19 10 In the spring, Zhou Enlai came to Fengtian Yinzhou (now Tieling County) with his third uncle Zhou Yiqian, who went home to visit relatives, lived at home and merged into Yin Gang Academy (primary school) to study. This autumn, he moved to Zhou's home in Fengtianfu (now Shenyang) and entered Class D of the newly-built Fengtian Class 62 Primary School (renamed Dongguan Model School after the Revolution of 1911). The courses included self-cultivation, Chinese, arithmetic, history and geography, ambition, English, painting, singing and gymnastics.
During his two years in Dongguan Model School, Zhou Enlai was "diligent in all subjects and good at reading essays, novels and news magazines", and his achievements in all subjects were among the best. Because of reading a lot of books such as Historical Records, Hanshu and Lisao, Zhou Enlai's composition is especially praised by teachers, and is often labeled as "biography" and posted on the school achievement exhibition for students to watch. Among them, when reviewing Zhou Enlai's composition, Chinese teacher Zhao Chun said with emotion to his colleagues around him: "I have been teaching for decades and have never seen such a good student!"
At that time, the national crisis in China became more and more serious, and the Northeast was the focus of imperialism in China. The Sino-Russian war from 1904 to 1905 made hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese people suffer from the war. 19 10, Japan annexed Korea, which is just separated from the northeast by water, and the Chinese nation reached a critical juncture of life and death. Under the influence of progressive teachers, I have read Chen Tianhua's Jing Shi Zhong Hui, Zhang's Revolutionary Book Refuting Kang Youwei, Zou Rong's Revolutionary Army and other revolutionary books. He also subscribed to the Shengjing Times published in Fengtian at that time, and formed the habit of reading newspapers and caring about state affairs every day.
With the deepening of understanding, Zhou Enlai's thinking is getting deeper and deeper. How to save the people from dire straits? How to revitalize the Chinese nation? This made Zhou Enlai unable to calm down and began his arduous exploration. 19 1 1 year, in a self-cultivation class, the teacher asked the students: What is the purpose of reading? Some of my classmates say that they help their parents keep accounts, while others say that they seek personal future. Zhou Enlai resolutely replied: "For the rise of China!" On June+10 of this year, Zhou Enlai took the lead in cutting off the braid symbolizing the subjects of the Qing Dynasty in school after hearing the news that the Revolution of 1911 broke out and overthrew the rule of the Qing Dynasty. Under his leadership, many students also cut off their braids, indicating a break with the Qing government.
19 12 10, Zhou Enlai wrote "Speech at the Second Anniversary of Dongguan Model School". It is pointed out that the purpose of teaching is to cultivate talents for the country and make the country rich and strong. He wrote: "All the students in my school. Who are we, or who will be responsible for the future country? Where, here, is it a school that makes me a full citizen? Sage books, all kinds of sciences, what shall I discuss? A teacher talks about painting, and a friend looks at the evening on his face. What has nothing to do with me? Or do you want me to be fully educated, become a great man, and take on the arduous responsibility of the country in the future? In the future, the burden is so heavy. Based on the three or four years of primary school, how can students, students, work hard and be worthy? "
In order to discuss how to run education well, Zhou Enlai made clear suggestions. Specifically, principals and teachers should "be smart and try their best" and "seek rectification, first look at the content, not self-examination, and lose people effectively; Don't exaggerate to enrich my reputation; Let alone join political parties, seek personal gain, confuse their minds, and perfunctory things. " "Choose good teaching materials for students and teach them for further study. Abide by the purpose of respecting teachers and respecting morality, and guard against arrogance and rashness. Pay attention to moral education, supplemented by practical aesthetics, and further stimulate the spirit of the Israeli army and the people. " Students should study hard in their studies, "explore deeply", "think carefully and distinguish right from wrong", "be educated in an all-round way and become a great man, and bear the arduous responsibility of the country in the future", and said with emotion: "I am afraid that students' knowledge and morality are not new, but it is difficult to gather talents and national prestige. "
This is the earliest extant article of Zhou Enlai, which fully shows his extraordinary talent. After reading it, the Chinese teacher commented happily: "Teaching is not enough to teach, learning is not enough to learn, schools are not enough to discuss schools, and writing is not enough to write papers." "The heart is long and the words are heavy, and the machine is smooth and flowing." 1965438+In June, 2003, this article was rated as a first-class composition, which was exhibited at the Fengtian Education Products Exhibition. As a model essay, it was included in the book "China Achievements of Fengtian Education Products Exhibition". 19 15 Books such as School Chinese Achievement published by Shanghai Progressive Bookstore and Essence of Chinese Achievement of Middle School Students published by Shanghai Dadong Bookstore are included in this composition. This shows the excellent degree of this article.
From Jianghuai Plain to the northeast of Baishan Heishui, the living environment of Zhou Enlai has changed greatly. In order to adapt to the northeast environment, he insisted on outdoor physical exercise in winter and summer, strengthened his physique, and became accustomed to eating sorghum. In addition, as a student from the south, he also overcame the influence of strange environment and learned to make friends with all parties. Different from the old private school, the new education broadened his horizons a lot and laid a good foundation for his later progress. Therefore, this is an important turning point in Zhou Enlai's life. He later recalled: "12 years old, I left home and went to the northeast." This is the key to my life and ideological transformation. If I don't leave home this time, my life must have achieved nothing, and like my brothers who stayed at home, I went to a tragic ending. "
Nankai school: a versatile student with the best grades.
After tempering in Northeast China, Zhou Enlai has made remarkable progress. But the bigger change happened after he entered Tianjin Nankai School. Compared with the Northeast, Tianjin can get in touch with the social life of big cities and breathe the air of modern society, which provides a broader space for the growth of young people.
I like studying in the northeast, and I transferred to Tianjin thanks to his uncle Zhou. 19 13 In the spring, Zhou changed his job and was appointed as the clerk of the transportation department of Tianjin Salt Transportation Company. Zhou Enlai moved to Tianjin with his uncle and lived in Li Yuanji, Wei Yuan Road, Hebei District. Then I went to Ozawa English Mathematics Tutoring School to make up lessons and prepare for the entrance examination of Nankai School. In mid-August, he was successfully admitted to Nankai School, and 19 entered Class 3 (later changed to Class 2).
Four years' study and life in Nankai School has made Zhou Enlai mature in all aspects. His uncle seldom goes home because of his meager income and financial difficulties. He usually uses holidays and spare time to carve wax boards for schools, copy teaching handouts to subsidize meals, and reduce the financial burden on his family. 1965438+On August 20th, 2004, due to his poor family and excellent academic performance, he was exempted from paying tuition fees from this school year and became a rare free student in Nankai School at that time.
Despite the hard life, Zhou Enlai's achievements have not been affected at all. His achievements in Chinese and mathematics are particularly outstanding. 19141214 Nankai School won the second place in the "Biography of China" competition; 1965438+participated in the whole school mathematics competition in March 2005, with excellent results, and the result of Class II was the first in the whole school. According to the school newspaper "School Spirit", he is one of the top 48 in the written speed competition, and he can get full marks in algebra. 1965438+On May 6, 2006, Nankai School organized a special Chinese examination for all grades, and 1 1 class was attended by more than 200 representatives. Zhou Enlai's theory of capable animals was personally selected as the first prize by Yan Xiu, the founder of Nankai School.
Nankai school not only has a first-class education level, but also actively encourages students to carry out extracurricular activities, requiring students not only to study at school, but also to learn to do things and cultivate their own ability to manage themselves. With the encouragement and support of the school, students have established many societies and academic seminars. In addition, the school often organizes competitions between classes or individuals in various disciplines. In speeches, plays, editing the school newspaper and other activities, Zhou Enlai showed his versatility.
Zhou Enlai and his classmates Zhang Ruifeng and Chang Ce 'ou initiated and organized a group meeting on respecting labor. The number of members gradually increased from more than 20 at first to more than 280, accounting for one third of the total number of students in the school. There are not only juniors, but also many seniors and even members outside the school. Some teachers became friends.
Zhou Enlai has successively participated in the directing and performance of many new plays 10, such as One Qian Yuan, The Destiny of Hatred, The Virtue of an Old Daughter, The Biography of Flower E, Hate My Aunt, Missing Heart, etc. After he performed the heroine "One Qian Yuan" in the play, he caused a sensation in Tianjin and performed at the Beijing YMCA.
Zhou Enlai is also the main leader and contributor of Nankai University's weekly school spirit. He wrote many articles for the school spirit, covering politics, economy, culture and major events at home and abroad, which was very popular.
1965438+On June 26th, 2007, Zhou Enlai graduated from Nankai School with an average score of 89.72. When attending the graduation ceremony, he also won the highest prize in Chinese and made a defense on behalf of the graduating students. In the Record of Graduation Classmates, Zhou Enlai made the following comments: "Jun is gentle and sincere, most affectionate, devoted to friendship, and does his best in all friends and public welfare undertakings", "Jun's family is poor, in the most difficult situation, and his tuition is not good, but he is versatile in all difficulties", "He is good at speaking and writing" and "He is good at mathematics", and "His graduation performance is still the best.
Studying in Japan: Growing up in Frustration
After graduating from Nankai School, Zhou Enlai hopes to pursue further studies. Because of his poor family, he decided to apply for a school funded by the Japanese government. At that time, there was an agreement between China and Japan, and the Japanese government designated schools to train foreign students in China. According to the agreement, China students who can enter one of the Japanese designated universities can enjoy official fees before returning to China.
1965438+In late July 2007, Zhou Enlai and Li Fujing went to Beijing to plan the official expenses for studying in Japan. After running, with the help of my classmates, teachers and friends, I raised the lowest cost. At this point, Zhou Enlai's uncle Zhou Yigen has been transferred to Xi Anqingzhang Bank, feng tian General Administration of Qingzhang as a staff member. Zhou Enlai was very grateful for his uncle's support, so he went to visit his uncle in the northeast before leaving, and went to his alma mater in Shenyang to meet his teachers and friends and say goodbye. On August 13, he wrote a farewell message for his classmate Guo Sining: "I would like to meet in China when the world is taking off", expressing his wish to revitalize China.
In September 2007, Zhou Enlai boarded a ship from Tianjin to Japan. On June+10, 5438, he entered the East Asia Advanced Preparatory School in Kanda District, Tokyo, Japan to study Japanese, and prepared to apply for Tokyo Normal School and Tokyo No.1 Higher Education School. Through one of them, you can get the treatment of formal study.
Due to the short preparation time, Zhou Enlai felt the pressure. 19171219 wrote to Feng, a Nankai classmate who was studying at grinnell University in Iowa, USA, and talked about studying in Japan, saying, "It is still appropriate for my brother to come here to prepare." "The official fee examination will be held in June next year, when there will be a siege battle, and success or failure is unpredictable." He also wrote in his diary: "I think I have been more than four months now, and my Japanese has not improved at all." Seeing that the college entrance examination is coming, I am afraid that I will have no hope if I don't work hard. " "I am a person, in addition to learning, what else can I do? Study hard, study hard, there is no time left for me. "
1918 On March 4-6, 2008, Zhou Enlai entered Tokyo Teachers College, took eight subjects including Japanese, mathematics, geography, history, English, physics, chemistry and natural history, and had an oral test. Unfortunately, he was not admitted because of his poor performance in Japanese. However, Zhou Enlai was not too depressed mentally. Later, in order to prepare for the entrance examination of Tokyo No.1 Higher Education College in July, he braced himself and made a tense study plan for himself. He wrote in his diary: "I have been very anxious since I finished taking the normal school exam, thinking that I will be the first in July, and I have no hope of taking the exam if my homework is not ready." If you want to get it, you must work hard from now on, and you are definitely not sure. "He also made a highly stressful plan: reading for 13.5 hours every day, resting for 3.5 hours and sleeping for 7 hours.
However, due to the patriotic movement of students studying in Japan, Zhou Enlai's review plan was almost completely disrupted. It was not until the beginning of June that he resumed reviewing his lessons and went all out to prepare for the exam. 1965438+On July 2nd and 3rd, 2008, Zhou Enlai entered Tokyo No.1 College of Higher Education, but he was not accepted because of his poor Japanese, so he was depressed. In his subsequent diary, he wrote: "I am embarrassed because I failed the experiment two days ago yesterday." "This is called giving up, what country can you save? What family do you love? The examiner does not set up a school, and this shame is not washed. "
1965438+In March 2009, Zhou Enlai decided to go back to China to study after learning that Nankai School was about to set up an undergraduate department. Before he left, he wrote a poem "river of no return" and gave it to Zhang Hongchen, a Nankai classmate who went to Japan to study with him. He said in the postscript, "Returning to China is for other interests." Although he failed to enter a Japanese university for further study, his self-study and practical activities during his stay in Japan still brought great help to Zhou Enlai, and his ideological progress was more obvious.
Work-study program: establishing communist belief
1965438+On September 25th, 2009, Zhou Enlai attended the opening ceremony of Nankai University and was the first liberal arts student in the department. In order to further explore the truth of saving the country, Zhou Enlai decided to study in Britain, the birthplace of capitalism, with the recommendation and funding of Yan Xiu, the founder of Nankai School. 108, he and Li Fujing, a classmate of Nankai University, obtained the certificate of going to France issued by Beijing Fahua Education Association. Before leaving, he agreed with Tianjin Yi Shi Daily that as a reporter in Europe, he would earn money by writing newsletters in Europe to maintain his life during his stay in Europe.
1920 12 13, Zhou Enlai and Li Fujing arrived in Marseille port by the French mail ship Bordeaux, and then transferred to Paris by train. After a short stay here, Zhou Enlai went to London on1921kloc-0/5 to start a "social reality survey" on Britain. Because of the high cost of living in London, he decided to apply for the University of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. On October 25th, 65438/KLOC-0, Zhou Enlai wrote a letter to Yan Xiu, telling him the entry procedures and talking about the current situation in Europe. He said: "France was most affected by the European war, and the old concept of battlefield has not recovered to 56%, which is devastated." "High prices, a large number of unemployed people and endless labor class disputes are the biggest headaches for European rulers."
Compared with when he went to Japan, Zhou Enlai was much more mature in thought. After going to Europe, he read widely, dabbled in various theories and ideas, "began to compare everything", and was cautious and realistic. On October 30th, 65438/KLOC-0, he wrote to his cousin Chen Shizhou to discuss the way to save the country, saying, "My brother's thought is undecided today", and the purpose of studying abroad is "to seek self-reliance by seeking truth from facts, to examine it honestly, to clarify the social truth of his country and solve various problems, and to apply thinking to people in our country; If you can be sure, it is not what you dare to recognize with your brother's shallow knowledge today. " After comparing the two ways of transforming society in Russia and Britain, he said: "If it is in China, the accumulated disadvantages are very deep, and it seems that it is not like imitating the Russian revolution, and it is not easy to achieve the effect of transformation;" However, strong neighbors are easy to control, especially riots, and the theory of striving for progress in stability is powerful. Take Russia and Britain for example, my brother has no prejudice, but he thinks that if he goes to extremes with them, he will get a middle ground to guide the people. "At the same time, he said:" With the insensitivity of today's society, although it is easy to fail, it is necessary to seek inspiration here, which my brother believes. "
It can be seen that Zhou Enlai, who has been exposed to Marxism, now wants to investigate the social truth of European capitalist countries, further understand various ideas of social transformation in Europe, finally choose and determine his own path, and apply it to China to seek specific ways to save the country.
According to the agreement before going abroad, after going to Europe, Zhou Enlai is going to write a newsletter for Yi Shi Journal to introduce international events to China. 1 921February1day, he wrote the first communication in Europe, the European crisis after World War II. The article writes: "When we visited Europe for the first time, our first impression came into view, that is, the great influence on European society after World War II and its remarkable uneasy status quo. What's the impact? Insufficient productivity, panic in economic circles, and difficulties in life. All these are enough to make the general public hungry and cold, and unemployment is trapped inside and outside. " After analyzing various social crises in postwar Europe, it is pointed out: "If the European crisis is inevitable and eventually breaks down, how can our country extricate itself from the social revolution?"
In the next few months, Zhou Enlai collected a lot of international news, wrote a newsletter for The Yi Shi Journal all night, and commented on international events.
At the same time, Zhou Enlai made full use of the conditions that the communist movement in European countries was in the ascendant and Marxist books and newspapers were very popular since the establishment of the Comintern, and combined with the investigation of the social situation and the workers' movement in Britain and France, he studied a large number of Marxist classics in English, such * * *(Manifesto of * * *, The Development of Socialism from Utopia to Science, The Origin of Family, Private Ownership and the State, etc. And subscribed to or purchased the French * * * organ newspaper Humanity, the British * * * organ newspaper People, and the * * * People's Review and Labor Monthly. At the same time, he had many exchanges with members of the Enlightenment Society, and repeatedly scrutinized and compared various thoughts and theories popular in the society at that time.
After repeated research and thinking, Zhou Enlai finally made the most important choice in his life: to establish a communist belief. From then on, he devoted all his energy and talent to the great cause of communism until the last moment of his life.
1March, 922, I wrote to Zhan Xiaocen and Li, members of the Enlightenment Society in China, describing the process of establishing my belief in communism, saying, "I used to say that' talking makes my heart beat'. This is the psychology when we started to compare everything after we arrived in Europe. Now I have firm confidence. I realize that C.ism (communism) is really later than you. On the one hand, because of its harmony and nature, on the other hand, my realistic heart is extremely strong, so I didn't set a goal until after last autumn. " He said: "The creed of the enlightenment society is naturally insufficient and unclear, but to be honest, a communism (meaning communism-editor's note) is enough." After analyzing and comparing various socialist ideological trends in Europe, he stressed: "We should believe in the principles of communism, the two principles of class revolution and proletarian dictatorship, and the means of realization should adapt to the times!"
1924 65438+ 10, with the participation and help of domestic people, Sun Yat-sen held the first national congress of the Chinese Kuomintang in Guangzhou, and determined three major policies: uniting Russia, uniting the Communist Party, and assisting the peasants and workers. In view of the rapid development of the domestic revolutionary movement, a large number of revolutionary backbones are urgently needed. Zhou Enlai, Liu Bozhuang, Zhou Zijun and others set off from France in July and returned home by boat. Two months later, Zhou Enlai arrived in Guangzhou, became the chairman of the Guangdong District Committee of the Communist Party of China and the director of the Propaganda Department of the District Committee, and began to devote himself to the revolutionary cause.