanghai was already the center of China's publishing, and more than 80% of the country's publishing industry was concentrated here, forming a relatively complete publishing market, from book writing and book editing to printing and distribution, all of which were quite complete, and had advantages that other cities could not match. The day after arriving in Shanghai, Chen Duxiu threw himself into this work and successively consulted with some fellow villagers and friends. After a period of time, although this grand plan was not fully realized, the publication of a magazine was carried out as part of the plan. It is precisely because of this package of long-term goals that in 1915, Qunyi Book Club would invest 200 yuan in monthly editing fees and manuscript fees to publish "Youth Magazine" without any chance of making money, and the second volume was renamed "New Youth".

At that time, there were countless periodicals and newspapers in Shanghai, and it was not an easy thing to stand out from them. As for why "Youth Magazine" was unreasonable and quickly changed its name, according to Yun, it was because the Christian youth in Shanghai at that time saw the publication of "Youth Magazine" and wrote a complaint, arguing that "the "Youth Magazine" of Qunyi (Book Society) and their "Shanghai Youth( Weekly) have the same name, and should be renamed as soon as possible to avoid the mistake of offending names." Unable to imagine 'blessings from misfortune', New Youth magazine and their very religious weekly newspapers are even more contrary to each other day by day" (Wang Yuanfang: "Memories of Yadong Library").

The French Concession in Shanghai, while adhering to the value of "freedom of the press," is not an absolutely safe enclave. The Press Law promulgated by Yuan Shikai's government in December 1914 clearly stipulates that any journalist who violates "national security," "social morality," and "social welfare" will be considered a criminal. In the magazine's first year, Chen Was very careful not to directly involve political movements, or even anti-Confucian movements, but to concentrate on calling on chinese youth to pay attention to the progressive new ideas of the West. This enlightenment magazine no longer has no class, and the target audience is very clear. In the first issue of "Greetings to Youth", Chen Duxiu explained the importance of "new youth" to a country. Young people are the most vital members of society and therefore have a decisive role in social phenomena. The Chinese youth he wants to see are "autonomous rather than slave, progressive rather than conservative, enterprising rather than retreating, world rather than closed-minded, practical rather than fictitious, scientific rather than imaginary" ("Admonition to Youth", Youth Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1). In the following years, Chen Duxiu's "New Youth" in Shanghai alone called for "democracy," "science," "anti-hole," and "literary revolution" to be modeled after European and American countries, especially France, in order to enable a sunken China to rejuvenate itself as a nation and quickly move toward a modern power.

At the beginning of Chen Duxiu's founding of "New Youth", he was very confident that "as long as he worked hard for ten or eight years, there would be a great impact", and he did not admit that success would come faster than he expected, and "Youth Magazine" initially printed only 1,000 copies per issue; from Volume 1, No. 2, there were 76 bookstores in 49 provinces and cities; later, the better and better, according to Wang Yuanfang's statistics, "New Youth" could print fifteen or six thousand copies a month when it sold at most ( Wang Yuanfang: "Memories of Yadong Library"). Because of the success of New Youth magazine, Chen Duxiu also became a "very prestigious" (Mao Zedong) figure and became one of the leaders of Chinese intellectuals.

At this time, Cai Yuanpei was officially appointed president of Peking University, and at 9:00 a.m. on the day of his appointment (December 26, 1916), he ran to the hotel where Chen Duxiu was staying in Beijing on a business trip to meet him; on the same day, Cai Yuanpei was invited by the Religious Freedom Association to give a speech at Central Park, and Chen Duxiu attended the meeting to listen, and recorded it as "Mr. Cai Weimin's Speech at the Religious Freedom Association" in the name of "Mr. Cai Weimin's Speech at the Religious Freedom Association" published in "New Youth" Vol. 2, No. 5. It can be imagined how happy Chen and Cai, two old revolutionary friends who had a lifelong friendship, were reunited in Beijing at this time. Wang Mengzou, who was traveling with Chen Duxiu, recorded this historically significant scene in his diary: "On December 26, at 9:00 a.m., Mr. Cai Xiaomin visited Zhongfu, and his appearance was gentle and respectful, and the only person in our country was also. At the first meeting, Cai Yuanpei agreed on the method of rectifying Peking University and implementing it in the second stage. After the first meeting, "Mr. Cai almost every day to see Zhongfu, sometimes came very early, we have not yet gotten up, he greeted the tea room, do not wake up, just take a stool for him to sit at the door and wait" - this is Wang Mengzou's good story told to the people in the Yadong Library after returning to Shanghai. Wang Yuan let them listen and sighed: This is very similar to the "Three Gu Maolu" mile! (Wang Yuanfang: "Memories of Yadong Library")

The reason why Cai Yuanpei invited Chen Duxiu again and again was because Chen did not want to leave Shanghai at all, and he could not put down "New Youth" in his heart. Chen Duxiu is obviously more counting on using his identity as the chief writer of "New Youth" to influence the ideological outlook of the whole country, rather than just being a university professor. Cai Yuanpei immediately advised him: "Just move "New Youth" to Beijing to handle it." (Shen Yinmo: "Me and Peking University", "Selected Chinese Literature and History", Vol. 61) Since there was such a promise, Chen Duxiu was inconvenient to refuse it, so he agreed to Cai Yuanpei to go to Peking University to serve as the dean of liberal arts. But Chen Duxiu was suspicious of the beijing trip from the beginning, when he told Yue Xiangru, a neighbor of Jiyili: "Mr. Cai asked me to go to Peking University to help him straighten out the school." I agreed to Mr. Cai that I had never taught at a university, and I did not have any degree titles, so I did not know whether I would be competent. I tried to work for three months, and if I was competent, I continued to work, and if I was incompetent, I returned to Shanghai. (Shi Yuangao: "The Life of Chen Duxiu", Anhui Literature and History Materials, No. 1, 1980)

Chen Duxiu went north and participated in and led the later May Fourth Movement.

Start the great cause of party building

The brutal course of the First World War and its ugly ending brought the Western countries off the altar. Many intellectuals who sought to establish a new China no longer superstitiously believed in Darwin, Huxley, Spencer, Rousseau, and Kant, but began to study Saint-Simon, Tolstoy, Kropotkin, Russell, and Marx. After the outbreak of the May Fourth Movement, Chen Duxiu was very supportive of the student movement. On the evening of June 11, 1919, Chen Duxiu distributed patriotic leaflets of the "Beijing Citizens' Declaration" at the New World Playground in the south of Beijing, and was arrested by the Beiyang Government Police Department. Driven by and rescued by all sides, and under the pressure of public opinion, the Beijing government authorities finally released Chen Duxiu after 98 days of detention.

I don't know what exactly happened in the walls of the "Beijing Normal Police Department", but the prison disaster can be said to have promoted the complete communism of Chen Duxiu's thought. Hearing that the Beijing authorities were preparing to arrest him again, Chen Duxiu, with the help of Li Dazhao, disguised himself in early 1920 and took a donkey cart to Tianjin, where he was transferred from Tianjin to Shanghai and temporarily stayed at the Yadong Library. Later, when his fellow friend Bai Wenwei was about to leave Shanghai, he left the rented No. 2 Yuyangli on Huanlong Road (now No. 2, Lane 100, Nanchang Road, the former site of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the editorial office of "New Youth") together with the furniture inside. Mr. and Mrs. Chen Duxiu live in the upstairs wing, and the living room downstairs is the editorial office of "New Youth" and also a meeting place for guests. Chen Duxiu's departure from Peking University and his return to Shanghai have had a profound impact on modern China.

Although modern Shanghai is not a peach blossom source far from political strife, and the concession authorities have constantly taken measures to suppress and ban what they consider to be "heresies," due to the urban pattern of one city and three rules, the ideological and cultural taboos of the two foreign concessions and the Chinese authorities are different, so the measures and actions taken are not consistent. The Shanghai Concession's management of newspapers and periodicals is based on the system of reprisals and punishments commonly practiced in Western countries. Under this system, publications can be published freely, and the administrative organs do not review the original manuscript but review the publication, and if the publication is found to have illegal content, it is punished through legal channels. In short, it seems that the cause that Chen Duxiu was committed to at that time could only be safe in the Shanghai Concession. Chen Duxiu once again chose to settle in Shanghai, during which there was a historical inevitability.

The relatively relaxed living environment has created the ideological and cultural circles in Shanghai to be more active than in other parts of China. Chen Duxiu was not a prophet, and on the whole, a number of different socialist adherents in Shanghai were already enthusiastically studying Marxism, and even many active Kuomintang members began to turn left. When Chen Duxiu went south to Shanghai with "New Youth", he immediately attracted a group of active intellectuals to study Marxism and carry out related activities with him with him with his prestige. The two-story brick and wood Shikumen house in the old Yuyang, where he lived, naturally became the center of activity for Marxist activists in Shanghai. Chen Duxiu, who came to Shanghai, "turned to the side of the workers and peasants toiling people" and went to the China Industry Association, the China Federation of Trade Unions and other labor groups to investigate and gain an in-depth understanding of the strikes of Xiaoshadu and dock workers. In April 1920, he participated in the preparatory activities for the commemoration of the International Labor Day held in Shanghai to commemorate the "May Day" and was elected as an advisor to the congress. In May, at the "Labor Day Commemoration" of "New Youth", he introduced the situation of the Chinese working class in a large section, publicized the sacred concept of labor, and initiated the establishment of the "Marxist Research Society" in Shanghai. The Weekly Review, edited by Li Hanjun and Shen Xuanlu, also published a special number to commemorate the "May Day" International Labor Day, in conjunction with the "New Youth" to carry out publicity. The updated "New Youth" has been welcomed by more people.

Attracted by Chen Duxiu, among the many advanced young people who came to his side, there was one person who was particularly worthy of a book, that is, Mao Zedong, who briefly came to Live in Shanghai from May to July 1920. He lived at No. 29 Minhou Nanli (present-day Shanghai, "Former Residence of Mao Zedong in 1920" in Shanghai) built by the wealthy Jewish merchant Hartung. Minhou Nanli was located in the western part of the public concession, which was then considered to be the junction of urban and rural areas. Mao Zedong had just graduated from the Hunan First Normal School, and he began to step into society after receiving the baptism of new ideas. Mao Zedong came to live in Shanghai, just to try the work-study mutual assistance life he once longed for, he lived with several representatives of Zhang Zhang (Jingyao), a square table to eat and work, life is extremely simple, taking turns cooking, mostly oil and salt broad beans mixed with rice to cook rice. According to Li Fengchi, who lived with him at that time, the sign of "Hunan Transformation Promotion Association" was also hung in front of the 29th gate of Minhou Nanli. Mao Zedong visited Chen Duxiu at No. 2 Laoyuyangli many times. The two-person residence is not far away, if you are not in a hurry, you can reach it in half an hour. Mao Zedong's reunion with Chen Duxiu in Shanghai had a great influence on his thinking. Their conversation quickly jumped from a practical issue such as "transforming Hunan" to a discussion of Marxist thought. Mao Zedong talked to Chen Duxiu about the Marxist books he had read, including Chen Wangdao's translation of the Communist Manifesto, Kautsky's "Class Struggle," and Kokap's "History of Socialism." Chen Duxiu also spoke to Mao Zedong about "those words of his own faith." Mao Zedong once said that the meeting between the two "made a deep impression on me at a period that may have been pivotal in my life." Sixteen years later, in 1936, Mao Zedong still remembers it vividly, saying in an interview with Snow, an American journalist who came to Yan'an, "He [Chen Duxiu] may have influenced me more than anyone else", "In my life, this is a period of transformation... By the summer of 1920, in theory – and to some extent in action – I had become a Marxist, and from then on I myself considered a Marxist. (Wu Liping translation: Mao Zedong's Conversation with Snow in 1936, People's Publishing House, 1979 edition) Before leaving Shanghai, Mao Zedong once again went to No. 2 Laoyuyangli to bid farewell to Chen Duxiu. Chen Duxiu gave Mao Zedong an important task—to return to Hunan to form the early organization of the Communist Party. Chen Duxiu and Mao Zedong, such as family origin, academic literacy, etc., there are many differences, but there are also similar aspects, that is, talent, opinion, determination, and superior leadership ability. Such people are usually not easily impressed by the opinions of others, but once they are impressed by the opinions of others, they go all out, go forward, be resolute and courageous, and indomitable.

At the same time, Soviet Russia and the Comintern also began to consider the establishment of an "Eastern Bureau" with the main task of "establishing close ties with the revolutionary forces of the countries of the Far East and helping them to establish Communist Party organizations." He sent Vyjingsky and others to Shanghai to make contact with Chen Duxiu. When Vyjingsky told him about his mission, Chen Duxiu responded enthusiastically to him. They agreed that any mere academic study of Marxism-Leninism was not enough, and that it was time to organize a party to lead the Chinese revolution. In July and August 1920, on the basis of the progress made in the activities of the Marxist Research Society, Chen Duxiu established China's first communist group in his home in LaoYuyangli and was elected as the secretary of the group.

The great cause of the founding of the Communist Party of China has thus been officially launched.

The wood of the Ten Enclosures was born like a tiller. Chen Duxiu evolved over the decades, from a teenager who hated the imperial examinations to become the "commander-in-chief" (Mao Zedong) of the May Fourth Movement and the New Culture Movement, and finally the founder of the Chinese Communist Party. Shanghai is not only a blurred background for Chen Duxiu's life trajectory, but should be regarded as the best stage for every gorgeous jump in his thoughts. Combing through the relationship between Chen Duxiu and Shanghai's one-man-one-city relationship can also be seen that the cpc's congress held in Shanghai has its historical inevitability.

(Author: Xu Tao, Associate Researcher, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)

Source: Guangming Daily