A past story of Sun Yat-sen's wife Chen Sigu building a house in Guangzhou

Chen Sigu's real name is Chen Pufen, also known as Duanfen and Xiangling, because she ranks fourth in the family, so people call her "Four Gu". A native of Tong'an, Fujian Province, he was born in Hong Kong. Around 1892, the 19-year-old Chen Sigu was introduced to Sun Yat-sen by the revolutionary Chen Shaobai. Sun Yat-sen's original partner, Lu Muzhen, was an old-fashioned woman who was reluctant to show her face, taking it as her duty to raise children and children, and gathering less and leaving more with Sun Yat-sen, who had been running for the revolution for many years. Chen Sigu, out of admiration for Sun Yat-sen, developed a love affair and accompanied Sun Yat-sen for about 14 years. At that time, Sun Yat-sen was in a difficult time against the Qing Dynasty. In addition to taking care of Sun Yat-sen's diet and living, Chen Sigu also helped deliver revolutionary secret letters and even transported arms, living a life of fear and fear. However, after the victory of the Xinhai Revolution, she retired from credit and went to Pyineng in Malaysia alone in the three years of the Republic of China (Sun Yat-sen's brother Sun Mei gave her some expenses) and adopted a daughter of overseas Chinese, Sun Zhongying, to accompany her to her life.

Out of the maintenance of Sun Yat-sen's image, in the relevant historical materials compiled by the National Government, Chen Sigu is not mentioned. Only feng free, the elder of the Xinhai Revolution, published the third volume of the History of the Revolution in 1945, and there were two vague references to her. After the establishment of the mainland in 1949, out of the maintenance of Song Qingling's image, Chen Sigu was never mentioned. Sun Yat-sen's elder brother Sun Mei recognized Chen Sigu as his family. Later, Cui Hengsun's family tree listed Chen Sigu as Sun Yat-sen's side room, ranking before Lu Muzhen and Song Qingling, which gave her a name. Today, in the Cuiheng Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Chen Sigu also has photos and text introductions, which can also restore her historical status. In 1937, Chen Sigu's adopted daughter married Sun Gan, Sun Mei's grandson (Sun Zhongying changed his original surname to Su when he got married), and Chen Sigu lived with her daughter and son-in-law in her later years.

In 1931, Sun Ke, the son of Sun Yat-sen, went abroad for the first time, when Sun Ke was serving as a standing committee member of the Guangdong National Government, passing through Nanyang, gave Chen Sigu some money, and invited her to live in Macao. Chen Sigu and her daughter first lived in Hong Kong for a period of time, and then moved to Macau to rent a house for some days. In 1932, Sun Ke took Chen Si's aunt and daughter to live in the Ershatou Yulu Mansion in Guangzhou, and took care of Sun Ke's two sons who were studying at Lingnan Affiliated High School. Later, Sun Ke's two sons went to Shanghai and Nanjing to study at universities, and Chen Sigu moved to Baihedong, Henan Province, to rent a house to live in order to facilitate Sun Zhongying's study at Zhenguang Girls' High School. After Sun Zhongying went to Honolulu to study at university, Chen Sigu moved to Baizi Road and still rented a house to live in. Chen Sigu's source of livelihood is that the Guangdong Provincial Department of Finance gives a hundred yuan per month, but it is simply not enough, fortunately, Sun Ke and Chen Sigu's dry daughter often receive her, so as not to make ends meet.

In 1936, when Chiang Kai-shek went south to Guangzhou, he specially approved 100,000 yuan for Chen Sigu, and it was rumored that Chen Sigu was pensioned. Later, some historical sources said that Chiang Kai-shek gave Chen Sigu 100,000 yuan in pension expenses. However, in the memoirs of Wang Tang, the elder of the Xinhai Revolution, "Revolution and Me", there is another explanation.

Since wang tang met Sun Yat-sen in San Francisco in 1908, he has become a loyal believer in Sun Yat-sen and has supported Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary activities at the expense of his family. His eldest son, second son, and third son were all named after Sun Yat-sen. Wang Tang served as director of the Accounting Department of Sun Yat-sen's base camp and director of the Finance Department of Guangdong Province, and after Sun Yat-sen's death, he abandoned politics and business. Wang Tang said in his memoirs that after Chiang Kai-shek finished his official business in Guangzhou in 1936, he "remembered the old ideas and wanted to visit Chen Sigu." So Wang Tang first went to consult for advice, and after Chen Sigu was willing to receive it, Wang Tang led the way. Also going together were Ju Juesheng (i.e., Ju Zheng), Cheng Songyun (i.e. Cheng Qian), Zhu Yizhi (i.e., Zhu Peide), Lin Jiemei and others. Chen Sigu entertained them with refreshments. After greeting Chen Sigu, Chiang Kai-shek told her that if he needed something, he could tell Wang Tangming that Wang would convey it to Chiang Kai-shek. After Chiang Kai-shek left, Chen Sigu told Wang Tang about her relatively poor life, hoping that the government could give 1,000 yuan a month for living expenses, and please send a house to "avoid the monthly rent." There are no other requirements. Wang Tang then stated Chen Sigu's request to Jiang through Cheng Songyun that Chiang Kai-shek "pulled up one million yuan for the construction of the house, and sent two comrades, Wang Tang and Luo Yiqun, to take care of the construction and housing affairs on behalf of Chen Sigu." After receiving the money, he bought a piece of land at Zhusigang on Baizi Road, and Wang Tang commissioned Cheng Wei to do the drawing, but when it was built to the second floor, the "July 7 Incident" occurred. After the Japanese bombed Guangzhou, Chen Sigu went to Hong Kong for refuge, and the building materials were lost.

Wang Tang's book "Revolution and Me" was completed in December 1945, and the manuscript was properly preserved by the descendants of the Wang family. In June 2015, the Hong Kong Commercial Press published it after collation and correction.

Judging from Wang Tang's memoirs, Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Sigu were also acquainted. In addition, there is also a piece of historical data that can confirm this. In 1947, Liu Chengyu, a veteran of the Xinhai Revolution who was then a member of the Government Supervision Commission, went to Zhongshan County to inspect (Sun Gan was the governor of Zhongshan County at the time), and met Chen Sigu, who lived in Shiqi. When Chen Sigu invited him to dinner, she said, "I haven't cooked and eaten with Ru and others, and I've been 48 years old. It turned out that when Sun Yat-sen was living in Yokohama, Japan, the revolutionaries who came to contact him, including Hu Hanmin, Wang Jingwei, Dai Jitao, Liao Zhongkai, and Chiang Kai-shek, were received and cared for by Chen Sigu, cooking and even washing clothes for them. Therefore, it is also natural for Chiang Kai-shek to visit Chen Sigu in Guangzhou.

In the autumn of 1960, Chen Sigu died in Hong Kong at the age of 88. Some people in the world once commented that Chen Sigu was a strange woman in the history of the Chinese revolution. We can no longer cover up some historical truths because of the sages, let alone erase the merits of a person who can be praised. For example, Chen Sigu should let future generations know about her people and her affairs, and let future generations remember her. At the same time, it is also necessary to clarify some false rumors.