** Yellow Flower Hill Uprising

This is an e-mail from my classmate Bai Ding. We missed each other but we could have graduated on the same year from the same high school. Bai Ding wrote the two original Chinese poems. It is about our history. I've got the permission to list it here.

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A Brief Memoriam for the March 29 Yellow Flower Hill Uprising in 1910

It was almost a century ago, Dr. Sun Yat Sen led the Revolution that overthrew the Manchu Dynasty. In the course of Revolution, many heroes died. On March 29, 1910 (Lunar Calendar), the “Canton Uprising” ( 廣州起義) or more popularly known as the “Yellow Flower Hill" Uprising (黃花崗) in Canton was the most famous and gallant one. It was led by Wong Hing or Huang Xing (In Chinese, 黃興). My grandma, who was the sister of Hu Han Min (胡漢民), and her sister-in-law 陳淑子 disguised as brides and smuggled weapons from Hong Kong for this uprising. The revolutionaries made the ultimate sacrifice for their people. The uprising turned into a catastrophic loss.

Most revolutionaries were killed, only few managed to escape. Only 86 bodies were found (only 72 could be identified), and the bodies of others could never be found.
The ones that were found became known as the 72 Martyrs (七十二烈士). They were buried by a brave businessman in the Yellow Flower Hill (originally called the Red Flower Hill). The dead were mostly youths with all kinds of social backgrounds, students, teachers, journalists, rich merchants, and oversea Chinese.

Before the battle, most of the revolutionaries knew that the battle would probably be lost, since they were heavily outnumbered, but they went into battle anyway. Their letters to their loved ones were later found. One named Lin Jue Min 林覺民 wrote a farewell letter to his young wife, which became the poignant, heartrending 別妻書. A must read in the old days.

But the defeat roused up everyone in China and on October 10th the next year, the revolution became an all out event. Soon after the gun fired its first shot in Wu Han’s Yellow Crane Tower 黃鶴樓, the Republic of China 中華民國 was born. The day October10th was the original National Day for China, known as the Double Ten Day (雙十節).

The Yellow Flower 72 Martyrs’ tomb is in Canton. Although the Communist could not erase this part of the Chinese history, they tried. They have erased all the writings bearing the original name “Republic of China” or “Kuomintang” that were etched in the stone. Have they put them back by now? And their tour guides never mention the most famous day of the Yellow Crane Tower.

We should never forget history but time has changed and so much of our history was distorted by the Communist. But I for one will not forget the truth. Even if I am standing all by myself.


（一）
燕丹賓客唱紅牙，痛說當年一著差。
遙對豐碑磨損地，零星涕淚祭黃花。

（二）
文章脊骨自經營，豪氣天生豈偶成？
惟恐終隨秋草盡，荒祠夜夜聽狐鳴。

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