Hu Shi made friends all over the world in his life, but there were not many friends who could maintain a friendship for fifty years.
One is Zhao Yuanren, and the other is the United States' Wei Liansi.
Not necessarily at first sight, but it must be a long time
Wei Liansi was born into a Kochi family in Chi se Jia City, New York, 5 years older than Hu Shi. She has a flappy personality, independence and a strong interest in painting and sculpture.
Hu Shi and Wei Liansi's acquaintance began in the summer of 1914.
At that time, Hu Shi studied at Cornell University as the second batch of publicly-funded students who studied abroad, and often interacted with locals when renting a house outside the school, and the hospitable Wei Liansi family was what he often went.
Hu Shi did not have much respect for the average American college student, but he expressed his gratitude to Wei Liansi for his high character, rich knowledge, and profound insights, believing that "he is extremely capable of thinking, reading a lot, and being almost crazy", and calling him "the helmsman who can guide himself to the right course".
The young Wei Liansi, wrapped in the power to destroy the decay, led Hu Shi to an unusually open world, thus laying the ideological foundation of his life to a certain extent.
During the year, the two meet several times, sometimes in the autumn of the "deciduous shade", they swim together on the lakeshore, walking and chatting for three hours, which is not enough.
More often than not, there were frequent correspondences, in which the two talked freely about literature, art and philosophy, and each other entered the deepest part of each other's souls, and Wei Liansi played a crucial role in the formation of Hu Shi's profound knowledge, profound thoughts, and open-mindedness.
It can be imagined how great the shock brought to Hu Shi by such a woman with great thought and personality.
Domestically, the women he saw were conformist, their bodies and minds wrapped around traditional little feet.
Jandy Nelson once said, "Meeting a soul mate feels like walking into a house where you once lived, moving freely and familiarly everywhere." ”
The so-called soul mate is not necessarily a joy at first sight, but it must be a long time.
Life is only a few decades, hurried and lonely, if you can get a soul mate, have tacit understanding with each other, can talk informally, and can fly together in terms of mind and soul, it is really the greatest blessing in life.
Both Hu Shi and Wei Liansi deeply admired each other, especially Hu Shi.
In his diary, he did not hesitate to praise her:
"There are many women yu have seen, and those who really have thoughts, insights, courage, and enthusiasm are the only ones."
In a letter to his mother, he could not help but write: "The lady is deep-minded, kind-hearted, noble in sight, and has learned a lot from her children." ”
But even so, it's clear to both sides that our relationship can only stop at friends.
At a new York party in 1915, the two could have shared a room, but Hu Shi deliberately invited another friend to drink tea, which was a "suspicious" practice, and he did not want the relationship between the two to transcend the boundaries of friendship.
Moreover, he also made it clear to Wei Liansi that he was a "hired unmarried" person, and he had also shown Wei Liansi a photo of Jiang Dongxiu.
On the other hand, Virenzo obstructed her mother because she was conformist and obstructed them on the grounds that interracial and pagan marriages were obedient.
Therefore, she positioned Hu Shi more as a confidant, although the two were only one step away from the lover relationship.
At that time, there were already rumors in the countryside of Huizhou, Hu Shi's hometown, that Hu Shi would marry another woman in the United States. Hu Shi had to write an 8-page letter to try to dispel rumors and once again make it clear to his mother that he would marry Jiang Dongxiu.
In June 1917, Hu Shixuecheng returned to China. Along the way, he wrote letters to Wei Liansi.
For Wei Liansi, for Qi Se Jia, he had too much reluctance.
Only people with common hearts can see the ebb and flow of the world.
This relationship between Hu Shi and Wei Liansi is destined to be unbreakable.
It is not necessarily married, but there must be fulfillment from the heart
Soon after returning to China, Hu Shi married Jiang Dongxiu.
Before the wedding, Hu Shi wrote a letter to Wei Liansi, confiding his views on marriage: "I just went to a major experiment with strong curiosity— the experiment of life. ”
Although there is no enthusiasm for marrying him, there is no escape.
This is just as the scholar Zhou Tianping said: "Hu Shi's marriage is basically just a concrete manifestation of 'willing to give in to those who love me'. ”
Hu Shi lost his father at an early age, his mother was full of hardships, and he placed his lifelong expectations on his only son, and raised him painstakingly and lonely, and this deep grace of licking could not be repaid, and Hu Shi did not dare to disobey his mother's orders in any way.
Jiang Dongxiu, the daughter-in-law approved by his mother, was a "gift" given to him by his mother, how could he not be affected?
In 1918, her mother died of a cold, and before she died, she told the people at the bedside that she was glad to see Hu Shi return from overseas alive, to see her son marry the person she had chosen, and to hear that they were about to have children.
Hu Shi gave up the woman he liked in his heart, just to fulfill his mother's wishes.
Mr. and Mrs. Hu Shi
Her mother's life was hard, and she was able to pass away so contentedly, which was not a comfort to Hu Shi.
Wei Liansi did not understand this, she could only silently retreat behind, smiling at him to get married and have children...
True soul mates are like this, not necessarily married, but necessarily from the heart.
In 1927, Hu Shi came to the United States again.
At this time, Hu Shi, after ten years of pulping, has changed from a young Cornell University student to a man who has achieved fame, is handsome, and matures just right, like mellow mash, which makes people smell drunk.
Ten years have passed through the two, Hu Shi is already a professor at Peking University, the leader of the vernacular literature movement, an internationally renowned scholar, and a father of three children...
And Wei Liansi's red face is getting older, and Fanghua is lonely.
Everything has changed, everything seems to have never changed, and some friendships will only become more mellow with the passage of time.
After the separation, in the correspondence between them, Hu Shi told Wei Liansi about the loneliness of a thousand mountains and the fear of caution after becoming famous when he led the new cultural movement in China.
He only said these words to her, because only she understood them in this world.
In 1933, Hu Shi revisited the United States, and in a tight schedule, he visited Wei Liansi several times.
At this time, Wei Liansi's mother had passed away, and the emotions that had been bound before were all like flowers and plants that were beautiful in the sun, growing vigorously.
The two reunions in September are definitely of landmark significance in the relationship between the two.
After Hu Shi left Qi Se Jia, Wei Liansi made up the small bed where the two of them had been lying, and her heart rejoiced; the leaves outside the window of the room where Hu Shi lived turned golden overnight, and she wrote to tell him; she learned from him, clipped the cigarette to her fingers, and watched the white smoke rise slowly...
However, after the feverish thoughts, reason returned to Velians.
She knew deeply that there was always "an unfathomable stone wall" between the two of them. On the one hand, it is probably hindered by public opinion, on the other hand, it should be his marriage.
In fact, in addition to the wisdom of the way to choose a woman, there are still most problems, such as good health, the appearance is not ugly, the sexual behavior is not obedient, can not be ignored, can not focus on the intellectual side. An intellectual companion, an unattainable family, a friend of what is attainable.
Wei Liansi's position in Hu Shi's heart is probably the soul mate. If he were to abandon his family and son and stop his wife and marry another wife, it would be impossible.
Can go to the end of the relationship,
In fact, from the beginning, they were fellow travelers
Hu Shi had a cousin named Cao Chengying who had a warm and mournful relationship with Hu Shi.
In 1934, when Cao Chengying was going to the United States for further study, Hu Shi wrote a letter to Wei Liansi and entrusted her to take care of her. In fact, Wei Liansi took good care of Cao Chengying.
Some people say that The love of Velians is tolerant and generous, and she is a big woman with an open mind.
It's just, but how can a woman not know jealousy? It's just that she is educated and can't bear to tear her face.
Moreover, Hu Shi largely regarded Wei Liansi as a confidant and soul mate, although this emotion was completely different from the chaos when Cao Chengying was in love.
At the age of 52, there was a man who wanted to marry Velians. Maybe she feels that she is about to grow old, and she does not ask for any love, and it is also a sense of security to think of having a wife to spend the rest of her life with. She asked Hu Shi's opinion, and Hu Shi immediately agreed.
Discouraged, Wei Liansi finally chose not to marry, preserving his lifelong freedom and independence, but who can understand the loneliness and loneliness brought about by this?
In the boundless loneliness, Velians put all his energy into what he liked, painting, literature, philosophy...
This is really a big woman with an open life realm, she once fluttered in the mud of love, but in the end, she stood up proudly with a muddy body.
From 1937 to 1942, Hu Shi was the ambassador to the United States, and for a time he gave lectures while traveling, and sometimes wrote letters and telegrams to Wei Liansi. For Hu Shi, Qi Se Jia is a place of spiritual rest and refuge after a long journey.
Soul mates can be far apart, not too close to the warm network, but in the face of flashy things, they can always protect each other and never abandon each other.
This is just as Tian Fuzhen sang in "Soul Mate", if the other party is the wind, he must be the furthest kite.
In 1953, Hu Shi and his wife Jiang Dongxiu went to Visit Wei Liansi in Qi Se Jia and stayed at wei house for twenty-seven days.
Wei Liansi was thoughtful and warmly welcoming, and even bought Chinese food in every kitchen.
As the two grow old, their interaction with each other has stripped away the element of love, just like at the beginning of the story, she is the one who knows him best, and he is also her soul mate.
Indeed, the relationship that can go to the end is actually the same person from the beginning.
Hu Shi and his wife and Wei Liansi (second from right)
Since his retirement from cornell university libraries, Wellens has been living on limited rents and is not well off. However, she still promised Hu Shi that she would give thousands of pieces of her life savings to facilitate the English translation and publication of Hu Shi's works.
She knew how important the book was to him, and he was grateful for it.
In 1962, Hu Shi died of a sudden heart attack at the new academician cocktail party.
After hearing this bad news, Wei Liansi wrote to Jiang Dongxiu:
This great tree has fallen, and for you, it is a time of sorrow, and you will feel a great emptiness, and in this great emptiness you will pile up the remembrance and remembrance of the mourners... What I cherish most is the memory of your friendship and the admiration for this big tree...
At that time, Wei Liansi was also eighty years old, and she began to sort out the large number of letters sent to her by Hu Shi over the past fifty years, and sent them to Jiang Dongxiu in batches so that future generations could study Hu Shi's use.
Half a century of affection, fifty years of interdependence, in the blink of an eye.
When Jiang Dongxiu was sorting out Hu Shi's materials, he specially asked Wei Liansi to write a small biography of himself and put it in.
She knew about her husband's emotional entanglement with Veliansi, but she understood the importance of this woman in her husband's life.
In this relationship, the thoughtfulness and understanding of Wei Liansi and Jiang Dongxiu, their open-mindedness, and their admiration. Both of them are very nice and nice women.
How fortunate Hu Shi was to meet Wei Liansi, how blessed to meet Jiang Dongxiu, so many excellent women, completed this excellent man.
In 1971, Velians died in an accident in the West Indies at the age of eighty-six.
Someone said, "Everyone comes to the human world, they are half a soul, and only when you meet the other half who is the same soul as yourself, your life is complete." ”
Hu ShideWeiliansi's soul nourished too much, but he had too many options.
Hu Shi was the only man Wei Liansi wanted to marry in this life, but she also knew clearly that this man would never become her husband.
However, this did not hinder her lifelong admiration and admiration for Hu Shi.
She was alone all her life, not so much the unswerving steadfastness of Hu Shi, but rather the independence of her personality and the spirit of freedom that she pursued, and in the final analysis, what she achieved was her own blue sea and blue sky.
Author | Shui Qing is good at writing about the past affairs of the Republic of China with temperature and depth.
Image | Network (if there is infringement, please contact to delete)