Zhu Zhixin studied in Japan on a government scholarship, enrolling in the accelerated economics program at Tokyo University of Law and Politics. During his time in Japan, he met Sun Yat-sen. In July 1905, he joined the Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance) in Tokyo, serving successively as an evaluator in the Review Department alongside Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin. From then on, he followed Sun Yat-sen and devoted himself to the revolutionary cause.
A fellow exile in Hong Kong with Xiahong, Gao Boyu, said: "When Jiang Xia was taking refuge in Hong Kong, his life remained colorful because he was a well-known figure with a vast network of acquaintances. Those who craved social prestige were eager to befriend him. For any celebration or gathering, people would invite him to attend, often seating him and Zhang Yi at the head table as 'distinguished elders of high moral standing.' I remember once at a meeting of the China Culture Promotion Society—I don’t recall what the meeting was about—he stood up to speak when asked. The content of his speech has been forgotten, but I do recall him scolding his son-in-law, Wang Xiwen, quite harshly. He criticized Wang Xiwen for wanting to invite him to join Wang Jingwei, asking why he hadn’t brought his deceased father to Nanjing for burial, etc. (Wang Xiwen’s father, Wang Zhaoyong, died on September 11, 1939; he was Wang Jingwei’s eldest brother.) Someone at the table whispered to me that Jiang Xia had scolded his son-in-law 'with righteous indignation, and the Chongqing side had even given him ten thousand Hong Kong dollars to help him get by for the year.'"
Nanhai Thirteen, a name that once caused a sensation
At the end of 1942, Xiahong returned to his former residence, the Taishi Mansion, in Guangzhou. After the victory of the War of Resistance, he remained unharmed in Guangzhou, though he was advanced in age and suffering from hemiplegia, and naturally lacked his former vigor. After 1949, Xiahong continued to live in the Taishi Mansion in Guangzhou. Initially, no one paid much attention to him. On April 8, 1951, the Buddhist holiday of Buddha’s Birthday, he slipped and fell at Liurong Temple in Guangzhou, resulting in paralysis. He was admitted to Liduo Hospital in Liwan District. That year, during the land reform in Guangdong, farmers from Nanhai came to the hospital demanding the return of the "fugitive landlord," forcibly carrying him back to his hometown in a bamboo basket to face criticism and struggle. Xiahong closed his eyes and remained silent, even staging a hunger strike for forty-one days until his death.
Jiang Xiagong’s thirteenth son, Jiang Yujin (1909–1984), also known as Jiang Yuqiu, with the courtesy name Jiang Feng and the stage name Nanhai Thirteen, was a renowned playwright. He attended Nanyi Middle School in Haizhu, Guangzhou, but was expelled for being mischievous and causing trouble. While studying medicine at the University of Hong Kong, he fell in love and abandoned his studies midway to follow his girlfriend to Shanghai. Unfortunately, the January 28 Incident broke out, preventing his return to Hong Kong and leaving him unable to complete his degree.
He was a young playwright famous in both Guangzhou and Hong Kong during the 1930s, writing Heartfelt Tears and Shadows for the Cantonese opera star Sit Kok-sin, which brought him great renown. His other notable works include Daughter’s Fragrance, The Swallow Returns But the Person Does Not, Li Xiangjun, Fragrant Coolness in the Cold, and The Romance of the Palace. Nanhai Thirteen was arrogant due to his talent. At the peak of his creative career, he suffered setbacks in both love and work, leading to a destitute life. Later, due to mental instability, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. In his later years, he wandered aimlessly and eventually passed away in 1984 at Castle Peak Hospital. His life story has been widely circulated, first adapted into a stage play by To Kwok-wai, which was performed in Hong Kong with Tse Kwan-ho in the lead role.
Due to the immense popularity of this stage play, it was later adapted into a movie with the same cast. It was subsequently adapted into a TV series broadcast on Asia Television, starring Lam Wai-shun. The three different adaptations offered varying interpretations of his life, presenting audiences with different facets of Nanhai Thirteen.
In his later years, Wang Xiwen drifted to Hong Kong and also worked as a fortune-teller, gaining considerable fame in the metaphysics community of the time. Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star Astrology) can be described as a discipline that blends astronomy, geography, mathematics, statistics, and ethics, drawing on common knowledge and long-term experience.
Its design principle involves using the constellations of the Big Dipper (yin, with the main star being Zi Wei), the Southern Dipper (yang, with the main star being Tian Fu), the stars of the Zi Wei Enclosure, and other miscellaneous stars as the longitudinal framework, combined with the interaction of the Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven Bagua, along with the Five Elements of Sound for the latitudinal framework, to determine the positions of stars and predict a person’s life experiences and fortunes. By analyzing the corresponding positions of celestial bodies at the time of a person’s birth—year, month, day, and hour—and studying their interactions, it aims to infer various events in one’s life journey, ultimately achieving the goal of attracting good fortune and avoiding misfortune. In his twilight years, Wang Xiwen had to make a living by selling his writings. Coming from a family of scholars steeped in poetry and calligraphy, he ended up like a fortune-teller, selling divinations. One can sense the loneliness and hardship of his later years, as well as the austerity and difficulty of his life.
On December 30, 1959, Wang Xiwen published an article titled "The Record Lives On Though the Author Is Gone" in the Hong Kong newspaper The Observatory, documenting his own astrological chart. He wrote: "I am seventy years old this year and currently under the influence of the Gui Si (Water Snake) luck pillar. This year’s ruling celestial stem is Ji Hai (Earth Pig), and Ji Hai clashes both heaven and earth with Gui Si. I’ve long thought that I should die this year, but it will probably just mean more illness throughout the seasons. Whether I’ll meet my end in the twelfth lunar month, only ‘heaven knows!’ Fortunately, it’s the ruling celestial stem clashing with the luck pillar, not the other way around, so the disaster may be mitigated. If I can make it to the Beginning of Spring in the first lunar month of next year, I’ll still have four more years of good luck. Perhaps it’s because I owe too much in literary debts, and heaven wants me to repay them before allowing me to rest."
Writing this, I can’t help but feel moved, so I’ll improvise two lines: ‘Drifting by the sea, life is bitter and lonely; still burdened with worldly ties, what a lamentable existence!’ Forty-six days later, on February 15, 1960, he committed suicide by taking sleeping pills at the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Sha Tin, Hong Kong. According to his fourth elder brother: ‘My younger brother had two key psychological factors: first, his deep belief in astrology, thinking he was destined to die this year, and preferring to seek early liberation rather than endure prolonged illness. Second, his pride. He didn’t want to beg others or burden his relatives and friends. These two factors intertwined in his mind, leading to his decision.’"
Unwavering in Every Battle of the Guangdong Revolution
Among Sun Yat-sen’s most capable aides in the early days were Zhu Zhixin, Hu Hanmin, and Wang Jingwei. As the author Wang Xiwen put it: "During Sun Yat-sen’s lifetime, he held Hu Hanmin and Wang Jingwei in the highest regard. These two could often sway Sun Yat-sen’s actions and policies. Whenever an issue arose, if Sun proposed a solution and both Hu and Wang agreed, it would be implemented immediately. If Hu and Wang disagreed or had differing opinions, Sun might abandon his own view and defer to theirs—a common occurrence. As a result, some party members referred to Hu and Wang as the 'Supreme Premier.' Zhu Zhixin, Wang Jingwei’s nephew and two years his junior, was even more influential. Within the party, if Zhu agreed with Sun’s proposals or offered a compromise solution, Sun and Hu-Wang would often accept Zhu’s views. Thus, Zhu Zhixin was also known as the 'Supreme Supreme Premier.'"
In the 30th year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (1904), Zhu Zhixin studied in Japan on a government scholarship, enrolling in the accelerated economics program at Tokyo University of Law and Politics. During his time in Japan, he met Sun Yat-sen. In July 1905, he joined the Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance) in Tokyo, serving successively as an evaluator in the Review Department alongside Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin. From then on, he followed Sun Yat-sen and devoted himself to the revolutionary cause. He participated in nearly every Guangdong-based revolutionary campaign, including the Guangzhou Patrol Battalion Uprising (1907), the Guangzhou New Army Uprising (1910), the Huanghuagang Uprising (1911), the recovery of Guangdong after the Wuchang Uprising, the establishment of the early republican government, the campaigns against Yuan Shikai and for the Constitutional Protection Movement, and even his fatal mission driving the Guangxi clique out of Guangdong at Humen. He faced danger without hesitation, never sought fame or position afterward, and cared little for praise or blame, earning Sun Yat-sen’s utmost trust. Party members admired his integrity, and he was honored with the title "Sage of the Revolution." (To be continued)