Lin Xiangqian

Lin Xiangqian

Lin Xiangqian (October 19, 1892 - February 7, 1923), born in Shanggan, Fujian Province, is an outstanding representative of the Chinese working class and a pioneer of the Chinese labor movement. In 1922, he joined the Communist Party of China and was soon elected chairman of Jiang'an division committee of Jing Han railway. On February 1, 1923, the General Union of Beijing Han railway was founded in Zhengzhou. The strike of the General Union of the whole railway was scheduled to be held on February 4. Lin Xiangqian was appointed as the general leader of the strike in Jiang'an area. On February 4, Lin Xiangqian issued a strike order, which shocked the Chinese and foreign railway workers. On February 7, Lin Xiangqian and a dozen trade union leaders and workers' representatives were arrested by the Northern Warlords. The Northern Warlord forced Lin Xiangqian to return to work with the threat of death. Lin Xiangqian flatly refused. Lin Xiangqian said, "the head can be broken, the blood can flow, and the work can't be returned." He was killed at the age of 31. On September 14, 2009, Lin Xiangqian was rated as one of the 100 heroic models who made outstanding contributions to the founding of new China.

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Lin Xiangqian was born in October 1892 in a peasant family in Min County, Fujian Province.

He became an apprentice in Mawei shipyard in 1906. Because he is smart and studious, he soon mastered the fitter technology.

In 1912, he passed the technician examination and became a fitter in Hankou Jiangan railway factory. At that time, the Beijing Han railway was not only a blood sucking channel for imperialists to invade China, but also a tool for feudal warlords to rule and fight with each other. Nearly 30000 Jinghan railway workers live a miserable life of "being a horse and an ox for years, eating and drinking like pigs and wearing like willows". In order to improve working conditions and raise income, Lin Xiangqian once carried out a small-scale strike struggle with his workers.

After the founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921, Chen Tanqiu and Xiang Ying, the leaders of the party organization in Wuhan, often went deep into the railway workers in Jiang'an District to publicize the revolutionary truth, and soon found Lin Xiangqian, who was full of rebellious spirit and had high prestige among the workers. With the help of Chen Tanqiu, Xiang Ying and other Communists, Lin Xiangqian's class consciousness quickly improved and began to embark on the revolutionary road. In December of the same year, Lin Xiangqian participated in the meeting of Wuhan Branch of the Secretariat of the Chinese labor union and, as one of the initiators, organized the Jiang'an workers' Club of the Beijing Han railway.

In January 1922, the Jiang'an workers' club was established, and Lin Xiangqian was elected as the secretary. Because of his impartiality, helpfulness and interests for workers, he is deeply trusted and loved by everyone. In the summer of 1922, Lin Xiangqian joined the Communist Party of China and was soon elected chairman of the Jiang'an division committee of Beijing Han railway.

In order to adapt to the rising situation of the national workers' movement, the Preparatory Committee of the General Union of Beijing Han railway decided to hold the inaugural meeting of the General Union of Beijing Han railway in Zhengzhou on February 1, 1923. On the morning of February 1, the whole city of Zhengzhou was under martial law. Armed with live ammunition, the reactionary army and police are facing the enemy. In the face of the heavily armed enemy, Lin Xiangqian and the delegates bravely broke through the encirclement of the military and police and entered the venue. With cheers and slogans, the union was officially established.

Wu Peifu and Xiao Yaonan, the reactionary warlords, felt extremely frightened and resentful about this. In the afternoon of that day, they ordered the reactionary army and police to occupy the Federation of trade unions, expel its staff, check its documents and materials, smash the plaques and gifts given to the Congress by various units, and even surround and monitor the residence of the representatives. That night, Lin Xiangqian attended an emergency meeting of the Federation of trade unions and decided to put forward five demands to the reactionary authorities and give a reply within 48 hours. Otherwise, the General Union of the whole railway would go on strike on February 4. The meeting decided to move the Federation of trade unions to Jiang'an and set up a general strike committee. Lin Xiangqian was designated as the general person in charge of the strike in Jiang'an.

The next morning, when Lin Xiangqian returned to the riverbank, he held a general meeting to convey the decision of the Federation of trade unions on launching the general strike of the all China Railway Federation, and called on the workers to fight against the atrocities of the warlords with the greatest strength. Then, Lin Xiangqian led the workers to organize propaganda teams, paste slogans and issue leaflets to expose the enemy's crimes; set up an investigation team to understand the enemy's dynamics; expand the workers' picket team, and at the same time make iron and wooden sticks to prepare for self-defense. On the evening of February 3, all preparations for the strike were in place.

At 9:00 a.m. on February 4, Lin Xiangqian issued a strike order after receiving instructions from the Federation of trade unions on the strike. With the sound of the first siren, all the sirens of Jiangan locomotive works roared at the same time, ringing through the three towns of Wuhan. All passenger, freight and military vehicles on the whole line of Beijing Han railway were stopped, and the strike of Beijing Han railway workers, which shocked China and foreign countries, began. The strike dealt a heavy blow to imperialism and reactionary warlords politically and economically. On the afternoon of February 6, consuls General of the United States and Britain in Hankow convened Chinese and foreign comprador capitalists to plot and put pressure on the Northern Warlord government. Wu Peifu colluded with imperialism and decided to brutally suppress the striking Beijing Han railway workers.

Lin Xiangqian realized that a cruel struggle was coming. At noon on February 7, he hid the seal of the labor division meeting in the charcoal pot at home and rushed back to the trade union. At 5:20 p.m., the reactionary warlords, with two battalions of soldiers, surrounded the Jiang'an division of labor club and started shooting madly. In this brutal massacre, more than 30 workers died and more than 200 people were injured on the Bank of the river, leading to the "February 7th Massacre" that shocked China and foreign countries. Lin Xiangqian led the workers to fight bravely with the reactionary army that came to suppress them. Finally, because he was outnumbered, he was arrested by the enemy with more than a dozen trade union leaders and workers' representatives.

That night, it was snowing heavily. The enemy tied Lin Xiangqian to a stake on the platform of Jiangan station. The reactionary warlord forced Lin Xiangqian to return to work with the threat of death, but he flatly refused. The enemy fiercely ordered the executioner to raise his knife and cut at Lin Xiangqian's left shoulder: "can't you go to work?" Lin Xiangqian said categorically: "going to work requires an order from the Federation of trade unions. My head can be broken, my blood can flow, and my work can't be restored! " The butcher's knife fell on Lin Xiangqian's right shoulder. He was bleeding and fainted. Wake up, the enemy again ferociously asked him: "now how?" Lin Xiangqian tried his best to denounce the enemy: "what can I say now? Pity a good China, it will be ruined in the hands of your warlords! " Lin Xiangqian died at the age of 31.

In memory of this pioneer of the workers' movement, after the founding of new China, the party and the government built Lin Xiangqian's martyr cemetery in Fuzhou, including the memorial hall of the 27 martyrs, the mausoleum, the thousand people square and the 6-meter-high granite statue of the martyrs. The memorial hall introduces Lin Xiangqian's life story in detail with abundant pictures and materials. Behind the mausoleum is the bluestone tombstone inscribed by Guo Moruo as "the tomb of the 27 martyr Lin Xiangqian". In the cemetery, the pines are luxuriant and the grass is lush, guarding the immortal spirits of the martyrs.

Life experience

Lin Xiangqian was born on October 19, 1892 in a poor peasant family in Shanggan Town, Minhou County, Fujian Province. His grandfather Lin Fashu worked hard all his life, leaving only a wooden house and a few acres of thin farmland. His father Lin Qizhuang is a boiler worker in Mawei shipyard. My mother, Weng, is a hard-working and capable rural woman who manages the family's life. The rough experience of life tempered his distinctive personality.

On the Dragon Boat Festival in 1904, Lin Xiangqian and a group of children went to watch the dragon boat race. Suddenly, the crowd gave out a cry for help. It turned out that a little girl on the bank was squeezed by the jubilant crowd and fell into the river. Seeing that the churning waves soon engulfed the little girl, 12-year-old Xiao Xiangqian jumped into the river without hesitation to pursue the girl who was swept away by the river. He tried his best to lift the little girl out of the water from the river and save her on the dragon boat. People praise this brave little hero with admiration.

In 1905, the summer harvest failed. Lin Xiangqian's family hoped that the fruit of the ancestral longan tree would mature as soon as possible, so that they could exchange it for some money and food to live on. One day, the sons of three landlords secretly climbed up the longan tree and ate and threw it. Seeing that the fruit that was about to ripen was ruined, Xiao Xiangqian was so angry that he came forward and ordered them to come down. After the three bad guys came down, they surrounded Xiangqian and beat him up. Lin Xiangqian said indignantly, "should the poor be bullied?" The mother was deeply afraid that the child would cause trouble, so she quickly comforted him and said, "child, if people are rich and powerful, they can't make trouble." The stubborn little Xiangqian couldn't swallow his bad breath. That night, he made an appointment with some friends, touched the front of the landlord's house, smashed the roof of his house with stones, and wrote on the wall of his house: "down with the rich man!" Five big words. After that, Lin Xiangqian went to Mawei to find his father. He wanted to make some friends and come back to settle accounts with the landlord. Fearing that his son would suffer losses when he went back, Lin Qizhuang, who had been weather beaten, left him in Mawei and sent him to a primary school for more than a year.

In 1906, his father became a seller and raised a deposit of 100 yuan to send 14-year-old Xiao Xiangqian to Mawei shipyard as a fitter apprentice. The workers here, working 12 hours a day, live in dirty and damp mud walled houses, and 20 people sleep on one bunk, which makes it difficult to turn over. During his five years in the factory, he united the workers and fought against foreigners, bureaucrat capitalists and foremen.

At the beginning of 1912, Lin Xiangqian passed the technician examination and entered the Jiangan railway factory as a fitter, officially joining the railway workers. The oppression of the workers here is also very cruel. In order to improve the political and economic status of the workers, Lin Xiangqian and his workers once launched a small-scale strike struggle, and also used the method of slowing down to deal with the oppression of the foreman.

In the autumn of 1917, Lin Xiangqian's mother died of overwork, poverty and illness. Lin Xiangqian endured great grief, went home to attend the funeral, and then returned to the riverbank. Since then, he began to explore ways to change the situation of workers.

In 1921, after the birth of the Communist Party of China, the person in charge of the party organization in Wuhan, Chen

Chinese PinYin : Lin Xiang Qian