Chapter 16 sun and moon in prison

On September 8, 1933, I was transferred to the Third Prison of the Shaanxi Provincial High Court, where many political prisoners were held.Before I came, the party organization knew about my performance during the interrogation, so after I was imprisoned in the cell of Shi Zuoqi and others, Zhang Ziping, Feng Jinjiang, Du Hongzhang, Dou Shaoting, He Peizhang (He Ziyu), Zhu Youkang, Zhu Tianming, Li Hui Hu Yimin, Dou Zengrong and dozens of other fellow sufferers brought me water, food, clothes, quilts, and bedding. The gloomy cell was filled with warm comradeship.The kindness my comrades have shown me under extremely difficult conditions has brought tears to my eyes.

Shi Zuoqi introduced me to the situation in prison.He himself is from Hengshan, a student about to graduate from Yulin No. 6 Middle School.He said that the underground party and regiment organizations in most counties in northern Shaanxi were destroyed due to betrayal by traitors.Zhang Ziping, who pretended to be a lunatic, was sentenced to seven years in prison.Zhu Youkang, Zhu Tianming, Li Huiyou and others have not yet set their prison terms.He also introduced the study and living conditions in the cell, as well as the experience of fighting against the enemy. The prison authorities organize the sentenced political prisoners into the "noodle grinding group", "construction group" and "knitting group" to do heavy labor, and all the achievements are seized by the prison authorities.

Du Hongzhang, Feng Jinjiang, etc. were in the "noodle milling group". All the flour that was ground was looted by guards and jailers, and they turned their hands to make money.We can only use the remaining bran and millet mixed with sand to satisfy our hunger.Most of the political prisoners are young people with extremely poor nutrition, and they have to work from early morning to midnight every day.In order to earn more bran for the fellow sufferers in exchange for coarse grains to improve their lives, they are desperately supporting their weak and tired bones.When everyone ate the meal bought with blood and sweat, tears could only flow in their hearts.

Dou Shaoting, Hu Yimin, He Peizhang and others are in the "Building Team".The enemy generally divides political prisoners with short sentences who are about to be released into this group.The labor intensity is even higher than that of the noodle grinding group, and the hands are bloody almost every day.In order to prevent them from escaping, the work was called off earlier than other groups.This group of comrades can use various channels to buy back "Shangjun Daily", "Ta Kung Pao", "Central Daily" and some progressive magazines from outside for everyone to read, from which they can understand the situation and facilitate the party organization in prison to formulate appropriate struggle strategies.

The "knitting group" is composed of key criminals with relatively long sentences.At that time there were Zhang Ziping, Shi Zuoqi, etc., and I was also in this group.We must first wash and dry camel hair and wool, and then spin thin threads to weave them into woolen vests, sweaters, woolen trousers, etc.It often takes 4 or 5 days to weave the clothes and pants, and the enemy only pays an extremely meager reward of one or two cents.Here the working hours are the longest and the conditions are the worst.All the wealth we create goes to the pockets of vampires. Political prisoners whose sentences have not been fixed are required to wear heavy shackles weighing seven and a half catties, all of which are as sharp as knives and will cut through their flesh with a single movement.The wind is only released twice a day, one time after getting up and emptying the toilet, and one time in the afternoon.Although the time is short, it has become a very rare enjoyment.

Party organizations in prisons use various opportunities to fight tit-for-tat with the enemy.In order to expose the bad behavior of the enemy withholding rations and mixing sand into millet, everyone used meditation and hunger strike to force them to restrain themselves.When we put forward the legal request to read books and newspapers, the enemy had no choice but to allow the purchase of newspapers, books and periodicals of reactionary bureaucrats.Taking this opportunity, Zhang Ziping explained the principles of Marxism, dialectical materialism and historical materialism.It also organizes everyone to discuss the international and domestic situation twice a week.We asked the prison authorities to communicate with "family members" and to allow "relatives and friends" to visit the prison.At first they resolutely refused to accept these conditions, but they could not withstand our unremitting struggle and finally gave in.Although we had to go through strict inspection and surveillance before we could visit the prison, we finally got in touch with the higher party organization.

In the cold winter of 1933, Ma Wenrui and Zhang Dazhi, appointed by the Northern Shaanxi Special Commissioner, disguised themselves as "relatives and friends" of Li in Jiaxian County, and sent more than 80 yuan for nutrition to the comrades in prison.The party organization in the prison held a secret and grand "gifting" ceremony.When I got my two silver dollars, I cherished it as much as everyone else! In addition, everyone also took advantage of various opportunities to exchange experience in fighting against the enemy.The life of struggle in prison and the teachings of my comrades made me feel like I had entered a revolutionary university, with richer experience, firmer beliefs, and a more mature person.

The No. 3 Prison is located at the northern end of Yulin City, and the High Court is located at the southern end, with a distance of about 5 miles between them.Every time political prisoners are interrogated, they have to pass through a street in Yulin City.The onlookers were full of sympathy for the political prisoners wearing heavy fetters and dripping blood, and they also admired their heroism as they regarded death as home. Communists want to show the world that the cause we are engaged in is noble, and for the liberation of the nation and the happiness of the people, we would rather put ourselves out of jail!

Comrade Bai Mingshan, the excellent son of the Communist Party, is our shining example.Comrades in prison told me about his heroic deeds. Bai Mingshan is a native of Gaojie Village, Qingjian County. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1924.He was one of the leaders of the "Qingjian Uprising".He has successively served as secretary of county party committees such as Suide and Mizhi, as well as member of special committee and standing committee member of northern Shaanxi.Unfortunately, he was arrested by Jing Yuexiu, locked up in the third prison, and became one of the important leaders of the party organization in the prison.His revolutionary spirit of swallowing mountains and rivers and his noble character of self-sacrifice have won the reverence and love of the Chinese Communists and people of insight.The enemy hated him deeply and was terribly afraid of him. They used the criminal law of "piercing a stick with ten fingers" to make his hands pus and blood flow for a long time, and he refused to give him any treatment.Under extremely harsh conditions, regardless of personal safety, he insisted on explaining the principles of revolution to fellow victims, and did a lot of educational and organizational work.The enemy had no choice but to kill him in the early spring of 1931.On the night of the execution, the enemy stepped up guards and guards to strictly guard against criminals and riots.On the second day of his death, the communists and revolutionaries in prison held a grand memorial service for him. Everyone went on a hunger strike and petitioned to bid farewell to the body, put it in a coffin, and send the coffin back to his hometown for burial.The enemy was afraid that the situation would become aggravated, so he had to accept all the conditions.

I am deeply saddened by Bai Mingshan's premature sacrifice.He was the history teacher I admired most when I was studying in the Fourth Normal School in Suide. He has profound knowledge and a high level of Marxist-Leninist theory.I must inherit his unfinished business, the revolution to the end!