Before the founding of the party, why did Xiao Zisheng break with Chairman Mao? What was the end of exile overseas in his later years?

In his youth, Chairman Mao Zedong studied at Changsha No. 1 Normal School. At that time, he and his close friends Xiao Zisheng and Cai Xuesen were both proud disciples of teacher Yang Changji . They were called the "Three Friends of Xiangjiang" because they were both excellent in character and academics and were like-minded.

At that time, the relationship between Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng was very good. During the summer vacation of 1917, the two of them spent more than a month without a penny on them, traveling around 5 counties, cities, and rural areas including Changsha, Anhua, and Yiyang, and traveled nearly a thousand miles.

However, just such a pair of close friends, on the eve of the founding of the party in 1921, chose to part ways. Xiao Zisheng took the initiative to break with Chairman Mao and did not go back and forth.

As everyone knows, Chairman Mao later led the party and people to establish a new China and became the great leader of the Chinese people. While Xiao Zisheng was a former friend of Chairman Mao, but he disappeared in his later years and went into exile overseas.

Xiao Zisheng

So, why did Xiao Zisheng break with Chairman Mao? What is the final outcome of Xiao Zisheng?

Wizards and Wizards

Xiao Zisheng was born in a scholarly court in Xiangxiang, Hunan. He was born in July 1894, 8 months younger than Chairman Mao. He has been agile and talented since he was a child.

Like Chairman Mao, Xiao Zisheng once studied in the Xiangxiang Dongshan Higher Primary School, but Xiao Zisheng entered the "Dong Elementary School" in 1907 and graduated in 1909. And Mao Zedong was admitted to the "Dong Xiao" in 1910.

Later, Xiao Zisheng went to Hunan Provincial First Normal School to study. The Chinese teacher of the first division Wang Qin'an admired Xiao Zisheng’s poems and essays very much. The legacy of posthumous title Wenzhong.” Yang Changji, who was teaching at the No. 1 Middle School at the time, also admired Xiao Zisheng very much, and once included excerpts from Xiao Zisheng’s epigrams.

Yang Changji

For example, Xiao Zisheng once wrote this sentence in his composition: " did not build me for me, but for the country; not for me to learn, but for learning. ” Yang Changji couldn't help but admire the festival after seeing it, and couldn't help copying it into his diary, and commented below: " has something to see, so it is recorded here. " Zhang Zizhengmeng" said, "Dao Neng" “The death of a thing” means that “a gentleman is greater than the Tao”, which is exactly what it means. ”

On the other hand, when Mao Zedong was studying in the “East Elementary School”, he met Xiao Zisheng’s younger brother Xiao Zizhang ( Also known as Xiao San), the two are classmates and have a very good relationship. Once Mao Zedong borrowed a copy of "The Legend of World Heroes" from Xiao Zizhang, and he admired the stories of Washington, , Peter the Great, , Napoleon, Lincoln, etc., and he hoped that China would do the same. There are figures like them who lead China out of the current predicament and save the Chinese nation from peril.

Xiao Zizhang

When returning the book to Xiao Zizhang, Mao Zedong solemnly said: "China is weak and weak. It will take a long time to make it prosperous and independent, but the length of time does not matter. Washington won the victory after eight years of war and established the United States! We must also prepare for a long-term struggle!"

In 1913, 20-year-old Mao Zedong was admitted to the Hunan Provincial Fourth Normal School. The first division merged, and Mao Zedong also became a member of the first division. Because Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng can be regarded as "hometowns" ( Xiangxiang adjacent to Shaoshan ),Moreover, he was friends with Xiao Zisheng's younger brother, so they soon met.

Like Xiao Zisheng, Mao Zedong is also good at poetry, and his composition is often scored full marks by Yang Changji. Mao Zedong once wrote an essay called "The Power of Heart". Yang Changji couldn't put it down after reading it. He scored a perfect score of 100 on the spot. After thinking about it, Yang Changji added five points to the full score.

Young Mao Zedong

At that time, there was an exhibition room in the first division. The school often selected representative works from the compositions written by students in more than a dozen classes in the school and displayed them here for the whole school to observe. ,Learn. Because Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng’s essays have often become models for the observation of teachers and students in the school, they have a full understanding of each other’s thoughts and style of writing, and the relationship between the two has changed from "people they know". For "like-minded friends".

During the first division, Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng not only discussed literary issues, but also often discussed China's future path. The two of them often used newspapers to learn about major events at home and abroad, and talked on the "Miao Gaofeng" in the back of the first division.

At that time, Yuan Shikai was serving as the president. Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng agreed that Yuan Shikai was the one who deceived the world, and that Mr. Sun Yat-sen was the real revolutionary leader. Unfortunately, Mr. Sun did not have military power. They feel that if they want to change this situation, they can only find new forces and plan out a firm ideal that they all believe in.

Yuan Shikai

In the summer of 1915, Xiao Zisheng graduated from the First Division, while Mao Zedong remained in school to continue his studies. However, the distance did not affect the feelings between the two friends, on the contrary, the friendship between them lasted longer. Among the 13 existing letters from Chairman Mao to Xiao Zisheng from 1915 to 1918, there were three from the end of June to the beginning of July 1916. It's no wonder that Mao Zedong would give Xiao Zisheng the couplet "A few days away from each other, and love for a thousand miles and three autumns" to express his longing for his friends.

Travel and study

After the summer vacation of the first division in July 1917,In order to understand the people's sentiments, get familiar with the society, and exercise his courage, Mao Zedong found Xiao Zisheng, who taught at Chuyi Primary School, and invited him to be a "beggar" ( ) with him.

Xiao Zisheng (film and television image)

Mao Zedong didn’t really want to be a “beggar”, but instead planned to take a long-distance trip without a penny with him. The food and lodging problems depend on “begging”. solve.

In the old society, poor scholars or unemployed school teachers often chose to send couplets to large businesses everywhere and accept a little gift from the other side because they were struggling with their livelihoods. This is called "fighting the autumn wind" in society. Mao Zedong intends to conduct a rural social survey in the five counties of Changsha, Ningxiang, Anhua, Yiyang, and Yuanjiang through the method of "begging and studying in the autumn wind".

Xiao Zisheng was very interested in Mao Zedong's proposal. The two brought an umbrella and a satchel carrying clothes and the four treasures of the study went out.

On the day of departure, Xiao Zisheng decided to compose a poem to strengthen the itinerary. After a moment of contemplation, Xiao Zisheng chanted:

The umbrella is on his shoulders, and he has no money on his head and hands.

Go to see how the rivers and mountains tens of thousands of miles, how to rectify the air boxing.

After setting off, Xiao Zisheng and Mao Zedong passed through many towns and remote villages by means of "breaking the autumn breeze". They learned about the living conditions of peasants and people of all classes and the customs and customs of the society, and enjoyed a lot of Places of interest.

During the day, the two of them rushed under the scorching sun and braved the scorching heat. At night, they slept with " sand as a bed, stones as a pillow, blue sky as a tent, and moonlight as a lamp". Sometimes they met good-hearted people. , Will stay with them for one night.

Whenever Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng went to a school, a store, or a household, they went to "play the autumn wind". But Xiao Zisheng couldn't let go of his inner pride.He is only willing to write couplets, not to send couplets. If you want to ask someone for directions, you have to organize your clothes first, cough twice, and then ask the other person.

The couplet Xiao Zisheng was unwilling to do it, so it naturally fell on Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong is humble, regardless of whether the other party is a merchant or a peasant, he treats each other with courtesy, and he can talk with anyone in an easygoing manner.

When the two arrived in Anhua, they decided to visit the well-known local scholar, Xia Moan, the director of the Quanxue Institute who was over sixty years old. As a result, Xia Moan relied on his scholarship and had always been unwilling to pay attention to scholars who studied abroad. Therefore, they had asked to see twice in a row, but Xia Moan was turned away. When the two came to visit for the third time, Xia Moan was finally willing to see them, but to try their knowledge, an upper couplet came out: " The sound of birds on the green poplar branches, spring is here, and spring is gone. ”

After listening to Mao Zedong’s improvisational answer, he got the bottom line: “ The frog in the grass pond is public? Private? ”

The young Mao Zedong

From the "Book of Jin Hui Di Ji": "Emperor tasted at Hualin Garden again, and heard the sound of prawns, saying left and right: "This man is an official? Private?" "Jin Huidi Sima Zhong means: "These groaning things in Hualin Garden ( does not know toad ), are they public or private?" And Mao Zedong's Xialian means: "In the clear pond The frog yelled in one sentence. Is it for the public or for himself?"

It can be said that while Mao Zedong’s lower couplets are in order, they are decent and have profound meaning. Because of this, Xia Mo'an admired his talents very much and immediately treated each other with courtesy and allowed the two to stay overnight. When parting the next day, Xia Mo'an personally delivered it to the gate and presented 8 silver dollars as travel expenses.

The study tour of Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng lasted more than a month,In order to commemorate this event, after they returned to Changsha, the two of them deliberately wore their travel clothes and straw sandals and ran to take a picture.

The notes written by Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng in this study tour also made the classmates and friends of the First Division vying to borrow them. Everyone praised them: "Without a half-text, worry about the world."

Finding the Way

The age when Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng grew up was an old society where warlords fought against each other and the people didn't have a lot of livelihood. At that time, almost all aspiring young people were actively looking for ways and methods to get China out of the current dark situation. Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng were no exception.

They believe that if you want to change the status quo, you must launch an ideological revolution in philosophy and ethics, and fundamentally change the nation's thinking.

To this end, the two of them circulated a "revelation for soliciting friends" in the city of Changsha, inviting young students with "noble morals, diligence, and progress" to "work together".

After a period of preparation, Mao Zedong, Cai Hesen, Xiao Zisheng, Xiao Zizhang and others established the Xinmin Society in April 1918, and elected Xiao Zisheng as the director general of the society and Mao Zedong as the director. The word "Xinmin" here comes from "University". In modern times, , Yan Fu , Chen Duxiu and others have carried forward it, calling on the people of the country to "clean up the old and dye the new".

Cai Hesen

The original purpose of Xinmin Society was to "innovate academics and strengthen moral character." Later, the Society revised its purpose according to Mao Zedong's proposal and became "transform China and the world."

When the Xinmin Society was first established, there were only more than 20 people. After successive absorption, the membership expanded to more than 80 people, most of whom were young students with lofty ambitions.

In 1918, the Xinmin Society planned to arrange for its members to go to France for work-study programs. For this reason, Cai Hesen and Xiao Zisheng were specially recommended to go to Beijing to find Yang Changji. On the recommendation of the other party, they visited Cai Yuanpei, Li Shizeng and other initiators of the work-study movement to France.Then began to collect travel expenses in Beijing.

Soon after, Mao Zedong also took Zhang Kundi, Luo Zhanglong and the first batch of members who were going to France to Beijing, and lived in No. 7 Ji'an Hutong Road, Sanyanjing, Di'anmen, Beijing.

Li Dazhao

While in Beijing, Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng and others opened preparatory classes for studying in France while working as assistants in the library of Peking University. Here, Mao Zedong met a guide on the revolutionary road: Li Dazhao, director of the Peking University Library.

During this period, Mao Zedong read through Li Dazhao's "The Victory of the Common People", "The Victory of the Bolsheviks" and other articles introducing the Russian October Revolution and Marxism, and were deeply attracted by them. Later, after interacting with Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi and others, he experienced the baptism of the "problem and ism debate", which gave him a deeper understanding of Marxism.

At the same time when Mao Zedong began to get in touch with Marxism, Xiao Zisheng, as secretary of the Huafa Education Association, took a boat from Shanghai to France in February 1919 with the first batch of students to France, and received 20 batches in France, 2000 The remaining international students.

Cai Hesen

At that time, various isms and thoughts were popular in France, and at the same time, the influence of the revisionism of the Second International still remained. It is precisely because of this that the members of the Franco-Xinhua People's Institute have uneven changes in their world outlook.

For example, through careful observation and thinking in France, Cai Hesen recognized the trend of the world revolution , understood the guiding ideology and organizational principles of the Communist Party, and turned into a communist in the summer of 1920.

Xiao Zisheng was influenced by the Bernstein and Kautsky revisionist thoughts during his stay in France. He felt that China should take the reformist road.

He said at a conference: "The evolution of the world is infinite,The revolution is also endless, and we do not recognize that we can sacrifice part of it for the welfare of the majority. "He advocated a mild revolution, that is, "a revolution that uses education as a tool, a revolution that works for the welfare of the people as a whole." "

Break

Young Mao Zedong

The ideological differences between Cai Xuesen and Xiao Zisheng cannot be made up. They wrote to Mao Zedong to state their ideas and win his support.

There is a certain degree of illusion, but after the failure of the "Hunan Autonomous Movement", he realized that "the political world has become turbulent and corrupt, and there is absolutely no hope for political reform", and firmly established the Marxist belief. Became a firm communist.

Therefore, Mao Zedong sent letters to Cai Hesen on December 1, 1920 and January 21, 1921, expressing his disagreement with Xiao Zisheng’s proposition, because:

" Education requires money and people. Third, there must be organs. In this world now, money is in the hands of capitalists. The people who preside over education are capitalists. The two most important educational institutions, schools and newspapers, are also in the hands of capitalists. In short, education in the world today is a form of capitalism. Education. ”

Obviously, there is no hope for capitalists to convert to communism through education.

Youth Mao Zedong

From these letters, we can see that Mao Zedong and Xiao Zisheng, two friends, On the question of how to save China and transform China, we no longer meet each other.

In March 1921, Xiao Zisheng returned to Changsha, and in Cultural Publishing House, he discussed how to transform China with Mao Zedong many times. The fierce debates broke up without joy.

In June, Mao Zedong prepared to go to Shanghai to participate in the upcoming CCP National Congress. As a result, he was actively involved in the revolution for a long time.He was so shy in his pocket that he couldn't even afford the ticket to Shanghai.

At the same time, Dong Biwu from Hubei is also very anxious because he has no money to go to Shanghai. Fortunately, the Xinmin Society member Xiong Jinjing knew this, and immediately took out 20,000 oceans for them to go to Shanghai, and at the same time indicated that the remaining money was used to fund the party's activities.

Xiong Jinying

On the evening of June 29, Mao Zedong and He Shuheng came to the Xiangjiang Ferry Terminal together and boarded the steamer to Shanghai. When the steamer passed through Yueyang, Mao Zedong accidentally saw Xiao Zisheng who was on the ship. Coincidentally, the two were in the same cabin.

Later, Xiao Zisheng once recalled this meeting. He said: " was the last night. We slept in the same bed and talked about dawn. Mao Zedong always persuaded me to join the Communist Party. He said, if we do our best It doesn’t take a thousand years to go. The Communist Party can change China in 30 to 40 years. The difference in philosophy has since parted ways, and has never seen each other since. After