A donation campaign more than 100 years ago.
Author: Yang Zao.
A national donation triggered by a speech
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, initiated by Beijing's "Beijing Dialect", a huge "national donation movement" appeared in the northern region.
The campaign was initiated by Wang Zizhen, an avid reader of Beijing Dialect.
Wang Zizhen is a ** believer who opened a Shangyou photo studio in the city. After the establishment of Beijing's first Chinese-funded newspaper in August 1904, he repeatedly contributed articles to newspapers and funded the establishment of the "Shangyou Newspaper Office", which posted newspapers for free for pedestrians to read, and volunteered to "lecture newspapers" to illiterate citizens.
Wang Zizhen's "preaching" is not completely based on the newspaper's arguments or news preaching, and sometimes he will also give play to it and give some personal opinions.
According to Liang Shuming, the nephew of Peng Yizhong, the owner of "Beijing Dialect**", Wang Zizhen saw some words on "Beijing Dialect**", saying that Gengzi's compensation was too huge, and it was better to be paid off by 40,000 compatriots across the country at one time.
Wang Zizhen felt that this was very reasonable, so he played it out and wrote a "speech", and asked Peng Yizhong, the owner of "Beijing Dialect", to read and revise it. Peng Yizhong helped him sort out the text, and published it in the "Beijing Dialect" on September 2, 1905 in the name of Wang and Peng's joint manuscript.
The speech was written in the "Beijing dialect", that is, the spoken language of the banner people.
The speech was to the effect that Gengzi's indemnity was 450 million taels, to be repaid in annual installments, and it would not be repaid until Guangxu was more than 60 years old, and together with interest, it was 900 million taels. This is a heavy burden on the Chinese people. Now the east also donates, the west also donates, and all kinds of additional donations must be made for this purpose. In order to draw donations, set up bureaus, send staff to serve, and pay salaries and meals, it is inevitable that there will be a number of medium-filled, and I am afraid that in the end, the people will pay more than 10 billion taels. If the people can't afford it, it is inevitable to resist donations. The official said that "bandits resist donations", and the people say that "the official forces the people to rebel". The future is painful and unironic. How can it be that 400 million people in the whole country work together to quickly and automatically get together at one time, and save the country and the people by saving themselves.
This speech began by telling the audience that the repayment of Gengzi's reparations is a matter for every Chinese, and it is impossible to rely entirely on the imperial court:
You must say, this is a covenant made by the imperial court, and it must be returned by the imperial court, but it has nothing to do with the people, you don't want to think about it, on the Jinluan Palace, you can't get out of the gold mine, the ministers won't turn stones into gold, don't be confused anymore, the people have to pay back the troubles of the people. Another one also said that I haven't practiced boxing either, so why should I still do it? Ask yourself, is it Chinese? Can't you say no? If you are a Chinese, you have to repay the national debt, for what reason? The people of the same country are called compatriots, and they are all descendants of the Yellow Emperor......Although you have never been a boxer, you cannot be considered a Chinese, and you always carry more than 20 years of national debts, not only your Excellency, but also your children and grandchildren. ......Poor Chinese have no thoughts, do not know the relationship between the country and the family, if you teach him to take money to pay off the national debt, guess what? That's a vain statement, it's probably harder than climbing to the sky.
Next, the speaker introduced the method of repaying the reparations with "national contributions".
"Isn't there 40,000 people in China? According to the number of heads, each person only shared one or two pieces of silver, and now he has to repay the national debt, and each person shares it equally, and the work of a few days is about the same. ......Everyone, please think, eating, drinking, and dressing are not twice as expensive as before, and if you take ordinary people as an example, a year's donation is several times more than a tael of silver in the open, let alone more than 30 years? The meaning expressed by the speaker is that instead of letting the imperial court collect harsh taxes in the name of repayment, it is better to have the people donate, which is more in line with the interests of the people at the bottom. Finally, the speaker used the fact that the French and Japanese nationals had raised funds to repay the loans: "Forty years ago, France was defeated by Germany, and France compensated Germany 120,000 yuan for its military expenses. When Japan and Russia went to war, Japanese prostitutes also had to help with military spending. Look at the countries of the East and the West, the people and the countries must not be separated, which is why they are so strong and ......With the same facial features and limbs, although they can't keep up with the French, can't they keep up with the Japanese prostitutes? ”
Donation campaign for "first-class nationals".
After this draft was published, I didn't want Zhang Zhongyuan to be sentenced by the Tai Hospital to send a letter saying that he would donate 200 taels of silver first, and urged him to quickly formulate the charter and implement it as soon as possible.
Subsequently, donation letters flew in one after another, both individually and collectively (such as all the officers and soldiers of the Beijing Fire Brigade), and within five days, the pledge number had reached more than 700 taels.
So Peng Yizhong and Wang Zizhen took this matter seriously. The general collection office of donations was set up in the Hubu Bank (later renamed Daqing Bank), and the bank will collect the donations at the same time as interest, and declare that if the state does not use them in the future, the principal and interest will be returned at the same time.
"Beijing Dialect**" devotes a certain page every day, publishes the names and amounts pledged by all parties, and writes the words "national duty" on the masthead.
Due to the large number of pledges, 50 days later, "Beijing Dialect**" simply printed an additional sheet, published the name and amount, and sent it with the newspaper.
After the launch of the "national donation", there were many examples of self-donation and advocacy by dignitaries and nobles, according to Liang Shuming's later records, such as the five military ministers headed by Prince Qing all donated;
The Minister of the Interior issued an edict to the Three Banners of the Ministry of the Interior to advocate it;
The school Shangshu Rongqing donated 10,000 taels alone;
General Ji Linda donated 10,000 taels and raised more than 40,000 yuan;
Guangdong Cen Zhitai and Henan Chen Futai each donated 10,000 taels.
The eight Buddhist temples in Beijing called on all monks to hold a meeting to pledge donations, while fellow villagers in Zhili (present-day Hebei Province) gathered at Songyun Nunnery to discuss pledges and solicit donations to the whole province.
And so on, you don't have to go all.
Contained in the "Beijing Dialect **" and belonging to Liang Shuming "do not have to be all", including the Ministry of Officials ordered that "all the surplus of public funds shall be included in the national donation", Li Honggui, the governor of Hulan Prefecture in Heilongjiang Province, Xin Tiancheng, the magistrate of Mulan County, etc., are enthusiastic in advocating national donations in the local area, and Qian Liangchen, the governor of Bazhou Prefecture, Zhili Province, sent a letter, saying:
"I was afraid that it would be inconvenient for the official to persuade donations, but when I thought about it, although I am an official, I am also one of the 40,000 people, so I found a few enthusiastic gentlemen and told them speeches in the newspaper every day. ”
There are even more examples of people from the middle and lower classes actively donating. "Beijing Dialect**" often publishes news such as "widows pledge" and "beggars persuade donations", almost every day.
A "twelve or thirteen-year-old primary school student" in Jingzhou Garrison Middle School, who had no money, went to persuade the husband and the husband to donate money, talked several times, and finally persuaded the four "subordinates" to donate 500 yuan, which moved the promotion of the middle school (principal), not only donated 50 silver dollars, but also contributed articles to praise the enthusiasm of the primary school students;
Yucheng class started to perform a new play "Ms. Huixing Martyrdom", each additional 500 yuan, to serve the national donation, the "horns" who played that day, respectively, donated 20 yuan to 50 yuan, the public came to praise and said that "the people of Liyuan have gradually understood things";
Hai Wenquan, a storyteller in Dongzhimen, listened to the lecture, "I would rather say that it is half a month in vain, and all the money I have received will be reported to the people", and he no longer said the superstitious "Jigong Biography", but said that "improve foreign countries" to open up the wisdom of the people, killing two birds with one stone";
The churches in Jinan and Mukden began to make donations, but they changed their names to "Ping An Donation" and declared that they would not accept money from foreigners;
What is surprising is that 31 prisoners in Zhuozhou in Zhili have sent letters pledging donations, and the farthest example is that overseas Chinese in the Nanyang Islands also collectively signed a letter, willing to contribute to the repayment of Gengzi's compensation.
Some citizens submitted a letter to "Beijing Dialect**", saying that "if we can collect this huge amount of money again, pay off the national debt, and form a large group, we can really shake the world, and we can immediately be recognized as a first-class citizen and soar to a first-class power." Pride is palpable.
However, Peng Yizhong's son and daughter-in-law Liang Ji (Liang Shuming's father) expressed his worries in a contribution: "Don't think it's opened by someone in the capital, don't believe that you have a lot of newspapers, and don't say fierce things because people are not convinced, it's better to deal with it well." (I'm going to give some money too).
"Unconvinced" voices
"Unconvinced" is top-down, and the interviewer (reporter) of "Beijing Dialect**" wrote down the opposition he heard in a Beijing teahouse in a report "Hands instead of Mouths":
"This is the idea of the last foreign newspaper, there are many headless people who follow the coaxing, no expensive or cheap, all send money to the household bank, no matter who they are, brother, I will never be fooled! ”
"In my opinion, this national donation is just a wronged child! ”
A half-old flag bearer (Manchuria**) said: "Everyone wants to show their necks, and I have to follow suit, donating two taels of silver ......."I wanted to donate a few more taels, I heard that the prince Zhongtang, there are also less donations, this matter is not exceeding, it seems that I, a poor official of the four grades, two taels of silver, is not a small ......”
As he was talking, he walked into an old man and saw that his image was: wearing a stone blue felt horse coat, or pearl hair, carrying a cage in his left hand and a bird in his right hand. As soon as he walked in, he said to the flag man just now: "You have these two taels of silver, why are you a cheap devil?" What kind of national donation this time, but is it all our idea? It's a bad report from foreigners, just for foreigners, you and I are not Ermaozi, do you really give them instructions? ”
In another report, "Rumors of the Ear," the interviewer recounted a conversation in the inner courtyard of a Manchurian nobleman. The man first said: "This is all for foreign devils, this kind of special and our official opposition, hundreds of taels, thousands of taels, take it out and donate, will there be any guarantee in the future?" It's not okay to be fooled by such a loss-making deal! ”
His wife persuaded him: "No matter how high or low, everyone is vying to come forward to donate, so we should also plan for it." This sentence angered the master, and he shouted loudly: "Who dares to ask me to serve the people? I can't compare to them, I'm not a storyteller and a singer, I'm not a vegetable seller and a tobacco, I can't compare to famous prostitutes, everyone is loyal and brave, and they know how to be a good person, I have this idea of family property, and I earn the people's money, and ask me to donate it to the emperor's family, can't that, I don't even want to pay back the wish of Miaofeng Mountain this year, but ask me to serve the foreign devils? ”
For this kind of blatant opposition to national donations, even the family's Baoyi (house slave) couldn't look at it, and complained behind his back: "Why don't you think about himself? They have also achieved second-class members, their ancestors have been passed down from generation to generation, not only have they eaten the country for a lifetime, but they are all ** Houlu, who is worthy of the emperor's family? The house slaves said that this kind of unconscionable thinking was not as good as those of their masters.
The lady couldn't resist the master, so she had to sell her jewelry for more than 40 taels of silver, and sent someone to the bank, not daring to report her name, just to "accumulate some yin virtue for her children and grandchildren".
Additional blows came from Westerners and southerners in China. One submission said, "I know a few foreign friends, and whenever we talk, they ask: How is the national donation going? I was not allowed to answer, and then he said, "Do you understand all the people of your country?" To this, the contributor could only "shake his head with a wry smile".
And the "Jiangnan friends" said that the south knows about the national donation, "I'm afraid that according to the current method, it will not work."
Their reasoning was: "China's foreign debt, Gengzi's catastrophe, but there is no southerner's business, and the public will be wronged and ......."Today, if you ask people to go bankrupt and desperately pledge donations, the real culprit will get away with it, and if you say it according to the Constitution, there is really no such reason. ”
The editorial of "Beijing Dialect**" said helplessly: "In the future, people really want to divide up, and they will never divide the north and south with us", hoping to arouse the national consciousness of Jiangnan people and strive to pledge donations.
As for the middle and lower classes, the biggest problem is "rumors". There are many words like this recorded in the "Beijing Dialect":
"I heard from others that the matter of the national donation is to ask everyone to pledge, the household bank, in charge of this file, the prince and the minister, have all pledged to donate, every household, have to report the donation according to the head, in the future door to door strict inspection, if there is a leak in the donation, it will be punished, I have no money, I heard this, and I can't believe it, if I really come to check, at that time, fine, do, but feel troublesome, hurry up a few dollars of silver, first sent to the bank, just as a ruined ......There are a lot of people who tell me that, otherwise I wouldn't have donated. (What a big rumor).
However, there are indeed undesirable phenomena of "resisting donations" and "distributing donations" in the localities.
For example, there is a "soil saint" in Yongqing County, Hebei Province, who "always controls official affairs and fish and meat in the township", and he said to the villagers: "Do you want to go to foreign countries to donate?" It's really confused, the village has built a temple to welcome the gods and many good deeds, but you don't want to donate, why do you donate all in foreign countries? If you donate one yuan to a foreign country, the village must donate ten times as much! "Everyone was so scared that they didn't dare to pledge.
The magistrate of Xuancheng County, Anhui Province, said to Wan Lisheng, who advocated donations in the county: "You are a small people, you have donated these funds, I am a magistrate, what should I do?" I don't have the strength to learn from you. "It was ordered that donations should not be collected in the county.
On the other hand, according to Shanghai's "News" report, Shi Kun, the magistrate of Yongning County, Henan Province, took advantage of the Duanle faction to exert special pressure and make profits from it, so that the reputation of the "national donation" in the local area was extremely bad.
The general local practice, according to an insider, is that "the directors and deputies of each village, together with the directors and others, take leaflets on national obligations, go along the door to ask, and donate as much as they want......Those who don't study, don't know the country, but say that it is the official who sends donations, and the directors and others come to the door to ask, can't refute the inspection, reluctantly pledge, and as soon as they turn around, they complain that the country is poor, and they borrow money from the people"!
So much so that someone pasted a report and said: "It's not a national donation, it's a fatal order!" ”
In Beijing, where donations were most enthusiastic, many problems also arose, such as "the newspaper office in Dong'an Market made a big stuffy gourd jar out of wattle baskets, and the patrol police were suspicious of taking the opportunity to collect money and were not allowed to place them." The hooligans outside the Fucheng Gate gathered to gamble, but they preached that the gambling bureau had drawn out "head money" and handed it over to Wang Zizhen for donation.
"There is more than blood, but the insight is not clear".
It is conceivable how angry the readers of "Beijing Dialect" who enthusiastically pledged and persuaded them to donate saw these reports.
They are no longer willing to deal with it as Liang Ji said, "It's better to deal with it." Filled with righteous indignation, they threw themselves into the newspaper and newspapers, and proposed all sorts of drastic methods
Some people say that the small album books sold all over the street are a "bane" and the "enemy" of the newspaper office, and he complains that there is no freedom of the press like China in the world, and hopes that the Industrial Inspection Bureau will ban these albumbooks;
There are also people who believe that "Beijing's teahouses, tobacco houses, and liquor shops are the general organs for spreading rumors" and advocate that "the bureaus can send a message to the shopkeepers of teahouses, tobacco houses, and liquor shops, and that in the future, if there are smokers and drinkers who drink tea, it is best to do it according to the hour, otherwise they will come hard, quench their thirst, and after they are done, they should quickly persuade him to leave, and if they do not comply, they will be allowed to report to the bureau"; There are constantly advocates that the first person should screen donors and those who do not donate, and implement rewards and punishments.
Some said that a third-class badge should be divided and donors should be distributed according to the amount of donations; Some people think that the badge is not conspicuous enough: "The big word "national" is printed on a rectangular paper as a mark, indicating the year and month on the left, and the number of donations on the right, which is divided into six grades, and the size and color of the paper are different, etc., and are issued to donors. Immediately, some people objected to this proposal, believing that it was unfair to the "poor friends", and that they should "print a mark, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, and paste it on the door", and even "when donating money, ask for the address, and everyone will make another public discussion, and follow the newspaper of Miaofeng Mountain, the gongs and drums are noisy, and they are forced to stick it on the door."
In this way, they said, "those who have pledged to donate will think that they are decent, and those who have not pledged will naturally think that they are ugly, and if they know that they are ugly, they will have to pay out of their pockets."
Among the positive advocacy of the newspaper, there are also statements that make today's readers feel a little strange.
For example, a certain speech in "Beijing Dialect **" once put forward a slogan called "One or two pieces of silver to donate to the people, isn't it as strong as a Zhongju person", the speaker's meaning is "pledge the donation, and then get a receipt back, give it to you, and everyone take it home to save, even if you donate a national, in the future, when you see the prince, the marquis, and the big and small, they all call themselves nationals, and they are not called small", it is reported that the effect of this speech is very good, "Guys, everyone is willing to contribute money, donate a national to the head, so as not to see the official and call the small again." (Xin Tianzhi's speech).
The second- and third-grade flag bearers mentioned above, the public has no way to take them. However, the shops in Beijing are regarded as the objects of persuasion.
In particular, the three shops that dared to sell American goods in the previous "Opposition to Chinese Workers' Ban and Boycott of American Goods" movement not only donated money themselves, but also contributed 40 silver dollars each to donate "national donation leaflets" under the persuasion of many people in turn.
When the donation activity was held in the Dashilan business district, "some donated 50 yuan, some donated 40 yuan", but when it came to "Zhang Yongju", the shop only wrote 5 yuan.
This time, even the interviewers and editors of "Beijing Dialect" were angry, criticizing the store in the report that "it is better not to donate", believing that this kind of store without national ideology "must be told to be demolished", and if they ask for a foot less, they will be "fined 100 taels of silver".
They hope that the government will do this so that the people can "be happy," but this kind of "donation" obviously runs counter to the original intention of the people's donation of "voluntary donations and will never be rejected," nor can it enable the people to truly understand the meaning of "patriotism."
Lu Juzhuang, a newspaper preacher, called out "compatriots" a few times during his speech on "boycotting American goods," but the next day he received a letter saying that he should not call all those who listened to the newspaper "compatriots" and that "only those who have recognized national donations can be called compatriots!"”
Lu Juzhuang said that he did not agree with such an extreme opinion, "When we speak and do things, we must go on the road of openness and righteousness, and once we enter the sharp and clever faction or the fierce faction, not only will it not be beneficial to do anything, but we will definitely cause a storm, because of some trivial things, we will definitely delay the overall situation." ”
Peng Yizhong, the owner of "Beijing Dialect**", criticized after the article: "Moral words, words are golden and jade, comrades and gentlemen, don't pay attention." ”
At this time, there was a helper Li Molin in Shandong, who was fascinated by the news of the national donation since he knew about it, and did everything possible to get his family to pledge the donation.
His maternal uncle was reluctant, so he ran to his maternal uncle's house, took the borrowed newspaper, and "repeated it, talked again and again, and persuaded him after speaking", so angry that his maternal uncle kicked him out and wanted to cut off his relatives.
Peng Yizhong added a note under this report, saying: "The meaning of this speech is not to be angry with Li Molin, this person is more than enthusiastic, has unclear opinions, and has no academic ability, so he reluctantly begs to open up, not only banging his head indiscriminately, but also bringing good things to the bad." ”
Peng Yizhong's sigh echoed Liang Ji's worries. The Enlighteners realized that mere patriotic fervor would not necessarily lead to the spread of modern consciousness and the creation of a civilized society.
The vigorous national donation movement may have created many enthusiastic patriots and generous citizens who went to the rescue, but it still could not make them citizens with democracy, equality, freedom of speech, and so on.
The national donation campaign lasted for more than a year, and "Beijing Dialect**" offended Yuan Shikai, the governor of Zhili, who had vigorously advocated national donation, Peng Yizhong was convicted and exiled to Xinjiang, and "Beijing Dialect**" was closed, and this movement naturally stopped.
Subsequently, Daqing Bank came forward to announce that the donations would be returned, and everyone would go to the bank to collect them with their receipts.
Selected from Essays, No. 5, 2008.