Modern Chinese celebrities and the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum

Author: Shen Xianjin (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-09-01
Features: In the summer of 1922, when was imprisoned by Chen Jiongming and threatened with death, he wrote "Farewell to My Wife in Seven-Character Poems" to He Xiangning, saying: "Leave the post to you to bear alone, Do not let the women of our nation be disappointed. Though my body may depart, my spirit remains, Better than holding a knife in the slaughterhouse." Another poem reads: "Life holds nothing to envy, Death brings no sorrow, The universe cycles through life and death, Fourty-five years of suffering in the mortal world, May we find liberation and atone for our past sins." Upon learning of's imprisonment, He Xiangning, despite being ill, braved a storm and ventured into danger to confront and denounce Chen Jiongming in person, forcing him to release. Both and He Xiangning were staunch pillars of the Nationalist Party's reorganization. was sent twice to Japan for talks with Soviet representative Fei Fei, achieving great success. They also fully supported Sun Yat-sen in reorganizing the Nationalist Party and opening the path for the cooperation between the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party. Appointed by Sun Yat-sen, once served as Acting Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Huangpu Military Academy, shouldering the heavy burden of establishing the academy. After its founding, he was appointed as the Nationalist Party's Representative to the Huangpu Military Academy, making outstanding contributions to building and training a new type of National Revolutionary Army, earning the titles of "Mother of Huangpu" and "Mother of the Party Army." After the Nationalist Party's reorganization, held key positions in more than ten departments of the party, government, and military, while He Xiangning served as Minister of Women's Affairs of the Central Committee of the Nationalist Party and concurrently managed the women's movement in Guangdong Province. Both faithfully implemented the Three Revolutionary Policies and cooperated sincerely with the Communists, promoting the vigorous development of workers' and peasants' movements in Guangdong. In the practice of the Three Policies—Uniting with the Soviet Union, Uniting with the Communists, and Supporting Peasants and Workers— and He Xiangning gained a clearer understanding of China's democratic revolution and formed relatively correct views, becoming staunch leftists of the Nationalist Party and close friends of the Communist Party of China. After Sun Yat-sen's death, and He Xiangning continued to uphold the Three Policies he had established, becoming steadfast inheritors of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary cause and the banner of the left-wing faction of the Nationalist Party. Undeterred by death threats, persistently adhered to and defended the Three Policies, unswervingly advancing all revolutionary measures, which drew extreme hatred from right-wing elements of the Nationalist Party. They regarded as a thorn in their side and decided to eliminate him. Faced with death, showed no fear. He told He Xiangning, "I have always acted according to my conscience and believe I have never wronged the party, the nation, or the people. If China does not unite with the Soviet Union and the Communists, it has no future. In short, let life or death take its course, but I will never relax my revolutionary efforts." Deeply concerned about her husband's safety, He Xiangning did not stop him from continuing his revolutionary work but only asked for a photograph with him. replied, "To sacrifice for the Nationalist Party is the dream of a revolutionary, why hesitate?" On August 25, 1925, was assassinated by enemies in front of the Central Committee building of the Nationalist Party, becoming "a person who shed blood in practicing Sun Yat-sen's teachings!" He died at the age of 48. After's assassination, Zhou Enlai joined the investigative committee for the case and did extensive work, publishing an article mourning. On September 1, 1925, was buried to the left of Zhu Zhixin's tomb in Shahe, Guangzhou, with more than 100,000 party, government, and military officials and citizens attending the funeral. On September 1, 1935,'s coffin was transported from Guangzhou to Nanjing and buried at the southern foot of Purple Mountain, next to the Mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen. The death of deeply grieved He Xiangning, but she was not overcome by sorrow. The blood of her loved ones further strengthened her revolutionary will. "Grief spurs determination to fulfill your wish, Serving the nation, when will my heart be content?" She resolved to fight the right-wing faction of the Nationalist Party to the end and firmly declared, "If it benefits the nation, I am willing to sacrifice my entire family." From then on, she worked even harder to realize Sun Yat-sen's. After the July 1st Counter-Revolutionary Coup, He Xiangning condemned Jiang Jieshi for abandoning Sun Yat-sen's Three Revolutionary Policies and decisively broke ties with the reactionary faction of the Nationalist Party. She returned to Guangzhou to focus on the affairs of the Agricultural and Industrial School and traveled to the Philippines and the South Seas in 1928 to sell paintings to raise funds for the school. She later lived in London and Paris, leading a simple life of reading and painting. After the September 18th Incident, He Xiangning returned to China and actively participated in the anti-Japanese movement. She wrote poems to generals from the Huangpu Military Academy, encouraging them: "Remember and do not let your ambition go to waste, Strike hard against the Japanese!" She sent a letter to Zhang Zhizhong of the Fifth Army, who was aiding the 19th Route Army, along with a poem and a women's jacket, urging him to convey the message to Huangpu graduates to rise up in resistance. The poem read: "To call oneself a man yet submit to Japanese oppression, To lose the land in battle, a shame for all generations. Our women are willing to die on the battlefield, Let us exchange our skirts for your battle uniforms." Soon after, He Xiangning traveled to Hong Kong, Shaoguan, Guilin, and Pingliu. Wherever she went, she,,,,,, always concerned about the nation's future and fate, actively contributing to the national anti-Japanese liberation struggle. To protest Jiang Jieshi's, policy, she firmly refused to go to Chongqing. In 1942, Jiang Jieshi sent someone to Guilin to deliver a one million yuan check and a letter inviting her to Chongqing. On the letter, she wrote "When idle, I paint to sustain life, I do not need money to create suffering in the world" and returned the letter unopened. After the war of resistance, He Xiangning strongly condemned Jiang Jieshi's anti-communist, autocratic, and civil war policies. In January 1948, she, along with Li Jishen, Tan Pingshan, Cai Tingkai, Liu Yazi, and Zhu Xuefan, founded the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Nationalist Party in Hong Kong, uniting progressive forces under a new revolutionary banner to carry out struggles. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, He Xiangning actively participated in socialist revolution and construction. On September 1, 1972, He Xiangning passed away in Beijing at the age of 94. He Xiangning had long harbored a wish to be buried with, "to share the same bed in life and the same grave in death." When the tomb for was being built, she insisted that it be a joint tomb, reserving a place for herself in advance. In accordance with He Xiangning's, on the afternoon of September 6, 1972, her coffin arrived in Nanjing, where a joint burial ceremony was held at the tomb of in the Purple Mountains, fulfilling her wish to be buried with him.
The martyrs of the tomb of the Just Strugglers in Linggu Temple, on the east side of the Linggu Temple and the former site of the second public cemetery for martyrs of the National Revolutionary Army, are the graves of Deng Yanda, a loyal follower of Sun Yat-sen, a prominent leader of the left-wing faction of the Nationalist Party, and the founder of the Chinese Farmers and Workers Democratic Party. Deng Yanda was born in 1895, styled Zesheng, and came from Huian County, Guangdong Province. In his youth, he was deeply influenced by the national revolution led by Sun Yat-sen. At the age of 12, he entered the Huangpu Military Academy and, at 14, joined the Tongmenghui. During the Xinhai Revolution, he joined Yao Yiping's revolutionary army as a primary school student and fought alongside the Guangdong Army in its northern expedition. From 1914 to 1919, he studied at the Second Preparatory School of the Wuhan Military Academy and Baoding Military Academy, graduating to serve as the Commander of the Guard Brigade of Sun Yat-sen's Grand. He became a devoted follower of Sun Yat-sen. In 1920, he returned to Zhangzhou, Fujian, to command a small unit under Deng Jianzhi. In 1922, he became the Commander of the Third Brigade of the Guangdong Army and served as the guard for Sun Yat-sen's front-line command headquarters and the escort of the Grand. In 1924, when Sun Yat-sen established the Huangpu Military Academy, Deng Yanda was appointed as one of the seven committee members. After the academy's founding, he served as Deputy Director of the Training Department and concurrently as the Commander of the Student Corps. In early 1925, he resigned to study in Germany. In January 1926, he returned to China via the Soviet Union for the Second National Congress of the Nationalist Party and was elected as a Executive Committee member. Soon after, he was invited by Jiang Jieshi to serve as the Education Director of the Huangpu Military Academy. During the Northern Expedition, he served as the Political Director of the General Headquarters of the National Revolutionary Army. After the Northern Expedition captured Wuhan, he became the Director of the Wuhan Operations Office of the General Headquarters. In March 1927, he was elected as a Central Executive Committee member of the Nationalist Party and concurrently Minister of Farmers' Affairs.