Situ Meitang objected to the controversy over the retention of the abbreviation of New China
On the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party of China arranged for seven batches to secretly send more than 350 democrats, more than 700 cultural celebrities, and patriotic overseas Chinese from Hong Kong back to the mainland to ensure the smooth convening of the first CPPCC session.
At this meeting, the "Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference" was not only adopted, but also decided on a series of important matters concerning the founding of New China. These democrats put forward a series of proposals at the meeting, among which the controversy over the name and abbreviation of New China was the most intense.
At that time, Situ Meitang's words aroused warm applause at the meeting, and the attitude of the meeting gradually tended to be one-sided, so what did he say? With the advancement of the Liberation War, democrats gathered in Beiping, and the situation developed in a more optimistic direction.
By the beginning of 1948, China's two largest democratic parties, the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang and the China Democratic League, had announced the establishment of the Democratic Alliance**.
Under these circumstances, the issue of preparing for the establishment of a new China is particularly important.
On April 30, 1948, the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) held a plenary session on West 1st Street, and the CCP issued a slogan to celebrate the "May Day" Festival, calling on "all democratic parties, all people's organizations, and all social elites to quickly convene a political consultative conference to discuss and realize the convening of the people's congress and the establishment of a democratic alliance".
Why did the founding of New China invite these people to negotiate the founding of the country? There are two reasons for this. First of all, the position of these parties is relatively neutral, and their views are more attractive to ordinary people, and can influence the urban population to a certain extent, disintegrating the remnants of the KMT.
Second, the founding of the country requires economic construction with a focus on cities, but most of the members of our party grew up in the countryside and know nothing about urban life and management. Although these non-partisan figures do not have an army, they have gathered a large number of elites who have an important influence on China's political, economic, and cultural life, so they cannot build a new country without their support and help.
Li Jishen's important role led to the invitation of representatives of various democratic parties and democratic personages without party affiliation to attend the CPPCC on the second day after the May Day slogan was issued.
Most of these democrats took refuge in Shanghai or Hong Kong because of the KMT's oppression, but they quickly responded to the invitation and launched the New CPPCC Movement. ** After learning about the attitude of the leaders of the democratic parties, they immediately summoned the democratic personages in Hong Kong and safely transported them to the liberated areas to participate in the preparatory work for the new CPPCC.
With the arrival of the peaceful liberation of Beiping in early January 1949, the Communist Party of China decided to convene a new CPPCC meeting in the summer and autumn of the same year to establish a formal political conference
In the first half of 1949, China's major cities were liberated one after another, and the Communist Party of China clarified the general direction of its founding. Many democratic parties and democratic personages without party affiliation have come to the liberated areas, and after visiting and studying, they believe that the time is ripe for convening a preparatory meeting for the new CPPCC.
As a result, on June 15, the preparatory meeting of the new CPPCC held its first plenary meeting in the Qinzheng Hall of Zhongnanhai in Beiping. The meeting decided that the Standing Committee will set up six working groups to be responsible for the preparatory work.
On 19 June, after the conclusion of the first plenary meeting, the various groups began intensive preparations. The first group is responsible for determining the units and the number of delegates participating in the new CPPCC; The second group is responsible for drafting the organizational regulations of the new CPPCC; The third group is responsible for the preparation of the draft Common Programme; The fourth group is responsible for determining the ** program; The fifth panel was responsible for drafting the declaration of the General Assembly; The sixth group is responsible for determining the programme for the flag, emblem and anthem.
After three months of consultations, the first group of the first plenary session of the CPPCC National Committee finally confirmed a total of 45 units and 662 places to participate in the new CPPCC session, and there were also 77 candidate deputies.
They are broken down by party affiliation, with 44 percent of the Communist Party and 56 percent of non-party members. It is worth mentioning that 30 percent of non-party personalities are members of democratic parties.
The age span is also very large, the youngest Tian Fuda is only 21 years old, while the eldest Sa Zhenbing is 92 years old, and Situ Meitang and Zhang Yuanji are also 83 years old.
In the close preparation of the six groups, the relevant matters related to the construction of New China have gradually become clear, but there are still a number of issues that need to be further developed, among which the issue of the country name and its abbreviation is particularly concerning.
So, how are these problems finally solved? The name of the country caused controversy, and Situ Meitang held an opposing opinion At the Political Consultative Conference held in 1949, the chairman of ** passionately shouted the slogan "Long live the People's Democratic Republic of China" at the first plenary meeting.
On June 17, during the discussion of the fourth group of the preparatory meeting of the new CPPCC, Zhang Xiruo, a professor at Tsinghua University, questioned the name of the "People's Democratic Republic of China". He said some elders thought the country was too long and that "democracy" should be removed.
He also believes that "People's Republic of China" is more appropriate, because the meaning of the words "democracy" and "people" coincide.
Zhang Xiruo suggested that New China adopt "People's Republic of China" as its country name. ** In this regard, it is explained that "democracy" and "republic" have the same meaning, so the choice of "republic" better reflects the essence of the state and is more suitable.
In addition, because the word "people" represents the workers, peasants, petty bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie in the new democratic China, the use of "people" can more fully express the concept of people's democracy.
On September 17, 1949, the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) passed four resolutions: to make the capital of Beiping and rename it Beijing; Use the A.D. year; "March of the Volunteers" as the national anthem; The five-star red flag was used as the national flag to symbolize the great unity of the Chinese revolutionary people.
After the name "People's Republic of China" was determined, different opinions emerged on the question of whether to retain the abbreviation "Zhonghua**" in parentheses after the country name.
Some delegates were of the view that it should be included in the Common Programme, while others were of the view that it should not. At the second plenary session of the Preparatory Committee of the New Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on September 17, the country name "People's Republic of China" in the submitted documents was followed by the abbreviation "Zhonghua**".
On September 26, 1949, ** invited twenty or thirty old-timers from the Xinhai Revolution to discuss and solve this problem.
Before the banquet began, he got straight to the point and raised the question of whether or not to cancel the abbreviation. In the discussion, he understood and respected everyone's special feelings about the short term.
Huang Yanpei, an executive director of the National Democratic Construction Association who participated in the Xinhai Revolution, advocated retaining the abbreviation, because the Chinese people have become accustomed to using "Zhonghua**", which will cause disgust if it is changed.
He Xiangning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, also supported Huang Yanpei's view, believing that "China" was the result of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's revolution and was bought by many martyrs with their blood, and should continue to be used.
I participated in the Xinhai Revolution and respected Mr. Sun Yat-sen, but I didn't have any good feelings about 'China**'. If we continue to use this name, how can we proclaim the victory of the revolution to the people of the whole country?
It's like we do things on the sly. The revolution was victorious, but we did not dare to change the name of the country. I firmly oppose abbreviation and advocate the fair use of the full name of the People's Republic of China. ”
Situ Meitang's words were powerful and firm, which convinced the people present and thunderous applause. Everyone generally agrees with this issue, and even Ma Yinchu, Zhang Lan, Chen Jiageng and others also support the removal of the abbreviation of "Zhonghua**".
Shen Junru, a member of the Standing Committee of the China Democratic League and a legal scholar, expounded the reason why the old and new names cannot coexist from a legal perspective. He stressed that if the abbreviation of "Zhonghua**" is added under "People's Republic of China", it will leave a loophole in the law, which is inconsistent with international practice.
He believes that the country names of all countries in the world are represented by letter abbreviations, and there are no other abbreviations. Insisting on the use of abbreviations would cause inconvenience in future national documents.
Therefore, he advocated the removal of abbreviations.
At the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, ** listened to the opinions of everyone and said: "I will comprehensively send the opinions expressed by everyone today to the Standing Committee of the Presidium of the General Assembly for reference, and the Standing Committee of the Presidium will make the final decision." ”
Under the unanimous discussion of everyone, the "Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the Conference" and the ** Organic Law were adopted, and it was decided to remove the abbreviation of "Zhonghua**" after the country name.
That night, a total of 63 members of the **People's Committee** stayed for a meeting, and it was already ten o'clock after dinner, but they did not rest, but continued to attend the preparatory meeting of the **People's Committee) held in the Qinzheng Palace, preparing to discuss tomorrow's founding ceremony proclamation and military parade and other matters.
On October 1, a historic moment was quietly staged in the Qinzheng Hall in Zhongnanhai, Beijing. The President personally presided over the meeting, reported on the preparations for the conference, drafted the People's Republic of China People's Announcement No. 1, and announced the birth of a new one.
After the meeting, the procession has been assembled, the streets and alleys are brightly lit, and there is a lively scene. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the first meeting of the **people** was officially convened.
**Dressed solemnly, with firm eyes, he excitedly announced: "All the members of the *people** are now inaugurated. Then, he solemnly announced again: "The *people** are officially established today, and the announcement of the establishment is issued to the whole world. ”
After the founding ceremony in 1949, the time had reached 2:40 p.m., and Situ Mei and others also climbed the Tiananmen Tower. Looking down, 300,000 people lined up in the shape of "And", decorating the entire Tiananmen Square into a sea of red, red flags, balloons and slogans tumbling on the sea.
When *** appeared on the city tower, the square erupted in deafening cheers, soaring into the sky, and 300,000 people chanted in unison: "Long live *!" "After 28 years of bloody struggle and hard struggle, in the face of the prosperous scene in front of you, how can you not burst into tears?
He watched as the crowd waved at them and shouted: "Long live comrades!" In an instant, the audience shouted "Long live" in unison, and the lanterns on the upper floor of Tiananmen Square seemed to be shaken by this warm atmosphere.
The national flag was raised and the salute was fired, announcing the birth of the People's Republic of China. At this moment, the efforts of many martyrs have finally been rewarded, and the Chinese people have stood up since then.
This day is a turning point in history and a new chapter for the Chinese people.
After the military parade of the founding ceremony, ** and *** inspected the parade troops in an open-top car. After that, they returned to the city tower and read out the order of the headquarters of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, ordering all commanders and fighters to liberate all of China, shouting "The people's heroes who died in the liberation war are immortal!" ”
During the review, the troops under review marched in front of Tiananmen Square in a separate column to be inspected by the leaders. The whole parade lasted three hours, and the fighter jets soared freely under the blue sky, **also raised their heads**, and kept clapping and cheering.
Throughout the process, cheers continued, and military bands took turns playing under the national flag, adding to the atmosphere of the founding ceremony.
The excitement of the founding ceremony continued into the evening, when people marched in Tiananmen Square with torches and lanterns in hand. From early morning to this moment, the jubilant atmosphere in the square has lasted for a full 12 hours, and there is no tendency to abate.
At the same time, the major cities that have been liberated across the country are also holding grand celebrations, and people are immersed in happiness, joy and jubilation. On this day, the development of the Chinese nation opened a new historical chapter and wrote a new chapter that was rich and fascinating.