In the process of compiling the Fifth Avenue Street Chronicle, the editorial department of Baiwei Nianhua has collected and sorted out a large number of celebrity former residence stories, and feels that each wordless building is telling the modern history of China, just like a thick picture scroll slowly unfolding to us, and Pan Fu's former residence is one of the highlights.
Pan Fu's former residence
Pan Fu (1883-1936), zi Xinhang, a native of Jining, Shandong, was a native of Jining, late Qing Dynasty, and lived in Tianjin for a long time. In 1926 he became Minister of Finance. In 1927, Zhang Zuolin established the Republic of China Anguo Military Government in Beiping and appointed Pan Fu as premier. At this point, Pan Fu finally climbed to the peak of his career and became the 32nd prime minister of the Beiyang government. However, the good times were not long, and in the early summer of 1928, the Northern Expedition army was victorious one after another, and the Beiyang warlord government was exhausted. At the beginning of June of that year, Zhang Zuolin sent a telegram to the whole country, announcing his withdrawal from Beiping, and Pan Fu's cabinet also collapsed. Pan Fu himself immediately said that he would give up his talents, voluntarily resigned and retired to Jinmen, and started a yugong on the Fifth Avenue.
The picture on the left is An old photo of Pan Fu
Located at 2 Racecourse Road, Pan Mansion is a European-style garden building. After Pan Fu retired from hiding, he often feasted on guests here, made friends with people from all walks of life, and co-opted the forces of all sides by watching dramas and gathering gambling, and maneuvered between various political figures, waiting for an opportunity to make a comeback.
At that time, the courtyard of the "Pan Mansion" was always full of high-end cars, and the people who came and went were all well-dressed people. The Pan Mansion is also known as the "club" of bureaucrats in Tianjin and has been described as "a politician who comes and goes, and there are no civilians in and out".
Due to the large number of party guests, pan mansion has 11 toilets, 4 large kitchens, the kitchen is also carefully divided according to cuisine, there are Lu cuisine kitchen, Yu cuisine kitchen, Huaiyang cuisine kitchen and Western food kitchen, and the maximum number of chefs is 20 to 30. Often in and out of his home are Zhang Xueliang, Wu Yulin, Li Jinglin, Chu Yupu, Zhang Zongchang, Zhang Tingchen and so on.
Restoration of Pan Fu's former residence
The pan mansion's dinner party left a lot of anecdotes. For example, Zhang Zongchang and Chen Guangyuan, who were also warlords in the lower wilderness, were once rivals on the battlefield, and Pan Fu arranged a meal at home, invited Zhang Zongchang and Chen Guangyuan to dinner, and became a peacemaker. Kang Youwei once went to the Pan Mansion, and after eating Huaiyang dishes and Western food, he was full of praise, and happily wrote a couplet "Haina Yellow River Turbidity, Heaven And Earth Round" to give to Pan Fu. In 1934, Situ Leiden came to Tianjin and ate Huaiyang cuisine and Western food in Pan Province, which was also praised.
Tianjin No. 20 Middle School
In the spring of 1936, Pan Fu fell ill. In June of the same year, he went to Beiping for medical treatment, and died in Beiping on September 12 at the age of 53, and was buried in Tianjin, and the Pan Mansion, which was once a city, was gradually deserted. The former site of the Pan Mansion is located on the campus of Tianjin No. 20 Middle School.