Someone once commented on him: He is one of the greatest Chinese philosophers of the twentieth century, he is the first person in Russell's research in China, he is the longest living founding father of the Communist Party of China, he is the introducer of Zhou Enlai and Zhu De to join the party...
However, he chose to quit the party in 1925 and became a democrat ever since. In 1947, he was violently criticized for publishing an article in the magazine "Observation" entitled "A Call for Peace" and faded from public view.
His name was Zhang Shenfu, his original name was Zhang Songnian, born in 1895 in Xianxian County, Hebei Province, a scholar of the Xiangmendi, the father of the Qing Dynasty Jinshi, the Editor of the Hanlin Academy, during the Republic of China period, he served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Beiyang Government.
It was not until 1979 that he became known as a witness to the Founding Party of China. In 1986, Zhang Shenfu died at the age of 93.
In November 1979, professor Shu Hengzhe, a famous American historian, conducted a 60-hour interview with Zhang Shenfu in Wangfu Cang Hutong, Beijing, which was like an "unearthed cultural relic" that was constantly excavated.
Shu Hengzhe later said: "The more I listened to Zhang Shenfu's storytelling, and the more I examined the literature and memories of him and his contemporaries, the more I felt that this outstanding philosopher had been ignored in modern history. For me, Zhang Shenfu's life is a fable about memory and amnesia. This parable will come to me if I don't look for it. ”
As one of the founders of the Communist Party of China, as the founder of the Communist Group of the Communist Party of China in France, as the introducer of Zhou Enlai and Zhu De to the party, and as the leader of the 12.9 Movement, Zhang Shenfu was a person who was vigorous in his early years and unknown in his later years, and a person who was once brilliant and half-life was dim.
Throughout Zhang Shenfu's life, he was maverick, extremely confident, stubborn, and willing to pay any price to defend the truth. He has been telling the truth all his life and has always been a man who walks with the truth.
In 1983, Shu Hengzhe interviewed Zhang Shenfu
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >01 "I love new ideas all my life, in short, new things I love!" </h1>
In 1917, Cai Yuanpei became president of Peking University. In the autumn of the same year, Zhang Shenfu was hired to teach logic at Peking University. As a 24-year-old young man, Zhang Shenfu has a very high self-esteem, and has many new ideas and new ideas on how to save the country and save the people.
During this period, he set up an academic organization and became the main athlete of the forum, and soon became sharp and attracted the attention of Chen Duxiu, the dean of liberal arts at Peking University.
In May 1919, the magazine "New Youth" published an article by Zhang Shenfu entitled "Dangerous Thoughts", which wrote: "Death, pain, despair, poverty, and fate are all terrible, but thought can think about it, and the ability of thought is even greater." In the caves of hell, thoughts can go in and inspect without fear. Those who can survive in the future are thinking and thinking. Zhang Shenfu believes that only a person like him who dares to think can become a true savior.
On July 13, 1919, the weekly review magazine edited by Li Dazhao published Zhang Shenfu's article "Freedom and Order", which wrote: "Our hearts and our spirits must not only be great, but freedom is more important." All psychological shackles, all the nets of thought, must be lifted first. There must be internal freedom before there is external freedom. ”
During his preparatory studies at Peking University, Zhang Shenfu jumped from one subject to another, from mathematics to philosophy, from logic to dialectical materialism, constantly accepting new ideas, and wanted to fuse the ideas of Confucius, Russell, Marx, and Einstein.
He said: "I love new ideas all my life, in short, new things I love. When I come across something new, I forget what attracted me earlier. ”
Beginning in 1914, Zhang Shenfu began to read Russell's works and became an ardent admirer of Russell's thought. From 1916 to 1919, Zhang Shenfu read almost all of Russell's writings.
Zhang Shenfu in his youth
In the 14 months from 1919 to 1920, Zhang Shenfu translated and wrote 10 papers on Russell. On November 9, 1920, Zhang Shenfu wrote a passionate letter to Russell.
A few weeks later, Russell came to Shanghai for a visit, and Zhang Shenfu met Russell and listened to several of his lectures in Beijing. He spoke highly of Russell's speech: "I think his speech is like the water of The Jade Spring Mountain, pleasant, clear and crisp. ”
In February 1983, Zhang Shenfu wrote a preface to Russell's anthology, "My Admiration and Understanding of Russell", which for the last time expressed his admiration for Russell's "high mountain up, scenery and action".
Zhang Shenfu once proudly said: "In China, some of the most important new theories and figures in the West were first introduced by me. Many of the names and writings that are now in vogue were first translated and interpreted by me. It is even more obvious that Russell is paying attention to the Chinese academic community. This is one of my major contributions to China, and it is also the one that I feel most honorable. The above work is like the seeds I sowed among the masses. ”
Mr. Liang Shuming, who entered Peking University as a professor at the same time as Zhang Shenfu, said: "Mr. Zhang Shenfu knows much more about the West than I do. I have seen and read Western things with my own eyes, and he is the first-hand knowledge. ”
In 1920, Russell (second from left) and Zhang Shenfu and others took a group photo in Beijing
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >02 "If you approve of me more, I will do it, and if I approve of it, I will get out, I can help outside the party!" </h1>
In July 1921, Zhang Shenfu wrote an article for the magazine "New Youth" in Paris, "Tell the Truth", which was published on the eve of a major conference, in which he said: "I think it is necessary to organize a 'truth party'. This party must destroy the cause of not telling the truth psychologically, from the human relations that form this mentality. ”
When the Communist Party of China was founded in July 1921, it was not named the "Truth Telling Party", but Zhang Shenfu continued to tell the truth throughout his life, and he did not succumb to any authority at any time and under any circumstances.
On 12 January 1923, the Comintern instructed the Communist Party of China to cooperate with the Kuomintang. There was an immediate uproar within the Communist Party of China, and the majority of Party members were only in favor of the united front of the democratic revolution and opposed to direct membership in the Kuomintang. Chen Duxiu also said angrily: "This is not called cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, this is a mixture of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party."
In this regard, Bukharin made a harsh criticism in Pravda, and Chen Duxiu had to submit. For the Communist Party of China, as a section of the Comintern, can only unconditionally obey the decisions of the Comintern.
Sun Yat-sen repeatedly told the delegates of the Comintern: "Since the Communist Party has joined the Kuomintang, it should obey party discipline and should not openly criticize the Kuomintang." If the Communists do not obey the Kuomintang, I will expel them; if The Soviet Union protects the Chinese Communist Party, I will oppose them. ”
In January 1925, the Fourth Congress of the Party was held in Shanghai. The meeting was hotly debated over the issue of the Communist Party joining the Kuomintang.
Zhang Shenfu resolutely opposed the Communist Party's accession to the Kuomintang on the grounds that Marx had said in leading the German Revolution of 1848 that the Communist Party should, in principle, maintain its independence and should not depend on other political parties; Lenin, leading the Russian Revolution, first of all advocated that the Russian proletarian party should not cooperate with the bourgeois party and should have an independent proposition. The Communist International's demand that the Communist Party of China join the Kuomintang theoretically violates the correct opinion of Marxism.
At that time, Cai Hesen said that he was "childish and ridiculous", and Zhang Shenfu was furious and said that he wanted to quit the party. He walked out of the venue, and Zhou Enlai intercepted him in the hall aisle, agreeing with his views, but begging him not to leave the party, and he was not moved.
Later, when Zhang Shenfu came to Beijing, Li Dazhao and Zhao Shiyan both advised him not to leave the party, but he was still unmoved. He said: "I will do what I approve of, and if I approve of a minority, I will get out, and I can help outside the party." ”
On April 28, 1980, Zhang Shenfu recalled this history and said: "I think I am a person who prefers not to bend. Zhou Enlai is different, he is bent and not bent. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >03 "Who calls us intellectuals?" Intellectuals must take the world as their own responsibility! ”</h1>
Zhang Shenfu was once a prominent figure who promoted the process of modern Chinese history, he adhered to Gu Yanwu's testament of "the rise and fall of the world, and the responsibility of the puppeteer", and in the season of "classmates and youth, the style is flourishing", he once "pointed out the country and the mountains, stirred up the text", and had the heroic spirit of "giving up who I am".
In 1920, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao repeatedly approached Zhang Shenfu, who was teaching at Peking University, to discuss the establishment of the Communist Party of China.
In October of the same year, a communist group was established in Beijing, and Li Dazhao, Zhang Guotao, and Zhang Shenfu became the first three members of the CCP.
In early 1921, Zhang Shenfu came to Paris and formed the Communist Party of China Brigade in France. When he went to Europe, Chen Duxiu put him in charge of recruiting party members. If he felt that someone was suitable, Zhang Shenfu wrote to Chen Duxiu to introduce the situation. Zhou Enlai's entry into the party is a letter from Zhang Shenfu.
In 1924, after Returning to China, Zhang Shenfu actively participated in party activities, and soon disagreed with some people in the party on the issue of joining the Kuomintang, and left the party in 1925.
At that time, he had already seen some weaknesses in the CCP's policy, believing that the CCP's strategy had failed before the Kuomintang implemented the "White Terror" in 1927. He wanted to find a third way out between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang to save China, which could really be described as "the road is long and the road is long, and I will seek it up and down."
Zhang Shenfu once said: "Why can't we intellectuals get involved in politics ourselves and again and again?" Probably punished by the failure of 1927. The revolution suffered an unprecedented defeat in the year, but we soon gathered strength to fight back. Who calls us intellectuals? Intellectuals must take the world as their own responsibility, which is the responsibility of Chinese readers. Although we failed in 1927, we intellectuals still have to find a way out, and we cannot do nothing. ”
In 1935, during the 12.9 Movement, Zhang Shenfu, as the main leader, was arrested and imprisoned with his wife Liu Qingyang and imprisoned for more than 5 months.
Later, recalling what happened after his arrest, he said: "Those days were really hard for me. I still remember the prison guards shouting my name viciously today: 'Zhang Songnian!' Zhang Songnian! I hated my name, and after my release, I stopped using it, I only used Zhang Shenfu until today. ”
1922, from left: Zhao Guangchen, Zhou Enlai, Liu Qingyang and Zhang Shenfu in Germany
On May 7, 1936, Zhang Shenfu was released from prison on bail by General Feng Yuxiang. After his release from prison, he was expelled from a professorship at Tsinghua University for five years, on the grounds that he was "too prominent" in his anti-Japanese national salvation activities.
Two professors from Tsinghua University's Department of Political Science opposed the renewal of the school's contract with Zhang Shenfu, saying that he was engaged in politics, not philosophy, and did not fulfill his teaching responsibilities.
Zhang Shenfu later said: "I have been in prison once and lost my position as a professor, but I have not regretted my actions. If I were not a Chinese, if I were not a descendant of Confucius who took the world as my own responsibility, if I were not the Zhang Shen Mansion that my good friend was familiar with, I would have gotten rid of earthly affairs. In this way, I may become the greatest Chinese philosopher of the 20th century. ”
Mr. Zhou Gucheng, a famous historian, once said: "If Zhang Shenfu can study learning, then his academic achievements will probably surpass his brother Zhang Dainian, a famous philosopher." ”
The Collected Works of Zhang Shenfu
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >04 "No one can break my resolve, critical thought is my refuge." </h1>
In the summer of 1936, after Zhang Shenfu left Tsinghua University, he devoted himself to organizing the National Salvation Congress. By 1937, he had become one of the important leaders of the National Salvation Congress in North China, and became the main architect and standard-bearer of the "New Enlightenment" at that time, which can be said to be the rebirth of the "May Fourth" spirit in the War of Resistance.
On May 25, 1938, Zhang Shenfu said in the publication of his newly edited journal "Wartime Culture": "Culture can and should be a powerful weapon of the War of Resistance. Each of us must go beyond the present, surpass ourselves, and act for a higher ideal. Therefore, we must have a wartime philosophy, a concrete philosophy, a concrete educational policy, that can promote the culture of science, the scientific method and the temperament of science. This is the most urgent task today. ”
On April 10, 1939, Zhang Shenfu published an article in Wartime Culture, "The New Enlightenment and the New Life Movement", which sang against Chiang Kai-shek's ideas of loyalty and obedience to the wartime leaders and opposed his personal dictatorship.
When Zhang Shenfu first met Chiang Kai-shek in Moscow in 1923, he did not like him and confronted him directly with a critical wartime philosophy.
Group photo of the three Zhang brothers, from left: Zhang Dainian, Zhang Shenfu, Zhang Chongnian
On May 7, 1942, Zhang Shenfu published an article in Xinhua Daily entitled "Science and Democracy", which said: "Science and democracy are both objective things, and without the spirit of objectivity, not only can science not be established, but democracy must not be practiced." To promote science now, we should not only pay attention to its results, but especially to its methods and its spirit. It is very urgent that China should practice democracy politically and socially. Democracy is a matter of practice, and it is only in practice that it is most convenient to learn. The first step in democratic politics is to freely and earnestly guarantee the people's freedom of belief, thought, speech, publication, assembly, association, patriotism, and national salvation. Democracy, therefore, the fight for such freedoms, is the most urgent task today. ”
Zhang Shenfu held high the banner of the "May Fourth" spirit and charged against the kuomintang dictatorship, making his critical philosophy shine during the War of Resistance.
In particular, he dared to criticize Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorship without scruples in Chongqing, the capital of Chongqing, saying: "China is now humiliated to such a point, and the danger has become such a situation, if a person cannot resist the enemy externally, cannot defend the national territory, and has no great achievements, can he be dictatorial internally?" ”
Zhang Shenfu said: "I am an anarchist, a disciple of Russell. No one can break my resolve, and critical thought is my refuge. ”
Zhang Shenfu family
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >05 "My loyalty is not under my control, I say whatever I think, and trouble happens." </h1>
On April 27, 1957, Zhang Shenfu published an article in Guangming Daily entitled "Carry forward the May Fourth Spirit, Release!" ", loudly calling for ideological emancipation and a hundred schools of thought.
On June 8, 1957, Zhang Bojun, Luo Longji, and others were accused of being the "worst rightists."
After Zhang Bojun and Luo Longji were criticized, Zhang Shenfu did not comply with and participate, and was finally classified as a "rightist." But Zhang Shenfu felt at ease, because what he said was from his heart.
Not to go against his heart is his creed that he began to treat people and things from the "May Fourth" period.
On January 21, 1980, Zhang Shenfu recalled: "At that time, the spring breeze of freedom seemed to be blowing on the political land, and I participated in the discussion because I really believed that the spirit of May Fourth, the spirit of liberation, finally bore fruit in China, but I was wrong, and it was this that caused me trouble." When everyone attacked Zhang Bojun in June 1957, I said good things for him. I said that his proposals for political reform were not all wrong, and I even said that he stood firm ninety-five percent. I fell into the water again, and I was beaten to the right. ”
Zhang Bojun's lover Li Jiansheng once said: "This is the character of Zhang Shenfu. He is to his friend that no matter how bad you are, he will never abandon you. I'll never forget the day in the spring of 1958 when we bumped into each other in North Sea Park. We're used to people avoiding us and running across the street when they see us. But Zhang Shenfu did not do this, he walked toward us, shook hands with Bo Jun warmly, and greeted our health. You can never feel how warm this attitude feels on that cold day. ”
In this regard, Zhang Shenfu said: "I am too honest, too loyal to my friends, I did not think of myself. My loyalty is not under my control, I say whatever I think, and trouble happens. "I have been faithful to my faith since I joined the revolution at the age of 18, and the pressure of the opportunists cannot change me."
Zhang Shenfu handwriting
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >06 "To blame others, first blame yourself; see the blame of others, first blame yourself." </h1>
On October 23, 1948, Zhang Shenfu published an article in the "Observation" magazine entitled "Appeal for Peace", which said: "If both sides fully indicate that they are only fighting for peace, they may become more famous and may fight more vigorously." In this way, it is not all the more vindicative that both sides in the war want peace, and as long as there is peace, there is no one wrong with calling for peace and calling for its restoration? But if both sides want peace, they should stop immediately and stop fighting. The article was heavily criticized, and The Observer magazine was shut down by the Nationalist government two months later.
On November 15 of the same year, the China Democratic League expelled him from the league. On December 26 of the same year, the People's Daily published a headline entitled "Denouncing traitor Zhang Shenfu and others for selling themselves to the throne," and Zhang Shenfu rose from "enemy of the people" to "traitor."
10 days later, the People's Daily published a divorce notice with the headline "Zhang Shenfu Betrayed Democracy for Tigers, Liu Qingyang Severely Accused."
The political status of Zhang Shenfu has since plummeted.
After the founding of New China, Zhang Shenfu did not have a job for a while. Later, Zhang Shizhao said to Chairman Mao: "Zhang Shenfu is also an old man of our party, and his work should be arranged." Chairman Mao said, "He is my superior, how dare I arrange him?" ”
It turned out that when Zhang Shenfu was a professor at Peking University, he once helped Li Dazhao do some library work.
At that time, Chairman Mao was working as an administrator in the Library of Peking University, and sometimes the borrowing card was registered incorrectly, and Zhang Shenfu asked him to re-register.
Later, under the care and coordination of Zhou Enlai, Peng Zhen, the mayor of Beijing, found a job for Zhang Shenfu in the Beijing Library.
The Beijing Library is a "low-key" institution where Zhang Shenfu can sit with books and books all day long, which is exactly the state of life he likes.
In his later years, Zhang Shenfu regarded honor and disgrace as something outside his body, indifferent to Ming Zhi, quiet and far-reaching, and deeply understood the true meaning of Chinese philosophy. In the face of the hard days, Zhang Shenfu was always able to deal with them calmly.
Sometimes life is really unsustainable, so he sells some old books and newspapers for money. And every time the master who bought the waste newspaper took the newspaper, he often remembered something that he was reluctant to sell, so he chased it out and bought the newspaper back.
Once, his daughter said that she wanted to buy a watch, Zhang Shenfu could not come up with money, and did not want to disappoint her daughter, so she gave her watch to her daughter.
In July 1982, he wrote "My Worldview- Talking About How to Be Human and How to Treat People?" " article, which says: "From the confidant to the more people." Know how to people, and know how to imagine generations. Blame others, blame yourself first. When you see that you are responsible for others, you must first blame yourself. ”
The old man tried to sum up his life while admonishing his contemporaries.
Zhang Shenfu in his later years
In 1962, Zhou Enlai said at a conference in Guangzhou: "I thank Zhang Shenfu and Liu Qingyang for introducing me to the party. ”
On July 2, 1986, Zhang Shenfu died at the age of 93.
In its announcement, the People's Daily made his final conclusion: "A famous patriot and an old friend of our party. ”