Lu Xun: Replying to the Pistol with a Pen

Author: Fu Guoyong

Going out without a key

June 18, 1933, Shanghai Law School In the concession, a burst of gunfire claimed the life of Yang Xingfo, director-general of the China Civil Rights Protection Alliance. Facing the tragic death of his companion, Lu Xun was filled with grief and anger. He wrote in a letter to Cao Juren that day: "The cruelty of the Kuomintang reactionaries exceeded the previous records of the murder of Jesus Christs in Europe." The next day, he told the visiting Feng Xuefeng about Yang Xingfo The situation when he was assassinated: "It can be seen that he was conscious at the time, and first protected his children... Let's talk about animals, they also have the nature of animals, and they will save the young first when in danger. If you have offspring, you will have a future!... It’s not easy to be able to do this.” The regret was beyond words. Feng Xuefeng believed that he showed his incomparable admiration and praise for Yang Xingfo's calm attitude and humanity in the face of crisis. It was in this admiration and praise that he contained his deepest regret. In June, Shanghai was rife with murderous intent, and Lu Xun's name was clearly on the "hook list." On the day Yang Xingfo was encased, there were rumors everywhere that Kuomintang agents would continue to assassinate alliance members, especially Cai Yuanpei and Lu Xun. Some intellectuals were scared to death. Relatives and friends were worried about his life and tried to dissuade him from going out or staying away for a while, but he refused.

On June 20, Lu Xun resolutely bid farewell to his family and went with Xu Shoushang to attend the burial ceremony of his comrades. That day he was really desperate and didn't take the house key with him when he left the house. According to Zou Taofen's recollection: "After Mr. Yang's death, he was sent to the Wanguo Funeral Home for a grand burial. At that time, people's hearts were filled with excitement and there were only a few dozen people hanging." Lu Xun, Soong Ching Ling, Cai Yuanpei, Shen Junru, Hong Shen and others participated in the burial ceremony. Zou Taofen, When Hu Yuzhi arrived, the body was being placed in the coffin, but Lin Yutang, one of the important figures in the alliance, did not come. In the evening, Lu Xun expressed some opinions to the visiting Feng Xuefeng, "Mr. Cai is here today. He is very sad... Beating Yang Xingfo to death was originally a warning to Mrs. Sun and Mr. Cai, but they were determined." Then he continued. , he mentioned his old friend Xu Shouchang with approval, and said: "Ji Fu also went." He also said: "At this time, it is obvious that someone is coming, and Lin Yutang did not go. In fact, what is the point of him going to the funeral? Danger!" He also said to Xu Shoushang: "Yutang is too careful." (On July 2, 1933, Lin Yutang was present at Yang Xingfo's funeral.)

On the same day, Lu Xun wrote in "< The Pseudo-Free Book "Postscript" records the detailed time of Yang Xingfo's assassination - "8:15 in the morning on June 18th", and refutes the "Social News" report that he escaped from Shanghai in his usual cynical tone. On the night of June 25, Lu Xun wrote to two Japanese friends. In a letter to Yamamoto Hatsue, he said: "Recently, Chinese-style fascism has become popular. One of my friends has disappeared and one has been assassinated. In addition, there may be many more people to be assassinated, but no matter what, I am still alive. . As long as I am alive, I will pick up my pen and fight back with their pistols."

In his letter to Masuda Wataru, he wrote: "Chinese-style white terror has become popular in Shanghai. Ms. Ding Ling disappeared (some say she was assassinated), and Yang Quanshi (the director of the Civil Rights Protection Alliance) was reportedly assassinated. I was also selected for the "white list," but I am still writing."

During that period, Lu Xun's articles, letters, and diaries were almost all related to Yang Xingfo's death. Facing the threat of death, he remained calm and took no chances. He declared - "As long as I am alive, I will pick up a pen and respond to their pistols." This is the voice of a Chinese intellectual in the 20th century, which is killing people. , imprisonment, and disappearances occurred one after another, and the sound was made at a time when life was not guaranteed. I always believe that with such voices, there is still hope for declining nations. He responded with a pen and a pistol. Maybe some people laughed at him for hitting an egg against a stone or a moth into fire. It was of no avail and he died in vain. However, given Lu Xun's profound knowledge of the world, he was by no means a blind and reckless person. He always advocated that "in battle, you should first defend the fortress. If you charge single-mindedly and are destroyed, it is unintelligent courage and not true courage."

However, he was never afraid of death and remained silent in the face of brutal killings. During his life, he publicly and directly protested and condemned such crimes on many occasions. His actions often remind me of Einstein's immortal quote - "Over a long period of time, I have publicly expressed my opinions on those situations in society that I consider to be very bad and unfortunate, and my silence about them will be It makes me feel that I am guilty of conspiracy."

List of civil rights protection alliances from left, center and right parties

Lu Xun, who was praised as the "national soul" and "hard nut" after his death, Most of his life is spent fighting alone. Although he also joined the Liberation Society in Japan when he was young, he was a member of the "New Youth" group during the May 4th Movement. He claimed to create under the "general's orders". In his later years, he participated in launching the "Left-Writers Alliance" and the Grand Alliance for Freedom. But most of the time, he fought alone. Joining the "Chinese Civil Rights Protection Alliance" was an effort by him and the elites of his nation to promote the cause of human rights, and it left an extremely important page in the history of the nation. Although some people now use various reasons to prove that there is a red background behind it and that it is controlled by some special force, it cannot be denied that this is the first human rights organization in China's history, and it is an ethnic group represented by Song Qingling, Cai Yuanpei, Yang Xingfo, Lu Xun, etc. A collective feat of fighting for and protecting human rights. Looking at the list of the Civil Rights Protection Alliance, we can see:

Song Qingling, Cai Yuanpei, Yang Xingfo, Lin Yutang, Zou Taofen, Hu Yuzhi, Smedley, Yi Luosheng, Wang Yunwu, Yu Dafu, Mao Dun , Ye Shengtao, Wang Zaoshi, Lu Xun, Zhou Jianren, Li Zhaohuan, Hu Shi, Li Ji, Cheng Shewo, Jiang Menglin, Ma Youyu, Xu Deheng, Tao Menghe, Zhang Xiruo, Ren Hongjun, Shen Junru, Chen Hengzhe...

Here are Natural scientists, social scientists, writers, journalists, editors, publishers, lawyers, almost all are top figures in various fields, as well as left-wing foreign journalists. Many of them may not have the same political leanings. To use an old saying, we can say that there are all kinds of people from the left, the center, and the right. However, in that brief moment from the autumn and winter of 1932 to the summer of 1933, they all stood up for human rights without hesitation. under the flag. Such a large number of outstanding intellectuals gathered together to advocate for human rights. Not only was it a magnificent scene in the history of the 20th century, but it was also destined to attract long-term attention from people in the future. Although Lu Xun was not the main founder and leader of the China Civil Rights League, it was one of the groups he was most deeply involved in throughout his life. He personally participated in a large number of activities of the League for more than half a year.

The brewing and preparation period for the alliance began in the summer and autumn of 1932. On December 18, 1932, five people including Soong Ching Ling, Cai Yuanpei, Yang Xingfo, Li Zhaohuan, and Lin Yutang jointly issued a declaration in the "Declaration". Ten days later, A press conference at home and abroad was held to announce the formal establishment. The purpose of the alliance is to transcend partisanship and protect universal human rights, such as freedom of speech, press and publication, freedom of association, etc., with special emphasis on protecting the rights of political prisoners.

Lu Xun joined the alliance at the invitation of Cai Yuanpei. Cai and Lu Xun were fellow townsmen in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. Lu Xun served in the Ministry of Education led by Cai Yuanpei in the first year of the Republic of China. He also lectured at Peking University when Cai was the president of Peking University. In December 1927, Cai Yuanpei recommended Lu Xun to serve as a special writer at Nanjing Government University. He could receive a monthly allowance of 300 yuan until the end of 1931, which shows the deep connection between the two. According to Lu Xun's diary, not long after the alliance was established, Lu Xun received a letter from Cai Yuanpei on January 4, 1933. Two days later (January 6), “In the afternoon, I went to the Commercial Press to invite my third brother to attend the Academia Sinica Human Rights Protection Alliance Executive Meeting.” On the 11th, "I went to the Commercial Press to visit my third brother in the afternoon, and then went to the Academia Sinica to hold a Human Rights Protection Alliance meeting." At the meeting on the 17th, Lu Xun was elected as one of the executive members of the Shanghai branch. Lu Xun's third brother, Zhou Jianren, was working in the Commercial Press at the time. According to Hu Yuzhi's recollection, Lu Xun not only introduced Zhou Jianren to join the alliance, but also asked Zhou Jianren to invite Hu Yuzhi, and then invited Zou Taofen to join the alliance through Hu. Both of them participated and became interim central executive members of the alliance.

Smoking cigarettes without matches

There are at least three points in Soong Ching Ling's article "Remembering Mr. Lu Xun" that are worthy of discussion. 1. She said that Yang Xingfo asked Lu Xun to join the alliance in the summer of 1932, which is obviously not accurate. 2. She said that Lu Xun, Cai Yuanpei and she were all elected as executive members in the autumn of that year, and she remembered the time wrongly. 3. She said that Lu Xun and Yang Xingfo met after joining the China Relief Society at the same time in 1927, which is inconsistent with the recollection of Yang Xingfo's son Yang Xiaofo. Yang Xiaofo said that although Lu Xun and his father served in the Nanjing Provisional Government at the same time in the first year of the Republic of China, one was in the Ministry of Education and the other was in the Presidential Palace, so they did not know each other. The two of them did not seem to have had any contact with each other when they had a relationship with the Relief Society. Of course, they have many same-sex friends, such as Cai Yuanpei, Xu Shouchang, Lin Yutang, etc. Smedley has a close relationship with them, and it is normal for them to know each other. However, it was Cai Yuanpei, not Yang Xingfo, who introduced Lu Xun to join the association in early January 1933. Of course, in the next six months, the relationship between Lu Xun and Yang Xingfo was very close. Yang Xiaofo recalled that because Lu Xun lived far away and had no phone, for Lu Xun's safety, his father always wrote a note before meetings and asked Kong Minzhong (who was working in the International Publications Exchange Office of Academia Sinica at the time) to drive Lu Xun to the meeting. After driving it, Yang Xingfo sent it back by himself, and Yang Xiaofo also accompanied him once. On the way, Xiaofo asked Lu Xun for his novels. He said that the ones published in the past had been sent out, but the new novels were not available, and promised to send photos to Xiaofo. A few days later, Yang Xingfo handed over a bust signed by Lu Xun to his son, which shows the close relationship between them.

In the long night of China, Lu Xun was not an optimist. In January 1933, when Hu Yuzhi launched the "New Year's Dream" essay solicitation in "Oriental Magazine", he did not participate in "dreaming". He said that if we do not dream of the "white terror, bombing, massacre, pouring pepper water into the nose, electrocution..." before the realization of the "Great Harmony World", the dream of a good society will not come. On February 12, 1933, he wrote to his friend Tai Jinnong: "The Civil Rights Protection Association will probably not live long, let's wait and see what happens next." Yang Xingfo's death proved all this with blood. , but Lu Xun was a person who knew what he couldn't do but did it. He was enthusiastic about the Civil Rights Protection Alliance. He not only introduced others to participate, but also took time to participate in most meetings and activities himself. Regarding the scene of the meeting at that time, Zou Taofen had a first-hand vivid account in "A Life in Disaster":

"The most interesting thing during the meeting was Mr. Lu Xun and Mr. Hu Yuzhi smoking cigarettes. The two of them were smoking cigarettes. You don’t even need matches to smoke cigarettes. As soon as you finish one cigarette, another one will be picked up, and they will continue to be picked up.”

Through the tunnel of time, look at the first floor of No. 331, Albert Road, Shanghai. In the long reception room, the highly respected Mr. Cai Yuanpei presided over the meeting. Soong Ching Ling, Yang Xingfo, Lin Yutang and others spoke impromptu in fluent English. Lu Xun and Hu Yuzhi puffed away smoke and smoked cigarettes one after another...

Before and after meetings, they often walked and chatted on the large balcony and grass in front of the house. Yang Xingfo often took photos of people here, and Lu Xun also took several photos here. Lu Xun's diary on June 12, 1933, six days before Yang Xingfo's death, still recorded: "I got a letter from Yang Xingfo and a photo of me, and returned at night."

"Ding Shi's protest, It is useless." During this period, there are several other things worth mentioning in the relevant activities that Lu Xun experienced.

First, on February 17, 1933, the world-influential British writer Bernard Shaw visited Shanghai. Soong Ching Ling came to receive him. Lu Xun participated in meetings with Shaw, press conferences and other activities.

The second is criticism of Hu Shi. In February 1933, Hu Shi, as the chairman of the Peking branch of the China Civil Rights Protection League, published a series of talks on the protection of civil rights and political prisoners in newspapers such as Morning News, Peking's Republic of China Daily, and Zilin Xibao. The alliance represented by , Cai, Yang, etc. will always have different views. On March 1, Lu Xun wrote to Tai Jingnong - "I heard that Dr. Hu had an article attacking the Civil Rights League and it was published in the Peking Newspaper. Can I see it and send it to you?" This shows that he attached great importance to this matter. It is said that he was the first to propose the expulsion of Hu Shi from the alliance.

On March 4, "Shenbao" published the news that the Civil Rights Protection Alliance had fired Hu Shi. Afterwards, Lu Xun wrote "Where the Light Goes..." and other articles to criticize Hu Shi, sharply pointing out that the "human rights" he talked about were actually "governmental rights."

Third, on May 13, 1933, Lu Xun, together with Song Qingling, Cai Yuanpei, Yang Xingfo, Lin Yutang, Smedley, etc., submitted a protest letter to the German Consulate in Shanghai on behalf of the China Civil Rights Protection League, solemnly

Protest against German fascism’s inhumanity, trampling on human rights, oppression of innocent scholars and writers, and destruction of culture, and condemn Hitler’s persecution and massacre of Jews. The protest was published in newspapers such as Shenbao. Human rights have no borders, and all anti-human and anti-human behaviors, even if they do not occur in our own nation or on our own land, we must stand up and condemn them. This is a simple truth that Lu Xun and other forefathers have long recognized. Lu Xun's diary of that day simply recorded: "In the morning, I went to Academia Sinica and then to the German Consulate." Fourth, in early June 1933, 20 people from the cultural circles, including Lu Xun and Cai Yuanpei, jointly signed the " "Declaration" and "Damei Evening News" issued declarations, strongly protesting the illegal killing of anti-Japanese patriot Lin Huiyuan and calling for justice for him. Lin was the director of the Public Education Center in Longxi, Fujian Province and a member of the Standing Committee of the Anti-Japanese Association. Because he advocated resistance against Japan, he offended powerful local businessmen and was falsely accused of being a "bandit collaborator". He was arrested and shot by the army without trial and without evidence. .

Fifth, in May 1933, the female writer Ding Ling disappeared, Pan Zinian was arrested, and Lu Xun was also intimidated. Newspapers once reported the news of Ding Ling's murder, and Lu Xun wrote a poem about it, "Mourning for Ding Jun". On June 26, he spoke angrily about this matter in a letter. He said: "Ding Shi's protest is useless, and the authorities will be distracted by the protest. Her life and death are still unknown. In fact, , in Shanghai, missing people are common, but because they are unknown, no one mentions them. Yang Xingfo was also one of the people who was enthusiastic about saving Ding, but he was assassinated. I think this matter must be kept vague. Any explicit order to arrest a murderer is a lie. I heard that there were fourteen more people who were going to be dealt with in the same way."

In fact, the protest worked, and Ding Ling finally survived. came down and went to Yan'an a few years later. Although there are various other reasons for this, I believe that the protests by the Civil Rights Protection Alliance and the cultural sector still had a positive impact. Behind Lu Xun's cold words, a fiery heart beats. He was equally concerned about Ding Ling's fate and the fate of countless nameless persecuted victims. The reason why he joined the Civil Rights Protection League is inseparable from his undiminished humanitarian feelings. In Lu Xun, we can always experience more humanistic things rather than ideological things. In his later years, he yearned for the Soviet Union and supported the left-wing literary and artistic movement, mainly out of resistance to Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorship. What he pursued It was still the ideal of the "May Fourth Movement" era. Humanism was the core of his thought. Without humanitarianism and human rights concern, Lu Xun's spiritual world would be pale. He shouldered the gate of darkness and let the young people go to the bright place. He overthrew the cannibalistic banquet and called for "save the children." Like his participation in the Civil Rights Protection League, they were all manifestations of humanitarian pursuits. He was the same as his "three The protests after the "18th" incident continued in the same vein.

On the afternoon of June 20, 1933, it rained heavily. After attending the enshrinement ceremony of Yang Xingfo, Lu Xun embarked on his way home in the rain. The rain seemed to be full of the smell of blood, and the huge grief and anger even blurred his eyes, and he couldn't tell whether it was rain or tears. He finished it in one go and wrote a seven-point poem that Xu Shouchang called "talented and full of new ideas, no different from Gong Zizhen":

"How can the pride be like the old days, where the flowers bloom and fall. When will it happen?" Tears rained down in the south of the Yangtze River, and the athletes cried for the people of Sri Lanka."

This little poem, like his articles such as "In Memory of Mr. Liu Hezhen" and "For the Memory of Forgotten", is destined to be the same as "Ah Q." "Zhengzhuan" will be recited together for a long time.