I accidentally saw an old yellow photo. The facial features of the characters inside can no longer be seen clearly. Perhaps it was a black and white photo, plus nearly a hundred years of history, it looked a little gloomy and even a little weird.

A tragic family photo

Text/Dong Gang

accidentally saw an old yellow photo. The facial features of the characters inside could no longer be seen clearly. Perhaps it was a black and white photo, plus nearly a hundred years of history, it looked a little gloomy, and even a little weird. In the photo, the wife looks like a simple and kind peasant woman with a sad face, tears in her eyes, holding her young son and leaning against her husband. My husband was dressed in a very formal manner, but his expression was blank. He was "sitting" on a wooden chair with a backrest, his limbs were stiff and his eyes were closed. Behind them stood a young man in a hat, full of grief and anger.

This is a photo from 1928. The person sitting in the center was named Wen Jihou. When taking this photo, the 25-year-old young man, who had died bravely, had a woman holding the child next to him, was his wife Cao. Standing behind was Wen Jihou's colleague, who helped lift Wen Jihou's body back and kept him in the back to let him sit upright. Although everyone tried hard to make the photos warmer and forced to smile, they could not hide the sadness in their eyes. At that time, photography technology had just been introduced to our country. Many people had never seen cameras. Some superstitious people also rumored that this was an alien monster that could capture people's souls. However, Cao was reluctant to leave, hoping that her husband would always be with him and that his descendants could always remember her husband's appearance. He went to the photo studio to take this tragic family photo.

Wen Jihou is from Luzeyuanxi Village, Huazhou Township, Hua County, Weinan City. He was born in 1903. He was smart since childhood. Because of his wealthy family, his parents sent him to school to study. During his studies, he admired the school’s principal Shi Bizhi (early Communist Party member), because President Shi often promoted the party’s thoughts and the future of the country to students. At that time, warlords often fought in Hua County, Shaanxi, and the people were in trouble. The subordinates of the warlord Liu Zhenhua often ravaged the people in the city and arrested the teachers and students of the school indiscriminately. Shi Bizhi was killed at this time and abandoned his body in the city. Wen Jihou was extremely sad and angry. He often led students to visit the principal's graves, introduced the principal's deeds to the students, and encouraged students to take the principal as an example, join the peasant movement, and participate in the anti-warlord struggle. After Wen Jihou left the school, he often participated in peasant movements and opposed the warlords. Soon, he joined the Communist Party of China through the introduction of Shi Zhuosheng (an early Communist Party member) and others.

1926, 23-year-old Wen Jihou accepted the dispatch of the party organization and returned to Hua County to carry out the peasant movement, and served as the principal of Qilisi Primary School. Wen Jihou often leads teachers, students and nearby people to fight against local tyrants and divide the land. He has a good eloquence and often goes to Chishui Street to publicize the principles of revolution to the masses. In January 1927, Wen Jihou assisted Communist Party members, Du Songshou and others in preparing for the Hua County National Congress. On March 18, the Hua County Farmers Association Committee was established and was elected as a member of the committee. Then he and Shi Zhuosheng and others organized the establishment of the Qilisi District Farmers Association and led the people to drive away the county magistrate Ye Zhenben twice. His wife Cao understands and firmly supports her husband's career. At that time, the Huaxian Farmers Association issued a notice that gambling and smoking cigarettes were strictly prohibited, but the evil gentry in Wenjiaxiang ignored the notice and continued to open a large smoke shop in the west gate of the county town. Wen Jihou's wife Cao heard the villagers' discussion and immediately revealed the news to Wen Jihou.

In the subsequent revolutionary activities, Wen Jihou and Liu Zhidan established a deep friendship, and studied the peasant movement together and how to mobilize the masses. However, not long afterwards, the Xuanhua incident broke out. The Chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Government, Song Zheyuan, strictly ordered the sealing of schools in Weihua and searched for Communist Party members and progressive people everywhere. The white terror enveloped the entire Weihua area. On the evening of May 5, 1928, Wen Jihou held an emergency party branch meeting at Qilisi Primary School. Due to the traitor's informing, a group of military and police suddenly rushed into the school and blocked the door. He, Xiao Chengdong and Shi Zhuosheng, drew out their pistols and resisted bravely. After all the bullets were shot, the three were unfortunately arrested and detained in Huaxian Detention Center.In the detention center, the new county magistrate Duan Ziguang and police chief Wang Shuofu personally interrogated Wen Jihou. He was steadfast and unyielding, angrily scolding the enemy, and said righteously: "I am a Communist Party member. If you want to kill, kill, why bother to talk about it! But if you want to get the secret of the party from me, you are delusional!" The angry enemy tortured Wen Jihou, stripped off his shirt, hung it up and beat it, and even burned the flesh and blood of the body with a soldering iron, but Jihou gritted his teeth and was steadfast and unyielding.

After Wen Jihou was arrested, Liu Zhidan was anxious and got information from the inside. The enemy planned to escort Wen Jihou to Xi'an and ask for credit from his superiors. Liu Zhidan immediately organized personnel to lie on both sides of the avenue leading to Xi'an in Hua County, preparing to rescue him. However, after receiving the news, the reactionary authorities immediately changed their minds and decided to kill Wen Jihou on the spot. Then Liu Zhidan was about to send someone to rob the prison and rescue him, but the detention center was located between the county government and the police station, and was very cautious and difficult to get started. On the morning of May 29, Jihou was taken to the execution ground. He was calm and shouted slogans all the way: "The Communist Party cannot be killed and killed! Long live the Communist Party!" The people along the way looked at Wen Jihou and shed tears. Wen Jihou was only 25 years old when he died.

After Wen Jihou was taken to the execution ground, Wen Zhide, an administrator of Qili Temple Primary School, witnessed the tragic scene of Jihou being killed, and then rushed back to the village to tell Cao about Wen Jihou's murder. Upon hearing this unfortunate news, Cao immediately fainted. During the years he spent with Wen Jihou, the couple fell in love with each other. In order to support Wen Jihou’s revolution, Cao silently took on the work of serving the elderly and all the housework. Sometimes when her husband encounters difficulties at work, she helps to come up with ideas and find solutions. After Wen Jihou was arrested, every time she visited prison, she always encouraged her husband to grit her teeth and get through it, which gave Wen Jihou endless encouragement and strength.

After Cao woke up, with Wen Zhide's assistance, he moved back his husband's body, wiped the blood stains on his relatives' faces, changed into brand new clothes, and helped his husband to the big temple in the village with Wen Zhide, letting him "sit" upright on a wooden chair. Wen Zhide was holding behind the chair. She picked up the six-year-old child and snuggled tightly beside her husband, leaving the moment before parting. This photo became the only souvenir for Wen Jihou's family. After Wen Jihou was killed, his wife often told her husband's revolutionary deeds to her son, tears blurred her eyes, and the past was gripping her heart and lungs. In order to allow his son to inherit his father's will, Cao changed his name to Wen Nianchi.

Wen Jihou did not have many brilliant experiences in his life, but his revolutionary life was not forgotten. In 1958, the Central Government of the People's Republic of China officially recognized Wen Jihou as a revolutionary martyr and issued the "Glorious Memorial Certificate for the Family of Revolutionary Sacrifice" written by Chairman Mao: Comrade Wen Jihou died gloriously in the revolutionary struggle, and his great achievements were immortal, and his family should be respected by society. In addition to the benefits to his family members issued by the Central People's Government, this certificate will be issued to commemorate. As Chairman Mao said: "Revolution requires perseverance and perseverance!" Wen Jihou sacrificed, but the revolutionary spirit is still full of fighting spirit, inspiring more heroes to fight for the motherland and the people. As Chairman Mao said: "We should not forget every comrade who has contributed to the revolution!"

This tragic family photo witnessed the bravery and bloody sacrifice of the revolutionaries in that bloody era. We have seen Wen Jihou, and how many revolutionaries have "heroes never return after they have left", and have disappeared in the era of smoke. How can it not be sighing?

Dong Gang September 20, 2022

Reference materials:

Huazhou Literature and History Gathering: In 1958, Chairman Mao personally issued a "Glorious Memorial Certificate" to the family of Wen Jihou, a native of Hua County,

Author Profile:

Dong Gang, from Xin Village, Bailiang Town, Heyang, Shaanxi. He graduated from the Chinese Department of Baoji Arts and Sciences College in 2002 and is currently a high school teacher at Xi'an Oriental Middle School. Member of Shaanxi Writers Association, Member of Shaanxi Youth Literature Association, Member of China Western Prose Society, Member of Shaanxi Prose Society, Member of Weinan Writers Association, Member of Xi'an High-tech Writers Association, and Director of Heyang Writers Association.More than 2 million words were published in newspapers and magazines such as "Yangtze River Literature", "Yanhe", "Shaanxi Literature", "Chinese Monthly", "Selected Essays of Western Prose", "Cultural Arts Newspaper", "Xi'an Evening News", "Teacher's Newspaper", and other literary platforms, as well as "Literary Shaanxi Army", "China Writers Network", and "China Report", and published personal collections of essays "The Hardships of the Road Is Normal".