Chapter 13 "Xiangjiang Review"

The magazine has a sharp edge and fully expresses its theme.It uses vernacular Chinese instead of rigid classical Chinese, and the conversion of the language is as amazing as rewriting the official translation of the Bible with the original words of Jesus. Indeed, even Professor Hu Shih considered Mao a compelling author.His essays, sketched on red-lined tissue paper, are sharp, lively, and detail every point.His previous voracious reading of newspapers had finally paid off. "The movement of human liberation is advancing rapidly," Mao Zedong declared in his opening speech as an editor, "What should you not be afraid of?" His answer fully demonstrated his detached thinking at the time: "Don't be afraid of the sky. Don't be afraid of ghosts. Don't be afraid of the dead. Don't be bureaucrats." Don’t be afraid of warlords. Don’t be afraid of capitalists.” [10]

In a Chinese newspaper, we read a primary school teacher’s recollection of Mao Zedong. There are many words of praise in the article, but it is of great historical value. "Xiangjiang Review" only compiled 5 issues, and most of the articles in each issue were written by Mao Zedong himself.A few days before the publication of the publication, the reserved manuscripts are often not collected, so I have to write by myself.He has many things to do during the day, and the people who come to him to discuss issues also come and go, and he often writes at night.He didn't avoid the fumigation of the summer heat, ignored the mosquito bites, sweated and studied hard, and couldn't rest in the middle of the night.The small building where he lived in Xiuye ​​Primary School and my house were only separated by a board wall.When I woke up in the middle of the night, I saw the bright lights in his room through the crack in the wall, and knew that he was still there writing the manuscript that would be printed tomorrow.After the article is finished, he has to edit, typesetting, and proofread by himself, and sometimes goes to the street to sell it by himself.At this time, his life was still very difficult. The salary that Xiuye ​​Primary School gave him was only a few yuan a month, and there was nothing left for him except food.His luggage only has old mosquito nets, old quilt covers, old bamboo mats and a few books that double as pillows.The gray gown and white cloth trousers on his body were very worn out. [11]

An article written by Mao Zedong called "The Great Unity of the People" expresses his views intensively. [12] This article is eloquent, easy to understand, and full of patriotic enthusiasm. Although it cannot be said to be Marxist, it is obviously different from the "Study of Physical Education" two years ago. Mao Zedong pointed directly at the current situation of Chinese society at the beginning: "The country is extremely bad, human beings are extremely miserable, and society is extremely dark." He no longer believes that a strong individual body is the key to saving China.China really needs such a monk—Mao Zedong is the first among them—to lead China out of the darkness.However, Mao Zedong did not propose leadership in "The Great Unity of the People".

He sought as wide a support as possible, calling on people of all walks of life to unite and "speak out in unison" against the forces that oppress them.This unity will be partly conscious and partly organized, and solid unity will be the key to it. The 1911 Revolution of 1911 failed to mobilize the people, and the next revolution must arouse the people. The article mentions Marx (“a man born in Germany called Marx”) for comparison with the anarchists Mao admired (“a man born in Russia called Kropotkin”).Mao Zedong said that Marx's views were "very drastic", and that although Kropotkin's more moderate views could not be immediately effective, his greatest advantage was to "start with the common people's understanding".

The article was revolutionary, but in Changsha in 1919, Marx seemed unremarkable compared with some other revolutionary theorists.Mao Zedong desired a more equitable social order.He has excellent organizational skills, but Mao Zedong at that time had not yet found a suitable theoretical form. Mao Zedong envisioned various forms of coalitions gathering forces to form a revolutionary tide.The purpose of the alliance is simple: "to oppose the powerful ... who oppress the people." Women, rickshaw pullers, farmers, students, etc., all walks of life are included in this alliance, without class boundaries. [13]

Mao Zedong described the suffering of all classes in a tone of empathy, and he was most excited about the suffering of students: Our Mr. Guowen is so stubborn.My mouth is full of "poetry cloud" and "Zi Yue", but I don't understand a single word in the end.They don't know that it's the twentieth century, and they still force us to practice "ancient rites" and abide by "ancient laws."A lot of stinky classical-style corpse-style articles are forced to pour into our brains. At school, Mao Zedong had rebelled against teachers with whom he no longer had contact.Now, he wants to rebel against society.He vowed: "If we can shout together, we will break through the power of history."

Mao Zedong's article was praised by the "Weekly Review" organized by Li Dazhao ("Under the rule of the warriors, it is really our unexpected joy to have such a good brother like us" [14]).This inspired the Changsha cooperation organization "Hunan Federation of All walks of life" to form amidst difficulties. * * Mao Zedong's articles on Western affairs published in the "Xiangjiang Review" are powerful, but sometimes weird.He believed that Germany's "only way out" was to unite with Russia, Austria and Czechoslovakia into a "communist republic".After the Paris Peace Conference, he satirized the French Prime Minister Clemenceau and said: "The ignorant old man Clemenceau is still holding the thick gray-yellow booklet (alluding to the Paris Peace Treaty), thinking that if he signs it, he can be a As stable as the Alps." See Li Jui, pp. 109~110. In addition, Huang Yuchuan said in "Compendium of Mao Zedong's Biography" (page 45) that Mao Zedong was not alone in charge of "Xiangjiang River" as Li Rui said. Editing of the Review.

In beginning to make his views public, Mao Zedong turned to a new beginning.It is one thing to read and study, and it is another thing to write 10,000-word annotations on the pages of a book, but it is another thing to appear in public.This is an action whose words will have consequences.Mao Zedong was no longer just exploring the world around him, but gradually transforming it. Warlord Zhang Jingyao's habit of shutting down leftist publications is like a janitor turning off lights during an energy crisis.A group of heavily armed soldiers killed the "Xiangjiang Review", which had only published five issues, overnight, and its sponsor, the Hunan Student Union, was also banned the same night.

At that time, there were as many small magazines as there were flying birds, and they were fleeting.Mao Zedong soon joined the "New Hunan" magazine. This magazine, run by students of Xiangya Medical College, was also a product of the May 4th Movement. Due to the shortage of manpower in the summer, Mao Zedong was welcomed as an editor.The magazine was founded in June and was taken over by Mao Zedong in August, and suffered the same fate as Xiangjiang Review in October.But it drew more attention from the domestic left before it was seized. Mao Zedong's articles were adopted by Changsha's main newspaper, Ta Kung Pao, and he had established himself as a political commentator.Suddenly, a new event that could make a big fuss happened in the local area.

A lady in Changsha, Zhao, was getting married. She didn't like the man she had chosen as his wife, but four elderly people—her father was an eyeglass maker and the man's father ran an antique store—were all trying to make the marriage happen.On the wedding day, Ms. Zhao put on the bride's clothes and got on the sedan chair.On the way to the groom's house, she suddenly took a pair of scissors out of her skirt and slit her throat and committed suicide. [15] Less than two days after the tragedy, Mao Zedong's "Criticism of Ms. Zhao's Suicide" appeared in the newspapers.Over the next two weeks, he published eight articles in Ta Kung Pao on marriage, the oppression of the family, and the evils of the old society.

As usual, Mao was digging out the roots of social evils in his own life. He condemned the society: "Ms. Zhao's suicide is entirely determined by the environment." Mao Zedong spoke loudly, "This environment includes the corruption of the marriage system, the darkness of the social system, the inability to think independently, and the inability to love freely." He regarded Ms. Zhao The sedan chair for marriage is called "prison cage car". From the lines of these nine articles, we can discover the influence of Mao Zedong's arranged marriage on him and his mother's resignation. "Machismo" has been listed as the object of the Chinese revolution. Mao Zedong wrote "Advice to Young Men and Women on Marriage Problems" in a fatherly tone.In another essay, he called on readers to "raise their arms" and smash the shackles of superstition.Going forward bravely has long been a belief of his. "Fated marriage, everyone thinks it is a beautiful fate, no one thought it was a mistake." Since then, Mao Zedong has opposed the idea of ​​suicide under any conditions throughout his life. "A gut-cutting decisive battle, the death of a broken jade, is the most courageous in the world, and the most tragic is enough to impress people's brains." Suicide like Ms. Zhao is not a resistance to the decadent old society, it actually caters to and maintains The old moral order that was about to perish.Mao Zedong wrote: "It is better to struggle and be killed than to die by suicide." [16] Mao whipped the women's chastity archway, which was impressive at the time: "Where did you see the men's chastity archway?" asked the man, who was almost certainly a virgin.Next, he summoned female students to go to the streets to persuade housewives to boycott Japanese goods and win support from all parties to strike against the warlord Zhang Jingyao. Mao Zedong's thoughts were drawn back by the name of the Xinmin Society.The women's movement is only the beginning of the new people.But Mao was inching closer to the idea that building a new society should be the ultimate goal. Mao Zedong and his friends were in conflict with Zhang Jingyao's Hunan regime, which by December 1919 led to a crackdown.Zhang Jingyao's army used bayonets and rifle butts to drive away the crowd who burned Japanese goods in the education square. ［17］In one late-night planning meeting after another, Mao Zedong wrote a manifesto calling for the overthrow of the pro-Japanese warlord butcher Zhang Jingyao. 13,000 students and their supporters signed Mao Zedong's manifesto, the Changsha strike began, and the outcome was decided.Zhang Jingyao was not overthrown—although his rule faltered—and catastrophe loomed for Mao Zedong and the others at the helm. Mao Zedong decided to leave Hunan to escape the pursuit of Zhang Jingyao - Zhang Jingyao now harbored a deep hatred for them.He wanted to go to the anti-warlord forces outside Hunan to seek support for the expelling movement.