In the entire Qing Dynasty for nearly 300 years, Fuzhou produced only two titles, the former being Lin Hongnian and the latter Wang Renkan, and Liang Qichao was a famous propagandist in the Restoration and Reform Movement. So, what kind of person is Wang Renkan? What kind of intersection did he and Liang Qichao have? What is the friendship between the descendants of the two families?
Wang Renkan profile picture
Geng ZhiXianliang's title
Wang Renkan (1849~1893) was a native of Minxian County (now Fuzhou City), Fujian Province, whose former residence was in Xiaoyi Lane, East Street. His grandfather, Wang Qingyun, was a jinshi by birth, and was an official to the governor of Sichuan, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Works. His father, Wang Chuancan, was a young master with the Attendant Department, and he was well-respected and excellent, and he did not achieve much in his studies, only a middle talent. Wang Renkan was diligent and studious, and in 1870, at the age of 22, he was elected. In 1877, the Ding Ugly Branch Temple was tested. It is said that at this time his father boasted ecstatically, "Father Shangshu, Son, I am satisfied!" ”
Although Wang Renkan was no more than a prefect and had a life expectancy of less than fifty, his morality, political voice, articles, and calligraphy were all famous. Historically, it is generally believed that most of the leaders of the feudal era were mediocre people with few achievements, and there were not many real talents, and their character was not necessarily good. However, Wang Renkan was indeed a man of excellent character and learning, worthy of the name, and he was commendable for his direct advice and outspokenness, and after he became a magistrate, he was also able to do good deeds for the people.
In 1879, the third year of Wang Renkan's reign, China and Russia exchanged treaties, and the envoy Chonghou succumbed to the pressure of Tsarist Russia and actually signed a treaty of loss of power and humiliation. Wang Renkan, the head of the new branch, and Cao Hongxun, a former member of the department, jointly signed the petition, "Please behead the reverent to thank the people of the country", and was straight and strong, and the straight voice shook the government and the opposition. This can be said to be the first appearance of the sharp edge, which has touched the taboo of the powerful. In 1888, in order to prepare for the celebration of her birthday next year, Empress Dowager Cixi embezzled a huge amount of money to build a navy and planned to build a major project of the Summer Palace. At this time, there was a major flood in the provinces, an earthquake in The capital, and the people were in a state of hunger and cold. In December, another fire broke out at the Taihe Gate in Beijing. Wang Renkan took this opportunity to write a letter of advice, please do not build such a luxurious garden, although its wording is very euphemistic, but the domineering Empress Dowager Cixi does not like to be bumped.
Coupled with the fact that the Qingliu Party was in the dynasty at that time, Wang Renkan was released in December 1890 and appointed as the prefect of Zhenjiang Province, Jiangsu Province.
The so-called Qingliu Party was a political faction that emerged within the late Qing Dynasty and was named for daring to criticize the gains and losses of current politics and flaunting honesty and purity. Its main members are Chen Baochen, Zhang Peilun, Wen Tingshi and so on. Chen Baochen's wife, Wang Meishou, was Wang Renkan's older sister. Because of these connections among the bureaucrats at the top, Wang Renkan also became a member of the Qingliu Party. When the Naval Battle of the Ma River was lost in 1884, pan Bingnian, a Fujian-born Beijing official, asked Zhang Peilun, the minister of shipping, to severely punish the minister of shipping, who was dismissed from his post. According to Guo Zehuan's "Zhi Han Xuan Tan Hui", this chapter was ghostwritten by Wang Renkan, and Zhang's backstage was his father-in-law Li Hongzhang. In this way, Wang Renkan offended the powerful minister Li Hongzhang, and at the same time had a conflict with his brother-in-law Chen Baochen. So Wang Renkan's official luck was obstructed, and it was finally inevitable. The people who knew about it were all upset, but Wang Renkan did not think so, and calmly went to Jiangsu to take up his post.
According to Huang Nianci's "Biography of Wang Renkan", in April 1891, within a few days of Wang Renkan's tenure in Zhenjiang, the Danyang Teaching Case occurred. The cause was that locals found more than 70 dead babies in the Catholic church of foreigners. Public outrage ensued and the church was burned. The foreigners put forward all kinds of unreasonable threats under the pretext, and Wang Renkan sternly refuted them one by one. It was finally decided that the local authorities would compensate the church for the damage and not be held responsible for the burning. This handling has achieved the peaceful settlement of foreign disputes, preserved the national structure, and protected the people. His superiors and the people praised him.
At the same time, he also revitalized farmland water conservancy in Danyang and Dantu counties, opened more than 2,300 ponds, and built more than 100 ditches, canals, locks, dams, etc. In 1892, when there was a major drought, he asked for the interception of 50,000 yuan of cao rice, relieved more than 200,000 hungry people, and raised more than 200,000 yuan to handle the aftermath of various disaster relief, such as locust hunting, cattle relief, river dredging, planting trees, and accumulating grain, and also announced the income and expenditure of the donated donations received. On the other hand, it is ordered that each prefecture under its jurisdiction set up a school to popularize folk education. We will also create a system of armor protection and strengthen the management of local public security. All these measures, which benefit the people and win the trust of the people, have been universally supported by the people of the province.
When the three-year term was completed, Jiangsu Province set Wang Renkan's political performance as the first in the province. In 1893, he was transferred to the prefect of Suzhou, and the people of Suzhou were not unhappy when they heard the news. Wang Renkan is known for hernia disease, in the arduous and tricky Zhenjiang appointment, he has been seriously ill, only 3 months after coming to Suzhou, taking over the new appointment, things are more complicated, hernia is a masterpiece. On October 18, after returning to the government office after going to the banquet, the abdomen was in severe pain, the doctor mistakenly thought that it was cold, and the medicinal musk was too much, and after taking it, the sweat was like rain, and he died on the twentieth day, only 45 years old. The people heard the obituary and gathered the office to mourn. The Qing court issued an edict to praise, and the deeds were passed on to the National History Museum
Liang Qichao profile picture
Liang Qichao's "Red Lady"
Because Wang Renkan's articles, calligraphy, and appearance were very decent and beautiful, he was deeply loved by Cixi and Guangxu in the early days. In 1887, he was given a walk in the study, and every time he participated in court banquets and festivals, he was rewarded with great rewards. In the winter of 1880, when he was studying politics in Shanxi, he rectified the style of study and strictly prohibited the smoking of opium by scholars and students. In 1885, he was appointed as the deputy examiner of the Guizhou Township Examination, and his talent was very strict. According to Wang Xiaoqi's "Annals of Wang Suzhou", in the autumn of 1886, he was a teacher of Shu Jishi, and Xu Shichang (later the first president of the Republic of China) was his student at this time; in 1889, he was appointed deputy chief examiner of the Guangdong Township Examination, and Liang Qichao was accepted as a protégé.
Liang Qichao, the character Zhuoru, the number of Ren Gong. Born on February 23, 1873 in Chakeng Village, Xiongzi Township, Xinhui County, Guangdong Province. Grandfather Liang Weiqing was an old talent, honest and frugal, and the townspeople had many praises. Although his father Liang Lianjian went in and out of the examination hall several times, he did not even pass the Xiucai examination. My grandfather and father lived on a private school and came from a poor family.
His grandfather was Liang Qichao's enlightenment teacher, and among the 8 grandchildren, he liked Liang Qichao the most. When he was young, Liang Qichao always slept in his grandfather's bed at night, listening to his grandfather tell historical stories and explain poems. At the age of 4, he learned to read and write under the guidance of his mother Zhao Shi, and then read Confucian classics such as the Four Books with his grandfather. At the age of 6, he studied in his father's private school, and under his father's strict education, Liang Qichao was able to use the classics he learned as a pair. From the age of 7, Liang Qichao learned to write articles and made rapid progress. At the age of 8, he can write articles with a thousand words and a smooth text. By the age of 9, he was even more poetic and agile. This year, he went to Guangzhou to take the exam and showed his talent in high school. After the examination, the chief examiner, Guangdong Xuezheng Ye Dazhuo, received the newly admitted disciples one by one to reward them. The person who was received quickly withdrew after entering, except for Liang Qichao, who knelt on the ground and pleaded: "There is a grandfather in the family, who is seventy years old this year, and his birthday is the twenty-first day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, and the disciple hopes to get the birthday speech written by the husband, so that the grandfather can prolong his life, so as to comfort his uncle and father's filial piety, and feel more glorious in the clan exchanges." Ye Dazhuo, facing this childish child, was touched by his filial piety, gladly ordered the pen to write a birthday speech for Mr. Liang. It can be seen that although Liang Qichao is a teenager, his thoughts, words and deeds are precocious and precocious.
After being admitted to Xiucai, Liang Qichao entered a more intense study, reading "Xuan Xuan Language" and "Bibliographic Answers" at the age of 10, and further reading "History" and "Book of Han" at the age of 11. According to Liang Qichao himself later, he could recite the book "Records of History" eighty-nine times out of ten, almost never forgetting. The rapid progress in his studies made Zhou Yuwu, the teacher who taught him in Xinhuicheng, issue an exclamation that "I can't teach it". Therefore, Liang Qichao left home to study under Lu Ba Lake in Guangzhou and Chen Meiping in Foshan. After the age of 14, he entered the "Xuehai Hall", one of the five major colleges in Guangzhou at that time, and became a high-achieving student. At the same time, he was also trained in the Shixing Nest, and as an out-of-college student of Jupo Jingshe, Yuexiu Academy, and Yuehua Academy, he absorbed knowledge extensively and was hungry and thirsty.
In May of the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889), Wang Renkan was appointed as the deputy examiner of the Guangdong Township Examination. Liang Qichao, who was only 17 years old, participated in the Guangdong Township Examination of this subject, and a total of 100 people were admitted to the Ugly Branch Township Examination, and he not only successfully passed the examination, but also ranked eighth, the best among the new candidates, and the youngest among the candidates in the province.
Liang Qichao's examination paper articles are written in a splendid, imposing, quick thinking, and full of talent. This attracted the special attention of the deputy chief examiner Wang Renkan. Wang Renkan has served as the chief examiner of the township examination for many years, and has never met a student like Liang Qichao who is excellent in learning. He thought that Liang Qichao was a wizard, and sent the paper to the examiner Li Duandi to see, and Li also appreciated it. Li Duandi felt that he should meet with him, and at the same time, he thought that he also had a young cousin, Li Huixian, who was waiting for the word bride, so it was better to take this opportunity to broker this marriage, and made up his mind to ask the deputy chief examiner Wang Renkan to be a matchmaker.
Just when Li Duandi was thinking about it this way, Wang Renkan, the deputy chief examiner, also admired Liang Qichao's intelligence and wanted to ration his daughter Xu who had not yet left the cabinet to Liang Qichao, but Li Duantong preemptively opened his mouth. Therefore, when Li Duandi offered to ask him to be a matchmaker, he was half speechless. Li Duandi guessed his thoughts, and the two looked at each other and smiled.
And Liang Qichao's high relatives who are so difficult to climb are of course full of surprises. So Wang Renkan was used as a matchmaker, and Li Duandi's cousin Li Huixian and Liang Qichao became engaged. Li Huixian was the daughter of Li Chaoyi of The Suncheon Governor Yin (equivalent to the mayor of Beijing). Li Chaoyi was a jinshi in 1845, 37 years of officialdom, diligent and loving the people, always consistent, with an ancient style of officials, and died of illness in 1881. Born in Gu'an County, south of Beijing, Li Huixian was a young scholar, familiar with ancient poetry, good at poetry composition, and good at piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and has a reputation as a talented woman. She is discerning and talented, does not love money and loves articles, and does not marry Liang.
In 1890, Liang Qichao passed the first examination of the Beijing Normal Division and studied with Kang Youwei in the Wanmu Caotang. However, Li Huixian was willing to marry a poor scholar and complete the marriage in Beijing, and a few months later he went with Liang Qichao to Liang Qichao's hometown of Xiongzi Township, Xinhui, Guangdong, and the new house for marriage was temporarily borrowed from the same people, but this new lady with a noble birth had no complaints, handled housework, respected the elderly, and respected Liang Qichao as a guest. Li Huixian and Liang Qichao had 3 children, and all of them later became outstanding talents: the eldest daughter Liang Sishun was an expert in poetry research; the second son Liang Sicheng was a famous architect; and the second daughter Liang Sizhuang was a famous librarian.
Wang Ren Kandian Examination Paper (Yuance)
Interactions between juniors
Wang Renkan was the uncle of the famous cultural relics expert Wang Shixiang (1914-2009), whose grandfather Wang Qinglin was Wang Renkan's younger brother, and his father Wang Jizeng received a lot of care from Wang Renkan when he was a child. Because Wang Renkan was Liang Qichao's teacher and matchmaker, the two families became family friends, and the friendship between Wang Jizeng and Liang Sicheng was also very deep, and Liang Sicheng gave great help to Wang Shixiang in the most difficult time.
In 1941, Wang Shixiang graduated from the Research Institute of Yenching University with a master's degree in literature. Since then, he has devoted himself to the compilation of "Studies on Chinese Painting Theory". When the first draft was completed, I looked up, but found that there was a dazzling sun flag flying overhead, and north China was so big that it was impossible to place a desk. Wang Shixiang wanted to continue to improve his manuscripts, but Peiping had become a occupied area, and the Palace Museum, where he could consult the materials, had already moved south to avoid the scourge of war. The huge Beiping City was suddenly shrouded in the shadow of the extinction of the country.
Wang Shixiang, with the support of his father, decided to go south to Chongqing. The southwest region belonged to the rear of the Anti-Japanese War, and before the fall of Beiping, the cultural relics in the Forbidden City had been moved south to Chongqing. His mind was still anxious to see the paintings with his own eyes in order to perfect his manuscripts.
In November 1943, at the age of 29, Wang Shixiang set out from Beiping, the first time he left home. Crossing the Japanese blockade line at the head of the northern Anhui border, detouring through Henan and Shaanxi, it took more than a month to reach Chongqing, Sichuan. During a short rest, Wang Shixiang visited several acquaintances and tried to work at the Palace Museum, which had moved south, but all were unsuccessful. Wandering the streets of Chongqing in winter, Wang Shixiang suddenly felt that the winter in the south was so cold. He asked himself, did he come to Chongqing through all kinds of difficulties and dangers, and did he fail like this? No! He must find work related to the study of antiquities.
This path of the Palace Museum was interrupted, and Wang Shixiang decided to think of another way. So he went to meet Mr. Fu Sinian, who was the director of the Institute of Historical Linguistics at the time, hoping to have the opportunity to work at the Institute of Historical Linguistics.
At that time, the office of the Institute of History and Linguistics was located in Lizhuang, not far from Yibin in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and many academic institutions such as the Central Museum, Tongji University, the Construction Society, the Institute of Social Sciences, etc. were all there, and many famous scholars were concentrated in this small town in southern Sichuan, and Wang Shixiang felt that there could be more opportunities to consult and learn.
Wang Shixiang had not dealt with Mr. Fu Sinian before this, which made him very distressed. Just when he was worried about seeing no door, he accidentally met Liang Sicheng, who met in remote Chongqing, and had a sense of knowing his hometown. Speaking of which, Liang Sicheng and Wang Shixiang can be regarded as friends who have forgotten their years, and Liang Sicheng, who is in his teens, is not only Wang Shixiang's good friend, but also his mentor. Wang Shixiang told Liang Sicheng about his purpose of seeking a job in Chongqing and the obstacles he encountered at the Palace Museum. After Liang Sicheng learned of Wang Shixiang's idea, he quickly arranged for Wang Shixiang to meet with Fu Sinian. With Liang Sicheng's personal introduction, Wang Shixiang once again summoned up the hope of life, he thought that this time he should always be able to find a position, but he did not expect that what greeted him was still a basin of cold water.
"What school did you graduate from?" Undergraduate and Graduate School of Chinese Literature, Yenching University. "Yenching University graduates are not worthy to come to the Shiyu Institute." The opportunity to meet after much effort ended in three sentences. Fu Sinian only spoke two sentences, and Wang Shixiang only had time to answer Fu Sinian's first question, and his desire to work in Shi Yu was thus declared over. Yenching University did not invite masters of Traditional Chinese Studies like Wang Guowei and Chen Yinke, and in Mr. Fu's eyes, students who graduated from such schools were not qualified to do Sinology research. Wang Shixiang has been grumpy about Fu Sinian's indifferent attitude for many years, and he has turned this contemptuous experience into a driving force for progress, inspiring himself to continue to move forward academically.
Several times hit the wall, Wang Shixiang's original ambition was hit hard, he began to suspect that he might be a wrong choice to come to Chongqing, the idea of returning to Beiping began to flow endlessly, but he was not willing to return to Beiping empty-handed, and this also deeply lived up to his father's high hopes. "Do you want to consider coming to our Construction Society?" When Wang Shixiang was at a loss, Liang Sicheng threw an olive branch to him, "Your volunteer is to engage in art history, if you are interested in ancient architecture, you can go to the China Construction Society to study and work while working, and the position is assistant researcher." ”
Founded in 1930 by Mr. Zhu Qizhao, a member of the Department of Communications during the Beiyang government and a former acting premier of the State Council, the China Construction Society aims to study architectural literature and traditional Chinese architectural styles.
In January 1944, Wang Shixiang accompanied Mr. Liang Sicheng on a river ferry from Chongqing to Lizhuang and began his work in the Construction Society. As a result of finding his favorite job, Wang Shixiang's mood also became happy, and his heart was full of curiosity to explore the new world. Oh, yes! This was his first job, and he was secretly determined to dedicate all he had learned to this long-suffering motherland. Facts have proved that this learning experience of the Construction Society in China laid the foundation for his lifelong academic research.
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