Heroic deeds| Martyr Zhang Peijue of the Xinhai Revolution: Pioneer of China's Democratic Revolution

Zhang Peijue was born on December 5, 1876 in Ronglongchang, Rongchang County, Sichuan Province. Zhang Peijue's family was poor, and at a young age, he often ran to the fields to collect rice and firewood, and at an early age, he worked hard to cultivate a lifelong simplicity and did not forget the virtues of folk suffering. Slightly longer, he studied from the master Wang Shenfu and was admitted to longchang county school in 1899. In 1903, he gave up his career and was admitted to the Chengdu Higher School of Science.

At this time, the idea of democratic revolution was widely disseminated in Sichuan, and Zhang Peijue read Zou Rong's "Revolutionary Army," Chen Tianhua's "Alarm Clock," "Turning Back" and other revolutionary works, as well as Western masterpieces that propagated democratic ideas such as "Natural Human Rights" and "Democratic Republic," and got to know Yang Shukan, Xie Zhi, and other revolutionary youths. Under the influence of teachers who returned from studying abroad, he took the lead in cutting the hair braids that were a symbol of national shame, and then mobilized his classmates to organize a "braid-cutting team" to give speeches inside and outside the school, exhorting people to cut off this "pig's tail" and wash the snow and shame.

During his return to his hometown, Zhang Peijue widely publicized the harm of women's foot binding to relatives and friends, and initiated the organization of "Women's Foot Letting Go", which affected urban and rural areas. He also enlisted the support of patriarch Zhang Gongcai to establish a girls' primary school in Longchang.

Zhang Peijue was elected as the president of the Syrian Provincial Fellow Villagers Association with his enthusiasm and talent. He and his classmate Li Zongwu and others traveled to the Syrian prefectures and counties, and won the allocation of 3,000 taels of silver from the local schools and valleys to establish the Syrian Provincial Union Middle School in Chengdu. The school later became an important stronghold of the League in Chengdu.

In 1906, huang Fusheng, Xiong Kewu, and other members of the League returned to Sichuan on the orders of Sun Yat-sen to develop the organization, and Zhang Peijue was introduced by Xie Zhi to join the League, determined to devote himself to the revolutionary cause of overthrowing the imperial system and establishing the Republic of China. His close friend Yang Shukan became the head of the Chongqing branch of the League, and together they worked hard for the propaganda of revolutionary development organizations.

In early 1907, the League launched the Sichuan Jiang'an and Luzhou uprisings and failed. Xiong Kewu went to Chengdu, consulted with Zhang Peijue, Yang Wei, Huang Fang, and other secret merchants at Caotang Temple, and planned to occupy Chengdu on the eve of the 70th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi in the early October, annihilating in one fell swoop the Governor of Sichuan and other important officials gathered at the Wanshou Palace. Lin Bingu, head of the Chengdu League, hesitated to make this move, and Zhang Peijue believed that the opportunity could not be lost and firmly advocated launching an uprising. Everyone pushed Zhang Peijue to go to Yongning to get Yang Shukan's consent, and after returning to Rong, he stepped up preparations for the uprising.

At that time, the revolutionary forces in Chengdu were already quite strong, and there were a large number of members of the League in all schools and in the New Army of Phoenix Mountain, more than 80% of the members of the Syrian League's senior league, and thousands of people from all over the country who came to Rong. When it was agreed to revolt, the academic circles were commanded by Zhang Peijue, Jin Ao, and other contacts. Because of the treacherous whistle-blowing, Yang Wei, Huang Fang and six other people were arrested, and the uprising did not succeed. Zhang Peijue, because he was not exposed, stayed alone in Chengdu to preside over the care and rescue of comrades in prison. He ran for help at the gate of the old squire in the province. Hu Jun, the superintendent of the higher school, was touched by it, and came forward to invite Wu Songshan, who was gathered in the township, to give a speech to the governor: "The politics is not good, and the young people seek reform out of patriotic enthusiasm, and if they are killed for the crime of great rebellion, the consequences will be unimaginable." The Sichuan authorities, with the anger of the people, finally sentenced Yang Wei and others to eternal imprisonment, and the arrested six gentlemen were able to not die.

In the summer of 1910, Yang Shukan returned to Chongqing as the superintendent of the Chongqing Fu Middle School, and asked Zhang Peijue to go to Chongqing to serve as the superintendent of the school and serve as an assistant for his own revolutionary activities. At this time, the League had mastered many educational positions in Chongqing and southeast Sichuan, and they stepped up contact with the industrial and commercial circles and organizations such as the Brotherhood of Elders to raise funds and purchase reserves of weapons and ammunition, and the wave of anti-Qing revolution rose rapidly.

On April 11, 1911, the Qing court declared that "the railway was state-owned" and plundered the equity of the Sichuan-Han railway Sichuan people, which "seized the road to the chinese people and sold the road to outsiders", which aroused the public indignation of the Sichuan people, and all parts of Sichuan set up road protection comrades' associations, setting off a huge road protection movement. On April 28, Chongqing held a shareholders' meeting of Sichuan-Han Railway, attended by more than 4,000 people, and decided to establish the Chongqing Baolu Comrades Association, which resolutely stated that "those who fight to the death are not only the relationship of equity capital, nor only the relationship of railways, but also the relationship between the survival and death of the country." "Defend the right of way, vow to die". Yang Shukan and Zhang Peijue of the Chongqing branch of the League advocated turning the Baolu Movement into an armed uprising to overthrow the Qing court. On July 7 and August 17, the Baolu Mass Conference was held at the Wanshou Palace and the YuWang Palace, which were attended by more than 10,000 people. Yang Shukan, Zhang Peijue, Zhu Zhihong, and others made generous statements denouncing the Qing court's crimes of losing power and betraying the country and forcibly seizing the property of the Sichuan people. When it came to the pain, the speakers were often in tears and the attendees were filled with indignation.

On September 7, Zhao Erfeng, the governor of Sichuan in the Qing Dynasty, brutally killed the Baolu petitioners in Chengdu, and all parts of Sichuan organized comrades to fight armed resistance. The Chongqing branch of the League decided to immediately strengthen preparations for the uprising. Yang Shukan was in charge of the overall situation, and Zhang Peijue was responsible for liaising with the anti-Qing armed forces in various places. Prepare plans for the uprising and command comradely armies everywhere.

When the Baolu Incident arose, the Qing court ordered Duan Fang to be the minister of the Sichuan-Guangdong and Sichuan-Han railways, and led some of the E's troops into Sichuan to suppress it. The Chongqing League immediately sent people to Wanxian and Kuifu to contact the revolutionaries in the E-army and ask them to launch an uprising in the E-army at a favorable time.

On October 10, the Wuchang Uprising was successful, and on the 13th, Duanfang arrived in Chongqing to recruit 3 battalions of the patrol army, and the league would take the opportunity to send a large number of revolutionaries to the army and control the battalions of the patrol army. On the grounds that the situation was unstable, the members of the League also obtained the consent of the prefect of Chongqing, and the Chamber of Commerce ran a business group, and the gentry of the Fang Box ran a militia group, and these teams were all controlled by the revolutionaries. The party organized 300 death squads, including Chunfa, and contacted the Qing army's marine division artillery, gunboats, and old patrol battalions to prepare for the uprising.

Under the leadership of the League, a military government was established in Qianjiang on November 13, Changshou became independent on the 18th, and Fuling became independent on the 20th, and Pengshui, Chungju, Jiangjin, Nanchuan, Hejiang and other prefectures and counties responded one after another. At this time, the time for the Chongqing uprising was ripe, and the warriors of the uprising were ready to go.

On November 5, Xia Shi, a member of the Alliance In chengdu's new army, led an uprising at Longquanyi in Jianyang, and arrived at Ciqikou on the 21st, and the League decided that Xia Bu would act in Chongqing to revolt. On the morning of 22 July, when the xiabu entered Chongqing, Yang Shukan and Zhang Peijue separately arranged for party members and students to go to various workshops to propagate propaganda; the military and police regiments supporting the uprising wrapped their arms around white cloth markers, marched out in unison, and shouted the slogan "Long live the Republic of China" along the way. Guan Chunfa and Shi Qingyang led a mighty 300 death squad to surround Yang Shukan and Zhang Peijue to the venue. The prefect of Chongqing in the Qing Dynasty, Niu Chuanshan, and Duan Rongjia of Zhixian County, Ba County, were ordered to attend the meeting. These two dog officials, who usually made a blessing to the common people, but begged to save the dog's life, respectfully handed over the seal of the prefectural county, knelt down to cut their hair braids, and bowed their heads and surrendered. The meeting announced the establishment of the Shu military government and sent a telegram to the whole country: "At three o'clock in the afternoon of this day, the Shu army was raised by Chongqing, and the officials of The Daofu County and the Printing Commission surrendered as one, the city was peaceful, and the outsiders were blocked. "The whole audience was full of firecrackers and thunder. After the meeting, Escort Niu Chuanshan and Duan Rongjia paraded the streets to show the public. The streets and alleys of Shancheng were full of white flags with the character "Han", the masses raised their eyebrows and exhaled, and the dragon flag of the Qing Empire fell over Chongqing.

After discussion and decision of the league branch, on November 23, the Shu military government was formed, with Zhang Peijue as the governor, Xia Shi as the deputy governor, and Yang Shukan and Zhu Zhihong as senior advisers.

During the Chongqing uprising, Tian Zhiliang, a representative of the revolutionaries who accompanied Duan Fang into the Sichuan-Hubei army, participated in the uprising ceremony. Zhang Peijue made an appointment with Tian Zhiliang, allocated him 300 soldiers, 80 bombs, and 5,000 yuan of silver yuan for the activity, and asked him to return to the team to organize the uprising of the E-army and execute Duan Fang. On November 27, the E-army revolted in Zizhong and executed Duan Fang and his brother Duan Jin. Tian Zhiliang returned to Chongqing with the first level of the two people, and the activity funds were only used for more than 500 yuan, and the rest was returned. The Shu military government feasted on the rebel generals of the Ejun army and showed Duan Fang and other leaders to the public for three days.

After the uprising, the Shu military government sent 5 pacification envoys to separate ways and paraded successively to revolt in various prefectures and counties to publicize the political program, pacify people's hearts, resolve disputes, and solve problems.

On November 27, Zhao Erfeng, the governor of Sichuan in the Qing Dynasty, colluded with the Constitutionalists to engage in a false independence scam and established the "Great Han Sichuan Military Government" in Chengdu. The Shu military government decided to send troops to the west in three ways, with Xia Shi as the commander-in-chief of the western expedition. Under the order of the Western Expedition, Lin Shaoquan, the commander of the Northern Road Detachment of the Western Expeditionary Army, plotted a rebellion with Shu Boyuan, Zhou Weixin, Zhou Shaohong, and the instructor Tang Weilie, the former Qing army commanders, in order to overthrow the Shu military government, and Lin served as the governor. After the conspiracy was exposed, the Shu military government immediately arrested the above people. Zhang Peijue asked Wu Yuzhang, an elder of the League association from Rong County to go to Chongqing, to preside over the trial meeting, list a large amount of evidence of the crime, sentence Shu Boyuan and others to death, and Lin Shaoquan also died on the way to escort. The Shu military government suppressed the rebellion several times, eliminated both sides, and consolidated the achievements of the uprising.

In early December, the Western Expeditionary Army arrived in Longchang. On December 10, the Chengdu Mutiny, Yin Changheng and Luo Lun became the chief and deputy governors of the Sichuan military government, and on the 22nd, Zhao Erfeng was hunted down. Zhang Peijue ordered the withdrawal of the Western Expeditionary Army.

In order to unite the rebel armies of the provinces to complete the great cause of overthrowing the imperial system and unifying the whole country, the Shu military government negotiated with the Yunnan Qian Army and the Sichuan Military Government to form a large army in the Northern Expedition. Zhang Peijue was elected as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and xia Shi was the commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army. It was declared that "in the near future, the Han (water) will leave the Qin (Ridge), and the Southern Army of our Northern Expedition will join the Central Plains to sweep the cave court and drive out the Tartars." At a time of intense preparations, on January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated as the Provisional President of the Republic of China. The two military governments agreed to merge on February 2. On February 3, Zhang Peijue and Xia Shi sent a telegram to Sun Yat-sen, proposing to cancel the peace talks with Yuan Shikai and unite with the rebel armies of various provinces to "directly attack the court, capture and kill Yuan Thieves, and determine the overall situation as soon as possible." However, Sun Yat-sen's intention to make peace between the north and the south has been decided, and the Northern Expedition has not been realized.

On February 12, the Qing Emperor Puyi abdicated. On March 4, Zhang Peijue issued the "Opinion on the Merger of the Two Military Governments of Chengdu and Chongqing", and promoted Yin Changheng as the governor.

On March 11, 1912, the Shu military government and the Chengdu Sichuan military government merged to be collectively known as the Sichuan Governor's Office of the Republic of China. Yin Changheng and Zhang Peijue were appointed as the vice-governors. In June, Yuan Shikai, in order to exclude dissidents and cultivate cronies, appointed Zhang Peijue as the civil administrator of Sichuan on the grounds of "dividing the military and the people" in order to deprive him of military power; because of the nursing governor Hu Jingyimi, Zhang Peijue was a revolutionary party, and in October, Yuan Shikai immediately transferred Peijue to Beijing to "consult Sichuan politics".

In mid-November, Zhang Peijue detoured through Chongqing and Wuchang to Shanghai to meet the revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen. He wrote in the "Book with the Two Brothers of receiving the Qian": "And went to the covenant of Mr. Zhongshan, and discussed state affairs with the great man." Arriving in Shanghai to meet Sun and Huang Wai, he welcomed comrades at home and abroad and various organs to meet again and again." After many meetings, he gained a deeper understanding of the grim situation in the anti-Yuan struggle.

After Zhang Peijue arrived in Beijing, he proposed to Yuan Shikai to resign from his post as civil administrator of Sichuan and go abroad to investigate politics. Yuan was reticent and, in the name of "senior adviser to the Presidential Office", put him under supervision in Beijing.

In July 1913, Sun Yat-sen led a second revolution against Yuan Shikai. Zhang Peijue immediately got rid of Yuan Shikai's eagle dog surveillance and sneaked to Shanghai to raise military funds for Yuan Jun's Huang Xing and other troops. He also agreed with Xie Zhi, Xia Shi, Huang Fusheng, and others to return to Sichuan to participate in the yuan army launched by Yang Shukan and Xiong Kewu. Due to the obstruction of the sichuan river shipping, the trip could not be completed. Soon came the unfortunate news that Xiong and Yang had failed to discuss Yuan. In order to persist in the struggle against Yuan and unwilling to go abroad to avoid persecution, Zhang Peijue resolutely went north to live at No. 10 Fushanli in the Tianjin Concession; he resigned to the Beiyang warlord government as the civil administrator of Sichuan and a senior adviser to the presidential office; refused to receive 600 yuan of Yuan Dayangyue; and insisted on refusing to be tempted to serve as an envoy to Sichuan. He wrote in the "Book with Li Hanyou": "Do not Xiao Ning hide in order to seek ambition", "do not want to rot the same group, fight for fishy pecking corruption, in order to demean themselves." ”

Zhang Peijue bought three sock machines in Tianjin to provide for himself. Although he was extremely economically strapped at this time, he still resolutely supported the anti-Yuan organization "Blood Light Group" of young people who stayed in Japan and returned to China, and gave economic support.

In order to eliminate the resistance to the realization of his dream of emperor, Yuan Shikai suppressed the anti-Yuan forces with great ferocity, and he was bound to kill Zhang Peijue and then quickly. On February 20, 1915, Zhang Peijue was lured out of the concession and arrested; his close friend Zou Jie was also arrested, and he was sent to the Wanping Military and Political Enforcement Department in the western suburbs of Beijing to be imprisoned. And the tone of this law enforcement office was actually Niu Chuanshan, the prefect of Chongqing who was forced to kneel down and surrender to parade the streets in the Chongqing uprising.

When Zhang Peijue was interrogated, he angrily rebuked: "Yuan Shikai's vain attempt to claim the title of emperor is not tolerated by the people of the country, and the purpose of the Blood light group is to eliminate harm for the people, and I support these bloody boys." "Comrades in Beijing have gone to rescue in many ways, and it is difficult to succeed in the end.

In the early morning of April 17, 1915, the jailer shouted that Zhang Peijue, Zou Jie, and others were released from prison. On this day, the Jingmen Execution Ground was overcast, the wind was dusty, and Zhang Peijue was dressed up in clothes, sitting on the ground without kneeling and calmly doing his righteousness. In the Mass Burial Post of the Jing friends Zeng Dao, Li Boshen, and Pan Shizhai, he found the remains of Pei Jue, and went south to temporarily settle in the Baoshanli Cemetery in Shanghai. In April 1916, Emperor Yuan Shikai died in a dream, and the revolutionary Zhu Zhihong raised funds to transport Peijue's body back and buried it in rongchang ronglongchang hometown.

In 1982, the Rongchang County People's Government rebuilt the tomb of martyr Zhang Peijue in Haitang Park in the north of the city.

Source: China Heroic Martyrs Network

Web Editor: Goofy

Tips: For more related content, please pay attention to the WeChat public account: Zhonghua Yingliewang (ID: zhonghuayingliewang)

Submission Instructions: Please send the work in the form of an attachment (it is recommended to name the email subject as "work form + title + contributor name / unit / address / contact information (mobile phone / QQ / WeChat)") to the mailbox [email protected], for details, please click the "China Heroes Network" official WeChat platform Submission Instructions to view.