In today's society, "leftover women" are not unusual, they are all personal choices, and outsiders are not enough. But what is curious is that as a woman, is it better to get married or to be a "leftover woman"? Mr. Qian Zhongshu once used the metaphor of "besieging the city" to marriage: the outside wants to go in, and the inside wants to come out. But now the concept has changed: the city has taken pains to persuade the unmarried to dispel their thoughts, find a good person early, have children, and say that this is the full life. But outside the city, they don't want to go in, and the leftover women all say how precious freedom is, how the family is dragged down, and how unbearable the men are. What is right or wrong? There is still no conclusion, but we can put aside these war of words, look at a case of the predecessor, and hope that the "leftover women" will be enlightened -
Lü Bicheng, a super "leftover woman", never married in her life, don't think it's just an ordinary decision, she was born in the ninth year of Guangxu, is the "leftover woman" at the end of the Qing Dynasty, you know her courage now, but what makes her famous is not the name of "leftover woman", but these scary and lifeless labels: the first female editor in the history of Chinese journalism, the first female writer in China, the first female principal in China, the first animal protectionist in China, "the last female lyricist in the past three hundred years", poet, political commentator, Social activists, capitalists. Only one of these titles is enough to go down in history, but why should they be both?
Beautiful as a fairy's Lü Bicheng
Night rain talks about soldiers, spring wind talks about swords
Lü Bicheng's father, Lü Fengqi, was a third-year-old Scholar of The Guangxu Dynasty, and had served as an assistant scholar of the National History Museum and a scholar of Shanxi, so Lü Bicheng received a good education from an early age. Her talent is extremely high, when she was 5 years old, she walked in the garden with her father, Lü Fengqi said that "spring wind blows willows", Lü Bicheng did not hesitate to use "autumn rain to hit the sycamore" as a countermeasure, which surprised her father, and from then on he loved her even more and carefully taught poetry and painting articles. She was able to paint landscapes at the age of 7, and at the age of 12, her achievements in poetry and painting had reached a considerable level, and it was said that since childhood, she had a talented name, Gong Shiwen, Shan Danqing, able to rule the seal, and delicate rhythm, words are especially famous in the world, every time a word is published, it is recited from near and far... Fan Zengxiang, the talent at that time, read Lü Bicheng's poems and still could not believe that "the night rain talked about soldiers, and the spring wind talked about swords", but it came from the hand of a little girl, which showed her early wisdom.
Lü Bicheng's father died when she was 13 years old, the clans competed for family property, the husband repented of marriage, the family situation plummeted, she had to go away to her uncle, and because the conservative uncle restricted her from entering school, she finally ran away from home. At the time of distress, by coincidence, one of her rescue letters was seen by the general manager of the Ta Kung Pao, Ying Zhizhi, who greatly appreciated her literary talent and hired him as the first female editor of the Ta Kung Pao. Only a few months after Lü Bicheng arrived at the Ta Kung Pao, many poetry works were frequently reported in the press, with strict discipline and majestic weather, which were praised by the predecessors in the poetry industry. Although Lü Bicheng's poems are ancient poems, they are often closely related to the theme of the times, rich in words, and from time to time exude a straightforward and frank temperament and the courage of horizontal swords, with a broad vision and mind that ordinary women rarely have at that time, which is yearn for and admired by women, and also makes many men admire. For a time, there was a grand situation of "the envy of the people who supported the curtain alone, and pushed Lü Bicheng everywhere".
In 1914, Lü Bicheng joined the famous poetry society founded by Liu Yazi and others, the Nanshe Society. With Wang Jingwei, Zhang Mojun, Tie Chan, Yu Shimei and other famous poets singing and interacting with each other, Liu Yazi called her "the best among the female poets of the Southern Society", and the famous scholar Lin Gengbai praised him: "Among the old gentry class in Bicheng, she is amazingly talented, works poetry, and is good at writing Han... Reading it makes people regurgitate, and there are those who cannot help themselves." Although she has always insisted on the creation of ancient texts to make her famous, her literary talent is flying and the momentum is magnificent, which makes her unique and extraordinary. Poetry also became her favorite and accompanied her for a lifetime.
Lü Bicheng's poetry, calligraphy and painting are all impressive
Born to enlighten civilization
Lü Bicheng is the initiator of feminism, when she was the editor of the "Ta Kung Pao", she wrote consecutive articles such as "On the Purpose of Advocating Women's Studies", "Warning to Chinese Female Compatriots", "Xing Women's Powerful People have the Will to Perseverance", etc. for women's liberation and publicity of women's education, these feminist views have stirred up thousands of waves in society, caused strong repercussions, and become a hot spot for people to talk about the streets. In September 1904, Lü Bicheng became the chief teacher of Beiyang Women's Public School (Beiyang Women's Normal School), and two years later he served as a supervisor (equivalent to a modern "principal"), becoming the first woman in Chinese history to hold this senior position, known as "Columbus of the Beiyang Women's Circle".
In teaching, Lü Bicheng advocates the combination of traditional Chinese culture and Western ideas of democracy, freedom and science, and creatively puts forward the policy of allowing students to develop comprehensively in the three aspects of "morality, intellect and body"; Linking women's studies, feminism and the rise and fall of the country, and forcefully attacking the antiquated concept of "women without talent is morality" in ancient China, Beiyang Women's Public School has become one of the birthplaces of modern female civilization in China. In this highest school for women at that time, she held the seal for eight years, "meritorious honor, a hundred mouths." Many of her students, such as Zhou Daoru, Liu Qingyang, Xu Guangping, and Deng Yingchao, later became Prominent Chinese feminist revolutionaries, educators, and artists. After the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, Beiyang Girls' Public School was discontinued and later changed to Hebei Women's Normal School, and Lü Bicheng returned to Shanghai after returning to Shanghai.
The afterscent of the leaves and leaves of the dance clothes is there, but the joy is prosperous
Lü Bicheng is not just a literati rioter who "hurts spring and sad autumn", she has both independent consciousness and business acumen. In Shanghai, she devoted herself to the business world, seized the opportunity, engaged in foreign trade business, with her unique charm, extraordinary courage and talent, coupled with the rich contacts accumulated in the political arena and high society, she quickly emerged in the Shili Yangchang, and in only two or three years, she accumulated considerable wealth. Although she is humble and "slightly familiar with Tao Zhu's learning", she is already rich.
Lu Bicheng, who was rich in money, really began her own life of wanton spending: in 1918, she went to Columbia University in the United States to study English and fine arts, especially love to dance, have a broader vision, and life is extremely exciting. But she still cherishes her homeland, and is also a special correspondent of the Shanghai Times, writing down what she has seen and heard in ancient poems in foreign countries, introducing the vast outside world to the Chinese people, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the ancient city of Rome in Italy, the Fort of London, ice cream, running pens... It opened the eyes of the Chinese people, and at the same time expanded the performance content of classical poetry, and finally gathered into a coat, published "European and American Travels", "Xinfang Collection" and other well-known works.
Living in the West, she has lived in a luxury hotel for many years, with a noble temperament and a generous hand, and many Westerners even think that she is a princess of the East. In May 1925, the International Society for the Protection of Animals was held in Vienna, Austria, and she was the only invited Chinese to give a speech. Lü Bicheng "wore beads and smeared his forehead, wearing a gold peacock makeup coat" dressed on stage, and delivered thousands of words of the wasted slaughter speech in fluent English, which caused a sensation in the audience of 25 ministers and more than 5,000 delegates, and also gave the world a taste of the outstanding style of Chinese women. Especially the point where the eyes of the masses are focused", so representatives of Germany, Italy, Spain and other countries competed to invite Lü Bicheng to speak.
The city of Ruby while living in Paris
I'm only here to go to earth
Lü Bicheng is talented, famous, rich, and has great achievements in his career, but he is "invincible in the high places", and he is proud that no one is worthy of him, so that his years are staggering. Her eyes were above the top, and she looked around, and there were only four men who said that she could see them: Liang Rengong (that is, Liang Qichao) already had a wife; Wang Jixin (that is, Wang Jingwei) was younger; Wang Rongbao (who had served as the right senator of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a member of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, a minister in Belgium and Japan, good at calligraphy and poetry) was still good, and she was already a couple; Zhang Qianggong (that is, Zhang Qianggong ( that is, the late Qing Dynasty, the famous industrialist, educator, and politician Zhang Jian) had worked for Zhu Zhenzhuang (that is, the poet, calligrapher, and bibliophile Zhu Zongyuan in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period), and the virtuous poetry was good. Patience is not confused about the hair is white!" She once spoke of her view of mate selection: "My purpose is not in assets and doorways, but in literary status." Therefore, it is rare to have a rather companion, the east is not successful, the west is not compatible, and there is a lost opportunity. Fortunately, I have a little savings in hand, I don't have to worry about food and clothing, and I can only entertain myself with literature!"
She is not self-pitying, she is still beautiful, confident and free, and slightly withered. When her poetry was famous in Beijing and Tianjin, Yuan Kewen, son of Yuan Shikai, Li Jingyi, nephew of Li Hongzhang, and others used poetry to make peace, admired them to the fullest, and even followed each other, like the stars holding the moon. She never hesitated, generously socialized with men, sang and chanted, enjoyed piano and chess, calmly entered and exited social places, talked and laughed, and became a spectacle of the late Qing Dynasty society.
Lü Bicheng has a song "Jiang Chengzi" that I love: "The flowers are rainy and sunny, like amorous, like ruthless." Twenty-four winds, the most distinct. Replace songbirds such as passers-by, first swallow swallows, then warblers. Floating life with this wheel of rotation, is a dust, love red dust. Like a dream warbler, add a dream person. The traces of spring are like the shadow of a dream, resting from suffering, calling the truth." Lü Bicheng's life is like a dream person, all the way through the thorns, singing and advancing, not afraid of the world's sneering. At the same time, she is the most sober person, self-reliant, self-conscious, introspective, in the era of women's only promises, although she has never married, she also has a rich and colorful, brilliant and dazzling life, which has made thousands of women look forward to it. If you can really have such a brilliant life, why not be a "leftover girl"?