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Escape from
Hengyang by
Qiong Yao
|
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TRAGEDY OF CHINESE
REVOLUTION - PART II
Xin Hai Revolution: External vs Internal Inducements
Manchu Army System & Northern Warlords
Founding Of The Republic Of China (ROC)
Yuan Shi-kai - First President of ROC
Song Jiaoren - Re-organization of Kuomingtang (KMT)
Song Jiaoren's Assassination Death & Second Revolution
Yuan Shi-kai Trampling On Republic
First World War & China - Japan's Twenty-one Demands
Yuan Shi-kai's Imperial Enthronement
The Republic Restoration Wars
Duan Qirui's Ascension To Power, & Compromises
Re-convening of Parliament & Revival Of Parties
Duan Qirui's Premier Post vs Li Yuanhong's Presidency
Zhang Xun's Restoration Of Imperial House
Southern Government & Protecting 'Interim Agreed-Upon Laws'
Civil Wars Among Northern Warlords
Russia, Britain & Japan - Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia & Manchuria
Russian Revolution: Nationalism vs Internationalism
Sun Yat-sen's Return To Canton After Expelling Gui-xi
"Allying Multiple Provinces For Self-Determination"
|
Cai Yuanpei, Hu Shi, Chen Duxiu & New Culture Movement
WWI, Workers' Awakening & Their Anti-Imperialism Role
Versailles Conference & May 4th Students' Movement
USSR/Comintern Seeking & Implanting Chinese Partners
Guangdong-Guangxi War & Li Zongren's Emergence
Chen Jiongming Rebellion Against Sun Yat-sen
USSR / Comintern Alliance With KMT & CCP
KMT First National Congress (Jan 1924)
Founding of Chinese Communist Party
CCP-Organized Workers' Movements
Peasants' Poverty Is China's Poverty
Mao Tse-tung & Peasant/Land Revolution
Borodin, Moscow & Chinese Revolution
Li Zongren Quelling Guangxi & Wars In Southwest China
Chiang Kai-shek & Whampoa Military Academy
5-30 Bloody Incident, HK-Guangdong Strike, & Boycotts
Wang Jingwei & KMT Left-Wing
Zhongshan Warship Incident
Northern Expeditions & Unification Of China
KMT Purging CCP: Tragedy of The 'Grand Revolution'
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| [ last page: revolution.htm ] |
[ this page: tragedy.htm ] |
Continuing from revolution.htm:
Generations of people in the 20th century, including Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had naive and utopian fondness for the Russian October Revolution of 1911.
Sun Yat-sen misunderstood Lenin's "goodwill" lip-service in nullifying the unequal treaties imposed on China by Czar Russia, and hence entered into an alliance with the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Sun Yat-sen, in order to win support from USSR, had contacted Lenin two times in 1918, and in 1922 correspondence with Joffe, expressed much softer stance on Mongolia independence and China Eastern Railroad.
Chicherin, back on July 4th 1918, had rescinded unequal treaties during 5th Soviet Congress, and Karakhan, further on July 25th 1919, re-affirmed USSR's rescission of unequal treaties.
From 1920 to 1923, USSR continuously sent representatives to China for talks with northern/southern warlords as well as with Dr. Sun Yat-sen and communism activists. Joffe, a representative of Lenin, came to Shanghai, and on Jan 26th, 1923, promised to Sun Yat-sen in a joint declaration that they would help China to reunite under Three People-ism without implanting communism in China. Mikhail Borodin's military supplies (120,000 rifles) and a package of 2 million Mexican dollars in annual aid made Sun Yat-sen declare a new policy of "allying with USSR and allowing CCP members to join KMT individually".
Dr. Sun Yat-sen, after Jan 26th 1923 Sun-Joffe Joint Statement, had fallen into a de facto Soviet agent, sowing the seeds of struggles and conflicts between KMT and CCP as well as the disasters of the Chinese people in 20th century.
(Historian Tang Degang blamed China's bloody path of "state socialism" [of both Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Party and Mao Tse-tung's Communist Party] on Sun Yat-sen's beliefs and practice of "radical socialism" which ended in his collusion with Russian Bolshevikism in 1920s and designation of his "principle of livelihood" as equivalent to communism.)
China's fate and fortune did not evolve by itself.
Note that two countries that had both impacted China enormously would be Russia and Japan. The demise of the Republic of China on mainland China being attributed to the American sellout, though, the actual agents and saboteurs inside the American government were mostly implanted by Russians and the Comintern. The Russians provided the roubles that fomented the world revolution by violence in 20th century. Before the alliance with USSR, Sun Yat-sen was noted for his collusion with Japanese in opposing both Manchu court and Yuan Shi-kai's imperial enthronement.
Significant in Chinese revolution would be the Japanese factor, as evidenced by the fact that the ceremony for the convention of Sun Yat-sen's "Tong Meng Hui" [i.e., 'Allied Society of China' or 'Revolutionary Alliance'] was first held inside the building of semi-governmental Japanese " Kokuryukai [black dragon society]".
Japanese national policy, however, was to fund and support any Chinese faction and rivalry against the centralized regime for sake of creating chaos and turmoil in China.
(Though, Mme Chiang Kai-shek, who personally met Dr Sun Yat-sen's Japanese friends in HK in early 1938 for war mediation, emphasized that among the 72 martyrs buried on Huanghuagang Hill would be one Japanese friend who participated in March 29th, 1911 uprising.)
Note that Sun Yat-sen's decision to ally with Russia and CCP was induced by the antagonisms from the imperialistic powers.
Sun Yat-sen complained to reporters of "New York Times" in July, 1923 about this kind of imperialistic antagonisms towards the Chinese revolution.
After Sun Yat-sen reorganized military government in Canton in Dec 1923, foreign diplomatic corps stopped the funding of 13% of the customs surplus that was due to the southern government on the pretext that Canton government did not represent the whole area of Southwest China as stipulated by the prior funding agreement.
Wu Tingfang protested against the foreign corps' Canton legation and threatened to take over custody of the customs office as a revenge. To counter the threat of Canton government, foreign powers sailed their warships and gunboats to
Bai'E'Tan [i.e., white swan pond]
area of Canton as a show of force.
As pointed out by Xin Hao-Nian, Dr. Sun Yat-sen's threat to take over customs and withhold surplus from the Canton Customs was opposed by various imperialistic powers. In December of 1923, Britain, US, France, Japan, Italy and Portugal etc sent their warships and gunboats to Canton to exert pressure on Sun Yat-sen for sake of protesting against customs tax withholding. It is no strange that the imperialist powers would oppose Sun Yat-sen since China's revolution was induced by the invasions of the foreign powers in the first place. From the outset of Xin Hai Revolution of 1911, imperialist powers had opposed China's democracy process, and this is best exemplified by US ambassador's pressuring Manchu government into recalling Yuan Shi-Kai for sake of cracking down on Xin Hai Revolution.
At http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2004/3123morgan_v_dr_sun.html, Mike Billington wrote for "Executive Intelligence Review" an article entitled "How London, Wall Street
Backed Japan's War Against
China and Sun Yat Sen", pointing out the behind-the-scene manipulations as to "SYNARCHISM AND WORLD WAR".
As stated by Mike Billington, "... British synarchist banking interests, centered around Bank of England head Montagu Norman, Hongkong and Shanghai Bank director Sir Charles Addis, and J.P. Morgan chief executive Thomas Lamont, deployed militarily and politically to destroy Sun Yat Sen and his influence.
... when their subversion and looting failed to crush Sun's republican movement, the British threw their weight behind the synarchist/fascist forces in Japan, financing the Japanese military occupation of the Chinese mainland...
By 1931, J.P. Morgan had floated $263 million in loans for Japanese borrowers, including direct loans to the government in 1930", with quite some of the funds going direct to the Southern Manchurian Railway under disguise to avert the world opinions.
Anglo-American hostility and subversion against China continued well into the 1940s, at which time General Wedemeyer, right after succession of Stilwell's post in 1944, reported to Washington DC in a cable, stating that "...British Ambassador personally suggested to me that a strong unified China would be dangerous to the world and certainly would jeopardize the white man's position immediately in Far East and ultimately throughout the world".
More available at
"Changing Alliances On International Arena", "Century-long American hypocrisy towards China", "Anglo-American & Jewish romance with Japanese", "Joe Stilwell's Authorization To Assassinate Chiang Kai-shek", and "What Foreign Powers Did To The Flowery Republic Prior To, During And After The 1911 Revolution".
(Anglo-American supremacists, today, should have no worry about China anymore since the so-called "elites" of China, relatives and families of Chinese government officials, and the "street and market people of the cities", men and women included, had already capitulated to the West. What remained "unconquered" would be the humblest people of this earth, i.e., billion peasant Chinese, whom the communist government had already enslaved and bondaged on behalf of the West.
Chinese communist rulers, who were pre-occupied with "pleasure-seeking and literature-decoration" like Manchu rulers, would most likely lose badly during the next confrontation which could be very well against the old feud [i.e., Japan, now a lethal force under American umbrella, but having no memory of either the pardon from the Republic of China or the humiliation of being declined a decent surrender by Russians].)
In conclusion, Chinese Revolution, being cornered since inception, would never be able to escape the web knit by the superpowers and financial conglomerates of 20th century.
That is what I will call here as the Tragedy of Chinese Revolution, not the same as Harold Isaacs' book Tragedy of The Chinese Revolution, i.e., Chinese revolution failed as a result of the ideological difference between Stalin, Bukharin and Trotsky on the matter whether China's revolution was at the stage of Russian 1905 Revolution or Russian 1917 Revolution.
On Jan 17th 2004, reformer Zhao Ziyang, after 15 years of house arrest, passed away.
People who had hoped for a change at this juncture might be disappointed should no significant mourning-related activity or political loosening happen in China.
In history, China's dynastic substitution was mostly the results of usurpation, mutiny or foreign invasion, except for Yellow Turbans of Eastern Han Dynasty and Red Turbans of Yuan Dynasty: mutiny applied to Li Zicheng & Zhang Xianzhong rebellion in late Ming Dynasty, and Xin Hai Revolution in late Qing Dynasty, as well as applies to the scenario of 1927 Communist Revolution against the Nationalist Government.
The 1895 aborted Canton Uprising and the 1900 Huizhou Uprising had ensued in the aftermath of Manchu debacle in Sino-Japanese War and the Manchu debacle in the boxer movement, respectively.
Hence, one would have to pessimistically expect that the Chinese communists would commit suicide by themselves one way or the other [e.g., attacking Taiwan] in order to see a revolution similar to the Xin Hai Revolution that had overthrown Manchu rule.
(After we have closely examined the historical context of China's reforms from 1979 to 1989, we would understand that in today's China, i.e., year 2005, there will be void of any chance of change. This is because the "Enlightened Intelligentsia" had been routed since June 4th 1989 Massacre, while no significant regenerating force had ever emerged.
The damage to China's fortune was many times worse than the abortion of late Manchu-era "Hundred Day Reformation" at which time incessant foreign invasions had sustained the fighting spirits and martialness of the Chinese people, as seen in Assassinations & Uprisings.)
Cai Yuanpei, Hu Shi, Chen Duxiu & New Culture Movement
Chinese communists (CCP) had a saying, 'At the sound of the cannon blasting from the Russian October Revolution of 1917, China was bestowed with the gift of the Marxism/Leninism creeds.' Further, CCP claimed that May 4th Student Movement of 1919 had guided the Chinese proletarian to the front stage of the revolution in the attempt of legalizing the founding of Chinese Communist Party in 1921. maoism.org/msw/vol2/mswv2_13.htm carried an article written by Mao Tse-tung in 1939, emphasizing the role of the working people (i.e., workers and peasants).
Further, there had been confusion as to the "New Culture Movement" and "May 4th 1919 Students' Movement".
Prof Zhou Yueshan's viewpoint is that the "New Culture" movement brought about the "May 4th Movement", and the concept of "New Culture" movement was further propagated in the aftermath of the "May 4th Movement".
Hu Qiuyuan biographical memoirs stated that China's intellectuals had undertaken three roads to counter Japan's 21 demands presented to Yuan Shikai on Jan 8th 1915, i.e. launching "New Culture Movement" among other things.
No matter "New Culture" movement or the "May 4th Movement", China's enlightenment movement was doomed to be overtaken by politics & patriotism in an era that jungle law dictated the history of mankind.
What Is New Culture Movement?
Prof Zhou Yueshan had listed Luo Jialun & Fu Sinian's magazine "New Tide" together with "Weekly Commentary" newspaper and Chen Duxiu's "New Youth", and called the three publications the three big contributors to the New Culture Movement.
It was widely agreed that Cai Yuanpei, after the assumption of the principal post at Peking University in 1917, had taken a series of drastic reform measures on the issues of i) academic freedom and ii) student autonomy.
Prof Zhou Yueshan claimed that Cai Yuanpei had promoted the combination of Chen Duxiu's "New Youth" activists and Peking University activists. Among top guest professors at Peking University would be Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, Qian Xuantong, Liu Bannong, Shen Yinmo and Zhou Shuren [Lu Xun], i.e., prominent activists who advocated for "literal revolution".
Later, when Sun Yat-sen expressed support for the students arrested during the May 4th Movement, he pointed to the "few conscientious promulgators" by inferring to those above-mentioned leaders of the New Culture Movement and endorsed the term "new culture movement".
Conclusion is that it was Cai Yuanpei who, a revolutionary and patriot in essence, heralded China's new culture movement [i.e., new cultural movement or new intellectual movement].
Cai Yuanpei [1868-1940] was a Manchu era "imperial academy" scholar who passed imperial exam for "xiu cai" [distinguished student] at age 17, "ju ren" [recommended examinee for capital exam] at age 23, and "jing shi" [imperial examinee secondary in excellence, after top 3 titles of 'zhuang yuan', 'bang yan' and tan hua'] at age 24. Cai Yuanpei, after seeing the demise of "Hundred Day Reformation", resigned for hometown where he devoted himself to education at Shaoxing's China-West School where students included Jiang Menglin. In 1901, Cai Yuanpei taught at Shanghai's South-Sea Public School. In 1902, Cai Yuanpei co-established "Patriotic Women School" in Shanghai. After a short visit to Japan, Cai Yuanpei returned to assume the post of president of "Chinese Education Society". Cai Yuanpei resigned his post at South-Sea Public School to lend support to China's first student protests at the school, and then established "Patriotic Society" and invited Wu Zhihui & Zhang Taiyan as teachers. In 1905, Cai Yuanpei joined Sun Yat-sen's "Allied Society" and assumed the post of the Shanghai branch of the secret society. From 1907 to 1911, Cai Yuanpei studied philosophy, literature, anthropology, psychology, aesthetics and ethics in Germany. After 1911 Xin Hai Revolution, Cai Yuanpei returned to China to assume the post of education minister. Cai Yuanpei would be responsible for designing China's curricula for schools and colleges, but he would resign in protest of Yuan Shi-kai's totalitarian ruling. After intermittent studies in Germany, Cai Yuanpei returned to China on Dec 26th 1917 for the post of principal of National Peking University.
New Culture Movement would yield the following results: i) adoption of commonly-spoken Chinese language ('bai hua wen', i.e., vernacular) and abolition of classical Chinese language ('wen yan wen'); ii) emergence of a whole generation of great writers and thinkers like Lu Xun, Hu Shi, Liu Bannong, Guo Moruo etc; iii) women's liberalization movement, and iv) the enlightenment and liberation of free thoughts for students and intellectuals.
(Tang Degang pointed out that Liang Qichao, who wrote on Sept 3rd 1915 "What a weird thing to talk about the National System?"
on "Jing [Peking] Bao [newspaper]" in so-called "baozi [newspaper] wen [language]", would portend the coming age of New Culture.
Tang Degang stated that elderly people of his times had predicted that when the kids grew up, they would be reading and writing in "Newspaper Language", i.e., the intermediary between the classics Chinese language and vernacular Chinese language.)
The side effects would be the trashing of Chinese traditions and essences, the decadence lifestyle resulting from sexual liberalization, the nihilism of Chinese nationality and the wholesale Westernization, the embracing of Bolshevikism, and the conversion of numerous intellectuals into communists who looked to the Bolshevik Russians as their 'step-father'. (Chinese communists, when joking about their death or sacrifice of life, often stated that they were to report to Marx in their after-life.)
Early twentieth century would also see a "fad" among China's young men and women for the West, with Hu Shi being an adorer of Browning and revolutionary-monk Su Manshu an adorer of British Poet Byron who died in Greek independence war.
The fad could be equivalent to each young man or woman picking one European name as his or her adorer: Hu Shi was an adorer of Browning while studying in America, while
Revolutionary-monk Su Manshu, an adorer of British poet who died in Greek independence war, had called on fellow countrymen to fight Yuan Shi-kai's imperial enthronement in 1916 by means of an analogy, possibly alluding to his maternal birth background as a Japanese. (Su Manshu translated "Biography of Byron" into Chinese.)
Marx writings and German "superman philosopher" Friedrich Nietzsche writings were included among those schools of thoughts. Sun Yat-sen's faithful follower, i.e., martyr Zhu Zhixin, had written a book with admiration for both Marx and Nietzsche.
Numerous men and women poets and writers took extreme delight in Russian romance writings and practiced the "Nora" lifestyle as preached by NORA Literature, i.e., Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House".
Different scholars differed on the definition of new culture movement. Hu Shi emphasized the parallel by pointing to European Renaissance.
Mainland Chinese thinker Li Zehou, having studied the new culture movement, concluded that China's enlightenment movement was unfortunately overtaken by "politics and patriotism" movement that invariably became the mainstream thoughts in the context of Japanese invasion. (Li Zehou, 1986, disapproved Su Xiaokang's "River Elegy" which was a whole-hearted embracing of "blue civilization" in lieu of "yellow civilization".)
The Impact of Russian October Revolution On Chinese Intellectuals
As cited by Xin Hao-nian in "Which Is The New China", Historian Zhang Yufa pointed out that Marxism spread to China much earlier than 1917; that in 1903, Zhao Bizhen translated into Chinese the Japanese book "Modern Socialism" (Kinsei Shakaishugi by Fukui Junzo); that in 1906, Newspaper "Min Bao" (People's Newspaper) began to publish segments of "Communist Manifesto"; that in 1912, a so-called 'Research Society Into Socialism' was set up; that Liang Qichao began to publish research series into 'Das Kapital', 'Perspectives on Historical Materialism', and 'Marxist Socialism' etc; and that in 1912/1913, immediately ensuing the 1911 Xin Hai Revolution, Xu Qiwen established the "Workers' Party of ROC" and Jiang Kanghu established "Chinese Socialist Party".
The "Gongxue-she" [study together society] under Liang Qichao and Jiang Baili had published a series of books on Marx.
Hu Hanmin and Dai Jitao wrote about 'materialism' in the winter of 1919; and on Nov 1st, Dai translated an article about interpretation of "Das Kapital".
From 1919 onward, among writers or translators on communism, Lenin and Marx would be Yuan-quan, Zhi-xi, Gu Zhaoxiong [Gu Mengyu], Huang Lingshang [Huang Wenshan], Liu Binglin, Chen Qixiu, Wei-ci, Zhou Binglin, Li Zezhang, Wang Lian, Jun-li [Zhang Junli?], Gong-zhan [Hu Gongzhan?] and Luu-qin.
In addition to Marx/Engels, many works by Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer and Thomas Huxley had already appeared in Chinese translations.
Zhang Yufa further stated that the initial reaction of Chinese media to Russian revolution was a surprise at the coup d'etat and that only after Lenin showed lip-service about nullifying unequal treaties with China did some intellectuals like Li Dazhao express admiration for the victory of Bolshevik communism in 1918. Zhang Yufa claimed that Marxism was treated more as an academic subject around that time and that
Chen Duxiu's magazine, "The New Youth", in the May 1919 edition, had merely selected the subject of Marxism as its monthly special edition.
Aside from "New Youth" & "Weekly Commentary", Progressive Party's "Morning Post" and KMT's "ROC Daily" & "Construction Magazine" had carried discussions on socialism and Marxism.
As cited by Xin Hao-nian, Russian October 1917 Revolution had nothing to do with Marxism spreading to China and that May 4th Movement of 1919 had nothing to do with the working people's awakening to and participation in Chinese revolution.
Scholars who resented communism often alluded to the personal life of Chen Duxiu and Lu Xun as exemplifying the low quality of early communism activists. In deed, Chen Duxiu's decadent life style with Japanese prostitutes of Ginzai entertainment district, prior to his return to Shanghai to launch the magazine in 1915, could be validated by his attempts to have the revoltionary-monk Su Manshu identify with him.
Chen Yongfa stated that it was Shanghai's anarchists who had first applauded Russian Revolution in "Labor" magazine.
"Labor" magazine, in March 1918, wrote about "Herald of Social Revolution in Russian" and "Brief Introduction to Li-ning [Lenin]".
However, anarchists worldwide soon blasted the Bolsheviks for the crackdown on their French master who went to Moscow for cheering up the revolution.
Chen Yongfa further stated that USSR did not pay attention to the Orient till after gaining an upper hand in the Civil Wars that started from Nov 1917. Prior to a march at Eastern Siberia, USSR issued its "First Karakhan Proclamation" of July 25th 1919, re-affirming USSR's rescission of unequal treaties.
Chen Yongfa cited Wang Yujun's research in pointing out that Peking's northern warlord government did not get a copy of "Karakhan Proclamation" till just days before Grigorii N. Voitinsky (Zarkhin) visit. (See alternative analysis of two-faceted "karakhan manifesto".)
Nevertheless, Russian October 1917 Revolution had certainly inspired Chinese intellectuals' interest in communism. USSR's offer of nullifying all unequal treaties had won a "delighted and sympathetic hearing for Russia among all classes of Chinese" per Harold Isaacs. 'Communism study group' or 'Marxism study group' had been first formed in 1918.
Western Betrayal To China On Japan's Inheriting German Interests
To celebrate the Nov 11th 1918 victory of China as an WWI ally, China's Duan Qirui government declared a three-day holiday. Duan Qirui held a military parade on Tian'an'men Square, and numerous activists gave their speech on the square.
Li Dazhao gave a speech stating that WWI victory was the victory of commoners. Li Dazhao, who earlier published an article on 'Comparison of French Revolution and Russian Revolution' on July 1st 1918, would send to "New Youth" magazine another article entitled 'The Victory of Bolshevikism' for publication on Nov 15th 1918, i.e., for applauding the Russian revolution anniversary. On Nov 28th, Li Dazhao repeated his early speech in today's Zhongshan Park of Beijing where the late German minister Baron Klemens von Ketteler's tombstone was transferred there with the new inscription 'Victory of Justice'.
Chen Yongfa claimed that China's intellectuals, deeply disappointed over the evaporation of Wilson 14 principles, finally turned to Russian Bolshevikism as a result of the Western betrayal to China on the matter of Japan's inheriting German interests.
Chen Yongfa cited Chen Duxiu's change of attitude in calling Wilson by "wei [W] da [big] pao [cannon]' [i.e., 'false promise crook'] rather 'first good man of this world'.
Chen Yongfa stated that philosopher Zhang Dongsun had commented that socialism research had become a fad after WWI in China.
The cause and effect of Western countries' betrayal to China on the matter of Japan inheriting German interests on Shandong Peninsula would be the students' movement on May 4th 1919.
So to say that the New Culture Movement had brought about the liberalization of thoughts among intellectuals and students who in turn pushed forward with the agenda of anti-imperialism May 4th 1919 Movement, i.e., a student movement that today's communists both have revered and feel haunted.
New Culture Movement vs May 4th 1919 Students' Movement
As put forward by Prof Zhou Yueshan of Taiwan's Politics University in 1979, communists had mutated the history of the New Culture Movement and May 4th Students' Movement by selectively listing subprime figures such as Li Dazhao and Lu Xun. Though, people are easily confused by the fact that quite some activists of the new culture and May 4th student movements had been founders of communist party.
Lu Xun, who was working inside of the culture ministry of the northern government in 1919, had later commented in apathy about newspapermen using students' uniform as a vendor jacket. In another sense, Li Dazhao and Lu Xun did not count among the mainstream thinkers and propagators of the New Culture Movement, per Zhou Yueshan.
Right after May 4th Movement of 1919, Li Dazhao published his article 'My Marxist Perspectives' on "New Youth". Li Dazhao was said to have been ahead of Chen Duxiu in accepting communism by half a year. Chen Duxiu, on June 8th of 1919, debated with Scholar Hu Shi in regards to "more research into issues and less talk about ism".
Hu Shi, after visiting Sun Yat-sen in Shanghai, returned to Peking with a copy of Sun Yat-sen's "Guideline For Building China" and propagated "more research and less talk about ism".
Chen Duxiu was arrested by the government for his political activity in June 1919, and Li Dazhao continued to engage Hu Shi by writing "Another Discussion In Regards To Issue vs Ism" on Aug 17th.
Hu Shi [Hu Shih], a student of American empiricism school of thought, engaged Li Dazhao by publishing "Third Discourse On Issue & Ism" and "4th Discourse On Issue & Ism" on "Weekly Commentary".
By "hollow talks about ism", Hu Shi was alluding to Li Dazhao etc on the matter of twisting the Bolshevikism after perusal of a few pages of Britannica.
After being released from prison, Li Dazhao escorted Chen Duxiu back to Shanghai. Chen Duxiu re-oriented his "New Youth" magazine's guidelines in Oct of 1919, took over the leadership as the only editor per Zhou Zuoren, and published a declaration of magazine editorial standgrounds. On Nov 12th, Chen Duxiu wrote 'The Basis For Practicing Democracy'. On Dec 1st, Chen Duxiu published an article entitled 'To The Workers Of Beijing' on "Morning Post" [i.e., Progressive Party's newspaper].
"The New Youth" also carried a commentary on the July 25th 1919 First Karakhan Proclamation.
There had been a surge of activities in anti-Confucianism propagation by intellectuals and students across the nation, i.e., the New Culture Movement.
The New Culture Movement, with staunch proponents like Hu Shi, Cai Yuanpei, Chen Duxiu and Lu Xun etc, had sowed the seeds of rebellion among the young students who took to the streets on May 4th 1919 in protest of the humiliation imposed by the League of Nations in having WWI victor country China acknowledge Japan's inheritance of German interests on Shandong Peninsula.
The May 4th Movement of 1919, not necessarily something which had pushed China's working people onto the stage of revolution, had led to subsequent organization of various 'Marxism study groups', precursors to 'Socialist societies' in 1919 and various provincial sections or branches of Chinese Communist Party Organization Committees in 1920. Among the founders of CCP would be student leader Zhang Guotao who led the students' attack at Northern Government ministers' residencies during the May 4th Movement.
"New Youth" Magazine
Chen Duxiu launched the "The New Youth" at age 36 in 1915 as a counter against the "Revering Confucius & Reviving Antiquity" movement that was endorsed by Yuan Shi-kai.
We could not discount the role played by "The New Youth", on the Sept 1915 edition of which Chen Duxiu (Ch’en Tu-hsiu), a professor at Peking National University, advocated for a new thinking that mandated the breakaway from Chinese traditions and Confucianism. As Harold Isaacs put it down, Chen Duxiu proclaimed that the new youth should "fight Confucianism, the old tradition of virtue and rituals, the old ethics and the old politics . . . the old learning and the old literature."
In Jan 1919 edition of "New Youth", Chen Duxiu advocated Mr. De (i.e., democracy and political thoughts of the West) and Mr. Sai (i.e., natural sciences of the West) as well as trashed China's 'national essence' and 'classics literature'.
The direct link of Chen Duxiu's "The New Youth" magazine to the ghost or specter of communism in China would be the Russian implication.
Soviet archives had revealed that 'Russo-Chinese News Agency' in Shanghai had utilized "The New Youth" publishing house and its branches across China as a nexus for developing the 'Chinese Socialist Youth League', precursors to Marxism study groups and the Chinese Communist Party.
Conservatist Confucians & Buddhism-humanitarianism Blended Confucians
Following Chen Duxiu's call for "Down With Confucian Academy !" would be Li Dazhao who polarized the relationships between emperor and citizens and between liberty and dictatorship. Scholar Wu Yu criticized Confucian's filial piety. Lu Xun criticized 'National Essence School of Thought' and the 'School of Thought on Western Means & Chinese Essence'.
In contrast, the conservatives upheld Confucianism as the creed for ruling a country like China. Yuan Shi-kai, who had enthroned as an emperor for 83 days in 1916, had sorted out Confucian descendants for theorizing his imperial restoration. Yuan Shi-kai first issued the Confucian decree in 1913.
Yan Fu and Liang Qi-chao, with 200 scholars, established a Confucianism Public Society; and in Shanghai, Kang You-wei was made the president of Confucianism Society. In Sept 1916, Kang You-wei, who had proclaimed Confucian a 'reformist' for sake of pushing through the 1898 'Hundred Day Reform', would petition with Peking government to have Confucianism declared a state creed (i.e., state religion). After Yuan Shi-kai's abortive attempt at imperial restoration, Zhang Xun, a 'pigtail general' of northern military lineage as well as a conservative Confucian, had a short-lived imperial restoration in July 1917.
(Zhang Binglin rebuked Confucianism societal movement.)
Liang Suming, i.e., Last Confucian Of China, wrote an article "An Exploration Into Yuan Dynasty"
in 1918 and hence was appointed lecturer of philosophy in Peking
University at the age of 25. He would later advocate a new school of
Buddhism based on the humanitarianism, loving-kindness and compassion. He
was labeled a conservative for his criticisms of facile westernization
and modernization. Later in the 1930s, he launched an experiment with
agriculture in Shandong Province by setting up village schools and
Confucian academies, i.e., "Rural Reconstruction Movement".
Liang Suming and Hu Shi differed on the matter of Confucianism.
Hu Shi, i.e., a returnee from America as well as a student of John Dewey, had claimed to his Chinese classmates in US that they should not mind politics but studies at the outbreak of May 4th 1919 student movement.
It would be during his late years that Hu Shi acknowledged to Tang Degang that he was wrong in 1919.
Liang Qi-chao, who was first a "royalist" and then a "constitutional monarchist", was merely a chess piece in a board game per Mike Billington who stated that "London's leading synarchist spokesman, Bertrand Russell, traveled to China in 1921-22, sponsored by none other than Liang Chi-chao's 'Society for Chinese Lectures'. Liang also sponsored John Dewey's trip to China, which was financed by the New Republic, a journal set up by Morgan partner, and old China hand, Willard Straight. Between them, Russell and Dewey set in motion a process of subversion which would infest China for decades, leading all the way to the nightmare of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s".
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The origin of 1) May 4th Movement and 2) Chinese communist party could be traced to the three thounsand returnee-students from Japan in May-July of 1918. Li Dazhao, who had been mailing out anti-Japan pamphlets to schools across China, was one of the founding member of "Young China Society", i.e., an organization that would yield the 1) radical faction of Chinese communist members and 2) the Youth Party which advocated for strong nation-ism and nationalism. Li Dazhao, having steered away members towards communism, apparently took pleasure in memberships in multiple socieities, organizations and parties, and later in 1922, was to launch a "Democratic Socialist Party" or the sort.
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Workers' Awakening & Their Anti-Imperialism Role
Xin Haonian was correct in saying that May 4th Movement had nothing to do with the workers' awakening to and participation in Chinese revolution. Chinese merchant guilds, Petit-Bourgeois, popular press, dock workers, students and ordinary citizens already participated in numerous boycotts.
There had occurred an anti-American boycott in 1905 in reaction to the racially discriminating US policies toward Chinese coolie workers inside the United States.
Leftist writer Ah Ying pointed out that the anti-American boycott originated from China's opposition to 1904 American attempt at renewing the 1880 Peking Treaty, by citation of which the US had expanded "excluding-Chinese constraints" to as many as 61 clauses.
When overseas Chinese launched a petition with Manchu government against the Peking Treaty renewal, mainland Chinese answered with anti-US boycotts.
Per Ah Ying, Chinese were first "shanghai'ed" to California in 1847 in the aftermath of American annexation of the Mexican province.
The second wave of coolies came in 1865 when US constructed continental railways and highways.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/cubhtml/cicTitles12.html contained a dossier of files on "The Chinese in California, 1850-1925".
In California, Chinese coolies dug the canal, built the dykes, and turned 400,000 acres of Sacramento marsh land into agricultural land.
"Chinese Exclusion Act" was based on a 1879 California state law which discriminated against Chinese as scapegoats for the 1877 economic recession.
The Peking Treaty of 1880 buried inside such clauses as allowing the US government take measures against Chinese coolies.
(See cprr.org/Museum/Fusang.html for Chinese Railroad Men working as coolie in America under ferocious White men's racial discrimination. Also see SAN LUIS OBISPO'S CHINESE for the context of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, ironically after the anti-slavery 1861-65 US Civil War and the enactment of Civil Rights Act.)
From 1883 to 1903, Chinese who lived in America had decreased to 100,000 from 300,000.
US government, after acquiring Hawaii in summer of 1898 and the Philippines in Dec 1898, applied "Chinese Exclusion Act" to Chinese on the two islands, and further, President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law to have "Chinese Exclusion Act" applied throughout US-controlled islands and territories over the world, making the Chinese the lowest caste, a fundamental cause in Chinese suffering in ethnic cleansing which occurred in Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia etc. [Philippines fought independence war against Spain on June 12th 1898 and declared independence against US on July 4th, ending in about 600000 casualty in the clashes with US in the next two years.]
In 1943, CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT was repealed by the American Congress, with China awarded a yearly immigration quota of 102 persons.
US was not the only country to have used Chinese coolie.
From 1847 to 1875, 150,000 Chinese coolies sold to Cuba as 'zhu zai' [i.e., piggy coolie], and Portuguese specialized in selling Chinese women and Chinese girls overseas as sex slaves throughout the latter half of 19th century.
Chinese coolies built the Panama Railway.
Peru, Pacific Islands, West Indies, North Africa, South Africa, and Australia had all engaged in Chinese coolie slave trade.
The anti-American boycott was the strongest in Guangzhou (Canton) of Guangdong Prov where most coolies had departed on the sea trip for the so-called Jin-shan [San Francisco, i.e., Mount Gold]. Chinese in Shanghai, Tianjin (Tientsin) and Singapore had all echoed their support even though the imperialist authorities in various extra-territories had issued edicts against the boycott and cracked down on it. Among the demands that arose in the anti-American boycott would be revocation of the concession granted to an American firm for construction of the Guangzhou-Hankou (Canton-Hankow) Railway.
After the anti-US boycott would be the anti-Japan boycott of 1908. The anti-Japanese boycott was more anti-governmental in nature. It arose from the Chinese authorities' submission to Japan in connection with a shipping incident. Merchants across the nation burned the Japanese merchandise, and workers at the docks refused to unload goods from the Japanese vessels.
China's modern industry beginning with 1863 weapons manufacturing [per Zhou Cezong], rapid growth was seen during the time period of WWI as a result of European nations' entangle in the war than dump of cheap manufactured goods to China.
From 1914 to 1920, China enjoyed its golden age of industrial development, with textile and flour processing factories springing up across the country. Chinese no longer treated "land" as the only investment but turned to industrial, commercial and banking industries.
By 1920, Chinese "silver dollar" replaced Mexican dollar as the currency.
Old style money centers transformed to banks.
Cities exploded in population growth. In 1919, Peking had 600,000 people. By 1923, Peking doubled its population to 1.1 million.
Bankrupt and poverty-stricken peasants either turned to cities to be workers or enrolled in militarist armies as soldiers.
Per Harold Isaacs, "at the end of 1916 there were already nearly 1,000,000 industrial workers in China and their number nearly doubled by 1922"; "in 1918, according to incomplete records, there were twenty-five recorded strikes in the country, involving fewer than 10,000 workers"; and "an army of nearly 200,000 Chinese laborers had been sent to Europe during the war. Many of them learned to read and write and, even more significantly, came in contact with European workers and the higher European standard of living. They returned with new ideas about man's struggle to better his estate. Nationalist sentiment had taken strong hold among them. Many on their way back from Europe had refused to step ashore at Japanese ports during the furor over Shantung. When strikes in factories began to deepen the roar of the May 4 movement, the returned laborer was already regarded as 'the stormy petrel of the Chinese labor world' ... the guilds were beginning to break up and to divide into labor unions and chambers of commerce. Chinese workers, new to their machines and new to the ideas and techniques of labor organization, were thrust at once into the political turmoil that rose around them. Their strikes in Shanghai and other cities in 1919 more than anything else forced the release of student demonstrators arrested in Peking and hastened the resignation of the offending government officials".
Versailles Conference & May 4th Students' Movement
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Out of three thousand returnee-students from Japan in May-July of 1918, prominent activists, like Zeng Qi, Wang Guangqi, Chen Yusheng, Zhou Taixuan, and Li Dazhao, founded "Young China Society", i.e., an organization that would yield the 1) radical faction of Chinese communist members and 2) the faction of the Youth Party which advocated for strong nation-ism and nationalism.
"Young China Society", on and off, continued till 1925.
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Before China's student movements, Korean students already launched a massive protest against Japanese colonial rule.
Jin Baifan, aka, Jin Jiu [Kin Kau, aka Kim Ku, i.e., friend of Chinese revolutionaries Huang Xing & Chen Qimei], returned to Korea to join the March 1st 1919 Korean Student Movement against Japan after being released by Japanese for implication in Dec 1909 An Jung-geun's assassination of Hirobumi Ito.
After Japanese crackdown on Korean student movements, Jin Jiu escaped to China via Andong [Dandong] to take charge of "interim Korean government", i.e., "Da Haan Minh Guo", an entity that was sabotaged by USA after it implanted pro-American Syngman Rhee after WWII.
Korean patriots, like Li Chengwan [Syngman Rhee], established a Korean restoration movement in Shanghai under Chinese auspice.
The "interim Korean government" was set up for sake of sending a rep to the Geneva Peace Conference as an answer for Wilson's call for national self-determination.
On April 11th 1919, inside of French concession territory in Shanghai, Korean exiles passed ten clauses of interim Korean constitution, and made Syngman Rhee into president of "Da Haan Minh Guo"; however,
Syngman Rhee and An Changhao were refused entrance to Geneva meeting.
(Back in 1912, Chen Qimei, a friend of An Jung-geun, established with "Korean patriots" a "New Asia Mutual Aid Society" in Shanghai.)
May 4th Students' Movement was induced by, again, China's humiliation in the hands of foreign imperialists. As a victor of the First World War, China was abandoned by the West in the conflicts over Japan's succession of Germany's interests in China's Shandong Province.
Throughout WWI, Chinese people had been holding out high hopes for
"Woodrow Wilson's promises of self-determination and social justice for all peoples".
Per Mike Billington, "United States Ambassador Reinsch...in 1917, ... was called upon to convince China also to join the war against Germany... by promising the Chinese that they would be granted sovereignty over the former German territories in China, which had been occupied by Japan at the start of the war".
On Nov 11th 1918, Chinese government declared a three day celebration of the victory of WWI. The von Ketteler’s monument was dismantled. On Nov 17th, 60000 people paraded on the streets. Chinese people believed that Wilson 14 Points [first raised on Jan 8th 1918] would secure China's sovereignty, including the rescission of secret treaty with Japan and recovery of Shandong Peninsula.
However, once Versailles Conference started on Jan 18th 1919, news came from Paris that Japan might inherit German interest in Shandong.
After WWI, the Peking government dispatched a team of diplomats, headed by Lu Zhengxiang and Gu Weijun [Wellington Koo], to the conference for sake of revoking German/Austrian interests in China, nullifying partial if not whole set of the 1915 Sino-Japanese Agreements, and restoring China's rights to extra-territories, extraterritoriality and customs. Diplomat Gu Weijun had several rounds of debates with Japanese representative and leaders of the West in regards to China's restoration of territorial integrity on Shandong Peninsula. Japanese representative tried to invoke a 1918 secret treaty between China and Japan to maintain its claim of interests in Shandong. Chinese delegation speaker, Wang Zhengting, disclosed that it was a diplomatic memorandum exchange by China's emissary Zhang Zongxiang, only. Japan was angered by China's claim that China would publish the secret treaty and advised China in observing diplomatic protocol. Japan tried to have Peking government recall those Chinese diplomats from Paris, but various Chinese provinces wired over support to Peking's government. China published Japan's memorandum in regards to Japan's notification. With Peking's ambiguous instructions, Chinese representatives published the secret agreements on Feb 12th of 1919 (lunar calendar). Two months later, the Conference touched on China's issue again. Japan opposed Wilson and Lloyd's suggestion to have Shandong taken over by the League of Nations and threatened the Conference with refusal to sign peace treaty with defeated Germany as a closure of war. Japan also threatened to disclose its secret treaties signed with Britain-France-Italy in regards to its succession of German interest in Shandong. George Lloyd apologized to Gu Weijun for the secret treaty with Japan and Wilson cited that China had already agreed to the terms with Japan in 1915/1918 and should observe its obligations.
At Versailles Conference, the West, including US President Woodrow Wilson, claimed that China had already agreed to the terms among the infamous Japanese 'Twenty-one Demands' of 1915 that China was coerced into when Japan and Britain attacked Germany's Far East interest during early years of WWI.
China protested against Britain-US-France's decision in regards to transfer of German interest to Japan. Wilson, who brought '14 Points Peace Plan' to the conference, left France in disappointment, and US Congress refused to ratify the Paris Conference terms or join the League of Nations.
Chinese students in Japan first took action against the "traitor ministers" of the Peking government, and then students of Peking answered with a massive protest that would come to be called May 4th 1919 Students' Movement.
May 4th 1919 Students' Movement would compel China's diplomats into refusal to sign the peace treaty in Paris.
Reinsch, sympathetic to China all along, on June 7, 1919, resigned his position as United States envoy to China, and warned Wilson that "the fruits of 140 years of American work will be lost."
(Later on May 20th 1921, Northern Warlord Government signed the first equal treaty with a Western power, i.e., Germany, in modern history. Li Ao eulogized Peking government for its foresight in joining WWI while KMT elements had mostly objected to China's war participation. By the way, Hitler had at one time expressed extreme hatred of Japanese for the deaths of Germans in Qingdao and deprivation of German interests in the Far East during a talk with a Chinese representative in late 1930s.)
Per Mike Billington, "...on the sidelines of the Versailles Conference, ...The newly created [Anglo-American] Consortium, with representatives from Britain, the United States, France, and Japan, met at the Paris offices of the Banque de l'Indo-Chine, chaired by Thomas Lamont. Fresh from their victory at Versailles, the Japanese delegation to the Consortium insisted that Manchuria and Inner Mongolia be excluded from the agreements of the Consortium, due to Japan's "special interests." Although Lamont agreed, the international anger over the betrayal of China at Versailles made it impossible to agree fully to the Japanese demand. Instead, the Consortium agreed that the South Manchurian Railroad, and other already existing Japanese projects in China, would be excluded from Consortium oversight, but they would not grant any regional exclusion—at least, not publicly. Lamont then arranged a trip to Japan for early 1920 to further discuss the synarchist strategy for Asia.
... Lamont's 1920 trip to Tokyo marked the beginning of a process whereby the British and their Morgan ally would systematically support and finance the Japanese occupation of China over the 1920s and 1930s, ... Lamont established close personal relationships with Inouye Inosuke, who would alternate between head of the Bank of Japan and Finance Minister, until his death in 1932, and Mitsui head Baron Takuma Dan, perhaps the richest man in Japan."
Chinese students in Japan were the first group of protesters and they had lay siege of Zhang Zongxiang, a pro-Japan ROC emissary to Japan. Chinese students in Japan asked Zhang Zongxiang why he had not sold out his wife after he had sold out China. Students in Peking, hearing of the students' activities in Japan, launched into full motion a city-wide protest movement that would come to be known as May 4th Students' Movement (later to be designated Communist China's Youth Memorial Day).
Students across Peking made preparations on May 3rd.
Inside of Peking University, at 10:00 am on May 4th 1919, Sunday, student leader Luo Jialun just returned from a visit to Peking Advanced Normal College. At the proposal by Di Junwu, Luo Jialun wrote a student proclamation in the name of eight colleges and universities of Peking.
The draft called for workers and merchants of the nation to take action [strikes] immediately and called for a National Convention for sake of punishing the traitors and arguing for national sovereignty.
The proclamation was to be printed by Li Xinbai's "populace printing house", to be distributed by 20000 copies.
Zhang Guotao had been deputy chief of the students' association for Beijing University, and later acted as the chairman for the united student associations of Beijing colleges and universities during the May 4th Movement of 1919.
Fu Sinian was the chairman for the student association of Beijing University, and led the charge at residency of foreign minister.
Fu Guoyong, at http://www.secretchina.com/news/articles/3/11/14/55145.html, stated that two days before the eruption, Cai Yuanpei, the schoolmaster of Peking University, had assembled class heads for instigating the student movements.
At about 1:00 pm, on May 4th, over 3000 students converged upon Tian'an'men Square, with banners calling for "Revocation of 21 Demands", "Return of Qingdao" and "Punishing Traitors".
After 2:00 pm, students marched towards the foreign legation area; however, extraterritory police in front of American embassy refused to let students walk through.
Students then decided to go straight to the residency of Cao Rulin.
Police in front of Cao Rulin's house did not stop the students.
Students climbed into the place through a window, ransacked the furnishings, and caught and hit Zhang Zongxiang who happened to be visiting Cao Rulin.
Cao Rulin himself hid in a secret room and escaped the students.
Students then lit the mosquito vent and burnt Cao Rulin's so-called Zhaojialou Residency.
Police reinforcement arrived, put down the fire, and arrested about 32 stranded students.
After the students were arrested, colleges and universities across China echoed the support.
Cai Yuanpei, i.e., the schoolmaster of Peking U, claimed to be willing to take the blame so that students could be released.
By May 7th, Peking authority had to release the students.
Students across the nation propagated the "national salvation". In Yixing of Jiangsu Prov, i.e., a typical southern Chinese town, Xu Zhucheng [1907-?], during the timeframe of summer school break, witnessed the spread of posters and slogans across the town, with such wording as "Return My Qingdao !", "Would Rather Die To Resist Japanese Commodities !", and "Never Let The [Patriotic] Fever Last Five Minutes !".
Students put up dramas entitled "The Hatred Of Koreans Over Loss Of Country".
Wan Yijun, a student who returned to hometown from Shanghai for summer break, acted as Korean assassin An Jung-geu [An Chongwen]. (Per Xu Zhucheng, Wan Yijun joined the communist movement and died during 1928 Yixing Uprising.)
Further details of May Fourth Movement will be covered at May4th.htm
Chen Yongfa claimed that China's intellectuals, deeply disappointed over the evaporation of Wilson 14 principles, finally turned to Russian Bolshevikism as a result of the Western betrayal to China on the matter of Japan's inheriting German interests.
Chen Yongfa cited Chen Duxiu's change of attitude in calling Wilson a 'big cannon W' [i.e., 'false promise crook'] rather 'first good man of this world'.
Chen Yongfa stated that philosopher Zhang Dongsun had commented that socialism research had become a fad after WWI in China.
USSR/Comintern Seeking & Implanting Chinese Partners
USSR had three groups of diplomats and activists in China: Peking's USSR embassy in Peking was in contact with Wu Peifu's northern warlord lineage government; Comintern stationed in Shanghai and its rep Hendricus (Henk) Josephus Franciscus Marie, aka Maring, was in charge of organizing and supporting the CCP; and USSR stationed a second corps in Guangzhou (Canton) in charge of relations with Sun Yat-sen's KMT government.
Chen Yongfa stated that USSR did not pay attention to the Orient till after gaining an upper hand in the Civil Wars that started from Nov 1917. In May 1919, USSR first established First Communist International.
By late 1919, Soviet Red Army crossed the Urals and entered Baikal Lake area.
In April 1920, USSR established Chita Far East Republic for countering the intervention by US and Japan.
Prior to a march at Eastern Siberia, USSR issued its "First Karakhan Proclamation" of July 25th 1919, re-affirming USSR's rescission of unequal treaties.
Grigorii N. Voitinsky was dispatched to China by V.D. Vilensky-Sibiryakov.
Chen Yongfa cited Wang Yujun's research in pointing out that Peking's northern warlord government did not get a copy of "Karakhan Proclamation" till just days before Voitinsky visit.
Contact With Wu Peifu
In August of 1920, Duan Qirui's Wan-xi [Anhui Prov faction] Cabinet was overthrown by Wu Peifu's Zhi-xi [Hebei Prov faction] Cabinet.
Wu Peifu revoked Czarist Russian embassy, allowed the delegation of USSR Far East Republic (i.e., Chita Government) to visit Peking, and nullified the military agreements with Japan. Irkutsk Bureau of the Comintern, USSR Foreign Relations Ministry as well as USSR Far East Republic all tried to have breakthroughs in relations with China. M. I. Yurin delegation came to Peking on Aug 26th of 1920, and Comintern emissary Grigorii N. Voitinsky (Wei-jing-si-ji in Chinese) paid a visit to Wu Peifu's counselor in Luoyang of Henan Prov on Oct 9th. Another Comintern rep Marin wrote in his memoirs that Chita Republic and Comintern reached a conclusion that Wu Peifu was a better choice than southern government led by Sun Yat-sen.
Wu Peifu defeated pro-Japan Warlord Zhang Zuolin, i.e., Feng-xi of Manchuria in 1922. Wu Peifu, a staunch Chinese nationalist, never compromised with Russians on the matter of Mongolia.
On March 15th of 1922, USSR Far East special emissary reported to Lenin about China's factions/parties and their influences around the country and proposed that USSR should cooperate with Zhi-xi's Wu Peifu. A few months later, V. Vilensky wrote to Trotsky and Chicherin about Wu Peifu's importance in China's politics.
Contact With Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was very much ignored by USSR in the beginning. Sun Yat-sen had congratulated USSR on the victory of the revolution on the New Year Day of 1918, and Lenin asked Chicherin relay a reply to Sun Yat-sen which was never received per Xin Haonian. Sun Yat-sen sent another wire to USSR in late 1918 for a united revolution front. Comintern probed the possibility of cooperation with Sun Yat-sen few times, and in the autumn of 1920, Voitinsky met Sun Yat-sen in Shanghai. Sun Yat-sen had high hope for cooperation with USSR. However, M. I. Yurin kind of despised Sun Yat-sen's political influences in Canton. More Russian agents wrote reports on Sun Yat-sen. Maring came to China in the spring of 1921 and met Sun Yat-sen in Guangxi Prov. On Oct 31st of 1921, Chicherin wired to Chita Republic's foreign affairs ministry to inquire about the possibility of establishing relations with Canton Government without antagonizing the Peking Government. Chicherin, further, wrote to Lenin with an attachment of a letter from Sun Yat-sen. With Lenin's approval, Chicherin instructed USSR emissary to China, A. K. Paikes, to have secretive contacts with Sun Yat-sen in Canton.
Maring observed the January 1922 Seaman's Strike in Canton/HK and appreciated the Chinese nationalism under Sun Yat-sen's KMT leadership.
More available at Russians-Sun_Yat-sen.pdf.
(Check
RepublicanChina-pdf.htm
page for up-to-date updates.)
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* Stay tuned for "Republican China 1931-1941 - A Complete History" *
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Contact With Chinese Communism Activists
Comintern's claws entered China with the assistance of a Chinese-turned Russian Bolshevik called Yang Mingzai (aka Yang Haode). In April 1920 (May 6th per solar calendar), Voitinsky, aka Hu Dingkang in Chinese name, a rep from the Irkutsk Bureau of the Comintern (i.e., Far East Bureau), brought a team to Peking of China, with Yang Mingzai as an interpreter. Voitinsky and Yang Mingzai met Li Dazhao several times and requested for meeting with student leaders such as Zhang Guotao [aka Zhang Teli], Li Meigeng, Liu Renjing and Luo Zhanglong inside of the library of Beijing University. Voitinsky, a graduate of political economy from some American university, also invited students to his hotel for individual talks and disbursed politics-related books in multiple languages.
(Yang Mingzai, born in 1892 in Pingdu County of Shandong Prov, threw himself into Manchuria in 1901 for seeking a better livelihood. Yang Mingzai went on to Vladivostok, Siberia and Moscow for employment consecutively. During Oct Revolution, Yang Mingzai enrolled himself in the Bolshevik party and participated in various wars. Yang Mingzai was later sent to "Toiler's University of the Far East" for training, and after graduation, was dispatched to Vladivostok for taking charge of 'Overseas Chinese United Society'.
Yang later spent the years of 1925-1927 working at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, retired himself to academic studies in Peking during the time period of 1928-1929, and went back to Irkutsk in 1931 where he passed away due to illness.)
Voitinsky was then referred to Chen Duxiu in Shanghai by Li Dazhao. Voitinsky discussed with Chen about establishing the CCP. In May of 1920, Yang Mingzai attended the founding of 'Marxism Research Society' of Shanghai. In Aug, Yang Mingzai, together with Chen Duxiu, Li Hanjun, Shen Xuanlu, Chen Wangdao, Yu Xiusong and Shi Cuntong [aka Shi Fuliang whose woman Wang Yizhi went for Zhang Tailei], established 'Communist Party Launch Panel of Shanghai'.
Thereafter, Yang Mingzai and Yu Xiusong founded the 'Socialist Youth League of Shanghai'.
Yang Mingzai contributed to the publication of "The New Youth" and "Communist" by writing articles.
Yang Mingzai rented a two storey detached house at 6 Yuyangli Street of Shanghai for hosting Russo-Chinese News Agency, Foreign languages Society and Socialist Youth League Office.
Yang Mingzai acted as the president for Russo-Chinese News Agency and Foreign languages Society. Foreign languages Society was a school that later sent numerous agents to USSR for studies, including Liu Shaoqi, Ren Bishi, Xiao Jingguang, Luo Yinong, Ren Zuomin, He Jinliang and Xi Zhizhen. Ms. Voitinsky taught Russian at the foreign language school.
Yang Mingzai and Chen Duxiu hosted the 'Shanghai Machinist Society' launch panel meeting at this location on Oct 3rd of 1920.
Voitinsky and Yang Jingzai frequently traveled between Shanghai and Beijing. Yang Mingzai stopped over in his native Shandong Prov where he guided Wang Jingmei and Deng Enming in setting up communism study group of Shandong Prov.
Voitinsky worked with Li Dazhao and Zhang Guotao etc in setting up communism study group in Beijing in Oct 1920. Luo Zhanglong recalled that Voitinsky had held the founding meeting inside of Li Dazhao's library office before he departed for USSR. More activists, like Deng Zhongxia and Gao Junyu, joined the Beijing branch. Luo Zhanglong was in charge of "Workers Weekly" newspaper, while Zhang Guotao in charge of organization.
In Spring of 1921, Yang Jingzai and Zhang Tailei went back to Russian Far East to report to the Comintern. In June of 1921, Yang Jingzai and Zhang Tailei attended Comintern Third Congress in Moscow. (Zhang Guotao, for his later betrayal, was frequently omitted in the records; however, Zhang Guotao had been among the earliest revolutionaries to have personally met Lenin.)
Bu June of 1921, eight communism study groups were in actions for organizing CCP, including i) Beijing (Peking) city - Li Dazhao, Zhang Tailei, Deng Zhongxia, Zhang Guotao, Liu Renjing, Luo Zhanglong and Li Meigeng; ii) Wuhan city - Chen Tanqiu, Dong Biwu, Bao Huiseng and Li Hanjun; iii) Guangdong Prov - Tan Pingshan, Chen Gongbo and Chen Dacai; iv) Jinan city, Shandong Prov - Wang Jingmei and Deng Enming; v) Hunan Prov - Mao Zedong; and vi) Tokyo city - Shi Cuntong and Zhou Fohai [Zhou Fuhai].
By late 1921, a "Far East Exploited Peoples' Conference" [aka Toilers' Conference] was held in Moscow.
Recent release of Soviet archives dated Dec 21st of 1920 show that Voitinsky and four Chinese revolutionaries set up a 'revolutionary committee' in Shanghai, with three offices of publication, information and organization. Comintern established a 'Russo-Chinese News Agency' in Shanghai, with a branch in Beijing. Voitinsky claimed that this 'revolutionary committee' had hosted several "conference of students' representatives" in Beijing, with attendants from universities in Beijing, Tianjin, Hankou and Nanjing (Nanking) etc, which resulted in the official founding of the 'Socialist Youth League' of China on Aug 17th of 1922. Students' representatives were admitted to 'revolutionary committee'.
Shanghai's Russo-Chinese News Agency was temporarily taken over by Peking's USSR embassy, and Comintern Rep Maring was dispatched to Shanghai for organizing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Second Comintern Congress was over. (From 1921 to 1923, Maring paid three visits to China in total.) Maring's notes in Dutch archives mentioned that Chen Duxiu was the leader of CCP in Shanghai, with his "The New Youth" magazine enrolling a total of 50-60 people in 7-8 centers across the nation. Maring mentioned that 'revolutionary committee' set up a so-called spare-time laborer's school called Workers' Club and that the school had to stop operations when funds ran out at the departure of Voitinsky. At that time, Chen Duxiu left for an education minister post in Guangdong Prov at the invitation of Chen Jiongming. (Communist records stated that Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were instructed to do propaganda work for the warlords in the south and north respectively as a way of making the communist case, not for making a living.) When various provincial representatives convened in Shanghai for founding the CCP in July 1921, Chen Duxiu was absent. Maring said that CCP was considered a branch of the Comintern and that CCP, headed by Maring and Zhang Guotao, requested with Chen Duxiu for abandoning his education official career in Canton. CCP planned to have Chen Duxiu return to Shanghai for publishing a monthly communism magazine as well as organizing workers' trade union in major cities like Shanghai, Canton and Peking.
When Chen Duxiu returned to Shanghai 20 days after the party founding, Maring persuaded him into agreeing to an alliance with KMT and then left for Canton for a meeting with Liao Zhongkai. Liao Zhongkai sent Maring to Sun Yat-sen who was organizing his own Northern Expedition army as a result of discord with Chen Jiongming.
Per Chen Gongbo, 'Russo-Chinese News Agency' set up a branch in Canton where they debated with the anarchists on such party organ newspapers as "Socialist" and "Laborer World".
Maring, having stayed in China from 1921 to 1923, was responsible for maintaining contacts with both KMT and CCP, with often conflicting orders from USSR Foreign Affairs Ministry and Comintern.
In June of 1922, Maring pushed through the Moscow demand, at the Second CCP National Session, to have CCP ally with KMT against the objections of such senior CCP founders as Zhang |
US Interest Rate Down = 
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![Though, Anna Wang [Anneliese Martens], in her memoirs, expressed jealousy over Gong Peng by stating that the Anglo-American reporters had flattered the Chinese communists and the communist movement as a result of being entranced with the goldfish-eye'ed personal assistant of Zhou Enlai](GongPeng.jpg)