In Xidan, a busy commercial district in central Beijing, sits the National Mongolian and Tibetan School dating back to 1913. Nearly a century ago a group of Mongolian students established a branch of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at this school, the first branch set up by ethnic minority members. “From this school, communism started to spread among ethnic minority groups,” recalled late Vice Chairman of China Ulanhu (1906-1988).
Mongolian students and staff members from Suiyuan (a former province of China, covering today’s central and southern Inner Mongolia) take a photo at the National Mongolian and Tibetan School in November 1923.
Communism Grows among Ethnic Minority Groups
When attending the group discussion of the Inner Mongolian delegation at the 2021 session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), President Xi Jinping said, “One who wants to stride ahead should not forget the path that was trodden. No matter how far we will travel and to whatever bright future, we should not forget what we have done and why we set out to do it.”
On March 20, 1924, a branch of the Chinese Socialist Youth League was founded at the National Mongolian and Tibetan School, the first of ethnic Mongolian members. Then in early 1925, a CPC branch was established at the school, the first with ethnic minority members in China.
The creation of this CPC branch was accredited to Rong Yaoxian (1896-1928), a Mongolian student at the school and leader of the youth movement. He joined the CPC in April 1923 as the first member of his ethnic group. During the summer of that year, he went back to his hometown and mobilized 39 fellow Mongolians, including Ulanhu and Ji Yatai (1901-1968), to study at his school in Beijing.
Responding to these young men’s love and concerns for their struggling country, Li Dazhao (1889-1927), a pioneer of communism in China, sent CPC members to the school to share revolutionary ideas with them. He himself also made several visits to talk to students there, and helped establish a Marxism research group. Thanks to their efforts, the socialist youth league and CPC branches were founded.
“When we were distressed by the suffering of our nation, the CPC brought hope to the National Mongolian and Tibetan School in the way the sun shines in freezing winter. The Party extended a warm welcome to us, and exposed us to communism,” recalled Ji Yatai, the first ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Mongolia.
CPC members and those of the Chinese Socialist Youth League at the school became a major force of the revolutionary movement in Beijing. Some of them later entered institutions of higher learning, including the Huangpu Military Academy, Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, and Communist University of the Toilers of the East. They were pioneers of the Chinese revolution and sought to liberate Inner Mongolia.
From a Prince’s Mansion to Public School
The National Mongolian and Tibetan School was formerly the guild headquarters of Changzhou (a city in Jiangsu Province) people living in Beijing during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). During the following Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) the complex was bequeathed to Prince Miande (1747-1786), grandson of Emperor Qianlong. It is now the best preserved residence of a Qing prince in Beijing. The government of the Republic of China opened the National Mongolian and Tibetan School on the site in 1913.
It was named a historical site under state protection in 2006. By this time the site had, however, declined and was used as a clothes market. “Rows of clothes stalls were set up here, making the site unrecognizable as a historical building,” recalled a woman surnamed Feng who lived nearby. Between 2006 and 2013 the market regulator gradually terminated contracts with the tenants, and a repair and restoration project was then launched by the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage.
As a cradle of the Chinese revolution among ethnic minority groups, especially ethnic Mongolians, the National Mongolian and Tibetan School is of great significance in modern Chinese history. Its preservation is therefore meaningful.
At the group discussion of Inner Mongolian deputies to the 2021 NPC session, President Xi said, “Li Dazhao led and was personally engaged in efforts to spread communism among Mongolian people and recruit CPC members among them. In 1923, the first group of Mongolian members of the Party emerged. Among them was Ulanhu. In May 1947, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was founded under the leadership of the CPC, marking the successful practice of our Party in addressing ethnic affairs using Marxist theories.” Xi urged the deputies to have a better understanding of China’s recent history, adhere to the correct approach of handling ethnic affairs, safeguard national unity, and heighten the sense of national identity.
Inner Mongolia on a New Journey
Inner Mongolia is the first region in China that adopted the regional ethnic autonomy system, and Inner Mongolians are among the first ethnic minority groups in the country that embraced communism. Its fine tradition of ethnic unity has grown ever stronger to date, as the region is bracing up for the new development paradigm China is nurturing.
In its 2021 plan for regional economic and social development, Inner Mongolia listed “expanding domestic demand and serving and integrating into the new development paradigm” as its No.1 task for the year. This is also a requirement of President Xi of the region, when he talked to its deputies at the 2021 NPC session. “In the starting year of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the president’s insightful remarks about the new development paradigm provide guidance for us to make a strong start in the new era,” recalled NPC deputy Zhang Xiaobing, mayor of Bayan Nur, a city in southern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
“Ethnic unity is as important to us as sunshine, air, and water. We may not pay much attention to them, but we cannot survive without them. The future of every one of us is tied to that of our motherland. We fare better only when our country fares better,” said Naren Tuya, a primary school teacher in Bayan Nur.
Over the past 100 years, the CPC has been dedicated to the mission of leading people of all ethnic groups in China to realize their dream of national rejuvenation. Now in a new historical period, Chinese people are building on their past achievements and working in unity toward the two Centenary Goals under the leadership of the CPC.
