Chen Mengjia (first from right), Mrs. Zhao Luorui (center) and Mrs. Cai Fangxin's wife Chen Fang
Fang Jixiao spoke with dedication, and the members listened carefully
"Favor" members and guest Fang Jixiao took a group photo
As we all know, there are countless cultural relics in Beijing that have been preserved and accumulated for a long time. In order to help friends living in or coming to Beijing to understand the profound connotation of this "cultural center" more realistically, more deeply and more systematically, this newspaper launched the "Beiqing Edition" Beijing cultural route. In the form of field search, we will lead readers to measure this ancient and new city with their feet, to read, taste, feel and touch its texture. We expect that such a line will be intertwined one by one, and a cultural map of Beijing that has both temperature and sense of the times will be presented.
On the morning of the 10th, the rain receded for several days, ushering in a long-lost sunny day, and the "favored" members gathered in Dongchang Hutong in Dongcheng District on time to follow the literary and historical scholar Fang Jixiao on a cultural journey to find the old ruins of Chen Mengjia's capital. As we all know, Chen Mengjia was a crescent poet, paleographer, archaeologist, and Collector of Ming-style furniture. Along the way to visit the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Dongchang Hutong, where Chen Mengjia worked and lived, as well as the Great Buddha Temple Street and Qianliang Hutong where he lived, the past history, Chen Mengjia's short and bumpy but brilliant life is amazing, and the friendship between him and his friends is even more touching.
Fang Jixiao began to study Chen Mengjia in the 1990s, and over the past 20 years, he has visited many relatives and friends of Chen Mengjia, such as Chen Mengxiong, his brother-in-law Chen Mengxiong, his nephew Chen Zexing, his brother-in-law Zhao Jingxin, as well as Cai Fangxin's wife Chen Fang, Wang Shixiang, Wang Shimin, etc., and has obtained first-hand information on Chen Mengjia's study of human governance. In his view, Chen Mengjia is worthy of a rare talent in China's modern history, "it is difficult for us to compare with each other today."
Archaeological Institute: Chen Mengjia's office is also often lit up at night
At the beginning of the search, Fang Jixiao told everyone that he had walked the route he had taken today more than once. He introduced that the courtyard at the east entrance of the hutong is the location of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In 1952, the department of Tsinghua University was reformed, and Chen Mengjia was transferred from Tsinghua University to the Institute of Archaeology, which was then called the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Archaeology and the Institute of History were in this courtyard. Chen Mengjia has worked here for nearly 14 years, whether it is academic research or life experience, it is a more important period for him, and for four years, Chen Mengjia lived in the institute of archaeology, which is equivalent to working and living here 24 hours a day.
Chen Mengjia was in his 40s when he arrived at the Institute of Archaeology, but he was already a member of the Academic Committee of the Institute of Archaeology, and he was the youngest member. Fang Jixiao sighed, don't look at Chen Mengjia's young age, but his academic status is very high, and Director Zheng Zhenduo also values him. Several old scientists at the Institute of Archaeology at that time, such as Xu Bingchang, Huang Wenbi, Guo Baojun, etc. are all people who are one generation older than Chen Mengjia, originally Chen Meng's parents had the spirit, and they were very spirited people, but he usually walked with his head slightly bowed and hunched in the courtyard, others thought he was pretending, Chen Mengjia said no, seeing the old man was naturally like this. This shows that Chen Mengjia is a very humble person.
Fang Jixiao said: "According to Chen Mengjia's student Wang Shimin, while waiting for the graduation assignment at Peking University, he read the newly published tome "Yin Xu Bu Ci Review" and felt that the author was remarkable and admired Mr. Chen Mengjia very much. In August 1956, when he went to the Palace Museum to observe a bronze appraisal meeting, he met Chen Mengjia for the first time, and chen Mengjia's extensive knowledge left a deep impression on him. When watching the Shang Dynasty bronzes, Wang Shimin found that a bronze vessel marked as a pot had two ring ears, which did not match the characteristics of typical Shang Dynasty artifacts, and turned to Chen Mengjia for advice, which was valued by him. After opening the cabinet, it was inspected by many gentlemen and recognized as a double ring with a double ring that had lost its lifting beam and cover. The young man's earnestness and studiousness and Chen Mengjia's achievements in bronze identification suddenly narrowed the distance between the two. After the summer vacation, Wang Shimin was assigned to work at the Institute of Archaeology, and after a two-way selection, Mr. Chen became his research supervisor. He remembers that on the first day of registration, Chen Mengjia walked into the newly assigned college student office and said in a serious tone: "There is no eight-hour working system for scientific research, and every day we should devote all our energy to research work in addition to eating and sleeping." I sometimes go to the theater at night, and I can work at least two hours when I come home from the play. Later, some people recalled that Chen Mengjia's office was often lit at night.
Fang Jixiao pointed to a black iron door and said that in the past, this courtyard was full of bungalows, and the door could see a statue when it went in, and it was the offices of Zheng Zhenduo and Xia Nai, all of whom Chen Mengjia had known since they came to the archaeological institute, and the red roof in the distance was an old house in the past. Chen Mengjia has worked here for 14 years, and in these 14 years, he has gone from this courtyard to work in other places three times. The first time was to go to Juyongguan with the greening team sent by the Archaeological Institute, digging pits and planting trees for a long time in the cold autumn and winter; the second time was in 1959, when he was sent to the cotton planting factory on the outskirts of Luoyang, Henan Province, to work for a whole year; the last time was in 1960, when he was sent to Gansu to study Han Jian, when Wu Weixin discovered Han Jian, after repeated research, sent Chen Mengjia to sort it out. In a few months, he studied the Book of Han, and at the same time exchanged and discussed with the paleographer Yu Shengwu, and completed the task with his spirit of research and extraordinary intelligence.
"In 1959, a total of 20 people from the Archaeological Institute sent to Henan to work took a group photo at this gate before leaving, and I have seen this photo, all wearing large red flowers on their chests." Fang Jixiao turned to a large tree in the courtyard and said, "Chen Mengjia was wronged under this big locust tree, and committed suicide by taking sleeping pills that night, and was sent to the nearest Longfu Hospital to save him." In fact, he completed the end of the "Summary of Yin Xu Bu Ci" and several other manuscripts such as the Western Zhou Bronze Ware Discontinuation and the Warring States Weights and Measures Brief Introduction. He also founded the journal Archaeological Bulletin and published several articles on it. For the Institute of Archaeology, Chen Mengjia should be said to have made great contributions. Many people think that Chen Mengjia is a genius, and in Fang Jixiao's view, he has such achievements because of diligence and intelligence.
Dongchang Hutong, living with friends who can be orphaned
The Dongchang Hutong next to the archaeological institute is narrow and quiet, and Fang Jixiao said as he walked that this alley was inhabited by his good friend Cai Fangxin and his wife, who had "entrusted orphans" to Chen Mengjia. Speaking of which, the acquaintance of Chen Mengjia and Cai Fangxin is quite dramatic. At that time, there were many antique shops near the Longfu Building, and Chen Mengjia often went to visit. One day, Chen Mengjia saw a small rosewood cabinet in the store, but was told that it had been booked. He did not hesitate to ask questions repeatedly, and the boss had to take out the order and reveal the address of the booker. Chen Mengjia saw that he was in Dongchang Hutong, and immediately rode his bicycle to knock on the door. The hostess who opened the door was Chen Fang, "My name is Chen Mengjia, I went to Cai Fangxin and came to discuss something with him." Hearing the name Chen Mengjia, Chen Fang immediately remembered the poems of the poet Chen Mengjia who had read in high school, and she asked in surprise: "Chen Mengjia, are you the poet who wrote "A Wild Flower"?" Chen Mengjia said: "It's me, but I don't write poetry now, I work at the Archaeological Institute." At this time, Cai Fangxin came out of the house, welcomed the guests into the courtyard, came in to chat, and he asked in surprise: "Is your wife Zhao Luorui?" I am good friends with Zhao Luorui, and we often have meetings together. Chen Mengjia knew that Cai Fangxin was a dramatist and translator Fangxin, and he had seen many Soviet progressive novels translated by Fangxin. When he bluntly said that he was because he liked the pair of small rosewood cabinets to ask for transfer, Fangxin said very painfully that you liked you to buy. After this acquaintance, the two families often met and established a deep friendship.
Fang Jixiao has a large collection of Chen Mengjia's codex letters, from which the details of the interaction between the two families can be clearly seen. When Chen Mengjia was working outside, Zhao Luorui wrote to him, once saying that Lao Cai was very pitiful and had run out of grain, so I returned home to raid the four walls and sent four packs of "Lao Qian". "The lack of grain means that there are no cigarette tickets, and at that time, cigarettes must be supplied with tickets, and old smokers like Mr. Cai must not be able to smoke enough." Fang Jixiao explained. Zhao Luorui's letter also often mentioned playing with the children of the Cai family, eating delicious food together, and the two families walked around like a family. Fang Xin died of lung disease in his 60s, and before his death, he came to visit his Chen Mengjia and Zhao Luorui couple at Ritan Hospital and asked them to take care of their two children to go to school. Later, Zhao Luorui suffered from hysteria, and Chen Mengjia found a nanny from his hometown, but he was too young, chen Fang took the initiative to take on the task of taking care of Zhao Luorui, and she often went to Qianliang Hutong to cook for Zhao Luorui and take care of her living.
Why focus on the friendship between the Chen and Cai families? Fang Jixiao said bluntly: "I am here just to prove to Mr. Chen that it was pure nonsense to say that Chen Mengjia was messing with the relationship between men and women. In fact, because Zhao Luorui fell ill again the night before, Chen Mengjia went to the institute to study in the morning, and at noon he rushed to consult with Chen Fang, wanting to entrust her to take care of Zhao Luorui, but unexpectedly, the Red Guards rushed in before they could speak. "Fang Jixiao later went through a twist and turn to find Gao Tianlin, a Red Guard soldier of the Archaeological Institute who was involved in the criticism at that time, and the student at that time was already an old man in his nineties." He said that I was really sorry for Mr. Chen, I was in difficulty at home at that time, Mr. Chen's salary was just opened, I took it, and then I repaid half of him and couldn't afford it, mr. Chen never mentioned it, he said tears came down. He confessed to the scene he saw at Chen Fang's house: Chen Mengjia was sitting on a stool, Chen Fang was standing against a pear table, and her eldest daughter was next to her. At that time, it was said that the crescent moon poet was bad and wanted to criticize him, so he arrested Mr. Chen on this reason. ”
In 2015, Fang Jixiao went to find Mrs. Cai Chen Fang, who was 92 years old, and the old lady remembered the scene of that day vividly, and she remembered that Mr. Chen's eyes were full of despair, he called my name and said, "I can no longer let people play like monkeys." At that time, the old lady pointed to a desk and told Fang Jixiao: "When I moved, my son would not let my son throw it away, saying that mr. Chen bought it for him and spent twenty or thirty yuan." Chen Fang's daughter said that they were very fond of the gentle and elegant Mr. Chen and Mr. Zhao, and Chen Mengjia was very good to their sisters and brothers when they were alive. When living in Dongchang Hutong, Mr. Chen and Mr. Zhao came to play with the two brothers and sisters, and sometimes tutored their homework. Mr. Chen often takes his brother to bookstores and old markets, and eats out. The younger brother likes Mr. Chen's profession and often asks Mr. Chen questions. Mr. Chen is always available and patient.
Big Buddha Temple East Street, yu province, who is also a teacher and a friend
Not far north of Longfu Hospital, to the west of the T-shaped intersection, is the East Street of the Great Buddha Temple, where Yu Shengwu once had a residence, as long as he came to the Residence of the Great Buddha Temple, he would invite Chen Mengjia to the house to eat, and after the meal they would taste tea, smoke, and talk freely.
"Chen Mengjia has a particularly good relationship with Yu Shengwu, and Chen Mengjia's study of Han Jian is actually the door that Mr. Yu has led into. Mr. Yu studied bronze ware, had a deep knowledge of oracle bones, often took Chen Mengjia to visit antique shops, and introduced famous bosses of antique markets such as LiuliChang to Chen Mengjia. Fang Jixiao sighed. I have a good return, and my heart is calm. This sentence that Yu Shengwu often said had a profound impact on Chen Mengjia. When Chen Mengjia inspected the museum of the University of Pennsylvania, he saw at close range the "Salu Zi" and "Fist Hair" in the Zhaoling Liujun who were smuggled to the United States by Lu Qinzhai, and he saw that Lu Qinzhai had a guilty heart for stealing and selling cultural relics of the motherland, so he encouraged Lu Qinzhai to donate to the motherland on the eve of returning to China. Yu Shengwu praised Chen Mengjia's achievements in the four years of his visit to the United States and encouraged him to sort out the data collected in Europe and the United States for domestic scholars to study.
Later, Chen Mengjia founded the Cultural Relics Exhibition Room of Tsinghua University at Tsinghua University, which received a lot of support from Yu Shengwu. Mr. Yu sold the oracle bone and the Yan King Sword because he knew that the public collection was more conducive to the protection of cultural relics, and Chen Mengjia was more aware of the antiquities hidden by the province, so naturally he would not miss the opportunity. Later, Chen Mengjia's "Review of Yin Xu Bu Ci" and "Western Zhou Bronze Ware Discontinuity" were both helped by Yu Shengwu. At the beginning of June 1954, Chen Mengjia served as the deputy editor of the Archaeological Newsletter, and the problems encountered in the compilation of the journal were proposed by the Provincial Wuhui for his reference. In 1956, Chen Mengjia rearranged and approved the "Collection of Chinese Bronzes Collected by the United States", which was fully affirmed by Yu Shengwu.
Another thing that cannot be mentioned is that at that time, Chen Mengjia's father-in-law Zhao Zichen was the dean of the Theological College of Yenching University, because Yenching University was dismissed from his post, and his father-in-law's family had no place to live, so Chen Mengjia helped find a suitable courtyard in the city. After Yu Shengwu heard about it, he recommended a small courtyard of the Ming Dynasty located in the Great Buddha Temple to Chen Mengjia, and Chen Mengjia used his savings plus his father-in-law's savings to buy this small mansion through Yu Shengwu's contact, and his father-in-law's family finally had a settlement. "The small courtyard is here, demolished, I used to go in and see, the Big Buddha Temple also has a small temple door." I later learned that it was Chen Mengjia who took a large half of the money to buy this small courtyard for the Zhao family. ”
For a period of time, in order to avoid involving relatives and friends, Chen Mengjia set himself a "three no's": not visiting the door, not having dinner with friends, and not writing letters to friends. But this "three noes" did not work for Xu Senyu, Wang Xiantang, Yu Shengwu and other friends. According to Wang Shimin's recollection, at that time, Chen Mengjia had moved from the large office of the editorial department into a very small room, and Yu Shengwu went to the Archaeological Institute and directly "drilled" into the small room of Chen Mengjia's office, and the conversation was half a day. Yu Shengwu felt sorry for chen Mengjia, who was rich and skilled, and he advised Chen Mengjia not to be too depressed, to cheer up, and to continue the ongoing research and compilation of the Western Zhou Bronze Ware Dynasty.
Qianliang Hutong, first rented the backyard of Wang Shixiang's uncle's family, and then bought 18 rooms for a large courtyard
Chen Mengjia's wife, Zhao Luorui, is a translator who returned from studying in the United States to work as a professor at Peking University. Chen Mengjia was a professor at Tsinghua University, which was on May Fourth Avenue at the time, one in the city and one in the western suburbs, and the two could not see each other once a week.
Fang Jixiao introduced that when Chen Mengjia was transferred to the archaeological institute in Dongchang Hutong in 1952, the two were very close, but Peking University moved to Yenching University, and it was difficult to reunite and separate far away. Chen Mengjia wanted Zhao Luorui to be transferred back to the city, and thus thought of the problem of the two people's residence after returning to the city. Zheng Zhenduo, director of the Institute of Archaeology, considered solving a dormitory for Chen Mengjia in the courtyard, so he consulted with Deputy Director Liang Siyong: You and Chen Mengjia originally knew each other at the Southwest United University, can you give part of the courtyard where you live to Chen Mengjia? Liang Siyong happily gave up the house. But there was a problem that made Chen Mengjia's stay very uncomfortable, and he wrote to Zhao Luorui to pour out his troubles: "Luo: Director Zheng has arranged a dormitory, but unfortunately Liang Siyong's wife has cut off the toilet in the part of the Liang family, and we can't use it." Chen and Zhao were both born in Christian families, they are a Western-style way of life, not used to no toilet, Chen Mengjia decided to move out.
At this time, his friend Wang Shixiang came to see Chen Mengjia at the Archaeological Institute, and Chen Mengjia asked Wang Shixiang to help rent a house. Within a few days, Chen Meng's family rented the backyard of Wang Shixiang's uncle's golden house. At the beginning of 1956, Chen Mengjia used the advance fee of the "Yin Xu Bu Ci Review" plus his daily savings to buy a large house of the Yin family opposite the Qianliang Hutong that Wang Shixiang helped find. It is a very large courtyard with 18 rooms.
Fang Jixiao took everyone to the front of the former residence, the yard in front of them had long been gone, and the roof was half a foot high grass, but the pattern of that year could still be faintly seen. A small gate to the west and a compound to the east. Chen Mengjia once wrote to Zhao Luorui saying that this house was too old. He later rebuilt the toilet and kitchen, which were very elaborately decorated, and the 18 rooms were basically filled with his collection of huanghuali furniture and antiques. Qianliang Alley was close to his unit, and on a good day, he rode a small bicycle brought back from the United States and wore a path with books to the archaeological institute to work.
There is a letter in 1958 that made Fang Jixiao very impressed, at that time Chen Mengjia's work in the unit was not very smooth, the letter said, because the first day of heavy rain, there is a lot of water on the road, Chen Mengjia rode to the archaeological institute, full of heart, the result of the sudden when the people with the car were thrown into a large puddle, fell a body of mud and water, he said "barefoot, extreme pain."
Some members inexplicably asked, why did some people still write their views on Chen Mengjia into the article? In Fang Jixiao's view, this is all due to Chen Mengjia's personality, "He is a man, he values love and righteousness, respects the elders, he does not cling to the powerful, and he will not bend the heart to meet him." For example, he takes it as his duty to sort out Xu Zhimo's manuscripts and poems, and he has always placed Wen Yiduo's photos in an important position, and he has always cared for the Wen family." When in the archaeological institute, Chen Mengjia never pulled the relationship, set almost, "he and Zhao Luorui are professors, the two are very high wages, when he is alone, after work, often go to the nearby small restaurant to eat a few small dishes and drink some wine, others pass by after work, he will not be polite." He also smokes, the office desk has a large front door cigarette wrapped in tin wrapped paper, and he will not let people come to him, he will not be hypocritical. And he was open-minded and jealous as a vendetta. He participated in the preparation of the cultural relics exhibition room of Tsinghua University, tried his best to use his various friendships to purchase a lot of valuable cultural relics, but was speculated that there was a suspicion of 'oil grabbing', and he resigned in anger. After the purchase of this house, it also attracted envy."
The enlightener of Wang Shixiang's collection of Ming-style furniture was Chen Mengjia
As we all know, Mr. Wang Shixiang was the first person to collect Ming-style furniture, and what is less known is that the enlightener of his collection was Chen Mengjia.
Fang Jixiao introduced that in 1934, Wang Shixiang was a freshman who had just entered Yenching University, and Chen Mengjia was a graduate student studying paleography by Professor Rong Geng. Two years later, Chen Mengjia graduated from graduate school and stayed on as a teacher, married Zhao Luorui in the same year, and lived in a house that Wang Shixiang's family had in a garden near Yenching University. Since then, Wang Shixiang and Chen Mengjia have become friends, and after following Chen Mengjia to visit Lubanguan, Long Shuncheng and other wooden trading houses several times, he has become interested in Ming-style furniture, and occasionally buys one or two small objects with fine workmanship. Wang Shixiang was extremely envious when he first saw Chen Mengjia's elegant and gorgeous Ming Dynasty Huanghuali furniture in Tsinghua Shengyin Courtyard.
After Chen Mengjia was transferred to the Archaeological Institute, he had more opportunities to go to Leng stalls and Xiaoshi, and sometimes he would make an appointment with Wang Shixiang. After Wang Shixiang rented a house in Qianliang Hutong for him, he often went to Chen Mengjia to admire furniture, antiques, or discuss scholarship. In the 1950s, Chen Mengjia collected dozens of pieces of Huanghuali Ming Dynasty furniture, the quality and quantity were first-class, and he was recognized as an expert in Ming-style furniture appreciation. After Chen Mengjia was rehabilitated, the Ming Dynasty furniture he carefully collected during his lifetime, as well as manuscripts, diaries and other relics were returned one after another. Because Zhao Luorui had moved to the Great Buddha Temple not far away to live with her parents' family, Ming-style furniture was still stored in the house in Qianliang Hutong. In Wang Shixiang's catalogue of "Ming-style Furniture Appreciation", thirty-eight paintings were made with zhao Luorui's permission to use Chen Mengjia's old collection.
Fang Jixiao said that when he later talked about the process of shooting Chen Mengjia's old Ming Dynasty furniture, Wang Shixiang was quite emotional, one is that his shooting has been fully supported by Zhao Luorui; second, Chen's furniture is not only in terms of quantity, but also has a complete range, and when carefully selecting the furniture to be selected, he is still amazed. In addition to the complexity of the shooting project, but also the actual measurement and drawing, Wang Shixiang led people to shoot for several months.
Wang Shixiang described Chen Mengjia in his article "Remembering Dreamers": "It is really enough for a new poet who has long become famous to plunge into the pile of oracle bones and move from the most modern language to the oldest text." He also said in particular: "If he had escaped the disaster and survived to this day, I believe that he would have written a masterpiece of imperial furniture in the Ming Dynasty." This topic can't be written by me, and I don't dare to write it even if I want to. "After the new millennium, Mr. Wang Shixiang, who is more than ninety years old, no longer makes the inscription, and after seeing the manuscript written by Fang Jixiao, he gladly inscribed the title of the book "Chen Mengjia and His Friends".
Photo by Wen He/Li Zhe Courtesy of Fang Jixiao