Chapter 51 On the way home via Japan

In the spring of 1927, the Northern Expedition jointly launched by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party successfully developed. In late March, Shanghai and Nanjing recovered one after another. The Beiyang warlord government is about to collapse.At this moment, Wu Zhihui proposed a motion to impeach the Communist Party in his capacity as a supervisory member of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang; Chiang Kai-shek abandoned Mr. Sun Yat-sen's behest and launched the "April 12" coup to "purge the party" against the Communist Party and establish the Nanjing National Government in a pool of blood.

Hu Shi was boarding a ship from Seattle at this time, leaving the United States and returning to China.When boarding the ship, he heard the news that Shanghai and Guangzhou had begun to "clean up the party". On April 24, the ship arrived in Yokohama.When Hu Shi set foot on Japanese territory, he sent a telegram to his good friend Gao Mengdan in Shanghai to inquire about the domestic situation.Mr. Gao immediately called back and said: The current situation is extremely chaotic, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are in a tripartite relationship with the North, and the army is destroying the party and prisons. It is almost a world of terror, and speech is especially not free.My brother is good at expressing opinions, and in this situation, it is very easy to avoid it. If there is an opportunity to give lectures or study materials on the history of philosophy in Japan, it is actually the best thing to stay for a few months. I think twice. ①

Another friend of Hu Shi's, Ding Wenjiang, who worked under Sun Chuanfang for several months as the general office of the Songhu Commercial Port, also sent a letter to Hu Shi, describing the situation after the Northern Expedition. He was "not very optimistic" about the future; he resigned soon , went back to the north.Hu Shi's student Gu Jiegang wrote a letter, advising him not to engage in political activities after returning to China; "If you want to do it, you'd better join the Kuomintang."Gu Xin had an analysis which was quite pertinent. He said: After returning to China (according to, referring to Hu Shi’s return to the United States in 1917), his reputation was too high, so a group of outdated new figures and new bureaucrats with old ideas tried to win him over, which was a burden to his reputation.Now in the Kuomintang, when it comes to Mr., they all regret it, and they often criticize Mr. Ding Zaijun (according to, Ding Wenjiang) as Sun Chuanfang's subordinate for the failure of good governmentism.The people can't tolerate it: Mr. first sang the literary revolution and advocated the ideological revolution, they may not remember it; but he was a member of the aftermath conference of the Duan government and opposed the confiscation of the Qing palace, but they often said it verbally.If the Northern Expedition was victorious, and Mr. Wang continued to express his political opinions after returning to China, there must be someone who would accuse Mr. Zhang of being a "counter-revolutionary".However, during this trip to Russia, my husband advocated that we have no right to oppose Russification. This sentence is often praised by the population.The people are against different parties. If you can join the Kuomintang, they will definitely welcome you warmly. ②

These reasons, summed up in one sentence, are that the Kuomintang may also charge Hu Shi with a "counter-revolutionary" charge! This is actually the reason why some people such as Gao Mengdan persuaded Hu Shi not to return to the country for the time being.Hu Shi also naturally understood in his heart, how dare he return home rashly? So he temporarily stayed in Japan to observe the changes in the current situation and consider how to deal with the changed situation. When he was in Europe, he also paid close attention to the domestic situation, talked with people about the leaders in the South, and had a good impression of Chiang Kai-shek and others, and he placed his hopes on them.He said:

I have a little idea of ​​the leaders in Guangzhou.Only Jieshi and Borodin I haven't seen. ... There is no doubt that Jieshi can make military achievements.But does he have the foresight to do big political careers? I am very concerned about this matter. I deeply hope that he can have political skills and insights. ③ During this time, Hu Shi carefully read the newspapers of those months in Japan to understand the domestic situation. According to his own recollection, he understood that a group of literati such as Wu Zhihui came out to advocate "cleaning the party and anti-communism" and important "historical meaning”; and Hu Shi’s sympathy was already on Chiang Kai-shek’s side.He once recounted a story in Tokyo, saying that he met Manly O. Hudson, a professor at Harvard University who had just arrived from Shanghai, in the Imperial Hotel.During the conversation, Hezhen said that he had talked with Song Ziwen in Shanghai and thought that "the recent coup in China is a big reaction!" Hu Shi disagreed with them and defended Chiang Kai-shek, saying:

I have been in Europe and America for ten months, so I don't know the detailed situation in China.But I think the recent coup is not as simple as Mr. Song Ziwen said, right? General Chiang Kai-shek's move to purge the party and oppose the Communist Party can win the support of a group of elders. You foreign friends may not know who Wu Jingheng (by name, Wu Zhihui) and Cai Yuanpei are, but I know these people and admire their insight and personality.This new government can gain the support of this group of veterans, and it is tenable. ④ These words were written 26 years later when Hu Shi fled to the United States.Although his support for Chiang Kai-shek and anti-communist attitude was not necessarily as clear as it was later, his basic tendency was undoubtedly consistent.

After wandering around in Japan for more than 20 days, Hu Shi had a general understanding of the ever-changing political situation in the country, and he had a little confidence in his heart, and felt that nothing would happen.He booked a boat ticket to return to his motherland, which has undergone great changes for less than a year. ①See "Selected Correspondence of Hu Shi", Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, May 1, 1979, Volume 1, p. 427. ②Ibid., Volume 1, p. 426. ③ "Hu Shi's Diary" manuscript, Taipei Yuanliu Publishing Co., Ltd. December 1990 edition, volume 5, October 15, 1926. (Third Edition Note)

④Refer to "In Memory of Mr. Wu Zhihui", originally published in Taipei's "Free China" magazine, Volume 10, Issue 1, published in January 1954.It was later included in the "Character" volume of "Hu Shi's Selected Works", published in June 1966 by Taipei Wenxing Bookstore.See pages 167-168 of the book for citations.