1894, a gorgeously dressed woman walked into her aunt's home with a bunch of expensive gifts.
She is humble and begged her aunt to marry her cousin Zhang Jingrong to her husband as her concubine .
This surprised everyone. My wife actually came to her husband to propose marriage in person. She had seen strange things, but she had never seen such strange things.
my aunt's family is also a big family, so of course she is unwilling to marry her daughter to others as a concubine. But the woman did not give up and came to lobby again and again.
Finally, as she wished, my cousin successfully married her husband and gave birth to 10 children.
The days when two women serve one husband together are not as jealous as she imagined, but rather happy and peaceful as she is.
This woman is Mai Xiuying . Her husband is the first richest man since the opening of Hong Kong. The famous Ho Dong .
Why did Mai Xiuying take the initiative to help her husband take a concubine? Why can she be so generous? How do they get along with each other when they live together?
Today, let’s talk about Mai Xiuying’s story.
childhood sweetheart, ten years of deep love
1865, Mai Xiuying was born in a complex family.
Her mother Wu came to Hong Kong from the mainland in her early years, but she had no choice but to become a fisherman to make a living. At that time, female fishermen were also called "Danwomen" and were a low-level group that was deeply despised.
Later, Wu met McQilian, the shareholder of Jardine Co., Ltd., . McGillian is a British man. After the two met, they soon became a real couple and moved to live together.
Michilian also looked down on people like "de-women" from the bottom of his heart. He was unwilling to tie each other up with a wedding book, and just wanted to enjoy long-term nanny service at a low price.
Because she is an illegitimate child , Mai Xiuying suffered a lot of cold eyes and ridicule during her growth, which made her feel insecure and yearn for the warmth of her family very much.
What’s more unfortunate is that when Mai Xiuying was 12 years old, her mother passed away due to illness. fate pushed Mai Xiuying into a more difficult dilemma.
McGillian, who is busy with business, has the time and the heart to take care of a daughter born out of wedlock? What's more, at that time, having children between foreigners and Chinese people was a very impact on their future. McGillian also concealed this daughter.
Under such circumstances, Mai Xiuying lives like an orphan and never continues to eat. The mother's friend Shi Di couldn't stand it and took Mai Xiuying to live at home and treated her as her daughter to take care of her.
Shi Di is also one of the "Danwomen" group. Like Mai Xiuying's mother, she has experienced the pain of life. They are both at the bottom of the house and often help each other.
Shi Di met a Dutch Jew and gave birth to five children out of wedlock. But soon after, her "husband" fled back to her country due to a business failure, leaving Shi Di to raise a bunch of children alone.
Although life is difficult, Shi Di is very visionary and insists on letting her children receive education. Her eldest son He Dong has been studying hard since he was a child and is determined to change his destiny.
After graduating from Central Academy, He Dong first worked at Guangdong Customs . Two years later, he jumped to Jardine Foreign Company, from a junior assistant to a comprador, and gradually took over many important companies under the Foreign Company.
He Dong has a unique vision, and is very flexible in speaking and doing things, which is deeply loved by superiors. With his own efforts, he achieved extraordinary results and accumulated a large amount of funds.
At this time, He Dong was just over 19 years old and had already achieved his career. Shi Di began to worry about her son's lifelong affairs. Mai Xiuying, who was raised by her side, was over 16 years old. She was generous and smart, and Shi Di was very happy.
And He Dong and Mai Xiuying grew up together.Both mixed-race children living in Hong Kong are also excluded by society, and their same family background has long made them appreciate each other and fall in love with each other.
1881, under the help of Shi Di, two young people happily entered the palace of marriage.
After marriage, Mai Xiuying was in charge of the house, gentle and kind-hearted, and took care of the family wholeheartedly, so that He Dong, who was fighting outside, had no worries. After ten years of marriage, the relationship between the two is still as loving as before.
Later, Ho Dong, who made his fortune, bought a building in Hong Kong and named it "Tongying Building" to give it to Mai Xiuying as a gift.
This building, which stands in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong, has become a witness to the love between husband and wife.
advises the sister to be a concubine, and the twenty years of the scattered branches and leaves
The wealth of the He family is steadily accumulating, the husband and wife have a deep relationship, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law get along well. If there is anything wrong with it, Mai Xiuying has never been able to show anything in the past ten years of marriage.
Seeing that He Dong had no successor, his younger brother He Fu took the initiative to adopt his eldest son to his elder brother, hoping to borrow blessings from this and leave his bloodline as soon as possible.
However, after adopting his nephew, the He family still had no good news. After many medical consultations, Mai Xiuying confirmed that it was her own problem and felt deeply desperate.
failed to give birth to a son and half of her beloved husband, and guilt filled her heart.
That was an era when we paid great attention to the continuation of incense. No matter how much property there is and if there are no descendants, we will still be ridiculed.
Shi Di kept putting pressure on He Dong to marry a concubine. He Dong didn't say anything, but he was always worried about having no children and had the idea of marrying another wife.
Mai Xiuying, who is good at observing words and expressions, saw her husband's thoughts, but she was sad but helpless.
In that era, it was the greatest thing to be unfilial to have three no descendants. As the mistress of the family, Mai Xiuying had to put the love aside for her children and regards the development of her husband's family as a top priority.
The young and beautiful Zhou Qiwen walked into the He family like this. Unfortunately, three years have passed, and Zhou Qiwen's stomach is still not moving.
This makes the people of the He family very anxious. How can no one inherit the huge family business? The anxious and angry Mai Xiuying had the idea of taking a concubine for Fu.
For the stability and harmony of the family, Mai Xiuying decided to choose a woman with excellent personality and character. After searching for her for a long time, she focused her eyes on her cousin Zhang Jingrong .
Zhang Jingrong was born in a mixed-race family in Hong Kong and looks quiet. Her family is both a Buddhist and kind person.
Mai Xiuying knew that her educated cousin would not agree to marry a concubine, so she planned to break through from her aunt.
Mai Xiuying came to the door in person, but was turned away several times in succession. My aunt repeatedly emphasized that her daughter is a lady from a noble family after all, how can she marry a concubine and be a low-key person?
Mai Xiuying was very frugal, listing the various benefits of her cousin marrying into the He family, and lobbying her aunt to agree. Finally, she even made a concession. If the Zhang family agrees to the marriage, she can give her cousin the identity of " flat wife ", rather than "concubine".
To show sincerity, Mai Xiuying also wrote a letter, establishing the words as the basis: "I sincerely hope that Ling Yuan will be with Mr. Yi, and the sisters will be side by side, and there will be no wives or concubines. If you look at him from the side room, the gods will not bless you."
aunt was moved. Zhang's father died, the Zhang family was already in the evening, and the He family was at its peak. When his daughter married, she would definitely have no worries about food and clothing and would be rich all her life.
Now there is a guarantee of a "balanced wife" and the sisters support each other, I believe that I will not be wronged, right?
After weighing the pros and cons, my aunt accepted the betrothal gift from Mai Xiuying. Despite Zhang Jingrong's reluctance, she was always filial and obeyed the family's arrangements and married He Dong in 1895.
Zhang Jingrong lived up to expectations and gave birth to a daughter the second year after marriage.
In the same year, He Dong resigned from his position as general manager of a foreign company and began to build his own business empire brick by brick.
1894, a gorgeously dressed woman walked into her aunt's home with a bunch of expensive gifts.
She is humble and begged her aunt to marry her cousin Zhang Jingrong to her husband as her concubine .
This surprised everyone. My wife actually came to her husband to propose marriage in person. She had seen strange things, but she had never seen such strange things.
my aunt's family is also a big family, so of course she is unwilling to marry her daughter to others as a concubine. But the woman did not give up and came to lobby again and again.
Finally, as she wished, my cousin successfully married her husband and gave birth to 10 children.
The days when two women serve one husband together are not as jealous as she imagined, but rather happy and peaceful as she is.
This woman is Mai Xiuying . Her husband is the first richest man since the opening of Hong Kong. The famous Ho Dong .
Why did Mai Xiuying take the initiative to help her husband take a concubine? Why can she be so generous? How do they get along with each other when they live together?
Today, let’s talk about Mai Xiuying’s story.
childhood sweetheart, ten years of deep love
1865, Mai Xiuying was born in a complex family.
Her mother Wu came to Hong Kong from the mainland in her early years, but she had no choice but to become a fisherman to make a living. At that time, female fishermen were also called "Danwomen" and were a low-level group that was deeply despised.
Later, Wu met McQilian, the shareholder of Jardine Co., Ltd., . McGillian is a British man. After the two met, they soon became a real couple and moved to live together.
Michilian also looked down on people like "de-women" from the bottom of his heart. He was unwilling to tie each other up with a wedding book, and just wanted to enjoy long-term nanny service at a low price.
Because she is an illegitimate child , Mai Xiuying suffered a lot of cold eyes and ridicule during her growth, which made her feel insecure and yearn for the warmth of her family very much.
What’s more unfortunate is that when Mai Xiuying was 12 years old, her mother passed away due to illness. fate pushed Mai Xiuying into a more difficult dilemma.
McGillian, who is busy with business, has the time and the heart to take care of a daughter born out of wedlock? What's more, at that time, having children between foreigners and Chinese people was a very impact on their future. McGillian also concealed this daughter.
Under such circumstances, Mai Xiuying lives like an orphan and never continues to eat. The mother's friend Shi Di couldn't stand it and took Mai Xiuying to live at home and treated her as her daughter to take care of her.
Shi Di is also one of the "Danwomen" group. Like Mai Xiuying's mother, she has experienced the pain of life. They are both at the bottom of the house and often help each other.
Shi Di met a Dutch Jew and gave birth to five children out of wedlock. But soon after, her "husband" fled back to her country due to a business failure, leaving Shi Di to raise a bunch of children alone.
Although life is difficult, Shi Di is very visionary and insists on letting her children receive education. Her eldest son He Dong has been studying hard since he was a child and is determined to change his destiny.
After graduating from Central Academy, He Dong first worked at Guangdong Customs . Two years later, he jumped to Jardine Foreign Company, from a junior assistant to a comprador, and gradually took over many important companies under the Foreign Company.
He Dong has a unique vision, and is very flexible in speaking and doing things, which is deeply loved by superiors. With his own efforts, he achieved extraordinary results and accumulated a large amount of funds.
At this time, He Dong was just over 19 years old and had already achieved his career. Shi Di began to worry about her son's lifelong affairs. Mai Xiuying, who was raised by her side, was over 16 years old. She was generous and smart, and Shi Di was very happy.
And He Dong and Mai Xiuying grew up together.Both mixed-race children living in Hong Kong are also excluded by society, and their same family background has long made them appreciate each other and fall in love with each other.
1881, under the help of Shi Di, two young people happily entered the palace of marriage.
After marriage, Mai Xiuying was in charge of the house, gentle and kind-hearted, and took care of the family wholeheartedly, so that He Dong, who was fighting outside, had no worries. After ten years of marriage, the relationship between the two is still as loving as before.
Later, Ho Dong, who made his fortune, bought a building in Hong Kong and named it "Tongying Building" to give it to Mai Xiuying as a gift.
This building, which stands in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong, has become a witness to the love between husband and wife.
advises the sister to be a concubine, and the twenty years of the scattered branches and leaves
The wealth of the He family is steadily accumulating, the husband and wife have a deep relationship, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law get along well. If there is anything wrong with it, Mai Xiuying has never been able to show anything in the past ten years of marriage.
Seeing that He Dong had no successor, his younger brother He Fu took the initiative to adopt his eldest son to his elder brother, hoping to borrow blessings from this and leave his bloodline as soon as possible.
However, after adopting his nephew, the He family still had no good news. After many medical consultations, Mai Xiuying confirmed that it was her own problem and felt deeply desperate.
failed to give birth to a son and half of her beloved husband, and guilt filled her heart.
That was an era when we paid great attention to the continuation of incense. No matter how much property there is and if there are no descendants, we will still be ridiculed.
Shi Di kept putting pressure on He Dong to marry a concubine. He Dong didn't say anything, but he was always worried about having no children and had the idea of marrying another wife.
Mai Xiuying, who is good at observing words and expressions, saw her husband's thoughts, but she was sad but helpless.
In that era, it was the greatest thing to be unfilial to have three no descendants. As the mistress of the family, Mai Xiuying had to put the love aside for her children and regards the development of her husband's family as a top priority.
The young and beautiful Zhou Qiwen walked into the He family like this. Unfortunately, three years have passed, and Zhou Qiwen's stomach is still not moving.
This makes the people of the He family very anxious. How can no one inherit the huge family business? The anxious and angry Mai Xiuying had the idea of taking a concubine for Fu.
For the stability and harmony of the family, Mai Xiuying decided to choose a woman with excellent personality and character. After searching for her for a long time, she focused her eyes on her cousin Zhang Jingrong .
Zhang Jingrong was born in a mixed-race family in Hong Kong and looks quiet. Her family is both a Buddhist and kind person.
Mai Xiuying knew that her educated cousin would not agree to marry a concubine, so she planned to break through from her aunt.
Mai Xiuying came to the door in person, but was turned away several times in succession. My aunt repeatedly emphasized that her daughter is a lady from a noble family after all, how can she marry a concubine and be a low-key person?
Mai Xiuying was very frugal, listing the various benefits of her cousin marrying into the He family, and lobbying her aunt to agree. Finally, she even made a concession. If the Zhang family agrees to the marriage, she can give her cousin the identity of " flat wife ", rather than "concubine".
To show sincerity, Mai Xiuying also wrote a letter, establishing the words as the basis: "I sincerely hope that Ling Yuan will be with Mr. Yi, and the sisters will be side by side, and there will be no wives or concubines. If you look at him from the side room, the gods will not bless you."
aunt was moved. Zhang's father died, the Zhang family was already in the evening, and the He family was at its peak. When his daughter married, she would definitely have no worries about food and clothing and would be rich all her life.
Now there is a guarantee of a "balanced wife" and the sisters support each other, I believe that I will not be wronged, right?
After weighing the pros and cons, my aunt accepted the betrothal gift from Mai Xiuying. Despite Zhang Jingrong's reluctance, she was always filial and obeyed the family's arrangements and married He Dong in 1895.
Zhang Jingrong lived up to expectations and gave birth to a daughter the second year after marriage.
In the same year, He Dong resigned from his position as general manager of a foreign company and began to build his own business empire brick by brick.He set off his own and dominant positions in Hong Kong's government and business circles, investing in real estate, setting up factories, building shipyards, and taking over business daily...
The Ho Dong family he established became the number one prominent family in Hong Kong. The famous gambling king Stanley Ho is the fourth generation successor of the Ho Dong family.
For the next ten years, Zhang Jingrong gave birth to three sons and six daughters. During this period, my concubine Zhou Qiwen also gave birth to a daughter. In 1918, 56-year-old Ho Dong fell in love with his private caregiver Zhu Jiedi and gave birth to an illegitimate child.
From 1897 to 1918, in the past 20 years, He Dong's wife, concubine and mistress gave birth to 12 children for him. Among all children, except for one child who died prematurely and one daughter who had congenital defects, the others became the best in their respective fields when they grew up.
Mai Xiuying's generosity and tolerance have made the He Dong family a wealthy family with prosperous descendants.
live in harmony and tolerate the life he has devoted
After passing by my cousin, Mai Xiuying has always kept her promise. Zhang Jingrong’s standards for food, clothing, housing and transportation are the same as hers. She also specifically reminded the servants at home to be respectful to her cousin and regard her as her wife.
According to tradition, a family has a husband, a wife, and can also have multiple concubines, but there are no two wives. Mai Xiuying raised Zhang Jingrong's status to "balanced wife" and gave up her status and status.
But she felt that this sacrifice was worth it, because the incense of the He family was continued and the family flourished.
In order to let Zhang Jingrong have more children, Mai Xiuying has created more space for them and tried to avoid being around them.
Zhang Jingrong gave birth to 10 children in a row and was deeply loved by the He family. Mai Xiuying was not jealous either, and even took care of her in person during Zhang Jingrong's confinement period.
Feeling her cousin’s sincerity, Zhang Jingrong took the initiative to adopt a child to Mai Xiuying to make up for her regret of having no children.
The two sisters lived in harmony and joined forces to manage the He family in an orderly manner. They are all Ho Dong's virtuous supporters, and they traveled between high-ranking officials and merchants from all over the country with their husbands.
Mai Xiuying is responsible for receiving Westerners, while Zhang Jingrong is responsible for receiving Chinese favors. For a time, Mai Xiuying and Zhang Jingrong became the well-known " Ehuang Nuying " in Hong Kong, and many people envied He Dong's wife for being aware of her.
, He Dong, who enjoys the blessing of all people, is naturally very grateful and respectful to Mai Xiuying. Mai Xiuying made great contributions to his wives and concubines, but he was not as intrigued as other famous families. It was so harmonious that a big family could be so harmonious.
In 1941, He Dong planned a grand event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his marriage with Mai Xiuying. The Governor of Hong Kong also came to celebrate the deep love between them.
Not long after, Pacific War broke out, and war in Hong Kong continued. Long before the fall, He Dong had already gone to Macau to avoid the war.
Mai Xiuying stayed alone in Hong Kong, struggling to support the family's career. Unfortunately, her old illness relapsed and she did not receive timely treatment. She passed away in February 1944 at the age of 80.
When she left, she only had her adopted son beside her to see him die. After the war, the grief of Ho Dong returned to Hong Kong and held a grand funeral for his wife.
At the same time, he also donated to Hong Kong University and built Madam Ho Dong Memorial Hall to mourn his wife.
April 26, 1956, Ho Dong died in Hong Kong. According to the will, later generations buried him and Mai Xiuying together in the Christian Hong Kong Cemetery in Wan Chai. After more than ten years of separation, this young couple finally met again in heaven.
Looking back on Mai Xiuying's life, she has had happiness and joy, but more of it is about giving and fulfillment. Just imagine, which woman is willing to share her husband with others? How much has she tolerated for the sake of the peace of life in her family?
Taking a concubine for your husband is a virtuous and kind person, and more so it is a last resort.
Maybe no one has ever cared about how lost and sad her husband was when he married and had a concubine and had an outdoor room.
Someone has said that the good and bad luck and opportunities in life are full of variables. In the adult world, even if your family is superior, you cannot escape the shackles of the social system.
Mai Xiuying is great. She chose to follow her husband from beginning to end, stand on the interests of the family, take the overall situation into consideration, and walk a path that ordinary women cannot walk, which also allows the prosperity of the family to continue.
She is sad and pitiful again. Unable to escape from the shackles of feudal ideas, even if they enjoy glory and wealth, they will become victims of men's love and family to some extent.
-END-
Author: Flower Blue
Editor: Yufeinian
Recommended past wonderful articles:
Hengdian 200,000 extras: beauties are rampant, and bachelors are everywhere. Where do they go?
Maybe no one has ever cared about how lost and sad her husband was when he married and had a concubine and had an outdoor room.
Someone has said that the good and bad luck and opportunities in life are full of variables. In the adult world, even if your family is superior, you cannot escape the shackles of the social system.
Mai Xiuying is great. She chose to follow her husband from beginning to end, stand on the interests of the family, take the overall situation into consideration, and walk a path that ordinary women cannot walk, which also allows the prosperity of the family to continue.
She is sad and pitiful again. Unable to escape from the shackles of feudal ideas, even if they enjoy glory and wealth, they will become victims of men's love and family to some extent.
-END-
Author: Flower Blue
Editor: Yufeinian
Recommended past wonderful articles:
Hengdian 200,000 extras: beauties are rampant, and bachelors are everywhere. Where do they go?
