In the first half of 2021, in the popular TV series "The Age of Juebo", Peking University Professor Gu Hongming appeared frequently. The hookah rod he carries with him, no matter where it is, complements the ups and downs of the plot. The burning tobacco leaves make a rustling sound. The smoke rings spit out are like rolling clouds, floating back and forth in front of the eyes. It seems that all the old gentleman’s hobbies are in the smoke. All of Professor Gu's knowledge is clearly displayed in the process of reintroducing the old and incorporating the new. The long water pipe has become Mr. Gu’s lifelong standard.
Professor Gu Hongming of Peking University, this old scholar, although conservative in thought, cannot keep up with the trend of the times. But he was very patriotic and looked down upon foreigners. He translated three of the Four Chinese Books - "The Analects of Confucius", "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "The Great Learning" - into foreign languages to promote the spirit of our great Chinese culture to the West. It enables Westerners to have a more comprehensive understanding of Chinese culture.
Cai Yuanpei left us a lot of written and image materials, but there is no photo of him smoking a hookah like Gu Hongming did. I always feel a little regretful, but today this regret is going to zero.
The fourth generation grandson of Mr. Cai Yuanpei Chen Qing. On June 24, 2022, he sent the author a photo, which was taken of the copper hookah rod of his great-grandfather, Mr. Cai Yuanpei. As shown below.
Chen Qing is the eldest granddaughter of Cai Yuanpei and the second son of Lin Qinge. Lin Qinge is the eldest daughter of Cai Yuanpei's eldest daughter Cai William and Lin Wenzheng. Therefore, Chen Qing is the fourth-generation grandson of Cai Yuanpei, with four generations of blood inheritance. The genealogy is clear and legible. (Picture below, a recent photo of Mr. Chen Qing)
According to Mr. Chen Qing: Grandpa’s copper hookah pole was Mr. Cai Yuanpei’s favorite thing. Mr. Cai, like most southerners, likes to smoke hookah. Cut tobacco is ignited to produce a cloud of smoke, which is smoked with your mouth and filtered through water. The smoke is much less toxic. Now Guangdong and Guangxi , the big bamboo hookah smoked by Yunnan people has the same principle.
Mr. Cai sometimes smoked a small amount of hookah when he was resting. After smoking, he played with the pipe and wiped it clean with a fine cloth. In Malingshanfang, Hangzhou, in 1930, Cai Gong gave the copper hookah stem to his beloved son-in-law Lin Wenzheng. In 1938, Lin Wenzheng brought it to the Southwest Associated University in Yunnan. In 1953, the eldest daughter Lin Qinge was transferred to Chongqing to take care of the couple's relationship. Lin Wenzheng gave Cai Yuanpei the treasure of his family - a copper hookah rod - as a gift to his beloved daughter, Lin Qinge.
Lin Qinge regards grandpa's copper cigarette rod as a treasure. Her grandfather named her, and she lived in the Maling Mountain House in Geling, Hangzhou for eight years. Her grandfather Cai Yuanpei and her step-grandmother Zhou Jun often visited Xiaolin Tange.
. Now Mr. Lin Qinge has passed on his grandfather’s copper hookah rod to the three Lin brothers and sisters.
Today, this copper hookah pole is displayed to the public for the first time.
Mr. Cai Yuanpei's copper hookah pole is different in shape from the hookah poles in the north, southwest and northwest. Its waist is particularly slender. Copper smoking poles in Chongqing and Chengdu are mostly made of white copper, with thick and short waists. People from Guangdong and Guangxi, from Yunnan, are very energetic and like to grow tobacco pipes.
Judging from the coating, it is covered with green rust, dignified and deep. With the standard malachite green , there is green in the green, but not floating, no light. Based on the above observations, this object is over 140 years old, and the patina is the proof of origin for identifying the age of the cultural relic.
This cultural relic can be regarded as an orphan and extremely precious. Only one piece, no twins. Therefore, the Chen brothers and sisters must keep it safe.
Mr. Lin Qinge has already traveled to the west by Hexi. His eldest son Chen Lin, second son Chen Qing, and youngest daughter Chen Xiaoyun are all successful in school. They have made remarkable achievements in their respective positions and contributed modestly to the country. They all said that they would definitely inherit the legacy of Grandpa Cai Yuanpei and fulfill their mother's last wish to pass down Grandpa Cai's copper hookah rod from generation to generation. Cultural relics have historical value, their own artistic value, and they are special symbols of an era.
