The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

At a time when the people of the whole country are actively participating in the anti-Japanese and national salvation movement, the Nanjing Nationalist Government wants to ban a patriotic song, which sounds like a fantasy.

Yet it is true.

Since the end of the "Battle of Songhu", the Nanjing government has been avoiding angering Japan and deliberately suppressing domestic anti-Japanese activities. After the failure of the "Great Wall Anti-Japanese War" and the secret signing of the "Tanggu Agreement" between China and Japan, the Nanjing government's intention to ban the civil anti-Japanese movement became even more obvious.

Another half a year later, that is, in February 1935, Chang Kaishen and Wang Zhaoming would even jointly issue the "Order to Strictly Prohibit Anti-Japanese Movement", and then the Central Political Council of the National Party issued a notice to newspapers and news agencies across the country: Prohibition of publishing anti-Japanese and boycotting Japanese products news.

Under the ideological instruction of the Nanjing government, the two songs "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" and "On the Songhua River" are definitely prohibited songs. Including Zhou Hexuan's "Non-Gong" magazine, the entire article is promoting anti-Japanese ideas, and it will be completely shut down by February next year at the most.

At that time, it will be useless to stuff more money, because it seriously violates the international diplomatic policy of Chang Kaishen and Wang Zhaoming.

However, EMI Records was an exception. Historically, this company released many anti-Japanese patriotic songs, none of which were banned by the Nanjing government. The reason is simple. The background of EMI Records is too complicated, and the main shareholders are from the United Kingdom, France and the United States.

Britain, France and the United States are all fathers, and EMI is the industry of the three fathers. No matter whether it is China or Japan, they dare not do anything to EMI—at most they will protest and warn.

Don't think that Wang Zhaoming's performance is too cowardly, as soon as he hears that it is a British company, he will be scared to pee. Even if Chang Kaishen is replaced, he can only choose to turn a blind eye.

During the period of the Republic of China, all aspects of China were controlled by foreign powers. The largest mine shares are controlled by foreigners, the largest tea company is controlled by foreigners, and the largest fishery company is controlled by foreigners... Unless the Nanjing government completely rips its face and forcibly takes over these foreign-invested industries, it can only obediently call Dad.

Of course, although Wang Zhaoming did not dare to directly order the record to be banned, he still had other means. For example, all domestic radio stations are prohibited from playing Zhou Hexuan's songs, and it is forbidden to play related records in public places, etc.

These methods are very effective. Originally, two films wanted to use "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" as the theme song. Now that the government ordered it, the film company immediately gave up this idea. There is also the upcoming North China Games. The organizers intend to use "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" as the entrance song, but now they can only give up.

The more the Nanjing government banned it like this, the better the albums of "The Great Wall Will Never Fall Down" sold. Perhaps the people were aroused to be rebellious.

In just a few days, just in Shanghai and its surrounding areas, "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" sold more than 2,000 copies, and "Orchid Grass" also sold more than 600 copies. Such an overwhelming sales trend made EMI Records very happy.

Brits don't care about the relationship between China and Japan, and they don't care whether you Chinese are patriotic or not. They just hope that the more records will be sold and the real money will be made.

Although the major newspapers were warned by the Nanjing government, they were not allowed to publish articles discussing these songs. But there are not so many underground publications. Many underground magazines published complete song scores and distributed them to Northeast China, Japan, and even Southeast Asia, making "The Great Wall Never Falls" and "On the Songhua River" spread rapidly and became familiar patriotic songs. .

Especially in the four northeastern provinces that have been occupied, many anti-Japanese teams specially asked people to teach them to sing, and the soldiers sang these two songs heroically to kill the enemy with tears in their eyes.

...

Haig Road, Zhou Mansion.

Edgar Snow sat opposite Zhou Hexuan. He smiled while holding a shorthand notebook: "Mr. Zhou, your poems and songs have been widely circulated recently. You are considered the greatest contemporary poet and songwriter in China."

"It's not the greatest. There are many great people in China. I'm just a little bit famous." Zhou Hexuan said.

Edgar Snow is a handsome young man, of course, he will become a bald man in a few years. He is the China correspondent of the "New York Daily" and also serves as a lecturer in the Department of Journalism of Yenching University. His coverage extends from Northeast China to Southeast Asia and Japan.

Snow said with a smile: "You are too humble. Many Chinese people I have met are like this."

Zhou Hexuan said: "Humility is a virtue. Only those countries and nations with no cultural background will be rampant when they gain power, such as Japan."

"You hate Japan?" Snow asked.

Zhou Hexuan emphasized: "Extremely disgusting!"

Snow said: "There are three most influential scholars in China, one is Hu Shi, the other is Lu Xun, and the third is Your Excellency. I have interviewed Hu Shi and Lu Xun, and they are different from you."

"How do you say it?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

Snow said: "Hu Shi is a liberal, his thinking is American-style. Lu Xun is a revolutionary, he does not seem to reject Japan, but focuses on China's national transformation. And you have some nationalist tendencies , your words and deeds are all based on the country.”

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "You sum it up a bit interestingly. And your interview style is also very interesting. You like to chat with the interviewees instead of asking and answering."

"Of course, one question and one answer is too purposeful, and many details are easily overlooked," Snow said. "Do you know what ideas have been popular in the United States in recent years?"

Zhou Hexuan said: "Liberalism and civil rights."

Snow said, "Can I talk about your opinion?"

"Liberalism and civil rights have a long history, but they have become popular in the United States in recent years, mainly due to the impact of the economic crisis," Zhou Hexuan explained, "The United States is experiencing an unprecedented Great Depression, and the basic rights of citizens are not guaranteed. Even free speech is suppressed. Where there is oppression, there is resistance, and it is easy to understand why liberalism and civil rights are popular in America."

"Very interesting insight," Snow nodded. "Then can you compare the differences between the freedom movement and civil rights movement in China and the United States?"

Zhou Hexuan analyzed: "The United States is a capitalist politics, and the rule of law is relatively complete. Therefore, the freedom movement and civil rights movement in the United States revolve around the U.S. Constitution. Neither supporters nor opponents can break the constraints of the U.S. Constitution. So the freedom movement and civil rights movement in the United States are controllable, guideable, non-violent, and legitimate. But China is different. China is a power politics, and the construction of the rule of law is still in its infancy. Just now you said that Hu Shi is He was a liberal, but he was forced to leave overseas by the authorities after only writing a few articles calling for constitutionalism. The civil rights movement that Lu Xun participated in was directly suppressed by violence, and Lu Xun himself fled to foreign concessions for asylum many times. "

Snow said with a smile: "Your insights are very thorough, and you have grasped the essence of things. You are a real wise man."

Zhou Hexuan spread his hands: "Wisdom is very precious, but sometimes it is useless."

Snow asked again: "What do you think of the relationship between China and Japan?"

"There must be a war, and China must win." Zhou Hexuan said.

Snow said with a smile: "You are really different, you are very confident. The other Chinese people I interviewed, when talking about this topic, they were all worried, extremely lacking in self-confidence, and had an unspeakable uncertainty about the future. fear."

Zhou Hexuan said: "My self-confidence does not come from myself, but I have confidence in my country, my people, and my culture."

Snow suddenly mentioned Ding Ling: "Last year, the famous Chinese female writer Ms. Ding Ling disappeared, and many people participated in the rescue operation. It seems that you didn't participate?"

"I don't understand this matter." Zhou Hexuan said.

Snow suddenly lowered his voice: "The American Civil Liberties Union is working with the China Civil Rights Protection League to plan to rescue Ms. Ding Ling. Is Mr. Zhou interested in joining?"

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "If it's just to write a few articles, I'm very happy. After all, Ms. Ding Ling is also my friend."

Snow said: "Mrs. Sun already has a plan with the International Joint Committee on Political Prisoners, which is an organization under the American Civil Liberties Union, which is dedicated to protecting the civil rights of political prisoners under totalitarian politics. If you want to join, you can talk to Get in touch with Mr. Isaac. Do you know Isaac?"

Zhou Hexuan said: "I met Yi Luosheng in the Netherlands. He is an American left-wing writer and reporter."

"Since we are all friends, it will be easier." Snow said with a smile.

It really doesn't matter to Zhou Hexuan, because Ding Ling doesn't need him to save him at all. Now Ding Ling is with her cohabiting boyfriend and is under house arrest in the villa of the spy chief Xu Enzeng. In addition to having no freedom, Ding Ling eats delicious food and drinks comfortably. Even the Kuomintang spies will take Ding Ling's mother and son.

There are two reasons why Ding Ling received such generous treatment:

One is that Mrs. Sun is actively rescuing and promoting Ding Ling both at home and abroad. Now Ding Ling is not only famous in China, but also has countless readers in the United States. The National Party was afraid of attracting bad influence, so it didn't dare to kill or let go, so it could only lure Ding Ling to rebel every day;

The second is the favorite concubine of the spy chief Xu Enzeng, who is Fei Xia, the Communist Party member who rebelled a few years ago. Although Fei Xia defected to the enemy, he was more sympathetic to the Communist Party and often dissuaded Xu Enzeng from using torture. It was Fei Xia's idea to put Ding Ling under house arrest in a villa and slowly induce her to surrender. Xu En once obeyed her.

Historically, Ding Ling was able to be released in the end, mainly because the United States played a role. The Nanjing government could not bear the pressure of international public opinion, so it could only be forced to release Ding Ling. If Zhou Hexuan had participated, things would have gone much smoother, at least allowing Ding Ling to regain her freedom half a year earlier.

Of course, there are also Ding Ling's own reasons.

Fei Xia, a traitor to the Communist Party, lured many Communist Party members to surrender after becoming Xu Enzeng's concubine. After Ding Ling was arrested, no matter what Fei Xia tried to lure her to surrender, no matter what benefits she gave, even Ding Ling's mother and son were brought in, Ding Ling persisted for two full years without surrendering under coercion.

Now that he took over the task of rescuing Ding Ling, Zhou Hexuan felt that it was time for him to go to the United States.

It's ridiculous to say that if you want to save people in China, you have to go to the United States to build momentum. Perhaps in the eyes of the Nanjing government, the public opinion of the American people is far more important than the public opinion of the Chinese people.