After thousands of years of development of feudal society, China has become a vast feudal empire. When world history entered the 17th century AD and the feudal fortresses of Europe were breached by the new bourgeoisie, human history entered a new era. The birth of modern science made it possible for the rule of feudal dynasties to no longer fool the people with the spiritual shackles of religious creation. The development of science and technology, and the continuous emergence of new ideas and new cultures have pushed the emancipation of human thought into a new process. However, the feudal empire sleeping on the eastern land was not awakened by the clarion call of the West's forge ahead, but its snoring was interrupted by the roar of cannons. What it saw when it woke up was that the afterglow of the feudal doomsday was shattered by the fire of foreign invasion. .
Historians have determined that the starting point of modern Chinese history was 1840 AD. Because a major event occurred this year-the Opium War. The British invaders sailed 48 ships, threatened with force, forcibly sold opium and demanded that the Qing government cede territory and pay compensation. It declared that if they did not agree to its demands, they would "continue to fight with each other." The Opium War lasted for 2 years from June 21, 1840 to August 29, 1842, when the first unequal treaty in modern Chinese history, the Treaty of Nanjing, was signed. It is also known as the "First Opium War" .
(1) The burning of the Old Summer Palace was the prelude to China’s modern history and was forcibly blasted away by the invaders’ artillery. What followed was the slaughter of stupid and weak bodies, and what was soaked in the bloody air was innocence, helplessness, the destruction of creatures under the butcher's knife, and the disintegration of civilization in the light of the fire. In 1856, the despotic power of foreign invaders was stimulated by the corruption and incompetence of the Qing government, and they became more unscrupulous. In order to further open up China's market and obtain more privileges, the invaders deliberately provoked the Second Opium War. It was during this war that the Old Summer Palace was looted and destroyed by fire. The war ended after a series of unequal treaties were forced to be signed. Britain, France, Russia, the United States and other countries gained more benefits by exposing the executioner's ferocious power, and Chinese society was further pushed into a semi-colonial state. abyss.
A British man who witnessed the burning of the Old Summer Palace by the British and French invaders once said: "When the roofs collapsed one after another, the fire on the four walls gradually choked down and spewed out huge plumes." The thick plumes of smoke... were a sad omen for the fate of this old empire, whose internal foundations had been destroyed by internecine civil war... and which resulted in being surrounded on all sides. With nowhere to turn for help, it finally let out a puff of smoke and surrendered, lost in the ashes of its past."
In June 1860, there were 200 British and French ships and more than 16,000 invading troops. , broke through the barrier and came to the entrance of Dagu, Tianjin. This was a carefully planned invasion, under the pretext of escorting the British and French ministers to Beijing to exchange the ratification of the Treaty of Tianjin signed in 1858. Its purpose was to threaten the Qing government with force and "deliver a direct blow to the Chinese government." In September of the same year, the British and French forces invaded Tongzhou. At this time, Emperor Wenzong of the Qing Dynasty (Emperor Xianfeng) had taken refuge in the Old Summer Palace, and issued an order to intercept the British envoy Park Li and others in the Old Summer Palace. On September 21, the British and French forces attacked Bali Bridge in three groups, which was known as the "Battle of Bali Bridge" in history. The "Battle of Baliqiao" was the last battle between the Qing army and the British and French invading forces in the Second Opium War. In this battle, the Qing army fought the invading army with 70,000 people, but ultimately lost. The next day, that is, in the early morning of September 22, Emperor Xianfeng, who had ordered the soldiers and civilians across the country to bravely kill the barbarians, fled in panic and rushed to Rehe after hearing the news of the defeat in the Battle of Baliqiao. According to historical records, Xianfeng's escape was extremely embarrassing. "The Luan Yu was unprepared, there were not many followers, and there were only a few chariots and horses."
Xianfeng ran away. Xianfeng's younger brother Yi set up an office in the Old Summer Palace to preside over the war.
On October 6, 1860, the British and French invaders entered Beijing from Deshengmen and Andingmen. At this time, the Qing army was already in chaos and collapsed without a fight. The invading army followed the Qing troops and retreated to the Old Summer Palace. The imperial envoy Yi
on seeing this also heard the news and fled. The invading army marched straight into the Old Summer Palace. Faced with the power of the invading army, the emperor as the king of a country ran away, the imperial envoys who were ordered to do so also ran away, the Qing army guarding the capital ran away, and the guards guarding the imperial garden also ran away. When the invading army was complacent, what they did not expect was that they encountered a heroic resistance from more than 20 good Chinese men inside the Xianliang Gate of Yuanmingyuan. Facing the vicious invaders, these more than 20 men naturally could not escape the fate of being killed, but their spirit of resisting the enemy with their own bodies made the invaders frightened.
Leading the fight against the invaders was Ren Liang, the "eighth rank leader", and more than 20 men were "skilled and brave" eunuchs in the Old Summer Palace. "Jiyong" is responsible for patrolling the guards near the palace of the emperor and empress in the garden. These eunuchs with special status were allowed to walk in the garden wearing weapons. The heroic actions of Ren Liang and others in resisting the enemy were inscribed by their colleagues for posterity. This tombstone was unearthed in 1983. History has witnessed this heroic feat and the unyielding spirit of the Chinese nation.
The Old Summer Palace, this garden embodies the great wisdom and blood and sweat of the Chinese nation. It took more than 150 years to build, and is a magnificent artistic masterpiece that combines ancient and modern Chinese and foreign architectural arts. This collection of countless Endless treasures, precious classics and cultural relics, which can be regarded as one of the cultural carriers of human culture, suffered unprecedented looting and burning from October 6 to 8, 1860. The Old Summer Palace fell under the power of the invaders. Three days later, the smoke still lingers in the northwest of the capital. It is counting the atrocities committed by the invaders that destroyed civilization and dehumanized humanity; a building of the feudal system has fallen, and what remains are stone remains that cannot be burned by flames. It is tragically It has survived the ravages of the country and is a witness to history. There is no need for us to repeat the description of the situation when the Old Summer Palace was burned. This is an unbearable page for the Chinese people. Here, we quote the words recorded in historical data to take a look at the faces and actions of the invaders: "When the bright red flames reflected on the faces of the troops engaged in arson, they looked like demons. Although they were unable to destroy what they could not The great French writer Hugo once wrote this with his sharp pen: "One day, two robbers broke into the Old Summer Palace and looted it. , the other was set on fire. As if the war was won, they could engage in robbery... They returned to Europe holding hands and smiling. This is the history of the two robbers. In our eyes, the Chinese. They are 'barbarians', but look what civilized people did to 'barbarians'!" He also said, "In the face of history, one of these two robbers is called France and the other is called England."
(2) The Reform Movement of 1898 The development of human society follows the laws of nature - the evolutionary principle of survival of the fittest in which backwardness is replaced by advanced people and ignorance is eliminated by civilization. The Romance of Modern China is the history of the decline of feudal society, as well as the history of getting rid of ignorance and pursuing light. Due to the decadence and decline of feudal rule, China was divided and humiliated in the development of modern world history. However, this does not mean that the Chinese nation has lost its blood and fighting spirit. The national spirit of self-reliance, self-reliance, knowing shame and then being brave is everywhere supporting this troubled nation. The Reform Movement of 1898 that occurred in the late 19th century was a reform movement in the late Qing Dynasty that the bourgeoisie demanded to reform politics, resist foreign aggression, and develop capitalism.
The so-called Reform Movement of 1898 refers to the reform movement of the Chinese bourgeoisie with the "Hundred Days of Reform" in 1898 as an important symbol. Because 1898 is the Year of Wuxu in the Chinese lunar calendar, it is also called the "Wuxu Reform" or the "Wuxu Reform". This reform movement initiated by the Chinese bourgeoisie to resist foreign aggression, revitalize the nation, and develop capitalism was launched in Beijing from beginning to end. Therefore, it is directly related to the development of Beijing's social history.
After the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, the plunder and carve-up of China by foreign powers reached an unstoppable level, leading to an unprecedented serious national crisis in China. However, the Qing government at that time, led by the Empress Dowager Cixi, adhered to the treasonous and conservative policies of the Hou Party, which formed a sharp contradiction with the imperial party represented by Emperor Guangxu, who was inclined to reform. The bourgeois reformists headed by Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others, under the historical environment at that time, wanted to use the support of the imperial party to carry out reforms and change China's status quo. This paved the way for the failure of the reform movement. Emperor Guangxu's support for the reform was certainly influenced by reform ideas, but fundamentally speaking, Emperor Guangxu's purpose was to consolidate his dominance in the power struggle with the rear party through the reform. The reformers did not see this.
Kang Youwei came to Beijing twice to take exams in 1882 and 1888. He witnessed what was happening in the capital and saw with his own eyes the corruption of the ruling group. For this reason, in 1888, Kang Youwei wrote directly to Emperor Guangxu as a "commoner" (the first letter to the Qing Emperor, Kang Youwei wrote to Emperor Guangxu seven times). In his letter, he bluntly stated the crisis of the current situation and put forward the idea of ??"turning it into law, understanding people's feelings, and being cautious".
At that time, if a commoner submitted a letter, he would risk beheading, but Kang Youwei dismissed this. Among the seven petitions, Kang Youwei's third petition reached the hands of Emperor Guangxu. In fact, Emperor Guangxu was somewhat influenced by and accepted the reform ideas in his thinking. He studied English and read the works of some reformist thinkers. Faced with the Qing Dynasty's deep internal and external troubles, out of the motive of safeguarding feudal rule and retaining his ruling power in the struggle with the rear party, he asked the Prime Minister's Yamen to submit Western and new books to him. Faced with the humiliating status quo of the country and the situation where Empress Dowager Cixi was in power, Emperor Guangxu gradually leaned toward the reform based on the struggle for power. As a representative of the reformists, Kang Youwei's name was very influential in the capital at that time because he dared to write letters and the content of what he said pointed out the current ills. In 1889, Kang Youwei met Zhang Jian, the counselor of Weng Tonghe, the teacher of Emperor Guangxu, in Beijing, and thus had indirect contact with Weng Tonghe, the leader of the imperial party. At the same time, Kang Youwei also made friends with some bureaucrats and scholar-bureaucrats in the capital, many of whom were imperialists. Therefore, the reform proposals of Kang Youwei and others had a great influence within the ruling group and the capital society at that time.
The late 19th century was undoubtedly the darkest period in China’s modern history. Internal and external troubles have continuously accelerated the conflicts and struggles within the ruling class and the intensification of ethnic conflicts. In 1895, when the news of the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki came, the whole country was in an uproar, and voices denounced the "traitor" Li Hongzhang could not be heard. At that time, someone wrote a couplet "Longevity without borders, the whole world celebrates; unable to do anything, cede territory and seek peace" and posted it on the wall of Duanmen of the Imperial City, expressing the incomparable resentment against the Qing government's traitorous behavior and pursuit of glory. In the spring of 1895, people from all provinces gathered in the capital to participate in the examination. Kang Youwei and his student Liang Qichao also came to the capital to take the exam. When the news of the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki came, everyone in the provinces participating in the conference was filled with indignation. Kang Youwei then gathered together with the people from the eighteen provinces at Songjun'an (the site is located at No. 12 Dazhiqiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen, the former residence of Yang Jisheng, a Jinshi during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and a famous writer and calligrapher) to discuss a joint letter to the emperor. Kang Youwei was recommended to draft the memorial on his behalf. He drafted a Ten Thousand Characters Book in more than a day, and more than 600 people signed the Ten Thousand Words Book. This is the famous "Letter on the Bus" in modern history.
In this ten-thousand-word letter, Kang Youwei denounced the harm of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" and strongly advocated "rejecting peace, moving the capital, and reforming the law." He suggested that the emperor "issue an edict to encourage the world's spirit and move the capital to a certain state." The foundation of the world is to train troops to strengthen the world, and reform the law to rule the world." This ten-thousand-word document is considered a programmatic document of the bourgeois reformist political movement, and its content includes the economic requirements for the development of capitalism. meet the political requirements for implementing a constitutional monarchy. Although the Book of Ten Thousand Characters was rejected by the Inspectorate before it reached the hands of Emperor Guangxu, its full text was widely read and publicized. At that time, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places also specially published "Secretary on the Bus", and candidates from various provinces who took the examination also spread the reform ideas in their own provinces. For this reason, Letter to the Bus is considered the starting point of the reform movement. Kang Youwei thus became a leader of the reformists who attracted national attention. In the same year, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao founded the "Global Gazette of All Nations" in Beijing, which was later renamed "China and Foreign Journals". At the same time, Kang Youwei initiated the establishment of the first political group "Qiang Xue Xue" in Beijing and published the "Qiang Xue Journal". The following year, the Qiang Society was closed down by the diehards, and the reformers founded the Current Affairs News. "Shiwu Bao" played a big role in the reform movement at that time, and its main writer was Kang Youwei's student Liang Qichao. In 1897, Germany sent warships to forcibly occupy Jiaozhou Bay under the pretext of the "Juye Mission Incident" and forced the Qing government to sign the "Jiao'ao Concession Treaty" and designated Shandong as its own sphere of influence. At this time, Kang Youwei wrote to Emperor Guangxu for the fifth time, requesting that France, Russia, and Japan be taken over to determine the state of the country. On January 29, 1898, Kang Youwei submitted the sixth letter to Emperor Guangxu, and a few days later he submitted the seventh letter.
With the reform movement growing day by day, Emperor Guangxu was forced by the deteriorating political situation and determined to use the power of the reformists to seize power from the rear party through reforms. Affected by the upsurge of the reform, some officials who were inclined to reform also submitted memorials demanding reform, which also strengthened Emperor Guangxu's determination. In 1898, Kang Youwei drafted a memorial for the imperial party, which was presented by Yang Shenxiu, Xu Zhijing and others. Kang Youwei also submitted "Please tell the ancestors of heaven to swear to all the ministers to reform the country." Therefore, in June 1898, Emperor Guangxu issued an imperial edict to determine the status of the country, pointing out: "Weiguo is uncertain, so orders will not work."
By September 21, in just over three months, Emperor Guangxu issued a series of edicts covering politics, economy, military, culture and other aspects. Emperor Guangxu also made an exception and summoned Kang Youwei on June 16. Emperor Guangxu originally intended to reuse Kang Youwei and other reformers, but due to the obstruction of the die-hards of the rear party, he only arranged for Kang Youwei to serve as Prime Minister and go to the Yamen Zhangjing to serve as a special official.
From June 11, 1898, Emperor Guangxu issued the edict "Ming Dynasty" to implement the New Deal, to September 21 of the same year, Empress Dowager Cixi launched a coup and imprisoned Emperor Guangxu in Yingtai, resulting in the failure of the New Deal, ***103 sky. Known as the "Hundred Days Reform" in history. The die-hards of the rear party, headed by the Empress Dowager Cixi, were extremely panicked and hated when they saw the reformists combining with the imperialists and pushing the reform movement to a climax. Forced by the situation, the Empress Dowager Cixi allowed Emperor Guangxu to "discretion" in promulgating the New Deal on the one hand; on the other hand, she stepped up her plans to undermine the New Deal and took the opportunity to launch a coup. On the fourth day after Emperor Guangxu promulgated the edict "Ming Dynasty", Empress Dowager Cixi forced Emperor Guangxu to issue three edicts in succession: to dismiss Weng Tonghe, Emperor Guangxu's teacher and the leader of the imperial party, and expel him to his hometown; to order the second rank of Emperor Guangxu. After being awarded new positions, the above ministers must go to the Empress Dowager Cixi to express their gratitude; Ronglu is ordered to act as the governor-general of Zhili and command the Gan Army, Wu Yi Army and the Xinjian Army. On September 21, Cixi launched a coup and ordered the killing of reformist leaders and reformers. Kang Youwei survived because he had left Beijing on September 20 and transferred to Hong Kong by boat. Liang Qichao took a Japanese ship east to Japan on the 22nd and also escaped from the tiger's mouth. Tan Sitong, Yang Shenxiu, Lin Xu, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, and Kang Guangren were arrested successively. After their arrest, Tan Si and six others were imprisoned in the Ministry of Punishment Prison. They were originally scheduled to be interrogated by the Minister of Military and Aircraft together with the Ministry of Justice and the Supervisory Office on September 26, but this procedure did not take place at all. On September 28, six people were taken directly to Caishikou execution ground without trial and executed. The six reformers showed their righteousness on the execution ground. Facing the executioner, Tan Sitong showed his fearless heroism with the heroic words of "If you have the intention to kill the thief, you will be unable to recover, and you will die a well-deserved death, and you will be happy." When the Hou Party launched a coup, someone tried to persuade Tan Sitong to take refuge and flee, but he declined. He said: "If there are no practitioners, who can plan for the future; if there are no dead, who can encourage morale? From ancient times to the present, all countries on the earth must shed their blood for the people's reform. In the past two hundred years of our country, no one has shed blood for the people's reform. Please shed blood." Since Tan Sitong. "On the execution ground, the six benevolent people regarded death as if they were home, and their awe-inspiring aura was like a rainbow.
The Reform Movement of 1898 failed. On the darkest night in China's modern history, the lingering power of feudal rule smiled sinisterly in the storm of history. Six patriots, including Tan Siping, witnessed history with their blood and sacrificed their lives for the reform. They were respected by later generations and were called the "Six Gentlemen of Wuxu".
(3) The Boxer Rebellion failed as a reform movement among the bourgeois reformists in Beijing. But its impact on feudal rule was huge.
In 1900, less than two years after the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, the anti-imperialist patriotic movement with farmers as the main body emerged, and Beijing became the center of this massive anti-imperialist struggle. The Boxer Rebellion is composed of private secret societies such as Boxer Boxing, Plum Blossom Boxing, and Dadao Hui, as well as the secret religion White Lotus Sect. Those who participated in the Boxer Rebellion were mainly farmers, handicraftsmen, footmen, sailors, fishermen and other working people. The Boxer Rebellion, organized by the lower class people in our country, formed a powerful force in the late 19th century under the situation of increasingly deepening ethnic conflicts and converged into a mass anti-imperialist and patriotic movement.
The Boxers did not have a unified organization and unified leadership. It is organized according to the Chinese Bagua: the 8 basic images used in the Book of Changes. "Yi Zhuan", which was written at the end of the Warring States Period, adopts analytical reasoning and logic as "Qian is the sky, Kun is the earth, earthquake is thunder, Xun is wind, Kan is water, Li is fire, Gen is mountain, and Dui is river". The argumentation method explains the hexagram images and explores the origin of all things and the general laws of movement in the material world. It is believed that all things such as heaven and earth, thunder and wind, water and fire, mountains and rivers are opposite each other and interact with each other, and the opposition of yin and yang is the fundamental reason for the development of things, which embodies the simple materialist dialectical view. Therefore, Bagua not only has a great influence in the history of Chinese philosophy, but also gives people a lot of inspiration in today's philosophy, social sciences and natural science research. It is divided into 8 systems, and each system is divided into the general altar and the harmonious altar. The leaders of the altar are called senior brother, second senior brother and other different titles. For women, there are organizations such as Red Light Photo and Green Light Photo. The altars are independent from each other and do not belong to each other.
The slogan of the Boxer Rebellion was "Support the Qing Dynasty and destroy the foreign countries", and the targets of the attack were directly targeted at foreign aggressive forces such as the church. In 1900, the Boxers developed rapidly in various parts of North and Northeast China, forming a strong momentum in Beijing, Tianjin, Baoding and other regions. According to statistics, there were more than 800 tan factories in Beijing alone at that time.
The emergence of the Boxer Movement was not accidental. It is the product of the mass anti-foreign religion struggle in the context of unprecedentedly acute ethnic conflicts in modern my country. In the Qing Dynasty, the policy of banning Christianity was implemented since Kangxi and Yongzheng. Except for Western Catholic priests working in the capital, other foreign priests were not allowed to preach in China. However, since the Opium War, foreign forces in China have continued to expand. The Treaty of Huangpu signed between China and France in 1844 restored the presence of French missionaries in five families: In August 1842, Qing government representatives Qi Ying, Illich and The British representative Pu Dingcha signed the Sino-British "Jiangning Treaty" (i.e., the "Nanjing Treaty") at Xiaguan, Nanjing, which contained 13 treaties. Among them: five coastal cities, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai, were opened as treaty ports, allowing the British to live and trade. local missionary rights, and stipulates that the Chinese government must protect churches and French missionary activities in China. Since then, the activities of Western missionaries in China have gradually been "legalized" and become increasingly rampant with the opening of treaty ports.
Western missionaries enjoy various privileges based on unequal treaties. The French government allocated huge sums of money from China's military compensation after the Second Opium War to rebuild four churches in the east, west, south and north of Beijing. In 1886, when the Sanhai 3 project was being expanded, the North Church located at Canchikou was moved to Xishiku. For this reason, the Qing government issued an edict in the name of the emperor and awarded treasury money for the construction of the church. These acts of flattery undoubtedly fueled the activities of foreign missionaries. In 1870, thirty or forty children died in the nursery attached to the Wanghailou French Catholic Church in Tianjin. At the same time, incidents of child abduction continued to occur in the Tianjin area. The confessions of the captured abductors all mentioned that the matter involved God. church. For this reason, thousands of people gathered at Wanghailou to reason. The French consul in Tianjin asked the Chinese official to send troops to suppress the movement, threatened Qing government officials with guns, and killed the entourage of the Tianjin magistrate. This angered the crowd present. They killed the French consul on the spot, rescued the young child, and burned down Wanghai Tower, its American and British churches, and the French consulate, killing 20 foreign missionaries, businessmen, and officials. This is the famous "Tianjin Teaching Case". After the "Burning Wanghai Tower" incident in Tianjin, someone sent a message to Beijing at night, and the residents of Beijing also had to take action after hearing the news. From this, we can see that the hatred between people and religion in the Beijing area was also very serious at that time.
In June 1900, a large number of Boxers poured into the capital from prefectures and counties on the outskirts of Beijing. Prior to this, in April and May, there was a legend among the people that a stone tablet was dug out of a coal cave in Wenquan Mountain. The inscription said: "What I hate the most is that the peace treaty has harmed the country and the people. It has been implemented but has not been redressed. The people's injustice has not been redressed. From now on, I have become a foreigner with the wings of a foreigner. Follow the trend and wreak havoc on the same people." This legend cannot be verified, but it is very obvious that the Boxer Rebellion's struggle was directed against foreign invaders and pointed at the Qing government's rule that was disastrous for the country and the people. After the Boxers entered the capital, they besieged churches in the suburbs. Many churches in the inner and outer cities were burned by the group members, killing missionaries, their evil-doing parishioners and spies. They also burned down foreign banks and stores, as well as Western-style buildings, racecourses, and tombs built by foreigners.
Although the activities of the Boxer Rebellion were scattered and without unified leadership, they were directed at foreign invaders, making the Western powers extremely hostile. On June 10, eight countries including Britain, France, Japan, Russia, Germany, the United States, Italy and Austria formed an invasion force of more than 2,000 people. They set out from Tianjin and invaded Beijing by train. On June 17, the invading army forcibly landed in Dagu, and then invaded Tianjin and Beijing. From June 15 to August 14, more than 10,000 Boxer people besieged the Xishku Church. From June 20 to August 14, the Qing army and the Boxer Rebellion launched another attack on the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane. On August 14, the Eight-Power Allied Forces captured the city of Beijing. Empress Dowager Cixi and a group of princes and ministers including Emperor Guangxu fled to Xi'an in a hurry. After the Eight-Power Allied Forces captured Beijing and Tianjin, they burned, killed, looted and committed all kinds of crimes. The Boxer Rebellion failed under the suppression of the Eight-Power Allied Forces. After the Boxer Rebellion was suppressed, the Qing government was forced to sign the "Xinchou Treaty" with the imperialist countries. From then on, the Qing government became the agent of imperialism in China, and China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal order was completely established.
Although the Boxer Rebellion's anti-imperialist and patriotic movement failed, this movement dealt a heavy blow to the imperialist ambitions to carve up China and fully demonstrated the Chinese people's national spirit of not fearing power and resisting foreign humiliation.
(4) The "May 4th" movement in Beijing lasted for a hundred years in modern Chinese history, and it was a page of great disaster in Chinese history. The corrupt feudal rule, in the despicable act of losing power and humiliating the country, surrendered China's sovereignty to the imperialist powers in a traitorous act of bending the knee to foreigners, while the foreign invaders greedily and frantically carved up China, mercilessly chewing up the distribution obtained through rape. with bloody mouth. However, China's destiny cannot be determined by others. The Chinese nation has never yielded despite the ruthless ravages. Instead, it has straightened its body and raised its unyielding head after learning from the pain.
On May 4, 1919, an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal patriotic movement broke out in Beijing. The "May 4th" movement marked the end of China's old democratic revolution and the beginning of the new democratic revolution. It was an important turning point in the history of the Chinese revolution.
After the end of World War I, in January 1919, the victorious countries such as Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and Japan held a "Peace Conference" in Paris, France. At that time, China's Beiyang warlord government also sent representatives to the conference as a "victorious nation" and proposed to the peace conference that the great powers should give up their privileges in China, cancel "Twenty-One" and directly return Germany's various privileges in Shandong to China. requirements. These demands were rejected by the imperialist countries participating in the peace conference. However, representatives of the Chinese warlord government were prepared to sign the peace treaty. This news reached the country and immediately aroused nationwide outrage. On May 4, more than 3,000 students from more than a dozen schools in Beijing rallied in front of Tiananmen Square. They chanted slogans such as "Strive for national rights abroad and punish national traitors at home" and "Abolish the 21", demanding severe punishment for traitors. Later, students held demonstrations. When the parade arrived at the west entrance of Dongjiaomin Lane, it was blocked by the foreign guards. The parade changed its route and went straight to the residence of Cao Rulin (the then chief of transportation and a signer of the "21") in Zhaojialou, where they beat Zhang Zongxiang (Zhang Zongxiang) who was there. At that time, he was the minister to Japan and a signatory of the transfer of Shandong power to Japan) and burned down Cao Rulin's house. Faced with the righteous behavior of the patriotic students, the Beiyang government dispatched a large number of military police, arrested more than 30 students, and dispersed the parade. The next day, students across Beijing went on strike and called the country to protest. After the power was sent out, students and overseas Chinese in Tianjin, Shanghai, Jinan, Guangzhou, Changsha and other places responded one after another, and a massive patriotic movement broke out. On June 3 and 4, the Beiyang government arrested nearly a thousand more students, arousing even greater anger among the people across the country. Workers in Shanghai, Tangshan, Changxindian and other places also joined the movement and held political strikes one after another. The working class became the main force of the movement. Under the pressure of the people's movement, the Beiyang government was forced to release the arrested students and dismissed Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang, and Lu Zongyu (then president of the Currency Bureau and minister to Japan when the "Twenty-One" was signed). , and refused to sign the peace treaty on the 28th.
The occurrence of the "May 4th" movement was not accidental, but had profound reasons and social foundations. As the birthplace of the May Fourth Movement, Beijing is directly related to the fact that the New Culture Movement before the May Fourth Movement provided ideological preparation for the emergence of the May Fourth Movement.
When talking about the New Culture Movement, the first thing to mention is the role of advanced intellectuals. Li Dazhao was the main advocate of the New Culture Movement in Beijing.
Li Dazhao Li Dazhao (1889～1927), China’s earliest Marxist and one of the founders of the Communist Party of China. The word Shou Chang. A native of Leting, Zhili (now Hebei Province). In the winter of 1913, he studied in Japan. In the spring of 1914, he entered Japan's Waseda University as a political undergraduate. Participated in the movement against Yuan Shikai. In the spring of 1916, he wrote a long essay "Youth", which was a representative work of revolutionary democracy at that time. At the same time, he edited the magazine "Minyi" to promote democracy and freedom. In the same year, he returned to China and served as editor-in-chief of Beijing's "Morning Bell". In 1918, he served as professor of economics and director of the library of Peking University and editor of "New Youth" magazine. Under the influence of the Russian October Revolution, he studied and discussed Marxism in depth. In July and November 1918, he published articles such as "A Comparative View of the Russian Revolution" and "The Victory of the Common People", praising the great victory of the October Revolution. At the end of the same year, he co-founded "Weekly Review" with Chen Duxiu. In 1919, he supported and led the "May 4th" patriotic movement and fought against the erroneous reformist ideological trend represented by Hu Shi.
In May of the same year, he published "My View of Marxism" to systematically promote the principles of Marxism. This was a sign of his transformation from a radical democrat to a Marxist. In March 1920, China's first Marxist theory research conference was organized at Peking University. In September of the same year, he initiated the establishment of a communist group in Beijing and founded the weekly "Labourers" to publicize Marxism-Leninism to the workers. After the First Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1921, he was responsible for the party's overall work in the north, founded "Workers Weekly", and launched the labor movement. The Second, Third and Fourth National Congress of the Communist Party of China were all elected as members of the Central Committee. In 1922, he attended a special meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in West Lake, Hangzhou, and then went to Shanghai to meet with Sun Yat-sen, explaining the Communist Party of China's proposition of implementing Kuomintang cooperation and establishing a revolutionary united front, and took the lead in joining the Kuomintang. In January 1924, he attended the First Congress of the Chinese Kuomintang and was elected as a member of the Central Executive Committee. In June of the same year, he led the Chinese delegation to attend the Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of China. After returning to China, he took charge of the work of the Northern District Committee of the Communist Party of China, developing strength under the white terror and expanding the revolutionary united front. He was arrested by the warlord Zhang Zuolin on April 6, 1927, and died heroically in Beijing on the 28th. His posthumous works include "Collected Works of Li Shouchang" and "Selected Works of Li Dazhao". In 1916, he served as editor-in-chief of "Morning Bell". The "Morning Bell" he edited published articles exposing the reactionary rule of the Beiyang warlord government and about the current situation and political commentary; it also opened columns such as "New Trends of Thought" and "New Wisdom Sea". He served as editor-in-chief of the newspaper for only 20 days, but his impact was huge. On August 15, in the first issue of the newspaper, he wrote an article "The Mission of "Morning Bell"", proposing the idea of ??creating "Youth China". The so-called creation of youthful China reflects his idea as a democratic revolutionary at that time to establish a democratic, free and modern civilized bourgeois republic. This concept and thought played a role in liberating the mind at that time.
In addition, since Cai Yuanpei became president in 1917, Peking University has reformed education and put forward the school philosophy of "freedom of thought and inclusiveness", which has created a suitable soil and environment for the spread of new ideas and new culture. condition. Cai Yuanpei appointed scholars with progressive ideas at the time, such as Chen Duxiu as the dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Li Dazhao as the director of the library. As a result, the fresh air of Peking University has attracted a large number of intellectual talents with ideals and pursuit of truth.
In 1917, the October Socialist Revolution in Russia achieved victory. Beijing's "Morning Bell" reported the news, which attracted the attention of all walks of life. The victory of the October Revolution brought hope to China. Li Dazhao was the first to write an article introducing the significance and nature of the October Revolution. Under the influence of the October Revolution, progressive young people were eager to understand Russia, which had established a new socialist regime, and to understand the world. Progressive publications such as "New Youth" and "Weekly Review" are important propaganda positions that reflect these new trends of thought and influence progressive youth. It should be said that before the May 4th Movement, the role of these advanced intellectuals in spreading progressive ideas made ideological preparations for the emergence of the anti-imperialist and patriotic movement. After the baptism of the "May 4th" movement, especially the influence of the October Revolution, many advanced young people quickly grew into Marxists after the "May 4th" movement. Since then, a new dawn has emerged for the Chinese revolution.