Fifty-four years ago today, on September 21, 1971 (August 3, 1971 lunar calendar), "the first person of the Nanyang Revolutionary Party" Chen Chunan passed away in Singapore. Sun Yat-sen (front middle) and Chen Chunan (front third from left) together Mr. Sun Yat-sen once said with emotion: "Overseas Chinese are the mother of the revolution." It is true that in the struggle he led to "expel the Tartars and restore China", the overseas Chinese gave strong support. Chen Chunan is one of them, and is known as "the first person of the Nanyang Revolutionary Party". Chen Chunan, originally from Xiamen, Fujian, nicknamed "The Youth of Simingzhou", was born in 1884 in a timber merchant's family in Singapore. His family was wealthy. In his early years, he and his brother jointly ran the gum planting industry. He was a well-known local business figure. After Dr. Sun Yat-sen founded the first revolutionary organization in modern times, he sent people to establish branches in overseas Chinese-populated areas one after another. In 1901, You Lie was ordered by Dr. Sun Yat-sen to go to Singapore to set up a revolutionary organ called "Zhonghe Tang", propagating "Expulsion of Tartars, Restoration of China, Establishment of a Coalition Government", and calling overseas Chinese to turn to Mr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary banner. Chen Chunan had doubts about Dr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary ideas and paid a special visit to You Lie. You Lie explained Dr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary ideas in simple terms, including revolutionary principles, methods, and goals, and exposed the essence of the royalists advocating enlightened monarchy and opposing revolution. Chen Chunan was immediately enlightened and determined to follow Dr. Sun Yat-sen into the anti-Qing revolution. Chen Chunan, with the support of Yuli, and like-minded overseas Chinese compatriots Zhang Yongfu and Lin Yishun, established the "Little Taoyuan Club" and discussed the anti-Qing Dynasty. He also published an article in the China Daily, the organ of the Xingzhong Association in Hong Kong, under the pseudonym "Young Man of Simingzhou", criticizing royalists and flogging the Qing Dynasty. In the summer of 1903, the progressive newspaper "Su Bao" in Shanghai caused panic and anger in the Qing court by publishing a series of articles advocating the overthrow of the monarchy and the realization of the republic, such as Zou Rong's "Revolutionary Army" and Zhang Taiyan's "Refuting Kang Youwei's Revolutionary Book". Therefore, on the charges of "persuading the world to rebel" and "great rebellion", he asked the concession authorities to come forward, seized "Su Bao", and arrested Zhang Taiyan and Zou Rong. After Zhang and Zou were arrested, they were detained in the Shanghai Public Concession Industry Bureau. The Qing government immediately asked the Ministry of Industry Bureau to "extradite" the two men in an attempt to kill them. In this regard, Chen Chunan was very angry. He called the British Consulate in Shanghai with Zhang Yongfu and others, asking them to invoke the regulations on the protection of state criminals and not extradite Zhang Taiyan and Zou Rong to the Qing court. At the same time, he raised funds to reprint 5,000 copies of the "Revolutionary Army" and renamed it "Picture Storage" to cover the eyes and ears of the officials. He sent people to take it back to his hometown in Fujian, and it was widely distributed in Chaozhou and Meizhou, Guangdong, to expand his influence. Sun Yat-sen and Chen Chunan (right) From the case of the "Su Bao", Chen Chunan Province realized the power of newspapers, so he and Zhang Yongfu started to establish the "Tunan Daily". In the spring of 1904, the "Tunan Daily" was published, with Chen Chunan as its own manager and Zhang Yongfu as its deputy manager, creating a precedent for the Nanyang Revolutionaries to establish books and newspapers to publicize the revolution. At the beginning of its publication, the "Tunan Daily" attracted the attention of Mr. Sun Yat-sen, hoping to meet the founder Chen Chunan. In early July 1905, when Mr. Sun Yat-sen took a ship from Europe to Japan and stopped at the port via Singapore, Chen Chunan, Zhang Yongfu, and Lin Yishun were led by Youlie and paid a visit to Mr. Sun Yat-sen. Sun Yat-sen praised their achievements and urged the establishment of a revolutionary party group at the right time to facilitate the orderly conduct of activities. In the end, he placed unlimited expectations, saying: "The revolutionary party will always fight hard, and there will naturally be good results in the future." On February 16, 1906, Mr. Zhongshan arrived in Singapore for the second time and stayed at Wanqing Garden. After settling in, he discussed with Chen Chunan, Zhang Yongfu, Li Zhuchi and others about the establishment of the Singapore branch of the Alliance. The Singapore branch of the Alliance was soon announced. Chen Chunan served as the president, and Zhang Yongfu was the deputy. The venue was located in Wanqing Garden. Due to the increasing oppression of the royalists, the circulation of the "Tunan Daily" plummeted. Although Chen Chunan worked hard to support it, it was difficult to maintain it and had to go out of business. But he was not discouraged and decided to start a new newspaper and named it "Zhongxing Daily" as the organ newspaper of the Singapore branch of the Alliance. On August 20, 1907, the "ZTE Daily" was published and launched a fierce war of public opinion with the royalists. Famous theorists such as Hu Hanmin and Juzheng of the Tongmeng Association also came to help in the war. The battle was particularly fierce, attracting all kinds of people to read the "ZTE Daily", with daily sales of more than 4,000 copies. Mr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary ideas have increasingly taken root among the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, and the members of the Singapore branch of the Tongmeng Association have increased from more than ten people at the beginning of its establishment to more than 400. After Mr. Sun Yat-sen founded the Tongmeng Association, he organized and led 7 anti-Qing armed uprisings. Most of the uprising expenses came from the fundraising of overseas Chinese. The Singapore branch chaired by Chen Chunan has repeatedly served as the important task of fundraising, and he himself has opened the purse generously many times. In May 1907, before the Huanggang Uprising in Chaozhou, Guangdong, Mr. Zhongshan wrote to Chen Chunan and Zhang Yongfu, hoping to obtain thousands of yuan for the uprising. After receiving the letter, he immediately held a meeting, split up to raise funds, and remitted it to the uprising commander Xu Xueqiu in time. Chen Chunan not only raised funds for the uprising, but also tried his best to rescue the rebel officers and soldiers. After the failure of the Huanggang Uprising, Yu Zicheng, a member of the alliance and the leader of the triad who had retreated to Hong Kong, was falsely accused and imprisoned by Qing officials. Chen Chunan raised more than 2,000 yuan in litigation costs and hired a Singapore barrister to defend it. Finally, Yu Zicheng, who had been detained for 8 months, was released from prison. The Yunnan Hekou Uprising failed. Nearly 500 rebels retreated to Vietnam and were expelled by the French colonists. The rebels were transferred to Singapore and detained by the British colonial authorities as rebels. Chen Chu Nan was very worried, and he went to negotiate with many parties, and finally was granted guaranteed entry. He then opened a "Zhongxing Quarry" in Cai Cuo Gang with Zhang Yongfu, Lin Yishun, etc., and introduced some factories, farms, and mines in Penang Island, Kuala Lumpur, etc., which saved a group of viable forces for the revolution. After the victory of the 1911 Revolution and the liberation of Fujian, the provincial treasury was empty, and even the military salaries could not be paid. The place was not peaceful, and the people's hearts were uneasy. Huang Nai-shang, the general manager of the Fujian Rates Bureau, called the overseas Chinese in Nanyang to ask for assistance. As the president of the Singapore branch of the Tongmeng Association, Chen Chunan established the Fujian Security Association with Chen Ka Kee as the president. Within a month, more than 200,000 yuan was collected and repatriated to Fujian, which stabilized the crisis. In July 1917, Mr. Sun Yat-sen established the military government in Guangzhou and was elected as the grand marshal of the military government. Chen Chunan returned to China to serve as the senator of the grand marshal's mansion. In 1921, Chen Chunan served as the director of the industrial department of Fujian Province. After taking office, he planned to establish a bank, develop mining and aquatic resources, and develop his hometown's economy. Due to the Japanese imperialism's involvement in Fujian, coupled with the chaos of the warlords in the Republic of China, and the political turmoil, Chen Chunan returned to Singapore in 1932 and left home after that. Wang Jingwei betrayed the country and defected to Japan, and was in full swing to form a pseudo-regime. In 1939, he sent people to Singapore to lure Chen Chunan to work in Nanjing with the high position of "Central Supervisory Committee" and "National Government Member". Chen Chunan refused to speak, showing high national integrity. On September 21, 1971, "the first person of the Nanyang Revolutionary Party" Chen Chunan died in Singapore. Before his death, he wrote the early document "Evening Garden and the History of the Revolution" of the Nanyang Alliance, which was passed down for a while.