Chapter 78 Chapter Thirteen Assassination

The first Chinese revolutionist to attempt political assassination was Shi Jianru.As a man of lofty ideals, in October 1900, he attempted to assassinate the bannerman Deshou, governor of Guangdong.Although Shi had no complete idea of ​​his own suicidal endeavors, others influenced by Japanese anarchism and Russian nihilism began to promote a theory of suicide terrorism in 1902.Kemuyama Sentaro once wrote "Kinsei Museifushugi" (Modern Anarchism), translated into "Free Blood" in Chinese, from which Yang Dusheng, a Chinese student studying in Waseda, learned about the assassination of Russian revolutionaries.As a result, Yang assisted Hunan student leader Huang Xing in setting up the first assassination team.On the basis of this assassination team and other assassination groups, the "Northern Assassination Group" was established in 1905.

Wu Yue, a member of the "Northern Assassination Group", became famous in September 1905 when he attempted to blow up a government reform group of five at the Beijing Railway Station.In the end, Wu Yue blew himself up.But he left behind a statement, published in the Tongmenghui's publication "Minbao", entitled "Tianchao".The statement called for "Assassination Doctrine", citing the quotations of the reformer Tan Sitong, and referring to the anti-Qin autocratic peasant uprising led by Chen Sheng in a reverent tone, and regarded them as romantic "chivalry" or inspiring justice examples of medieval knights .

At first, the concept of assassination by revolutionary patriots came from both the International Revolutionary New World and the continuation of the ancient tradition of knights who were full of loyalty and self-sacrifice, and vowed to avenge their masters.From the assassination of Anhui governor Enming by Xu Xilin in 1907, the assassination of Fuqi and Fengshan in Guangdong in 1911, to the assassination of Liangbi by Peng Jiazhen in January 1912, although the causes of each incident were different, these cases more or less inherited The above two traditions, and the famous incident of Wang Jingwei's plot to assassinate the Qing Dynasty regent Zaifeng (Prince Chun) on the eve of the 1911 Revolution brought this trend to a climax.

Political assassinations did not cease after the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, but as in the notorious case of Yuan Shikai's assassination of Song Jiaoren, it was no longer under the guise of revolution.Moreover, in this period of political division and reorganization, personal ambitions are infinitely expanding, and adventurers with the "heroic" tradition do not hesitate to provoke the armed forces. They either serve as mercenaries for some, or follow others Some people are willing to serve as minions of those who struggle for power.Dai Li was such a leader, and he was not alone.