Mourning and Anniversary for Sun Yat-sen and the S...
At 9 o ’clock in the morning of March 12，1925，Sun Yat-sen，founder of KMT and the Republic of China，died at the age of 59 in No.5，Iron Lion Lane，Dongcheng District，Beijing.Beijing，where Sun Yat-sen died，soon held a grand public ceremony between March and April.The public ceremony consisted of a series of ceremonies，including halfmast，condolence，casket moving，public memorial service，and coffin funeral，which lasted for more than ten days.The ceremony not only had a great impact in Beijing，but also spread all over the country thanks to the intervention of the media.[5] After the public ceremony，Sun Yat-sen ’s coffin was moved to Biyun Temple in Xishan with a ceremony held.In addition，the house where Sun Yat-sen lived when he died was regarded as Sun Yat-sen ’s former residence and quickly sanctified.[6]The memorial service in Nanjing was far grander than that in Beijing.In 1929，Nanjing held the grandest coffin funeral ceremony in modern China，and built the magnificent and solemn Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum.As the birthplace of the National Revolution，Guangzhou has become one of the cities with the most memorials to Sun Yat-sen；Cuiheng Village （in Sun Yat-sen County，Guangdong Province） where Sun Yat-sen was born is regarded a holyland of the origin of the National Revolutionary and has been carefully sanctified for worship and commemoration.[7]
Shanghai also made a series of reactions to Sun Yat-sen ’s death.
On March 12，1925，after the grievous news of Sun Yat-sen ’s death spread to Shanghai，“Zhang Jingjiang，Li Zhengwu，Ye Huijun，Lin Huanting，Pang Qingcheng，Zhang Zhaohan，Zhou Peizhen，Ye Chucang，Shao Lizi，etc.held a meeting in Zhang Jingjiang ’s residence at 2 o ’clock in the afternoon，deciding to salute in Sun ’s residence，establishing a funeral office，and organizing the daily funeral service on No.44 Huanlong Road[8] from now on，and setting up a memorial tablet in Sun ’s residence on No.29 Rue Molière Road[9] for memorial service” .[10]
In Sun ’s residence in Shanghai，“a memorial hall was placed with Sun ’s portrait hanging in the middle，surrounded by numerous wreaths”[11]，becoming the center of mourning activities in Shanghai in the early days of Sun Yat-sen ’s death.On March 13-20，free memorial was open to all sectors of society；on March 23，public memorial was open to KMT members；on March 24-25，official memorial began.
The joint meeting of the district headquarters of KMT Central Executive in Shanghai passed the resolution that “commissions at all levels shall fly flags at half-mast for one month，and KMT members shall dress in armbands and stop banquets for one month to express condolences”；“district commissions and sub-commissions and all KMT members in Shanghai shall hold regular memorial services”.The memorial meeting for female KMT members in Shanghai was held on March 20，and the memorial meeting for all KMT members in Shanghai was held at 1 o ’clock in the afternoon of April 13，with more than 6,000 members presenting.[12]
In addition to the KMT-organized memorial services，the All-China Students Federation （ACSF） announced “vegetarian diet for three days after the death of Sun Yat-sen as a sign of condolences” and “memorial meetings in regions where the ACSF is located and schools on a regular basis”.Entities holding a separate memorial service in Shanghai include:Shanghai High School and Public School of the Republic of China on March 12；Wa Ying College on March 13；Saint John ’s University on March 16；The Great China University，Chinese YMCA Secondary School and Shanggong School on March 18；Hosei University and Tongde Medical College on March 19；Anhui Public School in Shanghai，Law Department of Soochow University，and Huiling School on March 20；SJKC Chung Kwok on March 21；Sanmyook University on March 22；East China Public School，High School Affiliated to Nanjing University，and Autonomous College on March 23；University of Commerce on March 24；Public School of the Republic of China on March 25；Chengtian High School and Pudong High School on March 26；Shanghai University on March 28；Common School of Shanghai University，Fudan University，Southern University，and Jinan University on March 29；Jiangsu Education Association on April 17.Organizations and citizens holding a separate memorial service include:Consulate of the Soviet Union in Shanghai on March 14；various business federations and Chonghai Chamber of Commerce and Industry on March 22；Nanyang Staff Union on March 30；Commercial Press on April 5；citizens of Shanghai on April 12；fellow villagers in Xiangshan and Zhabei on April 17.[13]
However，as one of the most important cities in Sun Yat-sen ’s life，Shanghai is worthy of the name of Sun ’s second hometown[14]，but its reaction after his death cannot be compared with that of other cities such as Beijing，Nanjing and Guangzhou.Though put forward at memorial meetings held in Shanghai，the proposals[15] about Zhongshan Park，Sun Yatsen ’s Portrait，Zhongshan Road，and even Sun Yat-sen University were not implemented.
On November 23，1925，a separate Fourth Plenary Session of the KMT Central Committee was held in front of Sun Yat-sen ’s tablet in Biyun Temple in Xishan，Beijing by the KMT Rightists，who dared not to speak against KMT-CPC cooperation before the death of Sun Yat-sen and later became the Xishan Faction.During the meeting，they passed the resolutions regarding the Cancellation of CPC Membership from the KMT，the Dismissal of Consultant Micheal Markowich Borodin，the Cancellation of KMT Membership of Wang Zhaoming，the Cancellation of the Political Committee，and the Transfer of the Central Executive Committee to Shanghai[16] .Upon hearing the news，the KMT Central Committee in Guangzhou declared the Xishan Faction “illegal”.In response，on December 14，the Xishan Faction took over the KMT Central Executive in Shanghai on No.44 Huanlong Road[17].“Both the Communists and KMT leftists were squeezed out”，and“a separate Central Headquarters was set up”.[18] Although Xishan Faction occupied No.44 Huanlong Road，the KMT affairs center in Shanghai，its strength in grass-roots party organizations was still quite weak.Upon hearing the establishment of another“Central Committee” in Shanghai，the KMT headquarters of many districts in Shanghai published a notice in the newspaper： “all the KMT members in Shanghai support the Guangzhou KMT Headquarters.”[19] In January 1926，the Second National Congress of KMT passed the resolution that the KMT Special Headquarters in Shanghai in Yongyuli，Rue Amiral Bayle （now South Huangpi Road） in French Concession shall be formally established to replace the Central Executive in Shanghai[20]，that “KMT headquarters in Shanghai in support for the Xishan Faction shall make a statement，otherwise punishment shall follow according to regulations”，and that “Xishan Faction leaders Lin Sen，Zou Lu and Xie Chi shall be expelled，and other participating KMT members shall be punished”.[21] In response，on February 21，Xishan Faction also established its Special Headquarters in Shanghai.[22] There were two KMT central headquarters in China as well as two KMT special headquarters in Shanghai.
The contradictions between the left and right factions within the KMT escalated.On March 12，1926，the anniversary of Sun Yat-sen ’s death became the “best battlefield” for the two factions because of its strong symbolism.On February 28，Xishan Faction took the lead in issuing a circular in the name of the “Central Committee”，saying that on March 12，“in addition to expressing deep condolences，it is more appropriate to actively launch a large-scale promotion campaign”.[23] Both factions insisted on not changing their names.They respectively set up a preparatory office for the anniversary of Sun Yat-sen ’s death，and selected the same venue:Ximen Public Stadium to hold the memorial activity[24].Details of other preparations were also published in the newspaper.Most of the Shanghai media，such as the Shun Pao，were neutral and published news from both sides.If failing to notice the different addresses of the preparatory offices，or knowing little about the political positions of the organizers，the readers would easily confuse the two anniversary activities.At that time，Chinese controlled districts in Shanghai were still governed by the Director General ’s Office of the Shanghai and Wusong Port under the rule of the Zhili clique warlord Sun Chuanfang.In order to ensure the success of their anniversary activities，the two factions yielded to Sun，hoping that the Police Station of the Shanghai and Wusong Port，Martial Law Headquarters of the Shanghai and Wusong Port，etc.under his rule can“send police for protection”[25]，but Sun ’s attitude was ambiguous without any clear order.[26] Until the forenoon of March 12，Sun finally turned to Xishan Faction and sent “a large number of military and police officers”to Ximen Public Stadium to prevent leftists from “entering the rally”.The Memorial Meeting for All the Citizens of Shanghai on the Anniversary of Sun Yat-sen ’s Death of the left faction had to be held in front of the All-China Students Federation on Penglai Road.[27]
One year later，during the commemoration of the second anniversary of Sun Yat-sen ’s death on March 12，1927，violent clashes broke out between the left and right factions of the KMT in Shanghai.From 9 o ’clock on that day，all sectors of society went to the former residence of Sun Yatsen in Shanghai.Before entry，they signed and bowed three times to the portrait of Sun Yat-sen.By 11 o ’clock，hundreds of people arrived，and Yang Xingfo，Chairman of this commemorative event，officially announced the opening.People from all walks of life bowed three times again to the portrait of Sun Yat-sen and observed a moment of silence for three minutes.Participants including Guangzhou KMT Central Headquarters representative Chen Xihao，Special KMT Headquarters representative in Shanghai Gao Erbo，Jiangsu KMT Headquarters representative Hou Shaoqiu，and Special KMT Headquarters representatives in Shanghai Wang Shouqian and Yang Xiongfo delivered speeches.The meeting ended at 12 o ’clock，but soon the seemingly peaceful gathering quickly turned into a violent conflict.In fact，most of the participants were from the KMT left faction.They began to shout the slogan of overthrowing the reactionaries with multitudes rallied when they walked in front of No.44，Huanlong Road （where the KMT right faction held the commemorative activity at that time） after leaving Sun ’s residence from the side door.Several people attempted to rush into No.44，but “the iron gate was closed，the inside was ready with more than 20 tall men for resistance”.Their several attacks on No.44 were blocked by sticks.The situation was in a state of turmoil.Shanghai French Concession Police Station quickly sent 16 policemen to maintain order.They fired empty guns as warning and dispersed the leftists.Hou Shaoqiu was injured in the conflict，and was transferred to the hospital for medical treatment，“and several people were injured，and were detained in the police station，the fighting ended”.[28]
For any revolutionary party，the succession of power after the death of the first leader is a difficulty，and the KMT is no exception.After Sun Yat-sen ’s death，the KMT launched an extremely fierce power scramble among Hu Hanmin，Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek on the heir to the party leader.Before the breakup of the first KMT -CPC collaboration，the scramble for KMT leadership was also mixed with the scramble between the KMT and the CPC and the scramble for paths.[29] The scramble between the left and right factions （also known as old and new factions at that time[30]） within the KMT was not only reflected in the National Congress，the highest organ of power of the KMT，but also fully embodied in the more symbolic scramble for the dominance of the anniversary of Sun ’s death.[31] Therefore，the scramble for KMT leadership was the theme of the first and second anniversaries of Sun ’s death in Shanghai in 1926 and 1927.