In the 1940s, two middle-aged people went to Dunhuang with similar but different purposes, one of whom was Zhang Daqian. The painter, who later became famous in China, came to look for art, and he stayed in Dunhuang for more than two years, until he returned to Chengdu in November 1943. The other person arrived when Zhang Daqian was about to return, and he also came for Dunhuang art, but not from Zhang Daqian's appreciation but protection. However, the former has gained fame and is constantly mentioned and praised by the world, while the latter is unknown.
The latter's name was Chang Shuhong, Chang Shuhong was born in 1904, and his old surname was Irgen Jueluo. His grandfather was a hereditary Yun knight of the Qing court, responsible for garrisoning Hangzhou, so Chang Shuhong can be said to be a child who grew up in the water town of Jiangnan. In the Qing court, his family was more or less an aristocratic family, and he was also able to receive a good education, and in 1918 he was admitted to the Zhejiang Provincial Grade A Industrial School (the predecessor of Zhejiang University). He studied dyeing and weaving, graduated in 1923, and stayed at the school as a teacher.
Four years later, he went to France to study at his own expense, was admitted to the Lyon Academy of Fine Arts in France, and was promoted to a junior college a year later. In 1936, he was invited by The Minister of Education Wang Shijie to serve as a professor at the National Peking Art College. Not long after, the school moved to Yunnan, when he was already the acting principal, but Chang Shuhong gave up his stable job. One day in the autumn of 1935, Chang Shuhong was in an old book stall on the banks of the Seine In Paris when he came across a picture album called "Dunhuang Catalogue".
There were more than 400 photographs of Dunhuang grottoes and statues, and he was shocked to learn that There was such a treasure trove of art in China. It is precisely for this reason that he gave up his superior living conditions and returned to China. After returning to China, although he was a teacher, he always remembered the Mogao Caves, and in the 1940s he negotiated with Yu Youren. An art research institute was set up in Dunhuang, and in 1943, Chang Shuhong went to Dunhuang with this heavy responsibility.
However, he faced many difficulties, and the first problem was with his wife, Chang Shuhong's wife named Chen Zhixiu. She is a typical famous lady, born in Zhuji, the hometown of Xi Shi, and Chang Shuhong, who is also from the same origin, can be regarded as a door-to-door pair. The two initially had a common pursuit, that is, a love of art, but Chang Shuhong went to Dunhuang. Although there is a rich art collection here, it is also desolate and the material conditions are extremely harsh.
Living in a dilapidated temple, the furniture is piled up and there is no heating equipment. Chen Zhixiu, who was spoiled and habitual from childhood, was unbearable, and after a year and a half, he did not quit and ran away, leaving a pair of children. She planned to elope with her lover Zhao Zhongqing, who was a student of Chang Shuhong and coincidentally was still in her hometown in Jiangnan. However, Chen Zhixiu and Zhao Zhongqing did not have a good life for long, and Zhao Zhongqing was imprisoned for some historical problems.
Until his death, Chen Zhixiu was divorced when he was reported, and his reputation had long been destroyed. So no matter how good her art studies, no unit was willing to accept her, so she had to marry a worker. At this time, it is very different from the original idea, there is no art and romantic love, only suffering. In his later years, he relied on his daughter Chang Shana to help, and in 1979, he suffered a heart attack and died in a dilapidated home. Chang Shuhong, on the other end, thought about returning after his wife left, but thought that Dunhuang, which had lost its protection, would be robbed again.
He stayed, and the authorities did not have time and energy to care about the protection of art, and their own funds were not settled. He earned money by painting portraits and appealed to the people for donations. Fortunately, with the support of the people, some donations were sent, which allowed his work to be maintained. This stay was fifty years, and he always regarded the protection and research of Dunhuang as his lifelong pursuit, so he later had the name of "Guardian Deity of Dunhuang".
His whole life was dedicated to Dunhuang art, and decades of hard life, removing the harshness of the environment. He also experienced all kinds of misfortunes and blows such as the separation of his wife and children and the destruction of his family, but he still had no hesitation and silently contributed. In the past fifty years, he has worked diligently to restore murals, collect and sort out scattered cultural relics, write a number of papers of high academic value, and later hold many large-scale exhibitions. Introduce Dunhuang art to more people, Dunhuang, a treasure house of human art, can be preserved and reborn after the catastrophe, all thanks to him.
Recalling her original choice many years later, Chen Zhixiu did not regret it, because she believed that heaven had already punished her. Chang Shuhong has no regrets, if he had left, it was the real regret of life. At the age of ninety, Chang Shuhong also wrote a letter to the leadership, asking his wife (the dunhuang art researcher Li Chengxian, who was later married) to continue his career. After explaining this last words, in June 1994, Chang Shuhong died.