Chapter 33 United "Ge Lao Hui"

In the process of launching the united front, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China combined the upper and lower levels, sought to win a wide range of anti-Japanese forces, and actively united and fought for the "gelaohui" Jianghu associations that prevailed in the Northwest. "Gelaohui" is prevalent in Shaanxi-Gansu area, and the more famous villages such as Houjiutian, Shaohuashan, Nineteen Yuan, Baoziling, etc. have become the "ports" and "docks" of "Gelaohui".In the early 1930s, the "Ge Lao Hui" in northern Shaanxi had penetrated into all walks of life and different social strata.At that time, there were also quite a few members of the "Gelaohui" in the Northeast Army and Northwest Army, and there were also a considerable number of Gelaohui members in the Kuomintang Army Deng Baoshan and Gao Shuangcheng's troops stationed in Yulin, as well as in the local militia.Jing Yuexiu, Gao Shuangcheng, Zhang Tingzhi, and Gao Guizi of the Kuomintang army all participated in the Gelaohui; Xie Zichang and Liu Zhidan also used the "Gelaohui" to organize and develop the party's armed forces many times.It is not difficult to see from this that the "Gelaohui" has a considerable number of talents and is a political force that cannot be ignored.

After the establishment of Zhidan as the capital, Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Government of the Chinese Soviet People's Republic, issued a declaration to the national "Gelaohui" on July 15, 1936, pointing out: "The Gelaohui has always been an organization representing national patriots, peasants and toiling masses, and has always been governed by government warlords. The oppression of bureaucrats is regarded as "inferior people" and falsely called "bandits", and cannot exist openly. You used to prosper the Han Dynasty and destroy the Manchus, but now we advocate resisting Japan and saving the country; You despise wealth and value righteousness to join the heroes of the world. We sacrifice our lives to save China and the world, and unite oppressed and exploited nations and classes all over the world. Our views and opinions are not far from each other. Our enemies and ours The road is more completely the same. The treatment of the ruling class in the Gelaohui is very similar to the treatment we have received! We must unite under the demand of the common resistance against Japan, form a close brotherhood, share loyalty, and go to the national calamity together. This is your sacred obligation, and it is also the sacred obligation of the people of the whole country!" "We welcome the elders of the Gelaohui and the heroes of the Four Routes to send representatives or come in person to discuss with us the great plan of saving the country."

On July 16, the Communist Party of China issued the "Central Instructions on Winning the Gelaohui". After further analyzing the nature and characteristics of the "dual-faced" Gelaohui, the central government clearly put forward the strategy and policy of winning the Gelaohui: "(a) Promote and attract They joined the united front to resist Japan and save the nation. (2) Carry forward the revolutionary tradition of the Gelaohui in the Gelaohui, eliminate conservative, feudal, superstitious and reactionary ideas and elements in the Gelaohui, and make it suitable for the development trend of society and revolution (C) Allow the Gelaohui to exist openly in the Soviet area, and entertain and employ all oppressed Jianghu heroes and heroes in the Kuomintang area." The "Instructions" also require: "In actual work, except for the general Gelaohui In addition to the propaganda and agitation work between the leaders and the masses, they must: (a) Pay attention to finding people who are related to the Gelaohui, preferably comrades or revolutionary masses who have participated in the Gelaohui before, and first of all, they should go to the leaders of the Gelaohui, especially the heroes, to uphold righteousness. (b) Encourage and help progressive and outstanding elements in the Gelaohui, and use methods such as opening a mountain hall to obtain the leadership of the Gelaohui in a certain area. The task of leading the masses to participate in the revolution is to make them take on the task of transforming the Gelaohui into a revolutionary group and absorbing the most reliable elements among them to join the Communist Party. (c) Select capable comrades to directly join the Gelaohui to work from within and transform the Gelaohui into a revolutionary mass organize, or win the broad masses of them to the revolutionary side, and pay special attention to the connection between this work and the work of the White Army in the White Areas and the use of public activities. Religious ceremonies should adopt a prudent and patient attitude, and gradually improve them in the process of work."

The above two documents constitute the fundamental program for the Party and the Red Army to strive for the "Gelaohui", which contains a wealth of spirit and strategies of the anti-Japanese national united front.It was with the help and leadership of the Party and the Red Army that members of the "Ge Lao Hui" joined the anti-Japanese national united front and embarked on the revolutionary road of saving the country and the people. To this end, the Northwest Office of the Central Government of the Chinese Soviet established the "Gelaohui" office and the Preparatory Office of the Chinese Rivers and Lakes Anti-Japanese National Salvation Committee.The Soviet government set up a guest house to receive members of the "Gelaohui" in the past, and specially entertained the heroes of the "Gelaohui" who could not stand in the Kuomintang-controlled area.With the help of the Soviet government, the "Gelaohui" brothers who had no occupations in the past were allocated land, food, livestock, and houses, which relieved the pain of bankruptcy and unemployment, and made them truly feel that the Red Army is an army for the poor. In the next step, the convening of "Gelaohui" federations in various places has created a good political atmosphere.

After the declaration was issued, it was warmly supported by the churches of the "Gelaohui" in various places.The home of Ma Haiwang, the leader of Shipan Township, Zhidan County, was designated as the preparatory office of the Chinese Rivers and Lakes Anti-Japanese and National Salvation Committee, and in his name, invitations to the "Matou Mountain Conference" were sent to all the mountain halls of the "Gelaohui" across the country.All mountain churches responded positively and sent representatives to attend the meeting.In the Soviet area, a reception station for representatives of the "Ge Lao Hui" was specially set up to ensure board and lodging and provide convenience. From August 19 to 26, 1936, more than 1,000 representatives of the "Gelaohui" from all over the world gathered at the ruins of a Taoist temple in Matou Mountain, southwest of Zhidan County, and held a grand opening ceremony for the "National Gelaohui Congress".

Matou Mountain is rich in forests and full of birds and birds. It is located in Dongling, Dingbianqu, Yongning Town, Zhidan County, just 15 miles away from Canggou.According to historical records, there is a Lingqiu above, and the prayer for rain was answered.First, there was a large-scale Taoist Temple of Zhenwu Patriarch.Later, in the second year of Xuanhe Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty (1120 A.D.), the Temple of King Shunhui was built to worship Li Xianzhong, the general of the Song Dynasty.In the sixth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1866 A.D.), the temples of the generals of the "Hui Min Uprising" were burned down, and the Matou Mountain Taoist Temple became ruins.

Guo Diren, Chief of the Cadre Section of the Organization Department of the Central Committee, Gong Fengchun, Minister of the Work of the White Area of ​​the Chinese Soviet, Ma Xiwu, Chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Provincial Government, Jia Tuofu, Minister of the Work of the White Area, and Luo Hongxiong, Minister of the Work of the White Area of ​​the County Party Committee, attended the national " Brothers and Elders Association Congress.Participants included representatives of the "Ge Lao Hui" members of the party, government and army in the Soviet area, cadres, workers, farmers, businessmen, members of the "Ge Lao Hui" serving in the Northeast Army and Northwest Army of the Kuomintang, officers in the Kuomintang ranks in the White Area, and local militia groups. The leader, as well as the elders of the "Ge Lao Hui" selected from various places, all board and lodging will be arranged by Ma Haiwang, the leader of Xizhuang hall in Zhidan, and Bai Laowu, the housekeeper of Hongqi (only during the day).Delegates board and lodging in the surrounding Songshuping, Yushuping, Cypressside and Canggou cliff kilns, and conduct group discussions of the meeting.

Ma Haiwang is the initiator and convener of this conference.In order to make this "Gelaohui" congress a success, Ma Haiwang donated more than two stones of grain as the representative meal.Driven by him, all members of the "Gelaohui" competed to donate food. During the discussions at the meeting, Ma Haiwang tried his best to promote the party's anti-Japanese national united front policy and anti-Japanese national salvation proposition, and with the assistance of other "gelaohui" uncles, he established the China Jianghu Anti-Japanese Salvation Association, discussed and approved the anti-Japanese national salvation association's constitution.Ma Haiwang was elected as the deputy director of the Anti-Japanese Salvation Association.After the meeting, the constitution of the Anti-Japanese Salvation Association was actively implemented by representatives of the "Ge Lao Hui" in various places.All the members of the "Ge Lao Hui" in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region became a vital force in resisting Japan and saving the country.

The "Gelaohui Conference" implemented our party's national united front policy. The central topic of the meeting was: 1.Publicize the issue of anti-Japanese and national salvation; 2.The Party's policy on the "Gelaohui"; 3.Discuss the constitution of the "Gelaohui"; 4.Establish Jianghu organizations and elect mountain owners; 5.Organize the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, etc.; Through 7 days of propaganda and discussion, all the members who participated in the "Gelaohui" unanimously supported the Communist Party's anti-Japanese proposition and accepted the party's reform policy for the "Gelaohui".The General Assembly elected and established the Chinese Jianghu Anti-Japanese National Salvation Congress and the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army.

The conference also defined the aims and objectives of: (1) The purpose of the struggle: expel the Japanese invaders and eradicate the traitors; (2) Goal of struggle: Gather Chinese heroes, unite to save China, seek liberation in a democratic republic, learn the revolutionary spirit and patriotism of Mr. Ma Haiwang, and contribute to the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Movement. In December 1943, the Zhidan County Committee of the Communist Party of China and the County People's Government elected Ma Haiwang as the director of the Zhidan County Anti-Union Committee at the County Model Worker Conference. In June 1944, Ma Haiwang was seriously ill and unfortunately passed away on July 2. On the 7th, the Zhidan County Committee of the Communist Party of China and the County People's Government held a meeting of ten thousand people in Zhidan County to mourn Ma Haiwang.Li Shenghua, the county magistrate, delivered a eulogy, and Wang Yaohua, secretary of the county party committee, spoke highly of Ma Haiwang.At the memorial service, Chairman Lin Boqu, Vice Chairman of the Senate Xie Juezai, Director Liu Jingfan, Commissioner Cao Liru, and party and government agencies at all levels presented elegiac couplets; Zhidan County party and government agencies and mass organizations presented gold plaques.In December of the same year, Lin Boqu wrote an inscription on Ma Haiwang's tombstone: Mr. Ma Haiwang will be commemorated forever; Gao Gang, secretary of the Northwest Bureau, inscribed "Heroes through the ages", and proposed a couplet "Magic skills hide the horse's head and be famous through the ages, and the hero's name drives Luoshui for thousands of generations."

On June 17, 2003, the People's Government of Zhidan County designated Ma Haiwang's tomb, located by the creek in Canggou, as a "key cultural relic protection unit at the county level". On June 16, 2004, the Zhidan County Party Committee and the county government erected a monument at Ma Haiwang's tomb, engraving Ma Haiwang's life story, showing his virtues and encouraging future generations.