In the summer of 1906, Lu Ying, the second daughter of the Lu family, was going to get married. As a local wealthy family in Yangzhou, she wants to marry her husband - Zhang Wuling, who is also in charge.
The Lu family married the Yangzhou garden "Dongrong Garden", and the dowry was transported to Hefei on 5 deep-water ships, and the wedding procession stretched endlessly along the way, lined up 10 streets. The ten-mile pavilion was filled with dowries, countless gold and silver jewelry, and even silver chains hung from bamboo brooms.
This marriage can be described as a match made in heaven, after Lu Ying and her husband got married, they were pregnant with 14 children in 16 years, five sons and four daughters, and all of them achieved a lot of achievements.
The four daughters are even known as the "four golden flowers" of the Republic of China, and the husbands they marry are all extraordinary, all thanks to the careful education of their mother Lu Ying.
As a wife, Lu Ying keeps the house in order; As a mother, Lu Ying made each of her 9 children become talents. Such a talented woman, but died at the age of 36.
Why did Lu Ying end up in such an unfortunate end? What is the relationship between her and her husband?
There is a folk song "Ten Cups of Wine" in Hefei, singing at the end of the streets and alleys: "A glass of wine, the wine is fragrant, and Hefei has a Li Hongzhang... Three glasses of wine... Hefei has Zhang Shusheng again..."
What is the origin of this Zhang Shusheng, who can be as famous as Li Hongzhang?
Zhang Shusheng was a general of the Huai Army of the Qing Army and Li Hongzhang's right hand, and once held important official posts such as inspector, political envoy, prefect, and governor.
Zhang Shusheng gave birth to three sons, Zhang Huakui, Zhang Huaxuan and Zhang Huadou. The second son married Li Hongzhang's granddaughter, and Zhang and Li were married and had a close relationship.
The Zhang family has a lot of power in the Hefei area, owns 10,000 mu of good land, collects countless rents every year, and is a typical wealthy family.
In 1898, when Zhang Wuling was 9 years old, his father Zhang Huakui died early of illness in eastern Sichuan. He could only return to his hometown in Hefei with his mother and a few girls, which was the beginning of the decline of the Zhang family.
At that time, the family heritage of the Zhang family was still relatively deep, and Zhang Wuling and several brothers had been studying privately at home. The elders hoped that they would pass the imperial examination and become officials and continue the glory of the family.
In 1905, in order to promote Western-style education and cultivate more talents, the Qing government abolished the imperial examination system for the purpose of selecting officials. Zhang Wuling studied poetry hard for 16 years, but he could not pass the exam to become an official.
For Zhang Wuling, it is really a big regret. His brother can still enter the army through the Zhang family connections, but he has been weak since he was a child, and he is really weak.
If there is no hope in the future, the Zhang family can start Zhang Wuling's marriage. The following year, the Zhang family appointed him with his wife, Lu Ying.
The Zhang family has a deep heritage, and the Lu family is also not small. The Lu family is rooted in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, and is a wealthy family in the Yangzhou area.
There is a way: "Fireworks go down to Yangzhou in March." "Yangzhou is far richer and more prosperous than Hefei.
Lu Ying's father is the Lianghuai Salt Transport Division, and most of the children in the family are engaged in the salt industry. The salt merchants have strong financial resources, and the world's tax salt tax accounts for half, and the two Huai account for half of the salt tax.
The wealth of the Lu family can be seen from Lu Ying's dowry, from Yangzhou hired a ship to transport the dowry to Hefei, all the way to Longmen Lane Zhang Mansion. The dowry was rich, and it filled 10 streets.
There are several sets of light rosewood furniture, and countless gold and silver jewelry. I heard that Lu Ying's dowry was carefully prepared by her mother for 10 years, just so that her daughter could marry beautifully.
After the bride price condensed all the energy of her mother, Lu Ying got married, she passed away because of overwork, as if her mother had completed her grand mission in life - to marry a daughter.
The rich dowry brought by Lu Ying made the Zhang family dare not despise her by half a point. Lu Ying received a traditional female moral education since she was a child, paying attention to women's virtuous virtue and showing wisdom.
As soon as she married into the Zhang family, she took care of the Zhang family inside and out.
The Zhang Mansion is very lively, including grandfather Zhang Shusheng and father Zhang Huakui's concubines, as well as 3 uncles, uncles and sisters-in-law, plus more than 50 workers.
Lu Ying's butler is very competent, shrewd and generous, and has a good command. Things were in order at home, from the elders to the slaves, all of whom were very satisfied with her.
There are many family affairs, she keeps accounts and practices in the study every day, likes to watch plays and sing novels, and she also sings some Yangzhou ditties.
The four generations of the Zhang family are all after Lu Ying's butler, and they are happy and share the joy of heaven.
Only one thing made the Zhang family dissatisfied, after Lu Ying and Zhang Wuling got married, both pregnancies were miscarried, and finally gave birth to the eldest daughter. Although the family regrets that they are not men, they are very tolerant of Lu Ying.
After Lu Ying became pregnant again, the family rekindled hope. Unexpectedly, when she was close to giving birth, Lu Ying was born prematurely, and the child's umbilical cord was around the neck, making it difficult to give birth.
I finally gave birth to see that she was still a daughter. The child's breath was weak, and the old grandmother couldn't bear to save the child. The doctor shook his head one after another, and finally the female worker at home said: "Do you want to try our rural method?" ”
The midwife held the baby girl, and the female worker blew hookah on the child's face, blowing a full 108 bags before the child slowly eased up.
Despite such a difficult birth, Lu Ying insisted on getting pregnant and giving birth to 3 daughters. Every birth is a sad event, but she still insists on raising her daughter well.
Zhang Wuling gave his daughters names: Zhang Yuanhe, Zhang Yunhe, Zhang Zhaohe. There are two feet inside, which is also the hope that the children will fly away when they grow up and marry into a better family.
The elders in the family often urge them to continue to have children, and the family must not be without a male child for a day. Lu Ying was anxious and gave birth to a child almost every year.
In 1911, at a time of social unrest, many people started comprador businesses, set up factories, became industrialists or joined the revolution.
But Zhang Wuling is different, he is at ease to live a quiet life in his hometown in Hefei. As a descendant of the Zhang family, he inherited most of his ancestral property, and he did not need to struggle to live a rich and leisurely life, and he did not worry about food and clothing all his life.
Since he was a child, he has lived a life of brocade clothes and food, but he does not like pleasure like other stubborn children, but he only likes to read books and clean himself.
He hated gambling, never played any cards, smoked any cigarettes, and drank alcohol all his life.
Coupled with the fact that he began to learn Confucianism since he was a child, the elegant temperament of the scholarly children can be seen in him, quite a gentleman's style.
When there was social turmoil outside, he read poetry at home and stayed in Hefei to become a rich man. Occasionally I pay attention to what is happening outside, until the times are different.
In 1912, the Qing government had already existed in name only, and the government of the Republic of China was established in Nanjing. Zhang Wuling left Hefei to move to Shanghai, where he could experience the new society and new ideas.
Although Hefei is good, there are many bad customs in the city, and Zhang Wuling does not want his daughters to be influenced by traditional ideas, and hopes to take them to a new environment to study.
Lu Ying had no objections and complied with her husband's wishes.
With their mother, four elderly aunts and cousins, two daughters and a large group of servants, the couple moved from Hefei to Shanghai for several months and at a great cost of money, renting a courtyard in Shanghai.
After just moving to Shanghai, Lu Ying found out that she was pregnant again and was happy.
Although there are no elders in her family to point fingers at her, as the eldest daughter-in-law who received a traditional education since she was a child, Lu Ying gave birth to 3 daughters in a row, which is still very stressful.
Public opinion is also patriarchal, mother depends on the son is expensive, she still hopes to give birth to her son quickly, but did not expect that the fourth daughter born Zhang Chonghe is still a girl.
Lu Ying often held the child all night during confinement, tired and weak, emaciated and without milk, and she often broke down and cried at night.
Later, the second grandmother of the Zhang family came to Shanghai to visit relatives, saw that the child was very cute, and proposed to adopt Zhang Chonghe. This grandmother has a kind personality, as Li Hongzhang's niece, she is not small, she likes Buddhism and kindness, and the couple readily agreed.
After sending away her four daughters, Lu Ying gave birth to 5 sons in a row: Zonghe, Yinhe, Dinghe, Yuhe, and Huanhe. Both husband and wife felt that it was a good thing to send their daughter Zhang Chong and away, and the family finally came to work.
Although Lu Ying gave birth to 4 daughters at the beginning, these 4 daughters were all four famous ladies who shook the Republic of China.
The four sisters are all very beautiful, and they are not at all bound by traditional ideas.
eldest sister Zhang Yuanhe has a stable personality, dignified and beautiful, and dresses appropriately; The second sister Zhang Yunhe is influenced by her mother and likes Kunqu opera, her appearance is slender and delicate, refreshing and beautiful, her personality is strong, and she talks quickly.
The third sister, Zhang Zhaohe, is silent and introverted, willful and stubborn, but quite talented; The younger sister Zhang Chonghe is especially good at calligraphy as a single parent, because she passed on to her uncle and grandmother since she was a child, so she developed a unique temperament.
The marriages of the four sisters are enviable, married to the Kunqu opera master Gu Chuanjie, the "father of Hanyu Pinyin" Zhou Youguang, the literary master Shen Congwen and the American scholar Fu Hansi, and the four sons-in-law are not idle people.
Ye Shengtao even said: "Whoever marries a girl from Jiuru Lane will be happy for a lifetime." ”
The four sisters can come out so well, thanks to their mother's deep teaching to them, and they can better reflect that Lu Ying, who comes from a traditional family, is very good.
Even Zhang Chonghe, the fourth daughter who was given up for adoption, has never resented her parents. The second grandmother's social status in the Zhang family is quite prestigious, and everyone in the local area knows it.
Father Zhang Wuling is very good to his daughters, taking them to read and write, read newspapers and study, and even founded a girls' school so that more girls have the opportunity to learn.
At that time, Zhang Wuling and his family moved from Shanghai to Suzhou, where they lived in Shouning Lane, a private garden in Suzhou with three houses.
It was the happiest day the children had, and Zhang Wuling loved reading so much that most of the newspapers available on the market at that time would order one. The children followed their father to read "Declaration", "News", "Suzhou Minbao", etc., and received a good edification from an early age.
Zhang Wuling is most proud of his book collection, many homes have two large study rooms, the four walls are high ceiling-high bookshelves, neatly arranged with books, many of which are rare books and rare books.
Zhang Wuling wants to open his own school, and he has exchanges with educators such as Cai Yuanpei and Tao Xingzhi. He hopes to be able to run a complete school, from kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, high school, and university.
In 1921, Zhang Wuling founded Leyi Girls' High School, which was also the predecessor of Suzhou No. 1 Middle School.
"Leyi" means to be optimistic and enterprising, to benefit the society, and to pay for all the expenses of running a school by himself. There is no tuition fee for girls from poor families to attend school.
From 1921 to 1937, the school lasted for 16 years, but it spent 250,000 silver yuan, all of which Zhang Wuling paid alone.
The situation was turbulent, and the school had only been in operation for more than ten years before it had no choice but to close. At that time, many people called Zhang Wuling "Zhang Madman", and they felt very puzzled when they saw him sell property and run schools.
Many rich children laughed and said: "Zhang Wuling is really stupid to death, money is never spent, it is spent on educating children, but on other people's children." ”
In 1927, Zhang Wuling threw himself into school, but ignored his wife Lu Ying's body. Married for 16 years, she conceived 14 children and eventually gave birth to 9 safely. Production consumes a huge amount of her essence and is difficult to replenish it.
One day in October, Lu Ying went to a Western medicine clinic to extract her teeth because of a toothache, but accidentally got sepsis and died of the disease.
Lu Ying lingered on the bed, looking at his 9 children, and felt that he had no regrets in this life. The husband and wife love and happiness, cherish each other, and she is already satisfied.
After Lu Ying's death, Zhang Wuling handled his wife's afterlife. He sat by his wife's coffin and stared at her young and beautiful pale face for a long time.
Many people advised Zhang Wuling to quickly let her go to the soil for safety, but he would not let the coffin be covered no matter what he said, which left a deep impression on the four sisters.
From this day on, Zhang Wuling would never mention his wife again, and never said a word of longing. If the child accidentally mentions it, he will be treated as if there is no striking case.
Later, Zhang Wuling married a Continuation Wei and gave birth to a son, making up 10 siblings of the Zhang family. The 9 children are well-behaved and sensible, and do not reject the stepmother,
The children are also used to it, life has to go on, what is the relationship between Zhang Wuling and Lu Ying? No one else knows.
Needless to say, Lu Ying's character, morality and cultivation needless to say, and in the memoir essays written by her children, she praised her mother's talent countless times.
It's a pity that the red face is dry and the beauty is not there.
Some people say that Zhang Wuling is ruthless, his wife gave birth to children for him, opened branches and leaves, and finally unfortunately left, but he married someone else. It seems affectionate, but it is actually ruthless.
And many people praised Zhang Wuling for being in love and has been married to his wife for 16 years without taking a concubine, and he has always been the same. In the social environment at that time, this was already a rare good man.
Are two people really in love? Perhaps only the two of them knew.
Resources:
By XU Pin. Social circle of the Republic of China[M]. Harbin:Northern Literature and Art Press, 2015.09.
Edited by Zhejiang Satellite TV Jiangnan Column Group. Gangnam Character Legend[M]. Hangzhou:Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House, 2013.01.