Forgetting the Memorial - Research on the Historical Status of Chongqing in China's War of Resistance

Author: Zhang Guoyong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: Once scholars said that Chongqing was established as the capital three times and became a special administrative region three times. The author also used this viewpoint at the "Academic Conference on the Social History and Social Changes in 20th Century China" in 1997. However, further research suggests that this viewpoint is debatable. First, the so-called "states" in the Spring and Autumn Period cannot be equated with the central-level governments or nationwide "dynasties" that represent the development of the Chinese nation. The capital we usually refer to is the location of a dynasty or a national regime, not that of a local regime. Second, the so-called "Great Xia" state by Ming Yuzhen was neither legitimate nor nationwide, so it could not be called the "capital" of Chongqing either. Chongqing only truly became the legitimate capital of the nation during the War of Resistance against Japan. Without the war, there would be no Chongqing as the provisional capital, and without Chongqing as the provisional capital, there would be no meaningful Chinese resistance. After Jiang Jieshi betrayed the revolution and abandoned Sun Yat-sen's Three Policies of Uniting with the Soviet Union, Uniting with the Communists, and Supporting Peasants and Workers, representing the interests of the big landlords and big bourgeoisie, he established a new National Government in Nanjing on April 18, 1927 (known as the Nanjing National Government). From then on, the Nanjing National Government consistently declared Nanjing as its capital and moved its seat of government to other places according to different circumstances. On January 28, 1932, Japanese invading forces provoked the January 28th Incident by launching a large-scale attack on Shanghai. Meanwhile, several Japanese warships sailed to the Xiaoguan River in Nanjing, making various combat preparations. As a result, Nanjing, the capital of the National Government, was directly threatened. At the time, the situation in Nanjing, according to Chen Gongbo, then Minister of Industry of the National Government, was "if it were truly war, Nanjing would indeed be dangerous. Just in Xiaoguan, Nanjing, there were several Japanese warships, placing the National Government within the range of Japanese artillery. Would it not be easy to become a vassal state? As soon as the Executive Yuan was established, it was decided to immediately move the government to Luoyang." Regarding the move to Luoyang, there were differing opinions among the top leaders of the Kuomintang, but Song Ziyuan, Jiang Jieshi, and Wang Jingwei strongly advocated for it, and it was ultimately carried out. Song Ziyuan believed that "the relocation of the National Government to Luoyang, a historically renowned capital of China, for administration was a logically necessary step. Under the threat of Japanese gunboat violence, no government could properly exercise its functions." Jiang Jieshi also wrote in his diary on January 29, "Determined to move the government and fight the Japanese for a long time. If the outcome is unfavorable, it will be blamed on me alone. However, when two harms are weighed, the lesser must be chosen. If the government does not move, it will be constantly threatened and will inevitably become a vassal state, and this harm is far greater than my personal blame." On January 30, at the suggestion of Jiang Jieshi and others, Lin Sen, the Chairman of the National Government, and Wang Jingwei, the Minister-in-Chief of the Executive Yuan, jointly signed the "Declaration of the National Government Relocating to Luoyang for Administration," announcing: "To fully and freely exercise its functions and avoid violent coercion, the government has decided to relocate to Luoyang for administration." The next day, Wang Jingwei elaborated on the reasons for the temporary relocation of the National Government to Luoyang in a speech at the Lianhuanshe in Kaifeng, Henan. He said, "On the 28th, there were already three Japanese warships anchored in Xiaoguan, and now there are seven. If there is a conflict, the lives of those serving in the National Government may be insignificant, but if the government agencies cannot fully and freely exercise their functions, then national affairs will fall into a state of anarchy, and the harm to the country will be unthinkable! Because of this, we have finally decided to move the National Government to Luoyang for administration. To be honest, if the government were to prepare to submit to Japanese violence and become a vassal state, it might not have left Nanjing; if it were to prepare for great sacrifices for a long-term resistance, it would inevitably move the National Government to the hinterland of Central China. Only in this way can we unite all forces to support the nation. The greatest spirit of the relocation of the National Government to Luoyang for administration lies in this."