He was a natural poet, a thorough romantic; he spent his life pursuing free love, but reaping only love. In his 34 short life years, in addition to the romantic poems such as "Farewell to Kangqiao", there is also the history of romanticism that is talked about by the world.
He is the modern poet and essayist, Xu Zhimo.
Statue of Xu Zhimo
Xu Zhimo was born in Haining, Zhejiang Province, and is the cousin of the famous writer Jin Yong. Xu Zhimo studied at Shanghai Hujiang University, Tianjin Beiyang University and Peking University in China. At the age of 21, he went to Clark University in the United States to study, received a bachelor's degree, and won the first class honor award. In the same year, he transferred to Columbia University In New York to study economics. At the age of 24, he went to the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom to study political economy. At the age of 26, he founded the Crescent Moon Club and successively served as a professor at Peking University, East China Normal University, East China Normal University and Nanjing University. At the age of 33, he was invited by Hu Shizhi to become a professor at Peking University and a professor at Beijing Women's Normal University.
Zhang Youyi - Xu Zhimo's first wife.
Xu Zhimo and Zhang Youyi
Born in 1900 in Baoshan, Jiangsu Province. Her fourth brother, Zhang Jiaxuan, accompanied the governor to Hangzhou No. 1 Middle School to inspect the work when he was the secretary of the governor of Zhejiang, and accidentally discovered the talented and outstanding Xu Zhimo, who was attending the middle school at the school, and he was a matchmaker for his sister. The Xu family is a wealthy merchant in Jiangnan, and the Zhang family also has a huge political prestige and economic status, which can be described as a door-to-door pair. Zhang Youyi married Xu Zhimo at the age of 15 and gave birth to her eldest son, Xu Jikai, at the age of 18.
In 1920, Zhang Youyi went to Europe to reunite with Xu Zhimo, however, at this time, Xu Zhimo was in love with Lin Huiyin. In order to be able to pursue Lin Huiyin, Xu Zhimo resolutely filed for divorce from Zhang Youyi. Zhang Youyi was extremely distressed and gave birth to her second son in 1921. In 1922, Xu Zhimo approached Zhang Youyi, who was still in confinement, to sign a divorce document, and published it in the "New Zhejiang Daily" for two consecutive days, publishing the "Xu Zhimo Zhang Youyi Divorce Notice". Xu Zhimo is also known as "China's first divorcee".
Zhang Youyi returned to China in 1926. Zhang Youyi was born in a large family, influenced by the family, informed and reasonable, extremely filial to her in-laws, and the second elder loved her. After the divorce, he has not left the Xu family and has been doing his daughter-in-law's responsibilities. To this end, Zhang Youyi has also won the unanimous praise and respect of her family, relatives and friends. Xu Zhimo's parents were extremely disapproving of Xu Zhimo's approach and felt that they owed Too much to Zhang Youyi, so they took great care of her and treated her like a daughter-in-law.
After that, Zhang Youyi served as a professor of Devon at Soochow University in 1927; resigned in 1928 as vice president of the Shanghai Women's Commercial Savings Bank and concurrently served as the general manager of the Yunsheng Garment Company; immigrated to Hong Kong in 1949; married Su Jizhi in 1954 at the age of 54; died in Su Jizhi in 1970, Zhang Youyi moved to the United States to reunite with her family; and died in New York in 1988.
Lin Huiyin - The woman Xu Zhimo pursues with his life.
Xu Zhimo and Lin Huiyin
Lin Huiyin, a native of Minhou, Fujian, was an architect, writer and poet. Born in 1904 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. His father, Hayashi Nagamin, graduated from Waseda University in Japan, excelled in poetry and calligraphy, and served as the chief justice of the Beiyang government.
Lin Huiyin moved to Shanghai at the age of 8; at the age of 12, her family moved with her father to Beijing to study at The Peihua Girls' High School in Beijing; at the age of 16, she traveled with her father to Europe and developed a strong interest in architecture in London, during which time she met her father's disciple, the poet Xu Zhimo.
Xu Zhimo fell in love with Lin Huiyin at first sight, and soon after the two met, he pursued Lin Huiyin wholeheartedly, regardless of his status as a father of two children. Lin Huiyin did not accept Xu Zhimo's pursuit, and two years after returning to China, he married Liang Sicheng, the eldest son of Liang Qichao.
Her relationship with Xu Zhimo, as she said in her later years, when talking to her children: "In Xu Zhimo's mind, she was imagined by Xu Zhimo as a poet's romantic thoughts, and she was not like that." Her son Liang Congjie also said: "Xu Zhimo's spiritual pursuit, Lin Huiyin fully understands, but conversely, Lin Huiyin's pursuit, Xu Zhimo may not understand." ”
Later, Xu Zhimo married Lu Xiaoman, but Lin Huiyin will always be his confidant, idol and goddess in his life. Even Xu Zhimo's martyrdom was due to attending an architectural lecture held by Lin Huiyin to foreign architects, taking a postal plane from Nanjing to Beijing, and finally crashing into Pingshan in Jinan due to heavy fog...
Liang Sicheng, who is Lin Huiyin's husband, and Liang Sicheng, who is also Xu Zhimo's friend, went to Jinan to take care of Xu Zhimo's aftermath, and picked up a piece of charred wood at the scene of the plane crash and brought it back to Lin Huiyin. Lin Huiyin hung this piece of wood in the bedroom until she died.
Tomb of Lin Huiyin (Babaoshan, Beijing)
Lin Huiyin and her husband Liang Sicheng were both domestic architectural authorities at that time, especially in ancient architecture, leading the trend of Chinese ancient architecture research.
Lu Xiaoman - Xu Zhimo's second wife.
Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman
A native of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, born in 1903 and died in 1965, she was a female painter during the Republic of China period.
Lu Xiaoman was born on November 7, 1903 in Kongjia Alley, Shanghai. Her father was a late Qing Dynasty scholar who graduated from Waseda University in Japan and was a proud disciple of Hirobumi Ito, a famous Japanese minister.
When Lu Xiaoman was six or seven years old, he moved to Beijing with his mother. Because he has received a dual education in Chinese and Western cultures, he is proficient in English and French. At the age of 18, he was hired by Gu Weijun, the chief foreign minister of the Beiyang government, as a diplomatic translator. Since then, she has gradually gained fame in Beijing and become famous in Beijing's social circles. At that time, it was known as "Hokuriku Southern Tang" ("Hokuriku" refers to Lu Xiaoman, "Southern Tang" refers to Tang Ying).
At the same time, Lu Xiaoman is versatile. The painter studied under the painter Liu Haisu, whose works have participated in the first and second national painting exhibitions after the founding of New China. In his lifetime, there were nearly 20 well-known paintings. Her literary skills are also very good, especially in the modification of words, and her ability is extraordinary. During his lifetime, he wrote dozens of essays, stories, diaries, and translations. He also knows Kunqu opera and often makes cameo performances. A woman who is socially recognized for her talents and looks. At that time, Hu Shi, a professor at Peking University, commented: "Lu Xiaoman is a must-see scenery in Beijing. This also became a buzzword at the time.
Most of Lu Xiaoman's friends are from diplomatic and political circles. At that time, it was a very face-saving thing to be able to attend the dance party held by Lu Xiaoman.
In 1922, Lu Xiaoman, who was not yet 20 years old, married her first husband, Wang Geng. Wang Geng was appointed chief of the Harbin police in the second year of their marriage, and due to the long separation, the relationship between the two became gradually separated.
At this time, Xu Zhimo also happened to enter Lu Xiaoman's life. It was Lu Xiaoman who starred in a performance of the drama "The Legend of Chunxiang", and the two met and hated each other late, and fell in love at first sight. A year later, Lu Xiaoman divorced Wang Geng and married Xu Zhimo the following year.
At the wedding ceremony, there was also an episode. At that time, they invited their teacher Liang Qichao as a witness to the marriage, but Liang Qichao was outspoken. "Xu Zhimo, you are an impetuous person, so you have no achievements in learning. You are a person who is not dedicated, so get married to divorce. Therefore, in the future, we must repent of ourselves. Liang Qichao said, "Xu Zhimo, Lu Xiaoman, you are all people who have come over, you are all divorced and married." I hope you will not be the ones who come over again. The wedding greeting stunned everyone and embarrassed Xu Zhimo.
Lu Xiaoman did not know that money was not easy to come by, and he was extremely pompous in his life. In order to solve the huge expenses of the family, Xu Zhimo also worked at Soochow University, Shanghai University, Nanjing Central University, peking university, and also worked hard to write. Xu Zhimo ran around more, and the two of them gathered less and left more.
Weng Ruiwu, a famous ticket holder in Shanghai with tuina skills, got to know Lu Xiaoman. Lu Xiaoman gradually became close to him, and under his influence, he also became addicted to smoking. After Xu Zhimo learned about the two, he also persuaded Lu Xiaoman to return to the life of a normal person.
Finally, on November 17, 1931, Xu Zhimo's nagging angered Lu Xiaoman, who picked up a smoking gun on the table and threw it at Xu Zhimo. This throw shattered the ideal romance that Xu Zhimo had always insisted on for love. Xu Zhimo grabbed the door and left.
On November 19, Xu Zhimo finished writing his last letter to Lu Xiaoman before getting on the plane.
After Xu Zhimo's death, Lu Xiaoman closed the door to thank guests, because of the pressure of life, he later lived with Weng Ruiwu, but in their bedroom, there has been a portrait of Xu Zhimo. Lu Xiaoman rearranged Xu Zhimo's books and published the Shima Diary, Selected Poems of Xu Zhimo, and the Complete Works of Shima.
In 1956, Lu Xiaoman was cared for by Chen Yi, the then mayor of Shanghai, and was arranged to work as a librarian at the Shanghai Museum of Culture and History. In 1958, he became a professional painter at the Shanghai Academy of Chinese Painting and joined the Shanghai Artists Association. In 1959, he was appointed counselor of the Counsellor's Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government.
Tomb of Lu Xiaoman
Today, Xu Zhimo's tomb is hidden in the Western Mountains, and few people worship him, only accompanied by his two sons who died prematurely. On both sides of the poet's tomb are two poetry tablets, "Farewell to Kang Bridge" on one side and "Chance" on the other.
Tomb of Xu Zhimo