There is an obscure hutong in Beijing called Dazhiqiao Hutong, which was called Zhaziqiao in Qing Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was a very famous place, because the famous Songyun Temple and Songyun Caotang were located in this small alley. Songyun Temple was originally the house of Yang Jisheng, a foreign minister of the Ministry of War's Wu Xuan Department during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. This man is famous. He was once dismissed from office because of his advocacy against Qiu Luan. Later, he was imprisoned by the emperor for impeaching Yan Song, a cabinet scholar, and was finally beheaded in Xishi. After his death, his wife hanged herself. Later, the former residence of the young couple was renamed Songjun Temple.
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Songjun Temple was used as a ancestral temple to worship Yang Jisheng. The house star where Yang Jisheng lived before his death was named Jing Xian Hall; The study where he wrote impeachment was expanded into an admonition cottage; He impeached Qiu Zhi and Yan Song's Qin skeleton, which were carved into eight stone carvings, and embedded in the east and west walls of Jing Xian Hall together with the epitaph commemorating future generations. Cloisters and rockeries have been built around the house, and the scenery is elegant, which makes it an important place for literati gathering in Xuannan area.
During the Guangxu period, the Puritans often talked about current politics here, which made Songyun Temple attract public attention. Let's talk about Kang Youwei. This man spoke from his own words, and all kinds of books in later generations followed his words, so we saw such a record in all kinds of history books: After learning the news of the signing of treaty of shimonoseki, Kang Youwei invited more than 1,2 juren to gather in Songjun Temple and sign a book. Participants signed the Wan Yan Book drafted by Kang Youwei. On May 2nd, a queue of people from all provinces stood for a mile, presenting a million words to the DuChaYuan, which refused to accept it on the grounds that the emperor had stamped a decree on the peace treaty. However, this time, the petition broke the ban of the Qing dynasty that scholars were not allowed to do politics, and put forward the program of bourgeois reform and improvement, so it spread quickly throughout the country.
Actually, Kang Youwei's statement is very problematic. According to the file, it was not the provincial juren but a large number of officials who opposed the signing at the earliest. As early as April 14th, the Governor of Taiwan Province, Tang Jingsong, sent a telegram to the government saying that it was not feasible to give land. As for the compensation for land cession, the government officials headed by Zhang Zhidong, governor of Liangjiang, have successively voiced their opposition to the signing of the contract. There are more than 2 imperial clan and officials above the second grade in Beijing, and more than 5 officials below the second grade have the right to speak. People, officials such as the Imperial Academy, the Prime Minister's yamen, the Cabinet, and six ministries all signed a large-scale joint letter, with more than 6 signatures. It can be seen that officials at all levels are the main body against treaty of shimonoseki. Under the influence of the officials' performance, juren from all over the country who have just participated in the imperial examination in Beijing and are waiting for the news of publishing the list also wrote against signing the contract. According to the Qing dynasty system, juren could not be directly played in the court, but must be written in public and played by Duchayuan.
From April 3th, Douchayuan will receive letters from people from all provinces every day and replace them. For example, on May 2nd, when Kang Youwei claimed that Duchayuan refused to accept juren's petition, Duchayuan actually forwarded eight batches of juren's submissions from seven provinces, including Hubei, with as many as 324 signatories. This kind of turn didn't end until May 21. The total number of books reached 31, and the number of people who signed them was as high as 1,555. In addition, 135 bus passengers participated in seven books led by Beijing officials. On April 3th, eighty Guangdong juren led by Liang Qichao wrote a book, which was just one of many books.
According to the records in the archives, all the letters were sent to Emperor Guangxu's desk, and the so-called saying that DuchaYuan rejected the letters does not exist. The fact is that Kang Youwei did not submit the "Wan Yan Shu". Kang Youwei did intend to launch a letter, but the plan was stillborn on May 2nd. The reason is that people think that the overall situation has been set and cannot be saved, and the location is also in Songjun Temple instead of Duchayuan. In May 1895, Kang Youwei also admitted that the so-called bus writing incident did not exist, and it was only intended to write a book, which could be called a public meeting at most.
It is also recorded in Weng Tonghe's diary that Emperor Guangxu summoned the Minister of Military Affairs for an hour and a half on the morning of May 2, which already meant to approve the peace treaty. At this time, the highest decision-making level will not be the basis of decision-making even if it sees the opposition letter jointly signed by officials and scholars. Moreover, the specific time when Emperor Guangxu stamped the treaty of shimonoseki was May 3rd, instead of Kang Youwei's so-called Duchayuan claiming on May 2nd that the emperor had used the treasure irretrievably.
According to Kang Youwei, when did people get together in Songyun Temple? Can the small Songjun Temple squeeze thousands of people? All the existing materials about the bus petition were written by Kang Youwei and his disciples, and there are different opinions. However, other contemporary officials and scholars in Beijing and juren who took the exam in Beijing did not mention this major bus petition event in their letters and diaries, which really made people very confused. Kang Youwei and his disciples had different opinions about the number of people involved. Kang Youwei said there were 1,2 people and he said 3, people. Liang Qichao sometimes said that there were 1,3 people, more than 1, people, and sometimes 3, or thousands of people. The title of "The Book on the Bus" is 62 people, and the number of people is so wide, which actually shows that this matter is confusing and even makes people wonder whether this incident exists.
Kang Youwei used this trumped-up bus writing incident to improve his social status and expand his influence. So why did Kang Youwei concoct a lie written on the bus? Kang Youwei is a genius agitator. He never wrote a book, but the text he wrote was indeed the most wonderful and thought-provoking of all the documents against the peace treaty at that time. He used Song Yun 'an as the first stage of his political rise and achieved very good publicity results. Three years later, imaginative, he also planned and encouraged officials to go to Ganqingmen to cry and ask for political reform. Although it didn't come true, it also showed his provocative acting talent.
Of course, Kang Youwei is not a mature politician after all. It is understandable that he and his immature political reform advocated adding an immature emperor who could not control the political power, and the immature Reform Movement of 1898 was stillborn.
References: Kang Youwei's Several Deceptions
Kang Youwei's Writing on the Bus about Falsification.