This is a classic old photo taken at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing in 1935. It is also one of the few photos taken by Lin Huiyin and Jin Yuelin , including the couple of Fei Zhengqing .
The mysterious woman in the photo (third from right) is confusing
For nearly a hundred years, when people comment on this photo, most of them have similar descriptions:
"In 1935, Lin Huiyin and his daughter Liang Zaibing took a photo with Jin Yuelin, Fei Weimei , Fei Zhengqing and others in Tiantan ." There are only 6 people in
photos, and 5 people can tell their names. Then the word "wait" is naturally left to the mysterious person who does not know the name.
The woman sitting between Lin Huiyin and Fei Weimei has also become a mystery that has troubled the world for nearly a hundred years.
Lin Huiyin
This mysterious foreign woman seemed to have suddenly landed in that period of time, except for this photo, there seemed to be no trace left.
However, the dusty time is always opened inadvertently. If you want to unveil the veil of this mysterious woman, you have to start with Mr. Lao She 's work "Four Generations in the Family".
Since "Four Generations in the Family" was cut off in 1951, the manuscript that has been written has been separated from the turbulence and change of time. Since then, this modern literary masterpiece has become a broken book.
Lao She
The only clue to remedy is the English translation translated by American Pu Aide. However, because it is a translation, the publisher has made a lot of deletion and modification of the content, so even if it is translated back to Chinese, it will have a considerable gap with the original work.
It was not until a few years ago that the publisher Mr. Zhao Wuping found the original manuscript of Pu Aide's translation of "Four Generations in the Family" in the United States and re-translated it into Chinese according to the manuscript, which allowed this literary masterpiece to reappear in China.
And everything about the woman in this photo is the "unexpected joy" that Mr. Zhao Wuping accidentally got when he was searching for Lao She's remaining text in the United States.
Pu Aide
During that time, Mr. Zhao Wuping was searching for relevant information about Lao She and accidentally got a very interesting English children's book called "The Adventures of the Three Treasures in Peking".
The reason why this book is paid attention to by Mr. Zhao Wuping is because it is in the same period as Beiping described in Lao She's " Camel Xiangzi ".
"Compared with the tragedy of ' Xiangzi ', the adventure of 'Three Treasures' is more like a romantic lyrical pastoral song."
Whenever I recall this book, Mr. Zhao Wuping would sigh like this.
"The Adventures of the Three Treasures in Peking" translated by Mr. Zhao Wuping
is written from the perspective of a Chinese boy named "Three Treasures". "Three Treasures" live in the suburbs of Peking. When he first came to Beiping City , he really encountered a lot of new things.
In addition to the text, the author also used a slightly immature brush and ink, accompanied by more than forty lifelike sketch illustrations. Although nearly a hundred years have passed, it still makes people love it.
And the author of this book is the heroine Marian Cannon, who is to be revealed in the photo.
1934 Beiping City
1934, Marian came to China and lived in Peking for several months. She is very talented in the fields of painting and literature, and in this short time she actually learned to use brushes and Chinese painting .
In that era when talented women were rare, in addition to being a Western character, she was simply suitable to be named "Talented Girl of the Republic of China".
When Marian first came to Peking, she felt everything was fresh. In her eyes, this slightly dilapidated ancient city still shone with the glory of medieval civilization. The lives of the people in the city were almost the same as in the past few hundred years.
Maryan's sketch drawings about old Peking
In order to record everything magical, Marian drew a lot of sketch drawings in and outside the city.
It is precisely because of these precious sketches that after returning to the United States, she decided to leave some form of record for her unforgettable life in Peking.Therefore, "The Adventures of the Three Treasures in Peking" came into being. The paintings and words in the book
are all the real experiences of Marian in Peking. That year, Marian was only 22 years old.
The world changes.
In 2016, when "The Adventures of the Three Treasures of Peking" was finally about to publish in China, Marian, who was already 104 years old, dragged his heavy sick body and insisted on writing a preface for this book.
104-year-old Marian and Mr. Zhao Wuping
In the preface, she wrote:
"Now, more than seventy years have passed. I think the content in this little book can almost become a historical record. I am worried that all the wonderful atmospheres, all the familiar atmospheres of old Peking, all of which I am familiar with, such as alleys, earthen houses, city sounds, and daily life, have disappeared for a long time."
Indeed, the wheel of history rolls forward, and the Beiping City in Marian's memory no longer exists.
But what is gratifying is that this book "The Adventures of the Three Treasures" that "returned" to China after more than 70 years has allowed people to look back at that charming old time in Peking from another perspective.
Maryan's sketch drawings about old Peking
Speaking of this, who is Marian? Why did she suddenly appear in Peking in 1934? There is really a wonderful story here.
Maryan was born in the United States. Including her, there are four sisters in the family. Their mother was an amazing explorer and a bestselling writer.
In the mother's opinion, traveling abroad can not only broaden your mind, but also strengthen your will. Therefore, while their four daughters are young, they are sent to different distant places on the earth.
Maryan
"At least, in our opinion, it is a very far away place."
Recalling his mother's actions, Marian still found it incredible.
And Marian has an older sister who is very famous in China and is regarded as her best friend by the talented woman Lin Huiyin. Her Chinese name is Fei Weimei.
Not only that, Marian also has a brother-in-law who is very famous in China - Fairbank. Many people must know about these two names.
Fei Weimei is a scholar who studies Chinese art and architecture. She was once the cultural counselor of the U.S. Embassy in China.
1935, a photo of Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin and Fei Weimei
. Fei Zhengqing is a giant in Harvard University research on Chinese history. His "History of the Republic of China" and "Fei Zhengqing's Chinese Memoirs " are still very important modern history research works.
In 1932, Fei Zhengqing and Fei Weimei came to China to study Chinese culture and became very familiar good friends with Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin, who were both successful in the field of architectural art.
, especially Lin Huiyin and Fei Weimei, have become best friends who can talk about everything.
Speaking of which, time has formed the history of today by chaining one coincidence after another.
Fei Zhengqing and Fei Weimei and his wife
1946, Lao She and Cao Yu were invited to visit the United States to study, responsible for assisting the two in the visit to the United States. It was Fei Weimei, who was at the time in charge of serving in the Cultural Relations Department of the United States.
This is also the origin of Mr. Zhao Wuping's inspection of the archives about Fei Weimei in the United States.
It was Fei Zhengqing and Fei Weimei's daughter who told Mr. Zhao Wuping that her aunt Marian had lived with the Fei couple for five months in Peking, and wrote a children's book called "The Adventures of the Three Treasures of Peking", and sent him the English version of the book.
fei Weimei
1934, Marian, who had just graduated from college, came to the distant China to visit her sister. At that time, Fei Weimei and his wife had just been married for two years.
In Marian's memory, he and his sister and brother-in-law lived in the yard in an old alley in Peking.
Every morning, like the old Pekingese, Fei Zhengqing would wear traditional Chinese dark thick cotton robe, brave the cold wind of winter, go to the study on the side of the inner courtyard to study hard.
Sister Fei Weimei is in another small room, focusing on restoring the Tang Dynasty's copywriting.
From left: Jin Yuelin, Liang Sicheng, Marian, Liang Zaibing, Lin Huiyin, Fei Weimei, and Marian were learning Chinese paintings with a Chinese gentleman named Deng in a fire room facing the yard.
Obviously, during those days with gold edges, Marian and Lin Huiyin also became very familiar good friends due to their sister.
Jin Yuelin and Lin Huiyin and his wife are neighbors and friends, so this classic photo was created in the Temple of Heaven.
, however, after coming to China a few months ago, Marian returned to the United States and never came back.
Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng couple
So, in the few photos in the world, the appearance of Marianne became a mystery, as if a mysterious woman traveling from a distant world, flashing by in the old time.
On October 14, 2017, Mary left the world peacefully at the age of 105.
After 62 years of Lin Huiyin's death, 33 years of Jin Yuelin's death, 26 years of Fei Zhengqing's death, and 15 years of Fei Weimei's death, Marian finally became the fifth person in the photo to die.
With the death of Marianne, those days that were sealed in old Peking gradually disappeared into the wilderness of time.
Lin Huiyin, daughter Liang Zaibing and son Liang Congjie
. Liang Zaibing, who was snuggling in her mother's arms in the photo, was only 6 years old at the time, and time flies. I wonder if she, who is now 93 years old, can still remember that golden past?
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