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<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="01" > introduction</h1>
When it comes to Shanghai Beach, we may think of many scenes: the "Paramount" dance hall of drunken gold fans, the turbulent stock exchange, and the bloody "Green Gang" of Shanghai, it can be said that behind the prosperity of Shanghai since the opening of the port, there have naturally been various corrupt and degenerate dark sides of society.
So, what was the fate of these Shanghai gangsters who "called the wind and rain" in the old society after the founding of New China? Was it caught and executed, or was it brought under control? Is New China's policy of dealing with criminal syndicates and evil forces the same as its current attitude of "resolutely shining the sword"? Next, let's go back to the days when New China was just founded, and see how the people's government banned gangster organizations and cleaned up the social atmosphere.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="02" > the relationship between gang organizations and the upper echelons of society</h1>
In 1947, at the eightieth birthday feast of Jin Jinrong (the other two were Du Yuesheng and Zhang Xiaolin), one of the "three tycoons" of the Shanghai Beach Green Gang, Chiang Kai-shek came to wish for his birthday, and actually knelt down in front of everyone to prostrate himself to wish Jin Rong a happy birthday, which shocked everyone present, including Jin Jinrong himself.
Jin Jinrong (left) Zhang Xiaolin (center) Du Yuesheng (right)
At that time, the war on the front line was tight, and Chiang Kai-shek not only personally came to wish for his birthday, but also made such an amazing move, and the status of Jin Rong was evident, and the power of the Shanghai Green Gang could be imagined. So, how big was the gang organization before the founding of New China?
To say that the origin of Chinese gang power may be traced back to the "Heaven and Earth Society" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, but the activities of the Heaven and Earth Society are still in a secret state, and the sphere of influence is mainly in the countryside. In modern times, especially after the Xinhai Revolution, because gangs became the object of struggle of revolutionaries (Sun Yat-sen went to the United States as "Big Brother Hongmen" in those years), gang forces such as the Youth Gang, Hongmen, and Brotherhood began to expand in the city, and even gradually became a thing that could be put on the surface.
Many famous warlords, such as Wu Peifu, Zhang Zongchang, Chen Tiaoyuan, Zhang Zhijiang, etc., were all big men of the Qing gang, and Fan Shaozeng of the Sichuan Army also had close personal relations with the Qing gang. Du Yuesheng, who we know well, is said to have to give him some face in both black and white.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="03" > the social background of the gangs in old China has brought great problems to the work of new China</h1>
Not only do the upper echelons of society have close ties with the Green Gang, but ordinary people will also choose to join gang organizations in order to have more protection in the turbulent times. According to statistics, 20% of Shanghai workers joined gangs in the 1930s.
The three religions and nine streams are all-encompassing, from the staff of the government, the middle and lower cadres of the military, the merchants, the workers, and even the goons and prostitutes, all of whom are members of the association to participate in its activities.
Gang organization in Sichuan: Brother Robe
The reason why gang organizations must be eradicated is because of their nature and the complexity of social activities, that is, behind a gang, they often collude with the official and business circles and become the "protective umbrella" of various criminal acts. Drug trafficking, gambling, trafficking in women... In the 1930s, almost all of Shanghai's gambling houses were monopolized by the Qinghong Gang. They have gone to great lengths to engage in various illegal undertakings to obtain black incomes, which has seriously affected the normal social order.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="04" > the early days of the founding of New China to win over and win over gang organizations</h1>
On the whole, the policy toward gang organizations in the early days of the founding of New China underwent a process of transformation from co-optation to suppression and prohibition, which was closely related to the national conditions and priorities at that time.
Jin Rong and Chiang Kai-shek in the film and television drama
When the War of Liberation was about to be won, the CCP believed that the primary target was the United States and Chiang Kai-shek and local reactionary forces, and the gangs had not yet shown obvious counter-revolutionary tendencies, so they called the gang forces "forces that can be united" and adopted the attitude of winning the support of the upper echelons of the gangs to reduce social resistance.
For example, in 1948, Mao Zedong instructed Du Yuesheng, the leader of the Shanghai Youth Gang, to be listed as a representative figure of the Shanghai bourgeoisie and regarded as an object of unity. Later, Du Yuesheng fled to Hong Kong, and also took care of his apprentice An Fen and kept to himself, and this policy of our party to win was obviously effective.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="05" > gang organizations dig their own graves and become tools used by counter-revolutionaries</h1>
Without social order, a society cannot function.
If gang organizations had been able to keep to themselves and not do anything illegal and disciplined (although this is basically impossible), the PLA might not have changed its policy of "leniency" from 1951 onwards, severely cracked down on and suppressed those bandits and bullies that aroused public indignation, and eradicated the evil gang forces in one fell swoop.
During the Republic of China, the gambling houses in Shanghai were almost monopolized by gangsters
After the founding of New China, the important problem facing the Communist Party of China was to re-establish a stable social order in the cities and maintain the normal operation of society.
And the gangs at this time did something to dig their own graves: to become a tool for the counter-revolutionaries to use. As we mentioned earlier, many high-ranking Kuomintang officials had contacts with gangs, and after liberation, secret agents such as the Kuomintang Secrecy Bureau and the Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of the Interior took advantage of this relationship to incite gang forces to raid homes and houses and kill revolutionary masses, thus seriously disrupting social order.
In particular, the outbreak of the Korean War in 1951 made these remnants think that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, and a large number of "Bao'an Tigers", "Tongtian Sect Lords" and "Poisonous Dragons" began to move in the streets and alleys again. These people regarded the CCP's enlightened policy as forbearance, wantonly oppressed the people, and even killed revolutionary cadres, and the North Sichuan Road area of Shanghai even won the titles of "Little Taiwan" and "Bottomless Pit", which shows the degree of social chaos.
In the early days of New China, counter-revolutionaries were executed
From 1951 onwards, the Ministry of Public Security launched the arrest of members of reactionary gangs with rampant activities and the execution of bully leaders, and by the end of the year, at least 14,000 people in the whole country except Shanghai were arrested. 20,000 gang members were sentenced to capital punishment, and the fierceness of the arrest work made the masses praise.
Since then, gang organizations such as the Qing Gang and Hongmen in Shanghai and the Pao Ge in Sichuan have disappeared in the city.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="06" > conclusion</h1>
Cheng Qian, a kuomintang elder and rebel general, once said: "I began to doubt whether the Communist Party could govern the country after seizing the world. The first is whether or not the problem of reactionary meetings and the door can be solved, and the second is whether the nationality question can be solved, both of which have not been resolved by successive governments, including Chiang Kai-shek. Now that you have solved both of these problems, I am completely convinced. "We must see that the problem of the multiplicity of gangs that the old China could not solve was solved by the new China; the old society could not solve the problem of the rampant gangs, and the new regime was solved.
We must also see that in the early days of New China, the policy of giving priority to gang leaders and leniency was adopted, and gang organizations went against the trend of society, made enemies of the people and the state, and eventually sought their own death.
bibliography
Zhang Hao, "Analysis of the Characteristics of the Communist Party of China's Handling of Gang Policies Before and After the Founding of New China"
Fu Zhigang, "Sweeping Away Organized Crime and Eliminating Evil: The Party's Governance of Urban Gangsters in the Early Days of the Founding of New China"