The Arc de Triomphe can be said to be one of the landmark buildings of Paris, about 1 km away from it, there is a red building next to the road full of French style, its design style is obviously different from other buildings around it, if you look closely, you will find that this is a house with obvious oriental characteristics. What is its name? Why was it built here?
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The building's name is the Red House, built in 1926, and a sign hangs on the main entrance that shows the owner's surname, Lu. If you are a person in the antique literature and play industry, you must have heard of his big name, he is Lu Qinzhai.
Over the years, the evaluation of him has been mixed, and today we will talk about the story of Lu Qinzhai, who is known as the "cultural relics thief".
He was a native of Zhejiang, born in 1880, and his family was originally a rich family, but by his generation, the family road had already declined, plus he had lost his father since he was a child and had to go to relatives. Later, in order to survive, he came to the famous Zhang family as a servant at that time, and as a result, he embarked on an unexpected path.
The Zhang family belongs to the Jiangnan business magnate, has been doing the silk business, zhang family young master Zhang Jingjiang, in his early years because of illness and became lame, although he has a disability, but he made an important contribution to the Chinese revolution, belongs to the Kuomintang elders, whether it is Mr. Zhongshan, and later has always been the heir of the old Chiang, have treated him differently, given him a very high praise.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Zhang Jingjiang was sent to France by the Qing court, and through this relationship, Lu Qinzhai also went to France with him. On the way, they met Mr. Zhongshan, agreed with the revolutionary concept he advocated, and immediately decided to give financial support, which they estimated at the time did not expect that this support would be many years.
After arriving in France, Zhang Jingjiang started a business in a foreign country in order to raise more funds. For foreigners, the most popular Chinese goods, in addition to Aya silk and tea leaves, are antiques with different forms of various ages.
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Under the guidance of Zhang Jingjiang, Lu Qinzhai started as an apprentice, learning about the various businesses of an antiques trading house, and at the same time, he was quite talented in language, not only spoke fluent French, but also had a good English level, seeing that he performed well, and later began to serve as the shop keeper.
After the overthrow of the Qing court, Zhang Jingjiang decided to return to China, so he closed the shop, but Lu Qinzhai did not want to bury his years of accumulated experience, so he raised his own money to open his own shop.
At that time, although the feudal dynasty was ended in China, but the ensuing warlord division, the situation was still turbulent, many nobles in decline of the Qing Dynasty, in order to make a living, had to sell cultural relics and jewelry, Lu Qinzhai also took this opportunity to open his shops bigger and bigger, he himself also became a well-known European cultural relics and jewelry appraisal expert.
Many cultural relics were sold by his hand, which is also the origin of his reputation as the "cultural relics thief". However, he also funded the domestic revolution, and his shop, the Red House in Paris, also provided free lunches for Chinese students at that time, which was also a good thing.
03
Another controversy in his life came from his marriage and family. In 1910, when he was just a year old, he married a 15-year-old French girl, but in fact, his crush was the girl's mother, his mother-in-law Orga.
Olga originally worked as a nanny in a wealthy family, and at the age of 19, she was forced by the host to give birth to a daughter, and has maintained a lover relationship with the host ever since.
After Lu Qinzhai and Olga met, they were quickly overwhelmed by each other's charm, but although Olga did not reject being with Lu Qinzhai, she did not want to lose the financial support of the male host, and finally she decided to let Lu Qinzhai marry her daughter as a wife, so that she could not only become a family with Lu, but also maintain a relationship with the male host.
In this strange marriage, this French girl is the only victim, her marriage has always been her mother, and the feelings of the threesome have been entangled until they are old, which is also a strange story.
Regarding Lu Qinzhai's life, as he himself said, it is really full of contradictions, he said that he not only expanded the influence of Chinese art in the West, but also contributed to the revolution, he also argued that although many cultural relics were sent overseas, these cultural relics have been well preserved abroad, which can also be regarded as a contribution to the protection of cultural relics. However, whether he is a hero or a traitor, history will naturally give a fair judgment.