Chen Yannian was born in Huaining, Anhui. In June 1922, Chen Yannian, together with Zhao Shiyan, Zhou Enlai and others, founded the Chinese Youth Communist Party, a communist organization in Europe. He served as a member of the Central Executive Committee and was responsible for

On this day in 1927, 29-year-old Chen Yannian was secretly taken to the execution ground by the enemy. He dragged his heavy shackles and walked out of a bloody road...

Drawing: @steelage2011

Chen Yannian, a native of Huaining, Anhui. Chen Duxiu’s eldest son was born in 1898. In 1917, he was admitted to Sinian University to study law. In December 1919, brothers Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian went to France for a work-study program.

In early 1920, Chen Yannian, Chen Qiaonian and others left Shanghai by boat for work-study studies in France (Photo source: Yangtze Evening News)

"Youth Tour"

During his stay in France, through his own personal experience and learning, he abandoned the anarchism he originally believed in and turned to Believe in Marxism. In June 1922, Chen Yannian, together with Zhao Shiyan, Zhou Enlai and others, founded the Chinese Youth Communist Party, a communist organization in Europe. He served as a member of the Central Executive Committee and was responsible for the editing of the monthly "Youth". In the autumn of the same year, he joined the French Communist Party and soon became a member of the Communist Party of China.

In March 1923, Chen Yannian was sent by the party to enter Moscow Oriental University to study Marxism and the experience of the Russian revolution.

In the summer of 1924, the Party Central Committee decided to transfer comrades living in Russia and France to return to work in China. In October of the same year, after returning to China, Chen Yannian was sent to Guangzhou by the Party Central Committee. He successively served as the special commissioner of the Central Committee of the Socialist Youth League in Guangdong, secretary of the Guangdong District Committee of the Communist Party of China and director of the Organization Department. Soon, he was appointed Secretary of the Guangdong District Committee of the Communist Party of China. Chen Yannian attaches great importance to strengthening party building, improving the leadership structure of the district committee, establishing a party class system, focusing on the training and education of party members, and strengthening party unity. By March 1927, the Guangdong party organization had more than 9,000 party members. It was one of the local party organizations with the largest number of party members, the most complete organizational structure, and a high degree of cohesion and combat effectiveness in the country at that time.

In November 1924, Chen Yannian assisted Zhou Enlai in establishing the armored fleet of the Generalissimo of the Navy and Army. In November 1925, on the basis of the Iron Armored Team, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yannian and others agreed to select a group of Communist Party members and Communist Youth League members from the graduates of Huangpu Military Academy as the backbone, and established the famous Ye Ting Independent Regiment. In June 1925, Chen Yannian, Su Zhaozheng, Deng Zhongxia and others led the provincial and Hong Kong general strike that shocked China and foreign countries. The provincial and Hong Kong general strike lasted for 16 months and ended successfully in October 1926.

In the autumn of 1926, after Guo Moruo, dean of the School of Liberal Arts of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guo Moruo , joined the army in the Northern Expedition, Chen Yannian, then the top person in charge of the Guangdong District Party Organization, proposed and planned to invite Mr. Lu Xun to Guangzhou in time to take over Guo Moruo's post.

On January 18, 1927, Lu Xun came from Xiamen University to Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou to teach and served as the director of the Literature Department and the dean of academic affairs. Lu Xun was also the "only full professor" appointed by the " National Government " at Sun Yat-sen University at that time.

Lu Xun was able to teach at Sun Yat-sen University mainly due to the promotion of a key figure, He was Chen Yannian.

In the spring of 1927, Chen Yannian went north to Wuhan to attend the Fifth National Congress of the Communist Party of China. On the way, he was ordered to go to Shanghai to take over as Secretary of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang District Committee of the Communist Party of China. After the "April 12" counter-revolutionary coup, Shanghai is shrouded in the fog of white terror. Regardless of the danger, he worked with Zhao Shiyan and other comrades to find lost comrades, restore and rebuild the party organization, and actively carry out the struggle. In early April, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting in Wuhan and decided to send Chen Yannian, Li Lisan, Nie Rongzhen and Wei Jingsky to Shanghai to organize the establishment of a special committee. After the Jiangsu and Zhejiang District Committee was abolished in June, Chen Yannian was appointed as Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

died heroically

On June 26, 1927, Chen Yannian was arrested by the Kuomintang military police.The enemy tortured him to pieces in an attempt to force him to confess the Shanghai Party organization. But Chen Yannian always maintained a steely will and would rather die than surrender. On July 4, the enemy secretly escorted Chen Yannian to the execution ground. The executioner ordered Chen Yannian to kneel down, but he responded loudly: Revolutionaries are upright and regard death as home. They can only die standing and never kneel down! In the end, he was pinned to the ground by the murderers and brutally killed with random knives. He was only 29 years old when he died.

Chen Yannian was transferred to Shanghai when Chiang Kai-shek launched the April 12 coup and Shanghai fell into white terror. Being transferred to Shanghai meant danger and possible sacrifice. Chen Yannian chose to go retrograde without hesitation. In Shanghai, which was shrouded in white terror, Chen Yannian, Zhao Shiyan and others deployed work regardless of the danger, searched for lost comrades, restored and reconstructed the party organization, and actively carried out the struggle.

Although Chen Yannian’s life was short, it was extremely magnificent. His name will always be engraved in the hearts of the Chinese people.

" Yanqiao Road "

There is a "Yanqiao Road" in Hefei, Anhui, named in memory of the revolutionary martyrs Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian. At the end of the road is the "Prosperous Avenue."

On July 1, 2021, on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, under the street sign of "Yanqiao Road" in Hefei, citizens spontaneously came to leave bouquets silently.

The card sandwiched in the bouquet is filled with memories of the martyrs, stroke by stroke and word by word.

There was a card sandwiched in the bouquet, which read: "Although Yanqiao Road is short, it ends at a prosperous avenue. This short road has gone through a hundred years of hard work. In this prosperous age, like you, I hope that in this prosperous age, we will be your eyes and see everything for you - Chinese people."

Source: WeChat public account "Communist Youth League Central" (ID: gqtzy2014) Comprehensive collection from WeChat public account "CCTV National Memory" (ID: cctvguojiajiyi), Party Building Network