An Essay on the Past of the Republic of China-Family Spring and Autumn Period
Anyone who is familiar with China's modern literature knows "Home? Spring? Autumn is the representative work of Mr. Ba Jin, a household name and a classic handed down from generation to generation. In fact, a story like this happened in the Republic of China, and it is by no means groundless. It is a true portrayal of the bureaucratic rich family in that period. As far as Mr. Ba Jin's background is concerned, I'm afraid there is a process of personal experience, which is more convincing.
The story told here is similar to this one, of course, this is not something I can experience. In addition to age, there is also the folk life of that period, which is almost unfamiliar to our generation, and I am afraid there is no room for association.
Professor Huang whom I met by chance is a real old-school pedant. He is good at writing and knowledgeable. Early 70 s, retired at home, dancing calligraphy and painting to kill time. I was surprised and curious about his casual family story. I didn't expect that in more than a hundred years, many things happened not long ago, but the source was deep in history. Here, let's review these past events during the Republic of China, so that everyone can feel the folk customs and life at that time. Because it involves personal privacy and some unhealthy practices, I won't introduce his life in detail, so I have the right to listen to the story.
Professor Huang's ancestral home is Gan County, Anhui Province, and he has been doing business for generations. During the Republic of China, he was a famous Huizhou merchant leader in the south of the Yangtze River. Later, the family moved to Jiujiang, Jiangxi, where they were all famous families. I have been to Jiujiang, where I saw Professor Huang's ancestral home. Interestingly, all the aborigines over 80 in that area know Professor Huang and call him "Master Yao". I'm surprised that it's really not easy to get to know each other after so many years. Professor Huang said with a smile, first of all, I am too much like my father. Secondly, after all, I was born and raised. When I am free, I will come and walk and chat with the old people. . . . .
This is a commercial street, located in the city center, and it is the oldest commercial center in this area. The basic old houses are the shops and tea houses of the Huang family in those days, and now they are almost demolished. Surprisingly, there are yellow villas and industries on the famous Lushan Mountain. Now the villa has been used as a state-owned hotel for many years. It is said that it is listed as a cultural relic protection unit because many celebrities have lived here.
In fact, there are two reasons why the Huang family settled in Jiujiang: First, the feng shui here is very good, with mountains and water, the Yangtze River, Poyang Lake and Lushan Mountain. At that time, businessmen attached great importance to Feng Shui and were regarded as the "geographical location" of business ethics. Secondly, Jiujiang was one of the largest maritime terminals in the inland at that time. Native products from Jiangxi, Hubei, Anhui, Zhejiang and other places, such as ceramics, tea, silk and ink, can be collected and exchanged or transported by land to Guangzhou and Hong Kong. One-stop, comprehensive, can be described as a place for businesses to compete. In his hometown of Gan County, Anhui Province, the Huang family still has real estate and shops. Of course, its fate, like Jiujiang's industry, was confiscated after liberation.
Speaking of this, Professor Huang is calm and calm. He doesn't regret that this huge family business went up in smoke because of overnight changes. Destiny cannot be violated, and everything must follow fate. Professor Huang didn't enjoy a few days of happiness because of his rich family. On the contrary, he was displaced for many years for this hat.
When it comes to family, Professor Huang hesitates. Later, I learned that some scandals involved in China were inconvenient to express to outsiders.
Grandpa Huang has three wives. Professor Huang belongs to the second room, and his brothers and sisters are the youngest. They all call him "Master Yao". Although it is a merchant's home, the family education is very strict. All family members must salute according to the ancient system and abide by family rules. Stand straight and humble, sit with your chest crossed, and walk steadily and lightly. When you meet your elders, you must bow down and show your respect. Even when eating, you should sit down according to your age, and the order of chopsticks should not be wrong. When I am three, I will go to home school, sir. Whoever makes a mistake will clap his hands. Because old people respect teachers and value education, no one dares to complain about the punishment of each family. At the end of the month, father and his wives will also check on the children. Excellent people will be rewarded when they go out to play (that is, they will accompany grandpa to patrol the shop), and those who don't work hard will be grounded and won't even let out the door. If you don't study hard for two consecutive months and can't recite the assigned articles, the monthly rent of this house will be deducted. Therefore, every wife will not be partial to children who don't work hard. On the contrary, education is strict.
Professor Huang said with emotion: the old people's good intentions for education are actually the greatest wealth of the younger generation. Few brothers and sisters in the family are uneducated. No matter how they change, there is no problem to survive. It was at that time that the foundation of China's ancient literature and good study habits were left behind.
Old lady, the internal affairs are basically handled by the old lady's wife, and the monthly money and clothes are distributed by the old lady. Chang Fang had two sons. The eldest son died young after smoking opium. In fact, the old man also smokes opium. Rich people at that time generally had this hobby, and even regarded it as entertainment for VIPs. In addition to highlighting the status, it was the atmosphere at that time. Later, when his son was killed, the old man made up his mind to quit, and made a family rule: the Huang family must never touch this, or they will be swept out of the house. Generous second child is a scholar. After liberation, he gave lectures in a university in Beijing. The only thing I know is that I have read a book he wrote, Tracing the Source of Ganxian Culture in Anhui Province. So far, I know that this place is so prominent in the history of China, and the picture of Huanglaozhai in the book is as profound and huge as the "Qiao Family Courtyard".
Professor Huang's second room is very crowded, with two sons and two daughters. The eldest daughter graduated from yenching university, married a cadre in the south and devoted her life to education. Professor Huang mentioned this sister's brother-in-law and felt a lot. If it weren't for the help of my brother-in-law, I'm afraid my brothers wouldn't even be able to go to college. Even so, they will inevitably be sent down for seven years. The second brother is an aircraft manufacturing engineer, and none of them stayed in Jiujiang. Only a little sister who is a doctor and Professor Huang live in this beautiful southern water town.
Speaking of the three parties, Professor Huang is a little shy. Taoists don't need to express too much about their dirty laundry. Later, I learned that a few years after liberation, Sanfang changed her marriage and took two children. Although she still lives in this city, her contact is already very weak. It was not until the old lady was 100 years old a few years ago that the three-bedroom children resolved the bad blood in their previous lives and got back together.
At this point in the story, we all have the same feeling in our hearts, that is, families in that era were always entangled in complex backgrounds. In fact, the context is consistent, because we can find traces in history, but after all, all this is far from experience. So far, I have only established a framework for Professor Huang's family background and regarded it as the inspiration of "home", but the word "Spring and Autumn" is extremely difficult to express, because history is also due to the disadvantages of the times, so I have to mention one or two things to give you a general concept, at least to show this prominent merchant's home in the Republic of China as clearly as possible.
In the early years of the Republic of China, the business of Huang family was not too big. There are semicolons everywhere in the north and south of the Yangtze River, and even branches in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Mainly engaged in silk, cloth, tea, ceramics, Huizhou ink, Guangdong inkstone, grain and pawn shops. At that time, Professor Huang was still very young. The only thing I can remember is the huge house and a large number of people at home. Traffic is endless every day. Basically, it's a three-day small banquet and a five-day big banquet. Children and wives are not allowed to eat at the table when there are guests. It is usually eaten in the backyard hall or sent to various houses by servants. At that time they basically kept the habit of wearing clean clothes. Later, the second young master of Changfang came back from studying abroad and slowly changed the mainstream of wearing. Old people often go out to do business and accept more ideas from the outside world, so they are more civilized and often wear suits and ties. Women have also changed from double-breasted clothes to cheongsam, and some women who study abroad wear student clothes or suits and dresses. This was really a sensation at that time, so the family specially raised a tailor who could make cheongsam. Speaking of "foot binding", the old man strongly disapproves of foot binding. He believes that women must put down western learning, which is also in response to the trend of women's liberation at that time. Except for the big room and the second room, even the third room has never suffered such a crime. None of the girls under the knee have experienced this painful process.
At that time, rich children didn't have to worry about their lives, but the old people were surprisingly strict with their children. Adult men must practice at the counter for a year, and then make mistakes and be punished like ordinary guys. In the second year, I went out to run goods with my father, ran errands in the finance room in the third year, and managed a store in the fourth year. The only one who had this experience was his eldest son who died of opium. He is the designated heir. The second son was sent abroad to study because of his excellent academic performance. Since then, no one has ever had such an experience, because the Huang family has been narrowing its business scope in the later period.
In that war-torn era, it is not easy to make a business empire prosperous day by day. The old man experienced almost all wars at that time and lived and died several times. After the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the business of Jiujiang elderly people began to be fully compressed and gathered in Jiangnan. During the Battle of Wuhan and the Battle of Nanchang (27 years of the Republic of China-28 years of the Republic of China), they simply closed down and moved their family to Hong Kong. By 194 1 (30 years of the Republic of China), the Japanese occupied Hong Kong and began a "period of Japanese rule" of three years and eight months, and the whole family moved back to Jiujiang. Since then, the Huang family has closed all foreign firms and maintained a one-way business route only in Jiujiang, Nanchang and Guangzhou. (Quoted from Chronicle of Huang Family Tree)
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Huang family sold all their businesses, leaving only the property for rent. The old man didn't specify why. Professor Huang said with deep feelings: My father did this because business became more and more difficult and there was no guarantee for his life. Secondly, he can't see clearly how the world will change, and his heart is at a loss. After doing business for half a lifetime, he suddenly put it down, which made him very depressed and unhappy. Soon, he felt unwell, was ill in bed and died in the second year of liberation. Later development proved that this was right, because the Huang family had been idle for several years and was no longer prominent. At this time, the second son of the big room and the eldest daughter of the second room have taken part in the revolution and joined the * * *.
After liberation, everything was expected and unexpected. Fortunately, Huang Jiayou's two children are in * * *, and everything is just a happy life. But the fate of the rest of the Huang family is different. One of my own uncles was the mayor of the Republic of China and was suppressed by the local authorities. One worked in the * * * army at least, and then fled to Taiwan Province Province with the defeated army. In the 1980s, he sent back the news that he was safe. At that time, the Huang family spent nearly half a century in the debris.
I was honored to attend the gathering of the Huang clan association. At that time, more than 500 people from nearly 20 provinces and cities, old and young, gathered together. After a hundred years of vicissitudes, this family, which struggled out of the Republic of China, is flourishing in the prosperity of China today, just like thousands of similar surnames in Qian Qian.
In order to dig out the daily life stories of ordinary people in the Republic of China, try our best to restore the panorama of ordinary people's daily life in that era, and then leave a precious panorama of grassroots life in the Republic of China different from the official history for the world today, Tiexue, Tencent.com, Phoenix.com, Tom.com and Xilu.com jointly launched an essay-writing activity with the theme of "The Past of the Republic of China". You can tell the story of your ancestors' life in that era through the pen in your hand, such as "This is how my great-grandfather applied for a job", "The story of my grandfather's seeing a doctor" and so on. Welcome to participate in this essay and write the grassroots history of the Republic of China with your own pen.