Chapter 72 From low-key to war of resistance

In the middle of the night on July 7, 1937, darkness enveloped the troubled North China Plain.In the southwest of the ancient capital Beiping, the Yongding River flows under the Marco Polo Bridge.The 485 lions carved on the stone railings on both sides of the bridge stare with wide eyes: The iron hooves of Japanese bandits set foot on the head of Lugou Bridge.The Chinese garrison couldn't bear it anymore, and they fought back, opening the first act of the sacred war of resistance against Japan. On the second day after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Hu Shi left Pingnan and went south to Lushan to attend a talk meeting invited by Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei. The talk meeting began on the 16th, and Chiang Kai-shek made a speech about the incident, still saying:

Our attitude is only to fight, not to seek war.Challenge is a last resort to deal with the last moment. ...Whether the Marco Polo Bridge incident will not expand into a Sino-Japanese war depends entirely on the attitude of the Japanese government.The key to the continuation of hope for peace rests entirely on the actions of the Japanese military.One second before peace is hopeless, we still hope for peace and hope to find a solution to the Lu affair through diplomatic means. At the same time, the speech also called on the people of the whole country to: If the war starts, there will be no distinction between the north and the south, and no distinction between people, old or young. No matter who you are, you have the responsibility to defend the land and fight against the war, and you should be determined to sacrifice everything. ①

Jiang is still hovering between the second policy of peace and war.The Chinese ambassador to Japan, Xu Shiying, also returned to Japan on the 19th, and said in a speech that the Chinese government adhered to the two principles of "non-expansion" and "diplomatic settlement" for the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.This is the tone set by Chiang Kai-shek.He changed from non-resistance to "challenge", but still imagined a compromise with Japan and hoped for "peace". Hu Shi also spoke impassionedly about the issue of education at the meeting, and put forward the propositions that "the state is above everything else" and "education is independent".On the mountain, Chiang Kai-shek treated him to tea, Feng Yuxiang sent pancakes, and Wang Jingwei invited him to dinner. He also met with military figures such as Chen Cheng, Wei Lihuang, and Hu Zongnan, and had talks with civil officials such as Chen Bulei and Wu Tiecheng.He had a lot of entertainment, and when he was happy, he wrote a poem:

Is there a cat named Chun? Is there a cicada that does not sing in summer? Is there a toad that does not sing at night? Is there any teacher who doesn't talk? ②Hu Shi is a teacher who takes speaking as a profession and likes to make speeches. Naturally, he talks everywhere on the mountain, and he is very prominent; but he still keeps a low profile on the issue of anti-Japanese. On July 28, Hu Shi went down to Nanjing and made more than one so-called "great efforts for peace".He had a close relationship with Gao Zongwu, Zhou Fohai, Tao Xisheng and others. It is said that they were all members of the "low-key club" in Nanjing that day. ③ On July 30, Hu Shi and Gao Zongwu and others "discussed state affairs in depth", and decided that Gao Zongwu would open up a route for "peaceful" negotiations with Japan.The next day, Chiang Kai-shek published the "Report to the Generals and Soldiers of the Anti-Japanese War".At noon that day, he invited Hu Shi, Mei Yiqi, Zhang Boling and others to dinner.During the banquet, Jiang announced his decision to fight. Zhang Boling made the first impassioned speech and raised his hands in favor.Hu Shi was still skeptical about Jiang's decision to resist the war, but he was "inconvenient to talk". He did not speak to Jiang until he was leaving, saying that "the diplomatic line cannot be broken", and recommended Gao Zongwu to be in charge.He has been dreaming of "peaceful" negotiations. ④

However, after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the situation became tense day by day.The rampant aggression of the Japanese invaders, the loss of large areas of the country, and the upsurge of the anti-Japanese movement in the military and civilian circles all over the country also gradually shaken Hu Shi's dream of peace. On July 31, he replied to Jiang Tingfu's letter, saying: It's true what you said.Soviet Russia has been preparing for such a long time, but it has to take avoiding war as its diplomatic policy, let alone our country? However, despite the situation, there is one important difference: Soviet Russia is eligible to avoid war, but we are not. qualifications.The reason why Soviet Russia was able to avoid war was firstly because it had the power to resist externally, and secondly because it had the power to control internally.We have neither of these.The external force is too weak to prevent the enemy from going deep. After six years of avoiding the war, the enemy's atmosphere is getting worse and the pressure is getting worse.The second factor is more important.I have said that only a strong government can endure humiliation and accept humiliation of peace. ... Today's government is stronger than it was in the past 24 years, but I'm afraid it is not strong enough to endure humiliation and avoid war. There are no politicians who can take great responsibility. Great war to avoid. ⑤

Hu Shi's thoughts began to change. He saw that avoiding war was just a dream, and what he would get if he didn't resist was "the enemy's atmosphere is getting deeper and the pressure is getting worse." However, Hu Shi, who is known for his optimism, is helplessly pessimistic on the issue of resistance commentator.He didn't fully wake up from the "peace" dream. On August 2, Hu Shi wrote down his plan for a "maximum peace effort", as follows: When I returned home to see Mr. Jiang's notice about the conversation, I wrote a long letter first to make up for the lack of the conversation.

The theme is to make the greatest peace effort before the war.There are three reasons: (1) The Konoe cabinet can talk with you, and the opportunity should not be missed. (2) Japan has basic financial difficulties and hopes for peace. (3) The embryonic form of the country today is actually built on the new central military power and cannot be easily destroyed.In the future, the country will disintegrate, and there will be no hope for peace. The goals of peace diplomacy: (1) Use diplomacy to recover the newly lost land and preserve the unlost land when the strength is ready for a war.

(2) Thoroughly adjust Sino-Japanese relations and seek peace for fifty years. The steps can be divided into two steps: the first step is to cease fighting and restore the territorial conditions before July 7.The second step is "formal negotiations on adjustment of Sino-Japanese relations" - held in two or three months. ⑥ On August 13, the war in Shanghai broke out, and the all-out war of resistance against Japan began.The peaceful dream of Hu Shi and others was completely shattered.By the beginning of September, after more than a month of fighting, Hu Shi's thinking gradually became more optimistic.Before he left for the United States, he went to see Wang Jingwei and Gao Zongwu, and advised them to "don't be too hasty, don't be too pessimistic".He said to Gao Zongwu:

The work we did in early August to "make the greatest peace effort before the war" was good.But we have to admit that this month's fighting has proved that we were not unavoidable back then.This month's battle at least shows externally that we can fight and internally shows that we are willing to fight. This is a big harvest. ⑦ From then on, Hu Shi abandoned his dream of peace, and turned to the view that "peace is a hundred times more difficult than war", and he tended to support the government's war of resistance. ①The full text of Chiang Kai-shek's speech was published in "Central Daily" and various newspapers on July 19, 1937.

② Quoted from Hu Jianzhong's speech "My Relationship with Mr. Shizhi in Poetry and Prose" at the "Monthly Symposium on Characters" held by the Taipei Biographical Literature Society.It said that at the Lushan talk meeting, he sat with Hu Shi, listened to Hu Shi's speech, and wrote a doggerel impromptu for him.Poetry goes: Kuanglu Shenghui held in the summer heat, and celebrities from all over the world came back to the river. My doctor is so powerful and generous, once again I made a generous speech! Hu Shi's poems are related to Hu Jianzhong.See "Biographical Literature", Volume 28, Issue 5.

③Refer to JH Boyle's "The Inside Story of Collaborating with the Enemy During the Sino-Japanese War" (John Hunter Boy Ie: "China and Japan at War, 1937-1945" Chinese translation, published by Beijing Commercial Press in August 1978) Chapter 9 of the book "The Low-Key Club". ④Refer to Hu Shi’s diary on July 30 and 31, 1937, see “Hu Shi’s Diary”, Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, January 1, 1985, Volume 2, p. 576. ⑤ For Hu Shi's letter to Jiang Tingfu (draft) on July 30, 1937, see "Hu Shi's Correspondence and Correspondence", Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, May 1, 1979, volume 1, page 363. ⑥ Hu Shi's plan, according to Hou Yi's article "The Patriot in the Surviving Diary" published in Taiwan's "China Times? Renjian" on June 16 and 17, 1979, seems to be Hu Shi's diary on August 2.Check the "Hu Shi's Diary" published by Beijing Zhonghua Book Company. Hu Shi kept the diary in Beijing in 1937. There is no such record on August 2, and the diary on this day seems to be incomplete; in mind.It is now recorded and preserved according to Houyi Wen. ⑦ For Hu Shi's diary on September 8, 1937, see "Hu Shi's Diary", Volume 2, p. 581.