From the investment of The world's first billionaire Rockefeller to the masterpiece of "Sullivan, the father of modern architectural design", it has undergone vicissitudes and finally become the station of the good eight companies on Nanjing Road, and the legend of architecture is lamentable. The three words "Luo Mansion" have been marked on the map of AutoNavi and Baidu, becoming a symbol. But this popular statement is probably just a beautiful misunderstanding.
Located at No. 753 Yuyuan Road, Changning District, Shanghai, the Luo Mansion is an 800-square-meter villa, the residence of American oil tycoon Rockefeller, designed by Louis Sullivan, a famous American architectural designer known as the "father of modern architecture".
The appearance of the "Luo Mansion" marked with a map today
Interior view of today's "Lo Mansion"
In 1870, Rockefeller and the banker Morrison reached a partnership to name the company "Standard Oil Company", which would later become known as "Mobil Oil" in China. john k D. Rockefeller was also the first billionaire ever made by mankind. In 1911, Rockefeller commissioned Sullivan's office of architectural design to design what is now 753 Yuyuan Road. In 1913, the Rockefeller Mansion at 753 Yuyuan Road was completed, and the Rockefeller family members did not move in at that time, but became famous as a private club for American investors in Shanghai at that time. In 1924, during the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War, Sun Chuanfang fully controlled Shanghai, and No. 753 Yuyuan Road became the residence of Yan Jingchong, the commander of the Zhejiang Army under Sun Chuanfang.
In 1927, Bai Chongxi of the Eastern Expedition Army led its troops into Shanghai, and No. 753 Yuyuan Road was assigned to the Nationalist Government Pilot's Apartment (Jiangning Apartment). In March 1964, the good eight companies on Nanjing Road entered No. 753 Yuyuan Road. On November 11, 2011, Rockefeller Mansion was officially built into a well-known high-end catering brand clubhouse in the most prosperous area of Shanghai.
This is an introduction to the Internet about 753 Jinyuyuan Road. Another passage describes the past and present lives of No. 753 in a very eloquent way:
john k D. Rockefeller first landed on the beach in 1890.
That year, the 154th year of the first industrial revolution in the Western world, Chicagoans were already running the first marine industry expo, and the power of capital began to influence the process of social development.
In China, that year, Li Hongzhang vigorously defied public opinion and continued to trust Yuan Shikai, who was "bloody and loyal, talented and sensitive, and vigorously maintained the overall situation, and it was difficult for him to be alone."
Before coming to Shanghai, John F. D. Rockefeller fought several hard battles and wars in the US market, and the monopoly of the oil market was clear, and he began to let legal counsel Dodd create momentum for the monopoly organization of the "trust", because he asserted: "The era of small businessmen is over, and the era of big business is coming." ”
john k D. Rockefeller's first trip to the beach was prepared, clearly targeted, and quick. First, two bungalows were built on Sichuan Middle Road for the office of "Mobil" Company, and more than 200 acres of land was purchased in the area of Qingning Temple in Pudong. In business, John The D. Rockefeller family tried their hand and used the "rubber stock boom" to make nearly a million taels of silver. In 1894, the Mobil Fire Oil Company began operations in Shanghai.
In 1911, John F. Kennedy The D. Rockefeller family planned to relocate a house in Shanghai, choosing no. 753 Yuyuan Road and entrusting the design of the famous American architect Sullivan.
In 1912, the political struggle between Yuan Shikai's Beiyang government and Sun Yat-sen's Nationalist government became fierce. john k The D. Rockefeller family bet on Yuan Shikai, through Zhou Xuexi, then the finance chief of the Beiyang government, to strategize in exchange for political protection and trade privileges in Shanghai.
In 1913, the residential building at 753 Yuyuan Road was completed. However, John F. Kennedy Members of the D. Rockefeller family did not move in, and the building became a private clubhouse for American businessmen.
In 1915, Yuan Shikai's power in Shanghai beach declined, and the Rockefeller family business was greatly affected. Since then, No. 753 Yuyuan Road has changed hands several times.
From the investment of Rockefeller, the world's first billionaire, to the masterpiece of "Sullivan, the father of modern architectural design", it has undergone vicissitudes and finally become the station of nanjing road for eight consecutive companies, and the legend of architecture makes people sigh and sigh, and they can't bear to crush a pool of dreams. Moreover, the three words "Luo Mansion" have been marked on the map of AutoNavi and Baidu, becoming a symbol.
But this popular narrative is probably just a beautiful misunderstanding, though it's not empty.
Things have to start from the 27th Moor of No. 13 in Fahua District that year, and a plot of 5.035 mu in No. 50 Jing'an District (No. 230 in Later Changning District) after 1949.
From January to May 1925, the "Declaration" published a series of child kidnapping murders that occurred at the bian Ruixin family at No. 211 Yuyuan Road. It is understood that the house number of the Shanghai Concession was re-compiled on a large scale between 1932 and 1934 (but no one has conducted a detailed comparative study of the changes so far). According to the "Declaration", "Zi Lin Xi Bao" and other advertisements with continuity, No. 211, where the kidnapping murder case occurred that year, was the location block of the later No. 753.
According to the "Directory of Shanghai Industrialists and Merchants" published in 1936, Bian Ruixin, born in 1890, was 47 years old at the time, a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, a shareholder of Yuanda, Fuji and other yarn numbers, and a director of Yongda Co., Ltd. and Tongyi Textile Company. These documents prove that the owner of No. 211-753 around 1925 should be this Ningbo businessman named Bian Ruixin.
I did not tire of it, and I recorded three of the 7 side case reports on the "Declaration" for almost half a year here, which basically shows the beginning of the child kidnapping case that year.
One of them: "The Kidnapping Murder Case of Yuyuan Road - The Young Son with the Surname bian was kidnapped by bandits." The maid resisted the death of a bomb (Declaration, 14 January 1925). At eleven o'clock in the morning yesterday, three or four kidnappers hired a car and drove to the door number of No. 211 Yuyuan Road in Huxi province and got off the bus. Rushing into the house, he saw a servant embracing the young son of the side, that is, he went forward to seize it. The maid resisted vigorously, causing the bandits to be angry, protruding the pistol, firing with a trigger, and slamming it. The maid drank and died. Taking advantage of the situation, the bandits grabbed the edge, boarded the original car, and sped away. According to the report, the head of the catcher sent a detective to the Bian family to scoop the body into the coroner's office and wait for the customs clearance for examination. Immediately, it was found that the car that the bandit was riding on was leased from Feixing Automobile Company. Therefore, the driver of the bandit driver, A, was detained in the arrest room and waited for the examination.
Part II: "The Abducted Boy of the Bian Ruixin Family Meets in Yongfa" (March 30, 1925). Ah Mao, a boy from the Ruixin family on the roadside of Huxi Yuyuan Road, was abducted by bandits before, and has not been found for several months, and I heard that the boy has been found in Ningbo. Because he was crying on the way, he was found by the police and brought into the police department to inquire about the god of wealth who was picked up by the kidnappers, so he stayed for a while, and now the Bian family has sent someone to Yong to investigate the truth.
No. 3: "Kidnapper Shen Xingbiao Waiting to Be Punished by the Mainland Government Office" (May 10, 1925). Xiao Mao, a four-year-old boy from ruixin's family at No. 211 Yuyuan Road in Huxi Province, was kidnapped by bandits. He fled and shot the nurse Chen Xifen to death. Shen Xingbiao (also known as Pan Maotou), a Shaoxing native who was recently arrested by the arrest house, was released from the public office and ordered to be detained for interrogation. According to the lawyer representing the arrest house, Methran, the defendant took a car from Feixing Company to Yuyuan Road on January 13 of this year. Because the back door of the side house is locked, it is ripped through the wall, snatched the child, and after killing the maid, it is still pulled out of the wall. The abducted children have now been found in Ningbo. However, according to the defendant, Sun was redeemed by the plaintiff, but the plaintiff denied the provision of money for redemption. Only admitted to receiving two threatening letters in advance, and neither reported the arrest of Fang Yunyun. Following the claim by No. 90 Xi Tan Shangtang, the defendant was brought from the legal arrest room, and Qu had confessed to the crime. I and Detective Sanhua took the defendant to the owner's house on Yuyuan Road to investigate. Yesterday, according to Chen Fuliang, a criminal convicted of the assassination of Detective Huang Runfu, who confessed in the arrest room, that the assassination of Inspector Huang had previously conspired with the defendant in this case, and the defendant thought that if he could kill Huang Detective. The canal gives 500 yuan to the ocean. On February 15, Huang Washu was assassinated, so the defendant was actually related to the case. After the special western detective Shell Luo Xiangshi went to the church to prove that the child of the Bian family had been taken into captivity, he immediately went to investigate, and saw that there were indeed footprints on the wall, and there were cars printed outside the door, and bian Ruixin surrendered and complained that when my son was taken captive, I was not at home, and I had to report back, that is, to report to the capture room, and now this son has been found. Because I saw the Ningbo newspaper, published the child lost, was taken in by the police department, remembered the appearance of the child, etc., similar to my son, so I went to Yong to recognize, the fruit was my son, so I took it back, and there was no money to redeem it. The two threatening letters received by the general were presented to the case, and Jiang Fuqing, the driver of the Feixing Company, went to the court to prove that the defendant was indeed riding in the Car, and that the other criminals, Lu Fuliang (i.e., Fu liang) and Ding Zhiyuan, confessed that they had met Shen and that after assassinating Huang Detective, they had indeed paid five hundred yuan. At that time, Shen said that this paragraph was the price of the ransom of the border surname. Shen Xingbiao confessed: It was a day when he was invited by a friend to play and go to the North Railway Station. Seeing a car, I boarded the car with the car to Yuyuan Road, by the fugitive Sang Fucheng gave me a pistol, Sang waited to get out of the car, from the back door of the side house to enter, not a few, carry a child out, take the original car to the north of the gate to disperse, and then there is a grandson surname to give me eight hundred yuan and other words. As for the assassination of Huang Runfu and the reward of 500 yuan, Shen Jian did not admit it, and after Shao Xiangxuan verified the confession, Vice Consul Yilan of Shangzhi ordered the defendant to be detained and prepared for detail by the mainland government department to punish according to the law.
From this case, it can be seen that: First, the security in Shanghai in the 1920s was not as good as imagined. In particular, the area around Yuyuan Road is still relatively deserted, although it is a cross-border road construction area, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works Bureau, and the Patrol House of Jing'an Temple is also nearby, but the security is slightly inferior to the core area of the concession with a more dense population, and because there are already rich ding food homes in this area, there are often cases of ticket kidnapping. Although the case was solved, the money from the side of the family was taken privately and did not dare to disclose it, which proved that there were still worries about the public security situation. And from the complex case of Huang Detective, it was found that the kidnappers actually dared to assassinate police officers, which shows their boldness; second, the milk maid resisted death to protect the child and died, which shows that the people's customs at that time were simple, and today, compared with the tragic case of burning the master's family, the maid who arrived at the savior can really win the "Seeing Righteousness and Courage" award, if this case is exposed to the Internet, the maid should become a hot topic of discussion among netizens; third, the kidnapper Shen Xingbiao, who raised a gun to kill, is a Shaoxing person, which proves that the Jiangnan area is not all people of wind and snow, except for the poetry of the plain rice-making area. In Zhejiang, there are also barren and rugged mountainous areas infested with bandits and rugged island fishermen, which is the unfinished research of Mr. Jiang Bin, the predecessor of Jiangnan culture.
The circle was divided into the 27th Block of No. 13, Fahua District, and the location of the present -day "Luo Mansion"
It may be that the Bian family sold their own plot after a sad change. Subsequently, an eight-storey apartment and a two-storey Western-style building were built here. In the original drawings of 1930, it can be seen that the current "No. 769 (Rosebery Court) and "No. 753 (Jiangning Apartment, R iversCourt EstatesLd, according to the "Declaration" advertisement, then also called the Maritime Building and the Jiangshang Building) have been clearly established, and the piping equipment drawings of the eight-story building No. 753 marked in the drawings indicate that this is already a very modern building with complete hydropower. The signature of the drawings was the very famous Elliot Hashard Architects at the time, which should be strong evidence. The misunderstanding that the building was designed by Sullivan, the "father of modern architecture", is not known because of the close english pronunciation and signature of the two. According to Louis Sullivan's years of birth and death from 1856 to 1924, Sullivan died in 1930, and it is impossible for the then Sea Building or River Building No. 753 to be designed by him. However, due to the lack of original documents in the 1910s, it has not been possible to completely negate the beginning of the article, "In 1911, John F. Kennedy" was not completely negated. D. Rockefeller commissioned Sullivan's office of architectural design to design the current residence at 753 Yuyuan Road. In 1913, the Rockefeller Mansion at 753 Yuyuan Road was completed, and the Rockefeller family members did not stay at that time, but as a private club for American investors in Shanghai at that time, it was famous for a time. Even if the Lo Mansion had been designed by Sullivan, its house number would have been the 2-story Western-style building at No. 769 near the doorway, but according to the architecture of the 1910s, the possibility of such a building is very small, and another possibility is that the skin was originally purchased by the Rockefeller family from a Chinese landlord, and legend has it. Another possibility of mistakenly planting the Western-style two-story building No. 769 as the Rockefeller family property is the Jiangshang Building, that is, the so-called Jiangning Building has been the property of Mobil Oil Company until two years after liberation (one-half, we do not know whether the two buildings before and after were once owned by Mobil and slowly sold near the liberation of Shanghai), and Mobil Oil is nothing more than the Rockefeller family, and legends may also arise. According to Mr. Xue Liyong's analysis: During the August 13 Songhu War in 1937, Yuyuan Road became the "wrong land in western Shanghai", the enemy and puppet forces were rampant, most of the overseas Chinese and wealthy Chinese evacuated Yuyuan Road, and after the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, the British and American expatriates evacuated Shanghai, and the property rights or tenants of the houses on Yuyuan Road changed greatly. Nowadays, most of the descriptions of the owners or tenants of old houses in Shanghai are based on interviews after 1945 or the memories of the descendants of old houses, which have a certain amount of moisture and cannot be fully accepted.
Advertisements in Both Chinese and English for the Jiangshang Building that year
No. 769 Luo Mansion No. 10/12 (there were also two sub-gate numbers 10 and 12 at that time) the pre-1932 house number was still No. 215, while the pre-1932 house number of No. 753 Jiangning Apartment was No. 211.
According to the literature analysis of Chinese and English newspapers such as "Declaration" and "Zilinxi Bao" provided by Gu Beilei, a teacher at New York University, after the withdrawal of the Bian Ruixin family, the new owner of Kekao is R.E. Toeg, who is the owner of a securities brokerage company. The Old Jewish man lived with his wife until around 1940, when he moved into 7A, River Building 753. TOEY has two sons and two daughters. The building on the river is run by Two of Toil's sons, David and Edmund. According to the "Shanghai Street Directory" in The China Hong List 1937 published by The China Hong List, 753 Rivers Court Apts was registered by about 20 people, including Justge & Mes Milton J. Helmick. Another 754 (which may have had a third building on the site at the time) was registered as Mr & Mrs David Toeg (a son of the trusted one); 769 Rosebery Court is owned by Mes R.E. Toeg/Edmung Toeg (another son)/Miss Nora Toeg (supposed to be one daughter of Toil, but the other daughter is not present, possibly underage or for other reasons).
Toyi, Chinese also translated as Duoyi
According to the analysis, it may be the four children of the TOEYI family
The Shanghai Municipal Construction Archives does not have the original number information of this plot and door number, but through the operation unit of Jiachun Garden, No. 753 Yuyuan Road, the archives of the garrison area, the archives information center of the Changning Housing Bureau and other units, as well as the enthusiastic Mr. Zhu and Ms. Li, we found several precious original archives. Some of the possible histories of this plot have been preliminarily clarified:
About No. 769 (Lo Mansion). In a land title deed issued by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Lands in February 1949, this "cadastral" was marked as a 27-day 27-ao, No. 13, Fahua District, and the area was marked as Wu Muqi's land floor with a description of "nine Western-style two-story houses". The owner is registered as Shafiyatok. In another English certificate, it is possible to be the English signature of Shafiyatok's agent, accompanied by English Recognition No. 56/0017: I hereby certify that the signature of Mr. Bonifes of the British Foreign Office listed above is true The words Tian Jian (signature), First Secretary of the Agency of the People's Republic of China in the United Kingdom, dated 18 July 1956. In the "Signature Report" signed in November 1977, it is stated: "1 residential building at No. 769 ZhaYuyuan Road, with a construction area of 1,059 square meters, cadastral Changning District No. 230, No. 27 Pass." The original property rights of No. 753 Yuyuan Road were owned by the British overseas Chinese Shafi (Fiji) Attoc. The house was handed over to our office as an agent for rent on June 28, 1954. It can be seen that the small Western-style building now known as the "Lo Mansion" was originally the property of the British overseas Chinese Shafiyatok. In 1954, the agency was leased, and in 1956 it was estimated that it was replaced by escrow after being signed by the agent. It is only that the cadastral attribution before and after liberation has changed. In another Notice of Change of Property, which was completed in January 1968, it was stated that the building had been changed from escrow to takeover from December 4, 1967.
Signature of the agent of the British diaphragmy Tok
About 753 (Jiangning Apartment). There are two important pieces of information in the "Notice of Industrial Change" that filled out the form in July 1954: 1. The part of the Shangkai house that was originally used by the American Mobil Company (accounting for about one-half of the total house) has been requisitioned by the Logistics and Oil Department and handed over to the Bureau (Shanghai Municipal Real Estate Administration) for acceptance and requisition, and is now managed by the Jing'an District Management Office, and now all of them are under the unified management of the Bureau. 2. The records of the requisition of some houses of Mobil Company by the Bureau shall remain unchanged and shall be determined after further handling of the housing capacity in the future, and will be notified separately. According to another internal document, the "land card" marked as No. 50 jing'an District (later changed to No. 230, Changning District) with an area of 5.035 mu is also marked in the remarks: "The logistics oil department of the East China Military Region requisitioned the real estate of the American Mobil Thermal Oil Company and took over the requisition at the former housing management office on 52.4.8." It can be seen that at least half of the eight-storey Jiangning apartment originally belonged to the American Mobil Company (as to whether the other parts were originally owned by the Mobil Company and gradually sold, it is to be examined), and it was requisitioned by the army two years after the liberation of Shanghai, and the oil company took over for the oil department.
Today, the gate of Jiangning Building (formerly Jiangshang Building).
Even denying the legend of Rockefeller and Sullivan does not mean that the two-door building of this massif is not legendary.
In summary, according to legends and archives, the past and present lives of No. 13, No. 27, Fahua District, and no. 50 Jing'an District (No. 230, Later Changning District) after 1949, 31 Mu 5.035 mu of land plots are:
No. 769, before 1932, was built on Lot 215 (Rosebery Court).
1. From 1911 to 1913, the Rockefeller family commissioned Sullivan to design (no evidence)
2. Private clubs of American businessmen (no evidence)
3. The residence of Yan Jingchong, brigade commander under warlord Sun Chuanfang (no evidence)
4. Jewish Touyi family residence (built in 1930, there is evidence)
5. Anglo-Chinese Shafiyatok (with evidence)
6. Good Eight Company Station (with solid evidence)
Regarding No. 753, before 1932 it was built on Plot 211 (Rivers Court Estates Ld).
4. Chinese merchant Bian Ruixin family (around 1925, there is evidence)
5. Pilot's Apartment of the National Government (1927, no evidence)
6. Suspected Jewish toil family business (8-storey apartment built in 1930, built with documented construction)
7. 20 people with names live (in 1937, when the name was Jiangshang Building, there is evidence)
American Mobil Corporation (one-half of the industry, with evidence)
8. Logistics and Oil Department of East China Military Region (with solid evidence)
9. Good Eight Company Station (name Jiangning Building, with solid evidence)
There is also Building 754 on this plot (1937, evidence).
It's a bit cruel to break the legend of beauty, and we look forward to more in-depth excavations of the original historical materials (many of our archives are still in a state of sealing) to confirm these legends. Just like the transition from myths and legends to literature and history in the Three Emperors and Five Emperors and the Western Zhou Dynasty of Xia Shang, the historical documents of the Thirteenth and Twenty-Seven Caves are also somewhat similar to between Xia and Shang, looming, as if there is no one. From this, I feel that even if the history of a hundred years is so obscure, not to mention the history of thousands of years ago, it is not easy to examine. Therefore, legend is one thing, history is one thing, and more often a vast area between legend and history, fiction and non-fiction, for researchers to fight and have fun, or it may be beneficial to Shanghai historians, but it is not known.
(The author is director of the Institute of Literature, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)
Author: Xu Jinjiang Editor: Ren Siyun