On March 29, 1968, Nie Yuanzi’s “New Peking University” started to forcefully expel the opposing students from the 31st floor, which opened the curtain of martial fighting among the mass organizations of Beijing universities.
In the face of the chaotic situation and the resurgence of armed struggle, the top management seemed helpless and inappropriate, and the study class for the heads of mass organizations in each school on April 29 could not be held and had to end hastily. On May 7, Xie Fuzhi, the director of the Municipal Revolutionary Committee, said at the meeting of the Municipal Revolutionary Committee: “The anti-proletarian factionalism, the anti-proletarianism, and the anti-discrimination of the proletariat are the main reasons for the rejection. The proletariat’s factionalism, okay? Chairman Mao has corrected us.” This made the opposing factions think that the opportunity had come to let go and regroup.
Thus, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. At this time, there were also major changes in Renmin University. In contrast to the gongs and drums when they entered the university, on May 10, the “military training corps” on campus suddenly withdrew in the face of an out-of-control situation. It should be said that this was a major misstep by the top brass. The two factions immediately lost a third-party counterweight, and both were eager to seize the “high ground” to expand their own space for survival and development. The “high ground” mentioned here is not just a geographical concept. As a result, there was a direct collision in spite of everything. In addition, Jiang Qing had repeatedly issued the call “to attack the military”, so the bloodiest face-to-face murderous martial arts combat began.
On that day, the other side, the “New People’s Congress Commune,” occupied the 9th floor of Linyuan. It was a family building for teachers and workers. Eleven families of the “Three Reds” teachers had their homes raided and evicted.
The first big martial fight
The first big martial fight at Renmin University took place on the next day, May 11, when the “Three Reds” attacked the Red Building.
This red building is not Jia Baoyu’s “red building”, but the single staff building in the northwest of the entrance of the NPC.
What is the purpose of fighting it?
“The southeast corner of the school is mainly under the control of the three buildings of the East Wind Building, and the International Students Building, the Teaching Office Building, and the New Teaching Building (these were all called at the time, and the New Teaching Building is now called the Second Building of Public Teaching), which are basically lined up, without depth, and cannot form a defense system. So, it was necessary to capture the Red Building, which was separated by an open space to the north of the East Wind Building. The attack began in the evening, using bricks and sticks. The other side retreated inside the building to the second floor to resist, and this side did not take to ascend the ladder to attack strongly, and the two sides formed a confrontation.
At night, the lights were on. Crowds from both sides gathered behind their respective lines, shouting and cheering. In a burst of shouting, the side’s personnel charged the red building again and again, while the upper floors rained down pre-prepared bricks and miscellaneous objects. Whenever the window glass was “thumped”, broken glass “clattered” from mid-air, the shouting broke out in a climax. Some students “defiantly” rushed up, picking up the ground bricks to throw up, trying to add force to the attack.
But it is not easy to take down a building. The people on the other side of the building, because there is no way back, resistance is also very tenacious. The attackers had to return again and again, for this reason several times back and forth. Even if there was a rush into the building, it was difficult to hold on, and ran out again. One by one, the wounded were helped back. From the red building to the “three red” headquarters building a few hundred meters of the road, covered with drops of blood, one after another, which can be seen on the scene of the fierce attack and defense. In this case, if you really want to attack, casualties are bound to be very large. From the scene, the command of both sides is relatively restrained. It may be that the other side took into account that they control a larger area is also more scattered, it is difficult to divide the troops to guard, easy to be divided and surrounded. In the end, the two sides ceased fire, the attacker temporarily retreated, allowing the defender to withdraw, and then the “three reds” to take over. “Three Reds” from a thin line of defense, the formation of several buildings can be horns, relying on each other’s “defense zone”.
This whole process, I was there, but did not rush up, and did not throw stones. My physique is not, throwing a stone may not be farther than the female students, even if it is thrown, I am afraid that even the wall can not reach, do not go up to embarrassment.
Night attack on the arsenal
It is not possible to bring “safety” by fighting, and since there is a beginning, gradually it will continue to happen.
The situation was getting more and more serious. In order to prevent the other side’s attack, each of our dormitory building, the first floor is not living, the windows with bricks, boards, etc. blocked. On the second floor, only half of the windows were left, and the other half were nailed shut with boards. Stairway are piled up with bed boards, leaving only one person barely sideways and cross, so greatly increase the difficulty of the other party may attack the building.
In order to facilitate self-defense, in case the other side rushed in and grabbed people, almost every one of us boys were equipped with a spear. Usually go downstairs to go out, even to the canteen to eat, have to carry with them. The spear, is the water pipe, heating pipe removed, cut into two meters long one, one end sharpened into extremely sharp spikes. It is said that the thing is better than bayonets, stabbing each other, blood gushing out from the tube, you can quickly pull out and stab again. Unlike the bayonet into the human body because of the pressure of flesh and blood, sometimes difficult to pull out, and even appear curled.
Where to make these spears and some other improvised weapons? There is a school-run factory to the west of the school that was just built in early 1965. It is a small machine shop with some machine tools and steel bars, which is occupied by the other side and has become an “arsenal” for the other side to make swords and guns. This is a major factor involving the contrast of power between the two sides, and we must not “fight for one”.
On May 15, the “Three Reds” side launched a surprise attack on the school-run factory. The operation was at night, so it was called the “night attack on the arsenal”. The original intention was to quickly grab some steel bars and simple tools in a very short period of time and try not to have a confrontation. The reason why it was placed at night was because it was thought that the other side would have fewer guards and might cause fewer consequences. As a result, when they really rushed in, they still clashed with the other side’s personnel left in the factory and drew reinforcements from the other side’s personnel. Both sides had a big fight with iron bars and wooden sticks at the entrance and fence of the factory. Before and after about forty minutes, and still there was a tragic casualty incident. Wang Xizhong, a Chinese student from the other side, was unfortunately killed. He died on the roof of the house, most likely after he was injured and took refuge on the roof, and fell there forever.
We found out about this after dawn. Afterwards, we heard that one of the workers on the other side, faced with the spear’s spikes, panicked and begged on his knees, “I have three wives and a child at home, let me go.” That a while also as a joke to spread, in fact, that is also a few bitter tears ah.
Destroying the wild boar forest
The wheels of martial arts are turning faster and faster.
The defense is being carried out on all fronts. Even our dormitory, there is also a bow and arrow from nowhere, said that it can be useful when the other side attacked the building. I tried it, and it took some effort to pull the bow. Towards the door, pulled less than half to let go, “bang”, really powerful, the arrow to the door panel are hit through. However, I know that when it comes to that, before I can shoot the arrow out, people will take me down first.
With the spear in the dormitory, there was also a small accident. I almost hurt myself before the other side came. One day, in our dormitory, a student was bored and wanted to try the thing to work or not, picked it up and stabbed it into the wall. Who knows, the wall is not a brick wall, but two layers of wood with seams, the middle is empty, there is a brick-like interval, the outside with mud and lime paste on. Spear stabbed up, the wall where to withstand, “Wow”, fell a large surface of mud, lime, and went through. The student next to the dormitory got angry and came over and smashed the glass of the air window above our door. We know a little bit righteous, quietly, all did not make a sound.
“In addition to a control area in the southeast, there is a south fifth floor in the west, a piece of five, two areas connected by a large road. But the north side of the road there is a small pine forest, there is a sports room in the forest, often used by the other side as an ambush of armed men, used to sneak attack to harm this side of the road. So this side has to eradicate this hidden danger.
On May 17, that afternoon, first, the “martial arts team” armed with sticks and spears rushed into the woods and smashed the small room completely. There was no one there on the other side. The sports equipment inside was moved back to the school building and stacked up. No one was notified in advance of the move, and no one was in charge of the organization, so everyone saw the situation and came forward to move. The armed forces were lined up in a row, outside the guard for protection. On the avenue, hundreds of people were running back and forth, holding, carrying, carrying, busy. The whole process, the action is very fast. I happened to run into, also went to hold a ball in one hand, take two at a time, rushed to run two times. The mind is still thinking, this is also in the protection of national property?
Because there is this pine forest, so this action, called “destroy the wild boar forest”. Since there was no direct conflict between the two sides, the students who were there on this day were all excited. The action, which had no opponent, was like an extracurricular activity.
But again, things quickly came to the bloodiest of scenes.
A dedicated martial arts fighting team
In the face of the worsening situation and in response to the increasingly intense martial fighting, the mass organizations set up special martial arts teams with upgraded equipment. The struggle between the two factions reached the point where they were really fighting to the death.
The “Three Reds” also organized a special “martial arts team” of 40 to 50 people. At this time, the “martial arts fighters” were already equipped with extraordinary equipment. Each person was fully armed, wearing a wicker hat with a wire mask attached to the underside of the hat, and his whole body and limbs were covered with armor cut from iron, and books were padded under the iron. At that time, there was a lot of iron, everywhere is Mao’s quotation cards, just in time to use, cut into a piece of armor. Look, the whole person is like an ancient warrior, all cold, even the gaze from behind the wire cover is also cold, completely devoid of human feelings.
The members of their team, mainly law students in the lower grades, to the majority of the military transition, “combat” is stronger. On one occasion, they were practicing just outside my window downstairs, pairing stabs, “ha, ha” shouting stabbing sounds. Despite the full body armor and the protection of a wire cover in front of the face. Unexpectedly, someone was injured on the spot, by the opposite spikes through the wire on the mask, knocked out the incisors, mouth blood, how dangerous it is! What if a little more stabbed in? What would have been the result when it came to the real fight? However, their military quality seems to be very good. After such an incident, the others acted as if nothing had happened, and remained in the same place to double stab. Just the leader of the team came over to take a look, did not say anything more, told him to go down to rest. The injured student, also very strong, even the helmet did not take off. At that time, the young students were “revolutionary” to what kind of inculcation.
Out of curiosity, I also tried on this outfit. Feel too alien. Heavy, or second. It is too awkward, too constrained, hands and feet can not be used, all over the body can not move. All the movements are completely deformed, and it is impossible to grasp the strength and direction. Although there were many military training and physical education classes, as a college student at that time, I was already very skilled in stabbing movements, but it was as if I was no longer me, completely dominated by the machine, like a stick pulled in the hands of others and allowed to be wielded by others.
Looking out through the wire hood in front of me, other people, too, are like objects to be eliminated, to be killed, a prey to eat their flesh, eat their blood. The head is heating up, the blood is churning, the body is swelling, the hands and feet are almost not listening to the command, the words “kill, kill” keep flashing in the mind, and want to stab out. I felt terrible from the bottom of my heart, not only afraid that if I really go to the martial arts arena, this outfit will become the object of assassination. What I was afraid of was that under this costume, people had been completely distorted and were no longer human beings with normal humanity, but a beast that killed and was killed. The meaning of “revolution”, the meaning of “rebellion”, at this time all revealed the original meaning.
Once the bloody sword is drawn, it is like a raging beast rampaging, trying to stop it can’t be stopped, trying to stop it can’t be stopped, and the situation soon gets out of control. Just a few days after “destroying the wild boar forest”, on May 22, 1968, an unprecedented bloody martial arts fight broke out on the NPC campus.
The fire of violence is not to be played with, a little unintentional spark can turn into an unquenchable flame. The cause of this martial arts fight was a very small thing. In order to prevent the other side’s attack, both sides dug trenches, barbed wire, and built fortifications at the edge of their control areas. At night, spotlights were shining everywhere, just like the battlefield in Korea. That day, when digging the ditch, the soil was lifted to the other side, and the other side lifted it again. As they did, both sides fought. From throwing mud at each other, to exchanging sticks, to using “martial arts” teams to fight.
That day, in the afternoon, it seemed that everything was normal, I was downstairs, I do not remember anything special, as usual. Suddenly, some students came from the road, looking nervous and shouting to the few of us outside, “There’s a fight in the west! There’s a fight in the west! You guys are still acting like nothing happened here, don’t you know?” “What’s wrong?” We asked. “There’s a fight! There’s a fight!” He yelled, but we couldn’t understand what was going on. At that moment, the “martial arts team” set off from the headquarters building with a loud bang. We then knew that things had gone too far.
So, when we saw them fully equipped, armed with spears, row by row, trotting off to “reinforce”, the heavy thumping footsteps, like stepping on the heart, the body can not help but follow the trembling. The pace of the neat, resolute, well-trained, comparable to regular troops. But what kind of battlefield is that? I only heard that the west is fighting, this trip, no one knows how it will be. We wanted to go along, but were stopped by the people behind the group. I think so, if we follow, we will only add trouble and burden to them, so we did not insist.
Bloodbath in the big playground
The bloody battle was fought in the playground southwest of the new library, the same playground that I had repaired by pulling the mills under the scorching sun during my summer work-study in 1964 (the new library, which was the headquarters of the “New People’s Congress” at that time, is now called the East Library). The former classmates, with spears in hand, faced each other and fought to the death in just a few minutes. In just a few minutes, the other side withdrew from the playground. In just a few minutes, the other side had fallen several students. In just a few minutes, three lives were lost, including my classmate Chen Rongzu. I heard that he was stabbed with seven holes in his body (it is also said that he was shot eleven times), one of which pierced his heart and killed him instantly. I heard that he fell down and tried to struggle to get up, and was pierced by more spears.
At that time, the casualties on both sides were not yet known. Those of us who were in the rear were stone-faced. Soon, the wounded were helped down. Each wounded man was supported by several men, bloodied and cold-faced, and all seemed to be strong. They got into a minibus. There was a heavily armed “martial arts team” escort on board, in case they were hijacked on the way. With the car, there is a tall female students, I heard a professor’s daughter, dressed in black, holding a long sword, really is called a valiant.
The night began with an unusual silence, and the loudspeakers of both sides stopped very abnormally. At midnight, suddenly, the other side’s loudspeaker played the “International Anthem”, the mournful music resounded through the dark night sky of the campus. When we heard it, we knew that someone from the other side had been killed in action, and we all looked at each other in disbelief. In the latter part of the night, the word came that “there was one from your class”, and we were greatly alarmed. Because Chen Rongzu changed his name to Chen Jiang after our two factions separated, the name that came through was not correct. We were all still holding on to hope, not believing, not wanting to believe, always thinking it couldn’t be him, but hoping it wasn’t him. We all stayed up all night. The next day, just after dawn, got the conclusive news that it was really him, it was really him!
Although being divided into two factions, there was no prejudice among our classmates because of this. Chen Rongzu is a native of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, very simple, very decent, serious and responsible for people, never show off, and not physically fit. Especially, his family composition is relatively high, is the only one in our class composition high students. This is rare among the students of NPC, not generally good performance, will not have this opportunity. He is usually very cautious and in place, and can neither rush ahead nor lag behind in anything. Although our class was always good to each other and treated him as an equal, it was obvious that he was very strict with himself in everything. He was even more cautious and serious about this “Cultural Revolution”. How did this bad luck fall on his head? He did not participate in the “martial arts team”, and his body was unprotected, so how could this happen? I think it was probably because of the above mentioned reason that he could not help but show up in the martial arts arena when faced with the risk, even though his hands were weak and his heart was full of reluctance.
What a pain! Chen Rongzu
Decades later, I can slowly recover the scene of that time. The situation on that day was that the “NPC” side was not adequately prepared for the fight, with inadequate equipment, training, command and emergency plans. The first line of the “main force” to fight a few times, soon could not stand, and hastily mobilized the second line of players up. The second-line team not only did not have protective clothing, but also no decent weapons, that is, with wooden sticks and iron bars and so on, and some even took the canteen broom, mop and ran over. Our classmates Li Yuanhao and Chen Rongzu took a wooden stick. The “Three Reds” side has prepared in advance, in terms of equipment, training, momentum are better than each other. Both sides are obviously not in the same class in terms of strength.
As the “new NPC” side of the first-line personnel can not top retreat too fast, the original in the back of the non-major second-line players instead of flashing in front. When the “Three Reds” martial arts team rushed to the front of the second-line players, chaos broke out on the scene and command failed. Some of them ran backward when they saw the situation, some of them stood there and didn’t know what to do, and some of them still thought that they were “strong and brave” and were still charging forward. Chen Rongzu students did not quickly retreat, but to hold a wooden stick still want to resist a little, was mercilessly stabbed on.
In just a few minutes, the ground was strewn with several wounded. When the “Three Reds” retreated a little, people on this side shouted: “Stabbing people to death! Quickly save people!” People rushed to rescue them regardless of everything. Our class leader Li Yuanhao rushed over to take a look and found his class Chen Rongzu was also lying there, his face was full of blood, and the blood in his chest was gushing out like a spring. The students were carrying the injured man backwards to the road. When the school doctor came to see him, he said that he was not going to make it, so there was no need to send him to the hospital. When they got to the Jishuitan Hospital, the doctor confirmed that he had died. At this point, Li Yuanhao students hugged Chen Rongzu’s body and cried out, full of tears. All the people who were there cried a lot. No one expected that the Cultural Revolution would come to this.
In the hospital morgue, Chen Rongzu lying there, his face full of blood, tightly closed eyes, the bloodless, pale and frightening face, the blood-soaked, pierced clothes, so that the students who had seen his remains are still closed eyes. It’s not like a facelift, but just wiping away the blood clots on his face. When our class president put him in the coffin, there wasn’t even a replacement shirt. His clothes were still on the third floor of Dongfeng, which was occupied by the “Three Reds”, so I didn’t dare to go there to get them. But a teacher from the history department gave him a slightly better one to wear. Before he left this world, he couldn’t even put on his own clothes. His bloody clothes, I heard, were kept by a classmate in our class for a long time, until the student himself died.
What is even more heartbreaking is that his family is in the rural areas of northern Jiangsu, and the situation is very poor. And married very early, already have a one-year-old child. As a bolt from the blue, his wife rushed to Beijing with the child in tow, and was already separated from her closest relative. The unfortunate wife came to the inner-city branch that night, tapping door after door in the building where she was staying, shouting her husband’s name all over the building, crying out to the heavens, grieving, looking for her husband, looking for all she had to live on. She, a rural woman, did not understand the Mandarin that others advised her, and others did not understand the native language of northern Jiangsu that she was full of to say. Throughout the night, the whole building has been echoing the sound of this harsh and sad.
The next day, to the Jishuitan Hospital, to see her husband has stiffened, she recklessly jumped on, heartbreakingly crying, open her husband’s clothes, trembling, caressing his husband’s body with a lot of scars, several times fainted. All those who saw it were in tears.
After the incident, because it was a mass organization and had no financial means, only a small amount of pension was given. When Chen Rongzu’s wife and children were about to leave, Li Yuanhao ventured back to Dongfeng House to get back Chen Rongzu’s relics. Finally, our classmates Li Yuanhao, Wang Songmin, Zhu Wanzhen, and Mi Shouguang went to Beijing Station to see Chen Rongzu’s wife and son off. When they handed Chen Rongzu’s urn and relics to Chen Rongzu’s wife and children, his wife and children took them on their knees, kowtowed and wailed. Several students helped her up and they all cried too. The car left, looking at the fading train, they were all worried about the orphans and widows will embark on what a difficult life path. When I write this paragraph now, every time I revise it, I still can’t help but have a sore nose and tears in my eyes.
(This section of text was not in the published manuscript; his wife lived in the inner-city branch when she came to school, and our other side in the western suburbs did not know it at the time. After the book was published, my class president contacted me and told me about these events. Chen Rongzu’s classmate’s blood coat was kept by Tian Yongzhen at the time. He said he would wait for Chen Rongzu’s son to grow up and hand it over to his son himself. Unfortunately, Tian Yongzhen has also passed away. (Not long ago, I was still trying to find the whereabouts of Chen Rongzu’s blood coat, but to no avail.)
On this side of the world, although I could not see him off, he was always on my mind for decades. Until I retired, I gave lectures to every class about my student days, about this incident, about the contrast between the two eras, about cherishing the current historical opportunities, studying well and working hard. One day in the nineties, after my lecture, at the end of class, a student came up to the podium and said to me, “Teacher, what you are talking about, is my uncle.”
The only consolation was that his child had grown up and was still a grassroots cadre in the local food department. If he hadn’t changed his name, his child’s name would be Chen Donglin, and he would be in his fifties by now.
Cry, the heavens
The “5.22” incident is the only time that Beijing universities have had face-to-face fights that resulted in heavy casualties. What is particularly unwarranted and deplorable in this fight is that one of the three dead was a female student, Liao Jinmei from the Department of Agricultural Economics (and another student, Yang Dazhi, also from the Department of Agricultural Economics). She was as a health worker, really defiantly went up to rescue the injured fallen students, but was also stabbed, stabbed alive, and fell forever on the playground of her alma mater. She was the hometown of one of our classmates and came to our dormitory a few times, so I can remember what she looked like. I was not an eyewitness at the scene. I still can’t imagine how these bloodied spears pierced into a girl who fell to the ground, pulling out and piercing in, pulling out and piercing in, on her thin and tender body!
And all of them were fellow students and siblings!
Weep, God! Cthulhu!!! Heaven!!!
Of course, in this bloody rain, there are rare flashes of humanity. Lee, who was involved in this martial arts fight, told me a while ago that when he stepped onto the playground with a weapon in his hand, he saw the scene and had to protect his own classmates and saw the people on the ground on the other side, his heart was unusually complicated. When he was rushing forward, one of the other students ran backwards and fell to the ground because he was panicking, and he went up to him and said, “Get up and run.
Some might say that it would be nice if everyone was like that. But in a dehumanizing environment, this cannot be expected. The tyrannical flood has long swallowed everything. The rationality that has been trampled to pieces is not able to stop these, but at most some fleeting bubbles in the wild waves.
After the tragedy, the “New People’s Congress Commune” solemnly held a memorial meeting. The crowd was furious, singing the International Anthem and Chairman Mao’s quotation song. Wang Xizhong’s father, as a representative of the families of the victims, spoke at the conference: his son gave his precious life to defend Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line, and it was glorious; the blood of the martyrs would not be shed in vain.
Now that I think about it, their blood really should not be shed in vain. What thoughts do their blood and lives bring to us today? Have we seriously thought about this today?
(This article is a section of the author’s memoirs, “Remembering the Years”)
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