One day in 1959,
Shanghai Wuyuan Road Waste Acquisition Station,
A casual passing by the Shanghai Archives
The old librarian stopped, and he found the treasure.
Only to see a pile of broken copper and rotten iron,
Mixed in nearly 400 sheets
Design drawings of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou.
Sun Yat-sen Monument 100-step ladder construction site.
The thought of these drawings being reduced to pulp,
The old librarian was impatient,
He hurried to report to the Shanghai Archives.
Later, entrusted by the Guangzhou Archives,
The Shanghai Archives fetched a high price of 200 yuan
Bought these drawings,
And ship to Guangzhou.
Now, these drawings, which are treasured by the Guangzhou Archives, have almost become the "treasures of the town hall". Who are the authors of these design drawings? Why do they end up in scrap collection stations? Whose fates rise and fall with them?
● Blockbuster
The design of the memorial hall is on the list of talents, and the talented architect wins the championship in one fell swoop
At the beginning of 1926, the National Government of Guangzhou publicly offered a reward to collect the design plans of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Monument, and experts at home and abroad responded one after another. At the end of August of that year, Gao Jianfu and 8 other famous artists spent a week carefully evaluating 26 application design plans, and finally decided to award the first prize to designer Lu Yanzhi.
Who is this Lu Yanzhi? If you turn back the clock two years, he is still just a lesser-known returnee designer in Shanghai Beach, and he and his friend Huang Tanfu co-founded a small company to undertake some small projects of residential design and maintenance, but at this time he was already famous, and in 1925, at the age of 31, he was recruited to participate in the design competition of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, and won the championship in one fell swoop. How could the young Lu Yanzhi take over these two big projects? It all started with his family lineage. His father, Lü Zengxiang, served under Li Hongzhang. Lü Zengxiang is no ordinary bureaucrat, he is a good friend of Yan Fu, and his knowledge, especially his foundation in traditional Chinese studies, even Yan Fu lamented that yan fu was not as good as yan fu, and Yan Fu's translation of the "Heavenly Speech" was also thanks to his help. The relationship between the Yan and Lü families was not generally good, so Yan Fu "loved Wu and Wu" and arranged for the eldest son Yan Boyu to marry Lü Jingyi, the second daughter of the Lü family, and later, Yan Fu wanted to ration the second daughter Yan Xuan to Lü Yanzhi, but Lü Yanzhi politely refused.
Lu Yanzhi at work.
When Lü Yanzhi was 9 years old, Lü Zengxiang died unexpectedly, Yan Fu took over the responsibility of parenting, he first arranged for Lü Yanzhi to accompany Yan Boyu, who was a diplomat in France, to study in Paris, and 2 years later, Lü Yanzhi returned to Beijing, and he arranged for Lü Yanzhi to study with the great translator Lin Shu. In 1911, Lü Yanzhi was admitted to Tsinghua Xuetang, and in 1913, he studied architectural design at Cornell University, and after graduating from college, Lü Yanzhi entered the office of the famous architect Murphy until he returned to Shanghai in 1921.
Although the family is in the middle of the road, but the birth is so prominent, it is no wonder that Lu Yanzhi is somewhat clear- In fact, he only saw architecture in his eyes. When he was recruited to design the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, he slept and forgot to eat, and after each draft, he used tung ash to fabricate the model, and then modified the painting against the model, and then fabricated the model after the modification, so over and over again, until the design of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum was now; when designing the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, due to overwork, Lü Yanzhi's body frequently appeared in condition, often with low fever, abdominal pain, and insomnia, but he still consulted a large number of local literature, and also specifically studied the climate and geological conditions of Guangzhou, and must make a perfect design.
Lü Yanzhi fully understands the essence of Western architectural design, but insists that public buildings express the national spirit, and must adopt traditional Chinese architectural forms, conduct detailed research, design schemes with artistic ideas, and build with scientific principles. The architectural form of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is completely Chinese, solemn, and the entire octagonal roof, stairs, floating platforms and even all antique wooden components, including bucket arches, treasure bottles, frets, galleries, etc., are made of reinforced concrete, but only because of the excellent design and exquisite construction, the effect of "false chaos" has been achieved.
In addition to architectural design, Lü Yanzhi is lonely and introverted, not good at communication, and regards socializing as a major enemy of wasting life, but to undertake these two major projects, it is necessary to deal well with various figures in the political and military circles. Fortunately, he has Huang Tanfu.
In 1921, On his way back to China, Lü Yanzhi took a detour through Paris and met Huang Tanfu, who was 4 years younger than him, in the Louvre, and the two saw each other as they were, and since then they have formed a lifelong friendship. Huang Tanfu was born in a poor family in Taishan, and at the age of 13, he went to Liverpool with his clan to earn a living, worked as an apprentice in a grocery store, and was adopted by the British by chance before going to university. He is very observant, good at socializing and socializing. The daily affairs of the company were busy with him without complaint, and Lu Yanzhi was able to bury his head in the drawings with peace of mind.
Either the heavenly envy of talents, or the design and presidency of the construction of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum has overdrawn Lü Yanzhi's energy, from the beginning of undertaking the design work of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Lü Yanzhi's health has deteriorated, but he still demands perfection in everything. At the end of April 1927, Lü Yanzhi completed a complete set of 23 architectural drawings of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Monument. At the end of July, after sending all the drawings to the Preparatory Committee of the Memorial Hall (hereinafter referred to as the Preparatory Committee), he also wrote a letter to the Preparatory Committee, hoping to personally go to Guangzhou to discuss construction matters, and the reply of the Preparatory Committee was that after seeing the drawings and then deciding, Lu Yanzhi had to wait patiently, but replied many times, eagerly hoping to make the trip as soon as possible. By the end of September, when the Preparatory Committee finally informed Lu Yanzhi that he could go to Guangzhou, he was ill and unable to leave.
In 1928, Lü Yanzhi was diagnosed with bowel cancer.
On January 15, 1929, the groundbreaking ceremony of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall was held in Guangzhou, and Lü Yanzhi could not go south and entrusted Huang Tanfu to attend.
In March 1929, Lü Yan died of illness in Shanghai.
Photograph of the main project of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall when it was completed.
●Data preservation
Protect the objects behind old friends Specially built a house to hide drawings
Since the construction of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum began, Lü Yanzhi intended to take pictures and record each major process, which can be kept as a filing document to provide reference for future maintenance and repair, and once a dispute occurs, the photo is also an important evidence to clarify responsibility.
At that time, there was a "Wang Kai Photo Studio" on Shanghai Beach, famous far and wide, the owner of this photo studio was originally named Wang Chikai, also a Guangdong person, the brain is very active, he was in the early years in the Shanghai photo industry one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" one of the Yaohua Photo Studio as an apprentice, deeply pleased by the master, learned a good hand of technology, and later he set up his own portal, because the photographic technology is first-class, soon gained a foothold. Once, Sun Yat-sen and Soong Ching-ling went to take a group photo, and also chatted with Wang Chikai about the family routine, and the clever Wang Chikai took advantage of this to make a big publicity. After the "Wang Kai Photo Studio" became famous in Shanghai, the dignitaries and nobles in the Shanghai-Nanjing area all thought it was fashionable to go to the "Wang Kai Photo Studio" to take standard photos, and Lü Yanzhi's standard photos were also taken by the photographers of "Wang Kai".
Huang Tanfu decided to hire Wang Kai Photo Studio to photograph and record the construction process of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and monument. Wang Kai Photo Gallery specially sent a photographer to photograph the construction and completion sites of all projects on the spot according to the progress of the project.
According to Lu Jiefeng, an independent scholar who has long studied the Zhongshan Memorial Hall, nearly 200 photos were left about the third project of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing and the construction and completion acceptance process of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Monument in Guangzhou, all of which were arranged by Huang Tanfu. While adhering to the will of his old friend and adhering to the tradition of his old friend's work, Huang Tanfu also left extremely important field documents for the future protection and repair of these two major cultural relics.
Huang Tanfu when working with Lü Yanzhi.
In addition to the field photos of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Lü Yanzhi himself also left a large number of design drawings and library materials, and those who know the goods in the industry know the value of these materials, and there are many pretenders. After the completion of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, how to protect these precious relics of old friends has become a knot in Huang Tanfu's heart. He finally decided to build a special mansion to treasure the drawings.
At that time, Huang Tanfu was already a wealthy builder in Shanghai, and he bought 26 acres of land near the Hongqiao Sanatorium where Lü Yanzhi had been recuperating, and built a mansion with piers and tops of the courtyard wall, completely imitating the appearance of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, in order to commemorate Lü Yanzhi.
In this large mansion, Huang Tanfu set aside a large room to store the design drawings, photos and books of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, and the monument.
These materials are sealed and preserved in a large pine wooden box measuring 1 meter square, and the wooden box is built from the ground to the roof. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Huang Tanfu also dug an air raid shelter in the back garden to store drawings of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and monument to ensure their safety.
● Friendship lament
Destroyed by the copy of the family's drawings On his deathbed, he lamented the deceased
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Huang Tanfu's residence in Hongqiao was requisitioned, and the Huang family moved into No. 1, Lane 72, Yongfu Road, Shanghai. According to the huang family's descendants, because the house was too small, the pine boxes filled with Lu Yanzhi's drawings and books had no place to put them, and they were simply put together, spread out futons, and used as beds for 5 children.
At that time, Huang Tanfu did not have a job and his life was quite simple, but he still retained the habit of going to the tea house, "one cup and two pieces", and "pouring in" (small talk) with friends. The various tribulations he encountered since then have also arisen. One day in 1959, when Huang Tanfu was drinking tea with his old friend, he said that "there are contradictions between China and the Soviet Union", and it was later revealed that he was found guilty of "counter-revolutionary crimes" and sentenced to 4 years in prison.
When Huang Tanfu was imprisoned, it was a "three-year difficult period" and his wife, Huang Zhenqiu, was unable to support her livelihood. In order to survive for himself and his 5 children, Huang Zhenqiu began to sell all his valuable belongings. At that time, an old clerk at the Shanghai Ancient Books Bookstore bought the Siku Quanshu and the Kangxi Dictionary from the Huang family, and received praise from the leaders. After that, in order to "Taobao" again, the old clerk kept calling Huang Zhenqiu, Huang Zhenqiu asked him if he wanted the drawings, and the old man suggested that the drawings had no acquisition value, but if they were sold to the waste station, they could also be exchanged for a few dollars.
The drawings and materials that had always been regarded as life by Huang Tanfu were thus sold to the Wuyuan Road Waste Collection Station. If it were not for a librarian of the Shanghai Archives who happened to pass by and intervened in time to rescue nearly 400 of the design drawings of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, these precious materials may have been reduced to pulp. Later, the Shanghai Archives was entrusted by the Guangzhou Archives to buy the drawings at a high price of 200 yuan and sent them to Guangzhou. This batch of drawings has now almost become the "treasure of the town hall" of the Guangzhou National Archives.
A few years after Huang Tanfu was released from prison, the "Cultural Revolution" began, and he fell into an even more tragic situation. The Red Guards rushed into the house and trampled on and tore up the remaining drawings. Later, Huang Tanfu turned on the gas in the middle of the night and tried to commit suicide, but fortunately he was rescued by his wife and children, but he almost stopped talking.
On January 21, 1969, Huang Tanfu died. Before dying, he kept muttering to himself that he had no face to go to see his friends under the Nine Springs. When the body was cremated, in the pocket of the long jacket worn by Huang Tanfu, there was a 6-inch posthumous photo of Lu Yanzhi.
In 1978, Huang Tanfu was rehabilitated in the case of "counter-revolution" and he was acquitted.
Text/Guangzhou Daily, Xinhua city reporter: Wang Yuehua
Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Zhang Yu