Chapter 24 In praise of Mao Zedong and Sun Yat-sen

The May 4th Movement began as an anti-imperialist patriotic movement of young students, "struggling for national power abroad and punishing national thieves internally." After June 3, workers in Shanghai went on strike, and the business community went on strike. The patriotic movement quickly spread across the country and developed into a great revolutionary movement against imperialism and feudalism by people of all walks of life in China. After the advancement of this political movement, the New Culture United Front expanded rapidly, and the momentum of the New Culture Movement became stronger.New associations, new newspapers and periodicals are constantly emerging.Hu Shi once happily introduced in "Weekly Review":

Now there are quite a few new weekly newspapers and small daily newspapers.From Beijing in the north, Guangzhou in the south, Shanghai and Suzhou in the east, and Sichuan in the west, there is almost no city without this new style of newspaper. ... Now we are going to introduce our two new little brothers, one is "Xiangjiang Review" in Changsha, and the other is "Sunday" in Chengdu. ① "Xiangjiang Review" is a famous publication founded by Mao Zedong. It was first published on July 14, 1919.Like "Weekly Review" in Shanghai and "Sunday" in Chengdu, it was established under the influence of "New Youth" and "Weekly Review".Not only is it completely imitated the "Weekly Review" in form; it also adopts the same attitude in promoting new ideas and attacking darkness.So Hu Shi called them the "little brothers" of "Weekly Review". Although "Xiangjiang Review" only published five issues, it was seized and confiscated by the Hunan warlord Zhang Jingyao, but its influence became one of the famous weekly magazines in the country during the May Fourth period.

In his youth, Mao Zedong admired Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao.After arriving in Changsha, after reading "New Youth", I turned to admire Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu.He once recalled: "New Youth" is a well-known magazine of the New Culture Movement, edited by Chen Duxiu.I started reading this magazine when I was studying in normal school.I really admire the articles of Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu.They replaced Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei, who had been abandoned by me, and became my role models for a while. ② In September 1918, Mao Zedong came to Beijing, the center of the New Culture Movement.He worked as an assistant in the library of Peking University, met Chen Duxiu, and was greatly influenced by his thoughts; he also visited Hu Shi, hoping that Hu Shi could support the struggle of Hunan students. ③In May 1919, when Mao Zedong returned to Hunan, he led the student movement, established the Hunan Student Union, and founded the "Xiangjiang Review".After Mao Zedong returned to Hunan, he wrote several letters to Hu Shi. The extant letter is as follows:

Mr. Shizhi: I wrote a letter in Shanghai, has it been reached? I returned to Hunan the day before yesterday.Hunan Province has been self-sufficient, and the atmosphere has changed, and the education field is quite prosperous.In the future, there are many points in Hunan that need to rely heavily on Mr., and when the time comes, I will provide details for business, so I won’t go into details for the time being.Soon after the publication of the "Xiangjiang Review" edited by Song Jiaoan, Hu Shi noticed it and enthusiastically introduced and supported it.Hu Shi affirmed that "the strength of the "Xiangjiang Review" lies in its discussion", and especially praised Mao Zedong's "The Great Unity of the People" and other articles, pointing out:

The second, third, and fourth issues of "Xiangjiang Review" "The Great Unity of the People" is a big article with a very far-sighted vision; the discussion is also very happy, and it is indeed an important text today.There is also a column "Review of Major Events in Xiangjiang", which records the new movement in Hunan, which makes us infinitely optimistic.Under the rule of warriors, it is our unexpected joy to produce such a good brother. ⑤ It can be seen from this that Mao Zedong once regarded Hu Shi as a "model", and Hu Shi also looked up to Mao Zedong.Later, the two took two completely opposite paths.History is so merciless!

Hu Shi also attached great importance to the "Construction" magazine founded by Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and also introduced it in "Weekly Review". "Building" magazine was founded in Shanghai in August 1919.Sun Yat-sen announced in the "Introduction" that the purpose of the magazine is: Advocate the ideological trend of construction, show the principles of construction, and spread the doctrine of our party construction to become the common sense of the people, so that everyone knows that construction is the need of today, so that everyone knows that construction is an easy feat, so that all people will go all out with one heart, And building a country that is the richest, strongest and happiest in the world, owned by the people, ruled by the people, and enjoyed by the people, is the purpose of the "Construction Magazine". ⑥

Hu Shi felt that the purpose of "Jianjian" was very good; compared with Mr. Sun Yat-sen's "Developing China's Industrial Plan" published in the first issue, he believed that "the future of "Jianjian" will definitely meet our expectations", so he praised: In this era of "blind men blind horses", having such ambitious plans and propositions can be regarded as the most satisfying thing in the country. ⑦ At that time, Sun Yat-sen was in unlucky time.He failed to "protect the law", but was driven out of the country by the warlords in the North and South, so he had to hide in Shanghai and devoted himself to writing his "Strategy for the Founding of the Country". The "Development of China's Industrial Plan" published in the "Construction" magazine is the material construction part of this "National Construction Strategy", which expresses his great ideal of building China into a modern industrialized power.Although there are some utopias and fantasies about imperialism, as Hu Shi said, it is a "big plan". ⑨However, the warlords and bureaucrats who rule the country only regard nonsense as practice and plan as useless.They attacked Sun Yat-sen as an empty-talking "idealist", and even "partisans raised objections", saying that Mr. Sun's ideas were "too lofty to be used in China". ⑩Everyone's talk makes money, and it was all the rage for a while, and they all opposed Sun Yat-sen's industrial plan.It is really an era of "blind men blind horses"! At this time, Hu Shi stood up and praised Sun Yat-sen's plans and propositions. What a rare insight he had! And how grateful Sun Yat-sen and his party should be!

Not long before, "Sun Wenshuo" was published by Shanghai Huaqiang Press.Mr. Zhongshan once ordered Liao Zhongkai to send five books to Hu Shi.Ask Hu Shi to "criticize the content of this book" in "New Youth" or "Weekly Review".Hu Shi was ordered to write a book review, introducing in detail the gist and content of "Sun Wenshuo", pointing out that "this book is a book with a legitimate role, and it should not be regarded as a book that only has a political party role."He also praised Mr. Zhongshan and said: Mr. Zhongshan is a man of action.Any true adept has a visionary plan, separate procedures, and then proceed step by step.Politicians without a plan, who spend their days fooling around and saying, "Focus on reality, not empty talk", are not actually practitioners, they can only be called fools.The biggest injustice Mr. Zhongshan suffered in his life is that people say he is an "idealist", not a man of action.In fact, a person without an ideal plan can never be a real practitioner.The reason why I call Mr. Sun Yat-sen a doer is precisely because he had the courage to formulate an ideal "strategy for the founding of the country".

Sun Yat-sen's "Doctrine" was written precisely out of concern that his grand plan "Strategy for the Founding of the Nation" would "be regarded as empty talk of ideals by the people of the country".Hu Shi praised him as a "doer" and "a doer with ideals", which naturally hit his heart, so he regarded him as a bosom friend and was very grateful.Liao Zhongkai conveyed in a letter to Hu Shi: Mr. Sun Yat-sen read the criticisms of his theory in the "Weekly Review", thinking that if he got such a spiritual response in Beijing, if the book would have an influence in China in the future, it would be his strength.

Sun Yat-sen was also very concerned about Hu Shi.In June of this year, Chen Duxiu was arrested; in autumn, "Weekly Review" was blocked, and it was rumored that Hu Shi was also arrested by the Beiyang government.At that time, someone repeatedly asked Mr. Sun to send a telegram to rescue Chen Hu.Sun Yat-sen couldn't agree, and said, "Who do you want me to send a telegram to?" At this time, Xu Shichang and Duan Qirui sent Xu Shiying as a representative to meet Mr. Sun in Shanghai.Sun took the opportunity to mention the arrest of Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu, and said to Xu: I have never seen Duxiu, and Shizhi's body is weak. You have done good deeds, which is enough to convince the people that I am against you as good evidence.But you don't dare to kill them; those who are not in good health may have some illnesses, but for them, if one dies, it will increase by fifty or one hundred.Do your best!

It is said that Xu Shiying heard this and kept saying, "No, no, I'll send a telegram."Sure enough, within a few days, Chen Duxiu was released from prison.From this point, it can be seen how much Sun Yat-sen cared, cared and praised Chen Duxiu, especially Hu Shi. However, when Sun Yat-sen was expelled from Guangzhou again by the southern warlords and fled to Shanghai, and after his death, Hu Shi had many criticisms and criticisms of Sun Yat-sen.This kind of repetition is a later story, let's talk about it later. ①Hu Shi's article "Introduction to New Publications", contained in "Weekly Review" No. 36, published on August 24, 1919. ②(US) Edgar Snow: "Red Star Over China" (Edgar Snow: "Red Star Over China") ), Dong Leshan Chinese translation, Beijing Joint Publishing, December 1, 1979 edition, p. 125. ③ Same note as ②, p. 130. ④See “Mao Zedong’s Early Manuscripts” edited by the CPC Central Committee Literature Research Office and Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China: “Mao Zedong’s Early Manuscripts”, Hunan Publishing House, July 1990, first edition, p. 494.The editor has a note: "This letter is a postcard. The sender and writing time of the letter have not been signed in the original text. On the front of the lettercard is written 'Mr. Hu Shizhi received Mao Zedong to live in Changsha Chuyingyuan Chuyi Primary School in Nanchi, Beijing, etc. and stamped with two postmarks of 'July 9th, Nine Years, Changsha' and 'July 14th, Nine Years'." (Third Edition Note) ⑤ same note as ①. ⑥ "Construction" Magazine, Volume 1, No. 1, published in August 1919. ⑦ same note as ①. ⑧After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, Duan Qirui took charge of the power of the Beijing government as Premier of the State.He surrendered to Japanese imperialism externally, inherited all of Yuan Shikai's reactionary policies internally, and stubbornly refused to restore the "Provisional Constitution" and the National Assembly.Sun Yat-sen called for the maintenance of the "Provisional Constitution". In July 1917, together with some members of Congress, he led two naval ships of the uprising from Shanghai to Guangzhou, and united with the warlords of southwestern Yunnan, Guangxi and other provinces. Guangzhou established a military government of "protecting the law" to oppose the northern government, and Sun Yat-sen was promoted as the Grand Marshal of the Navy and Army.But "protecting the law" is not a clear banner and cannot play the role of mobilizing the people's revolution.At that time, the situation in the southwest was very complicated and chaotic. The southern warlords also colluded with the northern Zhili warlords. They used various means to attack the Dharma protection movement, squeezed out Sun Yat-sen, and did not allow him to control the armed forces. In April 1918, the Guangxi warlords reorganized the military government and abolished the generalissimo system to the collegial system of the chief executive, further excluding Sun Yat-sen.Sun Yat-sen was extremely indignant, but unable to fight back, he was forced to resign in May, left Guangzhou, and then went to Shanghai.He later recalled the situation of the law-protecting government and said: "I have been struggling for a year, alone and helpless, only pained by close relatives, quickened by hatred, and finally dismissed." See "Letters" in the second volume of "The Complete Works of Prime Ministers" edited by Huang Jilu, Jinfen Bookstore, Chengdu, 1944, p. 176) However, because of this, he also realized: "The great trouble of our country is nothing greater than the struggle between warriors. South and north are like raccoons on the same hill. "(May 4, 1918, "Resignation of the Generalissimo's Post", see the fourth volume of "The History of the Chinese Nationalist Party" edited by Zou Lu, Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, 1960 edition, p. 1085) ⑨Sun Yat-sen's "Industrial Plan", written in 1919, is composed of six plans, including transportation, commercial ports, railways, cities, water power, steel, mining, agriculture, irrigation, forestry, immigration, etc. The huge plan of the system .But the beginning of the chapter is the "international joint development of China's industrial plan", which bases its hopes on the investment of international imperialism in China.Sun Yat-sen imagined that after the end of the First World War, the imperialists would no longer fight wars, but would use their remaining funds, materials, industrial talents and technology to invest in China to jointly develop China's industries and benefit China's foreign countries alike.This is purely a fantasy.Therefore, in his "Preface" written on October 10, 1921, he lamented that the imperialists did not listen to his wonderful plan, "There is no way to change the trend of the times, so even though there are three or three wise politicians who want to agree with my plan, they can't do it." There is no way to preserve its wartime industries and to serve China." (See "Selected Works of Sun Yat-sen", Volume 1, People's Publishing House, 1956 edition, p. 186) ⑩The first part of Sun Yat-sen's "Founding Strategy" "Psychological Construction (Sun Wenshuo)" "Preface", see "Selected Works of Sun Yat-sen", Volume 1, p. 104. "Sun Wenshuo" was written in 1918 and published by Shanghai Huaqiang Printing Book Company in 1919.According to the "Preface", when he began to write "Founding Strategy" (Industrial Plan), he was "fearful that the social psychology of Chinese people today is still the same as the social psychology of party members seven years ago. The great enemy of "difficulty" is in it, and it is nothing more than to reject my plan as an ideal. Therefore, I first make a theory to break this psychological enemy. Shu Jiwu's "Founding Strategy" may no longer be regarded as an ideal empty talk by Chinese people." (See "Selected Works of Sun Yat-sen", Volume 1, page 106) The main purpose of the book is to break the superstition that "knowing is not difficult, but doing is difficult" , and proved the new belief that "doing is not difficult, but knowing is difficult", that is, "knowing is difficult and doing is easy" Say.After this article, it will be compiled into the "Strategy for the Founding of the Country", which is the first part "Psychological Construction". Liao Zhongkai sent a letter to Hu Shi on July 11, 1919, see "Selected Letters from Hu Shi", Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, May 1, 1979, Volume 1, p. 64. See Weekly Review No. 31, published July 20, 1919. Liao Zhongkai sent a letter to Hu Shi on August 2, 1919, see "Hu Shi's Correspondence and Correspondence" Volume 1, p. 66. See Shen Dingyi's letters to Hu Shi from December 13 to 16, 1919, see "Hu Shi's Correspondence and Correspondence" Volume 1, p. 77.