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The portrait of Chairman Mao on Tiananmen is very familiar with everyone, and countless people come here to pay tribute every day. But in fact, not only are the portraits of Chairman Mao hanging on Tiananmen Square, but there are portraits of 12 people hanging on Tiananmen Square. In other words, in addition to Chairman Mao, there are 11 people who have also been hung on them. So who are these 11 people?
The first portrait of Tiananmen Square may not have imagined that it is not someone else, but the portrait of Yuan Shikai . The character Yuan Shikai has been mixed and controversial so far, but it is certain that he is indeed talented and not an incompetent person.
Yuan Shikai was born in a bureaucratic family in Xiangcheng, Henan Province. He liked to read military tactics since he was a child, and was determined to be a general and make contributions to the battlefield. But Yuan Shikai was not actually going well in his early years. He participated in the provincial examination many times, but failed the exam. In anger, he simply burned all kinds of poetry and books: "A real man should serve the battlefield, to protect the outside world, can he be dirty and trapped in the pen and inkstone for a long time, and will he miss his time?" So Yuan Shikai joined the army and defected to Wu Changqing, the general of the Huai Army who had a friendship with his father.
But what made him shine in the end was North Korea's " Renwu Army Chaos ". North Korea was a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty at that time. In 1882, a coup occurred in North Korea. At that time, Queen Min, who was in power in North Korea, urgently asked for help from the Qing Dynasty. Yuan Shikai followed Wu Changqing across the sea to North Korea to quell the rebellion. He rushed forward and fought his way out, making great contributions to quelling the rebellion in North Korea. Later, Wu Changqing made contributions to Yuan Shikai, and Yuan Shikai was appointed to help North Korea's military affairs and began his own promotion with North Korea.
In 1884, North Korea experienced another coup. The so-called "Caihua Party members" tried to join forces with the Japanese army to launch a coup, thus turning North Korea into a pro-Japanese country, known in history as the "Jashen Coup". Without the Qing Dynasty's instructions, Yuan Shikai decisively sent troops to quell the rebellion in one fell swoop and maintained the Qing Dynasty's control over North Korea. Japan's attempt to control North Korea went bankrupt. This move caused some controversy, but Li Hongzhang, , and others firmly supported Yuan Shikai, and Yuan Shikai was commended again.
1894, the "Dongxue Party Uprising" broke out in North Korea, and Japan began to plot against North Korea again. Because Japan was ready for a full-scale war this time and invested a lot of troops, Yuan Shikai urgently asked the Qing court for help, but the court was insensitive and slow to act. In order to avoid "taking the blame", Yuan Shikai simply found an excuse to slip back to the country on the eve of Sino-Japanese War 3, which became one of the stains of his life. But Yuan Shikai later came back to the front line and was responsible for logistics matters. Here he saw the miserable situation of the Qing army defeated the Japanese army, and realized that it was impossible to improve himself by introducing advanced weapons alone, so he was determined to train a truly modern army, which became the source of thought of Beiyang Army .
In December 1895, the Qing Dynasty finally partially absorbed the lessons of the disastrous defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and allowed Yuan Shikai to train troops at the Tianjin Xiaozhan, and Yuan Shikai was able to implement his previous ideas. He began to train a new army based on the army power of the then army. This is the origin of the Beiyang New Army. Later, the powerful Xu Shichang , Duan Qirui , Feng Guozhang , Wang Shizhen , Cao Kun , Zhang Xun , etc., all came from the Beiyang New Army. Yuan Shikai cultivated a group of close confidants who were only loyal to him, but also laid the root of disaster for the subsequent warlord melee. But in any case, the Beiyang New Army in the late Qing Dynasty was indeed the most powerful army in China at that time.
1898, Yuan Shikai was involved in the famous " Reform Movement ". At that time, the reformist saw that Yuan Shikai's thoughts were inclined to reform, so he hoped to use Yuan Shikai's power to overthrow Empress Dowager Cixi. The reformists sent Tan Sitong to secretly contact Yuan Shikai, hoping that he could dispatch the Beiyang New Army to control the situation. Yuan Shikai agreed on the surface, but later reported to Empress Dowager Cixi, who immediately launched a purge on the reformists, and the Reform Movement failed.
Some people believe that it was Yuan Shikai's betrayal that led to the failure of reform , which proved that Yuan Shikai was a treacherous villain. But some people believe that Yuan Shikai and the reformists have inconsistent goals, and there is no reason to work hard for the reformists. What's more, the strength of the Beiyang New Army cannot compete with the power controlled by Empress Dowager Cixi. Yuan Shikai is just protecting himself.
But no matter what, Yuan Shikai did gain the trust of Empress Dowager Cixi by rumoring the news, and his status rose sharply and became the governor of Shandong in one fell swoop. In Eight-Nation Alliance War of Invasion of China, Yuan Shikai, together with several local officials in the southeast at that time, implemented " Southeast Mutual Protection ", which also caused controversy. Some people think that Yuan Shikai is sitting on the verge of Beijing, while others think that Yuan Shikai's move prevents Shandong from war.
After Li Hongzhang's death, Yuan Shikai actually became the factional heir of Li Hongzhang, and his status within the Qing Dynasty became increasingly high and he became an important powerful minister. After 1901, Yuan Shikai served as the governor of Zhili . At this time, in order to save his destiny, the Qing Dynasty began to implement the "New Deal", and Zhili, where Yuan Shikai was located, became a "model province" of the new Deal. He vigorously promoted modernization and initially established a series of systems such as the modern police system, financial system and judicial system, which also gained great reputation.
But Yuan Shikai's series of actions seemed too "radical" to many people within the court, which aroused the fear of conservatives. Starting from 1907, the court began to gradually remove Yuan Shikai's power. In 1908, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi died one after another. The Regent became the actual ruler of the Qing Dynasty. He was extremely dissatisfied with Yuan Shikai and ordered Yuan Shikai to give up his power just now. Yuan Shikai simply took retreat as an advance, resigned from his post and returned home, waiting for the opportunity.
1911's Revolution of 1911 provided Yuan Shikai with a god-given opportunity. The corrupt army of the Qing Dynasty was simply unable to confront the Revolutionary Army and retreated step by step under the attack of the Revolutionary Army. Seeing that the Qing Dynasty was about to collapse, Zaifeng and others finally thought of Yuan Shikai and his Beiyang Army, so they had to invite Yuan Shikai out of the mountain. Seeing that the court had something to ask for him, Yuan Shikai also put forward a series of conditions, which was actually to demand the Qing Dynasty's military and political power. In order to save its rule, the Qing Dynasty had to agree fully. Yuan Shikai regained power and went south to "put down the rebellion".
However, Yuan Shikai was not loyal to the Qing Dynasty, he only cared about his own interests. After Yuan Shikai went south, he fought with the revolutionary army and captured Hankou , Hanyang and other places after a fierce battle, which proved that the Beiyang Army still had its strength. But on the other hand, he secretly contacted the revolutionary party, saying that he was not loyal to the Qing Dynasty, but hoped to negotiate with the revolutionary party. In fact, Yuan Shikai was "eating from both ends", threatening the Qing Dynasty and the Revolutionary Party, in order to win the greatest interests for himself. Finally, under the promotion of Yuan Shikai, the revolutionary party and the Qing Dynasty started negotiations, which was known in history as " North-South Peace Talks ".
After a series of complicated negotiations, the two sides finally determined the conditions. Yuan Shikai used his power to force the Qing emperor to abdicate, thereby avoiding further bleeding. revolutionary party promised to give preferential treatment after the Qing emperor abdicated and to give up the position of president of the Republic of China to Yuan Shikai. Then Yuan Shikai began to put pressure on the Qing court. At this time, the only available soldiers of the Qing Dynasty were Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army. Now that Yuan Shikai has also turned against him, the court can only accept Yuan Shikai's conditions in full.
So, the Qing emperor abdicated and the Qing Dynasty ended. Sun Yat-sen, the interim president of the Republic of China, also announced his resignation shortly afterwards, giving way to Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai took advantage of the tide of the Xinhai Revolution and successfully obtained the greatest benefits and became a veritable Chinese leader.
This is the peak of Yuan Shikai's reputation and power. Due to Yuan Shikai's previous series of measures to promote modernization, many people admire Yuan Shikai even among the revolutionaries. Yuan Shikai, who was proud of his youth, ordered his portrait to be hung on the Tiananmen Gate Tower, becoming the first person to hang a portrait on the Tiananmen Gate Tower.
However, Yuan Shikai began to make unsuccessful moves after that. He first violated the previous agreement with Sun Yat-sen and insisted on moving the capital from Nanjing back to Beijing.Then Yuan Shikai was worried about the revolutionaries from all over the country and began to find ways to deprive them of their power. The revolutionaries could no longer bear it and launched the "Second Revolution", but were suppressed by the powerful Yuan Shikai. Then Yuan Shikai began to have the "Emperor's Dream", which made the Beiyang faction disunited. Many Beiyang generals were dissatisfied with Yuan Shikai. Only when Yuan Shikai became the president did these people have the opportunity to take over his power. If Yuan Shikai became emperor, then power would definitely be passed on to his son Yuan Keding , and they would have no chance, so many people dissuaded Yuan Shikai.
Unfortunately, Yuan Shikai insisted on his own and refused to listen to his old subordinates. In the end, he insisted on becoming emperor. Yuan Shikai's restoration triggered a strong backlash in various places. Cai E, , , Liang Qichao, and others launched a national protection campaign in Yunnan. Many generals of the Beiyang faction also refused to fight for Yuan Shikai. In the end, the Western powers that Yuan Shikai expected also abandoned him. Amid the betrayal of the family, Yuan Shikai died of illness in June 1916, and the portrait of Yuan Shikai on Tiananmen Square was quietly removed.
For a long time afterwards, there was no portrait hanging on Tiananmen Square because China entered the era of warlord melee, and the ancient capital of Beijing changed hands several times. In 1928, Chiang Kai-shek launched the " Second Northern Expedition ", and attacked all the way to Beijing and Tianjin. At that time, Zhang Zuolin, who was controlling North China , was unable to resist at all and retreated outside the pass in a hurry. After Chiang Kai-shek entered Beijing, in order to show his status as the capital of Nanjing, he changed Beijing to Peking . At the same time, he ordered the portrait of Sun Yat-sen to be hung on the Tiananmen Gate Tower to show his loyalty to Sun Yat-sen's career.
But in fact, Chiang Kai-shek had already betrayed Sun Yat-sen's cause. As early as before Northern Expedition , Chiang Kai-shek kept creating troubles within the Guangzhou National Government and undermining the revolution. At the climax of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek brazenly launched the "April 12" counter-revolutionary coup and established a military government. The regime established by Chiang Kai-shek was not the independent regime that Sun Yat-sen had originally expected to support farmers and workers, but a regime that colluded with the chaebols and Western powers. It was precisely because of Chiang Kai-shek's betrayal of the revolution that the process of the Northern Expedition was interrupted, and the "second Northern Expedition" was not continued until 1928. Chiang Kai-shek's behavior was just a cover-up.
After the victory of Anti-Japanese War , Chiang Kai-shek was proud and felt that he should also occupy a place on the Tiananmen Gate Tower. So after Chiang Kai-shek inspected Peking, another portrait of Chiang Kai-shek was hung on the Tiananmen Gate Tower. But Chiang Kai-shek was not able to be proud this time. Just over three years later, the portrait of Chiang Kai-shek was naturally removed.
After the founding of New China , eight portraits were hung on the Tiananmen Gate Tower at a time, with the middle of the portraits of Chairman Mao, and on both sides were portraits of Zhu De, Premier Zhou, Liu Shaoqi, Nie Rongzhen, Ren Bishi, Ye Jianying and Lin Biao. Later, it was changed to only portraits of Chairman Mao.
Some people may be surprised. There are only 11 people in total. I mentioned that there are a total of 12 people who have been hanged before. So who is there another person? It may be a bit surprising to say that the remaining one is a foreigner, which is Stalin . After Stalin's death, in order to commemorate the outstanding achievements of the leader and his help to China, a portrait of Stalin was hung on the city tower on the Tiananmen Square. This is also the only portrait of a foreigner hanging on the city tower so far.
To this day, Chairman Mao’s portrait is still hanging on the Tiananmen Gate Tower, reminding us to remember history, not forget our original aspirations, and also reminding us to carry forward the past and strive forward.
