Preface
During the Republic of China, there were many celebrities with titles, but there was only one person who was called the "first perfect person" in the Republic of China.
Tan Yanmin was a clear stream during the Republic of China, he was able to write and martial arts, treat his wife with dedication and dedication, and rejected Song Meiling.
In Tan Yanmin's body, there is also the calligraphy that flows smoothly, he is the first of the four major calligraphers of the Republic of China, and is known as the "master of modern calligraphy".
The maid in the room has a hard time and can't say it
Such a perfect person, in fact, he has another "shortcoming", that is, he is a concubine.
Maybe this is not a disadvantage in our opinion, but in the late Qing Dynasty, it was enough to affect a person's future.
Tan Yanmin's mother is Li, and women in ancient times would not leave their names, they would only be called surnames, and if they married, they would also take their husband's surname before their surname.
Li is not only a feudal woman who has not left her name, but also a girl who has a room.
In ancient times, the maid was a strange existence in the maid system, because she did the work of the subordinates, and also fulfilled the obligations of the concubine, to serve the male master in the room.
Like Wang Xifeng's eldest girl Ping'er in "A Dream of Red Mansions", she has no status as an aunt, but when the master and his wife have sex, she not only needs to be served closely, but if the master beckons her, she also needs to have sex together.
Listen, how ridiculous!
It can be said that the maid in the room is a type of person whose status is lower than that of the concubine.
In feudal society, especially in the upper class and elite families, when the boys in the family gradually enter sexual maturity and begin to have menstrual periods, they usually look for some older maids or maids, so that they can give them sex education and guidance at the appropriate time, and even let them do things with the little master to help them through this stage of puberty.
In ancient times, the status of the girls in the room seemed to be relatively high, because they could have more intimate contact with the male host, and they could also talk in front of the male host.
But this does not mean that their status has improved, because the girls in the room are just a kind of maids, their status is still low-status slaves, and most of the male masters just use them as tools to vent.
If the ending is better, it will be promoted to a concubine, and if it is not good, it will be left aside by the master, or even expelled from the house, and it will be difficult to marry.
Standing and serving for 33 years
The Li family is a maid in the Tan Mansion.
At that time, it was the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government was corrupt and oppressed by foreign powers, which led to the increase of taxes on the people, and God did not pity the poor people.
The Li family couldn't go on anymore, so they decided to sell their daughter Li to a big family as a maid.
At that time, it was also common to sell oneself into the house to be a maid, and if you lived well, you won the favor of the master's family, and you were able to save a piece of money every month and help the family.
The Li family was bought by the rich wife of Tan Zhonglin, the feudal official at that time, and made Tan Zhonglin a maid.
In 1871, Tan Zhonglin was transferred to Shaanxi and served as the political envoy of Shaanxi. His wife was bedridden due to illness, and she was not worried about her husband, so she sent Li to take care of Tan Zhonglin's food, clothing and daily life.
Don't look at the Li family as a high-status maid among the subordinates, but she still does rough work and tiring work, and Tan Zhonglin has to serve him when he is interested in the evening.
But knowing that his status is low, Li has never complained about anything.
A big family like Tan Fu pays attention to rules in everything he says and does. For example, when eating, the lord and the lady and the young master and the young lady can sit and eat, and the concubines and maids in the room cannot be served.
Li's status was even lower, she not only had to stand to serve his wife, but also to feed the concubines.
Until 1879, when Li was working, she suddenly felt a wave of nausea in her stomach and almost wanted to vomit, and she had been serving her master for almost ten years, so she naturally knew what this sign was.
Sure enough, after the doctor's diagnosis, Li was indeed pregnant.
She thought that she could improve her life and status with this child, but she didn't expect Tan Zhonglin to care about this child at all, and the Li family was still doing dirty work as before.
On the day she gave birth, the indescribable pain all over her body made her sweat ripple in torture, and she almost had a difficult birth.
After a long time, Li gave birth to a boy, and after exhaustion, his eyes closed and he fainted.
Mothers are more expensive than children
Although Tan Zhonglin didn't care about this son, after all, he was his own child, so it was reasonable to name him Tan Yanhong, the word Zu'an.
Tan Yanmin has shown intelligence since he was a child, coupled with the strict family style of the Tan family, Tan Zhonglin is also very strict with the education of children, Tan Yanmin, who entered a private school at the age of five, actually had to write an article in three days, write a poem in five days, and contact various brush words.
But he never shouted that he was tired, and he studied very hard, and Tan Zhonglin thought that this son had a malleable talent, so he had high hopes for him.
However, the status of the Li family has not improved much, but it has been promoted from the general room to the concubine room, and he still has to stand and serve the old lady at every meal.
Fortunately, Tan Yanmin not only worked hard in his studies, but also took pity on this low-born mother. He never felt humbled because of his mother's status, on the contrary, he respected the Li family very much, and later used his own efforts to improve the status of the Li family.
Although Tan Yanmin is a concubine, he is the master of the Tan family after all, and the Li family is not as good as his son. Even if she gave birth to children for the Tan family, someone still canceled her.
Whenever this time, Tan Yanmin will fight for his mother, but Li is a gentle person who does not cause trouble, she doesn't want her son to cause trouble because of herself, she will take her son away every time, and teach him afterwards: "You can only protect your mother if you study hard and have a chance." ”
One day in the thirtieth year of Guangxu, Tan Yanmin's efforts after ten years of hard work in the cold window finally paid off, and he won Huiyuan with a blockbuster. When the news was transmitted back to Tan's family, Tan Zhonglin immediately asked the house to hang lanterns and firecrackers to celebrate.
The Tan family was the happiest of the Li family, with tears in her eyes, and she was very excited in her heart: her son was so good!
Tan Zhonglin was happy in his heart, and he said to the Li family: "You sit down and eat together." ”
At this moment, Li, who has been standing for 33 years, is even more excited, obviously she is "more expensive than her mother".
And Tan Yanmin returned home, and was surprised to find that his mother could also serve the table, he knew that his efforts were not in vain, for the sake of his mother, he had to work harder.
It wasn't until 1916 that Lee fell seriously ill and died. At this time, Tan Yanmin was not by his mother's side, and after he learned the news, he immediately rushed home to see his mother off for the last time.
When he returned home, Tan Yanmin personally arranged the funeral for his mother, but on the day of the funeral, the clansmen did not allow the Li family to pass through the main gate.
Tan Yanmin looked at the obstruction of the clansmen, and he was furious, he remembered that his mother had not been able to enjoy her old age well, and even death was not decent.
He immediately turned over into the coffin and said loudly: "I, Tan Yanhong, am dead, carry me out of the funeral!"
The clansmen were shocked, and the coffin of the Li family came out of the main entrance.
Seeing that his mother had been tortured all her life because of her status as a concubine, Tan Yanmin secretly swore in his heart that he would never take a concubine, and he would only have one wife in this life.
As it turns out, he did. In September 1930, Tan Yanmin died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage, and he had only one wife in his life.