Huang Ai and Pang Renquan of Hunan in the history of the Party: The first leaders of the labor movement in the country to sacrifice for the cause of the proletariat

Hunan Daily New Hunan client reporter Wang Weiwei

Huang Ai and Pang Renquan, two Hunan men of similar age, similar origins, and overlapping study experiences, sacrificed themselves heroically at the age of 25 for leading the workers' movement, becoming the first leaders of the labor movement in the country to sacrifice for the cause of the proletariat.

Changde huang ai lost his mother when he was young, and was sponsored by his second brother to study, and in 1913 he was admitted to the mechanical department of Hunan Jia industrial school to study, and after graduation, he worked as a skilled worker in Hunan Electric Light Company. In the spring of 1919, Huang Ai, who was determined to save the country through industry, went to Beijing to apply for the examination for the Higher Industrial School, but because of the missed examination period, he was inserted into the Tianjin Zhili Special Industrial School to study. After that, Huang Ai traveled to Beijing and Shanghai to consult Li Dazhao and ask Chen Duxiu.

The Xiangtan people, Pang Renquan, were able to enroll in school because of the early death of their father and the support of their clansmen. In 1913, Pang Renquan entered the Dyeing and Weaving Department of Hunan Jiazhong Industrial School. After graduation, he worked as a technician in the Xiangtan Weaving Factory, and a year later returned to his hometown with his wife to run a family weaving society. Later, after joining the Xiang Army, Zhang Jingyao was driven out of Hunan, and Pang Renquan withdrew from the army.

At that time, Mao Zedong and Peng Huang were engaged in the exorcism movement in Shanghai, and Huang Ai, Mao Zedong and Peng Huang discussed the issue of transforming Hunan together, and agreed to return to Hunan to engage in the workers' movement. After receiving chen Duxiu's support, Huang Ai decided to return to his hometown and "devote himself to the workers' movement with all his might." Pang Renquan, who was in Xiangtan at the time, saw Huang Ai's publicly published "Letter to Workers" and immediately went to The Long Run and joined hands with Huang Ai to "start a business.".

Huang Ai and Pang Renquan founded the Hunan Labor Union almost from scratch. Historical records record that when the two men organized the labor union, there were only 28 copper plates, and later through fundraising, they were able to purchase paper, ink, pencil and stone, and draft the labor union's charter and declaration.

On November 21, 1920, the Hunan Labor Union was established. From the main development of student membership to the extensive absorption of workers' membership, in more than a year, the number of members has grown to 7,000, becoming a large coalition of labor organizations with 21 trade unions, including textiles and machinery.

In its early days, the Labour Union was a group of workers influenced by anarchism. The Hunan branch of the Communist Party of China reformed the Hunan Labor Union, and Huang Ai and Pang Renquan, with the influence and help of Mao Zedong and others, got rid of the influence of anarchism and joined the Chinese Socialist Youth League. Subsequently, the activities of the Hunan Labor Union were brought under the guidance of the Hunan Branch of the Secretariat of the China Labor Union.

In the first upsurge of the Chinese workers' movement from January 1922 to February 1923, Hunan was one of the five key areas of strike in the country. In January 1922, the workers of the First Spinning Factory in Hunan launched a general strike and organized a large-scale demonstration. On January 16, Huang Ai and Pang Renquan were arrested by the warlord Zhao Hengti's government while leading a workers' strike to negotiate with the management, and the next day they were shot outside the Liuyang Gate in Changsha.

The news of the martyrdom of Huang Ai and Pang Renquan quickly spread throughout the country, causing the working class and the people of the whole country to be extremely angry. Mao Zedong held two memorial services in Changsha and issued a special commemorative issue, which quickly pushed the Hunan workers' movement and mass struggle to a climax. The First National Labor Congress held on May 1, 1922, made a special resolution to designate January 17 of each year as the anniversary of the martyrdom of Huang Ai and Pang Renquan. The Secretariat of the Chinese Labor Union called the two "martyrs of the first death for the proletariat in China."

Originally published in Hunan Daily (03 edition, March 23, 2021)

[Editor-in-charge: Yao Xinyue]

[Source: Hunan Daily· New Hunan Client]