Chuodong Normal School and the May Fourth Patriotic Movement
Zheng Jinsong
There is a cry of youth that echoes in the depths of history.
has a deep memory in history, and it needs to return to the youth scene of a century-old institution.
Anyone who is familiar with the school history knows that Southwest University ’s earliest origins began with official Sichuan East Normal School , established on April 18, 1906, which is later renamed the East Sichuan Normal School. On the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the establishment of the school, the epoch-making "May Fourth" patriotic movement broke out in Beijing. However, it was not until recent years that a little-known details of the school history have gradually uncovered the dust.
On May 4, 1919, the May Fourth Movement broke out in Beijing, and all parts of the country responded. Although it is deep in the west, Chongqing gradually accumulated the same anti-imperialist and anti-feudal sentiment and folk power as early as the corrupt Qing Dynasty during the signing of various unequal treaties.
This emotion and power have a prelude to humiliation, and there are national scars carved from the sharp knife of time.
1876, the Qing government and the United Kingdom signed the " Yantai Treaty " on Yantai . Although signed in Yantai, the cause is related to Yunnan in western China. After Britain, France and other countries opened the portal of China's coastal areas and the Yangtze River , the Yangtze River also wanted to open the "back door" in the inland. Since the 1860s, they have been constantly looking for a way to enter Yunnan from Myanmar and Vietnam. In 1874, Britain once again sent a path exploration team led by Colonel Pailang to explore land transportation on Myanmar and Yunnan under the escort of nearly 200 armed soldiers. The British Minister to China sent a translator Magali to greet him. In January 1875, Ma Jiali went to Myanmar to meet with Bai Lang and headed towards the Yunnan border. On February 21, a conflict with local ethnic minorities occurred in Tengyue area, Yunnan, and Ma Jiali and several entourage members were beaten to death. This is " Ma Jiali incident ", or " Yunnan case ". This became the "reason" for the Qing government to be forced to sign the Yantai Treaty. The third part of the Treaty "Commercial Affairs" Agreement: "·······Author British merchant ships to moor and unload goods in Datong, Anqing , Hukou, Shashi and other places along the river." It is not difficult to find that imperialism has passed through the Yangtze River and pressed forward step by step towards mainland China. 890, China and Britain signed the "Yantai Treaty Renewal Special Agreement", forcing Chongqing to open a port, and established the first consulate of the Western powers in Chongqing near today's Chongqing Hotel: the British Consulate in Chongqing. In 1895, China and Japan signed the "HTM5 Treaty of Shimonoseki ", and Japan forced Chongqing to open a port and immediately seized the right to sail the Sichuan-River ship. On March 8, 1898, British merchant Lidele led the Lichuan to Chongqing, marking the complete loss of China's navigation rights. On May 7, 1899, British warships broke into the Chongqing River, breaking the "precedent" of foreign warships invading the Sichuan River. Afterwards, France and the United States flocked to the front, and they occupied the docks and set up barracks. The collusion and competition in southwest China entered a fierce momentum. In 1901, Japan occupied Wangjiatuo, the south bank as the Japanese concession. In 1904, the imperialist-controlled Chongqing Customs "rented" the commons in Tongyuanmen and other places. This inland city in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has gradually been incorporated into the "sphere of influence" of imperialism to seize the Chinese market. It is in this background that has been suppressed for many years that Beijing’s youth cry finally cut through the dark night and brought strong shock to Chongqing thousands of miles away.
It was only because of the information blocked back then that the news of the May Fourth Movement broke out to Chongqing in mid-May, and all sectors of society were shocked, and the anger of young students against aggression and anti-traitorship was also ignited.
htmlOn May 24, the Sichuan Sichuan East Student National Saving Team initiated by student representatives of Sichuan East Normal School, Chongqing Lianzhong, Ba County Middle School and other schools were officially established. They formulated the "Draft Proposal of Sichuan East Student National Saving Team", published the "Declaration of Sichuan East Student National Saving Team", and sent a telegram to the whole country to support the May Fourth Movement.After investigation by Chongqing local history experts, this "Declaration on the National Salvation League of Sichuan East Students" was officially published in the National Gazette on June 10, 1919. It was included in relevant historical materials in the 1980s, but it was not fully published and few people know it.
In 2021, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Zhou Yong, president of Chongqing Local History Research and professor of the School of History and Culture of Southwest University, and members of the research team focused on the document "Declaration on the National Saving League of Sichuan East Students". After difficult searches, the original report of the National Gazette was finally found, and after careful proofreading, the Declaration on the National Saving League of Sichuan East Students was fully released 102 years later.
The Declaration begins with a sharp tip to point out the imperialist ambition to invade China, and shouts that it is not a slave to the destruction: "Ah! The country is about to perish, and there will be monsters. Cao Zhang, a generation of people with powerful people, and has made strong neighbors outside, ruined the holy land that we have passed on for thousands of years, and subverted the country with four hundred Gigabytes of life... All the lands and the vast lands, and the generals are becoming slaves of the Japanese!"
Then, he questioned in anger and accused the crime of imperialism: "The Japanese people broke their promises and were not willing to betray China. They were ruthless and cunning to play with China in their hands. In their minds, the people of our government still existed in their hearts. Is it there? " "I recommend the intention of slaughtering at will, Shandong Qingdao can be divided by Japan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi may not be separated by the law; Sichuan, Tibet, and Yangtze River basins may not be separated by the Ying." The end of the article issued a call to the people: "Where will our people go? Will we be willing to pay tribute to our Dahe nation? We will work hard and strive to be self-reliant, and we will die in battle but not surrender, and have already been captured! ?"
Academic community believes that this "Declaration on the National Saving Group of Students in East Sichuan" is the most direct proof of Chongqing student groups participating in the May Fourth Movement. Therefore, this declaration naturally reveals the historical "link" between Southwest University and the May Fourth Movement.
June 10, 1919 National Gazette (Data picture)
Historical data shows that the Eastern Sichuan Students' National Saving Group not only issued a declaration of national salvation, but also sent telephone support to Beijing students and Shanghai National Saving Group to protest the arrest of students by the Beiyang warlord government, and strongly demanded "abolition of secret agreements, return to Qingdao and release students"; call the Chinese envoy of the Paris Peace Conference , asking them to "make their destiny to win glory for the country, and strive to Qingdao...Don't sign it if they die..."
Sichuan Students' National Saving Group march demonstration (Data picture)
919, the Eastern Sichuan Normal School and others initiated a call to strike at the same time in more than 20 schools in Chongqing. At 7 a.m., more than 1,500 students gathered at the gun dam near Tongyuanmen, and began a march with small flags with slogans such as "Return to Qingdao", "Punish the traitors", "Stop the internal struggle", "Persuad to use domestic products", and "Swear to avenge national humiliation". The students shouted patriotic slogans and distributed patriotic leaflets along the way. The whole mountain city was excited. The parade lasted for 8 hours and it was not until around 2 p.m. to disperse. On June 28, 1919, the Sichuan East Students' National Saving Group was renamed the Sichuan East Student Federation and launched a boycott of Japanese goods. On December 21, 1919, the official publication of the Sichuan East Student Federation, "Chuan East Student Weekly", was founded. In June 1921, it was renamed "Chuan East Student Federation Weekly". It aims to "advocate justice, exclude power, study academics, and improve society". It has a distinct anti-imperialist and anti-feudal nature and is very popular among young students. It is an important publication of the Chongqing New Culture Movement.
Data picture: "Wednesday of Sichuan East Student Federation". paper print, 38.4 cm long and 54.3 cm wide. It was issued on August 11, 1922 and is the special issue number No. 59 of the magazine, with a total of 4 editions. In 1958, Chongqing Municipal Museum was collected, and is now in Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum (Chongqing Museum). National first-class cultural relics.
The Chongqing Three Gorges Museum has a collection of "Sichuan East Student Federation Weekly" published on August 11, 1922. The articles published include "Sichuan Disaster", "Happy in the Unfortunate", the drama script "Despotic Bandits" and the vernacular poem "Battlefield", etc., calling on warlords in various parts of Sichuan to "don't cause any more storms and cause wars" and hope to "really do something beneficial for the people."
At present, this yellowed newspaper has been identified as a national first-class cultural relic, entering an unforgettable national memory and should become the youth negative for the awakening era that people of Southwest University deserve to collect.
This article refers to the following information:
, Chongqing Daily , "The Declaration on the National Saving League of Sichuan East Students" was released for the first time" (Chongqing Daily Network, June 3, 2021) , Qiu Peihuang and others edited by "News and Communication Encyclopedia" (Sichuan People's Publishing House, 1998) 3, Zhou Yong edited the General History of Chongqing (Volume 2) ( Chongqing Publishing House, 2014)
