Guangzhou Business Group Incident

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Guangzhou Business Group Incident , also known as the business group rebellion, refers to a massacre that occurred from August to October 1924 when the Guangzhou business group and business community opposed the Guangzhou military uprising organized by Sun Yat-sen.

The Guangzhou Army Corps described this incident as a counter-revolutionary rebellion, so it was also called the Guangzhou Business Group Rebellion. The Guangzhou Business Group described Sun Yat-sen's suppression of the business group as a persecution by the autocratic Communist Party. The atrocities committed by merchants and people are also known as the Xiguan Massacre and the Xiguan Massacre[1].

Chinese name

Canton Merchant Corps Incident

Foreign name

Canton Merchant Volunteers Corps Uprising

Date

August 1924 - October 1924

Location

Guangzhou City

Cause 1

Guangzhou Army *** Heavy taxes

Cause 2

Guangzhou business group against the Guangzhou army***

Cause 3

Guangzhou business group The armed forces are growing

Reason 4

Members of the Guangzhou business group refused to join***

Methods of resistance

Strike

Result 1

Sun Yat-sen sent troops to suppress

Result 2

The Guangzhou armed merchant group was defeated and disarmed

Conflict parties

Chinese *** and Guangzhou Army ***

Conflict parties

Guangzhou business groups and Guangzhou citizens

Commanders

Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Lianbo

Losses

Losses close to HK$50 million

Casualties

About 2,000 civilian casualties

Since the late Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou business groups have dared to confront the Communist Party in order to safeguard their own interests. The Pearl River Delta region with Guangzhou as the center is one of the more developed industrial and commercial regions, and Guangzhou merchants have strong economic strength. Therefore, whether they were court officials, revolutionaries or warlords, when they were in power in Guangdong, they all hoped to receive political, financial and other support from Guangzhou businessmen.

When the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi in the late Qing Dynasty and the governors and military governors of the Republic of China came to Guangdong to take office, they would meet with representatives of the business delegation. When they formulate important policies, they usually convene business group leaders to seek advice. *** The more tolerant it is to businessmen, the higher the prestige of business group leaders in society and the greater their influence on local politics. When Guangzhou businessmen believe that a certain policy seriously harms the interests of the business community, they will sometimes resort to strikes and other means to counteract the *** * Fight. [2]

During the Revolution of 1911, social security was poor, and Guangzhou businessmen established the Guangzhou Business Group in 1912 for self-defense. Chen Lianbo served as the group leader and director of the financial management section of the Guangzhou Guangdong Merchants Public Security Association (Business Association Office). He advanced the funds of the business group and borrowed money to purchase firearms.

In 1917, the traitor Chen Lianbo was appointed acting chairman of the Guangdong Business Public Security Council, further arming the business groups.

In August 1919, Chen Lianbo took office as the head of the Guangdong Provincial Merchant Corps. By 1924, the total number of Guangzhou business groups had expanded to 13,000. The business group has always remained neutral during the previous changes in Guangzhou's political power, and has received support from some Guangzhou people for protecting the interests of businessmen and maintaining public security and stability. [3-4]

Since Lu Rongting obtained the position of governor of Guangdong on September 25, 1916, Guangdong has been controlled by the Guangxi warlords, causing local financial chaos. [5]

In October 1920, Chen Lianbo introduced that Chen Jiongming led the Guangdong army to expel the Guangxi warlords who had occupied Guangzhou for a long time, and began the era of "Cantonese ruling Guangdong". [5]

In November 1920, Chen Jiongming returned to Guangdong and took office as governor, and invited Sun Yat-sen, Tang Shaoyi, and Wu Tingfang to return to Guangdong to participate in politics.

In November 1920, Sun Yat-sen returned to Guangzhou from Shanghai and reorganized Chen's army under his direct control. Later, Chen and Sun Zheng gradually had conflicts. Chen Jiongming advocated the implementation of "federal provincial autonomy", and Sun planned to use force to suppress the northern warlords.

On June 16, 1922, the bombardment of the Presidential Palace in Guanyin Mountain occurred, and Sun Yat-sen and Chen Jiongming broke up. [6]

In 1923, the troops controlled by Sun joined the warlords of Yunnan and Guangxi to defeat Chen Jiongming and gain control of Guangzhou. After Sun Yat-sen took control of Guangzhou, he reorganized the army because of the failure of the second movement to protect the law. On the one hand, he recruited civilians to join the army[7], and on the other hand, he expropriated the land of some groups such as temples for auction, and issued a large amount of banknotes to raise funds[8]. The garrison of troops from various places in Guangzhou and the confrontation with Chen Jiongming's troops led to an increase in military expenditures. Therefore, the Communist Party greatly expanded taxation and once again banned gambling, which was prohibited when Chen Jiongming was in office, to collect taxes. Due to various actions of military leaders, a large number of people in society began to be dissatisfied.

In January 1924, the First Congress of the Communist Party of China was held and the three major policies were implemented. Guangzhou businessmen were afraid that Sun Yat-sen, assisted by the Soviet Union, would implement communism, and turned hostile to the Communist Party led by Sun Yat-sen.

In late May 1924, the Guangzhou City Hall issued the "Unification of Road Ownership" bill to collect new taxes, causing dissatisfaction among the Guangzhou business community.

From May to August 1924, strikes occurred in many industries in Guangzhou’s business community. The business groups in Guangzhou and surrounding areas established the "Guangdong Provincial Business Groups and Military Joint Defense Headquarters", with Chen Lianbo as the general director, Deng Jieshi and Chen Gong as deputy general directors, and the city of Guangzhou was controlled. After negotiations between the Guangzhou business group and the Communist Party of China, the Communist Party of China decided to cancel the Road Ownership Act, and the storm of general strikes was temporarily suspended [9]. At the same time, the Guangdong Provincial Business Group held a meeting to establish a joint defense and discuss the purchase of weapons and equipment.

On June 29, 1924, Sun Yat-sen held a military, police and league exercise. He tried through various channels to win people from the Guangzhou business group to join the Communist Party, but received no response from the business group. The situation where the Communist Party and the merchant group's armed forces exist can no longer be maintained. [2]

On August 10, 1924, the shipping business group purchased a batch of firearms and ammunition from the British businessman Nanley & Company (according to the military police, there were 9,000 remaining firearms, including machine guns). 40 guns and more than 3 million rounds of ammunition.) The British ship Harvard (other said it was Norwegian) was detained by the Jianggu ship led by Chiang Kai-shek on the river near Tianzi Pier in Guangzhou. This batch of firearms had been reported to *** Sun before, but *** believed that the quantity and arrival date did not match (*** The announcement stated that "but the original case stated that it would arrive on the 40th, and now it is only 6 days before the 4th (arrived on August 10th)" ), the time does not match. The number of guns received by each regiment according to the stubs of the various trade groups is only 5,000 guns, and the firearms shipped by Harvard are about 10,000 guns. The difference between the two is more than 4,000 guns. Why is this excess gun? explain.") . [2]

On August 12 and 15, 1924, more than 1,000 representatives of the Merchant Corps went to the Generalissimo's Mansion twice to demand the return of the detained arms. After being rejected, Guangzhou merchants were organized to go on strike, and in the name of the "Republic of China Political Determination Army", a call was sent to business groups in all counties across the province to go on strike[9]. According to the trade group, the Communist Party allowed the trade group to purchase firearms first, but then withheld the firearms. The trade group had made great concessions during the negotiations to return the weapons, and the two strikes were caused by the Communist Party's reneging on its promises. [2]

On August 22, 1924, more than 20 counties including Nanhai, Panyu, Shunde, Taishan, Dongguan, Zengcheng, Xinhui, Qingyuan, Gaoyao, Qujiang, Yangjiang, and Luoding were 138 villages and towns within the city went on strike to support the Guangzhou business group. When the merchant group went on strike for the first time, Sun Yat-sen planned to use force to force the merchants to open the market on August 29.

On August 24, 1924, Sun Yat-sen announced a massacre in Guangzhou and wanted Chen Lianbo.

On August 28, 1924, the Japanese Consul General in Guangzhou submitted a proposal to Guangdong Governor Liao Zhongkai.

[2]

Guangzhou *** said: "On August 29, 1924, the British Acting Consul General in Guangzhou said: 'If the authorities bombard Guangzhou, the British Navy will deal with it with all its strength.' Under pressure, Sun Yat-sen had to give up his plan to use force, so Sun Yat-sen believed that the actions of the business group were supported by Britain."

However, American scholar Wei Muting pointed out that Britain was not directly involved in the trade group incident. The British Foreign Secretary was quite disapproving of the warnings given by the British Consul General in Guangzhou and the Rear Admiral in Hong Kong to Sun Yat-sen. Afterwards, the British Foreign Office instructed the British Minister to severely reprimand the Consul General for making his own decisions without authorization. Scholar Zhang Junyi pointed out that some British businessmen were involved in purchasing weapons, but neither the British nor the Hong Kong Communist Party instigated or induced business groups to confront Sun Yat-sen's Guangzhou Communist Party. [10] The Beiyang Communist Party has been paying close attention to the progress of the situation. From the telegram sent to Wu Peifu and others from the Military Department of the Beiyang Communist Presidential Palace, the Zhili warlords have instigated business groups to resist the Guangzhou Military Communist Party. [11]

On September 1, 1924, Sun Yat-sen issued the "Foreign Declaration on the Business Group Incident" and the "Macdonald *** *** Message to the British", pointing the finger at the United Kingdom. Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin and others opposed Sun Yat-sen's idea of ??using force to deal with the business groups. Liao Zhongkai resigned from the post of governor of Guangdong to Sun Yat-sen because his idea of ??strictly handling the business groups was blocked.

On September 4, 1924, Sun Yat-sen left Guangzhou for the base camp of the Northern Expedition in Shaoguan. He established a stay-at-home office in Guangzhou and sent Hu Hanmin to act as general marshal and governor of Guangdong.

On September 15, 1924, Chen Lianbo, Chen Gongshou and others issued a telegram, denying that they used the Guangzhou merchant army to plot to overthrow the Communist Party, and expressed their support for Mr. Sun Yat-sen and their obedience to the Guangzhou Revolutionary Communist Party. Hu Hanmin canceled the arrest warrants against Chen Lianbo and Chen Gongshou.

On October 4, 1924, the Guangdong business group contacted Guangzhou and more than 100 counties and towns to hold a meeting in Foshan on the grounds that they had not yet recovered the seized firearms. They decided to launch the second strike and went to Guangzhou again. Say *** to *** [9][12].

On October 9, 1924, Sun Yat-sen returned some of the seized arms to the business group. The situation calmed down slightly, and Sun Yat-sen had no intention of using force to resolve the incident. However, when the Guangdong business group was launching the second general strike, the Soviet Union finally delivered the first batch of weapons and ammunition to Guangzhou on October 7, 1924, in accordance with the "Sun Wen and Joffe Declaration" of early 1923, promising assistance, and the original situation changed greatly. .

On the afternoon of October 10, 1924, the *** Guangdong District Committee mobilized five to six thousand people from the trade unions, farmers' associations, youth leagues and Guangdong Industrial Corps to hold a "Double Ten Warning Day" conference, [13 ] Zhou Enlai gave a speech at the meeting, warning the business groups, and held a riot after the meeting, shouting slogans such as "Down with the business groups, kill Chen Lianbo, and support the revolutionary revolution." At West Haokou of Taiping South Road (today's Renmin South Road), the *** team was attacked by a merchant group, killing more than 20 people and injuring more than 100 people.

The merchant army built barricades in Xiguan, blocked off the urban area, and posted slogans such as "Sun Wen goes to the countryside" and "Down with Sun ***".

At night, Chen Lianbo's brother Chen Lianzhong convened a meeting of business group leaders such as Deng Jieshi and Li Songshao in Shamian, and decided that the armies of the new and old city divisions would gather in Xiguan at 5 pm on October 14, 1924. It was planned that in 1924 At dawn on October 15, they were dispatched to occupy the provincial offices, public security bureaus and financial institutions. [9][12][14-15]

On October 11, 1924, Sun Yat-sen organized a revolutionary committee and appointed himself as chairman. Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei, Liao Zhongkai, Xu Chongzhi, Chen Youren, and Tan Pingshan were specially dispatched 6 He is a plenipotentiary member of the Revolutionary Committee. [10]

On October 12, 1924, the "Revolutionary Committee" was established with Sun Yat-sen as its chairman to resolve the business group issue. [9]

On October 14, 1924, provincial governor Hu Hanmin ordered the dissolution of the business group. The next day, the Guangzhou *** was announced.

In the early morning of October 15, 1924, Borodin, Chiang Kai-shek, Liao Zhongkai, Tan Pingshan and others commanded the first and second batch students of Huangpu Military Academy to unite Xu Chongzhi’s Guangdong Army and Li Fulin’s Fu Army and Wu Tiecheng The guards, industrial corps, peasant corps, etc. defeated the 12,000 armed merchant corps and disarmed them. Around 11 o'clock, the *** army instigated barber workers to use about 300 boxes of kerosene to cause a fire, burning Xiguan shops and burning business group supporters. The Xiguan commercial district in Guangzhou was severely damaged [16]. Witnesses reported that the *** army occupied On the roof, they shot at the business groups and refugees who fled to the streets. A large group of refugees fled to Taiping Road, and were forced back to the fire zone by the Japanese army until they were burned to death [17].

Around 2:00 pm on October 15, 1924, the business group stopped resisting[12][18]. Chen Lianbo fled back to Shamian, Hong Kong, and deputy commander Chen Shougong surrendered.[9] The Xiguan Commercial District reopened that night, and the incident calmed down.

During the counterattack, some troops used about 300 boxes of kerosene to start a fire, burning shops in Xiguan and killing business group supporters. The Xiguan business district in Guangzhou was seriously damaged.

Guangzhou Business Group Rebellion Album (7 photos)

According to some information, the property damage in this incident was close to 50 million Hong Kong dollars, and about 2,000 civilians were killed or injured. Among them, Huang Feihong's "Bao Zhilin" was burned in this incident. *** Collect protection fees from merchants that have not suffered damage, confiscate firearms and fine 200 yuan from merchants participating in the trade group, otherwise "it will be irresponsible for *** to let soldiers burn and rob people." [4][16]

On the eve of Sun Yat-sen's departure from Guangdong in November 1924, the "Cantonese Rescue Federation" organized by people from all walks of life in Guangdong sent a telegram in Hong Kong, accusing Sun Yat-sen of "bringing harm to the country and Guangdong." The major crimes are: shaking the state system, recklessly practicing communism, instigating war to destroy the people, destroying the people's governance, destroying finance, exploiting people's property, engaging in cigarette gambling, destroying education, ravaging industry, undermining the judiciary, and eradicating business and militia groups. ("Huazi Daily" reported on November 15, 1924)

After the incident, the Whampoa Military Academy used a large number of firearms confiscated from the merchant corps to establish a teaching corps, and the basic development of the National Revolutionary Army began.[19] . However, some people in the Guangdong business community turned to support Chen Jiongming's Guangdong Army and donated money to support it. But in the end Sun Yat-sen relied on Soviet support to defeat Chen Jiongming.

After Sun Yat-sen passed away in Beijing, Beijing decided to hold a state funeral, but it was jointly opposed by the Guangzhou General Chamber of Commerce and the Guangdong Autonomous Association. [4]

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