On October 19, 1936, Lu Xun, the founder of the Chinese literary circle, died at the age of 56 due to the advanced stage of tuberculosis and his refusal to go abroad for treatment, coupled with other concomitant serious diseases. Then, when Mr. Lu Xun was seriously ill, why did he refuse the precious opportunity to go abroad for medical treatment and insist on staying at home to fight against the disease? This has to start from the various difficulties faced by Mr. Lu Xun at that time.
Pictured: Lu Xun is sitting in a dangerous position
Due to severe tuberculosis from smoking, Mr. Lu Xun was critically ill twice, the first in 1928 and the second in the early summer of 1936. Due to the aggravation of his illness, Lu Xun did not think about tea and rice, and his weight once dropped to 37 kilograms. But in fact, as early as October 1935, the consul general of the Soviet Embassy in Shanghai had invited Lu Xun to the famous Soviet recuperation holy land of Crimea on behalf of the Soviet government, but Lu Xun politely refused.
Hearing that Lu Xun insisted on refusing to go to the Soviet Union to recuperate, Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai were very anxious. Therefore, at the beginning of 1936, under the entrustment of the party, Comrade Hu Yuzhi, who was in charge of liaison with Lu Xun, rushed to Shanghai in January 1936 to meet Lu Xun at the Beisi Hotel in Shanghai, and once again persuaded Lu Xun to go to the Soviet Union to recuperate.
Pictured: Hu Yuzhi's photo
If Lu Xun wanted to go to the Soviet Union to recuperate, he would first take a boat from Shanghai to the northeast and then to Vladivostok (Vladivostok), where he could travel for several weeks of ocean drift before reaching the Crimea region near the Black Sea. This time, Hu Yuzhi proposed a more concise plan: the CCP members secretly escorted Mr. Lu Xun to Hong Kong and then to Moscow, but Lu Xun still refused this kindness.
Lu Xun said to Hu Yuzhi: "I am very grateful to the Chinese Communist Party and my Soviet friends for their kindness, but I will not go." My Soviet friends care about me for my health; the Kuomintang now wants to get me, so you suggest that it is safer for me to go to the Soviet Union. But my thoughts are different, I am already in my fifties, people will always die, even if I die now, I am not short-lived, and I am used to living in Shanghai, it is very inconvenient to leave. ”
After a pause, Lu Xun pondered deeply: "I still have to persist in the struggle here, and there are still tasks, if I go to the Soviet Union, my tasks will not be completed." The enemy cannot defeat me. Judging from the current situation, they have completely failed, because they have no other way, and the last resort is nothing more than to arrest me and kill me, but I don't think they will do this at the moment, because I am old now, and even if I killed, there is nothing to lose to me, but they have lost a lot and have a lot of responsibility. ”
Pictured: Portrait of Lu Xun smoking
Here, Lu Xun's analysis is actually completely correct. Although Chiang Kai-shek's government issued an arrest warrant for Lu Xun 6 years ago, in fact the Kuomintang reactionaries had no intention of arresting Lu Xun. At this time, Lu Xun lived in a new village on the mainland in Shanghai, and every three to five years he went to the Uchiyama Bookstore to buy books, and even went to the cinema to watch movies, etc., these actions were very clear to the Kuomintang and Japanese agents. As Mr. Lu Xun said, the real purpose of the Kuomintang's arrest of him was to restrict his freedom and thus serve as a deterrent to other left-wing writers.
Finally, Lu Xun conveyed his gratitude to the Communist Party of China and his Friends of the Soviet Union: "If the enemy does not kill me for a day, I will be able to criticize them with a pen for a day, and I am not afraid of the enemy, and the enemy is afraid of me." Please convey to Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai, and my Soviet friends for their kindness, but I will not go. ”
Pictured: Lu Xun taking a photo on a street in Shanghai
Since the Soviet Union could not go, what about Japan? Lu Xun studied in Japan in his youth, where he had a deep connection, so Lu Xun later tended to go to Japan to recuperate. In a discussion with Xu Guangping, Feng Xuefeng, liaison officer of the CPC representatives, and others, Lu Xun expressed some of his views on going to the Soviet Union and Japan to recuperate:
The first is to go to the Soviet Union to recuperate, which is absolutely not feasible. Even if the Kuomintang side did not obstruct, but after returning, it would definitely fall into the embarrassing situation of not being able to move, which was not the result he wanted, coupled with the problem of language barrier (Lu Xun once said to Smedley: Once in the Soviet Union, I will not understand anything), Lu Xun almost directly rejected this proposal; the second was to go to Japan. Although this is self-funded, there is no embarrassing problem of being sponsored in the Soviet Union, and the language is common, but there are some difficulties that are difficult to overcome. After arriving in Japan, local reporters will certainly surround Lu Xun and interview him continuously; local friends and intellectuals will certainly visit him.
In another conversation between Lu Xun and Hu Feng, Lu Xun said that he could consider going to Japan to recuperate, but the point he could not let go of was that once he arrived in Japan, he would inevitably be busy taking care of Xu Guangping and a group of small family members and would not have time to work (because Lu Xun's family did not know Japanese). After hearing this, Hu Feng comforted Lu Xun and said, "If Mr. Lu Xun goes to Japan, I will also go together to help Mr. Zhou take care of everything." After hearing these words, Lu Xun couldn't help but frown: "What's wrong, have you also learned to be pessimistic?" ”
Pictured: Mr. Lu Xun's ink portrait
In addition, Lu Xun did not care about his own physical diseases at all. One afternoon in the summer of 1936, Lu Xun's good friend Mr. Huang Yuan went to visit Lu Xun, and Lu Xun took an X-ray film to Huang Yuan and said to him: "According to the doctor's words, I should have died 5 years ago, but I am still alive, so he does not know how to treat it." ”
Later, as Lu Xun's condition improved slightly, Lu Xun became more and more unwilling to idle, and Dr. Sudo at that time told him not to work much, but to lie quietly, but his answer was: "I have never developed such a habit in my life, if I don't read books and do things, I can't live a day." Later, he even said to the doctor, "I asked you to see a doctor, but there are conditions." ”
Pictured: Lu Xun's oil portrait with a pen
"What conditions?" The doctor asked.
"The first is to cure the disease and survive. Second, if I can't move for a month to heal, I'd rather move and spend two months to heal; third, if there is no medicine to save, I will find a way to delay my life. "The doctor was naturally embarrassed when he learned about it. It was precisely because Lu Xun insisted on refusing to go abroad to recuperate and was unwilling to stop his fighting, so that his sick body became heavier and heavier.
Just as Lu Xun was dragging his sick body to continue working, an incident occurred that made Lu Xun's body deteriorate sharply. On June 18, 1935, Comrade Zhai Qiubai was unfortunately killed by the Kuomintang reactionaries at Luohanling, and Lu Xun was devastated when he heard the news, and immediately went to Zheng Zhenduo and others, hoping to sort out and publish the foreign works translated by Comrade Zhai Qiubai.
Pictured: Comrades Lu Xun and Zhai Qiubai
To this end, Mr. Lu Xun first spent 200 yuan from his own manuscript fee, bought back two books translated by Zhai Qiubai from the Modern Bookstore, "Gorky Papers" and "Reality Marxism Papers", and began to sort out and edit them overnight since October. In just 1 month, Lu Xun completed the collation of the 300,000-word "Hai Shanglin" volume, which also led to the recurrence of Lu Xun's old disease.
In the spring of 1936, although Lu Xun's illness had worsened for a time, Lu Xun had to disregard his physical condition and print and typeset overnight, at this time Feng Xuefeng, who came to Shanghai from northern Shaanxi, had witnessed this scene with his own eyes, and once dissuaded Lu Xun from cherishing his body, but Lu Xun replied: "I think so: Instead of working for a few more years, it is better to work quickly and live for a few years, because the results are the same anyway, so even if you live for a few more years, it is in vain." ”
Pictured: Two volumes of "The Forest above the Sea" treasured by the museum
On October 2, 1936, after the book "Hai Shang Lin" was published in Japan, Lu Xun got some sample books. Prior to this, Lu Xun had personally written a list of books to give to friends who had contributed to the publication of "The Forest above the Sea", such as Ye Shengtao, Song Yunbin and so on. What was very touching was that Lu Xun also wrapped the two books aside separately and instructed Feng Xuefeng: "This book with a skin ridge is given to Chairman Mao, and the blue suede on the other side is given to Zhou Enlai." Later, the two books were sent to the revolutionary base area in northern Shaanxi through Zhou Wen, an underground traffic officer in Shanghai.
At 8:00 a.m. on October 18, 1936, Lu Xun got up and asked his wife Xu Guangping: "What happened in the newspaper?" ”
Xu Guangping handed today's "Translation" newspaper to Lu Xun, and the "Dead Soul" translated by Lu Xun was placed in the first part of the newspaper, and Lu Xun looked at the newspaper and found that the advertisement of "Hai Shanglin" was also among them, and Lu Xun's eyes stared at this advertisement for a long time, and he could see God.
Pictured: In the memorial hall, Mr. Lu Xun edited "The Forest above the Sea"
Soon after, Lu Xun suddenly fell ill and became increasingly ill, and Dr. Sudo took some emergency measures after his arrival. After coming out, he said to Lu Xun's good friend Mr. Uchiyama Guanzo: "This disease is called cardiac asthma, the situation is still very serious, I have limited means here, or ask Dr. Matsui, director of the department of internal medicine of Fumin Hospital, to diagnose it." ”
However, it was a coincidence that Dr. Matsui happened to be out that day, so Sudo invited his good friend Dr. Masayoshi Ishii to diagnose and treat Lu Xun. After a detailed diagnosis, he judged that Lu Xun's condition was very serious, and he should pay special attention to it all day today, and should use an oxygen therapy device to give Mr. Lu Xun oxygen. But after trying to rescue, Lu Xun's condition seems to be better, but all this seems to be just a return to the light, and at night Mr. Lu Xun fell into a long coma. At 5:25 a.m. on October 19, Mr. Lu Xun left his last words: "To what extent is my illness?" He died tragically at the age of 56.
Pictured: The remains of Mr. Lu Xun
When Lu Xun died, in addition to Xu Guangping and Zhou Jianren, there were also clerks of the Neishan Bookstore and nurses from Ishii Hospital. After learning the news of Mr. Lu Xun's death, Uchiyama immediately published this amazing bad news in major newspapers in Shanghai. Soon, all parts of the country learned of the unfortunate death of Mr. Lu Xun: "The fall of the literary superstar..."
When Lu Xun entered his deathbed, Zhou Jianren called Feng Xuefeng and said that "the situation has deteriorated to the extreme." Feng Xuefeng, who was preparing to lie down and sleep, immediately reported the matter to Song Qingling. By the time Feng Xuefeng arrived at Lu Xun's residence, it had been half an hour since Mr. Lu Xun had died.
Figure: Feng Xuefeng data map
After Mr. Lu Xun's death, Feng Xuefeng was ready to start planning Mr. Lu Xun's funeral work. At this time, chairman Mao in northern Shaanxi heard about this incident and arranged for Comrade Pan Hannian to inform Feng Xuefeng that he would be fully responsible for Lu Xun's post-affairs work on behalf of the Communist Party of China, but Feng Xuefeng actually had his difficulties. Because of his identity, he could not appear in Shanghai publicly, so he could only hide behind the scenes to plan, at which point he thought of Comrade Soong Ching-ling, a good friend of the Chinese Communist Party.
According to Song Qingling's 1977 article "Remembering Mr. Lu Xun", he recalled:
"One morning, I suddenly received a call from Feng Xuefeng, saying that Mr. Lu Xun was critically ill. When I went to Lu Xun's house this time, Feng accompanied me into the bedroom and found that this great writer and revolutionary army had passed away in bed, and Ms. Xu Guangping was crying by the bed. At this time, Feng Xuefeng told me that he did not know how to take care of this funeral, because if he came forward, he would inevitably be brutally killed by the Kuomintang reactionaries. I suddenly thought of an elderly lawyer Shen Junru, so I found his office, hoping that he could help us buy a cemetery in Shanghai's Hongqiao Cemetery, Mr. Shen agreed, and immediately went to handle the matter. ”
Photo: Oil paintings by Feng Xuefeng and Mr. Lu Xun
Under the organization of Feng Xuefeng, Lu Xun's family soon set up a funeral committee headed by Mr. Cai Yuanpei, and issued Mr. Lu Xun's obituary to the reporters who were blocking the downstairs at that time:
Mr. Lu Xun obituary Mr. Lu Xun (Zhou Shuren) died at 5:25 a.m. on October 19, 1936 at his Shanghai apartment at the age of 56. On the same day, the Funeral Home of all nations was relocated, and from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the 20th, it was time for all walks of life to pay respects to the remains, and according to Mr. Wang's last words, "No one shall accept a single penny for the funeral", and all monetary gifts were refused except for memorials and eulogy wreaths expressing mourning. I would like to hear you. Mr. Lu Xun Funeral Committee Cai Yuanpei Inner Mountain Completed Song Qingling A. Smedley Shen Junru Xiao Shan Cao Jinghua Xu Jidi Mao Dun Hu Yuzhi Hu Feng Zhou Zuoren Zhou Jianren
It is worth mentioning that Mao Zedong's name should have been included in the funeral committee, but at that time only the "Nichiren Shimbun" was published once, and other newspapers were afraid to include it for fear of the intimidation of the Kuomintang reactionaries, but at that time, in some Japanese newspapers, the following news could be seen: "Lu Xun's farewell will be held today and tomorrow, and Mao Zedong is also a member of the funeral committee." (Daily News)
Pictured: Lu Xun's memorial service, carrying a coffin for Lu Xun from all walks of life
On the afternoon of the 19th, Feng Xuefeng, together with Xu Guangping and Song Qingling, went to the Wanguo Funeral Home to check the arrangement of some memorial services, and then Feng Xuefeng never appeared in public. Because in the process of condolence, some Kuomintang spies were mixed in, although they did not dare to risk the world to sabotage Mr. Lu Xun's mourning activities, once they grasped the whereabouts of the underground comrades of the Communist Party, they were bound to follow up and arrest them. Therefore, on the second day of Mr. Lu Xun's funeral, Feng Xuefeng secretly came to Mr. Lu Xun's tombstone alone and quietly hung it.
Standing in front of Lu Xun's body, the strong and great Soong Ching Ling once again shed tears, Mr. Lu Xun inherited the legacy of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, to fight hard for the glory of China, holding the illness and persisting until the last moment of life, but Mr. Lu Xun did not even live to the life of Sun Yat-sen. Four months ago, Song Qingling wrote a letter to Mr. Lu Xun: "(We must pay attention to the body) because China needs you, and the revolution needs you!" "But now, Mr. Lu Xun has unfortunately passed away...
Pictured: A group photo of Song Qingling and Mr. Lu Xun, the second from the left is Lu Xun, and the third from the left is Song Qingling.
Five months ago, Yao Ke, who had a long conversation with Mr. Lu Xun, also wrote a letter for Mr. Lu Xun with a very heavy heart when he participated in the funeral work to guard Lu Xun's soul, which could represent the mood of most Chinese at that time:
The translation has not yet been written into a book, and who in China is crying out when they hear about the meteorite? Mr. Has been an ancient man, remembering the old rain, and the literary world has since wandered. Horizontal batch: Mr. Lu Xun is not dead
After Lu Xun's death, in order to carry forward the spirit of Lu Xun, the Communist Party of China did a lot of work in publicizing Lu Xun's fighting spirit, and at the same time gave meticulous care to Lu Xun's descendants. On the first anniversary of Lu Xun's death, Chairman Mao delivered a famous speech entitled "On Lu Xun" at the Shaanxi North Public School on October 19, 1937. In his speech, Chairman Mao made a very high evaluation of Lu Xun, and in the following decades of his career, Chairman Mao has always advocated and studied Lu Xun, playing a leading role in carrying forward the spirit of Lu Xun throughout the country.
Pictured: Lu Xun with Xu Guangping and his son
As early as the 1930s, in order to realize the wish of Lu Xun's widow Xu Guangping to publish Lu Xun's manuscripts, the comrades of the Shanghai underground party went to great lengths to send people to pre-sell Mr. Lu Xun's published books, and then use the money raised to pay for printing. Among them, Comrade Zhou Enlai, who was working in Wuhan, and the Office of the Eighth Route Army gave great help to the publication of Lu Xun's collected works, and Zhou Enlai personally promoted Mr. Lu Xun's literary works to Chinese and foreign celebrities in Wuhan.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the party never forgot xu Guangping's family, and Zhou Enlai instructed Feng Xuefeng, Hu Feng, and others to help Xu Guangping's mother and son, who were living in Shanghai. In order to demand the manuscript fee from those publishing houses that were unwilling to pay Lu Xun's copyright tax, Mr. Hu Feng dealt with the publishing house again and again, mailing all of Mr. Lu Xun's copyright fees to Xu Guangping's mother and son, while his family has been living a very poor life and has never used a penny of Lu Xun's copyright fees.
Pictured: Feng Xuefeng and Hu Feng
After the founding of New China, Chairman Mao gave Xu Guangping and Zhou Jianren very high-standard treatment, and they both attended the first National Political Consultative Conference. Xu Guangping was transferred to the post of deputy secretary-general of Premier Zhou's Government Council, and later became the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and joined the Communist Party of China, while Zhou Jianren also served as vice governor of Zhejiang Province.
In addition, the Lu Xun Memorial Hall also mushroomed after the founding of the People's Republic of China. In order to restore the "Sanwei Book House" and "Baicao Garden" described by Lu Xun, the local government invested heavily to restore the original appearance of Lu Xun's former residence, and built a large-scale Lu Xun Memorial Hall in Lu Xun's hometown of Shaoxing, which was transformed and rebuilt several times.
Pictured: The tomb of Mr. Lu Xun
In Shanghai, the party and New China also fulfilled their original promises, and in 1956, they built a 1,600-square-meter Lu Xun tomb and a Lu Xun Memorial Hall covering an area of more than 5,000 square meters in Shanghai's Hongkou Park, and carried out a solemn state funeral for Lu Xun. On October 18, 1956, after the 20th anniversary of Lu Xun's death, Beijing solemnly held a commemorative meeting for the 20th anniversary of Lu Xun's death, which was attended by Premier Zhou himself and attended by famous writers from 18 countries in the world. Until now, the financial allocation of the Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial Hall has been more than 7 million yuan every year, which shows the importance that the party and the state attach to the promotion of Lu Xun's spiritual culture.