Chen Ruilin: Nostalgic for the "Republic of China" article

Chen Ruilin: Nostalgic for the "Republic of China" article Supplement of "World Daily", Monday, April 30, 2012 Filed in the Republic of China&#8221…

Monday, April 30, 2012, the supplement of "World Daily"

mentioned the "Republic of China" and it can be said that there are mixed feelings. In the past, the "history of the Republic of China" that I knew was also called "modern and modern history of China". Another term was "history of the New Democratic Revolution." For many years, I have looked at the "red boat" floating like a "ghost" on the South Lake in Jiaxing, Hunan in 1921. The real "Republic of China" was hidden in the mist and mist.

However, history is still history. When I returned to China at the end of last year, I heard that the ten-volume "History of the Republic of China" had been published. On the bustling streets of Beijing, the bookstores were filled with "Chiang Kai-shek's Diary". In the New Year of 2012, commissioned by the Southern American Writers Association, I invited my old classmate Shen Ning: "Come and tell us about the Republic of China in your works!"

This brother Shen was my classmate in the "77th grade" of Shaanxi Northwest University. He was fifteen years older than me when he entered the school. There were seventy people in our class, and originally only fifty were recruited. Later, the political review was relaxed, and twenty people with complex family backgrounds were recruited, including Shen Ning. Shen Ning's grandfather was Tao Xisheng, who had written for Chiang Kai-shek for many years, and his uncle was Shen Junru, a barrister who was one of the Seven Gentlemen of the Republic of China. In 1949, Chiang Kai-shek withdrew from Taiwan and left Shanghai on a warship. When he arrived at Wusongkou, Tao Xisheng missed his daughter and asked Mr. Chiang to stop the ship and send electricity to Shanghai Security Commander Tang Enbo, but Shen Ning's mother insisted on staying. This momentary decision led to Shen Ning's vicissitudes of fate. After graduating from high school, he was exiled to the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi. He did not become a college student until he took the exam in 1977.

In 1983, Shen Ning went to the United States to study. He first wrote documentary works, and then turned to the creation of family stories. Soon, the full-length biographical novel "Suona Smoke and Dust" was published in Taiwan (the simplified version is "Family on the Edge of the Knife"), followed by "A Hundred Generations of Family Style". In recent years, he has begun to write about many figures in the Republic of China, such as Cai Yuanpei, Yu Dafu, Du Yuesheng, Chiang Kai-shek, Hu Shi, Chen Bulei, Jiang Weiguo, etc. Most of them are surprising stories. In his words, they are "rescuing real history."

In Shen Ning's view, although the thirty years of the "Republic of China" on the mainland were short in Chinese history, the achievements were exceptionally brilliant. It was during this great era that China began to move rapidly towards modernization and won international respect. The freedom of the press and the splendor of culture during the Republic of China are especially admired by future generations.

When thinking about the Republic of China, the first thing that comes to mind are political figures, and the first one is of course Sun Yat-sen. Shen Ning said that in 2011, an English newspaper in Denver, USA published a report saying that when China’s Revolution of 1911 broke out, Sun Yat-sen was in Denver collecting donations for the Revolution of the Republic of China. He gave a speech in Bode and received a telegram from the Revolutionary Army urging him to return to the country and take office as president. Sun Yat-sen set off in a hurry and took a month's boat ride before arriving in Shanghai. It turns out that Denver still has such a connection with the Republic of China.

In Shen Ning's view, Yuan Shikai must be mentioned as an important figure in the early Republic of China. No matter how people later comment on Yuan Shikai, calling him a traitor is disrespectful to history. When Yuan Shikai was president, Japan made 21 unreasonable demands to the Chinese government in order to steal its interests in China. Yuan Shikai racked his brains, used various means, and revealed Japan's demands to the outside world to win public support. It took three months and 25 negotiations, forcing Japan to modify its demands twice. Japan put forward an ultimatum and threatened to launch war by supporting the revolutionary party. Yuan Shicai agreed to Japan's amendments and signed two of them regarding Shandong and South Manchuria, neither of which lost China's sovereignty. The original copies of these historical materials are kept in the Tianjin Museum and can be traced.

Speaking of many political leaders during the Republic of China, Shen Ning believed that one of their most important qualities was that they did not betray the country. Everyone thought that Wu Peifu was a barbaric and rude warlord. In fact, Wu Peifu was a scholar. The American "Time" magazine was founded in 1923. The following year, it published a Chinese cover for the first time. It was not Sun Yat-sen or Chiang Kai-shek, but Wu Peifu, calling him the strongest man in China. Joffe, Stalin's special envoy to China, sent a telegram to Stalin saying: After returning from Wu Peifu, I have never seen such a perfect military organization: order and discipline are extremely strict, and drills and training are especially outstanding. Wu Peifu's death is generally believed to have been caused by Japanese spies. After the Second Zhili-Fengtian War, Wu Peifu was defeated and lived in seclusion. After the September 18th Incident, Wu Peifu sent a telegram to oppose the puppet Manchukuo. In 1935, Japan planned the autonomy of the five provinces of North China and asked Wu Peifu to be the King of North China. Wu Peifu refused. After the July 7th Incident, the Japanese army asked him to serve as president of the Peking Maintenance Association, but he refused. In 1938, the Japanese army merged the puppet regime in North China and the puppet Nanjing government into a traitor regime, and asked Wu Peifu to be the king of China. Wu Peifu still refused, and the Japanese were very angry. On December 4, 1939, Japanese spy Major General Kawamoto and Japanese military doctor Ishida brought the guards to Wu Peifu's home. On the pretext of treating his dental disease, they forced an operation, causing his throat to be cut and bleeding profusely. He screamed and died for his country. On January 24, 1940, Wu Peifu had a funeral. There were thousands of people in the procession. Peking citizens spontaneously gathered along the route and all trams and cars were stopped.

Speaking of Mr. Chiang Kai-shek, Shen Ning's heart was filled with respect and gratitude. In 1946, when the Anti-Japanese War ended, Shen Ning's mother and father got married in Shanghai. The marriage was officiated by General Qian Dajun, the mayor of Shanghai at the time. Chiang Kai-shek specially sent someone to send him an autograph. Shen Ning's grandfather Tao Xisheng once wrote "The Destiny of China" for Chiang Kai-shek. Mr. Chiang had a good foundation in Chinese and revised it word for word. After the publication of "The Destiny of China", there were divergent opinions. Jiang Weiguo was not happy and went to his grandfather to discuss it. His grandfather took out the manuscripts one by one and showed them to him. Each page was densely marked with red letters. It was impossible to see his grandfather's black pen. In fact, they were all written by Chiang Kai-shek himself. Beijing CCTV recently filmed a five-episode TV series called "Escape". The protagonists are Shen Ning's grandfather and his mother. That year the Tao Incident broke out, it was Mr. Du Yuesheng who went to Chongqing and showed Chiang Kai-shek the photo of the Wang Ri secret appointment that his grandfather had brought to Hong Kong. Chiang Kai-shek saw it and decided to announce it to the world. After the arrangements were made, Du Yuesheng mentioned that Tao Xisheng's daughter and two sons were detained in Shanghai as hostages by the Japanese. After hearing this, Chiang Kai-shek put the Wang Ri secret agreement back in the filing cabinet and told Du Yuesheng to rescue the three children from Shanghai first and then announce the secret agreement. Because of Chiang Kai-shek's order, Shen Ning's mother was rescued from Shanghai by Du Yuesheng's fifty gunmen. When Mr. To returned to Hong Kong, he was intercepted by the Japanese air force and fired fiercely. The pilot raised the plane all the way to get rid of the Japanese plane. The aircraft was poorly equipped at the time, and when it flew to 8,000 feet, the air was thin and Du Yuesheng had difficulty breathing and almost suffocated. Du Yuesheng got off the plane and was carried home on a stretcher. After receiving first aid from a doctor, she regained her breath. From then on, Mr. Du's health collapsed, and he eventually passed away due to asthma. Speaking of this story, Shen Ning choked up and said: "Mr. Du exchanged his life for his life to save my mother's life."

The so-called "four major families" during the Republic of China, Shen Ning bluntly said was very doubtful. Mr. Chen Lifu, who is classified as one of the four major families, is very close to his grandfather. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the National Government moved back to Nanjing from Chongqing. Tao Xisheng took the moving expenses from the Central Daily News and his family of six arrived in Nanjing. After renting a house, they had no money at all. I was worried about not having lunch when Mr. Chen Lifu walked in the door. He went to Xinjiekou for business and heard that Tao Xisheng had just moved here, so he came to have lunch. Grandma had no choice but to make two bowls of eggs and rice. Chen Lifu retired and came to the United States, how to survive? Opening a chicken farm and eating fried rice with eggs, does it sound like something the four major families do?

When they first arrived in Taiwan, Shen Ning’s grandfather and his family went to the Central Daily News to apply for furniture, but they only received a dining table with four legs and a wooden board on top. Adding four folding wooden chairs is not enough for each of the five uncles to sit, and there is no place for my grandfather to sit. Grandma had no choice but to buy back two desks and four chairs so that the uncles could barely do their homework. The five uncles go to school and have to eat when they get home from school every day. Time is tight and they eat a lot. My grandmother went out to queue up to buy rice and vegetables every day, but often she was too late, so she had to buy some flour and go home to cook noodles. Later, Mr. Wang Tiwu heard about it and couldn't bear it, so he sent two bags of rice. My grandmother bought a large earthenware jar for storage. After moving several times, the large earthenware jar has been kept without being damaged as a souvenir.

Thinking about the Republic of China, Shen Ning said with emotion: The intellectuals and educators of the Republic of China, Hu Shi, Cai Yuanpei, Wang Guowei, Chen Yinke, Mei Yiqi, scientists Yang Zhenning, Li Zhengdao, Ye Qi, Sun Qian, Xuesen, and Hua Luogeng were all talents created by the Republic of China. There are also artists Zhao Danbai, Yang Meilanfang, Ma Lianliang, Wu Zuguang, Xin Fengxia, Hongxian Nu Chang Xiangyu, writers Lu Xun, Lin Yutang, Ba Jin, Lao She, Xu Zhimo, Zhu Ziqing, Cao Yu, Shen Congwen, Zhang Ailing, artists Qi Baishi, Huang Binhong, Zhang Daqian, Fu Baoshi, Li Keran, and Xu Beihong. They are truly heroes of all walks of life, and they cannot be surpassed by future generations. Even crosstalk, no one can compare with Hou Baolin.