Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow and the Chinese Revolution - KU ...

of the semester, which ended about the end of June, 1927. 1 The two
factions fought a "blood" battle at this conference, heatedly arguing
about academic and Party affairs. The Academic Affairs faction contended
that Party affairs at the university were handled disastrously,
and the Party Branch faction insisted that the university's academic
affairs were in a shambles; and neither side would yield an inch in its
arguments. This conference lasted for seven consecutive days and
nights, recessing only for meals, without reaching any compromise.
I was only one of a great many students who were not associated with
either faction who were greatly annoyed by this tiresome power
struggle. Thus a third force emerged, which further complicated the
situation at the university. The internecine strife continued, so that
when Mif returned, he found the university quite literally torn apart
by factions. To combat the chaos, Ch'en Shao-yu, who had accompanied
Mif to China and back, proposed a plan to Mif to end the strife.
He suggested that Mif firmly grasp the third force and use it in
collaboration with the Party Branch faction to defeat Agoor's Academic
Affairs faction, thus paving the way for Mif to become rector of the
university. Ch'en's plan was implemented, and it proved to be a sound
one. Agoor's faction was completely defeated, and Mif was soon
formally promoted to the rectorship. Ch'en Shao-yu, as one of the
active organizers of this movement, became Mif's principal favorite.
This struggle was the first occasion on which Ch'en Shao-yu entered
into an alliance with Chang Wen-t'ien, Shen Tse-min, and the others,
and it was out of this alliance that eventually the alliance known as
the 28 Bolsheviks emerged, an alliance of far-reaching significance for
Sun Yat-sen University and for the CCP itself.
THE ANTI-TROTSKY STRUGGLE BECOMES ENTANGLED WITH THE
STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SECOND LINE
The struggle between the above-named factions had just subsided
when the struggle against the Trotskyite opposition broke out at the
university. This latter struggle was touched off by an incident during
celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution, on
November 7, 1927. It had become a tradition, starting in 1918, for the
people of Moscow to celebrate this anniversary with a big march
through the streets, with the Red Square as their destination. A more
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