Zhou Zhongyue, a native of Jianchuan, Yunnan, graduated from Waseda University in Japan. During the Republic of China period, he was a politician, educator, thinker, great calligrapher, and elder protector of the country.
Zhou Zhongyue (1876-1955)
He studied in Japan in his early years and graduated from Waseda University, one of the top universities in Japan at the time. In 1907, Zhou Zhongyue became the provost of the Yunnan Two-Level Normal School. At the same time, Zhou Zhongyue asked a group of Japanese students to "return to Dianxiang for help", which made the education system and study style and etiquette in Yunnan at that time look new and vibrant.
At the end of 1914, Yuan Shikai transferred Cai Yi to Beijing to serve. Because Cai Yipingsu appreciated his talent, he recommended Zhou Zhongyue to enter Beijing as the secretary general of the National Bureau of Economic And Trade.
Zhou Zhongyue's family lives in Japan
In 1917, after the farce of Zhang Xun's restoration of imperial power, Prime Minister Duan Qirui refused to resume the implementation of the Constitution. Zhou Zhongyue actively advocated that Tang Jiyao, the overseer of Yunnan, respond to sun Yat-sen's campaign to protect the law, and personally returned to Dian as secretary general of the General Headquarters of the Jingguo Coalition Army.
During this period, Shi Qingyang, a general of the Sichuan Nationalist Army, repeatedly sent telegrams inviting Tang Jiyao to enter Sichuan and expel the warlord Xiong Kewu, while Zhou Zhongyue tried his best to dissuade him.
In 1919, Zhou Zhongyue served as the governor of Yunnan Province and a member of the provincial government, presiding over the Administration of Yunnan. He has always advocated eliminating the scourge of war, going along with the trend, joining the National Government, and urgently seeking national reunification.
The zhou zhong yue ink treasure authentic site located in Yuelu Mountain
Zhou Zhongyue was a prominent figure in the Republic of China period and had outstanding merits. But what is most praised by the world is his calligraphy. His famous ink treasures include the "Presidential Palace" in Nanjing and the "Stone Forest" in Yunnan.
Long Yunti, then chairman of Yunnan Province, was written by Zhou Zhongyue
Among them, the word "Stone Forest" in the central square of the National 5A Stone Forest Scenic Area in Yunnan, according to the memories of predecessors, long Yun, chairman of Yunnan Province, toured the scenic spot with the crowd, sighed "the vast sea of stones, like a forest", gladly inscribed the word "stone forest", and afterwards asked the great calligrapher Zhou Zhongyue to write on behalf of the book and then carved on the stone.
Since 1935, Zhou Zhongyue has successively served as the Minister of Interior of the National Government of Nanjing, the National Government of Chongqing, a member of the State Council, the vice president of the Examination Institute, and the senior minister of the Presidential Office.
Zhou Zhongyue (right) and Chiang Kai-shek
Before Chiang Kai-shek took office as The President of the Republic of China, he selected Zhou Zhongyue's original handwriting from the ink treasures provided by many great calligraphers and molded them into three gilded characters of the "Presidential Palace" and placed them on the wall of the newly completed Nanjing Presidential Palace. Because he loves these three big characters very much, he specially gave Zhou Zhongyue three thousand gold dollars, so there is a saying of "one word and a thousand gold".
Zhou Zhongyue inscribed the three words "Presidential Palace"
Before his death in 1955, Zhou Zhongyue instructed his family to donate tens of thousands of volumes of books in his private collection to Yunnan University and the Yunnan Provincial Library.