During the Republic of China period, there were many talents and famous women, among which the most prominent ones were Song Qingling, Song Xialing and Song Meiling. But in fact, at that time, there was also a sister group that could be compared with it - the four sisters of Hefei - Zhang Yuanhe, Zhang Yunhe, Zhang Zhaohe, zhang Chonghe. Each of them was talented and temperamental, and they were married to the Kunqu master Gu Chuanjiu, the linguist Zhou Youguang, the literary scholar Shen Congwen, and the sinologist Fu Hansi. And the one who raised four successful daughters was a legendary and short-lived woman, Lu Ying.
Lu Ying is a famous bridesmaid, born in 1885, beautiful and capable, very pampered. At that time, there were four most famous families in Hefei, one was the Duan Qirui Duan family, one was the Li Hongzhang Li family, one was the Gong Zhenzhou Gong family, and the other was the Zhang Shusheng Zhang family. Zhang Shusheng was the governor at the time, participated in the foreign affairs movement, the family's wealth was amazing, after hearing about the reputation of the Lu family's daughter, he went to the door to propose to his son Zhang Wuling.
Zhang Wuling was 17 years old, and Lu Ying was 21 years old, and the two held a wedding. Because the two families are very rich, the wedding scene is particularly magnificent, the dowry is full of ten long streets, gold and silver jade martial arts, and it is a sensation in the local area.
Zhang Lu and the two are talented and female, and have deep feelings. After marriage, children were born one after another, but Lu Ying's first four children were daughters, named Zhang Yuanhe, Zhang Yunhe, Zhang Zhaohe, Zhang Chonghe, which was the future famous "Four Sisters of Hefei", and then she gave birth to 5 sons in succession, which was enough for the Zhang family. During this period, 5 children died prematurely and did not survive.
Lu Ying is a capable person and has a strong personality, although he is a rich lady, he has no arrogant habits, and he marries the Zhang family and does everything in detail. The Zhang family's industry is very large, and she handles the family's land, real estate, rent collection and investment well, and the dozens of servants hired are also well managed. Lu Ying never harshly punished people, and when she had time, she would personally teach them to read, and the servants in the family respected her from the bottom of their hearts.
In addition to taking care of housework, Lu Ying did not give up her hobbies, she liked to listen to Kunqu opera, so she asked someone to teach; liked Pastry, she learned to make Pastry; interested in making clothes, she went to learn sewing machines and embroidery. She seemed to be always energetic and tireless.
Influenced by the new trend of thought, Lu Ying attaches great importance to the education of children, and she believes that the more girls are, the more they should see more, and later set up many girls' schools with her husband Zhang Wuling. In order to create a good learning environment for the children, Lu Ying specially moved home, set up four study rooms in the new home, carefully designed the decorations, let the children develop a hobby of learning in a relaxed and casual environment, and also formulated a strict learning plan for them, often discussing poetry with them, encouraging them to learn from each other, and making the children fall in love with learning.
Under the influence of such an environment, Lu Ying's children have been familiar with poetry books since childhood, and their daughters will also learn their mothers to sing a few Kunqu operas, inherit their mother's excellent characteristics, and live happily after marriage.
Unfortunately, Lu Ying could not see that day, at the age of 36, Lu Ying went to extract his teeth after giving birth to his 14th child and died of infection. This thoughtful, industrious woman arranged her own affairs one by one before she died. In addition to the Zhang family's property and 9 children, she also made a distribution of her own private property, and several nurses and nannies were all given some.
Lu Ying took special care of the servants, not only teaching them to read and hyphenate, but also letting them take their children to the palace, grow up with their children, and never forget to give them money before they died to help them live a stable life. These people were extremely grateful for her kindness, and in the turbulent years of lack of clothes and clothing, they would rather suffer themselves than always abandon Lu Ying's children and take care of them.
In ancient times, women's families and marriages could not be decided by themselves, but an independent, powerful, and kind woman like Lu Ying must have lived well under any circumstances. Her life was positive and optimistic, well-founded, and her hard work was rewarded, blossoming in places she couldn't see. The times and fate did not imprison her soul, and she influenced everyone around her with her own candle, shining.
bibliography:
The Four Sisters of Hefei