We found the birthplace of Shanghai's "Liberation Daily" in 1999
On the morning of March 31, 1999, I felt the spring breeze blowing on my face, but it was still a little cool. I sent my child to kindergarten and immediately took a taxi and rushed to the newspaper office. A minibus carried our small film crew and several old news veterans heading north. Our mission was to find the birthplace of "Liberation Daily". The large fields of cauliflower along the way reminded Ding Ke, Xiao Mu, Shi Dong, Yin Hui, Li Yin, Wang Xusheng and other old comrades of the spring of 1949. In May of that year, they walked from the opposite direction along the Shanghai-Nanjing Line. Danyang came to Shanghai - gunpowder smoke, cauliflower, the whistle of the train, and the yellow flowers on the battlefield were particularly fragrant. They brought the first issue of a newspaper to the people of Shanghai. From then on, the newspaper became indissoluble with the city.
The ancient city of Danyang was an important city on the Shanghai-Nanjing line during the War of Liberation. In order to take over Shanghai, the central government transferred more than 5,000 cadres from various places and spent more than 20 days in Danyang for training. Danyang training was a centralized training and education carried out during the War of Liberation around a series of issues that should be paid attention to when taking over Shanghai. The army cadres and soldiers were trained on Shanghai city conditions, city entry discipline and urban management, and united front policy, etc., and the "Ten Rules for Entering the City" and "Three Major Conventions for Entering the City" were formulated to make adequate preparations for the smooth takeover of Shanghai. At the same time, a group of young people in a small village on the outskirts of Danyang were planning the first new newspaper to be published after the liberation of Shanghai.
Half a century has passed from 1949 to 1999, and it is natural for the vicissitudes of life to change. It was not easy for the film crew to find the place where the newspaper was first published. Our first stop was the Memorial Hall of the Former Site of the General Front Committee, where we wanted to look for some clues. Without saying hello in advance, the museum leaders received us warmly despite being surprised by our group of uninvited guests.
The old comrades can no longer remember the specific name of the village. Li Yin remembers that there was a bridge with the words "Jingcun Bridge" engraved on it. Based on this only clue, the staff of the memorial hall inquired with relevant local agencies and found out that the bridge was in Jinglin Town on the outskirts of Danyang City. We finally have concrete direction. Get off the car and cross a small stone bridge. Sure enough, the bridge is engraved with the long and thin red words "Jingcun Bridge". We soon found the original site of the Liberation Daily - the Wang Family Ancestral Hall and several old houses around it. Although some were dilapidated and some had been demolished, the old comrades were still very excited. Elderly local villagers gathered around and held their hands, recalling the time when a group of bespectacled People's Liberation Army troops lived and worked in their village. They recalled: "At that time, the People's Liberation Army lived in the school, which is the school where we went to school. Female soldiers who looked like big girls lived in the back with things on their heads. At that time, we didn't know what they were. Later we found out that they were soldiers. Telegram from Yan'an."
Revisiting the old place half a century later awakened the memories of old comrades. Ding Ke, a former editorial board member of Liberation Daily, recalled: "According to my impression, the launch speech of Liberation Daily was drafted by Yun Yiqun. But such an important document must have been written through consultation with comrades from the East China Bureau of the Front Committee. . I remember that Xia Yan and Shu Tong were also involved. We got a list of military control committees entering the city and it was decided at this time. , here we determine the basic layout and content of the Liberation Daily after it enters the city.”
Xiao Mu said: "Our mission at that time had two parts. One was to run a newspaper and study it; the other was to go to Shanghai to take over the newspaper. At that time, the underground comrades in Shanghai prepared a very thick book of information and sent it to us. That is It provided us with an understanding of all aspects of Shanghai’s situation—newspaper situation, personnel situation, asset situation, and political tendencies, which made our subsequent takeover of Shanghai very smooth.”
Yin Hui's memories are more emotional: "My impression of this village at the time was that the environment was very good. Because we always see mountains in Shandong. When we arrived here, it was spring and the flowers were blooming, and the village was beside the river. This The river is very wide, and we went to wash clothes and catch snails in the river. It was very impressive.”
Wang Xusheng said: "At that time, I spent a lot of time studying, learning disciplines when entering the city, listening to reports, and group discussions. I concentrated on studying policy."
Shi Dong recalled: "While we were preparing here, the underground party of Shanghai Shenbao did a lot of work to prepare for our takeover and protect the property of Shenbao from being dispersed and destroyed. They did a lot Welcome to the work of liberation and factory protection.”
Listening to the memories of the old comrades, our "Liberation Daily Fifty Years" film crew was also very excited. We found the founding place of "Liberation Daily" so smoothly. Moreover, the old comrades have extremely strong memories and left important marks in the history of the newspaper. historical data. When leaving, Xiao Mu, Yin Hui and others said that they would present historical objects such as the interview bag, military quilt cover and military support insoles used in Danyang to the memorial hall of the former site of the General Front Committee. In 2019, when I revisited the Memorial Hall at the former site of the General Front Committee, I saw the Liberation War souvenirs donated by seniors of this newspaper.
Shortly after returning to Shanghai from Danyang, our film crew arranged a reunion between members of the Shanghai underground party organization and the news team from Danyang. As if history was repeating itself, Xia Qiyan, Tang Enyan and other Shanghai underground party members shook hands warmly with Ding Ke, Yin Hui and other Danyang preparatory team members at the entrance of the declaration hall.
After 50 years, the underground party in Shanghai and the preparatory team of Liberation Daily in Danyang met again in the declaration hall.
Xia Qiyan recalled: "We have made various preparations before the comrades from the liberated areas arrived. The preparations were mainly made by the reading group of the application hall. This group is composed of some progressive young people. Under his leadership. I don’t show up, I only have one-way contact with him.”
Tang Enyan said: "There are about fifteen or six comrades in the reading group, scattered in the editorial department, management department, advertising department, and distribution department. These young people are very enthusiastic in order to welcome the liberation of Shanghai and the publication of "Liberation Daily". We need to Keep the printing press and rotary press in good condition to ensure that there is enough web paper to print the first and second issues of "Liberation Daily."
Ding Ke recalled the day he took over and said: "At that time, we were very excited. We took three cars and passed through the gate of Jiaotong University, passed the Jinmen Hotel on Nanjing Road, and all the way to No. 309 Hankou Road. We trained in Danyang for nearly a month. , everyone should keep the discipline in mind when entering the city. We are now preparing to publish a new newspaper in the largest city in the country.”
When the Huaihai Campaign ended in victory in early 1949, Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai decided to hand over the name of the "Liberation Daily", the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Yan'an, to Shanghai as the official newspaper of the East China Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. The memories of Comrade Wu Yichang, who was in charge of printing work, are related to this registration. He recalled: "I arranged for two people to go to Suzhou to find a plate-making place to make a zinc plate for the Liberation Daily. The finished plate must be sent to Shanghai on the 27th, because Shanghai is waiting for the zinc plate to be put to use. By the evening of the 27th , the two of them brought the zinc plate and reprinted it from the Yan'an "Liberation Daily" newspaper."
Under the leadership of comrades Fan Changjiang, Yun Yiqun and other comrades, after a day and night of hard work by reporters and editors from Shanghai and Danyang, more than 100,000 copies of the first issue of "Liberation Daily" were released to Shanghai citizens at 8:15 in the morning on May 28. , quickly sold out at retail. The victory news and the passionate launch speech made the people of Shanghai rejoice. From that day on, the "Liberation Daily" formed a deep relationship with the people of Shanghai and even East China. It has been 75 years now.
Through interviews and photography in Danyang and Shanghai, we recorded the unusual birth process of a newspaper. That spring was beautiful.
