- Source: China Workers' Daily Online
- Author: Huang Huiqing
- Time: 2024-04-22
- Visits: 486
[Famous Figures in the History of the Labor Movement]
Original Title: Liu Hua, a Labor Movement Leader during the May 30th Movement
Liu Hua (1899-1925) was from Yibin, Sichuan Province. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1924. In 1925, he, together with Liu Shaoqi, Li Lisan and Deng Zhongxia, organized and led the May 30th Movement. With the heroic lines "My heart brimming with passionate blood is like the spring rain, sprinkling all over the sacred flowers of the laborers", he wrote a glorious chapter with his youth in the annals of the liberation movement of the Chinese working class.
Before the May 30th Movement, Conscientiously Carry Out the Party's Ideological Work
In the early summer of 1920, introduced by a friend, Liu Hua came to Shanghai and entered the Zhonghua Book Company to learn printing. In 1921, seeing that Liu Hua was concerned about current affairs, the Communist Party members in the Zhonghua Book Company actively approached and enlightened him, and introduced some revolutionary periodicals and basic theoretical readings of Marxism to him. For Liu Hua, who was pursuing light and groping for the way forward, this was like a long - droughted seedlings meeting the sweet dew. From then on, he read avidly every night. These periodicals and books not only brought the revolutionary truth to Liu Hua, but also he used these revolutionary ideas to conduct propaganda among the apprentices in the factory. The apprentices trusted Liu Hua and affectionately called him "elder brother". Once, the Party assigned Liu Hua the task of printing a batch of leaflets. Liu Hua knew that the main difficulty in printing leaflets was typesetting. If he typeset alone, it would not only be slow, but also easy to be discovered by the supervisor. So, Liu Hua organized several fellow workers who usually shared similar ideas with him. He divided a leaflet into several parts and let several fellow workers typeset simultaneously. Then he found one or two fellow workers to distract the supervisor. In this way, Liu Hua successfully completed the task of printing the leaflets.
The Party's education and enlightenment, the influence of revolutionary periodicals and progressive books, and the repeated struggle practices made Liu Hua clearly realize that this unjust society must be overthrown, the landlords and capitalists must be defeated, and the liberation of the working people all over the world could only be achieved under the leadership of the Communist Party of China through unity.
In August 1923, introduced by the Party organization, Liu Hua entered the middle school department of Shanghai University to work part-time while studying. The middle school department of Shanghai University was a school for the Communist Party of China to cultivate cadres. Famous Communists such as Qu Qiubai, Deng Zhongxia, Yun Daiying, and Xiang Jingyu all held positions and taught there. At Shanghai University, Liu Hua studied Marxist works such as the Communist Manifesto. During his part-time work and study at the school, he had to do various odd jobs like engraving stencils and printing teaching materials every day. In order to increase his study time, he often studied until late at night. Sometimes, to figure out a problem, he even stayed up all night. Through hard study, Liu Hua's political consciousness and theoretical level improved rapidly. When he talked about the basic theories of Marxism, he always had clear viewpoints and could relate them to reality. Therefore, his classmates all liked to study and discuss with him, and they called him a firm believer in Marxism. Soon after Liu Hua entered the school, he was admitted to the Chinese Socialist Youth League. Later, he was elected as an executive member of the Student Union of Shanghai University. With his promotion, many study groups were established among the students. By relating to the practical problems in society, various discussion meetings were often organized, enabling more classmates to have a deeper understanding of Marxism.
At Shanghai University, Liu Hua also took the lead in going out into society and carrying out amateur education activities for the common people. Through social investigations, he learned that most of the students participating in the amateur schools for the common people were working-class laborers. They had a strong desire for knowledge but also suffered from the hardship of not being able to study for a long time due to their difficult living conditions. To solve this contradiction, Liu Hua vigorously advocated the use of "pinyin letters" in the teaching of the amateur schools for the common people, so that the workers could quickly master the writing tool, which was conducive to their study of revolutionary theories.
The year Liu Hua spent at Shanghai University was an important stage for his rapid political and ideological maturity. Through the tempering of practical struggles and the study of Marxist-Leninist theories, his determination to fight to the end for the communist cause became even more firm. In the spring of 1924, according to Liu Hua's request, the Party branch of Shanghai University unanimously agreed to admit him as a full member of the Communist Party of China. Facing the bright red Party flag, he solemnly raised his right hand and passionately expressed his determination to the Party: "For the cause of the Party, for the liberation of the working class, and for the liberation of the Chinese nation, I will fight until I shed my last drop of blood!"
Charging Ahead in the May 30th Movement
In 1924, Liu Hua proposed to the Party branch of Shanghai University that Communist Party members must not be afraid of hardships and should go among the working masses! The Party accepted Liu Hua's request and sent him to the western part of Shanghai to work among the workers together with comrades such as Deng Zhongxia and Yun Daiying. During his work, he ate, dressed, and worked with the workers, establishing a deep proletarian sentiment and being loved and supported by the working masses.
On May 1, 1925, the Second National Labor Congress led by the Party was held in Guangzhou. At this congress, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions was established, and Liu Hua was elected as an executive member of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. After the victory of the strike by the workers in the Japanese-owned textile mills in Shanghai in February, the trade union organizations grew increasingly stronger. The trade unions constantly represented the interests of the workers to negotiate with the factory owners, which further aroused the panic and hatred of the Japanese capitalists. By early May, they used the excuses of the high cotton price and the low yarn price to deliberately deduct the workers' wages, delay the payment of wages, dismiss the trade union representatives, and even threatened to close the factory if the workers went on strike. In order to effectively fight against the Japanese capitalists, Liu Hua immediately studied countermeasures with the representatives of the trade unions of each factory. Liu Hua said to everyone, "At present, the cotton price is rising and the yarn price is falling. The Japanese bosses may take the opportunity to close some of the textile mills. If we launch a strike, it will fall right into their trap and be disadvantageous to us workers. We should now fight by means of slowdowns and rotating strikes." The representatives of the trade unions of each factory unanimously thought this was a good idea. Thus, starting from early May, the struggles of the workers in the internal and external cotton mills rose one after another and never stopped.
On May 15, the Japanese capitalists of the No. 7 Factory of the Internal and External Cotton Mill tightly closed the factory gates and did not allow the workers to go to work. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, five or six hundred night shift workers went to work as usual, but the factory refused to let them in and blocked them outside the factory gate. Led by the Communist Party member Gu Zhenghong, the workers pried open the iron gate and rushed in, shouting, "We want to go to work!" Upon hearing the news, the Japanese capitalists Motoki and Kawamura, holding pistols and leading a group of lackeys with clubs, pounced on the workers. Usually, Motoki and Kawamura had already regarded Gu Zhenghong as a thorn in their side. At this time, they took the opportunity to strike a deadly blow and fired four shots at Gu Zhenghong in a row. This strong fighter of the working class, who was only 20 years old, fell in a pool of blood and heroically sacrificed his life for the cause of the liberation of the working class. More than 10 other workers were also injured.
When Liu Hua heard the sad news, he was filled with grief and indignation. Since he entered the factory, Liu Hua had been together with Gu Zhenghong, talking freely about revolutionary ideals and organizing the workers to fight, and they had established a deep revolutionary friendship. Thinking of this, he immediately angrily picked up a pen dipped in ink and wrote the six powerful characters "Vow to Avenge the Blood Debt" with a vigorous brushstroke, fully expressing his determination to fight. That night, at the trade union office in Tanziwan, Liu Hua convened a meeting of the representatives of the trade unions of each factory of the Internal and External Cotton Mill, organized a strike committee, drafted a protest declaration, and established a preparatory office for the public memorial service for the martyr Gu Zhenghong in Shanghai, with him as the general director.
On the afternoon of May 24, after full preparation, the memorial service for the martyr Gu Zhenghong was solemnly held in Tanziwan. More than 10,000 workers, students, and representatives from all walks of life attended the memorial service. Mourning couplets and scrolls sent by various trade unions and organizations were hung all around the venue. On the central platform, on both sides of the martyr's portrait, were the mourning couplets written by Liu Hua himself: "Although the martyr is dead, his spirit lives on; the murderer still exists, where is justice?" The horizontal scroll above the portrait read "Pioneer of the Workers". The public memorial service was presided over by Liu Hua, and Yun Daiying delivered the eulogy. The venue was filled with a solemn and stirring fighting atmosphere. Looking at the crowded crowd, Liu Hua was extremely excited. He felt that the blood of the martyr Gu Zhenghong had not been shed in vain, and his sacrifice had already awakened the ideological consciousness of the broad masses of workers.
After the memorial ceremony, Liu Hua delivered a short but powerful speech. He called on everyone, "Today, the enemy killed one of us, but tomorrow, ten or even a hundred of us will stand up. The fire cannot be extinguished! We should expand the strike to the whole of Shanghai and carry out the struggle against imperialism vigorously!" Liu Hua's speech inspired the working masses present at the meeting. They constantly raised their arms and shouted, "Avenge the martyr Gu Zhenghong!" "Resist the oppression of imperialism to the death!" The memorial service became a demonstration meeting to show the fighting will and great strength of the Chinese working class and a mobilization meeting to rally the masses from all walks of life to oppose imperialism and its lackeys.
At this time, the scale of the anti-imperialist struggle was expanding, and a mass anti-imperialist patriotic movement was gradually taking shape. In order to lead the people from all social strata and set off a new upsurge of the anti-imperialist movement with the working class as the backbone force, on May 28, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to organize an anti-imperialist demonstration movement in the Shanghai Concessions on May 30 (the May 30th Movement). The decision of the Party Central Committee further increased Liu Hua's confidence and strength.
On the eve of the movement, Liu Hua was working intensively. He convened a meeting of the trade union cadres of each textile mill, requiring each cadre to stand at the forefront of this demonstration movement and earnestly do a good job in the preparatory work; he continuously organized and dispatched teams of propagandists to publicize among the students and citizens; he also personally went to each factory to give lectures, encouraging the workers to unite and fight to win. A massive mass anti-imperialist movement was developing and advancing in the direction guided by the Party.
On the morning of May 30 (the May 30th Movement), the speech teams composed of thousands of workers and students, full of anti-imperialist passion and holding small flags, marched towards the concessions from all corners of the city. Along the way, they continuously gathered with the teams of workers and students, forming a mighty army that rushed towards the concessions, and the magnificent anti-imperialist demonstration began.
On several main roads of the Shanghai International Settlement, the military police dispatched by the imperialists were on high alert. However, the demonstration teams of workers and students with high anti-imperialist fighting spirit, with the revolutionary determination not to be afraid of sacrifice, passionately gave speeches to the citizens on the one hand and distributed revolutionary leaflets on the other. Nanjing Road was packed with people, and the broad masses of citizens also joined the parade teams in shouting anti-imperialist slogans. Facing the anti-imperialist angry tide of the people of Shanghai, the imperialist authorities in the concessions defiantly dispatched a large number of armed police to suppress it. The workers and students demonstrating near the Lao Zhai Police Station on Nanjing Road were suddenly detained more than 100 people, which aroused an even greater uproar. In order to negotiate the release of the arrested people, a large number of demonstration masses flocked to the Lao Zhai Police Station. By a little after 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the crowd was getting larger and larger, and their emotions were getting higher and higher. Tens of thousands of people shouted slogans, and the sound was like the roar of the waves. The brutal British imperialists actually ordered to shoot and massacre these demonstration masses. Thirteen people were killed on the spot, and dozens were injured. The blood of the Chinese people stained Nanjing Road red. This was the "May 30th Massacre" deliberately created by the imperialists.
That night, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to further let go and mobilize the masses from all strata to fight back against the imperialists. The Party called on all the workers in the city to go on strike, the students to go on strike, and the merchants to close their shops, setting off a vigorous "three strikes" struggle. At this time, the Party assigned Liu Hua to be responsible for getting the bourgeoisie to participate in the shop closures.
On the morning of May 31, Liu Hua divided nearly a thousand workers in Tanziwan into several teams and sent them to the city center to distribute leaflets along the streets and persuade and publicize among the small and medium-sized merchants in each store. With the cooperation of the shop assistants, most of the stores began to close and participate in the shop closures.
In the afternoon, Liu Hua personally led more than 1,000 workers to march towards the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce to persuade the General Chamber of Commerce to issue an order for the shop closures. Along the way, the workers and students who were demonstrating and publicizing joined the team one after another. When they reached the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce at Tianhou Palace (now at the foot of Henan Road Bridge), more than 10,000 people had gathered and surrounded the General Chamber of Commerce. The slogan "The Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce should quickly announce the shop closures" resounded one after another like thunder. At this time, in the conference hall downstairs of the General Chamber of Commerce, some shop assistant representatives and small and medium-sized merchants were arguing with the people of the General Chamber of Commerce about the issue of shop closures.
When the large team of workers and students arrived, Fang Jiaobo, the vice president of the General Chamber of Commerce, had already gone upstairs and hidden. Led by the shop assistants, Liu Hua, together with several workers, found Fang Jiaobo in a dark room upstairs. "Vice President Fang, the workers and students in the whole city want you to announce that the business community will implement the shop closures," Liu Hua said loudly and forcefully. However, Liu Hua's righteous persuasion did not receive any reply from this representative of the capitalists. So, they escorted Fang Jiaobo downstairs. Fang Jiaobo saw the endless crowd outside the gate and heard the thunderous roars. Suddenly, his legs went weak, and the working masses dragged him to the roadside at the gate.
At this time, Liu Hua stood in the crowd and shouted loudly, "Now, please ask Vice President Fang to answer whether there will be shop closures or not!" Fang Jiaobo was trembling all over and stammering. But he still refused to nod and agree to the shop closures. The working masses were extremely angry and shouted in unison, "Down with the lackeys of imperialism!" "If you don't announce the shop closures, we won't leave!" The momentum of the masses was overwhelming. After all, Fang Jiaobo was a coward. Under the huge pressure of the masses, this capitalist finally had to reluctantly sign the notice of "Implementing the city-wide shop closures in June" with the joint efforts of the people.
That night, the Shanghai General Trade Union, the fighting organization of the working class in Shanghai, was born in the storm of the revolutionary struggle. Liu Hua was elected as the vice chairman of the Shanghai General Trade Union.
On June 1, the "three strikes" struggle of the people of Shanghai against imperialism - strikes by workers, strikes by students, and closures of shops by merchants - was fully realized. The great movement of the people of Shanghai uniting to oppose imperialism was carried out in full swing.
Giving His Life for the Cause of the Labor Movement
In September 1925, the lackeys of Japanese imperialism, the Fengtian clique warlords, under the instigation of the imperialist countries, stepped up their armed suppression of the striking workers. They sealed up the Shanghai General Trade Union, issued wanted warrants for Liu Hua and other leaders of the Shanghai General Trade Union, and showed their ferocious faces to the revolutionary masses.
Liu Hua was not intimidated by the butcher's knife raised by the enemy. Despite suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis and being wanted by the enemy, with amazing perseverance, he shouldered the arduous task and served as the acting chairman of the Shanghai General Trade Union, continuing to lead the workers and revolutionary masses in Shanghai in the anti-imperialist struggle.
Due to the betrayal of a traitor, Liu Hua was unfortunately arrested on November 29. At that time, it was not long after Sun Chuanfang, the Zhili clique warlord, with the support of the British and American imperialists, had united with the Zhili clique warlords in various provinces in the Yangtze River Basin and driven away the Fengtian clique warlords who originally occupied Shanghai. Sun Chuanfang was eager to control the situation and quell the labor unrest in order to please the imperialists. Therefore, after Liu Hua was taken to the martial law headquarters, Sun Chuanfang ordered his subordinates to try to persuade him to surrender. When the attempt to persuade him to surrender with 100,000 silver dollars failed, the enemy tortured Liu Hua. The enemy's cruel torture failed to break Liu Hua's iron will. Under the enemy's severe torture, Liu Hua remained steadfast and unyielding, demonstrating the noble qualities of a Communist Party member who faced death without flinching and was heroic and tenacious.
When the workers learned the news of Liu Hua's arrest, they tried every means to rescue him. The Shanghai General Trade Union sent a protest letter to Sun Chuanfang demanding the immediate release of Liu Hua. The workers in the Japanese-owned textile mills held strikes several times, and in the conditions put forward each time, there was a strong demand for the release of Liu Hua. The workers and students in Shanghai, especially the working masses in the western part of Shanghai, were preparing to hold a demonstration parade to force the enemy to release Liu Hua. Liu Hua learned of these situations in prison and deeply appreciated everyone's rescue and care for him. However, he did not want everyone to suffer unnecessary losses for his sake, so he tried every means to send a message out of prison to dissuade the workers and students from making greater sacrifices for him alone.
Seeing that both threats and inducements could not make Liu Hua yield, the imperialists and their lackeys finally decided to take deadly measures. On the evening of December 17, 1925, at the banquet held by the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce to welcome the warlord Sun Chuanfang, the leader of the Japanese business group and the British vice-consul present said together, "Liu Hua is the leader of the Chinese labor movement. Many strikes in Shanghai were incited by him. If he is not severely punished, the order in Shanghai will be very dangerous." Yu Qiaqing, the big comprador and president of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce, used the excuse to say, "The business community in Shanghai sincerely hopes that the commander will punish one as a warning to a hundred." Acting in accordance with the will of the imperialists and the comprador bourgeoisie, the warlord Sun Chuanfang immediately asked his adjutant to issue an order: Secretly kill Liu Hua.
At 11 o'clock at night, the sound of evil gunshots rang out on the wasteland near Penglai Road in the Nanshi area. Liu Hua, an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China and a stalwart fighter of the working class in Shanghai, sacrificed his young life for the cause of the Chinese proletariat and the communist cause under the conspiracy of Chinese and foreign executioners. He was only 26 years old that year.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in order not to forget Liu Hua's immortal contributions to the Chinese red labor movement, Liu Hua's deeds were recorded in the Shanghai Longhua Martyrs Memorial Hall and the Memorial Hall of the Yibin Martyrs Cemetery in Yibin City, Sichuan Province, so as to be remembered for generations to come!
(Huang Huiqing, the author is a researcher of the Chongqing Party History Society of the Communist Party of China and a special researcher of the Chongqing Municipal People's Government's Institute of Culture and History)
Responsible editor: Liu Yingjie