Lin Xiangqian’s profile

Lin Xiangqian was born into a peasant family in Minhou County, Fujian Province in October 1892.

In 1906, he entered Mawei Shipyard as an apprentice. Because he was smart and studious, he quickly mastered the benchwork skills.

In 1912, he passed the technician examination and entered the Hankou Jiangan Railway Factory as a fitter. At that time, the Beijing-Hankow Railway was not only a blood-sucking channel for imperialist aggression against China, but also a tool for feudal warlords to rule and fight with each other. Nearly 30,000 Beijing-Hankow Railway workers live a miserable life of "working as horses and cows for many years, eating and drinking like pigs and wearing clothes like willows." In order to improve working conditions and increase income, Lin Xiangqian once launched a small-scale strike with his fellow workers.

After the founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921, the leaders of the Wuhan party organization Chen Tanqiu, Xiang Ying and others often went deep into the railway workers in Jiang'an District to promote revolutionary principles, and soon discovered the people who were full of rebellious spirit. Lin Xiangqian also has high prestige among workers. With the help of Communists such as Chen Tanqiu and Xiang Ying, Lin Xiangqian's class consciousness quickly improved and he began to embark on the road of revolution. In December of the same year, Lin Xiangqian participated in the Wuhan branch meeting of the China Labor Combination Secretariat and served as one of the initiators to prepare for the organization of the Beijing-Hankow Railway Jiang'an Workers Club.

In January 1922, the Jiang'an Workers Club was established, and Lin Xiangqian was elected as the director. Because he acts fairly, is willing to help others, and seeks the interests of workers, he is deeply trusted and loved by everyone. In the summer of 1922, Lin Xiangqian joined the Communist Party of China and was soon elected as the chairman of the Jiang'an Branch Trade Union of the Beijing-Hankow Railway.

In order to adapt to the growing labor movement across the country, the Beijing-Hankow Railway Federation of Trade Unions Preparatory Committee decided to hold the founding meeting of the Beijing-Hankow Railway Federation of Trade Unions in Zhengzhou on February 1, 1923, after many deliberations and preparations. In the early morning of February 1, the entire city of Zhengzhou was under martial law. The reactionary military and police were armed with live ammunition as if they were facing a formidable enemy. Facing the heavily armed enemy, Lin Xiangqian and the representatives showed no fear, broke through the encirclement of military police and entered the venue. Amid cheers and slogans, the Beijing-Hankow Railway Federation of Trade Unions was officially established.

The reactionary warlords Wu Peifu and Xiao Yaonan felt extremely panic and hatred about this. That afternoon, they ordered the reactionary military and police to occupy the Federation of Trade Unions clubhouse, expel the union staff, search the Federation of Trade Unions' documents and materials, smash plaques and gifts presented to the conference by various units, and even surround and monitor the residences of the representatives. That night, Lin Xiangqian participated in an emergency meeting held by the Federation of Trade Unions and decided to make five demands to the reactionary authorities, with a deadline of 48 hours to respond, otherwise the All-Road Federation of Trade Unions would strike on February 4. At the meeting, it was decided that the Federation of Trade Unions would move its office to Jiang'an, and a general strike committee would be established. Lin Xiangqian would be designated as the general strike leader in the Jiang'an area.

The next morning, Lin Xiangqian returned to Jiang'an and immediately held a membership meeting to convey the Federation of Trade Unions' decision to launch a general strike by the All-Road Federation of Trade Unions and called on the workers to use their utmost strength to resist the atrocities of the warlords. Then, Lin Xiangqian led the workers to organize a propaganda team to post slogans and distribute leaflets to expose the enemy's crimes; he established an investigation team to understand the enemy's dynamics; he expanded the workers' picket team and rushed to make iron and wooden rods to prepare for self-defense. On the evening of February 3, all preparations for the strike were in place.

At 9 a.m. on February 4, Lin Xiangqian issued a strike order after receiving instructions from the Federation of Trade Unions on the strike. As the first whistle sounded, all the whistles of Jiang'an Locomotive Factory roared at the same time, resounding throughout the three towns of Wuhan. All passenger, freight, and military vehicles on the entire Beijing-Hankow Railway were stopped, and the Beijing-Hankow Railway workers' strike, which shocked China and foreign countries, began. This general strike dealt a heavy blow to imperialism and reactionary warlords politically and economically. On the afternoon of February 6, the American and British consuls general in Hankou summoned Chinese and foreign comprador capitalists to plot and put pressure on the Beiyang warlord government. Wu Peifu colluded with imperialism and decided to brutally suppress the striking Beijing-Hankow Railway workers.

Lin Xiangqian realized that a cruel struggle was coming. At noon on February 7, he hid the branch union's seal in the charcoal brazier at home and hurried back to the union. At 5:20 pm, the reactionary warlord led two battalions of soldiers and surrounded the Jiang'an Branch Trade Union Club and started shooting wildly. In this brutal massacre, more than 30 Jiang'an workers died and more than 200 were injured, resulting in the "February 7th Massacre" that shocked China and the world. Lin Xiangqian led the workers in a heroic struggle against the reactionary troops who came to suppress them. In the end, they were outnumbered and were arrested by the enemy along with more than a dozen trade union leaders and worker representatives.

That night, it snowed heavily, and the enemy tied Lin Xiangqian to a wooden stake on the platform of Jiang'an Station. The reactionary warlord threatened Lin Xiangqian with death threats to order the resumption of work, but Lin Xiangqian flatly refused.

The enemy viciously ordered the executioner to slash at Lin Xiangqian's left shoulder with his knife: "Aren't you going to work?" Lin Xiangqian said decisively: "If you want to go to work, you need an order from the Federation of Trade Unions. My head can be cut off, my blood can be shed, but my work can't be resumed!" The butcher knife slashed towards Lin Xiangqian's left shoulder. Lin Xiangqian's right shoulder was bleeding profusely and he passed out. When he woke up, the enemy asked him viciously again: "How is it now?" Lin Xiangqian used his last strength to angrily scold the enemy: "What else can I say now? It's a pity that a good China will be ruined in the hands of warlords like you." "Lin Xiangqian died heroically at the age of 31.

To commemorate this pioneer of the labor movement, after the founding of New China, the party and the government built the Lin Xiangqian Martyr Cemetery in Fuzhou, including the February 7th Martyr Memorial Hall, the mausoleum, the Thousand People Square and the 6-meter-high Martyrs granite statues and other buildings. The memorial hall introduces Lin Xiangqian's life story in detail with a wealth of pictures and information. Behind the mausoleum is a bluestone tombstone inscribed by Guo Moruo, "Tomb of Erqi Martyr Lin Xiangqian". The cemetery is full of luxuriant pines and fragrant grass, guarding the immortal spirits of the martyrs.