Ji Xianlin in his later years
preface
Ji Xianlin is a well-known paleographer, historian and scholar of Chinese literature in the mainland, who is proficient in 12 Chinese dialects, especially in the study of Indian language and literature. Since the 1980s, Ji Xianlin has put forward many personal views and conclusions on chinese culture, the exchange of Eastern and Western cultural systems, and human culture in the 21st century, which have aroused widespread concern at home and abroad.
On July 11, 2009, Mr. Ji Xianlin died in Beijing at the age of 98.
Mr. Ji's contribution to ideology and culture is self-evident, and his moral demeanor is widely praised.
It is very interesting that before and after Mr. Ji's death, there were many disputes around his inheritance, and there were events such as "Calligraphy and Painting Gate", "Turtle Gate" and "Heritage Gate".
In October 2008, a calligraphy and painting enthusiast named Zhang Heng claimed that he had bought 16 pairs of calligraphy and painting works collected by Ji Xianlin, and after investigation by Peking University, it was found that the works in Zhang Heng's hands were all forgeries, because the keys to Ji Xianlin's room were kept by his secretary Li Yujie, but Li Yujie said that after he fell ill, he gave the key to his secretary Yang Rui for safekeeping, and yang Rui was forced to resign as secretary due to the impact of this incident.
After Mr. Ji's death, at the memorial service, a woman dressed in white suddenly shouted: "Someone wants to steal Ji Lao's turtle." The woman in white said that before the memorial service began, Ji Lao's housekeeper Fang Xianru deliberately brought the turtle at home to say a final farewell to Ji Lao, but did not expect that someone wanted to steal the turtle.
In 2009, at Ji Xianlin's memorial service, Fang Xianru was holding a turtle from Ji Xianlin's family
It was later learned that the woman was Wang Ru, the daughter of Ji Xianlin's former secretary Li Yujie.
At Ji Xianlin's memorial service, Wang Ru (a woman in white) revealed to reporters the inheritance dispute of Ji Xianlin's family
As early as 2001, Ji Xianlin signed a collection donation agreement with Peking University. But later Ji Cheng, Ji Lao's son, said that Ji Xianlin left a handwritten note before his death, as a will stating that all the inheritance belonged to Ji Cheng. This made Ji Cheng have a contradiction with Peking University, and Ji Cheng claimed: All of Ji Xianlin's inheritance is mine!
This is the Ji Xianlin "Heritage Gate" incident, which attracted a lot of attention at that time.
Mr. Ji Xianlin may not have imagined that there would be so much strife surrounding his legacy. Not only was his family involved, but he also surrounded him, his secretary, the janitor, the secretary's daughter, his disciples, and the unit where he worked. As some people say, Ji Xianlin not only feeds a research institute, but also feeds a group of publishers and stakeholders, and everyone wants to take a piece of the "signboard" of "Ji Xianlin" and divide up a little profit. The open struggle and the confusion have been performed one after another of "realistic dramas", which are ridiculous, sad, and even absurd, which is "breathtaking".
Such disputes finally have a total outbreak:
Five months after Ji Xianlin's death, two thieves smashed open the window of Ji Xianlin's former residence and looted the precious books and cultural relics inside...
01
The theft of Ji Xianlin's former residence
On December 16, 2009, Ji Cheng, as usual, went to Mr. Ji's home in Apartment No. 13, Langrun Park, Peking University, and xiaojun, the son of Ji Xianlin's late secretary Li Zheng, was also going to Ji Xianlin's former residence to tidy up the room. Since Ji Xianlin's house belongs to Peking University, according to the custom, it should be reclaimed by Peking University, so Ji Cheng and his assistants have been sorting out the house for a while.
However, when Ji Cheng walked to the door, he found that the balcony glass had been broken, and someone had entered the room from the balcony, and the room was in a mess.
Ji Cheng quickly opened the door, and the scene in the room could not help but surprise Ji Cheng, several bookcases were empty.
Ji Xianlin's son, Ji Cheng, displays the stolen empty bookcase
The bookcase for the twenty-four histories and line-bound books was also empty.
The glass of the bookcase where the Four Series was placed had been broken, and the books inside had been looted.
In addition to the books, several photos of Mr. Ji hanging on the walls of the house, and the five bronze busts of Mr. Ji placed on the bookcase are missing.
In addition, Mr. Ji's collection of Buddhist statues and cultural relics is also missing.
In the other room, Mr. Ji's collection of modern books is no less.
Looking at the messy room and the empty bookcase, Ji Cheng's face was full of anger and helplessness.
The items in the home have been cleaned up for a while with the relevant personnel of Peking University, and all the items have a list, so it is not difficult to find out how many things have been lost.
In particular, Mr. Ji's collection of books and Buddhist relics are very precious, some of the books are different, there are Tang Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, Republic of China, Ji Cheng found that there are nearly 5,000 copies of ancient books bound in line and a number of Buddha statues stolen, these are precious cultural relics, which are worth millions.
Since Ji Xianlin's death, this old residence has been vacant, and Ji Cheng has his own family and usually does not live here. But he also arranged for people to look after the house here. But by coincidence, there was no one on the afternoon and evening of the 15th, and the thieves saw the day.
When they learned that the precious collection of books and cultural relics in Ji Xianlin's former residence had been looted, many people were surprised, after all, Mr. Ji Xianlin had died less than half a year ago. Some retired teachers came to Langrun Garden to express sympathy for the theft of Ji Xianlin's former residence. Some teachers believe that it is estimated that the thief has long been worried about the property of Mr. Last Season's family, after all, his fame is too big, and there are so many collectibles in the family.
Professor Qian, Mr. Ji's "closed disciple", after learning of this news, specially sent a text:
How can something like this happen without surprise? This is a case involving a huge amount of theft, is there any doubt? ...... I think that such a large-scale theft will not leave no trace, after all, it is not an easy task to transport so many things.
I, as well as those who care about Mr. Ji Xianlin, sincerely hope and firmly believe that the public security department will definitely solve this appalling case and bring the criminals to justice!
Ji Cheng quickly reported the case.
After receiving the alarm, the Haidian Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau immediately reported it to the substation and dispatched case-handling personnel to investigate Ji Lao's old residence.
At noon the next day, the police station sent someone to transfer the surveillance video near Building 13.
After calming down, Ji Cheng still expressed confidence in the detection of the case and provided some ideas and directions. There are so many books and a variety of bronze objects, including a bronze statue of Ji Xianlin's bust, which Ji Cheng said is quite heavy and cannot be moved by one person. Ji Cheng thought it was a purposeful crime, and all the precious ancient books were looted, while the modern books did not move. In particular, the luggage of the doorman Fang Xianru before the crime was still in the next room, and his luggage was missing after the crime. Therefore, the possibility of acquaintances committing crimes is very high.
The facts were as Ji Cheng and Professor Qian expected, and the investigation of the case quickly came to an end. Ji Xianlin's staff was so few, and soon the police found 4 suspects, Fang Xianru, the janitor of Ji Xianlin's family, and Wang Ru, the dry daughter of Ji Xianlin's former secretary Li Yujie, who entered the police field of vision...
02
Why is Ji Xianlin's legacy constantly in turmoil before and after his death?
As a master of traditional Chinese studies, Ji Xianlin gained great prestige, which is beyond doubt.
But so many disputes over his legacy were unexpected.
This raises the question, how much of a legacy does Ji Xianlin leave behind?
Professor Qian, a disciple of Mr. Ji, once analyzed Ji Lao's collection and property, which was roughly divided into 5 parts:
First, it is mainly collected calligraphy and paintings before 1950, including those brought to Beijing by Ji Xianlin's wife, Peng Dehua, from Shandong. The collection of these calligraphy and paintings is limited to Qi Baishi, the number is very large, the famous artists are gathered, the eyes are all touching, if the price is concerned, it is "astronomical" (valuation of hundreds of millions) today.
Second, the number of treasured ancient books, ancient ink, Tian Huang, Tian Bai, Bai Furong, celebrity letters, etc., is also very large.
Third, over the years, Mr. Ji's friends have given him many calligraphy and painting works and artworks, and the number of them is also very large, including calligraphers Qi Gong, Ouyang Zhongshi, painter Fan Zeng and others.
Fourth, the words and manuscripts written by Mr. Ji himself are also of high value.
Ji Xianlin manuscript
Fifth, Mr. Ji's works are published in large quantities, the amount of manuscript fees is also quite large, it should be calculated in millions of yuan, and there are also funds donated to him by friends to hold the archive, Mr. Ji himself does not handle, all of which are handled by the staff around him.
Professor Qian once saw Mr. Ji's collection of Qi Baishi's huge "leopard map", which occasionally hung out, and the house was full of brilliance, and the viewers were all stunned.
Many precious calligraphy and painting works were acquired by Mr. Ji Xianlin over the course of several decades. One of Mr. Ji's purposes is to preserve the calligraphy and paintings of famous artists as much as possible. More importantly, after Mr. Ji taught at Peking University that year, he received a maximum salary of 300 yuan at that time, so he had sufficient funds to acquire these calligraphy and painting works. At that time, many calligraphy and painting merchants in Liuli Factory, after getting fine calligraphy and paintings, would personally send them to Ji Xianlin's home, because everyone knew that he had money and could afford to pay, for example, Ji Xianlin had purchased a painting by Qi Baishi, and the price was 500 yuan at that time, which was a huge amount of money at that time. Decades of collection, naturally make Mr. Ji's various collections very rich. Professor Qian also saw that Mr. Ji's grandson practiced writing brush writing at home, using antique-grade rice paper and ink, but Mr. Ji just smiled. Among the thousands of ancient books in the collection, there is also Su Shi's "Ode to the Royal Book".
However, it was around these precious collections and possessions that Ji Xianlin's son Ji Cheng, had a dispute with Ji Xianlin's staff, such as his secretaries Li Yujie and Yang Rui, the secretary's daughter Wang Ru, and Peking University. One of Ji Cheng's basic points is that the secretary Li Yujie has worked around Ji Xianlin for so many years, and she holds the keys to Ji Xianlin's house and is responsible for keeping various collections and current accounts, so she suspects that she is hiding Ji Xianlin's property. In a quarterly bank audit, it was found that his father had 22 deposits, the largest of which was $250,000, of which 19 had been taken away, but the specific amount of the contract was not known, nor did he know when it was taken. For Ji Cheng's suspicions, At that time, Li Yujie said that he had not intervened in the management of Mr. Ji's finances for many years, so he did not know it, and Ji Cheng's suspicions were slanderous. Ji Cheng said that at that time, Li Yujie ate and lived in Ji Xianlin's house, and once found more than 30 calligraphy and painting cultural relics in the cabinet of the room where she lived, although they were not transferred, but they could not help but be suspicious. After the "Calligraphy and Painting Gate" incident, Ji Xianlin's secretary Yang Rui also resigned because of this, but he said that he was not ashamed of the matter.
After Ji Xianlin's death, Ji Cheng talked about his inheritance dispute with Peking University
Whether Ji Xianlin lost the collection of calligraphy and paintings, and later Peking University said that the calligraphy and paintings collected by Ji Xianlin that appeared on the market were all forgeries, which made the "Calligraphy and Painting Gate" incident confusing. Because Ji Xianlin signed a donation agreement with Peking University in 2001, he said that he would donate his collection to Peking University, including 577 calligraphy and paintings, which were kept by Peking University. Since Peking University said that there is no loss, naturally everything on the market is fake. At that time, did any cultural relics dealers see the dispute over Ji Xianlin's inheritance and deliberately touch the fish in muddy waters?
However, it can also be seen from this that around Ji Xianlin's legacy, many "stakeholders" have moved, and Xitu has a piece of it!
Another very important reason is that Ji Xianlin made two contradictory "decisions" before his death, one was that in 2001, he decided to donate the collection to Peking University and signed a donation agreement. But since 2006, Mr. Ji's only son, Ji Xianlin, has admitted that these donations are illegal. Especially after the "Character Painting Gate" incident, Ji Cheng found Peking University and showed a note signed and sealed by Ji Xianlin:
Ji Cheng took care of all matters related to the property, and all the authorizations previously given to the secretaries Li Yujie and Yang Rui were invalidated.
Therefore, Ji Cheng asked Peking University to hand over to him all of Mr. Ji's calligraphy, paintings, books, manuscripts, and belongings.
Mr. Ji Xianlin and his wife Peng Dehua have two children, daughter Ji Wanru and son Ji Yanzong, also known as Ji Cheng. It is reasonable to say that these precious collections were all acquired by Mr. Ji Xianlin with his own money, and his inheritance was naturally inherited by his daughter and son, which was not a problem in law. The reason why there are so many disputes is actually related to some "changes" in Ji Xianlin's family.
Professor Qian, who is familiar with Ji Xianlin's family affairs, said that after 1999, Ji Xianlin's most trusted secretary Li Zheng died, and soon after, Ji Xianlin's daughter and son-in-law also died one after another, his grandchildren were working abroad, and the only son, Ji Cheng, had a stalemate relationship with his father, and for 13 years the father and son did not interact with each other. During this time, Li Yujie served as Mr. Ji's secretary, and Mr. Ji still trusted Li Yujie, and the passbook was handed over to her to manage. After Li Yujie was hospitalized after a stroke in 2006, Yang Rui began to serve as Ji Xianlin's secretary. One of Li Yujie's basic points is that Ji Xianlin has donated all the inheritance, so it has nothing to do with Ji Cheng, and Ji Cheng's suspicion that she is hiding Ji Xianlin's inheritance is also groundless. Ji Cheng believes that his father's donation is illegal, because some of the property donated by his father is the relics of his grandmother and mother, and his father cannot unilaterally donate other people's things. Although the father and son did not communicate for 13 years, before Ji Xianlin's death, the father and son had been reconciled as before, and Ji Xianlin also changed the way he handled his inheritance, and authorized Ji Cheng to handle his own property affairs, so he had the right to find out how much inheritance his father had.
It is precisely for these reasons that there are many opinions from all sides related to Ji Xianlin's property, and eventually there is a case of Ji Xianlin's former residence where the precious books and cultural relics were looted!
03
Trial transcript: Defendant Wang Ru walked into the courtroom with a model step, his language was thunderous, and his expression was funny
On the morning of May 11, 2011, the theft of Ji Xianlin's former residence was tried at the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. Surprisingly, the trial, which was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. but was delayed at 10.30 a.m., refused to wear a uniform before the trial and said emotionally that she was not a criminal and should not wear such clothes. A dramatic scene finally appeared, Wang Ru wore a small black vest and white shirt, pinched the orchid finger, and walked into the courtroom with his head held high, like a "proud general".
Wang Ru entered the courtroom with his head held high
The other defendant, Fang Xianru, wore a uniform and followed Wang Ru, and compared with Wang Ru's high profile, Fang Xianru appeared honest and friendly.
Wang Ru first appeared in the public eye at Mr. Ji Xianlin's memorial service. At that time, after the farewell, one of Ji Lao's relatives wanted to take away the 2 small turtles at the scene, which was strongly blocked by Wang Ru, when she spoke amazingly and shouted that someone was going to steal Ji Lao's turtle.
The turtle of Ji Xianlin's family
This unveiled a corner of Ji Xianlin's legacy dispute in front of the public, and also made Wang Ru, an unknown person, "become famous in a scolding".
Fang Xianru (left) and Wang Ru in court
When Wang Ru stood in the defendant's seat, the flash of the reporters at the scene was aimed at her in unison.
A more interesting scene appears, Wang Ru is emotionally rich in front of the camera, sometimes leaning 15 degrees and crossing his hands.
Sometimes he leaned back and made a proud look.
Sometimes he stared at his eyes and made a funny expression.
He even opened his mouth wide and made a surprised expression.
At the time, photojournalists called her "queen of expressions." ”
When the prosecutor verified her identity and called her "unemployed," Wang Ru suddenly became emotional and said, "Who said I was unemployed?!" I am an associate professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University, a visiting scholar at Peking University, and an assistant secretary general of the Ji Xianlin Foundation. I am a person with status. After reporting to his home like a cannon, Wang Ru said indifferently: "Identity is something outside the body, don't say anything." Then, her voice increased by an octave, "It is not okay to say that I steal, it is about the dignity of life, my innocence, my reputation, I must say it well." ”
The procurator banned it several times, but Wang Rucai stopped his mouth and obeyed the trial procedures.
Wang Ru claimed that she was the daughter of Li Yujie, who had been Mr. Ji Xianlin's secretary for 38 years, and it was precisely because of this relationship that she had the unique conditions to approach Elder Ji, and repeatedly stressed: "I am the royal reporter of Elder Ji, the most trusted junior." After my mother Li Yujie fell ill in 2006, I took over my mother's job as secretary general of the Ji Lao Foundation, and Ji Lao announced the news to the world on his birthday. In response to the procuratorate's question, Wang Ru's words were full of pride.
However, the investigation found that the professional information provided by Wang Ru was very inaccurate, and the certificates presented by the personnel department of Xi'an Jiaotong University and Peking University presented by the prosecutor showed that Wang Ru graduated from the junior high school, was a Chinese teacher at the affiliated middle school of Xi'an Medical University, and was later hired as the editor of the xi'an medical university newspaper, but after the merger of Xi'an Medical University and Xi'an Jiaotong University, Wang Ru was not hired by Jiaotong University, and then Wang Ru left the affiliated middle school of Xi'an Medical University. Peking University even claimed that Wang Ru had nothing to do with Peking University. After Li Yujie fell ill in 2006, Wang Ru assisted Li Yujie in her work, and as for her claim to be the secretary general of the Ji Lao Foundation, there was no official announcement.
When the prosecutor asked, "Is Li Yujie your biological mother?" ”
Wang Ru said excitedly again: "This is my privacy, I am not qualified to tell you!" ”
There was a burst of laughter from the auditorium.
When the prosecutor asked, "Why did you instigate Fang Xianru to enter the former residence of Ji Xianlin in Langrun Garden of Peking University on December 15, 2009, using a broken window to enter the former residence of Ji Xianlin in Langrun Garden, and secretly steal various books, statues and a large number of items?" The appraisal value totaled more than 3.33 million yuan. ”
Wang Ru emotionally refuted, believing that Ji Cheng, taking advantage of Ji Xianlin's serious illness, took out 6 copies of Ji Xianlin's instructions, deprived her and Li Yujie of the right to deal with Ji Xianlin's documents, and Ji Cheng was fully responsible for it, and Ji Cheng also asked Peking University for the property that Ji Xianlin had donated. Wang Ru repeatedly claimed: Those instructions are all false, I have followed Elder Ji for so many years, living in Elder Ji's house, helping him take care of things and deal with the affairs of the foundation, who can know Ji Lao's handwriting better than me?
However, when the prosecutor said that Peking University had approved some of the instructions and on June 19, 2009, when he assisted Ji Cheng in counting the valuables in Ji Xianlin's former residence and transferring the ownership to Ji Cheng, Wang Ru said again: "This violates Ji Lao's will, Ji Lao is as solid as a rock, and unswervingly demands that all property be donated to the country and the people, how can it suddenly be left to his son?" She stressed again that on the day of the incident, Fang Xianru went to the former residence to pick up the writing items instead of herself, and she did not expect that Ji Lao's original "door" - a door that can remove the glass, has been sealed with glue, so she found Xiao Xie of the school security department and smashed the balcony window to enter the room.
The prosecutor interrupted Wang Ru: "Don't you know that this kind of behavior is an illegal burglary?" ”
Wang Ruzhen said in a wordous manner: "Elder Ji is a master with a difference, and many of his behaviors are difficult for ordinary people to guess. If you can't get in the door, you smash the window and enter, which is the habit of Ji Lao. The carpenters at Peking University all know that Ji Laojia has to change the doors and windows every month. I am learning to be old. ”
Wang Ru's defense in court was very thunderous.
Wang Ru once again defended: "The property of the former residence was donated by Elder Ji to Peking University, and if Peking University does not cherish it, it belongs to the state, how can it be taken away by Ji Cheng?" The ancients clouded, and the soldier died for the confidant. I must defend Ji Lao's last wish. Therefore, Wang Ru and Fang Xianru and others used a flatbed truck to pull away the precious books and cultural relics in Ji Xianlin's former residence, and pulled a total of 17 cars, which were not finished until 5 a.m. the next day.
Wang Ru repeatedly claimed that her actions were not theft, and in her opinion, these items should belong to Peking University or the Ji Xianlin Foundation, and she has the right to dispose of them.
The defense lawyer defended Wang Ru and Fang Xianru, but for Fang Xianru, he believed that he was only "acting according to orders" and therefore could not be regarded as theft.
However, no matter what Wang Ruo's defense, the law is based on facts, and it is a fact that Mr. Ji Xianlin once donated the collection to Peking University, but before his death, he had a new proposition, authorizing his son Ji Cheng to manage the inheritance, and left a number of notes, one of which read:
Comrade Yujie: Please give ji cheng and ji qing all the items you kept, such as my diaries, manuscripts, calligraphy and paintings, money, and gifts. Ji Xianlin, November 18, 2008.
At that time, Ji Cheng's situation was that he did not have the key to Ji Xianlin's home in Langrun Garden, and Ji Xianlin's household registration book, salary card, and deposit receipts were not in his hands, but were all kept by Li Yujie. As early as the "Calligraphy and Painting Gate" incident, Ji Cheng had contacted Peking University and hoped to see his father, but the final result was "disagreement". Until Ji Xianlin fell ill and was hospitalized, his inheritance disputes became more and more revealed, several staff members avoided suspicion, and did not go to the hospital to take care of Ji Xianlin, when the medical staff learned that Ji Xianlin had a son, they urgently contacted Ji Cheng, Ji Cheng accompanied by friends to take care of his father, and the father and son were released from their previous suspicions. At that time, Ji Xianlin was very happy and said, "Don't say that I am a lonely person, I am a person with a son!" At this time, Ji Xianlin changed the way he handled the inheritance.
For Ji Cheng's final authorization of Ji Xianlin, Peking University assisted Ji Cheng in counting the valuables of the former residence.
However, Wang Ru believed that the "power of attorney" in Ji Cheng's hand was fake, so he pulled away Ji Xianlin's ancient books and precious cultural relics in the name of protecting "state property".
This is the openness of the dispute over Ji Xianlin's legacy!
Even if Wang Ru has such an excuse, it is an indisputable fact that she smashed the window and stole Ji Xianlin's precious books and cultural relics, after all, she is an outsider, and her so-called position as secretary general of the Ji Xianlin Foundation has no basis, there is no official recognition, and Peking University does not recognize it, so she has no right to deal with Ji Xianlin's legacy. Fortunately, nearly 5,000 precious books and various cultural relics were recovered. She and her janitor, Fang Xianru, were also punished by law. "Stealing a book can't be considered a steal" will not be true at any time!
04
Why did Ji Cheng not have contact with his father for 13 years?
Every family has contradictions.
The Ji Xianlin family was no exception.
As the old saying goes, "It is difficult for a clean official to judge family affairs", the public says that the public is reasonable, the mother says that the wife is reasonable, and everyone looks at the problem from their own point of view.
For 13 years, the relationship between Ji Cheng and his father Ji Xianlin was very stiff, and the father and son did not interact with each other. Some people think that the reason why Ji Xianlin does not recognize Ji Cheng is that Ji Cheng divorced the original wife and married the nanny of the family, Ma Xiaoqin, who is much younger than Ji Cheng, so Ji Xianlin feels inappropriate, so the father and son break up. The reasons are manifold, and family conflicts are composed of multiple factors.
In 2010, Ji Cheng created an article related to his father Ji Xianlin, unveiling the contradiction between himself and his father Ji Xianlin from his own perspective.
On February 8, 1994, Ji Cheng had a fight with his father, Ji Xianlin.
At that time, Ji Xianlin's wife Peng Dehua had been hospitalized for more than two months, because it was the New Year, Ji Cheng, his nephew He Wei's daughter-in-law Li Qingzhi, the little nanny and others cleaned their mother's room, from morning to afternoon, just after cleaning, Ji Xianlin came over and asked: "Where are my flowers?" "He's looking for a pot of Junzilan." Ji Xianlin is famous for his fondness for flowers. The nanny said that it was put in the opposite room, and Ji Xianlin went to look for it and did not find it, so she came over and asked Ji Cheng: "Who threw away my flowers?" ”
At that time, Ji Cheng was cooking, and when he heard his father ask him so unceremoniously, he was also very angry, so he said, "I threw it away!" In fact, Ji Cheng did not throw it, he said so on purpose. Ji Xianlin was angry at this moment, and said angrily, "Who gave you the power to throw my beloved things?" Ji Cheng said angrily, "It's God! This ordered Ji Xianlin to speak in a panicked voice, his face turned red, and he said angrily: "This is my home, I don't expect you to retire!" Ji Cheng also said unceremoniously: "I have the heart to support your old man, and I have worked hard for decades." Ji Xianlin said, "That's your willingness, I have already seen through you, you are all for your mother, and our relationship ends here." ”
Ji Xianlin and his wife took a group photo
Ji Xianlin and his wife Peng Dehua were arranged marriages, and he met a German girl when he studied abroad, but the two did not come together in the end. After returning to China, although Ji Xianlin returned to his family, he mainly focused on doing academics, and basically did not care about family affairs. As a son, Ji Cheng did not have much of an impression of his father when he was a child, and his mother and grandmother maintained the family, and he sometimes fought for his mother.
Ji Cheng
On the day of Chinese New Year's Eve, Ji Cheng made dinner, but Ji Xianlin was still angry and hid at the neighbor's house without eating. Later, the father and son talked, but Mustard stayed, and the year was not good.
On December 4, 1994, two days before the death of his wife Peng Dehua, Ji Xianlin suddenly found Ji Cheng and said to him: "You are very smart, you should not come to Peking University in the future, and I will talk to you after your mother's death." ”
So, Ji Cheng left Ji Xianlin's home.
This departure is 13 years.
During the period, Ji Cheng did not have contact with his father, every year he gave the food made at home to Ji Xianlin through the son Xiaojun of the former secretary Li Zheng, but the father and son were very stubborn, and Ji Xianlin knew that it was sent by his son and did not say anything, so the relationship between father and son has been frozen.
Until 2008, when Ji Xianlin was hospitalized, there were already some disputes surrounding his inheritance, and Ji Cheng contacted Peking University after learning about it, hoping to see his father, but without success. Ji Cheng went to the hospital several times to visit his father but was blocked, and afterwards Ji Cheng said that Li Yujie would not let him see his father.
In November 2008, Ji Cheng, accompanied by Tang Shizeng and others, said that Ji Xianlin's secretary had stopped coming to the hospital to take care of him, and everyone else was in a state of indifference, asking Ji Cheng to go to take care of him, and Ji Xianlin also welcomed his son to come, so Ji Cheng, accompanied by Tang Shizeng and others, arrived at the hospital, Ji Cheng prostrated to his father, and said at the moment: "Do you have anything to criticize me?" Ji Xianlin said, "After what sin you have committed, all these years, I have not been thinking about you every day." Therefore, the father and son released their previous suspicions and reconciled as before.
Ji Xianlin and his son Ji Cheng
Later, Ji Cheng took Ji Hongde, the son of Ma Xiaoqin, to the hospital, and Ji Xianlin was very happy and gave his grandson a big red envelope.
Ji Xianlin and grandson Ji Hongde
Afterwards, Ji Cheng recalled that the relationship with his father suddenly became tense after 1995, when his grandmother, mother and sister had all died, and his wife Ma Xiaoqin was the nanny of the family, but this was not the root cause of the father-son rupture, but it was because someone behind the scenes was making trouble.
During his hospitalization, Ji Xianlin once asked Ji Cheng, "Do you really want to poison me?" ”
Ji Cheng replied, "How can this be, do you believe it?" ”
Ji Xianlin said, "I don't believe it." ”
In Ji Cheng's view, the reason why his father said such strange things was because someone behind them made trouble in order to achieve their ulterior motives.
Fortunately, in the end, the father and son were reunited again, and Ji Cheng accompanied his father through the last years.
05
Ji Cheng auctioned his father's collection of books, the transaction price of more than 16 million, how to inherit the master's spiritual heritage and material heritage, people think deeply
In his later years, Ji Xianlin was quite pitiful, especially after 1995, his wife died, his daughter and son-in-law died one after another, and the only son "broke" with him, when Ji Xianlin, who was more than 80 years old, became a "lonely man". His grandchildren were abroad, and for more than 10 years he was surrounded only by staff... There are so many precious ancient books, calligraphy and paintings, and cultural relics in the family, Mr. Ji did not manage the housework from a young age, the wife was managed by the wife, followed by the daughter and son-in-law, and then she (he) died, the son was not around, and his family property was managed by the staff around him. Faced with such a situation, it is no wonder that some people have to worry about his property.
As a generation of masters of traditional Chinese studies, Ji Xianlin advocates "valuing harmony" and believes that the core of Chinese culture is the word "he". He not only created a large number of academic works, but also practiced them personally, influencing others with the wind and bones of intellectuals.
Professor Qian, a closed disciple of Mr. Ji, said that Mr. Ji was more harsh on his family and lived frugally, but he was very generous to outsiders, and his nanny at home had to go to school, and Ji Xianlin took out money for her to go to school, and said: This is all my income from climbing the grid, and it is clean. The money he donated was hundreds of thousands or even millions. In 2001, Ji Xianlin donated his collection of calligraphy and paintings...
But unfortunately, the spiritual legacy left by Mr. Ji can not withstand his material heritage after all, he may not have thought that after his death, there will be so many inheritance disputes, for a while, various stakeholders have moved, you sang and I appeared, and even some people took the lead in acting, openly stealing books, and staged a scene of "live drama"... The behavior of these "cultural figures" is "jaw-dropping", what spiritual heritage, academic style, but posterity to mourn to cope with the timely work, far less than those ancient books and paintings that can be realized.
The inscription given to Ji Xianlin by the calligrapher Qi Gong, as well as Ji Xianlin's manuscript
The crux of the matter is that Mr. Ji left several "chaotic" decisions, before his death he let the secretary manage his belongings; in 2001 he decided to donate 577 precious calligraphy and paintings to Peking University; after reconciling with his son Ji Cheng, he left instructions for the secretary to hand over the property in his hand to Ji Cheng, and Ji Cheng had full authority to handle his inheritance affairs; this caused stakeholders to have different opinions, Ji admitted that the donation for his father was illegal, not to mention that he had Ji Xianlin's 2008 instructions in his hands, and Peking University believed that Mr. Ji's donation was valid. Ji Cheng's request is invalid. Later, Ji Cheng failed to negotiate with Peking University, and took Peking University to court, Ji Cheng lost the lawsuit in the first instance, and Ji Cheng appealed again.
The scene when Ji Cheng and Peking University fight a lawsuit
But no matter what, Ji Cheng eventually got thousands of precious books and some cultural relics left by Ji Xianlin.
In 2011, at the Beijing Guardian Autumn Auction, Ji Cheng auctioned his father's 165 precious ancient books, and the final transaction price was 16.2 million yuan, excluding the auction fee, the final income was about 13 million yuan, and Ji Cheng and his nephew shared the money equally.
As Ji Xianlin's only son, no matter what kind of contradictions the father and son had, the two finally reconciled, and he also enjoyed the inheritance left by Ji Xianlin.
epilogue
To this day, Ji Xianlin's "heritage dispute" that has lasted for many years still leaves us with a lot of heavy thinking, both "spiritual heritage" and "material heritage".
To tell the truth, the master's spiritual legacy is not difficult to inherit, because with his books, you can learn, but how to deal with the material heritage is very complicated.
After Ji Cheng auctioned off his father's collection of books, some people commented that Ji Cheng was a "loser", but Ji Cheng said: This is the inheritance left by my father to me, I have the right to dispose of it, and others can't say it!
Therefore, such a thing can only be "let others comment".
But this case gives us another big enlightenment: when dealing with property, we should make accurate plans as soon as possible, and form legally recognized documents to avoid the covetousness of stakeholders and some unnecessary disputes.