"Song of the Seven Sons" was composed in March 1925, when Wen Yiduo was in New York. In its preface, Alsace-Lorraine is translated as Alsace and Lorraine, located in eastern France. The foothills of the Alps were ceded to Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and returned after the Treaty of Versailles. On the one hand, the poem expresses nostalgia and praise for the motherland, and on the other hand, it expresses hatred for the aggression of imperialist powers.
In the summer of 1925, Wen Yiduo returned from studying in the United States. Stepping off the ship, the poet could not suppress his excitement, threw his suit and tie into the river, and eagerly rushed into the embrace of the motherland. However, what awaits him is boundless darkness and humiliation...
Looking at his home country, the mountains and rivers are broken, the storm is like rock, the wolves are in power, the foreign powers are rampant, and the motherland has been occupied by the foreign powers in seven pieces of land... The poet wrote the poem "Discovery" with grief and indignation, and immediately published the famous patriotic poem "Song of the Seven Sons" in "Modern Review". The "Seven Sons" refer to the seven lands occupied by the great powers at that time: Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Kowloon, Weihaiwei, Guangzhou Bay (Zhanjiang, Guangdong) and Luda (Lushun, Dalian).
History has not forgotten that humiliating month of August 1842. Qing officials groveled aboard the British warship HMS Cornwallis anchored on the Nanjing River and signed the first treaty in modern Chinese history under the gaze of heavily armed British soldiers. Unequal treaty - the Sino-British Treaty of Nanjing. The treaty stipulated that China's Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain, and the prelude to the carving up of China by the great powers began.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, in 1553, the Portuguese landed in Macau on the pretext of "drying goods" and obtained the right to reside in Macau from the local officials of Guangdong at the price of 500 taels of silver per year;
In 1573, they transferred 500 taels of silver to the Ming government and obtained leased residence rights in Macau. At this time, Macau's territorial sovereignty still belonged to China. The Ming Dynasty government set up garrison officers and troops in Macau to exercise comprehensive jurisdiction over Macau.
In 1860, China and Britain signed the "Treaty of Beijing", and Britain ceded the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula; in 1898, the Qing government was forced to sign the "Special Treaty for Expanding the Boundary Site of Hong Kong", and the "Sisters of Hong Kong" Kowloon Peninsula The remaining part was designated as the "New Territories" and leased to the United Kingdom for 99 years.
In 1887, after the Portuguese government and the Qing government signed the Sino-Portuguese Peace and Trade Treaty, which was valid for 40 years (expired in 1928), Macau became a Portuguese colony and the Portuguese occupied it from then on. Macao, the "Lotus Land".
In 1895, China and Japan signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands, the "string of pearls in the East China Sea", were ceded to Japan. Also ceded at the same time were the "twin brothers" on the Bohai Bay. "Port Arthur and Dalian (Lease from the Russian Empire).
In 1898, China and Britain signed the "Special Treaty on the Lease of Weihaiwei", and Weihaiwei, "the master of sea defense", was leased to the United Kingdom for 25 years.
In 1899, China and France signed the "Guangzhou Bay Concession Treaty", and Guangzhou Bay (the old name of today's Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province), "an iron lock on the back door of China", was leased to France.
By 1900, the imperialist powers had forcibly opened hundreds of commercial ports on Chinese soil and designated more than 20 concessions in more than 10 cities. The "Seven Sons of China" were scattered under the power of imperialist powers such as Britain, France, Japan, and Russia. There is a poem that represents the mood of the patriots at that time: "My China is sleeping soundly, but I don't know that patriotism means loving home. The people know that it is better to wake up now, and don't wait until the soil is divided like melons."
The Seven Sons shed tears. Below, the poet sings his lament alone. Wen Yiduo witnessed the "collapse of the country's territory for a long time" and felt that China's homeland was "not supported by the motherland and abused by aliens". "Because of this, he chose seven places with the closest relationship with China to compose one song for each. Chapter, to express his sorrow for the motherland, and to inspire the people of the country." (Introduction to "Song of the Seven Sons")
The love for the motherland stirs up in the lines of poetry. , The strong emotion of eagerly awaiting reunification immediately aroused strong responses among readers. A young man surnamed Wu wrote in a letter to the editorial office: "I read "Song of the Seven Sons" and cried out in sorrow one after another, and I didn't know how tears filled my eyes. I read "Shi Shi Biao" and "Chen Qing Biao" At that time, I was not so moved."
The "Seven Sons of China" captured by the foreign powers are a symbol of national disaster and national catastrophe. It shows: "A weak country and its people will be humiliated" and "it will be beaten if it falls behind"; it warns the people: "The Chinese nation has reached its most dangerous moment!"
For more than 100 years, generations of Chinese people have fought for The country is prosperous and the nation is independent. They have stepped forward, shed their heads and blood, and continued to explore, and have composed one magnificent historical poem after another.
The Chinese people’s indomitable will to pursue reunification has become an unstoppable torrent. In October 1930, China took back Weihaiwei; in 1945, the Chinese people defeated the Japanese invaders. On October 25, the last Japanese governor in Taiwan, Ando Toshiyoshi, submitted a letter of surrender to the Chinese government at Zhongshan Hall in Taipei, and Taiwan returned to China. territory. At the same time, Guangzhou Bay, Lushun and Dalian have also returned to the embrace of the motherland. On July 1, 1997, China resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong (including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories); on December 20, 1999, the Chinese government resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Macao.