ABSTRACT
“… [S]ince the western Hunan problem arose, 1 Mr. Zhao’s position has been shaken and he has had to rely on the Provincial Constitution to defend himself. Thus a few days ago, he ordered his henchmen, such as Fang Kegang and Li Jimin, 2 to bribe public bodies to send telegrams, and to create a mass movement … in order to protect Mr. Zhao, under [the slogan of] upholding the Provincial Constitution.… A street demonstration was fixed for 8:00 a.m. on the fifth. … These people sent letters mostly to worker organizations, figuring that workers are simpleminded, and that a thousand or more would surely show up. To their amazement, they waited that day until 10:00, but not a single organization arrived, and even the few individuals who did come included nobody but their close friends. They were terribly nervous and upset, so they sent people out in all directions to such places as the China Labor Union, which is no more than a pack of thugs, 3 and even to the Temple for Nurturing Perfection [Yangji yuan] and the Buddha Transformation Lecture Hall [Fohua jiangyanyuan]. By giving each person fifty cents and some breakfast to eat, they hired over a hundred people to come out and march on the street at 12:00. Before the march they held a meeting at the slide projection theater of the Education Association, attended by a party of 120 to 130 monks and beggars. The meeting began:
The monk Chipei, who presided, announced the guiding principles of the meeting. His remarks can be summed up as follows: that the Provincial Constitution 184 [Sheng xianfa] might better be called the Provincial Constitution Sutra [Sheng xianjing], as in the Buddhist sutras. … The monks and beggars in the audience flailed their arms wildly.
After the meeting, they set out: In front were two large banners, one reading, ‘Association for Upholding the Provincial Constitution,’ and the other ‘Petitionary Assembly of the People of the Province.’
