Ren Fusheng's "The Past and Past of Weixiu Garden"

The past and present of Weixiu Garden

Ren Fusheng

Weixiu Garden was located across from Yanjing University (now the west gate of Peking University) and was originally named "Hanfang Garden". It covers an area of ??more than 100 acres and is roughly square in shape. In the early days, many royal gardens were built in this area of ??Haidian. To the east of Weixiu Garden were Heshen’s Shuchun Garden and the late Ming Dynasty calligrapher and painter Mi Wanzhong’s Shaoyuan Garden. They were later purchased by Yenching University and built into a well-known garden both at home and abroad. The campus of Yanyuan. To the west is the beautiful and unique Chengze Garden of Prince Qing Yi Kuang. He served as prime minister for diplomacy and was a place frequented by foreign ministers. To the south is Changchun Garden, which was built during the heyday of Kangxi three hundred years ago; to the north is the world-famous Old Summer Palace.

Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty gave it to his seventh brother, Prince Chun Yixuan (xuan), in 1858. On Yixuan's eighteenth birthday in September that year, his sixth brother, Prince Gong, sent a congratulatory poem to him. One of the lines, "The famous garden is beautiful and beautiful in the autumn light, and the chrysanthemums are blooming at the banquet of birthday guests" expresses the grand occasion of the garden's opening and birthday. In the winter of that year, Emperor Xianfeng gave the name "Weixiu Garden". Qi Ye happily wrote in the poem: The garden road is twists and turns, small bridges and clear streams, old trees with strange shapes, green bamboos blocking the road, eagles bathing in the water, partridges hearing the sound, Jiangnan The countryside is interesting, you can take a leisurely stroll. Unexpectedly, just two years after living there, the British and French forces attacked Beijing in 1860 and burned the Old Summer Palace. Weixiu Garden was doomed and almost turned into ashes.

When Emperor Xianfeng died in 1861, Yixuan helped the Empress Dowager Cixi launch a coup to eliminate political opponents. He also married Cixi's sister and became his direct descendant Fujin, winning Cixi's trust. Thirteen years later, Emperor Tongzhi died of illness. In 1875, Cixi succeeded Yixuan and her sister's second son, Zaitian (tian), as Emperor Guangxu. Yixuan was named the imperial minister. He was conscientious, courteous and trustworthy, and kept a low profile. In order to please the Empress Dowager Cixi, he misappropriated navy funds to build the Summer Palace. Prince Chun's Mansion is on the north bank of Houhai Lake. Today's former residence of Soong Ching Ling is the West Garden of the Prince's Mansion. Weixiu Garden was renovated after being abandoned for eighteen years, but it is far from what it used to be.

In 1891, when the Summer Palace was completed, Yixuan also died of illness and was buried in the Phoenix Ridge area. The mausoleum is now well preserved and is known as the Tomb of the Seven Kings among the people. Before his death, he recuperated in Weixiu Garden. After his death, the Ministry of Internal Affairs took back the garden. Later, Emperor Puyi gave Weixiu Garden to his father, the regent Zaifeng, the fifth son of Yixuan. It was occupied by local warlords in the early years of the Republic of China. In 1931, Yenching University bought it as a dormitory for family members of faculty and staff. In 1941, the Pacific War broke out and the United States and Japan declared war. The Japanese closed the campus. Yanda moved to the southwest to continue running schools, and Weixiu Garden became Japanese territory. After Japan surrendered, Yanda resumed its campus in Peiping, and Weixiu Garden returned to Yanda as a residence for faculty and staff. What my family saw when they moved in was Weixiu Garden, which had been renovated by Yixuan and then abandoned after 68 years of wind and rain erosion, but it still vaguely retained its original appearance.

Historical data records that the main entrance of Weixiu Garden is in the south, facing south, with a hilltop-style building on top (such as the west gate of Yanda), and eight-shaped screen walls on both sides, which is very impressive. When we moved in, these no longer existed, but the garden wall was recessed in a figure-eight shape, which was inferred to be the former site of the gate. Later, the garden wall was repaired, a small courtyard was built, and several new houses were built. Historical data also said: "There are two more gates when you enter. After passing the second gate, you will see a screen of peaks and rocks stacked in front of you. The mountains are tall and the clouds and pines are towering." At that time, the "peaks and rocks screen" was gone, and only a large bluestone slab remained, which was covered by the west side. Used as courtyard wall material in homes. The green brick screen wall is still there, as are the mountains and pine trees behind it. There is a mountain gap on the left. There is a curved corridor to the north at the entrance of the mountain gap. There are tiger skin gables on both sides. The exit is in the shape of a trumpet, facing the South Lake.

When my family moved in, the gate of Weixiu Garden faced east, directly opposite the west gate of Yan University. There was a black plaque above it, which read "Weixiu Garden" in three large gold characters, which was an authentic work by Mr. Cai Yuanpei. This east gate was probably built by Yan University to facilitate the entry and exit of employees. From this, a corridor was built to the west and a hole was made in the mountain blocking the road to form an elbow bend. Now the east gate has become a traffic artery for employees and students of Peking University. The school has opened an opening diagonally, making the road to and from the campus closer.

Historical data says: There is a corner verandah on the east side of the central island courtyard, with assorted flower windows on the wall and a pavilion. At that time, the central courtyard was basically intact, with the corner verandah and assorted flower windows on the east side, and a rockery on the south with a painted square pavilion (now the square pavilion on the rockery is gone, and the original site has been converted into a residential courtyard). In addition, there is a mountain pavilion across the lake to the southwest of the central island, which is recorded as a hexagonal pavilion in historical records. There is also a goldfish pond at the foot of the mountain. At that time, the hexagonal colored pavilion was still there (it was changed to a square pavilion during repairs in the 1960s). There was a deep square pool made of bricks at the foot of the mountain, but the surface of the pool was no longer neat.

There is a small room next to it, which was renovated and lived there. First, Carpenter Yao lived there, and his daughter Yao Shuyan was in my class. I heard that Mr. Shen Naizhang, a professor of the Department of Psychology, also lived there. There is also the North Courtyard. According to historical records, it is the second courtyard. The main door faces the rockery entrance. There are wing rooms on both sides of the door and a stage outside the courtyard. At that time, the front yard and stage were gone and became a grassland. Only three north rooms remained to form a hall. The High School Affiliated to Yanda University converted it into a music classroom. A square pavilion with a single eaves is left at the southwest end, and the attached middle school is used as a library (the square pavilion is still there). The backyard door is locked and the exterior appears to be intact.

Outside the east wall, there is a square arched door made of marble, a large roof, carvings on the door, and a large open space. It is guessed to be the stable door. If you dismount from the main entrance, go around the east wall and pass through This door leads into the stables, which happens to be this open space. The book said: Prince Chun was particularly fond of horses and dogs. His stables and kennels were very luxurious. When his beloved horses and dogs died, they would set up a grave for them.

The above is about the historical evolution of Weixiu Garden and the scene of decline that I have seen since 1946, but the old appearance can still be found. Let’s briefly talk about the old friends, stories and anecdotes in Weixiu Garden.

Before liberation in 1948, there were 14 families in the hospital. Behind our house lives Mr. Wang Zhonghan from the History Department. He studied at Harvard University in the United States. He returned to China and specialized in Qing history and became a leading figure in Qing history in China. After his wife got married, he went to study in Canada and returned to China in 1950. After giving birth to a child, no one took care of him, so he sent her to daycare and put three children in a small bamboo car when commuting to and from get off work every day.

There are several families living on the central island, including Mr. Yan Huatang from the Department of Physical Education. He teaches track and field and football and is a national-level track and field referee. He is busiest during the Spring and Autumn Games. There is also Mr. Lin Tao from the Department of Chinese Literature, a famous linguist. He and his wife Du Rong love Peking Opera, and a cappella singing is often heard in his home. Mr. Li Ou from the Department of Mathematics has won many awards for teaching mathematics and is a famous senior professor. His wife Wang Ping graduated from the Department of Biology of Yanda and is a part-time teacher at the High School Affiliated to the University. There is also Mr. Zhang Youyu, the head of the General Affairs Section, who always walks with his head down, is very serious and doesn't like to talk. The Yan family and the Zhang family both have three or four children. We go to school and play together all day long. The concierge, Uncle Chang, has two daughters. The family of four are squeezed into a small house of five or six square meters. The only aisle wide for one person is the kang. No matter who called the door in the middle of the night, the old man would put on his clothes and open the door without complaining.

In 1946, the High School Affiliated to Yan University was reopened. Two rows of north rooms were built against the east wall as classrooms. A small playground was built in front of the buildings. The hall of the north courtyard was converted into a music classroom, and the square pavilion next to it was converted into a music classroom. A place to borrow books. The sound of reading, the noisy recess games, and the chasing in the park brought vitality to Weixiu Garden.

The High School Affiliated to Yanda has produced many celebrities, such as Li Ping (Li Bingheng), who participated in underground party activities before liberation. He became a special correspondent of Xinhua News Agency before graduating from the Journalism Department of Yanda, and was very busy at work. I met him when I was swimming in the Summer Palace in 1954. I had just returned from an interview in Geneva. He said: I have never come into contact with the leaders of the Communist Party of China before. This time I met Premier Zhou Enlai. His words and actions were really impressive. He also talked about Many highlights of Premier Zhou’s struggle with American Dulles. Unfortunately, on April 11, 1955, on the way to the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Kuomintang agents planted a bomb on the plane and died.

And Zhou Yixian: When I was in school, I played football with the boys, and I could shoot basketball more accurately than anyone else. Later, she was selected for the National Women's Basketball Team. From player, center, captain to head coach, she was named one of the "Fifty Outstanding Contributors to Basketball in New China".

Liang Congjie: Liang Sicheng’s son is an environmentalist. He always carries a pair of chopsticks in his schoolbag and never uses disposable chopsticks when eating out. He has made many contributions to China’s environmental protection and international exchanges.

There is an interesting story: After class one afternoon in 1949, two classmates were standing on the east mountain playing slingshots. A sleeper car drove up on the road outside the wall. It was difficult to see cars at that time. It was towards the car. A string of bows and pebbles hit the glass, and the car suddenly stopped. The driver came down, took a look, and drove away immediately. They thought the driver was looking for them, so they were so frightened that they ran backwards and changed clothes with each other. When they saw that there were many people borrowing books in the library behind, they got in. About ten minutes later, many People's Liberation Army soldiers came and surrounded Weixiu Garden, and went from house to house to inquire. The classmates were not allowed to leave but remained seated in the classroom. They looked nervous. They were left to tell the truth, and Education was released. Later, I guessed: Chairman Mao lived in Xiangshan, and when he went to the city for work, the west gate of Yanda was the only way to go. Maybe the chief was sitting in the car.

Through this incident, the Education Department moved the school to the campus (southwest of Shuita and northeast of Yannanyuan) and combined it with the affiliated primary school for easier management.

After my family moved away in 1952, Weixiu Garden changed dramatically. The lakes on the north and west sides were filled in, the mountains were leveled, and rows of buildings were built. The river water is gone, and the South Lake and East Lake have dried up and turned into big pits. The mountains have turned yellow and there are fewer trees. Only one of the two large ginkgo trees in front of the north courtyard is left, and the ginkgo trees they bear are much smaller. From the continuous lakes 60 years ago, filled with fish and shrimps, and interspersed with lotus and reeds, now the rivers are cut off, the lakes are dry, the mountains are flat and the water is gone. Weixiu Garden has gradually disappeared from the ground. I said in the article "Weixiu Garden in Childhood": Water is the soul of Weixiu Garden. What is a garden without a soul? The small Weixiu Garden back then was a concentrated form of nature. Now people say they want to return to nature, but the nature that once existed around us - Weixiu Garden, has been destroyed by humans, right? Do our descendants still know that there is Weixiu Garden?