During the Republic of China period, with the rise of the cultural innovation brought about by the May Fourth Movement, the majority of women also began to receive education, many of whom were talented and had a great influence on society, and were honored as Mr.
Mr. Soong Ching Ling, the Mother of the Republic of China, has made great contributions to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people and enjoys high international prestige.
Mr. Yang Dai, a famous Chinese female writer, literary translator and foreign literary researcher, is proficient in many Chinese words and works, and adheres to the indifference and tenacity of traditional Chinese culture.
Mr. Lin Huiyin, a famous Chinese architect and writer, and the designer of the Deepening Program of the Monument to the People's Heroes and the National Emblem, has laid a solid foundation for the study of Chinese architecture.
Mr. Zhang Chonghe, who taught calligraphy and Kunqu opera at Harvard, Yale and other universities, worked quietly all his life to promote traditional Chinese culture, and was known as the "last talented woman" of the Republic of China.
The gentlemen listed above, some engaged in politics and some in school, are all women of the new era who are well-known in their respective fields.
There is also a gentleman, who is unknown compared to them, throughout her life, closely associated with another great figure, Mr. Lu Xun, she is Xu Guangping.
Xu Guangping, born in the first Family of Menxu in modern Guangzhou, can be called the top two Guangdong celebrities, grandfather Xu Yingqi, the official to the Ministry of Rites Shangshu, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, the power of the moment, deeply appreciated by Empress Dowager Cixi.
His cousins Xu Chonghao and Xu Chongzhi, also known as "Xinhai Shuangxiong", controlled the military power of the Cantonese Army and were the founding fathers of the Whampoa Military Academy.
Unfortunately, Xu Guangping's father was Shu out, and he did not have a very high status in the family, plus Xu Guangping was born with a mother's womb, which was considered an ominous person, and just a few days after landing, he was actually given to the family of a rural rich man as a child bridesmaid.
As early as Xu Guangping's youth, the personality in his bones who rejected the world and longed for freedom had been highlighted.
She not only refused the common female foot binding at that time, but also strongly demanded to enroll in school with the men in the family and refused the arranged marriage of the child bride.
Fortunately, Xu Guangping was talented and intelligent, and gradually won the appreciation of the family uncle and brother, in 1917, the family divided the property, Xu Guangping got the original paintings of Tang Bohu, sold a sum of money, and was able to help the family.
At the same time, with the help of the family brothers, he successfully dissolved the arranged marriage contract and obtained freedom.
Later, Xu Guangping used that money as a tuition fee and was admitted to the Chinese Literature Department of Beijing Girls' Normal School, where she met her mentor and the person who would accompany her for life in the future, Mr. Lu Xun.
In 1923, Xu Guangping officially entered the Department of Chinese Literature, and at the age of 25, she would arrive early every week for the lecture on the history of fiction.
That year, Lu Xun, 42 years old, would wear a worn-out robe every week and go to the Female Teacher's University to talk about the history of novels for an hour, and he met Xu Guangping while working part-time here.
Xu Guangping's initial impression of Lu Xun, she herself described it this way: "He looks like an ordinary middle-aged man, the kind that can never be found when thrown into the pile of people, but as soon as he walks onto the podium, the momentum is completely different... On the podium, his face was gray, with a robe he often wore, he looked like a luminous cup, the color was dark but the light was introverted, and as soon as he opened his lecture, it was like bright red wine poured into the luminous cup, which was pleasant, and suddenly felt that the whole class was brighter. ”
Before the two met, they both experienced a failed relationship.
Soon after Xu Guangping entered the school, he got acquainted with Li Xiaohui, a fellow countryman who was also studying at the school, and this diligent and enterprising young man won Xu Guangping's favor, but there was an unexpected storm in the sky, Li Xiaohui contracted fever and died early, and Xu Guangping's first relationship died prematurely.
Lu Xun was arranged by his mother to marry Juan from a peasant family, and within a few days of marriage, Lu Xun ran away from home and never had a husband and wife with Juan in his life.
He even openly said that his marriage had no emotional component at all, just because he did not want to disappoint his mother.
In 1925, Xu Guangping was expelled, and she wrote a letter to Lu Xun, pouring out her depression and talking about current affairs.
Unexpectedly, Lu Xun quickly replied to the letter, and he also noticed that this little girl who often sat in the first row of his class and stared intently also boldly discussed the current affairs pattern with himself.
About a month after the first letter, the Dragon Boat Festival arrived, and Lu Xun invited several students to his home for a small gathering, including Xu Guangping, who walked into Lu Xun's study for the first time and described it as "full of fantasy".
At the party that day, Lu Xun drank a few more drinks, laughed, and talked freely about ancient and modern times, and the free and open-minded color of the leaders of the new literary circles was fully displayed, which deeply attracted Xu Guangping, who was present.
Their feelings began here, and soon Xu Guangping wrote again, and then Lu Xun quickly replied, writing for ten years.
Hundreds of letters from the two men are all included in the Book of Two Places. No one expected that Lu Xun, who used his pen as a knife to criticize the current situation and was tough and stubborn, would even write a gentle love letter like water:
"I always send your letters to the post office, I don't like to put them in the green mailbox on the street, I always suspect that it will be slower there."
At this time in China, warlords were in turmoil, Xu Guangping was repeatedly persecuted, and her persistence and courage also caused a shock in Lu Xun's heart.
After all, he was already nominally a husband with a wife, and Xu Guangping was his own student, and Lu Xun was still hesitant about this almost open love.
Later, Xu Guangping took the initiative to extend his hand to Lu Xun, and finally let Lu Xun release his feelings and accepted the love affair between the two sides.
In that era, the love between teachers and students caused great controversy in society, and even a literary leader with high prestige like Lu Xun could not help but feel uneasy about the discussion in the outside world, and could only carefully defend Xu Guangping.
After the outbreak of the "April 12" coup, Lu Xun went to Shanghai, and Xu Guangping ignored the obstruction of his family and followed him, this time it was really together.
Xu Guangping no longer went out to work, willingly became the woman behind Lu Xun, helping him to manage the housework, edit manuscripts, and organize materials, Lu Xun had her support, and also concentrated on the revolutionary cause and writing.
There was once a popular saying on the Internet that since Xu Guangping followed Lu Xun, he had lost the style of the intellectual woman of the new era and became an old mother who lived at home and taught her children.
Lu Xun's eating habits are very special, must eat alone, once lived in Beijing, he had high requirements for daily dining, dishes must have northern characteristics, but also nutritious and healthy.
Lu Xun, a public figure, usually comes to visit and study a lot of students and friends, each time Xu Guangping has to prepare seven or eight different dishes, a full table, which is not an easy thing for her from a rich family.
They later had a son, Xu Guangping had to take the children while doing housework, and he also had to help Lu Xun sort out the manuscript and do editing work, and the burden could be imagined.
In fact, objectively speaking, being a woman around a great man is not an easy thing, from ancient times to the present, from ancient times to the present, Lu Xun is actually in life, as far as possible to take care of Xu Guangping.
In fact, Lu Xun has always wanted to divorce the original Zhu An and formally obtain a license with Xu Guangping, but he is worried that Zhu An's life has no place, Lu Xun can only drag it out, and his heart is also guilty of Xu Guangping.
But in addition to the marriage certificate, Lu Xun did his best to give Xu Guangping what he could give: as soon as he had free time, he studied many world famous works with Xu Guangping and taught her to translate Capital.
When the two went out to watch movies, Lu Xun bought the best seats because Xu Guangping's eyesight was not good; Xu Guangping wanted to go out to do things, and Lu Xun would mobilize his personal connections to assist at the first time...
Xu Guangping dedicated his youth to Lu Xun, why didn't Lu Xun understand in his heart? Until the time of his death, Lu Xun also told Xu Guangping not to worry about himself anymore and to find a new life.
But Xu Guangping felt Lu Xun's love, how could he forget that he had started over?
Looking at his life, the last time was still dedicated to Lu Xun: he made every effort to collect, sort out and publish Lu Xun's works, write articles commemorating Lu Xun, and publish Lu Xun's personal biography.
Zhu An is the person who Xu Guangping has always felt indebted, although Lu Xun did not have a husband and wife with Juan before his death, he also always respected Juan, voluntarily supported her, and would give hundreds of yuan of living expenses every month for Zhu An and his old mother to use, you must know that even in a big city like Shanghai at that time, ordinary workers' monthly wages were only twenty or thirty yuan.
After Lu Xun and Xu Guangping lived together, Juan's role was very awkward, and many people hugged her unevenly, but she expressed understanding: "Mr. Big is not a person with thin feelings, he will not ignore me." ”
After Lu Xun's death, the burden of supporting Zhu An was taken over by Xu Guangping, although Xu Guangping's mother and son's own life was also very difficult at that time, but they never abandoned Zhu An, so Zhu An still told people about Xu Guangping's goodness until his death.
Juan's life is a tragedy, a victim of arranged marriages in the feudal era, from another perspective, meeting Xu Guangping can also be regarded as Juan's only remaining comfort in life.
After Lu Xun's death, Xu Guangping's remaining time still surrounded him.
In 1942, the Shanghai Gendarmerie Command of the Japanese Army began to hunt down the Anti-Japanese War literati in Shanghai, the first to bear the brunt of which was Xu Guangping, Lu Xun's widow.
Xu Guangping experienced torture and torture by the Japanese army in prison, and after the news came out, public opinion was in a big uproar, and Lu Xun's former friend Uchiyama Guanzo and others came to the rescue, so that she survived.
In 1968, Xu Guangping's old illness recurred and he unfortunately passed away.
Xu Guangping struggled to the last moment of his life for Lu Xun.
Speaking of which, Xu Guangping and Lu Xun, a couple who are not even licensed, have truly realized the vision of a lifetime of mutual love.
Many times I think about: Lu Xun, a tit-for-a-time, iron-boned giant of the times; Xu Guangping, a new intellectual woman with rebellious and youthful bones. Why do they become gentle with each other like water after they come together, and they are dependent on each other for life and death?
Maybe as many people say, they appreciate each other, and in the old times they found each other's like-mindedness and common spiritual pursuits, so they stayed together for a lifetime.
In fact, I think these two people are in line with that sentence: true love, you are very good, I am not bad.