Puyi as the last monarch, personally witnessed the "three eras", in the first half of his life, Puyi lived in the palace, carefree, for him, the Forbidden City is still his home, the Qing Dynasty is still there, the second era, is Puyi was driven out of the palace and the last era after returning from the Soviet Union.
If the last monarch Puyi witnessed the changes of the three eras, then Cai Yuanpei, the president of Peking University, used his three marriages to confirm the changes in China's modern history.
In 1889, Cai Yuanpei ushered in his first marriage, in this old feudal society, even Cai Yuanpei could not escape the arranged marriage, before marriage, Cai Yuanpei only knew that his wife was everyone's bridesmaid, called Wang Zhao, and the rest of Cai Yuanpei did not know anything.
Wang Zhao has a habit of cleanliness, although as a bridesmaid but spending money is extremely frugal, Cai Yuanpei has a bold personality, informal, because he can often quarrel because of a very small matter, but for the acceptance of ideas Cai Yuanpei also knows how to consider from the aspect of feminism, in order to improve the relationship between husband and wife, Cai Yuanpei wrote the "Husband and Wife Convention".
Under the constraints of this convention, the two understood each other, and their feelings were also cultivated in getting along, but the good times were not long, in 1900, Wang Zhao died of illness, at this time Cai Yuanpei had just turned 33 years old, and he was already quite famous in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and he wanted to continue the string, and no one would say anything.
However, Cai Yuanpei put forward five requirements for the continuation of the string: first, do not wrap your feet, second, you can read, third, you must not marry concubines, do not marry your aunt's wife, fourth, the husband can remarry the wife who dies first, and fifth, the opinions are not compatible at any time can be divorced.
But the fate is always wonderful, Cai Yuanpei in Hangzhou when running a school, met Huang Zhongyu, she was born in Shuxiang Mendi, not only did not wrap her feet, but also literate and proficient in calligraphy and painting, in 1902 New Year's Day, Cai Yuanpei held a second wedding, this wedding can be said to be "a combination of East and West".
In the 18 years of marriage, Cai Yuanpei gradually transformed from a macho to a fighter for women's equal rights, and it has to be said that his second wife, Huang Zhongyu, had a great influence on him, and in 1920, when Cai Yuanpei went to Europe to investigate, Huang Zhongyu died, which hit him quite hard.
When he was lost, Zhou Jun walked into his life, Zhou Jun was a student of Cai Yuanpei, the difference between the two was 22 years, in 1923, Cai Yuanpei and Zhou Jun held the third wedding of their lives, and this time, Cai Yuanpei died two days before Zhou Jun's 50th birthday.
Cai Yuanpei had a total of 7 children in this life, the first wife gave birth to him two sons, the eldest son died at the age of 6, the second son Cai Wuji, founded China's first veterinary college, died of illness in Beijing in 1980, at the age of 82.
The second wife Huang Zhongyu gave birth to a pair of children, daughter Cai William is a famous oil painter, but during production, unfortunately died of infection, son Cai Bailing is very accomplished in physics and scholarship, but low-key, there is considerable little news about him.
The third wife, Zhou Jun, gave birth to 2 children and 1 daughter, the eldest son Cai Huaixin and his daughter Cai Xuan'an also loved physics, Cai Huaixin taught at Fudan University, and his daughter conducted research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. As for the second son, Cai Ying, he graduated from aviation school and became an air force.
Looking at several of Cai Yuanpei's children, they are all shining in different fields, which is also related to Cai Yuanpei's cultivation since childhood, and his three marriages, as mentioned before, have witnessed the changes in modern history!