CHINESE STUDENTS IN FRANCE.
Pinang Gazette And Straits Chronicle, 19 October 1921, Page 11
Reuter wired yesterday that 104 Chinese students are being shipped by the "Paul Lecat," which will reach Penang next month, to China. A message of October 1 stated that there was in France a colony of Chinese students, a particularly large one since the war, who had come to France at the instigation of the Franco-Chinese Society for their education, to learn the language, and to take advantage of the facilities for acquiring knowledge. The majority of them are well-educated but not rich, and therefore had to seek employment in factories. There, while earning their living, they could simultaneously learn the French language and a trade. Everything moved smoothly until recently. In the great industrial centres, these Chinese students could easily find work until the day came when the business crisis and consequent stoppage of work in the factories deprived them of their means of existence.
Their organisation, the Federation of Chinese Students in France, then appealed to the Franco-Chinese Society for aid. The latter did its best, but its coffers were soon emptied, and its protégés were unfortunately thrown upon their own resources. The Federation of Chinese Students then informed its members that there was at Lyons a Franco-Chinese Institute, which would shortly receive a contingent of students. The word was quickly passed round, and shortly afterwards, about 100 students presented themselves at the Institute. They were, however, told that a party of students was due to arrive shortly from Marseilles and that they could not be received.
As the students continued to claim the right of admittance, the Secretary-General of the Police of the Lyons Prefecture intervened. His attempts at conciliation resulted in the provisional housing of the students until the Chinese Legation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could be informed of the situation. The next day, the Chinese students were taken to Fort Montiue, where they are being temporarily housed and are waiting patiently for some solution which will enable them to resume their interrupted studies and work.
The Vice-Consul, M. Litchnin, and Mr. Woods are taking up the matter of the students' claims, which certainly are deserving of investigation. M. Riot, the Mayor of Lyons, is said to be not averse to the formation of a new section of the Franco-Chinese Institute to which a hundred students could be admitted. The financial question appears to be the only obstacle to the carrying out of this plan. If it comes to nothing, these young Chinese will be repatriated. In any case, negotiations are proceeding between Peking and Paris to settle the incident, and it is to be hoped that everything will be satisfactorily arranged.
"Work-Study Movement" (勤工儉學運動) in France
## Paris, 1921: The Unseen Genesis of China's Revolution
While 1921 is often remembered for the tenth anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution – a moment of reflection and renewed fundraising for Sun Yat-sen's democratic ideals, particularly among overseas Chinese communities like those in Kuala Lumpur (as explored in a previous discussion regarding figures like Ruan Yingfang) – far away in Paris, another equally profound chapter in China's modern history was being written.
This year proved to be a pivotal one for the "Work-Study Movement" (勤工儉學運動) in France, witnessing both its dramatic peak and intense ideological differentiation. Although a wave of ambitious young Chinese, including future leaders like Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and Cai Hesen, had arrived in France between 1919 and 1920, it was in 1921 that Paris became the crucible for several milestone events crucial to the eventual founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
### The Formation of the Paris Communist Group
In early 1921, a clandestine gathering took place in Paris. Figures such as Zhang Shenfu, Zhou Enlai, Liu Qingyang, Zhao Shiyan, and Chen Gongpei formally established the "Early Organization of the Chinese Communist Party in France" (旅法共產黨早期組織), also known as the Paris Communist Group. This wasn't just another student society; it was a foundational cell. When the First National Congress of the CCP was convened in Shanghai in July of the same year, this Parisian group stood as one of the eight pioneering organizations that sparked the party's formation. Zhou Enlai, among others, thus cemented his status as one of the CCP's founders.
### A Year of Tumult: Three Major Protest Movements
The lives of these Work-Study students were far from idyllic. Facing severe economic hardship in a recession-hit France, their struggles for survival and education ignited a fierce political awakening. This period saw future CCP leaders hone their organizational skills through three major protest movements across Paris and France:
1. **February "February 28th Movement" (二八運動):** On February 28th, 1921, over 400 Work-Study students staged a powerful demonstration outside the Sino-French Educational Association in North Paris. Their demands were fundamental: the "right to survival" (生存權) and the "right to education" (求學權). This marked a significant collective action against their dire circumstances.
2. **June-August "Debt Rejection Movement" (拒款運動):** In the summer of 1921, the Beiyang government attempted to secure a secret 300 million franc loan from the French government for military purchases. Led by figures like Zhou Enlai and Zhao Shiyan, students rallied at the Salle des Sociétés Savantes in Paris, holding mass meetings to protest this clandestine deal. Their sustained pressure ultimately forced both Chinese and French representatives to back down, preventing the loan agreement from being signed – a rare and historic victory for student activism against powerful political forces.
3. **September "Reclaim Lyon Sino-French University" Movement (爭回里昂中法大學):** The establishment of the Lyon Sino-French University in September 1921, which controversially refused admission to the existing Work-Study students in France, sparked outrage. Students in Paris organized a bold "occupation" protest at the university. This direct action, however, met with severe repression from French authorities. Over 100 students, including Cai Hesen and Chen Yi, were arrested and subsequently deported from France.
### A Converging Timeline: Two Visions for China
It's fascinating to consider the parallel narratives unfolding in 1921. While the older generation of overseas Chinese, loyal to the ideals of the Xinhai Revolution, were actively fundraising and promoting democratic republicanism for Sun Yat-sen's Guangzhou government from places like Southeast Asia, a younger generation of Chinese students in Europe was embarking on a radically different path.
Hardened by the brutal realities of their lives abroad and exposed to the fervent new intellectual currents sweeping the globe, these young idealists in Paris – Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and their comrades – formally embraced Marxism and the communist road in 1921. This year truly marked a "strange temporal convergence" (奇妙的時空交匯) where two distinct visions for China's future, one rooted in republicanism and the other in communism, began to diverge sharply, each with its own powerful implications for the century ahead.
TO RAISE THE WIND.
TO RAISE THE WIND.
Pinang Gazette And Straits Chronicle, 20 October 1921, Page 7
Paris, October 18.
Many Chinese girl students at Paris University have decided to sell their Chinese dresses and ornaments at the American Women's Club. This initiative aims to raise money to pay their college fees for the coming year.