At No. 2, Lane 1094, Beijing West Road, Shanghai, there is a typical modern corridor-style building, built in 1910, and the main structure is three stories. It carries an important stroke of history, this house was once the house of Wu Tingfang, a famous diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty.
Wu Tingfang's former residence
When it comes to Modern Chinese Diplomats, Gu Weijun is probably the most famous. "My 1919" allows us to see the wisdom and courage of Gu Weijun, a diplomatic talent. However, good diplomats are not just Gu Weijun. In fact, at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, there was a diplomat whose brilliance was not inferior, and he was Wu Tingfang. The films "The Great Cause of Party Building" and "Xinhai Revolution" both shaped Wu Tingfang's film and television image.
Film "The Great Cause of Party Building"
Born in Singapore in 1842, Wu Tingfang returned to Guangzhou with his father at the age of 3 to settle in Fang village. At the age of 13, he was kidnapped, escaped and went to Hong Kong alone to study at St. Paul's College. In 1874, he studied law at his own expense in England, at the London College. After expiration, he qualified as a barrister and became the first doctor of law in modern Chinese history.
Wu Tingfang
After returning to Hong Kong in 1877, he became the first Chinese lawyer to be allowed to practice in the British colonies. In the same year, he was introduced to Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang praised him very much. In 1880, on the recommendation of hennessy, the governor of Hong Kong at the time, and the Chinese leaders of Hong Kong, Wu Tingfang became the first Chinese member of the Legislative Council since the opening of Hong Kong. Since then, he has made significant contributions to Hong Kong's commercial development, urban development and social welfare.
In 1882, Wu Tingfang officially entered the shogunate of Li Hongzhang, and his political career began.
From 1896 to 1909, he served as minister of the United States, Mexico, Peru, Cuba, and Japan, and signed the Sino-Mexican Treaty of Commerce, the first equal treaty in modern China.
After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, Wu Tingfang declared his approval of the republic in Shanghai and sent a letter to the Qing court recommending that the Qing Emperor abdicate. After the restoration of Shanghai, he organized a republican unification meeting with Chen Qimei, Zhang Xiao, and others, and later served as a plenipotentiary representative of the Southern People's Army, and held north-south discussions and negotiations with Tang Shaoyi, the northern representative sent by Yuan Shikai, and reached a compromise in which Yuan Shikai forced the Qing Dynasty to abdicate and approved the republic, that is, electing Yuan as the president. In 1912, Sun Yat-sen became the interim president, and Wu Tingfang was appointed interim justice of the government. He held high the banner of the rule of law and formulated and promulgated a series of laws and regulations.
Chen Jiongming shelled the Presidential Palace on June 16, 1922, and Sun Yat-sen evaded the Yongfeng ship. The next day, 80-year-old Wu Tingfang immediately boarded a boat to visit Sun Yat-sen and discuss the rebellion plan. The next day, he received a phone call from Chen Jiongming, asking him to persuade Sun Yat-sen to let him go to the wilderness, and his words were also quite disrespectful to Wu Tingfang. In a fit of anger, he fell ill and lay down, and his son Wu immediately sent him to Guangzhou Xingong Hospital, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. On June 23, Wu Tingfang went west by crane.
Wu Tingfang, his wife He Miaoling, and his son Wu Chaoshu
Wu Tingfang's memorial service was held in Shanghai on December 17, 1922.
Wu Tingfang is not only an excellent diplomat and jurist, but also a caring person who is keen on charity. He and his wife, Ho Miao Ling, and his wife and brother Ho Kai have made many donations to support Education and Healthcare in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's Ho Miao Ling Hospital and Minsheng College were both founded with their private funds.
Wu Tingfang's wife He Miaoling and his brother-in-law He Qi.
His wife, Ho Miao Ling, the second daughter of Ho Fook Tong, the second Chinese pastor of the Second Chinese Christian Church, married in Hong Kong in 1864. He Miaoling knew Dali, returned to the family after marriage, married and taught his children, devoted his life to church and charity, and was Wu Tingfang's virtuous helper.
He Qi, the younger brother of Ho Miao Ling, the brother-in-law of Wu Tingfang, was a famous Christian doctor, lawyer and philanthropist in Hong Kong in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty.
He did four great things for Hong Kong that make Hong Kong people unforgettable: first, in honor of his wife who died early, he used his wife's inheritance to found Yali's Hospital, and then merged with his sister Ho Miao Ling Hospital and Na Vegetarian Hospital to become a well-equipped internal and external general hospital in Hong Kong; the second was to establish the Hong Kong Western Medical College to promote Chinese youth to learn new medicine and develop Western medicine; the third was to establish the University of Hong Kong, changing the direction of teaching in English, teaching in Both Chinese and English, so that students could not forget their ancestors; fourth, cooperating with friends Au Tak to build Kai Tak Airport.
The University of Hong Kong
In 1901, the British government awarded Ho The Knight's Medal, the first Chinese in Hong Kong to receive a knighthood.
When Sun Yat-sen was studying at the Western Medical College in Hong Kong, he was influenced by Ho Kai. After Sun Yat-sen carried out revolutionary activities, He Qi gave support, covered the stronghold set up by the Xingzhong Association in Hong Kong, and participated in the Guangzhou Uprising planned by Sun Yat-sen, serving as the spokesman of the revolutionary army.
Hu Shi once made the following evaluation of Wu Tingfang's diplomatic demeanor: "When he was a diplomat overseas, he relied on his eccentric behavior and strange arguments to overwhelm the arrogance of the Westerners, arouse their curiosity, and actually make the representative of a weak country respected by many outsiders. ”
Looking at the world for 80 years, China has experienced the evolution from a feudal society to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, from a feudal monarchy to a democratic republic. His life is also the history of modern China.