Dai Haibin, Department of History, Fudan University
Press: Meng Sen's political identity was known to about two people in the past, one was a member of the Jiangsu Consultative Bureau in the late Qing Dynasty, and the other was a member of the Early Ming Congress. After the bribery of Cao Kun in 1922, he went south to advocate the theory of provincial constitution, launched an autonomous group, and led the Jiangsu local autonomy movement. In 1927, the National Revolutionary Army regained Shanghai, and as a member of the Kuomintang, he was appointed as a member of the Shanghai Provisional Branch of the Central Political Conference and served as the secretary and director of the Jiangsu Civil Affairs Department. As a backbone of the progressive party who had fought viciously with the Kuomintang in the National Assembly, at the time of the "Great Revolution", Meng Sen realized the transformation of political identity and directly entered the political system of the Kuomintang, which was not a small span. Revisiting this brief and little-known political experience gives us new opportunities to understand Monson and the big times he has walked through.
Small citations
In the 1990s, Meng Juru (1911-1996), the second son of Meng Sen, who was over eighty years old, gave the following words in his father's life when he was interviewed by his clan:
Customary clouds, gold without red gold, no one is perfect, flawed Yu sees each other, and is close to reality. In the history of the heart, the advantages should not be exaggerated, the shortcomings do not have to be hidden, the beginning and the end of a matter, there are those who are good at the beginning and the end, and those who are good and those who are wrong in the end. For example, Yuan Shikai, who was originally orthodox, and finally denounced his death as emperor, was deeply resented by the Japanese Kou, so why should he say more? In the end, with the body of old and sick, succumbing to rape, and not fighting with his life, why should he investigate deeply and take a hat to characterize it? For the Communist Party, he has always been sympathetic, mourning Qu Qiubai's poem, and his true feelings are sudden. The friendship with Yang Xingfo is deep, and it is also the same qi. (August 31, 1994, Meng Weiyan: The Story of the Meng Family, East China Normal University Press, 2010)
The discussion does not compare with The academic research that Meng Sen is familiar with, but focuses on meritorious deeds, specifically commenting on his deeds in important current events such as "Hong Xian" and "The War of Resistance" and the relationship between "always sympathizing" with the Communist Party, implying the praise and criticism of "flawed yu and mutual seeing", and the words are close and humorous.
The image (or historical position) of Meng Sen (1869-1938) in the eyes of today's people is mainly a Qing historian and a heavyweight Republic of China scholar. However, as a modern intellectual born from the traditional scholar-doctor, Meng Sen's academic research is difficult to get rid of political concerns, he himself has directly engaged in political activities, has a wealth of political experience, active in the late Qing Dynasty, Beiyang, the National Government period of the three historical stages, measured by the old standards, equivalent to spanning three dynasties, showing the rapid and drastic changes in modern China.
Monson (1869-1938)
Meng Sen is familiar with two political identities, one is a member of the Jiangsu Consultative Bureau in the late Qing Dynasty, and the other is a member of the first House of Representatives elected by Min Chu. His student Wu Xiangxiang of the Peking University period wrote a biography in which he said: "In November of the second year of the Republic of China (1913), Yuan Shikai ordered the dissolution of the Kuomintang, the National Assembly was actually paralyzed, and Meng went south to Shanghai, and gradually broke away from his political career from then on—although, in the fifth year of the Republic of China (1916), the qualification of the Congress was still maintained, and Meng also went north several times to defend the country's legal system, but since the twelfth year of the Republic of China (1923) refused Cao Kun's invitation, did not participate in the 'bribery election' and resolutely went south, it was completely isolated from the actual politics." Sun Jiahong recorded a large number of political and legal works, translations, and newspaper articles of Meng Sen in the late Qing and Republic of China periods, questioning an earlier popular view, that is, "after Meng Sen entered the Republic of China, he no longer paid attention to politics and devoted all his energy to the study of Ming and Qing history", on the contrary, "Meng Sen's enthusiasm for the country's society, politics, law, internal and foreign affairs has not changed at all, or it has been consistent, or it has increased unabated" (Meng Sen Political Papers, vol. 1, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2008, foreword).
In fact, not only in the early republic of China, across the 1910s and 1920s, and even until the Peking University period (1931-1938), Mengsen's concern and comments on politics did not stop. Compared with the published articles, the Meng Sen Hanzha preserved in the Zhao Fengchang Collection (a total of seventy-two passages, about between November 1916 and March 1932) are more private, and the topics are more extensive and profound, providing us with new information and new perspectives for understanding Meng Sen and his relationship with the politics of the Republic of China.
Zhao Fengchang Zangzha, National Library Press, 2009
The work of this article is directly derived from a sentence in the biography of Meng Sen recorded in the "Small Biography of Famous Celebrities in the Qing Dynasty":
In the sixteenth year of the Republic of China [1927], the Northern Expedition of the Nationalist Army, pacifying Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Chairman of Su Province Niu Yongjian hired Sen as secretary. Less than a year later, I left my job for something. In his later years, Peking University was hired as a lecturer, specializing in the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
"Small Biographies of Famous People in the Qing Dynasty", Volume 10 "Meng sen", Changzhou Brigade Shanghai Hometown Association, 1944
According to the pen that was transmitted to Meng Sen's fellow villagers, it records the political activities of the master from Xinhai to the Northern Expedition, and the information here is not seen elsewhere, and no one seems to have paid special attention to it or commented on it so far. In the past, when talking about Meng Sen's relationship with politics, he paid much attention to the constitutional and parliamentary activities in the two stages of the late Qing Dynasty and Beiyang, and followed this material to pursue, but found that Meng Sen was deeply involved in the local autonomy movements in Jiangsu and Shanghai during the Northern Expedition, joined the Kuomintang before and after Shanghai Kefu, and then entered the National Government and held important positions. The transformation of Mengsen's political identity before and after the "Great Revolution" also reflected his cognitive changes in the "party army" and "party-state" systems.
Cao Kun chose to go south on the occasion of "bribery election" (1922.6-1926.6)
During the Republic of China period, Meng Sen, as a member of the House of Representatives, had twice left Beijing and went south in close proximity to escape. Once before Yuan Shikai became emperor, and once on the occasion of Cao Kun's bribery. Both of these background events were major shocks to the constitutionalism of the Republic of China, which directly brought subversive results and caused a turning point in Monson's political career.
In 1922, the first Zhifeng War, the direct family won the victory and took control of the Beijing regime. Li Yuanhong re-elected president and restored the first National Assembly dissolved in the sixth year of the Republic of China (1917), known as "Legal Unity Heavy Light". Old MPs reunite in Beijing. Soon, Cao Kun's bribery occurred. At the beginning of 1923, Meng Sen said to Zhao Fengchang: "Cao San wants to be president, there is no need to have more branches, honestly speak to each other, the word 'Cao Kun' wants me to write into the election vote, and its momentum cannot be done." ...... In short, the matter of directly buying tickets is unprecedented, it must be done, mutual suspicion is mutually suspicious, and it is rare to be fair and even, among them there must be some people who do not want to sell, even the chickens cannot be investigated, I am afraid that it can not be effective overnight, and if the Constitution can be handed over in the meantime, it can be explained, and it can be scattered, and if the sellers account for the majority, they can listen to them do this business. At that time, Meng Sengu did not approve of Cao Kun, but still hoped to complete the constitutional amendment in the national assembly, thinking that it was "accountable". However, in less than half a year, he was uneasy and forced to "calculate for the sake of counting". Arrived in Changzhou on June 13, and wrote to Zhao Fengchang the next day, revealing the traces of the south:
Because of the strangeness of the Kyoshi's affairs, the day is to count. ...... How can a bribe be willing to be bribed, and if you are forced to be present, it will become an election meeting? That is, the sunrise in Beijing, in order to avoid its ugliness, yesterday to chang, temporarily live in the commercial bank, intend to pause for a while, when coming to Shanghai to talk freely. ...... Hurrying out of the capital, I was deeply fortunate not to be invited to be hindered, and I was afraid that if I slowed down, I would regret that I could not do it. Cao Shi is now like a heavenly return, two out of three of the eight hundred members have been on the table, and I am particularly afraid that feng has recently used force to help those who want to sell themselves, and it may not be worth much.
The letter explained the political experiences of Beijing and China, and commented on Feng Yuxiang, Wu Peifu, and Duan Qirui. Out of disappointment in the politics of congress, Monson borrowed the traditional concept or rhetorical strategy of "stripping the pole and restoring it" and believed that by the twelfth year of the Republic of China (1923), "all political evils will be put to a great end here" ("The Political Situation of the Twelfth Year of the Republic of China") and criticized "the combination of eight hundred people, if they want to have more than 40,000 human consciousness, it is probably a thing that is absolutely nothing in the world" (the total number of members of the National Assembly and the Senate in the early Ming Dynasty is about 800, also known as "eight hundred Arhats"), "wanting to solve the political situation with democratically elected members, In the past, people said that people eat more wolves, and wolves eat more people, which is really an incurable disease." The result of the political crimes has reached the extreme, and the result must be that "the warlords are broken, the politicians are scattered," and the "reputation and seniority of the deputies who have been betrayed" have gone bankrupt." Meng Sen has repeatedly said that "Cao Kun and others are the first achievements of the Republic of China" and "Cao kun and others are also the first achievements of the Republic of China." "Cao is not successful, the opportunity is perfect, Cao is successful, and the opportunity is better", and in the future, only the innocent people who are "not stained with political stains" will be waiting to clean up the situation. There is deep pain hidden under the joke.
Meng Sen to Zhao Fengchang letter (house note)
Soon after going south, Meng Sen served as a special writer for the "Declaration" Museum and published a large number of current commentaries. His thinking on constitution-making has turned to the localities, advocating the theory of provincial constitutions, emphasizing that "today is today, the dream of the national constitution has awakened, and the fact of the national constitution can be achieved." There is no precedent for a constitution in the world. ...... Strengthening the provinces to suppress the central government is a measure for the people to save themselves, and the healthy people of the provinces regard the provinces as having a claim in their own province, and it is not as if they are in the central government. ("Today is a Period of ProportionalIty in The Constitution") New Year's Day 1924 New Year's Day dedication, the opening sentence is clear:
If our people have the certainty that they can seek governance, they can hope for autonomy. The programme of self-government is enshrined in the Constitution. The two provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which are close to my eyes and ears, have urgently planned to formulate a provincial autonomy law, which is the most effective autonomy. ("The New Year's Day of the Thirteenth Year of the Republic of China")
In October 1923, Cao Kun was elected president. The joint statement of the Shanghai parliamentarians, including Meng Sen, was "not foresaw this matter and is irresponsible for this", and then declared that it condemned Cao Kun and the "scum of vote selling" in the National Assembly, and "shouted loudly, after following the people of the whole country, mingzheng the crime of bribery in the election, and unanimously denounced it" ("Declaration on Moving Shanghai Parliamentarians"). On the 10th of this month, in order to seek the autonomy of Su Province "under the tide of bribery", Meng Sen and the deputies of the same province organized the "Quanshe Society", which means "the custom is to take ten as the full number, the National Day as double ten, and the righteousness of the whole", "The reason why the gentlemen of Jiben protect their personality is to preserve our Su" ("Publications: The History of the Establishment of the Whole Society and Its Main Purpose", Jiangsu, No. 1, 1924).
After the Second Zhifeng War, the direct family fell, and Duan Qirui was inaugurated as the provisional ruler of the Republic of China. In April 1925, the executive government announced that "the legal system of the Republic of China has become obsolete.". Since its opening in April 1913, the first national assembly of the Republic of China, which had existed for twelve years, came to an end. The Republic of China no longer has a president, and the Provisional Covenant Law and the Cao Kun Constitution are also exhausted, "until all the people die, the parliament is completely eliminated, and the parliamentary politics in the early days of the Republic of China is over." The legal system was abolished, the legal basis of the old parliamentarians no longer existed, and Monson's status as a parliamentarian was ended at the same time.
In February 1926, the various legal groups in Jiangsu Province convened a meeting to establish the Preparatory Committee for the Organic Law of the Jiangsu Provincial Constitutional Convention, and publicly recommended twenty-two drafters of the Provincial Constitutional Organization Law, of which Meng Sen was listed, and the twelve drafts of the Organization Law were drafted by Meng Sen. In April, Zhang Taiyan, Zhang Yilu, Meng Sen and others jointly sent a telegram to express their views on the current situation:
After the thieves are pacified, they will remain unchanged in the territory where the various armies are based, repair their internal affairs, stop invading each other's tombs, and when the autonomy of the provinces is completed, and then try to establish a central government, they will have their own peace of mind. Although it is temporarily vacant, there is no need to worry about March without a king. If it is necessary to seek construction, only to support the covenant law, after the thief is pacified, ask Huang Pi to make up for the eighty-three-day term, and order the re-election of expired parliamentarians as a legitimate president, and then avoid disputes if they follow the rules.
The political situation was quite complex at the time. The direct lineage advocates "protecting the constitution", that is, recognizing the "constitution" promulgated by Cao Kun, but accepting Cao's abdication, that is, the so-called "new election of the old law"; others advocate the use of an earlier "covenant law" as the basic law of the country (that is, not recognizing the "constitution"), which is called "protecting the law", both of which involve the problem of the national assembly that no longer exists. Meng Sen was disappointed in the constitution-making of the national assembly, but shang agreed with Zhang Taiyan's practice of "restoring the rule of law" and tried to support Li Yuanhong's restoration, but in actual political operation, they still adhered to the concept of division of localities, and even put forward the idea of "temporarily lacking the central government". The difference between the two is that Zhang Taiyan and various opposition figures organized the "Anti-Red National Salvation Great Alliance" and did not trust the central government to be able to "seek redness", which became the reason for his advocacy of division and rule (Luo Zhitian, "Contradictions between China and Foreign Countries and Domestic Political Disputes: Zhang Taiyan's "Anti-Red" Activities and Remarks Before and After the Northern Expedition"). Monson was very concerned about communism early on, and did not seem to have much prejudice. Around 1924, in view of the declaration and action of soviet Russia to abrogate the treaty with China, it was once planned to participate in the Soviet expedition led by the northeast parliamentarians, saying that "to inspect Red Russia, my brother is in favor of it, and if he succeeds, he will take his children to Russia and his party." The communist wife, the labor system, must not look at it with one's own eyes, although it cannot be seen at once, it is better to see than to hear" (Zhao Fengchang Zangzha, vol. IV, p. 94). He published a considerable number of articles in the "Declaration" on the relations between communism and China and the Soviet Union, and his views were also relatively positive (see "The Model of the World Party Leader", "The Social Situation in the Eastern Countries and the Influence of Radicalism", "The Experiment of the Resurrection of Communism", "Labor-Peasants' Communism and Labor Communism", "Politics and Economy after the Sino-Russian Reconciliation", "The Victory of Doctrine", etc. On the process of Monson's separation from communism, it is more extensive, and it is proposed to be discussed in a separate article).
Meng Sen once hoped that the provincial constitution would be first drafted and then the central government would be built, and the innocent people who were "untainted by political stains" would clean up the situation, but the actual result was the Northern Expedition of the party army and the new party-state system. Li Jiannong commented on this history later:
[1923] On October 10, Cao Kun was inaugurated as president, and Wu Jinglian and others also held a ceremony to promulgate the Constitution on that day. But this kind of 'shameful constitution', which of the people should pay attention to it! Since the Congress has committed the final suicide, the legal system has been severed since then, and no one has asked for the banner of the protector of the law anymore, even the movement of joint rule has reached the scene of sunset. The new hope after that is a Chinese Nationalist Party.
Presided over the Su-Shanghai Autonomy Movement (1926.7-1927.3)
In November 1925, Sun Chuanfang won the Zhejiang-Feng War and announced his appointment as the commander-in-chief of the combined forces of the five provinces of Suzhou, Anhui, Gansu, Fujian and Zhejiang. At the same time, the Kuomintang announced reorganization, the National Government in Guangzhou was established, and the revolutionary forces in the south grew rapidly. On July 9, 1926, the National Revolutionary Army swore an oath to the Northern Expedition, and the national situation changed. In September, the Northern Expeditionary Army and Sun Chuanfang's five-province coalition army exchanged fire in Jiangxi. In order to avoid the scourge of war, the people of Shanghai and Zhejiang took the lead in proposing to join forces with the "gentry of the five southeastern provinces and those who are enthusiastic about the overall situation in Sichuan, Hubei, and Hunan provinces" to carry out a "large-scale peace campaign" with the purpose of pure self-preservation, and the direction was to "march simultaneously towards Ningsun and Guangdong and Jiangsu." Meng Sen's Jiangsu Association responded, and in October it was renamed the New Su Association, and Meng Sen was elected as a director.
"Jiangsu Quanshe Fan Photography", Jiangsu, No. 1, 1924
On November 8, the Northern Expeditionary Army regained Nanchang, and Sun Chuanfang retired to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. On the 11th, mainly the three groups of the New Suzhou Association, the All-Zhejiang Association, and the Anhui Travel and Shanghai Hometown Association, people from the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui gathered to discuss "the active method of the current situation", and Meng Sen attended as a representative of Jiangsu. At the meeting, it was advocated that "the three provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang should be designated as autonomous regions" and that "the military authorities of the three provinces should immediately request them to stop all acts of war." Later, the "Federation of The Three Provinces of Suzhou, Anhui and Zhejiang" assumed the functions of an autonomous government to a considerable extent, with a special committee for handling military and civilian affairs, with Meng Sen as the head of the clerical unit of the affairs committee. The activities of the association adopted a "neutral" posture, in fact, they cooperated with the actions of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and most of its main figures had close relations with the Kuomintang, such as the Military Commission, which never published the list, which on the contrary confirmed that it had certain secret missions.
Before the arrival of the Northern Expeditionary Army, there were many signs of cooperation with the Kuomintang. On November 28, all walks of life in Shanghai held a public meeting at the Nanshi Public Stadium, which included more than 200 groups such as the Federation of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, anhui and Anhui Provinces, the New Suzhou Association, and the Kuomintang also attended by the Jiangsu Provincial Party Department and the Shanghai Special City Party Department. The congress put forward opposition to the fenglu army going south, protecting local peace, and designating Shanghai as a special city. On this day, all the directors of the New Soviet Association, including Meng Sen, invited the leaders of the Shanghai Navy and Army to a banquet, saying that "the Fenglu Army is moving south, and the local public order in this port is precarious, please carefully consider and put the local public opinion first." That evening, the main members of the Federation of the Three Provinces, also including Meng Sen, accepted a joint banquet from the four party departments of the Kuomintang's Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Anhui Province, and Shanghai Special City, and the two sides reached a consensus on "refusing to go south by the Lu Army, demanding autonomy in the three provinces and setting up a special city in Shanghai, and denying that Sun Chuanfang would continue to preside over the important aspects of military and civilian politics" ("The Four Party Departments Invited the Three Provinces to Join the Members"). Since then, the Federation of The Three Provinces has devoted itself to "overthrowing Sun (Chuanfang) and rejecting Zhang (Zongchang)", and while proclaiming the doctrine of "rule by the people of the three provinces", the spearhead is directly aimed at the warlords who are directly serving.
At the end of 1926, Zhang Zuolin announced that he was the commander-in-chief of the AnGuo Army, and Feng Jun, Sun Chuanfang's Five Provinces Combined Army, The Zhilu Coalition Army, and Yan Xishan's Jin Army formed the An Guo Army, with the slogan of "anti-Red" as the slogan, to confront the National Revolutionary Army. On December 6, the Shanghai Special Municipal Citizens' Association was established. With the aim of "realizing the autonomy of Shanghai's special citizens and seeking the welfare of citizens", the association gathered all the more powerful social groups in Shanghai at that time, and the Federation of The Three Provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang was one of the main initiating groups, and Meng Sen attended as a representative. On the 19th, a meeting of the Citizens' Association discussed and decided to adopt three methods in response to the southward march of the Zhilu coalition army: (1) issuing a declaration stating that Sun Chuanfang was lu jun, Sun Rulaihu, and the end of the war would be opened, and stating the suffering suffered by all walks of life; (2) a letter to the people from all walks of life; (3) a declaration of strike. Meng Sen, Shen Hengshan, Yang Qianli and Wang Shouhua were the drafters.
On March 7, 1927, the Shanghai Special Citizens' Association convened a meeting of representatives of five groups, including the Federation of Three Provinces, the Federation of Trade Unions, the Federation of Students, the General Association of Students, and the Federation of Merchants of All Walks of Life, and Meng Sen was elected as the chairman, at which it was decided to pass the "Organic Law of the Provisional Representative Meeting of Shanghai Citizens". On the 12th, the Shanghai Provisional Citizens' Congress was held, and Meng Sen, Lin Jun, and Wang Meiqing were elected as presidium members and issued an external declaration:
The revolutionary people of Shanghai, the principle of sovereignty of the democratic country resting in the people, with the professional organizations of the city's agriculture, industry, commerce, military and police, publicly elected representatives, organized citizens' representative meetings, and under the control of the National Government, built a democratically elected municipal government to protect the interests of the citizens of the whole city. The citizens of the whole city, in order to seek the realization of the democratically elected government, have the organization of the Association, so the responsibility of the Association is to carry out the will of the citizens of the whole city, to accept the Shanghai political power, to build an elected municipal government, and to do nothing to the lackeys of warlords, bureaucrats, local tycoons, inferior gentry, etc., in accordance with the regulations promulgated by the National Government, to eliminate harm to the people, and never tolerate it. (Minutes of the Meeting of the Provisional Citizens' Assembly)
Thirty-one members of the Executive Committee were elected at the meeting, of which Mon Sen was listed. In addition, the Drafting Committee of the Organic Law of the Formal Representative Meeting of citizens was elected, and Meng Sen, Wang Shouhua and Lin Jun were elected as drafting committee members. On March 15, the first meeting of the executive committee members discussed the allocation of duties, and the five people meng sen, Lin Jun, Wang Shouhua, Wang Xiaoli and Lu Wenshao were elected as standing committee members, and the five units of the conference secretary, propaganda, organization, finance and municipality were in charge of propaganda, and Meng Sen was in charge of propaganda.
Participation in the Shanghai Political Branch of the Kuomintang Central Political Conference (1927.4-1927.6)
On the eve of the arrival of the Northern Expeditionary Army, the pace of development of the Shanghai autonomy movement accelerated. However, under the banner of "autonomy", the actual dark tide is surging and the competition between political forces on all sides has been staged.
On September 4, 1926, the Political Conference of the Kuomintang Central Committee decided to establish the Jiangsu Special Committee, with Niu Yongjian as the main task. After Niu arrived in Shanghai, he set up an office to contact all parties on behalf of the National Government and respond to the Northern Expeditionary Army. In October 1926 and February 1927, in cooperation with Niu Yongjian and others, the Shanghai District Committee of the Communist Party of China organized successive armed uprisings of the Shanghai workers, with the intention of "overthrowing the local warlord regime and establishing a local people's government".
On March 21, the Northern Expeditionary Army regained Shanghai, marking the full entry of Chiang Kai-shek's forces into Shanghai. On the 22nd, the second meeting of the Shanghai Citizens' Representative Conference announced the organization of the Shanghai Special Municipal Provisional Municipal Government and the election of nineteen members of the Provisional Municipal Government, including ten members of the CPC And the Communist Youth League, accounting for the majority. On the 29th, the Provisional Municipal Government of Shanghai Special City held an inauguration ceremony for its members and at the same time launched the "Welcome to Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek's Case", but the actual result was that Chiang Kai-shek kicked open the Provisional Municipal Government and established the "Shanghai Provisional Political Committee" (later renamed the Shanghai Provisional Branch of the Central Political Conference) composed of fifteen of his cronies, including Wu Zhihui, Niu Yongjian, Bai Chongxi, and Chen Guofu, to "decide by way of a meeting on all military, political, and financial powers in Shanghai and to guide the local party affairs department", as the highest party and government organ of the Kuomintang in Shanghai. Take over Shanghai in its entirety. Wu Zhihui and Bai Chongxi successively served as acting presidents of the Shanghai Interim Branch. On April 12, the "qing party" began.
On April 21, Nanjing was electrified:
Comrades Pan Gongzhan and Meng Xinshi of the (Central Committee) of the Political Conference were members of the Shanghai Provisional Branch of the Political Conference.
"Meng Xin Shi Pan Public Exhibition as a Political Councilor", The News, April 22, 1927
When Meng Sen joined the Kuomintang is difficult to find out, but his proximity to the Kuomintang is most likely due to the relationship between Niu Yongjian and Wu Zhihui. Wu and Meng were fellow villagers of Wujin, who worked together at Nanyang College in Shanghai from 1898 to 1901, and later as members of the China Science Society. In August 1926, the eleventh annual meeting of the Chinese Science Society was held in Guangzhou, the birthplace of the revolution, Wu and Meng were invited to give a speech at Guangzhou University, the former gave a speech on "Science and Foreign Eight Shares", the latter gave a speech on "Correcting Unequal Treaties", and Guangzhou Municipal Councilor Sun Ke invited the members of the society, saying that "The princes were not confused by rumors in Beijing and Shanghai, and came to Guangdong from afar to hold the eleventh annual meeting here. Recently, on the second day of the Northern Expedition, the arrival of the princes in Guangdong, during which they received the good news of The Victory of Keyue Prefecture, and later received the good news of the smooth entry of the Northern Expedition into Hubei, so tonight's meeting, in addition to welcoming the members of the Chinese Science Society, actually contains the meaning of wishing for the victory" ("The Annual Meeting of the Members of the Chinese Science Society Arriving in Guangdong").
In his early years, Wu and Niu betrothed at Nanjing Academy, and they were "like-minded people who were underage in the same house" (Preface to the Collected Poems of Han Jiao). In 1899, niu was recommended by Wu Zhihui to enter Nanyang Public School, "temporarily teaching in the Nanyang Public School Normal Class", and both of them threw themselves into the revolution, intersecting in Tokyo, Yokohama, Shanghai and Guangzhou. At the end of 1926, Wu Zhihui returned to Shanghai from Guangdong, when Niu Yongjian instigated in Shanghai as the general counselor of the National Revolutionary Army, Wu also "shouldered the political responsibility behind the enemy lines, so he and Niu Yongjian were jointly responsible for presiding." In addition, Yang Xingfo, a member of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and the son-in-law of Zhao Fengchang, who was also in Shanghai, was also one of the Kuomintang members who were closely related to Meng Sen.
In early April 1927, I saw Meng Sen's public report on the meeting of the Shanghai Municipal Party Department. From the seventh meeting of the Shanghai Provisional Branch of the Central Political Conference on April 25 to the last 30th meeting on June 2, Meng Sen undertook a number of investigations, reviews, and proposals. The most important thing is to review the forty-five articles of the "Shanghai Special City Provisional Draft Regulations" together with Guo Taiqi and Pan Gongzhan and form an amendment to be submitted to the political branch for adoption.
In addition, Meng Sen is also a standing member of the Shanghai Propaganda Committee under the Shanghai Political Branch. The Shanghai Propaganda Committee was established on April 26, 1927, as the highest propaganda guidance organ in Shanghai, and on May 2, Guo Taiqi, Pan Gongzhan and Meng Sen were presumed to be standing committee members. On May 4, the Publicity Committee meeting, chaired by Meng Sen, arranged the work of the members, including the preparation of the May 5th Entertainment Conference, the May Fourth Memorial Conference and the work of various sections. On May 10, Monson presented the "Journal of correction of the Treaty" and the "Specific Measures for Boycotting British Goods" to the Propaganda Committee, stating the opinions of foreign propaganda. On the 24th, three documents on the Question of The United Kingdom were published.
Table: Membership of the Shanghai Propaganda Committee in May 1927 (Source: News from the Propaganda Committee, Declaration, May 5, 1927)
During the period of political training, the central authorities practiced "leading the government with the party" and the localities implemented the system of "dividing the party and governing the government." The internal divisions caused by the "Qing Party", that is, the relative radicalization of the Party's organizational system and the relative conservatism of the powerful departments, are particularly evident in the local Party-government relations (Wang Qisheng, "The Central Political Council and the Rotation of the Supreme Power of the Kuomintang"). Almost before and after the "qing party" process, Meng Sen himself completed the transformation of political identity and transferred from the Shanghai local autonomy power organization to the administrative system of the National Government. His experience seems to confirm an impression of the Kuomintang Central Committee on local party and government personnel at that time -- "All administrative personnel are old, and all party comrades are naïve."
The Shanghai Provisional Branch of the Central Political Conference is of a temporary transitional nature. By July 7, 1927, the Shanghai Special City was officially established, and the provisional branch was declared closed, "all outstanding incidents are transferred to the Shanghai Special City Municipal Government to take over." Meng Sen had previously left Shanghai and moved to Nanjing, which was quoted in the former manuscript as "the Northern Expedition of the Nationalist Army, pacifying Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the chairman of Suzhou Province, Niu Yongjian, hired Sen as secretary."
Secretary and Director of Jiangsu Civil Affairs Department (1927.6-1927.10)
Meng Sen's trip to Nanjing was actually the result of advancing and retreating with Niu Yongjian. On April 18, 1927, the National Government of Nanjing was established, niu Yongjian became the secretary general of the National Government, on May 2, the Jiangsu Provincial Government was established as a political councilor and director of the Civil Affairs Department, and on June 4, he officially assumed the post of Director of the Civil Affairs Department. On June 8, Meng Sen was appointed secretary and director of the Jiangsu Civil Affairs Department and left Shanghai for Ningbo.
Niu Yongjian (1870-1965)
Niu Yongjian, secretary general of the National Government and director of the Civil Affairs Department of Jiangsu Province, has a heavy and troublesome job and needs to take care of many heads, and the allocation of office energy, with the theory of emotion, is bound to be "more in the national government, and less in the provincial capital." He invited Monson to go to Ning to take up his post, of course, out of old friendship, but also to value the administrative talent of his old friend. After Meng Sen arrived at his post, he was on his own in the secretariat of the Civil Affairs Department, the Jiangsu Provincial Government held a government affairs meeting, and when Niu Yongjian could not be separated, he was often represented by him. By October, the Jiangsu provincial government was reorganized, and Niu Yongjian was reappointed as the chairman of the provincial government. Around the same time, Monson ended his work in Nanjing. The specific reasons for the departure are uncertain. It is said that "Sen is not good at rhetoric, and his views are often incompatible with people, and he gradually gets tired of getting along with politicians for a long time", or a cause. Meng Sen and Niu Yongjian's style and political views may not be in line, and there may be problems in getting along, but the more direct reason should be that the director of the Civil Affairs Department is Yi Ren, who is also uneasy about his position and thinks of another way out.
Meng Sen did not have a long experience in politics, but in Nanjing, where the political situation was strange, he had the opportunity to observe the production of the party-state system at close range. At that time, he wrote to Zhao Fengchang, saying:
Feng Er Ri Shu, the sixth day of the calendar, Gai Ningyuan from the twenty-fifth to the seventh day of yesterday, the first to see the postal letter also. ...... During this period, there were still great doubts about Wuhan, and tang shengzhi forcefully took the meaning of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, doubted Wang (Jingwei - the introduction of the note, the same below) and so on or sympathy, and also declared that It was clear that Chiang Kai-shek (Jieshi) was a traitor and Li Zongren was supported, so he was deeply dissatisfied. Since the seven people of the fifth number arrived, they did not believe that there was no use of troops against Ning, but the traces were still deep. So far, there are no members of the government below the level of communication with Wang and other communicators, and it seems that they will wait and see the extent of their cooperation, so who dares to visit and wait in the middle of it?
This letter uses "Jiangsu Civil Affairs Bureau With Note" and the payment is "September 8". Judging by the content, it was deemed to be september 8, 1927, before the so-called "Ninghan confluence". "Hu Zhantang", Hu Hanmin, Chairman of the National Government of Nanjing; "Chiang Kai-shek", Chairman of the Military Commission; "Wang", Wang Jingwei, Chairman of the National Government of Wuhan. First of all, Ning and Han were separated, and within Ningfang, there was a gap between the Gui clan and Chiang Kai-shek, and Li Zongren and others believed that if Chiang had not left his post, Ning and Han could not cooperate, and forced Jiang to resign. Jiang was frustrated by the Northern Expeditionary Army in Xuzhou, and his prestige was folded, so he issued a declaration on August 15. For a time, the Nanjing side was leaderless, Sun Chuanfang took the opportunity to counterattack, and Jiangbei was soon occupied by Sun Jun, that is, the so-called "Sun Army came to force" in the letter. After Chiang Kai-shek stepped down, the confluence between Ning and Han accelerated, the two sides reached an agreement, the Wuhan government moved to Nanjing, and merged with the Nanjing government, and on September 15, the Kuomintang held the Fourth Plenary Session of the Second Central Committee. "Seven people on the fifth day arrived", that is, Wang Jingwei, Gu Mengyu, Xu Qian, Chen Gongbo, Zhu Peide and other Han dignitaries arrived in Nanjing on September 5. Monson has an analysis of the political outlook for the region at the time:
If the new situation is determined, and the sincerity of all parties is unknown, it is not known, but it is not only in it, but it is also willing to wait and see how it changes. As can be known, although the talents are short, but the personality is high, there is no warlord who raises a dead party and occupies an area, and if he desires the path of light, he cannot give up this and ask for it. When he abandoned everything, Sun Jun came to force it, and he was still able to work together to refuse it, which was also the reason for the doctrine. This brother is said to be among them, and he is willing to watch his change.
During the fifteenth session, I don't know if I can do so? Can the Northern Expedition cooperate with Ninghan? Why did Han Zhong deal with Tang (Shengzhi)? In the future, if the government does not seem to be able to keep the mantle of Russia purely, then the organization does not know how? Party affairs and government affairs are mixed, and it is not a long-term plan. The two paths of culture and military force, the military and the people's two political policies, how to make it reasonable, this is all in the process of observation and change. Politics came to a standstill, the officials were sparse and simple, and they had no choice but to make up their own hands. Politicians on both sides have no way to meet. After his brother came to Ning, he inadvertently met with Hu Zhantang, but Chiang Kai-shek never saw him, did not care about socializing, did not care about retribution, and did not know how others were in Ning. However, the brother realizes that he is here, and he does not feel that it is strange, or the atmosphere has changed, not necessarily following the old habits of Kyoto and the provincial capital, which is also the hope of the brother' cloud.
The party and army are unwilling to let Ning Han fight each other, and Jiang wants to fight Han rather than get it, and he cannot avoid apologizing for his sins, some are like this, and no one is like that, I will believe that things will be accomplished, but I do not know whose hands and ears the results are.
Meng Sen had a positive view of the National Government in Nanjing, and had a good evaluation of the organizational ability and military quality of the National Revolutionary Army. He felt that the local "atmosphere in Nanjing has changed", and unlike the "old habits" in Beijing and elsewhere, the Kuomintang people 'only have a short talent, but their personality is high", which is "the reason for the doctrine of doctrine"; he also believes that "Ning Han is unwilling to kill each other" and Jiang's cooperation with Wang at the expense of the wilderness is the manifestation of "there are socialists". At the same time, however, there are also doubts about the prospects for cooperation between Ning and Han, including the personnel contradictions between Wang (Jingwei) and Tang (Shengzhi) within Ningfang, especially based on his personal experience in Nanjing, and dissatisfied with the current situation of "mixing party affairs and government affairs" under the training and government system, believing that "it will not be a long-term plan" in the future, that in the future it will be difficult for government organizations to "purely abide by the mantle of Russia", and how to coordinate civil-military and military-civilian relations still needs to be seen.
Meng Sen returned to Shanghai after stepping down as secretary of the Civil Affairs Department. In the spring of 1928, the National Conference on Education convened by the Graduate School "invited various specialized scholars and educational experts in the country to organize a preparatory committee for proposals", and Monson was hired as a standing committee member of the publications group under it. In November, he investigated and handled the public property of Yuzhai Yizhuang for the commissioner of the Jiangsu Provincial Government. At the end of the same year, the provincial government set up the Jiangsu Tongzhi Compilation Committee, which was hired as a compiler. By March 1929, he resigned from both of these jobs and completely separated from the Jiangsu provincial government. Since the summer of 1929, Meng Sen began to teach the history department of Nanjing Central University, teaching Qing history. In 1931, on the eve of the outbreak of the "918 Incident", he was hired by Jiang Menglin, president of Peking University, to serve as a professor in the Department of History of Peking University in Beiping until his death in 1938.
Afterword: "The Party-State Has Created an Incomprehensible Knot"
In summary, the following facts can be roughly clarified: After Cao Kun's bribery and election, Meng Sen left Beijing and went south, out of disappointment in the constitution-making of the National Assembly, advocated the theory of provincial constitution, participated in the Jiangsu local autonomy movement, and initiated the organization of autonomous groups such as the Whole Society, the Jiangsu Association, and the New Su Association. In November 1926, when the Northern Expeditionary Army and Sun Chuanfang fought fiercely in Jiangxi, the Federation of The Three Provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui was established, declaring the three provinces as "areas ruled by the people" and launching the "Invert sun and refuse Zhang" movement, with Meng Sen as one of the backbone members. Subsequently, the Shanghai Municipal Citizens' Association and the Shanghai Provisional Citizens' Congress, with the purpose of designating Shanghai as a special city and realizing "citizens' autonomy", were established one after another, and Meng Sen successively served as a standing committee member and executive member. On the eve of the Northern Expedition to restore Shanghai, the CCP led the establishment of the Shanghai Special City Provisional Municipal Government, and Meng Sen was once a candidate for municipal government committee members. On April 8, 1927, the Shanghai Provisional Political Committee of the Central Political Conference was established, becoming the highest organ of power in Shanghai and a tool for Chiang Kai-shek to resist the Provisional Municipal Government and make "purge the Party" decisions before and after the Shanghai Split. Meng Sen joined the Kuomintang at about this time and was appointed as a member of the Shanghai Provisional Branch of the Political Conference and a standing member of the Shanghai Propaganda Committee. In June of the same year, at the invitation of Niu Yongjian, director of the Civil Affairs Department of Jiangsu Province, he went to Nanjing to serve as the secretary and director of the Jiangsu Civil Affairs Department, and resigned in October. Later, he served as the special commissioner of the Jiangsu Provincial Government to investigate and handle the public property of Yuzhai Yizhuang, and the compiler of Jiangsu Tongzhi. In March 1929, he officially separated from the Jiangsu Provincial Government.
In the past, the study of the Shanghai National Revolution focused on the three Shanghai uprisings centered on the Communist Party of China, the Federation of Trade Unions, and the Comintern, and tended to think of the citizens' unions, provisional citizens' congresses, and shanghai special municipal governments that arose in the wave of the Shanghai autonomy movement as a citizens' coalition government with the workers as the main body and the participation of the bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie. If we look deeply, we can find that the unfolding process of the Shanghai autonomy movement constituted a link in the national revolution, and this movement also became one of the main political foundations established by the Shanghai Provisional Branch of the Political Conference and the Shanghai Municipal Government. As the backbone of the progressive party system in the Kuomintang Congress and one of the participants and organizers of the Shanghai autonomy movement, Meng Sen realized the transformation of political identity at the stage when the climax of the "Great Revolution" was about to fall, and directly entered the political system of the Kuomintang. Although it did not take long to withdraw, and the way of leaving was not glorious (the resolution of the 186th meeting of the Jiangsu Provincial Government on March 1, 1929: "It is rumored that Meng Sen is pretending to be in the name of the government, and he is flaunting outside, except for the dispatch of secret investigation, all such members resign from the post of director general of the Yuzhai Commune, and should be approved." ["Su Provincial Government Meeting", "Declaration", March 2, 1929] Recently, some scholars have done a detailed study of the "Yuzhai Yizhuang Dissolution Case", but "why Meng Sen, who has been responsible for investigating and handling the Yuzhai Yizhuang case, was suddenly dismissed by the Jiangsu Provincial Government" is still "limited to materials and cannot be verified". See Peng Xiaofei's "Study on the Dissolution of the Yuzhai Yizhuang of the Sheng Clan in Shanghai in 1931", Modern History Research, No. 2, 2019), but the little-known (or deliberately secretive) cause between Meng Sen and the Kuomintang is worth pursuing and thinking about by latecomers.
In 1931, Monson went north to teach at Peking University. He said to Zhao Fengchang, "My brother is reading books as a pastime on this day, and Chinese culture is free in the old capital, and he has never seen anything before, but the day is insufficient, and soon there will be a humble book, although there is no high discussion, he also reads the history of the Qing Dynasty." (Zhao Fengchang Zangzha, vol. II, p. 272) His academic career opened a new and brilliant page.
Meng Sen to Zhao Fengchang (Notes from National Peking University)
However, Monson was not entirely oblivious to politics. After the September 18 Incident, he was deeply dissatisfied with the government, saying that "when the Eastern Incident occurs, it will be turned into a moon, and there will be no way to catch it, waiting for the salvation of others, and this will not really be able to give up on others." This time the bottom of the unloading, it is really cloudy." The Kuomintang peace talks between the Ning and Guangdong sides, Chiang Kai-shek's dismissal, the reorganization of the National Government in Nanjing, and the election of Sun Ke as president of the Executive Yuan at the First Plenary Session of the Fourth Central Committee. In His private letter, Meng Sen accused Sun Ke of being a "stupid brother" who was at his disposal, and criticized him unceremoniously:
The foolish brother is happy, for the year of touching the domain, he can also sow the ugliness of the father. ...... Only the foolish brother claimed to be the prince of true destiny, and although there were no left and right two beggars in the first intention, there was also a fate in the heavens, and now I know that this is not the case. However, according to the current situation, under the current system, although all the fierce collections are complete, what will happen? This time it is really anarchy, just listening to the slaughter of others.
After the January 28 Incident, the Nationalist government moved the capital to Luoyang for a time and convened a national disaster conference similar to the nature of a political consultative conference. With regard to the "training of government" system to mobilize the whole people to resist the war, there are two plans for the theory of the times: one is to end the training of government, implement constitutional government, set up organs of public opinion, and guarantee the people's political freedom; the other is to continue and strengthen the original one-party training system and realize the concentration of power in wartime and military dictatorship. Meng Sen was extremely disgusted by the KMT's "argument of defending the party":
Luoyang held a meeting, and there were inevitably fewer people who could go, ... When approaching the party, it is necessary to defend the party's argument, that is, to let go slightly, it must also be said that it does not contradict the Three People's Principles and then can tolerate it, and its meaning can be seen.
Japan has recently become full of food, selling a face and the League of Nations, and the armaments may even be able to stop. However, the branches of instability in the country are even more fearful of disputes than the day of violence, and the party-state has caused insoluble knots and has made up its own hands, and we have sacrificed ourselves, and we want to work together to create evil, and the whole country is in danger, so how can we save it? ...... Will the Meeting be successful? It is believed here that if we do not change the Russian style of the Party, that is, if we do not meet, we will also hold on to each other, and we may not be able to solve state affairs with the intention of meeting.
During the aforementioned 1927 period of Meng Sen's tenure in the Jiangsu Provincial Government, he had a refreshing sense of the "party army" and "party-state" system, and his evaluation was good, but by the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, his perception had obviously dropped, and he was particularly critical of the "one-party discipline of government", lamenting that "the people are directly suffering from the state, and the people of the party and the state think that the party is more pro-state." During the same period, Meng Sen published articles in the Independent Review continuously, participated in the discussion of topics such as "scholars", "modernization", and "doing nothing and doing nothing", interacted with "Hu Shipai scholars", and changed his understanding of "isms".
On the 28th of May of the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937), Mr. Meng Xinshi of Peking University commemorated the 70th birthday of Mr. Meng Xinshi, Hu Shijing remembered
On January 14, 1938, Meng Sen died of illness in the City of Beiping occupied by the Japanese Army, and before his death, he showed his friends a sickbed diary, "Although he was ill, he did not forget to chant, but always thought about state affairs" ("Zheng Tianting Southwest United Congress Diary"). Chen Yinke wrote a preface to Wang Guowei's suicide note, lamenting that "the book of Mr. Jin is circulating in the world, and the people of the world can probably praise his learning, and they are unique to their life's aspirations, and there are many unsolvable, so there is a theory of right and wrong", prompting the reader to consciously go beyond the time and place in which he is located, and "connect with the theology" of the speaker, so as to want to see his life ("Preface to Mr. Wang Jing'an's Testament"). Meng Sen became famous for his scholarship after his death, and his academic "ordinary life aspirations" were not highlighted. Meng Sen, who lived before and after the "Great Revolution", experienced the last chapter of his political career, and also constituted a short and strange fragment of China's modern history. To understand this fragment, it is necessary to be able to understand the "beginning and end of a matter", to determine the characters are wise and foolish, to be able to deduce the rest of the history of Benzhi, to be able to deduce the world by their people, to choose from the source of the individual to explore the continuity and rupture of the history of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and then to understand the unfolding and reversal of the "revolutionary history". This article is just a starting point for this work.
Editor-in-Charge: Huang Xiaofeng
Proofreader: Liu Wei