"When the heavens and the earth work together, the heroes are not free." - Luo Yin
Speaking of C.T.LOO, I'm afraid few people know this name now. In fact, this name is not a brand of the popular world in the past, but a foreign abbreviation of the company of Lu Qinzhai, a well-known "cultural relics thief" in the first half of the last century. Lu Qinzhai is a relatively complex figure, some people say that he is a conservator of cultural relics, and some people say that he is a "traitor".
It is no exaggeration to say that the number and quality of rare treasures operated by Lu Qinzhai's company in the world at that time were comparable to the collection of cultural relics in a national museum. Therefore, the matter of Lu Qinzhai and his people has attracted special attention. For example, he is not only an antique giant businessman who is full of spirit in business, but also a prodigal son who has a lot of charm in the love field.
History
Like many foreigners in Shanghai, the Lu Qinzhai family also came to Shanghai from Wuxing, Zhejiang Province, to avoid the taiping war. Later, in order to make a living, Lu Qinzhai went to France with the ship to develop his career. Of course, at the beginning, Lu Qinzhai's situation was naturally very unsatisfactory, and even showed people the gate.
But soon, Lu Qinzhai's opportunity came. By chance, he met Zhang Jingjiang, a township deed friend who had come to the west with Sun Baoqi, the minister in France, as an attaché in paris. As the saying goes, the heavens and the earth are all working together, and this time Lu Qinzhai can be said to have met a noble person.
After some talking, the two hit it off, and Zhang Jingjiang's father immediately invested 300,000 yuan to open a transportation company that operated Huzhou silk cotton, tea and antiques. The extent to which the antique business was profitable was unquestionable at the time, so the business of the two was out of control, and the company expanded.
In this way, Lu Qinzhai became the main antique seller in China in the early twentieth century. Except for some of the antiques that China has lost overseas, most of them have been sold abroad through antique dealers like Lu Qinzhai .
As the largest antique seller in China at that time, Lu Qinzhai can be said to be unknown to everyone in the Western antique industry. Although objectively speaking, he did sell a large number of antique cultural relics abroad to avoid being damaged in the war, in fact, it was precisely because of his behavior that a large number of Chinese cultural relics were lost overseas. Therefore, he is not only a "cultural relics thief", but also a "traitor" in the eyes of many people.
Of course, this is where Lu Qinzhai is controversial. However, the affair about him is even more amazing.
Acquaintance with Mrs. Olga
Olga was a nanny who, at the age of 19, had a private affair because of the seduction of the host, and later gave birth to a daughter, Mary Rose. Even after the East Window incident, the man was still reluctant to let Olga leave, so he paid for her to open a hat shop and subsidized it every month.
In this way, Olga can get a sum of money from the man every month, and the two naturally maintain a lover-like relationship. If there are no accidents, I am afraid that their lives will not change for a long time. However, by chance, Lu Qinzhai entered Olga's life.
Because Lu Qinzhai's antique shop and Olga's hat shop are on the same street, the two inevitably have contact. After more contact, the two were attracted by each other's exoticism, so they developed a lover's relationship.
Originally, there was nothing, but although Olga liked Lu Qinzhai very much, she still did not want the monthly support given by her old lover. So, in order to be able to "get along" with the two at the same time, Olga came up with a brilliant way to marry her daughter Mary Rose to Lu Qinzhai. In this way, she can "get along" with Lu Qinzhai in a fair and bright way.
affair
At the time, Olga's daughter, Mary Rose, was 15 years old. In France at that time, girls of this age had just reached the age when they could marry, so After some thought, Olga came up with such a way to have the best of both worlds.
And Lu Qinzhai is worthy of being a businessman, he thought about it, through Olga's way, not only can he continue to maintain a lover relationship with Olga, but also to put her daughter in the room, which is indeed the best of both worlds. So, under Olga's bequest, Lu Qinzhai married a 15-year-old young girl, Mary Rose.
After marriage, in addition to maintaining a normal marital relationship with Mary Rose, Lu Qinzhai often had an ambiguous and adulterous relationship with her mother-in-law Olga. It can be said that he is not only full of spirit in the business field, but also proud of the spring breeze in the love field. Therefore, as a controversial figure, such a romantic affair happened to him, which can arouse people's curiosity.
However, although Lu Qinzhai was proud enough in the love field, there was one thing that he had always regretted, that is, although Rose bore him four children, all of them were daughters and did not have a son. Therefore, no matter where she is, Lu Qinzhai says that she has no children. Because of this, Lu Qinzhai never taught her daughter to learn Chinese characters and say Chinese.
I have to say that this may be a kind of "retribution" for Lu Qinzhai's deep sins. Perhaps in order to be able to give himself a little psychological comfort, Lu Qinzhai also did some good deeds to whitewash himself. For example, he once instructed the company's top management to provide free lunches to international students every day in the Chinese restaurants it operates. For example, donated the Warring States Bronze Heavy Instrument Zi Zi Pot to the Cultural Relics Exhibition Room of Tsinghua University.
In 1952, Lu Qinzhai was seriously ill in Paris and donated more than 3,000 cultural relics left in Shanghai to the Shanghai Cultural Relics Management Clerks' Association. In 1957, Lu died at the age of 78 in a manoeuvre villa in the Swiss tourist resort of Ongni.
A controversial "cultural relics thief", his life has finally come to an end.
epilogue:
Lu Qinzhai's life is full of controversy, and some people believe that his behavior of exporting a large number of Chinese antiques and cultural relics has objectively promoted the Western understanding of Chinese culture, expanded the influence of Chinese culture, and avoided the destruction of many cultural relics and antiques due to war.
But on the other hand, more people believe that he made his fortune by smuggling antiques, causing countless Chinese cultural relics to be lost overseas, and the losses caused to China's archaeological research and cultural relics identification are difficult to estimate. Therefore, he is a down-to-earth "traitor".
Of course, lu Qinzhai is exactly how this person is, that is, the benevolent see the benevolent and the wise see the wise.