During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in the Heilongjiang literary circle, which was strictly imprisoned by the Japanese puppet reactionary authorities, there was a shining star, and he illuminated the hearts of the patriotic people with the light of life that will never be extinguished. He is the pioneer of revolutionary literature and art in Northeast China, a fearless anti-Japanese soldier, and an outstanding Communist Party member - Comrade Jin Jianxiao.
He was a handsome and dashing young man, with a pair of large eyes behind the lenses that shone with wisdom and enthusiasm.
Comrade Jian Xiao is versatile, he is good at painting and woodcarving; Writer and poet again, he can not only compose, but also play; Not only can I write scripts, but I can also write, direct, and act by myself. As a revolutionary literary and artistic worker, he fought heroically against the Japanese invaders, and although his life was short, it shone with dazzling brilliance, just like the pen name he gave himself, stabbing the enemy in the chest with a roaring sword.
Comrade Jian Xiao is a Manchu, formerly known as Jin Chengzhi. Jianxiao, Jianshuo, Balai, etc. are all his pen names. In February 1910, he was born in a family of ordinary lettering workers in Shenyang. When he was three years old, his family moved to Harbin.
As early as his middle school students, Jian Xiao had already shown a unique literary talent, and his works were often published in the literary supplement "Chenguang*". In the autumn of 1929, at the age of 19, he joined the "Morning Light*" as the editor of the literary supplement.
During this period, most of his poems expressed the pent-up grievances and dissatisfaction of the progressive youth in Northeast China with the dark reality. He used tortuous brushstrokes to expose all kinds of ugly phenomena that whipped society, and he spoke out, hoping to use a sharp sword to split the dark old world.
Jian Xiao was very fond of painting, and later entered Xinhua Art University in Shanghai with the sponsorship of a friend. In the winter of 1930, he joined the "Young Communist Party" and embarked on the road of real revolution.
In 1931, he transferred to Shanghai University of the Arts to study. While studying, he participated in secret revolutionary activities, and soon joined the Communist Party of China with honor. He also participated in some revolutionary activities of the Shanghai Left-wing Dramatists Union and the Artists Union.
In 1931, the party organization sent him back to the northeast, and soon the "918" incident broke out. At the time of the national crisis, the mountains and rivers were shattered, and he actively carried out propaganda activities to resist Japan and save the country and spread revolutionary literature and art. He organized the "Anti-Japanese Drama Society" and directed the drama "Sea Breeze", in which Chinese seafarers fought bravely, to inspire and educate the masses.
At the beginning of 1932, the Harbin Municipal Party Committee prepared to publish a mimeographed tabloid to publicize the anti-Japanese struggle and save the country, and Yang Jingyu handed over this task to Jin Jianxiao, who worked tirelessly and actively completed the task. In the autumn of that year, Harbin was hit by a catastrophic flood. The flood destroyed the families of the toiling people and separated their wives. The scourge of natural disasters and wars aroused his incomparable hatred for the aggressors and his deep sympathy for the people.
In November, he, Xiao Jun, Xiao Hong and others held the "Venus Relief Painting Exhibition" in order to relieve the victims, and Jian Xiao took his works depicting workers, farmers, and fishermen to exhibit. At that time, no one had painted these subjects in Harbin, and one painting entitled "From the Ground" vividly reflected the miserable life of the miners. This had a certain political influence in Harbin under the Japanese puppet rule, and created a new generation of painting styles.
In May 1933, the Propaganda Department of the Manchuria Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China published the Provincial Party Committee newspaper "Manchuria Red Flag", which needed a reliable party painter.
In July of the same year, he, Luo Feng, Bai Lang, Xiao Jun, Xiao Hong and others organized a semi-public "Star Troupe", which was an anti-Japanese literary and artistic group under the leadership of the party, and he served as the director and stage designer.
In the difficult years, he and Hou Xiaogu and other friends opened a "Tianma Advertising Agency" to cover revolutionary activities and help some progressive poor young people who love literature and art to make a living.
In the harsh years of the White Terror, in order to expand the revolutionary literary and artistic propaganda front, he and Jiang Chunfang, Luo Feng and other comrades agreed to set up a "night whistle" literary and artistic weekly in the supplement of the puppet Manchukuo government newspaper "Datong*" in Changchun. The masthead was designed by Jian Xiao himself, and it was painted with a dark night sky and barbed wire, suggesting that the publication was an outpost of the anti-Japanese struggle in the dark world of Japanese puppet rule. He published many works in the weekly magazine, exposing the darkness of the Japanese puppet rule and reflecting the suffering life of the people.
As a result of his participation in revolutionary activities, Comrade Jian Xiao was dismissed from the "Dabei Xinbao Pictorial Press" and later dismissed from the "Harbin Five Days Pictorial Press"; his family was living in great embarrassment; in addition to the treacherous political situation, the party organization was constantly destroyed, and some people fled to the Guannai, some were arrested, and some were killed. The White Terror enveloped Harbin, and many comrades advised Jian Xiao to go to the Guannei, but he was unwilling to leave his combat post, unwilling to leave his weak wife and young daughter, and was determined to fight the enemy to the end.
In June 1935, the party organization agreed and introduced him to the "Heilongjiang Minbao Agency" in Qiqihar City as a supplement editor. With the sense of responsibility of a Communist Party member and the fiery fighting spirit of a literary and artistic warrior, he made the originally lifeless supplement prosperous, and chose a very meaningful name for the supplement "Wutian", which means working hard to cultivate a barren land. His masthead for the supplement was that of a sturdy and unpretentious peasant who carried a pickaxe and ran into the distance to reclaim wasteland.
Jin Jianxiao went deep into the people, ran around to organize manuscripts, and often went to the slums to conduct investigations and collect creative materials. Jian Xiao actively wrote and published many works in "Wutian", including the narrative poem "The Wind and Snow in Xing'an Mountains", which enthusiastically praised the heroic struggle of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army led by the Communist Party of China. This is an excellent poem with strong feelings, high style, and majestic momentum, and it is a masterpiece of new poetry.
Jian Xiao also rehearsed several plays, including "Dusk", a drama he wrote about the struggle of patriots, and "Thunderstorm" by the Russian progressive playwright Ostrovsky. The Japanese puppet authorities were afraid of the expansion of influence and ordered the performance to be suspended. The newspaper learned that the Japanese puppet organs had paid attention to Jian Xiao's activities, so they had no choice but to dismiss him. He returned to Harbin.
Jian Xiao was well aware of the danger of being arrested at any time, but he still did not hesitate, he said: "I am desperate, sooner or later, there will be a day." He continued to look for a propaganda front in the anti-Japanese struggle.
Soon after, he found a few friends from the "Harmonica Society" to raise funds and subscribe for shares, and rented the editor-in-chief of the "Dabei Xinbao Pictorial" with Jian Xiao as the editor-in-chief. On April 20, 1936, a new edition of the loose-leaf color pictorial was published. Taking advantage of the fact that the contents of this publication were not censored by the special police organs, Jian Xiao opened fire on the enemy with poems, essays, photographs, and cartoons. He exposed and satirized the crimes of aggression of the great dictator Mussolini and praised the indomitable spirit of resistance of the Abyssinian people, which undoubtedly hinted at the barbaric aggression of Japanese imperialism against China and the anti-Japanese struggle of the Chinese people.
He also enthusiastically reported on the news of the war of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army on the way to the Long March. On May Day, a special commemorative issue was published. He also created a cartoon that mocked Chiang Kai-shek's crushing defeat in "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army. Angry denounced and rebuked the atrocities committed by the Harbin Police Department's guard car in the road that ran over a seven-year-old child. In addition, he introduced revolutionary writers such as Gorky, Mayakovsky, Lu Xun and Guo Moruo, who were warmly welcomed by the patriotic masses, and on June 9, 1936, he published the news that "Gorle is critically ill" with an eye-catching headline in the pictorial magazine. It also published stills of Chinese students studying in Japan performing Gorky's play "Nightclub" in Tokyo, expressing their nostalgia for Gorky's respect.
After the publication of the pictorial, it caused commotion and fear among the enemy. President Yamamoto was furious and sued the Japanese consulate.
On the afternoon of June 13, Jian Xiao was arrested in the editorial office of the pictorial by plainclothes agents of the special high school section of the Japanese Consulate General in Kazakhstan, and all the staff of the editorial department and the people who came to work were also arrested, and the pictorial office was closed.
This is a general action that the enemy has been planning for a long time to suppress the patriotic trend of the Chinese people. More than 40 people were also arrested in Qiqihar City.
After Jian Xiao was arrested, he behaved unusually strong. The enemy identified him as an important figure in the Communist Party, a man with the pseudonym "Balai." He was immediately escorted to Qiqihar City and held in solitary confinement in the prison of the Railway Bureau. The gendarmerie brutally tortured him day and night, but Jian Xiao was unyielding, assumed all the responsibilities himself, protected the party organizations and comrades, and fully demonstrated the noble character and patriotic spirit of the strong and unyielding communists.
The Japanese puppet rulers created a brutal literary prison - the puppet Third Military Region Military Court Trial and sentenced Jin Jianxiao and four other patriots to death.
At 10 o'clock in the morning of August 15, 1936, the enemy opened the prison door, and Jian Xiao knew that the last moment had come, and angrily glared at the puppet military judge and asked loudly: "You traitors and lackeys, what crime have I committed to make me die?" You are really guilty of betraying the enemy and betraying the country, and sooner or later the Chinese people will judge you!" The pseudo-judge was speechless, and hurriedly asked the guards to push Jian Xiao and four other patriots into the car and escort them to the execution site on high guard.
After the car arrived at the execution ground outside the north gate of Qiqihar, Jian Xiao and four patriots dragged heavy iron shackles out of the car. He took off his glasses, rubbed his sun-stinged eyes with his hands, and walked calmly to the mat where their bodies were shrouded. The enemy treated them as important state criminals, and the gendarmerie carried them out. The guards brought the rice to the dead, and Jian Xiao angrily knocked off the steamed buns and threw the wine bowl in the enemy's face. There was a riot by the execution of the gendarme, and the captain of the gendarmerie hurriedly gave the order to shoot. In a chaotic burst of gunfire, Jian Xiao looked up to the sky and laughed, and died heroically at the age of 26.
Although Comrade Jianxiao's life was short, it shone with immortal brilliance. He was one of the pioneers of revolutionary literature and art in Northeast China, a pioneer of revolutionary literature and art in Northeast China, and an outstanding revolutionary writer, painter and artist in Northeast China in the 30s of the 20th century. Comrade Jian is the glory and pride of the people of Northeast China, and his heroic name will forever go down in history.
——Shen Ke
Excerpt from the Black Soil Record