Former residence of Xu Zhimo

Xu Zhimo's former residence is located in the middle of Ganhe street, Xiashi Town, Haining City. It is a small western style building built by his father Xu shenru for the marriage of Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman. Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman once lived here after their marriage. The main building has three rooms and two floors, with East and West floors in front. The main hall on the ground floor is a Chinese style living room, and the East and west sides are displayed with Xu Zhimo's family background, life, thoughts and literary activities, showing the poet's short and colorful life. On the east side of the building are Zhimo's and Lu Xiaoman's new houses and "meixuan" study; on the west side are Zhimo's parents' bedroom and Zhimo's ex-wife Zhang Youyi's bedroom, all of which are restored. There is a terrace on the roof of the back building, overlooking the East and West hills of Xiashi.

Former residence of Xu Zhimo

Xu Zhimo's former residence is the temporary residence of Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman after their marriage. It was built in 1926. It is a small western style building with a combination of Chinese and Western styles. It is a key cultural relic protection unit in Haining City and a national AA tourist attraction. Xu Zhimo's family background, life, thoughts and literary activities are displayed on both sides of the ground floor of the main building, showing the poet's short and colorful life.

Former residence destroyed

In March 2001, Xu Zhimo's former residence was finally demolished in the debate over whether it should be demolished or not. The reporter didn't believe it at first: because the house Xu Zhimo lived in Cambridge for one or two years is still preserved, why can't Haining tolerate the existence of Xu Zhimo's former residence? When the reporter Wen Xun came to No. 17, Southwest River, Xiashi street, Haining City to see what happened, the original four way ancient building of Ming and Qing dynasties had already become a ruins.

The most sad thing is that Xu Zhimo's North Wing library, which was supported among the rubble, was reluctant to fall down. It was every rafter and brick of the old house that gave birth to the elegant and colorful literary talent of the owner -- Xu Zhimo's famous works such as a golden light trace, family virtue, grandmother's death and so on, They are all written around the background of this old house.

There are actually two former residences of Xu Zhimo in Xiashi town of Haining, one is the old residence and the other is the new residence.

Xu Zhimo's father, Xu shenru, was a businessman. His family business in the town included silk shops, soy sauce gardens, and banks. He also founded Xiashi electric lamp factory. On January 15, 1897, Xu Zhimo came to the fourth entrance north chamber of the old house. The old house, facing the street, has a hall and four halls. It was built in the reign of emperor Jiadao of the Qing Dynasty. In the old days, there was Shensi hall, which was also used as a warehouse. Xu Zhimo spent about 22 years of his childhood and youth in his old house. The second entrance to the north wing of the old house is the place where Xu Zhimo studied from childhood to adulthood. The growth of a generation of Wenzong is closely related to this.

Located in the middle of Ganhe street, Xiashi street, Xinzhai is a small western style building built by his father in 1926 for the marriage of Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman. It has more than 20 rooms, including hot and cold water pipes, electric lights, bathrooms and other equipment. In the 1920s, it was undoubtedly a luxury house in rural China. Xu Zhimo loves this house deeply and calls it "fragrant nest". It is said that Xu Zhimo himself did the interior decoration and room layout. Since they moved into their new house, Xu and Lu have lived a sweet life for a short time. Xu Zhimo wrote his honeymoon diary meixuan SuoYu, completed the novel Jiade, and edited the second issue of poetry magazine. At that time, Xu's parents lived in the new house. His ex-wife and later his father's stepdaughter, Zhang Youyi, also lived in the new house.

Therefore, no matter the new house or the old house, they all leave the poet's clear life mark, both of which are important historical "chains" for people to interpret the character.

Haining demolished the old house of Xu Zhimo's former residence and restored the new house of Xu Zhimo's former residence. Is it "happy with the new and tired of the old"?

In the early 1980s, Xu Zhimo's descendants donated the new house to the state. In 1998, Haining City announced that it was a key cultural relic protection unit (the old house is not listed). At the same time, Haining City spent a lot of money to move some of the residents, and then carried out a comprehensive restoration, and turned it into a permanent place to commemorate Xu Zhimo. This is a great merit of Haining City, but they decided not to keep Xu Zhimo's old house.

According to a colleague from Haining, Xu Zhimo's old house in baoningfang, located in the old town of Xiashi, was bonded with the adjacent dangerous shed and simple house. Due to the high density of residents living in it, the damage to the old house was very serious. Several fires broke out around the house, and the fire engines couldn't drive in. Even if the dilapidated old houses are left alone, it seems to be of little significance. If they are not demolished, it will affect the transformation of the old town.

Obviously, it's easier to protect Xu Zhimo's new house, while the preservation and maintenance of the old house is undoubtedly a headache for Haining City. Haining in the old city reconstruction to solve this difficult problem, chose a "easy problem".

One demolition and one repair, mixed reputation

So, for the demolition of the old house, is it "cooking crane and burning Qin" or "abandoning as if it were worn out".

Gu Yongdi, a research expert on Xu Zhimo and a member of Zhejiang branch of China Writers Association, believes that the old house should be restored in place. He said that Xu's old house has experienced more than 480 years of vicissitudes. Such an ancient building is rare in Haining. Xu was born in this old house in 1897, and lived in this old house until he went to the United States to study in 1918, accounting for almost two-thirds of his life. A large number of his works, letters and diaries about the changes of people are all based on the environment of the old house. Once he lost the old house, his poems would lose the support of the fact space, and visitors would not be able to find any trace. Therefore, the old house and the new house in Ganhe Street are not duplicate, but should be matched.

An official engaged in cultural exchanges with foreign countries in Zhejiang Province told reporters that we should be sure that the Haining municipal government has preserved Xu Zhimo's former residence in good condition, but the former residence of celebrities is not the newer, the more luxurious and the more valuable, but should be marked by the place of birth. For example, when people look at Shakespeare's former residence, they mainly look at a humble three story building, which is his birthplace; while when Shakespeare became famous, the local people just give a passing instruction when the car was driving. It is said that many plots of "April in the world" revolve around the old house, and there is almost no background story of the new house. Maybe this is not the "negligence" of the play?

Structure of former residence

The former residence covers an area of 600 square meters, with two entrances in front and back. The main building has three rooms and two floors, with East and West chambers in front. There are also three rooms in the back floor, with a terrace on the roof. On the top of the front door of the former residence is a calligraphy of "former residence of poet Xu Zhimo" written by Jin Yong, the poet's cousin. Behind the front door is a brick carving of "Anya in the East China Sea", which should be the meaning of Xu's Prefecture and ancestors. There are three two-story buildings in the main building, with east-west wing rooms in the front and three two-story buildings in the back, with a terrace on the top. There is a bust of Xu Zhimo in the patio. Above the main hall door is Zang Kejia's 94 year old inscription "Zhimo's former residence". In the hall, there is a large flat forehead with a white background: "anyatang". Mr. Qigong made up the book because the original flat forehead had been destroyed. Under the flat forehead, there is a five character couplet written by Bao Xianlun, a calligrapher and deputy director of Zhejiang cultural department and director of the Bureau of Cultural Relics: "the light of smoke is everywhere, the color of water is beyond the sky." The painting of pine and bamboo by Yue Shichen, the 28th grandson of Yue Fei. The floor of the hall and the East and West Wing rooms are paved with large western ceramic tiles with pink pattern, which is consistent with the structure of the house, but it is difficult to be compatible with the furnishings in the hall. It can be seen that the decoration of the houses of the commercial officials in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai was very popular. In the East Chamber of the main hall, there are pictures of Xu Zhimo's ideological and literary activities. In the glass cabinet, there are works and research books published by the poet in various periods. On the west wall hangs an oil painting of Xu Zhimo and Tagore, an Indian poet, talking with each other. The xixiangfang is a display of Xu Zhimo's family life, mostly in black and white. In the three rooms on the ground floor behind the hall, there is an exhibition of Xiachuan poems sung by cultural celebrities of all ages, and Lu Xiaoman's poem "sweeping the tomb for Zhimo" is also included. In the back garden on the first floor, green bamboo, camellia, pomegranate and oleander are planted everywhere. There is a well in the garden with a light pink fence. There is a brand named "Qingquan of love". On the wall of the corridor at the entrance of the second staircase, there is a picture frame of Lu Xiaoman's landscape painting scroll, and the picture frame of Deng Yizhe, Hu Shi, Yang Quan, he Tianjian, Chen Dieye and Chen Congzhou's postscripts. The mahogany furniture in the living room on the second floor, arhat bed, mahogany armchair, round table, marble hanging screen, etc. are not original, they should be new works. On the east wall, there are two screen frames of official script. On the west wall, there are seven couplets of words and deeds written by Lu Kang, a Shanghai seal cutter who has settled in Macao: "high mountains, flowing water, flying clouds, bright moon, clear wind, infinite emotion." The East chamber is "meixuan", which is Xu Zhimo's study. In the south wall, there is a picture frame of the statue of poet Xu Zhimo, but we can't see who wrote it. Yuanwang is suspected to be the work of Mr. Chen Congzhou. On the east wall, there is a banner frame with the word "Mei Xuan" written by Zhang Kebiao, a centenarian, with the title of "Yimao Mid Autumn Festival, Zhang Kebiao is not old". There are phonograph, English typewriter and Western style furniture in the room. Opposite meixuan is the new house of that year. There is a frame on the wall that reprints their wedding photos. Lu Xiaoman came to the front in a white wedding dress, and the poet bent over in a suit and shoes. It's really thought of as an immortal companion. One room western style furniture, light beige carpet with multicolored flowers, cashmere carpet and pink wallpaper.. The first bedroom in the west chamber is Xu's mother's bedroom. All the furnishings are made of Chinese style wooden furniture. However, the west wall and stove are quite different. Opposite Xu's mother's bedroom is the bedroom of Zhang Youyi, Xu Zhimo's ex-wife. After Xu and Zhang divorced, Zhang was considered a daughter by Xu's father, so this room was specially set up. The interior is full of Chinese style furniture, including dressing table, desk, Queen's chair, carved wooden bed, and even furniture that was regarded as a luxury at that time

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