Chen Zhixiu, Chang Shuhong and their daughter Chang Shana
Wandering outside the Mogao Grottoes, feeling its simplicity and desolation, and suffering bullying and insults, can we understand the words of the historian Chen Yinke:
"Dunhuang people, the sad history of our country's scholarship."
It is precisely for this reason that regarding the cause created by Chang Shuhong in Dunhuang, the world has never hesitated to praise words: "the patron saint of Dunhuang", "the national treasure of the world", "a gentleman who broke his heart for China's thousand-year-old treasure"!
Chang Shana, the eldest daughter who also guarded Dunhuang with Chang Shuhong, was also highly praised.
In such a successful family, there was a "laundry woman" named Chen Zhixiu who participated.
Chang Shuhong, who has always been known for his elegance, also satirized the other party as "a woman who has been mixed in the bustling world of Paris for eight or nine years", and what is even more surprising is that Chang Shuhong once had a husband and wife relationship with the other party.
Chen Zhixiu's father, Chen Jikan
In the whole family, even Chen Jikan, the father of "laundry girl" Chen Zhixiu, is not an ordinary person.
He acted as governor of Gansu Province under Xu Shichang, and after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he served as a senator of the Zhejiang Provincial Senate and the compiler of the Zhejiang Provincial Tongzhiguan.
Like Chang Shuhong, he also made outstanding contributions to the protection of Dunhuang.
During his tenure as acting governor of Gansu Province, Chen Jikan collected more than 300 Dunhuang testaments and handed them over to the Beijing and Shanghai libraries.
However, chang Shuhong and his former father-in-law had protected Dunhuang purely by accident, and it was inevitable that excellent people would be equally excellent around them.
Later "laundry woman" Chen Zhixiu, in addition to the identity of "everyone's bridesmaid" in the early years, also had the name of "China's first generation of female sculptors studying in France".
Chang Shuhong works in Dunhuang
Chen Zhixiu, who has been in Jinshi Mendi since childhood, has a strong aroma of books in his family, and he has come from Zhuji to Hangzhou, hoping to find a talented and learned Hangzhou husband.
Originally, she met a young man from another relative's house, and when she saw Chang Shuhong, she said that she was like drinking Ecstasy: 'I can't hold anyone in my heart!' ’
In 1925, with their natural attraction to each other, they flashed their marriage not long after meeting.
Previously, Chang Shuhong obeyed his father's orders and applied for the Electrical Engineering Department, but because he still had an obsession with painting, he changed his mind to painting-related dyeing and weaving soon after enrolling.
Later, in 1927, he came to the École Nationale d'Arte école d'Arte Lyon at his own expense to study painting and pattern dyeing.
In 1930, Chang Shuhong entered the Oil Painting Department in advance with the first place in this major, and later entered the Paris Institution of Higher Learning for further study in fine arts.
Three close encounters with Western art brought him fruitful results.
Chang Shuhong became the most proud student of the famous French neoclassical painter Laurent, and his paintings also won three gold medals and two silver medals.
Chen Zhixiu entertains international students at home
Chang Shuhong's efforts have made it possible to live every morning coffee in the romantic capital of Paris, but this is only the lightest "by-product" of his acquisition.
But it just fits Chen Zhixiu's personal life pursuits.
Chen Zhixiu went to France the following year to teach herself French and sculpture in Paris, and later published the article "We Need a Harmonious Artistic Air", in which she advocated the creation of a "park depicted by chants".
To this end, at her home at No. 48, 14th Arrondissement in Paris, Chen Zhixiu always invites Chinese students to gather together to talk about art, and she will also make Chinese dishes for everyone.
Chen Zhixiu will clean up the house particularly clean, dress himself up beautifully, often go to the mall to buy household goods, and live a light and comfortable life like an accordion in romantic Paris.
Chang Shana, born in 1931, recorded this cheerful day:
"In my memory, my mother was beautiful, dressed up, loved me very much, and was very capable, and could knit beautiful sweaters... Mom studied very well in the sculpture department and got a scholarship..."
Chen Zhixiu
But unlike Chang Shuhong, as a bridesmaid, such a life is "deserved", such as the fruits planted by her parents, she can catch it with a casual reach.
With the "artistic dream" of Chang Shuhong, his efforts and pursuits are the worship of Western art to reach the "Rome" in his mind, and everything he gets is not easy to come by.
In the eyes of the students studying in France, the husband and wife are "good couples and natural talents", in fact, the ideals of their lives do not have too many "convergence".
If it is said that in the rescue of Dunhuang art, Chang Shuhong is a "hero", and the more active operator in the marriage of the two is Chen Zhixiu.
Chang Shuhong's "Sick Woman" modeled by Chen Zhixiu
Under the dim yellow light, Chen Zhixiu wore a red cheongsam, put the flute to his mouth, his eyebrows wrinkled slightly, and a bit of unspeakable poignant expression was depicted by Chang Shuhong in his work "Nostalgia Song".
The work won an award in Lyon, reflecting the patriotic feelings of overseas wanderers, and can be so moving, in addition to Chang Shuhong's exquisite brushstrokes, there is also Chen Zhixiu's excellent expression as a "model".
Chen Zhixiu, as a "model", in addition to daily life and Chang Shuhong, also strives to "integrate" with his career.
However, the "red cheongsam" was eventually replaced by clothes made of blue printed cloth.
The stable foundation of the ten-year marriage in France was easily "destroyed" by the 1935 Dunhuang Grotto Catalogue edited by Heber and the editor on the old book stall on the banks of the Seine in Paris.
The marriage of the two is also like duckweed, seemingly involved in a continuous but no strong root system.
Chang Shuhong's 1935 portrait of Shana
"I am so overwhelmed by Western culture that I once proudly called myself a painter of Mompanas, and now I am ashamed to face such a long cultural history of my motherland."
Chang Shuhong once described his feelings after seeing the Dunhuang scroll painting in his article "Tinker Dingdong on the Iron Horse", and he was deeply shocked by the oriental culture and amazed by the height of Dunhuang art.
Just as he pursued Western art several times and three times, his decision to return to China to pursue Dunhuang art was equally resolute, which was in line with his usual approach.
However, the changes in the "by-product" brought about by this decision were not so fortunate to fit Chen Zhixiu.
He just lost a cup of French morning coffee, but the dream is still alive, and Chen Zhixiu has lost her ideal of life and lost her "red cheongsam".
Chang Shuhong's "Painter's Family" in Paris in 1934
"We must go to Dunhuang!"
"You are engaged in sculpture, you can't go there to see, the painted sculptures there are very beautiful, you will be surprised, you are engaged in art!" 」
Since Chang Shuhong left for Dunhuang with the first batch of research staff in February 1943, Chang Shuhong returned to Chongqing in the autumn to do business, still doing Chen Zhixiu's work.
The two's friend Lu Sibai also came forward to persuade:
"Zhi Xiu, just follow Shu Hong, he has his career, you can also do sculpture there, you are there, we will often go in the future."
However, in 1946, Chang Shuhong's friends on the Phoenix Mountain all changed their tone, complaining to Chang Shuhong, "Shuhong, you have done too much!" ”
And Chang Shuhong replied: "No, it is she who is leaving!" I can't help it, is she sorry for me, sorry for Shana and Jialing!
From the return of the two to the departure of Chen Zhixiu, what kind of changes have they experienced that have led to such a tragedy, and the core reasons may be summarized slightly, Chang Shuhong:
Ignoring Chen Zhixiu's sadness of "losing the red qipao";
Ignoring the inner pain of the "blue printed cloth" failing to soothe her;
Ignoring the loneliness brought to Chen Zhixiu by taking off "stepping on high heels in the desert".
"Blue printed cloth clothes" is a set of local folk new clothes that Chen Zhixiu changed into in 1939.
At this time, two years had passed since she heeded Chang Shuhong's request to return to China and returned to China with her daughter in 1937.
In the past two years, Chang Shuhong has not yet been able to embark on the "Dunhuang Journey" as he wished, and briefly served as a professor and head of the Western Painting Department at the Beiping National Art College.
The rest of the time was to flee with his family under the flames of the War of Resistance Against Japan, from Shanghai and Hangzhou, all the way to Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou.
On February 4, 1939, the team of the National Art College moved from Yuanling, Hunan to Guiyang, and temporarily stayed in a hotel, but the incendiary bombs also landed here.
Chen Zhixiu dragged her daughter to the bottom of the table, and on that day, the flesh and blood blurred people lying horizontally and vertically, the gang guy who was crippled by the explosion, and the hellish scene made her mentally suffer great trauma.
After the bombing, Chen Zhixiu and his daughter were sent to the Catholic Church in Guiyang, and chen Zhixiu began to sincerely thank God and converted to Catholicism.
Chen Zhixiu and her daughter Chang Shana
After living in the church for a while, Chen Zhixiu's mental state was much better, and he put on the "blue printed cloth" and prepared to start over.
In 1940, Chang Shuhong found a position under the Ministry of Education in Chongqing, and the family settled in a house on the top of Phoenix Mountain in Chongqing.
"I really don't want to go. Artistically, he has his pursuits, and from my point of view, art can also be an aspect to consider. ”
"But that's a Buddhist grotto, we believe in Catholicism, how can we run to a Buddhist place?"
After living peacefully in Chongqing for two years, in 1942, Chang Shuhong once again proposed to "move", and this time the destination was his dream "Dunhuang".
Yu Youren, then the head of the Supervision Department of the National Government, put forward a proposal to "establish a Dunhuang Research Institute" after inspecting the northwest, and Liang Sicheng elected Chang Shuhong as the director.
When Chang Shuhong left Chongqing, Liang Sicheng gave him four words, "Broken Kettle sinking boat".
Chang Shuhong naturally made the same decision.
Chang Shuhong when working
This means that Chen Zhixiu's heart, which was healed by the "blue printed cloth" with peace and stability, was once again shelved on the edge of the cliff, and Chang Shuhong and Chen Zhixiu had a fierce quarrel:
"Are you crazy? We have just settled down, why do we have to go to Gansu and northwest? ...... We survived the bombardment and came out alive..."
At that time, they had already given birth to their son Chang Jialing in Chongqing the previous year, and their daughter Chang Shana was about to graduate from primary school, and Chen Zhixiu was eager to let life develop smoothly and directly.
For Chang Shuhong, his wife's protest is like an unsolvable problem, Dunhuang is faith, it is a place he will definitely go, so that he has no time to consider the harm his wife has suffered along the way.
There is no time to think about his wife's true ideals of life.
For him, the upheaval and displacement were only the injuries that the "warriors" would inevitably suffer when charging for victory, and for Chen Zhixiu, it was all the problems that had to be solved by simply using "love" as the master key.
Even Chen Zhixiu's Catholic faith must make way for his "faith."
In 1944, all the staff of the National Dunhuang Art Research Institute
In 1943, Chen Zhixiu was finally unable to overcome Chang Shuhong, and in the second year of his absence, he dragged his children and daughters to Dunhuang.
There is no priest in Dunhuang, and Chen Zhixiu placed a picture of the Virgin Mary on the chest of drawers by the wall, still praying and repenting: "My sin, my sin, my great sin!" ”
In the harsh environment, Catholics are alone in the Holy Land of Buddhism, and there is no friend to talk about, which makes Chen Zhixiu suffer from inner torment.
However, Chen Zhixiu still strives to "integrate" with Chang Shuhong's life.
The local residents were not accustomed to her dress, and after talking to her behind her back, she took off the high heels she was stepping on in the desert, changed into inappropriate clothes, and only retained the habit of makeup.
Chen Zhixiu's only remaining sculpture
In the middle temple, they only had one house, but Chen Zhixiu still cleaned up the inside and outside of the house, and hung a coffee-colored curtain as a partition between the inside and the outside.
Under the curtain is also embroidered with yellow woolen trim, for the desire for the mood of life, Chen Zhixiu can "discount" but does not want to completely ignore.
Chen Zhixiu was also persuaded by Chang Shuhong to agree to go to the Thousand Buddha Cave to help with copying and creation work.
"I have traveled all over Europe and have never seen such a vivid and wonderful painted sculpture..."
The Western sculptures that Chen Zhixiu has been exposed to are all monochromatic, and the thousands of Buddha statues she sees now are all golden and colorful painted sculptures, which makes her have a strong interest.
But when the place is uninhabited within 40 miles, it is likely to cause the threat of "suffering from minor diseases and causing death" and the harsh working environment impact Chen Zhixiu's heart together——
Taking off the loneliness brought to Chen Zhixiu by "stepping on high heels in the desert" was ultimately not alleviated, or even worse.
Chang Shuhong copied the Dudu Lady Li Fotu - Mogao Caves 130 Caves
When Chang Shuhong first arrived in Dunhuang, he was shocked by the tragic images of man-made and natural damage to the grottoes:
"Many of the caves have been blackened by the White Russian army that used to live in them to cook on fires, some precious murals have been glued by Warner, and individual painted sculptures have been stolen."
"In winter, the snow on the top of the cliff, after melting in the spring, seeps down along the crack at the top of the cliff, causing the bottom of the mural to be damp and the phenomenon of puff pastry occurs."
Chang Shuhong said in Zhang Daqian, "This is a 'life sentence'!" "Restoration work is being done in the environment, and there is no source of funding but to keep reporting to the National Government."
The "by-product" brought to Chang Shuhong by the pursuit of ideals this time is the bitter and salty coffee brewed by the local alkaline water, which is the first meal eaten by his wife and children here:
"A bowl of thick noodles, a bowl of vinegar, a bowl of salt with large grains."
This "by-product" is as "unimportant" as ever for Chang Shuhong, but for Chen Zhixiu, she can no longer nourish her.
A family of three
Chen Zhixiu's optimism was eventually defeated by the environment, and Chang Shuhong eventually lost patience because of his cold heart for the Nationalist government, high debts, and running around.
Two weak "poor people" who have been destroyed by reality, unable to warm each other, express their resentment in disguise through quarrels.
Chang Shuhong completely gave up his concern for family affairs, and Chen Zhixiu's once nourished spiritual world also turned into a desert at this time, and their marriage was on the verge of falling apart.
For the need for emotion, Chang Shuhong poured into his work, and Chen Zhixiu turned his emotions to others, a Kuomintang soldier Zhao Guoqing who frequently made mistakes in his work and had no strengths.
She said she was sick and insisted on going to Lanzhou for treatment immediately. I was too busy at work to get out and accompany her. ”
"On April 13, I attended the wedding ceremony of my friend and learned that my friend was about to go to Lanzhou, so I asked my friend to take care of Chen Zhixiu to go to Lanzhou for medical treatment."
On April 19, 1945, Chen Zhixiu left Chang Shuhong's sight and left the desert on the grounds of illness, but it was also the last thing the two saw.
Chang Shuhong sent her to the city to travel with her friends and wrote to them to ask for her care.
However, such a letter, which could have played a role in soothing Chen Zhixiu's heart, has now lost its temperature in her eyes, and Chen Zhixiu finally gained warmth on Zhao Guoqing's arm.
A statement in a Lanzhou newspaper "divorced from the relationship between husband and wife" became the last contact between the two, and the marriage that lasted for more than two decades came to an abrupt end.
Chang Shuhong and Lee Seung-sin (second wife)
It was rumored that Chang Shuhong got this news at that time, impulsively and quickly plunged into the vast desert, almost died, and was finally found and rescued by colleagues.
It is impossible to verify whether it is true or false, but Chang Shuhong's hatred is evidenced.
He mentions Chen Zhixiu in an article titled "From the Recent Events of Dunhuang to the Crisis of the Thousand Buddha Caves":
"The author's wife—a woman who has been in the bustling world of Paris for eight or nine years."
"In order not to be accustomed to this kind of lonely and cold life in the monastery, in April 1945, she abandoned her children and ran to her ideal paradise without a trace!"
At this time, Chang Shuhong had also remarried, but he seemed unable to reconcile, even if his friends advised, at this time, Chang Shuhong attributed all those pains that were difficult to let go to the other party.
Chang Shuhong
It wasn't until October 1979, when Chang Shana visited Japan with her father and stepmother, that one of her words seemed to draw a pause for this "hatred."
"Mom's dead."
Chang Shuhong did not say too much, but repeatedly confirmed the time and reason for Chen Zhixiu's death.
Soon after, Chang Shuhong published the book "Originally Burned for Dunhuang This Life", and he really jumped out of the enmity between the two, jumped out of his identity as Chen Zhixiu's abandoned husband, and examined the marriage of the two.
"I myself am immersed in my work, and I have no time to take care of my family and wife, and when my work is not going well, I still quarrel with my wife at home and even quarrel."
This is the same as the meaning of "repentance" in 1962, when Chen Zhixiu met his daughter Chang Shana when he ran away for 17 years:
"Shana, I'm sorry for you... But you can't blame me alone, your father is also responsible. Now I am also very bitter, this is God's punishment for me, a mistake into a thousand years of hatred! ”
In the long years, the three of them have thought thoroughly about the past and the ins and outs, but they are helpless that things have become a foregone conclusion, and they choose to follow the fate and finally have no chance.
Only some obscure connections, like dissolving the sunlight of the Antarctic mountains, only loosened the relationship between the three people.
First of all, after seeing her mother "lose her beautiful curly hair" and become a pale, disheveled old woman, Shana sympathized with her hatred and regularly paid for her to support her life.
Then it was Chen Zhixiu who confessed his mistake to his daughter with "a mistake and a thousand ancient hatreds", and unabashedly told the unfortunate life he had bought for himself:
After marrying Zhao Zhongqing, the other party was imprisoned and died of illness for political reasons, and then had no choice but to remarry a poor worker, who was eventually burdened by poverty and could only make a living from laundry.
Thus retaining the last trace of emotional connection with her daughter.
Finally, it ends with Chang Shuhong's confession of being "late".
Chang Shuhong's family
Perhaps, when everyone is hyping up how great Chang Shuhong has paid for Dunhuang and how "deserved" Chen Zhixiu's miserable life in his later years is, they will feel heartache.
Because only the three of them know the "subtext" of confessing to each other:
Chen Zhixiu failed to give Chang Shuhong the opportunity to honor the care and glory she deserved for many years after walking through the difficulties together;
Chang Shuhong failed to give Chen Zhixiu enough time to complete the transformation of a rich woman, from a bourgeois woman to an ordinary woman, and then to a "heroine" who could withstand the snow and wind in Dunhuang.
All this should not be the case, but only the three of them really understand the pain caused by this regret.