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Xu Linxia

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In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisXu.

Xu Linxia
Từ lâm hiệp
Born1904 or 1905
Pi County,Jiangsu,China
Died6 September 1949
Chongqing,China
SpouseSong Qiyun
Children7, includingSong Zhenzhong
Chinese name
ChineseTừLâmHiệp
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXú Línxiá
Wade–GilesHsü2Lin2hsia2

Xu Linxia(Chinese:Từ lâm hiệp;pinyin:Xú Línxiá;1904/1905 – 6 September 1949) was a Chinese communist. Born inPi County,she attended the No. 3 Normal School before joining theKuomintang(KMT). After the dissolution of theFirst United Front,she joined theChinese Communist Party(CCP), becoming a leader of its women's branch in Pi. She marriedSong Qiyunin 1928, and the couple had seven children. Xu was detained by the KMT in 1941, together with her youngest sonSong Zhenzhong;her husband was also arrested that year. The three were executed in 1949. Xu has been recognized by the CCP with the title of revolutionary martyr.

Biography

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Early life and Communist activities

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Xu Linxia was born inPi County,Jiangsu,in 1904[1]or 1905,[2]and enrolled at the No. 1 Girls' Primary School.[1]She attended the No. 3 Women's Normal School beginning in 1924.[3]She was also known by the name Xu Lifang (Từ lệ phương),[1]and was reported to have refused an arranged marriage in her youth.[4]

In 1925, during theFirst United Frontthat saw theKuomintang(KMT) allied with theChinese Communist Party(CCP), Xu joined the KMT. She was dispatched toWuhanfor cadre training the following year.[1]After the dissolution of the United Front, Xu joined the CCP.[3]She was one of the CCP cadres who fought against GeneralXia Douyinwhen he attempted to capture Wuhan.[2]

By 1928, she was a member of the CCP Committee for Pi County, as well as the president of its Women's Association. She marriedSong Qiyun,a fellow CCP member, in October of that year;[5]they had met several years earlier, in Wuhan.[4]According to the Provincial Government ofShaanxi,she had been detained by the KMT when it disbanded the Pi County CCP.[5]The bookChinese Women Heroes(Trung hoa nữ anh liệt) indicates that Xu was pregnant at the time and withstood torture while held atSuzhou Prison.[4]

Xu was eventually released and reunited with Song. The couple moved toXi'an,where Song became the editor-in-chief of theNorthwest Cultural Daily,[5]Meanwhile, Xu withdrew from the public eye,[6]even as she also advanced efforts to challenge the encroachingImperial Japanese Army.[7]As the situation in China became more dangerous, the family sent two daughters to live with family in Pi. The remaining five children lived with Xu in Puyang Village outsideXi'an.These includedSong Zhenzhong,who was born on 15 March 1941.[8]Song Qiyun was rarely home, and after two months without communication from him, in November 1941 Xu Linxia took her eight-month old son toChongqingafter hearing that he was awaiting them in the city. This journey concluded with Xu and Song being captured by the KMT.[9]

Internment and death

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Xu and Song Zhenzhong were initially held in Chongqing, but by March 1943 they had been transferred to theXifeng concentration camp.[6]Mother and son were held together in the women's block, initially not knowing that Song Qiyun – who had been captured in mid-1941[5]– was held there. However, according to the Xifeng Concentration Camp Revolutionary History Memorial Hall, once Song had gained the trust of the camp's secret CCP organization underLuo Shiwen,his fellow prisoners petitioned Camp DirectorZhou Yanghao[zh]to allow for weekly interactions. As part of the camp's "corrective labour "regime, Xu sewed clothes and shoes.[6]

After the Xifeng camp closed in 1946, the family were transferred toCiqikou, Chongqing.[9]Xu continued her sewing; in his memoirs,Han Zidong[zh]recalled that she had prepared bags and clothes for him that he used during his successful escape.[5]Conditions were cramped, and Xu and her son shared a room with four other women and their children. In 1947, the family re-established contact with their children outside the internment camp, exchanging letters up throughLunar New Year1949. In her last letter to the children, Xu indicated that she and Song Zhenzhong would be leaving forGuiyang,with Song Qiyun having already departed with GeneralYang Hucheng.In an interview with theChina News Service,Xu's eldest son Song Zhenhua recalled that her writing was ragged, and said that he later learned that she had gone blind and experienced mobility issues.[9]

On 6 September 1949, Xu was executed together with her husband and son inGeleshan.[5]Her family learned of their deaths two months later, after theCentral Committee of the CCPpublished a letter of condolence in local newspapers.[9]In 1950, the three were reinterred at the General Yang Hucheng Cemetery inChang'an District, Xi'an.[10]Their graves occupy three spots on the bottom of this two-storey site, with the top level occupied by the graves of Yang Hucheng and his family.[11]

Legacy

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Xu has been recognized by the CCP as a revolutionary martyr.[1]Song, Xu, and their son are commemorated with Xiaoluotou Memorial Hall inPizhou,Xuzhou,Jiangsu.[3]Constructed between 2003 and 2005, this hall is used forpolitical education,with students asked to compare their lives with that of Song Zhenzhong.[12]Statues of the Song family have also been erected at their execution site.[9][10]The General Yang Hucheng Cemetery, where the family are interred, is regularly visited by schoolchildren who clean the tombs; it has received atourist attraction rating of 3A.[10]

References

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  1. ^abcdeWho's Who of Chinese Women 1988,p. 401.
  2. ^abDictionary of Chinese Heroes and Martyrs 1991,p. 714.
  3. ^abcQiu 2019.
  4. ^abcWenwu Publishing House 1988,p. 212.
  5. ^abcdefJiang, Hu & Huang n.d.
  6. ^abcXifeng Concentration Camp 2021.
  7. ^Xu 2002.
  8. ^Dong 1994,p. 2263.
  9. ^abcdeZhang 2019.
  10. ^abcPeople's Daily 2014.
  11. ^Du 2020.
  12. ^Guangming Daily 2019.

Works cited

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  • Trung hoa anh liệt từ điển, 1840–1990[Dictionary of Chinese Heroes and Martyrs, 1840–1990] (in Chinese). Military Translation Publishing House. 1991.ISBN978-7-80027-131-1.
  • Trung hoa nữ anh liệt[Chinese Women Heroes] (in Chinese). Beijing: Wenwu Publishing House. 1988.
  • Dong Xianji ( đổng hiến cát ) (1994).Từ châu thị chí[Xuzhou City Annals] (in Chinese). Vol. 2. Zhonghua Book Company.ISBN978-7-101-01288-0.
  • Du Rong ( đỗ vinh ), ed. (26 March 2020).Dương hổ thành tương quân lăng viên[General Yang Hucheng Cemetery] (in Chinese). Xi'an Municipal Government. Archived fromthe originalon 16 October 2024.Retrieved15 October2024.
  • Dương hổ thành tương quân lăng viên: Trọng ôn "Hồng lĩnh cân thụ" đích cố sự[General Yang Hucheng Cemetery: Revisiting the story of the "Red Scarf Tree" ].People's Daily(in Chinese). 29 September 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 16 October 2024.Retrieved15 October2024.
  • Jiang Shan ( giang sơn ), Hu Minxin ( hồ dân tân ) Huang Chaozhang ( hoàng triều chương ) (n.d.).Tống khỉ vân[Song Qiyun] (in Chinese). Shaanxi Provincial Government. Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2024.Retrieved15 October2024.
  • Qiu Bingqing ( khâu băng thanh ) (13 June 2019).Tống khỉ vân từ lâm hiệp: Ngục trung 8 niên bất đê đầu[Song Qiyun and Xu Linxia: Not Bowing Down after 8 Years in Prison].People's Daily(in Chinese). p. 16. Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2024.Retrieved15 October2024.
  • Tống khỉ vân tại tức phong tập trung doanh đích thiết song tuế nguyệt[Song Qiyun's Years Behind Bars in Xifeng Concentration Camp]. Xifeng Concentration Camp Revolutionary History Memorial Hall. 25 February 2021. Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2024.Retrieved15 October2024– via Xifeng County Government.
  • Tống khỉ vân, từ lâm hiệp: Cách mệnh bạn lữ cộng phổ tán ca[Song Qiyun and Xu Linxia: Revolutionary Partners who Composed Hymns Together].Guangming Daily(in Chinese). 24 May 2019. Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2024.Retrieved15 October2024.
  • Trung quốc phụ nữ danh nhân lục[Who's Who of Chinese Women] (in Chinese). Shaanxi People's Publishing House. 1988.ISBN978-7-224-00090-0.
  • Xu Jianhua ( từ kiến hoa ) (2002).Trung hoa tính thị thông sử: Từ tính[A General History of Chinese Surnames: Xu] (in Chinese). Oriental Publishing House.ISBN978-7-5060-1582-0.
  • Zhang Jingshu ( trương tĩnh xu ) (24 May 2019).Tống khỉ vân, từ lâm hiệp: Cách mệnh bạn lữ cộng phổ tán ca[The Short but Brilliant Eight-Year Life of "Little Radish Head" Song Zhenzhong].Beijing News(in Chinese).China News Service.Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2024.Retrieved15 October2024.
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