preface
In 1912, after Dr. Sun Yat-sen was sworn in as the provisional president of the Republic of China in Nanjing, he once issued an invitation to a "big man" of the Hongmen Society in the United States to return to China to become an official, but he refused to do so, and this "big man" was Situ Meitang.
Pictured | Situ Meitang
"I do not seek to be an official, but only want the revolution to succeed, to establish the Republic of China, and to revitalize China." The naked son is eager to serve the country, and listen to the instructions for what he has commanded in the future. --Situ Meitang.
Hongmen gangster - Situ Meitang
In 1880, the 12-year-old Situ Meitang took 20 pieces of dragon silver borrowed from his mother, embarked on a ferry to San Francisco, the United States, and began to make a living in a foreign country, like countless Chinese who had just arrived in the United States to make a living, Situ Meitang who had just arrived in the United States also did not get rid of the fate of entering the Chinesetown Chinese restaurant to brush dishes, and this brush was a full three years.
One day, in the restaurant where Situ Meitang worked, several hooligans came to make trouble, not only ate the overlord meal, but also extorted money, and Situ Meitang, who had trained a good martial art since childhood, could not bear it, and directly beat this group of bullies with one dozen. As a result, in the process of fighting, Situ Meitang did not control the strength and directly punched an American to death on the spot.
Picture | chinese going to the United States
The next day, the police who did not investigate directly took Situ Meitang away, and the judge even announced Situ Meitang's death sentence in court, and the news directly shocked the whole United States, and countless overseas Chinese who were bullied all clapped their hands and applauded, which was very gratifying, and at the same time, they also protested sternly against the judicial injustice in the United States.
In order to save the life of Situ Meitang, at that time, the largest non-governmental organization organized by overseas Chinese in the United States, Hongmen Zhigongtang, mobilized big guys to raise funds for Situ Meitang, and due to limited funds, everyone only invited a lawyer Roosevelt who had just graduated from school, and this lawyer was the president of the United States who would later become famous all over the world - Franklin Roosevelt.
Thanks to Roosevelt's arguments and the efforts of the vast number of overseas Chinese in Hongmen Zhigongtang, Situ Meitang was released after being imprisoned for just 10 months. Since then, Situ Meitang's "heroic name" has spread all over the United States, and Roosevelt and Situ Meitang have become a pair of good friends, in 1885, the 17-year-old Situ Meitang swore an oath to join the Hongmen Zhigongtang as he wished.
Pictured| Hongmen Zhigongtang
In 1894, deeply feeling that the Hongmen Zhigongtang was poorly organized and complex, Situ Meitang was determined to establish another mountain, and he gathered a large number of able people who dared to do daring in the hall to form the Anliang Chamber of Commerce and Industry, referred to as Anliangtang, and Situ Meitang was embraced as the "big guy" of Anliangtang, and thus began the road of the legendary "big man".
In order to avoid legal disputes, Stuart Meitang also hired Roosevelt as the legal counsel of Anliangtang, and this position was not resigned until Roosevelt became the president of the United States. When Roosevelt was elected President of the United States, as long as Situ Meitang had something to ask for, he would do his best to help solve it. In 1943, the "Chinese Exclusion Law", which had been practiced in the United States for fifty years, was abolished, and Situ Meitang was the most important contributor to it.
A beautiful court official who is bent on resisting Japan and saving the country
The long-term life at the bottom of the overseas Chinese society has made Situ Meitang deeply feel that the suffering of overseas Chinese overseas is closely linked to the fate of the motherland, and Situ Meitang said with deep feeling: "We are well aware of the shame of the country's weakness. ”
In 1904, Sun Yat-sen came to the United States for the second time to propagate his revolutionary ideas, that is, this time, Situ Meitang finally met Mr. Sun Yat-sen, who had long admired, and in the conversation with Sun Yat-sen, Situ Meitang's revolutionary ideas gradually matured and truly embarked on the road of revolution, and An Liangtang also became the main organization supporting Sun Yat-sen's Xinhai Revolution.
Later, Dr. Sun Yat-sen once said with great sincerity: "Overseas Chinese are the mother of the revolution, this is the truth." ”
After the outbreak of the "918 Incident", Situ Meitang on the one hand denounced the Kuomintang reactionaries' policy of non-resistance, and on the other hand, actively threw himself into the action of donating money to save the country and resolutely resisting the Japanese Kou.
Under the leadership and leadership of Situ Meitang, countless overseas Chinese poured out their money to help, and in addition to donating their own savings, they also donated half of their own paving.
However, when Situ Meitang wanted to send the money back to China, no anti-Japanese government could accept it, and Situ Meitang had to return all the money.
Figure | zhi gongtang
In January 1932, the Japanese invaders launched another attack on shanghai on the mainland, and the 19th Route Army stationed in Shanghai, under the leadership of commander Cai Tingkai and commander-in-chief Jiang Guangnai, rose up to resist, washing away the shame of the government's continuous concessions for four months.
After Situ Meitang learned of this news, his blood boiled and he was greatly encouraged, and immediately organized overseas Chinese in the United States to collect donations to support the Nineteenth Route Army in the anti-Japanese war.
However, just when Situ Meitang was full of patriotic enthusiasm and remitted all the donations of overseas Chinese to the Kuomintang government for the Nineteenth Route Army to use as an anti-Japanese war, Chiang Kai-shek withheld all this large amount of money. Situ Meitang was very angry when he learned of this, and then changed to a bank to send money, and indicated that it was "personally collected" by General Cai Tingkai.
Even so, according to Situ Meitang, General Cai Tingkai received only one-twentieth of the remittances donated to overseas Chinese, about $500,000. Shortly after the Battle of Songhu, Situ Meitang also personally led overseas Chinese compatriots to Shanghai with materials donated by overseas Chinese to offer condolences to the Nineteenth Route Army.
Pictured| Cai Tingkai
In November 1933, Cai Tingkai and the Nineteenth Route Army were transferred by Chiang Kai-shek to Fujian to carry out the "suppression of the Communists", and for the sake of the great cause of the anti-Japanese nation, Cai Tingkai, Jiang Guangnai, Li Jishen, and others jointly launched the Fujian Incident and established the "People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China" to oppose Chiang Kai-shek's resistance to Japan.
When Situ Meitang learned of this, he immediately sent a telegram to support the anti-Japanese resistance, and Situ Mingtang said in a telegram: "If you have a lot of help, the only husband will be cursed, for the obedience of the world, for the rebellion of relatives, the flag of righteousness, and the obedience of all sides." The Zhi Gong Dang and the vast number of overseas Chinese are willing to serve the new regime. ”
However, just two months later, the Fujian Incident ended in failure, and Cai Tingkai was forced to go abroad for "excursion and study". In August 1934, when Cai Tingkai arrived in New York, all overseas Chinese stores in New York were closed, and more than 3,000 people held flowers in their hands to greet Cai Tingkai's arrival at the dock.
Tu | commander-in-chief Jiang Guangnai (left) and commander Cai Tingkai
After Cai Tingkai arrived in the United States, the thing that Situ Meitang was most worried about was Cai Tingkai's safety.
At that time, Kuomintang agents in the United States bribed several murderers and threatened to kill this general who "did not obey orders." In this regard, Situ Meitang made meticulous and detailed arrangements to mobilize patriotic overseas Chinese to protect the general, situ Meitang personally served as General Cai Tingkai's bodyguard, every time the general traveled, Situ Meitang must accompany him, always away from the left and right.
In order to prevent accidents, Situ Meitang also solemnly declared in the newspaper: "If you want to beat me first, whoever dares to move a hair of General Cai will be mashed into meat sauce." Under the painstaking arrangement of Situ Meitang, General Cai Tingkai paid a security visit to the United States for half a year, which was a great success.
On July 7, 1937, the "Lugou Bridge Incident" broke out, Situ Meitang mobilized the entire overseas Chinese society in just a few hours, that night, under the strong advocacy of Situ Meitang, the New York Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Salvation Fund-Raising Association was formally established, although the life of overseas Chinese in the United States is not rich, but they still insist on monthly donations, and hundreds of millions of huge sums of money are continuously remitted to the motherland to support the national War of Resistance.
Pictured| Situ Meitang running, the New York expatriates donated to the Eighth Route Army ambulance
In 1941, Situ Meitang was selected by the Kuomintang as a national suffragette, although it was too old, but Situ Meitang still insisted on returning to China to participate in the National Suffrage Conference in Chongqing, just after Situ Meitang arrived in Hong Kong, the Pacific War broke out, Hong Kong fell, Situ Meitang was also put under house arrest by the Japanese army, trapped in the tiger's den, in a very dangerous situation.
After learning of Situ Meitang's details, the head of the special agent of the Japanese special high-tech department immediately sent someone to take him to the secret service organ, coerced and seduced Situ Meitang to become the chairman of the Hong Kong maintenance committee, and tried to take advantage of Situ Meitang's influence and prestige to organize a Hong Kong gang to assist the Japanese army in carrying out the so-called "strengthening of public order."
Although he was already 75 years old, the national righteousness of the old man did not allow him to do such a thing, and Situ Meitang said to the head of the Japanese secret service: "I am too old to be old, and I don't want to carry a black cauldron before I enter the ground, it is like a virgin woman losing her head in vain, and half of her life's suffering has turned into ashes, and I will never be the president of any maintenance." ”
The head of the Japanese secret service immediately wanted to kill this stubborn old man directly, but due to the huge power of the Hong Kong gang, he did not rush to make a move, he released Situ Meitang, ready to completely eliminate this "disobedient" stubborn old man in secret.
Picture | Situ Meitang with Zhou Enlai in front of the CPC office in Chongqing from left: Situ Zhu, Dong Biwu, Situ Meitang, Zhou Enlai, Xu Han, Deng Yingchao
At this critical juncture of survival, Zhou Enlai immediately contacted Song Qingling, Liao Chengzhi, and Hongmen's brothers to go to Hong Kong for rescue, which lasted more than four months and traveled to many places, which made it difficult to reach Chongqing.
When they first arrived in Chongqing, Situ Meitang was warmly welcomed by Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, and every time they visited Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, they would lower their ranks to greet each other, and they would be respectful to the old man, and when they left, they would help the old man out of the third door before they would give up.
However, the ugly deeds of overseas Kuomintang agents, the corrupt politics of the Kuomintang that they saw after returning to China, the rampant behavior of agents throughout the country, the negative attitude of resisting Japan, and the act of single-mindedly eradicating dissidents all shocked and indignantly caused the elderly to feel shocked and indignant.
On the contrary, under the introduction of Tao Xingzhi and Huang Zonghan, Situ Meitang visited Zhou Enlai twice, made a statement to the old man about the actual situation of the Eighth Route Army's War of Resistance, and invited Situ Meitang to visit Yan'an in person.
In 1943, Situ Meitang returned to the United States to propagate everywhere: "Loyal to the cause of the War of Resistance, and creating the methods of the War of Resistance, it was the Communist Party, not the Kuomintang, that launched the situation of the War of Resistance, but all patriotic people should never be anti-communist, and anti-communist people are actually opposing the War of Resistance." ”
In 1945, after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Situ Meitang hoped that on behalf of the Overseas Chinese in the Americas, he could return to China to participate in the construction of the motherland, but Chiang Kai-shek's various acts made Situ Meitang completely side with the Communist Party, and Situ Meitang indignantly said: "I know that if I do not stand on the side of Chiang Kai-shek, then it must be the side of the Communist Party that loves the country and the people, the intermediate line does not exist, the people suffer and are cautious, and I am not allowed to stand idly by." It was from this time on that Situ Meitang had completely sided with the Communist Party, and he pinned all his hopes on the Communists.
In 1947, Chiang Kai-shek hoped that Situ Meitang could serve as a representative of the National Congress, and specially asked Du Yuesheng to come and persuade him, and Du Yuesheng said: "Chiang Kai-shek told you to be dang, you must be, he is not a good person." ”
Situ Meitang took the case and said angrily: "I Situ Meitang is not improper, tell Chiang Kai-shek, is my Situ Meitang a good troublemaker?" ”
Pictured| Chiang Kai-shek
There is no good feeling for the "Republic of China"
At the beginning of 1949, Situ Meitang, who was in the United States, suddenly received an invitation letter from China, which was written by Chairman Mao himself, warmly inviting Situ Meitang to return to China to attend the New CPPCC meeting at an early date and discuss state affairs. This sincere invitation letter made the 83-year-old Situ Meitang very excited and immediately left for China to attend the CPPCC meeting.
Situ Meitang, who returned to the motherland, proposed to visit Chairman Mao, because Chairman Mao was living in the Shuangqing Villa in Xiangshan at that time, and the terrain of the villa was relatively high, and all the people who came to visit were transferred to jeeps at the bottom of the mountain.
When he heard that Situ Meitang was going up the mountain, Chairman Mao, taking into account the old man's relatively old age and fearing that his body could not stand the bumps of the jeep, asked the guards to make a palanquin from the rattan chair he used to sit on, and prepared to carry the old man up.
Picture | Mao Zedong proposed that his rattan chair be used as a sliding pole to represent Situ Meitang.
A few days later, Situ Meitang took a "palanquin" specially designed by Chairman Mao and carried it from the bottom of the mountain to the door of Chairman Mao's living room; when Situ Meitang arrived, Chairman Mao had been waiting outside the door for a long time, and when he saw the palanquin, Chairman Mao immediately greeted him and slowly got off the palanquin with his hands, and this was the first time Chairman Mao and Situ Meitang met.
On the morning of September 26, four days before the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, the First Political Consultative Conference was in full swing, and Huang Yanpei, Situ Meiden, He Xiangning, and other democrats from all walks of life came to the Six Nations Hotel to attend a luncheon at the invitation of Premier Zhou Enlai.
After the door of the banquet hall was closed, Premier Zhou Enlai took the lead in speaking, saying: "The people invited to the banquet today are all the elders of the Xinhai Revolution... There is an old saying in our country called "ask the elders", and the same is true of our meeting today. When discussing the document, you saw that under the name "People's Republic of China", there is also a short name "Republic of China", and we have two different opinions on this abbreviation, some say yes, some say that there is no need, the Standing Committee specially asked me to ask the elders for advice, to see what high opinions there are, the elders of the four words "Republic of China", perhaps there are still some old feelings. ”
Picture | Zhou Enlai and his wife taking a group photo with Situ Meitang
In the midst of a discussion, the 83-year-old Situ Meitang expressed his opposition in a clear manner, and the old man said excitedly:
"I have no knowledge, I am a person who participated in the Xinhai Revolution, I respect Dr. Sun Yat-sen, but I have absolutely no good feelings for the four words "Republic of China", on the grounds that "Republic of China" has nothing to do with the people, and in the past 22 years, Chiang Kai-shek has made people angry and resentful. The name of the country is a very solemn thing, if you want to change it, you must change it, why do you have to change it after three years? The old saying goes: If the name is not right, it is not smooth, and if the words are not smooth, it will not work. It is still called "Republic of China", so why tell the people of the world? We seem to be sneaky, and now that the revolution has triumphed, we dare not change even the name of the country, and I resolutely oppose any abbreviation, and I firmly advocate the use of the full name of the "People's Republic of China" in a bright and just manner. ”
Situ Meitang's speech immediately aroused warm applause from everyone in the banquet hall, and those who opposed the abbreviation expressed their views one after another, and the attitude at the meeting suddenly became one-sided, and the proposal to use the abbreviation "Republic of China" was abolished.
After the founding of New China, the old man Situ Meitang wanted to "retire after his achievements" just like he supported Dr. Sun Yat-sen in his early years, and the old man said to his secretary Situ Binghe: "After the Xinhai Revolution, Sun Yat-sen asked me to be an official, but I did not do it, and now that the congress has been completed, I will also go back to Hong Kong and the United States." ”
Pictured| In 1950, Mao Zedong was with Situ Meitang (second from left).
Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai, after learning of Situ Meitang's thoughts, came to stay one after another, and Chairman Mao said affectionately: "Old man, stay!" Premier Zhou Enlai also advised that this is only the first step in the Long March, the trauma of the national war is very heavy, and everyone is working together to restore the economy and improve the people's lives. Under the strong retention of the two leaders, Situ Meitang finally chose to stay in China as his final destination.
Because Situ Meitang walked in a hurry before returning to China, he did not expect to live in the country for a long time, and the clothes for the winter were not prepared, after Premier Zhou Enlai knew, he instructed the staff to bring the old man to customize a special otter collar roe coat to give, and Premier Zhou Enlai's meticulous care made Situ Meitang moved.
On May 8, 1955, Situ Meitang died of illness in Beijing at the age of 89, and Premier Zhou Enlai personally presided over the public ceremony to support the spirits of the elderly.
epilogue
Pictured | statue of Situ Meitang
In order to commemorate Situ Meitang's contribution to new China, on the occasion of Situ Meitang's 140th birthday, on the chengnan square in Kaiping City, Guangdong Province, a 4.28-meter-high bronze statue of a figure was erected, and the old man was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, with a resolute expression, and looked at his homeland with deep affection.