Lane 1315 Yuyuan Road is a fireworks lane where Louis Alley, a great internationalist warrior, old friend of the Chinese and important founder of the industrial cooperation movement, once lived. Last month, Louis Alley's House was opened.
Ai Li is a person who loves life, and in this small and beautiful "living room", there are both his favorite Sixi dolls and a thrilling "refrigerator leakage" incident.
Four Hi dolls
Find the number plate on Lane 1315 Yuyuan Road, and walk straight inside to see a three-story Western-style building with a cream brick and wood cement structure. The house was built in 1912 and Alley lived here between 1932 and 1937.
Although this is a newly displayed living room, it is full of life. The charcoal fire in the fireplace is burning vigorously, warming the hut and shielding it from the cold and wet Shanghai winter. The mantelpiece has photos taken by Ai Li when he was in Shanghai, the unique artistic angle of black and white old photos brings out the modernity of that era, Ai Li is a beautiful man, his smiling side face still seems to be very amiable.
Four Hi dolls
The "Four Joy Dolls" next to the photo frame are said to be a handicraft that Ai Li liked very much before his death, and the Four Joy dolls at first glance are two dolls playing, and a closer look is four dolls playing, full of interest, lovely, and also has the beautiful meaning of many children and blessings.
Scenes from Louis Alley's work and life
On the coat rack on the right hand side of the entrance, a sable hat with an all-black coat color that was still shiny was worn by Ai Li in the 60s of the 20th century. The beech wood square in front of the fireplace is a relic treasure of Alley's former residence, and a pair of sofas surrounded by the square table is the most homely and warm decoration.
From the outside of the building, there is an escalator outside the house that leads up to the second-floor apartments. Although the house now houses many families, during his time in Alley, he used the lobby on the ground floor as a reception room and dining room, and behind it was an auxiliary room such as a kitchen, which also included a studio with a lathe and some tools. On the ground floor, there is a car garage along the alley, and there is a small garden in front of the house. Last year, with the joint efforts of the Changning District Party Committee, Gonghe International and Huayang Road Street, one of the rooms on the ground floor of the former residence was restored as a reception room. Walk through the small door with a green sign on a black background that holds the former residence of Louis Alley, and you can walk a few steps to this drawing room. In this small room of less than 20 square meters, there are bookcases, writing desks, chairs, coffee tables, chairs, lamps, coat racks, etc., which are all restored with reference to the furniture of the time.
Fall on one's feet
In the drawing room, a typewriter was displayed on a writing desk by the window in the room. This typewriter was used by Alley during travel and vacation in the seventies and eighties of the last century. The "Selected Poems of Alley", as well as works published after the 70s of the 20th century and some travel reports, came from this typewriter.
A portable typewriter used by Louis Alley in the 70-80s of the 20th century
The typewriter was donated by Duan Hailong, Alley's eldest grandson. The transmitter displayed under the window simulates the scene of Ai Li keeping in touch with the front-line Red Army on the roof. The Comintern-China Group set up a secret radio station in Alley's penthouse room to maintain communication with the Red Army who was marching in parts of the country. Mr. Gampu, an electrical engineer at the Shanghai Electric Power Company, connects directly from the mainline without a meter and manages to receive power at night. Stations should be moved frequently to avoid detection.
transmitter
One Sunday, Ai Li was drinking tea in the corridor when he saw an inspection team of patrolmen, detectives and an engineer from the Shanghai Electric Power Company looking for leaks in power lines, slowly going from house to house until they reached Ai's home. The inspection team was so close that there was no time to unplug the wires on the radio. So, Alley, they just sat and waited. The inspection team first went to the kitchen on the ground floor and then to the refrigerator, where it did find a leak. Alley's friend, the engineer at the power company, said, "The refrigerator is leaking! Refrigerator leakage! So Ai Li invited the inspection team from the kitchen on the ground floor to the dining room, poured wine for everyone, and warmly greeted them. That night, Ai Li and the others moved the radio station to a high-rise room specially designed for this purpose.
Clever cover
In addition to transmitting intelligence, Alley also helped cover revolutionary comrades. Liu Ding is the founder of China's military industry, and has served as the director of the military industry department of the Eighth Route Army headquarters and the deputy director of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Military Industry Bureau. In the 30s of the last century, he worked in Shanghai Central Techco.
Selected poems of Alley
One night in 1935, a friend Smedley brought a man to Alley's house, and she introduced that the visitor was Charles: "He will stay with you for a while." So Charles became a member of the Alley family. Later, Ai Li learned that Charles's real name was Liu Ding. During that time, Ai Li was already the chief safety inspector of the factory, equipped with official cars, which gave Liu Ding and other CCP underground party and revolutionaries a good cover.
At the end of 1935, Zhang Xueliang went to Shanghai to meet with the old ministry, expressing his willingness to join forces with the communists in the northwest to resist Japan, and asked the old ministry to find Dong Jianwu and tell the news to Soong Qingling, who recommended Liu Ding as a representative of the communist party to meet Zhang Xueliang in Xi'an. With the help of Ai Li's arrangement, Liu Ding met Dong Jianwu. After carefully studying the international situation, the news of the Northeast Army and the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, and the characteristics of Zhang Xueliang's life, Liu Ding decided to accept the invitation. Louis Alley also went to Nanjing Road to buy a decent outfit for Liu Ding. Later, Liu Ding was appointed as the representative of the CPC Army in Northeast China, and did a lot of political and ideological work around Zhang Xueliang, which strengthened Zhang Xueliang's confidence and determination to resist Japan, laid the foundation for the later talks with Zhou Enlai (present-day Yan'an) and accepted the CCP's idea of uniting to resist Japan, and laid the groundwork for the "Xi'an Incident".
Alley Circle of Friends
As early as June of the year before the opening of Ai Li's former residence, Huayang Road Street in Changning District took the lead in creating the "Red Mark of Yuyuan People" Louis Ai Li Micro Exhibition Hall by excavating and displaying the red landmarks on Yuyuan Road, which became a patriotic education base at the "doorstep" welcomed by citizens.
Louis Alley Micro Showroom
The micro-exhibition hall has a construction area of about 40 square meters, and the exhibition in the hall is divided into five chapters: "Into Lane 1315 Yuyuan Road", "Louis Alley's Revolutionary Deeds in Lane 1315", "Louis Alley in China", "Louis Alley's 'Circle of Friends'" "What did Louis Alley leave us?" ”
After the opening of Louis Alley's former residence, it complements the Louis Alley micro exhibition hall at the mouth of the lane, and jointly carries the functions of the service position of the party and masses in the Yuyuan Road block and the civilization practice station in the new era. After that, it will also become a discussion space for residents and resident units to participate in community governance, allowing people to feel the red history and culture around them at the "doorstep".
Bronze statue of Louis Alley
From the preparation and operation of the Louis Alley micro-showroom to the opening of the Louis Alley House, the residents of Lane 1315 Yuyuan Road, which "lived" with Louis Alley, played an important role in it. Most of these "guardians of the house" are native "aborigines", some of whom are elderly and had seen Louis Alley himself in the alleys as children.
The new and old residents who live here are very supportive of the preservation and inheritance of the former residence. Previously, during the preparation of the Louis Allie Micro Showroom, many residents had taken the initiative to participate in it. Last year, the successful completion of the renovation of the former residence was inseparable from the recognition and support of the residents. Qiu Li said bluntly: "Many residents have a deep affection for the former residence of Ai Li located at the gate of the lane, and hope that the former residence can be properly protected and inherited, and make good use of this precious red landmark as much as possible." ”