Pulin Lane was formerly known as Pulao Lane, east out of Renmin Road, west to the river along the lower pond. Pu family name, the old family honorific title. Later, it was falsely changed to Pulin Lane.
I often walk in the alleys of Suzhou, looking for historical relics; by chance, looking back at the deep, quiet, a little old and a little bit of "modern" transformation of the alley, I saw a touch of light reflected in the alley, it is not the morning sun nor the sunset, is the glory of the humanity of the former residents in the alley.
In Pulin Lane, I saw the light again. Below the light is No. 35-1 in the alley, which is the former residence of Mr. Wu Mei, an opera theorist and educator and poetry composer.
Wu Mei (1884-1939), zi Qu An, number Frost Chen, Suzhou native. Chinese opera theorist and educator, poetry and songwriter.
Wu Mei devoted her life to the study of opera and other vocal rhythms. His major works include "Gu QuLu Tan", "General Theory of Qu Xue", "Introduction to Chinese Opera", "Yuan Opera Research", "North and South Dictionary" and so on. There are also twelve kinds of legends and miscellaneous dramas. He is known as "a master of modern music studies who has completed all kinds of writing, degree, acting and Tibet".
Wu Mei coached for life, and Peach and Plum were full of gardens. His disciples include famous professors and great writers as well as masters of the pear garden industry, such as Zhu Ziqing, Tian Han, Zheng Zhenduo, Qi Yanming, famous Peking Opera performing arts masters Mei Lanfang and Yu Zhenfei...
In the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937), the Japanese invasion of China broke out. Wu Mei took refuge with her family, fled to Li Qitun in Yao County, Kunming in 1938, where she lived in the Li Ancestral Hall and died of illness on March 17.
Wu Mei's last will and testament to the younger generations, to learn to work, not to engage in literature... Why? It has become a historical suspense.
Wu Mei is also an accomplished bibliophile.
The main direction of the collection is books related to drama, music score and other aspects, counting more than 40,000 volumes and hundreds of kinds. When he was a teenager, he paid attention to the search for opera classics, the purchases that he could buy, the borrowings that he could borrow, and the hardships of thirty years accumulated, and he collected more than 600 kinds of song books, including many fine books, rare books, and orphan books, becoming the country's premier Tibetan opera master. He also used his own treasures to carefully proofread, the library was named "Sumota Room", the family collection of Ming Jiajing rare books, Yan's collection of books called "Baijia Room", intended to collect a hundred Ming Jiajing periodicals. Zheng Zhenduo once went to the library and saw the "Bibliography of the Baijia Room Collection" compiled by himself, which has 3 kinds of Yuan Periodicals, more than 80 kinds of Ming Ben, more than 50 kinds of Overprints of Qing Nei Fu, and 476 kinds of Yuan, Ming and Qing repertoire. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he traveled to Hunan and Yunnan provinces, and there were many losses in his collection of books.
After 1949, Wu Mei's son Wu Liangshi donated the collection to the Beijing Library, and his books were included in the "Beijing Library Bibliography of Good Books", with the largest number of lyrics.
Wu Mei's former residence sits north to south, three times before and after, covering an area of more than 500 square meters. Entering the Shiku Gate, the west is a courtyard composed of a hall and a wing. There is a courtyard in front and back, there is a hall building in the north of the hall, a bird's eaves and a fragrant crane neck xuan downstairs, and a library room and a "luxury mota room" (Wu Mei library) and "Baijia room" in the east of the floor. The stone slabs in front of the building are paved, and two wells are dug. The brick inscription "Leju Antian" on the wall of the Shikumen Gate in the south of the courtyard is wu Mei's self-title in the first year of Xuantong (1909). There is a row of bungalows behind the hall for the kitchen. The back door leads to Shuanglin Lane.
In 1998, Wu Mei's former residence was listed as a cultural relics protection unit in Suzhou.