Chapter 10 Section 1: Hu Criticism Movement Quietly Rise

In early February 1949, a few days after the peaceful liberation of Peking, Wu Han, Qian Junrui and others took over Peking University under the entrustment of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.Subsequently, Wu Han took over Tsinghua University and Peking Normal University as the deputy representative of the Beiping Military Control Commission.At that time, the three most important national universities in Beiping were completely in the hands of the CCP. In May of this year, the Cultural Takeover Committee of the Military Control Committee of Peiping decided that three universities including Peking University, Tsinghua University and Normal University should set up school affairs committees, with the committees as the highest leadership institutions of the schools, and the directors would be equivalent to the former principals.Tang Yongtong, member of the Standing Committee of the Peking University School Affairs Committee and director, a group of pro-communist professors such as Xu Deheng, Qian Duansheng, Zeng Zhaolun, Yuan Hanqing, Xiang Da, Wen Jiasi and other six people, plus a lecturer, a teaching assistant and a student representative, a total of nine People are members of the Standing Committee.The Dean of Peking University is Zeng Zhaolun, Secretary-General Zheng Tianting, Dean of the Faculty of Arts Tang Yongtong, Dean of the Faculty of Science Rao Yutai, Dean of the Faculty of Law Qian Duansheng, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Ma Dayou, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture Yu Dayu, and Librarian Xiang Da.Ye Qisun, member of the Standing Committee and Director of the Tsinghua University Administrative Committee; members of the Standing Committee include Chen Daisun, Zhang Xiruo, Wu Han, Qian Weichang, Zhou Peiyuan, Fei Xiaotong, Fan Gongyan (representative of teaching assistants), and Lu Yingzhong (representative of students).Dean Zhou Peiyuan, Secretary-General Chen Xinmin, Dean of the Faculty of Arts Feng Youlan, Dean of the Faculty of Science Ye Qisun, Dean of the Faculty of Law Chen Daisun, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Shi Jiayang, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture Tang Peisong, and Librarian Pan Guangdan.Li Jinxi, a history teacher and linguist who was Mao Zedong's early student in Hunan No. 1 Normal University, is a member and director of the Standing Committee of the Normal University Committee.With the reorganization of the senior leaders of the three schools, the education circle in Peiping has opened a new page after the change of dynasty.And the first chapter written on this page is to bombard "Hu Shi, the lackey of American imperialism".

On that cold winter day in 1948, Wu Han was ordered by the top leaders of the CCP to persuade Hu Shi to stay at Peking University and not fly south.When he arrived in Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist Government, Hu told people many times what he had said more than once: "It's a pity that Wu Han went the wrong way." When Wu Han heard this, Wu didn't take it seriously, thinking that the former teacher was out of his mind. Old and confused.When Beiping was turned upside down and half of the country changed hands, Wu Han, who had been dormant in a dark room on Xibaipo, showed his head. Under the warm and cold sunshine, with the special status of receiving a senior official, Wu Han took over and controlled it grandly. In the situation of Peking University and Tsinghua University, there is a great sense of becoming immortal.Facing the mottled walls and old-fashioned figure in the Red Building of Peking University, Wu Han, who was on his way to become a fairy, suddenly looked back on the past, and felt that Hu Shi Nanfei was a typical dog sitting in a sedan chair—he didn’t know how to praise him, and he was really "going the wrong way" .

Regarding Hu Shi who "went on the wrong path", considering his huge existence and influence, the CCP still hopes that he will change his mind and plunge into his arms. in your own suit.Therefore, the CCP adopted a two-pronged strategy to attack him on both sides. The specific operation method is: first, continue to send people to do Hu's political and ideological work through secret channels;Instead, public denunciations are the mainstay, with covert actions as the supplement.The decision was made and it was implemented immediately. At that time, the 70-year-old white-bearded old man Chen Yuan (named Yuan'an), after a period of dormancy in the sound of gunfire, came out of the mountain again as the sound of the wind died down, and went into battle. Beiping fired the first shot at the "walking dog"'s ass.

On May 11, 1949, "People's Daily" published "An Open Letter to Hu Shizhi" by Chen Yuan, then president of Fu Jen Catholic University, which said: On the thirteenth night of December last year, I got a letter from you before leaving, discussing the problems in Yang Xingwu's "Chronology of Old People in Linsu". ... When I received this letter, the siege of the city was already tense. I read in the newspaper that you had already flown south.It really makes me feel infinitely melancholy.I remember we talked several times last year. Regarding the future of Peiping and the future of China, you once said to me: "When the Communist Party comes, there will be no freedom." .I don't understand philosophy and I don't understand English. I will ask you for advice on everything about these two aspects.I thought you saw farther than I did, and saw more than I did. You must have a basis for what you said to me, so this erroneous thought played a big role in my mind.However, I have also seen with my own eyes that a large number of young people have gone to the liberated areas, and how many young people are walking on this road. I wonder if these many young people-freedom-loving young people don't know that there is "absolutely no freedom" " of it?Besides, there are many old friends there, so your words began to have doubts in my mind.

After going around in circles, Chen Yuan pulled the trigger of the twenty-four-gun rifle that had been in his hand for a long time without hesitation, and a string of bullets shot out: Now that I understand Mao Zedong’s political views and the actual situation, I would like to contribute your version to correct the danger of your isolated prejudice... Thirty years ago, you were the "mentor" of the youth, and it was clear that you won or lost here At that time, you actually broke away from the youth and joined an anti-people group. Why don't you come back to the ranks of the new youth?I think you should stop insisting on your previous erroneous prejudices, and you should have the courage to deny your past erroneous views.You should turn to the people... I am sincerely telling you now that you should face up to the reality, you should turn to the people, come to your senses, learn from the young people sincerely, and use real scientific methods to analyze and criticize your past Use your knowledge to serve the masses of the people, goodbye!Hope we can meet each other on the road in the future.

In the academic world of the late Republic of China, Chen Yuan was considered to be a worthy rival to Chen Yinke in terms of pure historiography.As the son of a drug dealer, Chen has no formal education in history, but relying on his own diligence, he has written a wealth of books and made remarkable achievements. A world-renowned historian. In the early 1920s, Chen Yuan was recognized as a world-class scholar on par with Wang Guowei. In 1922, Hu Shi asserted: "Southern historiography is diligent and too trusting of the ancients, while northern historiography is too rudimentary to doubt the ancients. In the future, China's new historiography must have the spirit of doubting the ancients in the north and the diligent study in the south." Those who are long and get rid of the short are Wang Guowei and Chen Yuan.” On April 15, 1933, when the French sinologist Pelliot, who came to China to study, left Beijing, he gave a short speech to Chen Yuan, Hu Shi and other academic celebrities who came to see him off, in which he said: "The world of modern China Scholars, only Wang Guowei and Mr. Chen...Unfortunately, Guowei died, and Lu Dian had a brilliant light, and I, Chen Jun, was the only one who was loved by scholars." Since the mid-1930s, Chen Yuan and Chen Yinke, who had sprung up in the academic circle And known as "Historical Second Chen".It is precisely because Chen Yuan is both a rare master of history and the president of Fu Jen Catholic University that when Hu Shi escaped from the siege of the People's Liberation Army, the first person he thought of was not Chen Yinke but him.To Hu's surprise, Chen Yuan refused the invitation and did not fly south with him, but stayed in Peiping as his principal.Although Hu and Chen had a deep friendship before, and they exchanged letters five months ago, Chen Yuan broke with "my friend Hu Shizhi" so heartily and heartlessly like a kindergarten kid five months later. It shows that the political situation has taken a turn for the worse, and the world's morals and people's hearts have undergone a huge fission.

On June 18, Hu Shi in the United States saw Chen Yuan’s open letter for the first time, which was reprinted in the English magazine FarEastern Bulletin ("Far East Newsletter", Vol. 2, No. 22, Hong Kong, June 4, 1949) sent by a friend. The content of the "People's Daily" letter.Hu Shi read it roughly with squinted eyes and a smile, and his first reaction was "The first paragraph leads me to the last paragraph of the letter (Dec. 13'48), this is by no means fake. The whole letter is obscene and naive It made me unhappy to read it. This husband is old, so probably he really wrote this letter?" On June 20, Hu Shi carefully read the English translation of Chen Yuan's open letter, "I am more convinced that this letter is not a forgery (?), poor !"

On June 21, Hu Shi read the Chinese version of this open letter from the "Huaqiao Daily" on June 15, and recorded in his diary that day: "After reading it, I believe that this letter is not forged. This gentleman is seventy years old. What a pity to be so ugly!" Although Hu Shi emotionally believed that the letter was written by Mrs. Chen, he was unwilling to admit it psychologically, and it was inferred from the rationale that Mrs. Chen's change of thought was not so fast, so Hu Shi had no idea whether the letter was true or not. Beat the drums.On June 24, Hu Shi found the Chinese version of the open letter, read it carefully, and wrote in his diary: "I think about it today, Mr. Chen Yuan probably can't 'learn' so fast, as mentioned in the letter 'Xiao Jun's criticism', this is an incident that happened a few months ago, and the forgers have gone too far!" In order to thoroughly ascertain the authenticity of this letter, Hu Shi also asked Chen Yuan, who was familiar with Chen Yuan, who was in the United States at the time. Another historian, Jiang Tingfu, concluded after discussion: "Both suspected that Chen Yuan'an's open letter was written by him first. Another party author will forge the rest.” This conjecture is basically the final conclusion, but for Hu, who is good at research and undocumented, he is still uneasy.

After more than half a year of doubts and thinking, based on his personal observation of the development of the new regime of the CCP, on January 9, 1950, Hu Shi wrote "Under the Rule of the Communist Party, There Is No "Freedom"——Postscript "Chen Yuan to Hu Shi An open letter of > > was published.The article said: "...I saw this "Open Letter" reprinted in newspapers overseas, and I couldn't help sighing and said: 'Poor my old friend Mr. Chen Yuan, now there is no freedom not to speak!' There are many friends Come and ask me: Is this "Open Letter" really written by Mr. Chen Yuan? My answer is: the letter is written in very beautiful vernacular. Chen Yuan has never written vernacular, and he will never be able to write such beautiful vernacular; so In terms of writing, this letter was not written by Mr. Chen Yuan himself at all; 100% was forged by someone else using his name." Regarding the content of the open letter, Hu Shi took out his unique method of textual research, from the form of words and language The grammatical structure of the sentence, the loopholes and negligence exposed in the content of the letter, and the so-called propaganda color, etc., took the trouble to give examples and summed up, emphasizing that this article is "rewritten" and "forged".In the end, Hu Shi came to a conclusion: "This "An Open Letter from Chen Yuan to Hu Shi" is the best proof that there is absolutely no freedom of academic thought under the rule of the Communist Party."

The current situation is changing, the wind and rain are unpredictable, and common sense is not always new. Hu Shi, a master of textual research, has both right and wrong in his textual research on this article.According to the account of the participants of this article later, although the article was ghostwritten by others, it was indeed out of Chen Yuan's original intention. In June 1990, Liu Naicong, the younger brother of Chen Yuan's disciple Liu Naihe, who was also a student of Chen Yuan at Fu Jen Catholic University, wrote an article "Being Live Up to Teacher Chen Yuan'an's Teachings", detailing the case of this letter. explain.Liu Wen said: "One day, Mr. Chen asked Naihe to call me again. When I arrived at his home, he said that he had seen a new society, a new country, and read a new book. This was something that he couldn't know in the past. Therefore, I am willing to tell those who cannot see or hear what I have seen and heard. For example, his old friend Hu Shizhi left with the Kuomintang government, so it is impossible to know the situation after the liberation of Beiping. I told Mr. Chen, I saw a letter between Lan Gongwu and Hu Shi published in Xinhua Daily in Shijiazhuang. He immediately said that Hu Shi had also written me a letter before he left, and he took it out to Sister Naihe. Teacher (referring to Chai Degeng, quoted by the note), Nai and sister and we studied together, and decided to write about the new situation we have seen and heard in the form of an open letter. After Mr. Chen repeatedly stated his opinions and asked for our opinions , written by Nai and sister, and revised by Mr. Chen himself. Mr. Chen and Nai and sister will go to Fan Wenlan's residence together, and ask him to revise..."

Following this article, Liu Naihe, who was directly involved, published another long article "Chen Yuan's Life" in 1994, disclosing this public case: "We have jointly studied and wanted to use the form of an open letter to share what he saw and heard. Tell people who don’t know about the new weather of New China. Mr. Chen asked me to write the article. After it was finalized on April 29, it was sent to Comrade Fan Wenlan who had just arrived in Peking for revision. On May 11, the People’s Daily It was published under the title "An Open Letter to Hu Shizhi"." Er Liu said that the story of the letter's publication was generally credible, but there was little research into Chen Yuan's heart at that time, and it was difficult for outsiders to get a glimpse of Chen's real psychology. dynamic.The Fan Wenlan mentioned in the letter was the old Fan who was known as the number one Marxist-Leninist theory expert and was the vice president of North China University and director of the History Research Office when Fu Sinian visited Yan'an.Chen Yuan approached Fan Wenlan to revise this letter. Apart from the fact that the two had a friendship in the past, it was obvious that they had an intention to get closer to the CCP and express their determination, and their complicated hearts could not be clearly expressed in a few words.But in any case, Chen's move seemed to be right under the circumstances at the time, because he took the lead in firing the first shot across the sea at Hu Shi, a former friend, although he only hit his butt, not his life. , causing him to fall to the ground and die on the spot, but it aroused the attention and favor of the top leaders of the CCP.Later, after a series of outstanding performances and persistent efforts to move closer to the party, Chen Yuan finally joined the Communist Party of China at the age of 79, which was a fulfillment of a lifelong long-cherished wish.