On February 22, 2017, "Yang Du and Liang Qichao - Our Grandfather and Grandfather" was released at the Institute of Qing History of Chinese Min University, which is a joint work of Yang and Liang's descendants, and the first Yang and Liang biography in China, written by Liang Qichao's granddaughter, 83-year-old Wu Liming, and Yang Youqi, the grandson of Yang Du, 82.
In 1919, the Group photo of the Chinese European Delegation in Paris (Jiang Baili in the front row, Second from left, Liang Qichao on the third from the left, and Zhang Junjie in the fourth from the left).
Yang Youqi, Wu Liming and their mother Liang Sizhuang
In 2013, Yang Youqi and Wu Liming were in front of Liang Qichao's tomb.
Yang Du in 1905
In 1920, Liang Qichao was photographed in Paris.
Yang Youqi is the earliest engaged in computer chemical application experts in China, once served as the chief engineer of the China Chemical Industry Information Center, enjoy the special allowance of the State Council, Wu Liming is a well-known professor of urban and environmental science at Peking University, both are science and engineering graduates, quite contributing scientists, each other is a husband and wife, the two picked up a pen after retirement and wrote an article, which was in the son of the two, the famous modern history research expert Professor Yang Nianqun at first heard it felt incredible, after reading the article felt that it was not easy.
At the scene, Yang Du's granddaughter Yang Youhong, Liang Qichao's granddaughter, Liang Sicheng's daughter Liang Zaibing, Liang Sicheng's daughter-in-law Fang Jing, Liang Siyong's daughter Liang Baiyou, Liang Sida's son Liang Renkan, daughter Liang Yibing, Liang Sili's daughter Liang Hong, Liang Xuan and other descendants of Yang Du and Liang Qichao spoke about family history.
The structure is novel and detailed
Liang Qichao was born in 1873, two years before Yang Du, Liang Qichao died in 1929, also two years before Yang Du, the two were like-minded, and experienced many historical events together, coincidentally, Liang Qichao's granddaughter and Yang Du's grandson also fell in love and married. The two of them are a loving couple who have been together for nearly sixty years. The book "Yang Du and Liang Qichao - Our Grandfather and Grandfather" pours out the two authors' nostalgia and remembrance of their ancestors, and condenses the love and affection between the two authors. Yang Youqi and Wu Liming spent most of their lives suffering together, just as the book was about to end, Wu Liming suddenly fell seriously ill and was bedridden, with infinite affection for his lover, Yang Youqi, who was over eighty years old, finally completed the manuscript and realized their long-cherished wish for many years.
The two of them mastered many precious documents, learned many little-known historical facts, and had unique insights and cognitions about their relatives and the past. Many historical materials and pictures involving Yang Du, Liang Qichao and their descendants in the book were published for the first time, and some historical doubts, such as the cause of Liang Qichao's death, were also put forward from the perspective of the family.
The structure of the book is novel, its content is roughly in chronological order, while the overall longitudinal narrative, taking a comparative research approach, horizontal narrative, horizontal and vertical alternating. Not only the life and relationship between Yang Du and Liang Qichao are introduced, but also their cooperation and interaction in the historical context of that year, and the cross-collision between them and important historical figures of the same era such as Empress Dowager Cixi, Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, Cai Yi, and Li Yuanhong, and their respective roles in major historical events. Through these structures, the ideas and propositions of Yang and Liang are more truly and richly analyzed, and their true appearance of life in the world is restored as much as possible.
The last chapter of the book specifically introduces the descendants of Yang Du and Liang Qichao, especially the detailed description of the situation of Yang Du's descendants, which is unprecedented. This is an integral part of the book. The appendix of the book also contains Yang Du and Liang Qichao's comparative chronology, selected poems, etc., so that readers can have a more in-depth and multi-faceted understanding of the Master.
Love in the years when passion burns
How the descendants of Yang Du and Liang Qichao, two great men in China's modern history, became a family is a topic of great interest to readers. Yang Youlin recalled that the 1950s, just after liberation, was an era of burning revolutionary passion. Young they are in high school. At that time, there were still different schools for boys and girls, but both high schools were in Dengshikou, one was the Boys' Middle School Yuying Middle School (later changed to Twenty-five Middle School), and the other was the Girls' Beiman Middle School.
"I remember that it was National Day in 1951, because a large-scale military parade was to be held that year, and it was necessary to arrange a phalanx of young pioneers in Tiananmen Square, and yuying and Beiman schools had the task of lining up in the square, and the children needed to practice in advance." Yang Youlin said that at that time, they were all third-year students in high school, their acquaintance was based on "work relationship", it was completely their own fate, and the family background of the two ancestors behind each other had nothing to do with each other, "The youth in high school is beautiful, everyone is a group of naïve children, very simple, no one will inquire about each other's family background." In 1959, they developed from friends to lovers, and the parents of both sides began to have contacts, at this time, they talked about the old words of the Liang family and the Yang family.
The couple's memories and "rediscovery" of their ancestors are after retirement. Because people reach old age, especially after they are over seventy, both of them have an irrepressible nostalgia psychology: "When people go to old age, there is always a lingering nostalgia feeling, if young people like to pursue fashion, then the elderly like to reminisce about the past." ”
Both were originally science and engineering professionals, and their usual attention was focused on their professional fields, and they rarely had the energy to study the writings of their ancestors. After retirement, they began to have time to look back on their family history and appreciate the greatness of their grandfathers and grandfathers. In their home, there are also many valuable materials left, so the two feel obliged to sort out and study them.
Two science students "stole my job"
Yang Nianqun, director of the Qing History Research Base of Chinese Min University and a Yangtze River scholar, is the son of Yang and Liang, and is also a well-known scholar of modern history in China, inheriting the characteristics of his great-grandfather and great-grandfather, which is "inheritance from one generation to another" in The words of Yang Nianqun. Yang Nianqun's identity is more special, on the one hand, he is the fourth generation, "standing platform" for his great-grandfather and great-grandfather, on the other hand, he is an expert in studying this period of history. Yang Nianqun still remembers that his grandfather lived in Sanlitun, he lived in Zhongguancun when he was a child, and often went to his grandfather's house to visit, "Grandfather felt that his grandson was coming, there was nothing to do, I will teach you to read Tang poems." ”
"In fact, my master's thesis is written by Yang Du, but I think that I always write about my great-grandfather is a bit out of the ordinary, lying under the aura of my ancestors, and it is not too comfortable, so I later changed the topic." Yang Nianqun said that he specially found many modern history experts for this purpose, and his heart was bottomless at first, "Although my father has this qualification to write, I am also a little worried, I think they are engaged in chemical industry to do the historical materials that we are all familiar with, what is the significance?" As a result, he sent me a few chapters one after another, and I was quite surprised after reading it, but the angle was still different from ours. ”
Yang Nianqun believes that there is a question of emotional use here, that is, how to invest in feelings as a posterity, and how much to invest. "I'm very afraid that when I was studying, people put this halo on me and said that you must do something for your ancestors, and as a historical researcher, I was actually under a lot of pressure, as if I had to prove myself by promoting my ancestors." I am determined not to go down this path, I need to have my own unique research. "Yang Nianqun has studied history for decades, and understands that writing historical research has personal feelings, and what is written will be very unobjective, very neutral, with his own excessive emotional color, which is a big taboo, and he also had such considerations when he avoided writing the story of his great-grandfather.
Yang Nianqun later understood that although his grandfather and father were both chemical students, he embarked on the road of historical research because of the influence of these two "science and engineering men". Although his grandfather was a doctor of chemical engineering who stayed in Germany, he had many books in his family, such as the full set of "Zizhi Tongjian" and the full set of "Houzizhi Tongjian". "The so-called 'polytechnic man' of their generation is not a concept at all from our current definition of a polytechnic man, they are people who have received comprehensive humanistic training, which is completely different from the state of specialization of the discipline we have now." Yang Nianqun said.
Source: Beijing Evening News reporter Chen Mengxi