Standing outside the courtyard door at No. 40 Nanliu Lane, Lin Haiyin is so close to me; here, literature is closer to ordinary people than in bookstores and libraries.
Lin Haiyin
Lin Haiyin has lived in Beijing for many years, and there should be many former residences, but now, only one of the fruits remains, only Nanliu Lane. In fact, speaking of the former residence, it is impossible to talk about, in 1931, Lin Haiyin's brother was killed by Japanese devils in Dalian because of the anti-Japanese resistance, and his father went to Dalian to collect the body and came back to die of anger and vomiting blood, the family was gradually in decline, and the mother led the whole family of eight, only living in the two rooms in the west of the north room here. Because they were fellow villagers in Jinjiang, they were exempt from rent, and the Lin family, who was in distress at that time, lived a very hard life. Without such a period of time, there will probably be no future Lin Haiyin's "Old Things in the South of the City".
On a rainy afternoon in the summer of 2005, I went to Jinjiang Guild Hall for the first time, and the three old locust trees in the courtyard were full of locust flowers like snow, which was very eye-catching. It was an old locust tree that Lin Haiyin had when he lived here. The old neighbors and new neighbors who live here have been in a tight housing situation for more than half a century, but they do not think that these three old locust trees are in the way, cut them down, make room, and build small houses. I remembered that when I was a child, I lived in the old courtyard Yuedong Guild Hall, and there were also three old jujube trees left by the former Qing Dynasty, but unfortunately, in order to build a small house, they were all cut down.
The neighbors at that time were really enthusiastic, and not only tolerated my presumptuous interruptions, but almost all the people at home left the house and chatted enthusiastically with me, a strange interloper. They are very proud, because Lin Haiyin is a writer who came out of this courtyard, Lin Haiyin's novel, they have not seen it, but the movie based on the novel, "Seongnam Old Things", they have all seen it. They told me that in 1990 and 1993, when Lin Haiyin came to this courtyard twice, he pulled the old man to stand at the gate to take pictures. "When I published articles in newspapers in Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong, I was accompanied by this photo."
In May 1990, Lin Haiyin took a photo in front of his former residence in Beijing
The old neighbors who lived in the two north rooms of Lin Haiyin's family pointed to their house and said to me: You see the old tiles on the roof are still there, but the house has leaked rain. The Housing Management Bureau has come several times to help us repair the house, we have not let them repair, a repair has to pick the roof, the old tiles of the roof are gone, paved with cement roof, can you still see the old appearance of the Jinjiang Guild Hall at that time? When Lin Haiyin returns, can she still know their family?
I praised them one after another: You have done a great job in protecting the Jinjiang Guild Hall! They waved their hands one after another and said: If you want to talk about protection, you have to say that Aunt Wang in our courtyard, there was a plaque of the Jinjiang Guild Hall on the gate, it was her old man who put it away, and it has been placed under the bed of her house, so many years of good hiding, no one smashed it. With that, they took me to the small courtyard on the edge of the West Wing, where a wooden plaque more than two meters long and more than half a meter wide stood upright, and the wooden plaque was wrapped in plastic, which showed the care of the neighbors. I opened the plastic, "Jinjiang Yiguan" four black large characters in the eye, although after more than a hundred years of erosion, the wood has aged, there are places even loose wood, but the handwriting is still so clear, iron painting silver hook, very powerful. I wanted to take a picture of this old plaque, and the neighbors helped me carry the plaque to the center of the yard, saying that it was more spacious and the light was better.
Lin Haiyin's former residence sketch Xiao Fuxing painted
One morning two days ago, revisiting the old land, Nanliu Lane has been renovated, the outer wall of the courtyard has been newly painted, and next to the gate of each courtyard, there is a house number made of cement sculpture, which is quite artistic. The street is also much cleaner, except for a few elderly people sitting at the entrance of the courtyard to cool off, the alley is quiet and misty, as if back to the years when Lin Haiyin lived here. When she was a child, Lin Haiyin leaned on the door to watch camels, watch crazy women, watch the hutong mouth sing pear blossoms and play with copper gongs to sell sour plum soup vendors; as if she was coming home from school, running from the alley entrance, using talc stones to paddle along the wall of other people's homes, all the way to her own door.
The gate of Jinjiang Guild Hall is locked, and on both sides of the gate, there are several signs introduced by Jinjiang Guild Hall and cultural relics protection in Xicheng District. Jinjiang Guild Hall originally had two gates, No. 40 and No. 42, according to the old pattern, the gate should be at No. 42, into the No. 42 gate, is a slip of two high walls sandwiched aisle, and then, is the real courtyard gate, in 2005, there is still an old door pier next to the door. After entering this courtyard door, there is a shadow wall on the left hand, and behind the shadow wall is a moon door, and inside the moon door is the courtyard of the Jinjiang Guild Hall. Today, the outermost door of No. 42 is still there, but the deep aisle has been blocked, and No. 42 is dead in name only. The introduction of the guild hall and the cultural relics protection sign had to be hung next to the gate of the No. 40 courtyard. This should be the door that opens after, the old courtyard in Beijing is exquisite, how can it be next to the main room to open a courtyard door?
Jinjiang Guild Hall located in Nanliu Lane outside Xuanwu Gate
I can only look outside, fortunately, the old fish scale tiles on the north roof are still there, and the two north rooms next to the courtyard door are Lin Haiyin's home. In the courtyard, three old locust trees were still there, growing taller, jumping out of the courtyard wall, and the branches and leaves were probing people. It was when the locust flowers were in full bloom, and a tree of locust flowers was like snow, reminding me of the scene in 2005.
Sixteen years have passed. Standing outside the courtyard door stunned for a while, remembering that I saw those old neighbors who I didn't know sixteen years ago, which made me feel moved that I could never forget. Here, Lin Haiyin is so close to me; here, literature is closer to ordinary people than in bookstores and libraries. (Xiao Fuxing)