Chapter 47 Zhang Shenfu (Part 1): Proof of Memory

Zhang Shenfu (1893-1986), named Songnian, was born in Xian County, Hebei Province.Philosopher, active political activist. Zhang Shenfu got up, left the table, and walked out of the heated debate.Zhou Enlai stopped him in the aisle and advised him not to be impulsive. "But I finally left. I think I am a person who would rather bend than bend." After Zhang Shenfu said, he looked up to the sky and laughed.He was happy to think of these four words that could express his character.He wrote these four words on a piece of paper and handed it to Shu Hengzhe, and then smiled with satisfaction, "Yes, I am always like this: 1925, 1948, 1957."

In January 1925, the "Fourth Congress" of the Communist Party of China was held in Shanghai.Zhang Shenfu, who was in close contact with Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu and participated in the preparatory activities for the establishment of the Communist Party of China, left the meeting due to differences of opinion when discussing the party program and proposed to quit the party.Although Li Dazhao, Zhao Shiyan and others repeatedly persuaded him to stay, he still insisted on the position of "helping the party work outside the party". In 1935, he participated in the famous "December 9th" Movement as the commander-in-chief of the parade, and was arrested and imprisoned by the Kuomintang authorities.After the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke out, he published the article "Appeal for Peace" in 1948, which was severely criticized by the Chinese Communist Party and was expelled from the Democratic League.

In the face of the American female historian Vera Schwarcz who came to interview, Zhang Shenfu said that he often had conflicts with his contemporaries: when he was in Europe in 1921, he had friction with the Chinese education chief in France, and in 1957 he "anti-rightist" Shi Dingfeng supported Zhang Bojun (as a result, he was also criticized)... After telling these stories, he raised his head to the sky and laughed again: "I think, I am too unsophisticated. When some people disagree, I will go my way, I quit. I don’t understand, so I quit.” Recalling the history, Zhang Shenfu often looked up to the sky and laughed loudly, the sound shook the roof tiles, and the laughter came from the depths of his throat—this was different from the restrained and nervous laughter of those intellectuals who had experienced disasters that Shu Hengzhe was familiar with.

In the few descriptions about Zhang Shenfu, he is very strange: he participated in major political activities such as the founding of the Communist Party of China, the preparation of the Whampoa Military Academy, the establishment of the Democratic League, etc., but he was neglected by politics for a long time; he was the one who introduced Zhou Enlai , Zhu De joined the Communist Party of China, but he himself quit soon after. Zhang Lifan, the son of Zhang Naiqi, summed up this "old friend of the late father" in this way: He wandered between academics and politics for half his life. He could have created his own philosophical system or become a political leader, but in the end neither of them came to fruition.He intentionally supported a great man (Zhou Enlai), but also neglected a great man (Mao Zedong) unintentionally, and he planted flowers and thorns.He co-founded a political party, with which he dropped out, but when the party was about to win the civil war, he called for peace.For this reason, he sat on the bench for 20 years after the founding of the Republic, and became an "unearthed cultural relic" in his later years.

In June 1986, Zhang Shenfu passed away. In July, "People's Daily" published an obituary, giving him the final evaluation as "a famous patriotic democrat" and "an old friend of the Chinese Communist Party".The newspapers published in Hong Kong seem to supplement the People's Daily's lack of emphasis on its political activities. Zhang Shenfu appeared in a non-political appearance, "a senior scholar in the academic circle, a model article."However, this made Shu Hengzhe puzzled: Zhang Shenfu, a model scholar? "Like Zhang Shenfu was portrayed as a patriotic comrade, this appellation seems a bit plain to me who had a long talk with him at his home in Wangfucang Hutong for five years. I think Zhang Shenfu is too peculiar to be classified as A class of model scholars".

Shu Hengzhe first met Zhang Shenfu in November 1979, at the Beijing Library where Zhang had been working since 1949.The first impression of this 86-year-old man was that he was very weak, but when he talked, he was full of energy and laughed happily. "The memory of Zhang Shen's mansion is amazing." At that time, foreigners could not casually visit Chinese people's homes, but Shu Hengzhe proposed to visit his mansion for further conversation.Zhang Shenfu looked at the party secretary of the library sitting opposite, and replied, "I hope so too, very much. We must talk frankly, and the time to tell the truth is running out."

Later, "Time to tell the truth is running out" became the title of Shu Hengzhe's "Interview with Zhang Shenfu". Before an interview in March 1980, Zhang Shenfu was uncomfortable, "the eyes were blurred, and he was erratic under the old hat".But after an afternoon of talking, when Shu Hengzhe left, he had already become "with bright eyes and high spirits".Shu Hengzhe couldn't help sighing: "Memory can cure diseases, I have learned it today." During the five years of interviews, Shu Hengzhe felt that he "entered Zhang's life" and that this life "challenged and overcame the political pressure to forget history".

However, time is really running out.Zhang Shenfu's memory declined rapidly, which made Zhang Lifan, who was trying to record his memoirs, trapped in scattered memory fragments, and finally gave up.Zhang Lifan was a little sad because of this: "The old man was forgotten by history, and when history remembered him, he couldn't remember history."