On the banks of the Xiling Bridge in Hangzhou's West Lake, there is a white jade statue of Qiu Jin, a hero of the modern democratic revolution. This is where Qiu Jin's grave is located.
We know that Qiu Jin's mother's family is Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and her in-laws are Hunan Twin Peaks. Why is her cemetery in Hangzhou's West Lake?
Statue of Qiu Jin
Behind this is a story that can be sung and wept, and it also involves Qiu Jin's 3 good girlfriends.
Qiu Jin had 3 girlfriends in her life, named Wu Zhiying, Xu Zihua and Xu Yunhua.
The first girlfriend to meet Qiu Jin was Wu Zhiying.
Wu Zhiying, ziying, was born in 1867, 8 years older than Qiu Jin. Wu Zhiying is a native of Tongcheng, Anhui Province, and at the age of 19, married Lian Quan, a talented son in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. In 1896, Lian Quan was appreciated by Rebbe Shoshu Huaitabu and was appointed as the head of the Hubu Department, and the following year he was appointed to the position of Hubu Langzhong.
In 1898, Wu Zhiying came to Beijing with her husband. She was good at poetry, articles, and calligraphy since she was a child, and soon became famous in Beijing. In 1902, Wu Zhiying was once invited to the court by Empress Dowager Cixi to discuss poetry and calligraphy, and also exchanged views on the newly signed Treaty of Xinugu. Wu Zhiying suggested that "national donations" be carried out among the people to raise huge indemnities, "more production is more, less production is less, and no production is no donation." The dignitaries were deeply dissatisfied with Wu Zhiying's suggestion and denigrated her in every way. In this regard, Wu Zhiying was deeply disappointed and gradually inclined to revolution ideologically.
Wu Zhiying
Wu Zhiying and Qiu Jin were from different places of origin, located in the north and south of the world, and it was said that eight rods could not hit a piece. It was their husbands who made them meet. It turned out that Qiu Jin's husband Wang Tingjun had money in his family and spent money to donate an official position to serve as the head of the household department and work with Wu Zhiying's husband Lian Quan. Coincidentally, the houses rented by the two families in Beijing were next to each other and became neighbors. After Wu Zhiying and Qiu Jin had contact with each other several times, they found that each other was not only talented, but also had family and country feelings, was a person in temperament, and could not help but make deep friendships, and later they were even more righteous and married Jinlan, and they were like sisters.
Once, when Wu Zhiying and Qiu Jin were meeting in Wanliu Hall, Wu Zhiying gave Qiu Jin a couplet: "Today, in what year, a few heads of the kings have come here to drink bitterly; it is difficult to be difficult, and brothers and sisters from all over the world, competing with the new yuan of the century." This couplet inspired Qiu Jin to study in Japan and embark on the road of democratic revolution.
Qiu Jin
Xu Zihua and Xu Yunhua are sisters, from Tongxiang, Zhejiang. Xu Zihua is an older sister, 2 years older than Qiu Jin; Xu Yunhua is a younger sister, 9 years younger than Qiu Jin. They came from a family of officials and eunuchs, received a good family education from an early age, and could write poetry and literature.
How did they meet Qiu Jin?
In 1906, after Qiu Jin returned from Japan, she was reluctant to return to her in-laws in Hunan, but returned to her hometown in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. In that year, Qiu Jin came to Nanxun, Huzhou, on the recommendation of her classmate Chu Fucheng, who stayed in Japan, and worked as a teacher at Xunxi Girls' School. At that time, the principal of Xunxi Girls' School was Xu Zihua. Xu Zihua and Qiu Jin met and hated each other late, became good friends, and married as sisters with different surnames. Under xu zihua's introduction, Qiu Jin met Xu Yunhua, who was studying at Xunxi Girls' School.
Previously, Qiu Jin had already joined the Alliance. At qiu jin's recommendation, Xu Zihua and Xu Yunhua both joined the Alliance. The 3 of them often go out to play, singing and singing. Once, when they came to visit the famous West Lake, Qiu Jin lingered in front of Yue Fei's tomb for a long time and refused to leave. She pointed to the beautiful scenery in front of her and said, "If I can be buried here after I die, it will be my blessing." ”
Statue of Yue Fei
That year, Qiu Jin was only 31 years old.
Qiu Jin's life aspirations, of course, are not just teaching at a girls' school for a lifetime. Soon, she began to found the "China Women's Daily" with the purpose of "opening up the atmosphere, advocating women's studies, linking feelings, forming groups, and creating the foundation of the Chinese Women's Association for other days". This requires a large amount of money. Qiu Jin returned to her in-laws in Hunan and asked for a sum of money, but it was not enough.
After Xu Zihua heard about it, he took out more than 1,000 silver dollars at a time and handed it to Qiu Jin. Xu Yunhua is not yet married, has no family property, and takes out the gold and silver jewelry he wears and sells it to support Qiu Jin.
In 1907, when Qiu Jin presided over the Shaoxing Datong Normal School, he secretly contacted the local party to prepare to launch an uprising in Jinhua, Zhejiang and other places, requiring a large amount of military pay. Qiu Jin found her girlfriend Xu Zihua again, Xu Zihua did not say a word, took out all his belongings and gathered about 30 taels of gold and handed them to Qiu Jin. Qiu Jin was touched, took out a pair of jade on his body, and gave it to Xu Zihua, saying: "I don't know how to succeed or fail in this matter, for the time being as a memorial." ”
Xu Zihua
The two sisters hugged their heads and cried, and they snuggled up to say goodbye.
On July 6, 1907, Xu Xilin planned and organized the assassination of Anhui Governor Enming in Anqing, and led the student army to launch an uprising, which unfortunately failed. Qiu Jin was arrested by Zhu Lian. In the early morning of July 15, 1907, Qiu Jin bravely became righteous and was only 32 years old.
After Qiu Jin's sacrifice, the body was exposed to the street for several days, and no one dared to claim it, for fear of being regarded as a party member by the government. When Wu Zhiying learned about it, she was devastated. She not only wrote an article commemorating Qiu Jin, but also personally came to Zhejiang to find Xu Zihua and Xu Yunhua, risked her life to "steal" Qiu Jin's body, and bought a piece of land by the Xiling Bridge in Hangzhou's West Lake to bury Qiu Jin.
Xiling Bridge, West Lake, Hangzhou
As the saying goes, "You don't let your eyebrows be shaved." Qiu Jin, Wu Zhiying, Xu Zihua, and Xu Yunhua made the best footnote to this sentence with their superior courage. They are well-deserved "good girlfriends in China".