1. Liang & Lin - Partners in Exploring China’s Architectural PastIn the dedication page the author wrote –
For our children and theirs –
It was a touching story. A story of dedication to their work, of perseverance against extreme hardship & even while seeking shelter in the remotest part of China away from the bombs and guns, Sicheng – Liang Sicheng - 梁思成 (1901-1972) the architect continued to work on his research and drawings. Amongst the many contributions to the architectural history of China – one of hi well known work was the pioneering research on the architectural history of China – written in modern architectural language, and first published in English.
The draft of this book was done over the 8years of Sino-Japanese War in China (1937 – 1945), and it had a very odd connection with Singapore
The heroic tale of this loving couple however had a sad end to their lives. The vivacious Whei – Lin Huiyin - 林徽因 (1904-1954) – writer, poet, cultural historian, and last but not least a loving wife of Sicheng - died of tuberculosis, in the early 1950/s, while Liang, as with all intellectuals who remained behind in New China even tho he had the opportuniy to leave – was struggled against by the system and died a sad man in the early 1970/s while the country was still in the throes of the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution.
This story of the lives of the Liang’s , especially the pre-New China period ( pre-1949) would not have been known and left in vivid memories to the children of the two families, and their posterities living on opposite side of the Pacific Ocean had it not been for this true and lasting friendship between the author Wilma and her husband, John and the Liang’s.
From their first chanced meeting in old Beijing in the early 1930/s, when the Fairbank’s went to China to pursue their research in Chinese studies and history – it was mutual attraction for the young couples. They would converse in English – for the Liang’s were educated in the US, - while Wilma could hardly able to speak in Chinese when she first arrived. Moreover with the Liang’s intricate knowledge of Chinese culture and history – for they were offspring of famously scholar families – it was perfect network for the Fairbanks’s to things Chinese.
During their stay in China, Wilma and JOhn shared many a happy and adventurous time with the Liang’s – joining their friends for afternoon tea, and going with them in the 1930/s to rural China on an architectural field trip to study buildings from the Song Dynasty (960-1278CE)
The steadfast friendship and bond established - see them thro wars and revolutions, and to the reader, Wilma came across as a very dear & loyal friend – assisting Sicheng in whatever way she could to help him in his academic work and with material assistance during the war years. Wilma played a crucial role in helping to get this book – A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture - published
2. A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture
If Jackie Chan did not reneged on his pledge and his donation of old wooden houses from China had mad their way to the new university in the north-east, it would have been a story to tell how the coup was scored.However the making of this book on Chinese architecture had an earlier tale and link -
The queer circumstances that connected this book to Singapore was an unglamorous one though. The illustrations that adorn the book had for a period of time were kept in Singapore, by a C Lau.
Wilma, who helped edit and publish this book in 1984, twelve years after Sicheng pass way, however mentioned in the Afterword in Liang and Lin – a grudging gratitude to C Lau – as the drawings were intact and in good condition after nearly twenty-three yeas.
C Lau had kept the ‘lost’ package of illustrations sent her by Wilma as directed by Sicheng in 1957. However, for whatever reasons C Lau who was then an architectural student in UK, had kept the parcel and did not forward it on to Sicheng. She subsequently brought it back with her to Singapore.
When China opened up and in 1978, Wilma heard thro a friend that visited China that a professor friend of Sicheng mentioning that Sicheng did not received the drawings from her. This set her puzzled and she felt indignant, and set about determined to find where the parcel went. After much detective work, Wilma traced the whereabouts of C Lau to her address in Singapore, and subsequently the parcel was miraculously recovered again in 1980.
The architectural drawings of ancient temples, pagodas and structures of Old China that are in this award winning book – A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture. – had been kept in a corner in a corner of Singapore. The drawings traveled from China to the US in 1947 and from the US to England in 1957 and then from there to Singapore. After twenty-three years, the package was sent back to the rightful owner – Lin Zhu in 1980 by C Lau thro express mail from Singapore, and after much prodding from Wilma.
3. 城记 – The Record of Beijing
While Liang & Lin – describes the pre-1949 life of Siceng and Whei, their trails and tribulation in New China could be glimpsed in this book - 城记 – 看不见的北京城- chengji – kan bu jian de Beijing cheng – the invisible walls of Beijing.
This book is about how the walls of old Beijing came to be torn down, though there was a strong push by academicians to have them preserved. And center among them was Sicheng.
Post 1949 – Shiceng’s life was one on unending crusade to preserve the historical structures of Beijing – and prime among them were the magnificent walls and gates that encircled old Beijing. These walls build during the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) and more than 400 years old. However, his was a futile struggle, and the walls were gone.
The author - Wang Jun - 王军 - had given the book and English titles - The Record of Beijing. Perhaps it was in deference to Sicheng, and his earlier work – A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture. He and Whei were both bi-lingual and bi-cultural. Other than the title – this book is written in Chinese and I do not think that there is an English edition out yet.
Perhaps Sicheng and Whei – were born in the wrong period and wrong city, and possibly too advanced in their ideals in preserving the historical architectural structures of Beijing. Though these structures could be dilapidated, worn, and a hindrance to city traffic, the couple saw them as representing the soul and cultural roots and identity of the city. You tear them down and the city would be dead and your cultural identity scarred and lost forever.
For the idealism that they have for their be-loved city could not dove-tail with the vision of their new political masters. In rebuilding a new socialist China where the five red stars shone over the Tiananmen Square – the old must give way to new, however much Sicheng justified that the great walls were the handicraft of the proletariats.
For Sicheng – demolishing the East and West Gates that stood astride the left and right entrances of Changan Road into Tiananmen Square then, was like chipping off his left and right shoulders.
To read this book – you will need to know Chinese, and I don’t think there is an English translation, yet.
…Well, you see – tell you to learn Chinese and you don’t want. Better start learning Mandarin - 华语 - now ne – not only to speak but to read too -
It’ the month of the - Speak Mandarin Campaign - 华人华语 . There is much more than just solving the riddles in – 华文谁怕谁! - huawen shui pa shui - Mandarin - fear you not !
Postscript –
1. Chinese architecture and old Beijing walls and all
Ever interested in Chinese Architecture first came across the bilingual version of – A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture – in 2001. This was a re-print of the 1991 first bi-lingual edition.
While on biz trip to Hsinchu, - 新竹- Taiwan in 2005 – I came across the book – 城记 - A Record of Beijing – and ever interested in old Beijing and her walls, I bought the book. It is a chronology on the call to develop a master-city plan for the capital of New China – and woven with it the tale of Sicheng’s crusade to preserve the walls from demoliton.
The glimpses of life lives of Sicheng and Whei is made more complete after reading - Liang & Lin , Partners in Exploring China’s Architectural Past – a new copy of the paperback version was on displayed at Tampines library, which I chanced upon. Wilma drew from the letters between her the Liang’s - spanning from the 1930/s and into the mid-1950/s.
2. Lin Zhu -林洙 - was Sicheng student and daughter of a close family friend. Lin Zhu married Sicheng, in the 1960/s - as much a companion as to take care of him in his later years. A virtue of young Chinese ladies – which have many examples – such as the marriage of a young Soong Mei-ling to Sun Yat-sen who was in his later years.
3. Speak Mandarin Campaign. 华人华语 -
The bi-cultural, bi-lingual cream of the greater Chinese community - could present day Singapore produce the likes of Sicheng and Whei? I am afraid not.
Singapore no longer has the - 低温 - diwen - the foundation and climate – to geminate this unique bi-lingual bi-cultural cream. The success of Speak Mandarin Camping – which started off as - 多讲话， 少讲方言 – Speak more Mandarin, and less dialect – has produced a new generation of Singaporeans – whose first language is English, and with Mandarin - supposedly the mother tongue - as a distant second.
On the recent debate on dialects – and for those who thought that there is a value in it – they were berated as STUPID – on the suggestion of reviving the speaking of dialects. I think much of the debate is missing the jungle for the trees or the trees for the jungle.
With the effectiveness of the Speak Mandarin Campaign in diverting families from dialects to Mandarin, and with an education process, and a society that readily embraces western norms and cultures - and the bulk of the society and the elites are now invariably culturally illiterate with regards things Chinese.
The debate on dialects is more form then the substance. Without a strong ethnic cultural identity, Singaporeans, especially the Chinese-Helicopters (Singaporeans who graduated from mainstream - Chinese medium schools - defunct ) who made it in China, are concern that the young will be side-lined by China Chinese.
References:
1. Liang & Lin - Partners in Exploring China’s Architectural Past
Wilma Fairbank, University of Pennsylvania 1994
First paper back edition – 2008
2. A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture - A bilingual Edition
By Liang Ssu-ch’ng,,
图像中国建筑史
梁思成 英文原著
费慰梅 编 梁从诫译
百花文艺出版社出版发行，２００１年一月第一版
2001.9.15, 星州商务
(Original:
Liang Ssu-ch’ng
A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture, ed Wilma Fairbank. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press 1984.)
3. 城记 - – 看不见的北京城 – The Record of Beijing.
王军， 高谈文化事业有限公司， 2005
购于-
台湾新竹新光三越
NT400， 2005。2。22 元宵前夕
Links:
1. Speak Mandarin Campaign - 2009
http://www.mandarin.org.sg/2009/
http://www.thechinesechallenge.sg/
2. Liang Sicheng
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Sicheng
This book is about how the walls of old Beijing came to be torn down, though there was a strong push by academicians to have them preserved. And center among them was Sicheng.
Post 1949 – Shiceng’s life was one on unending crusade to preserve the historical structures of Beijing – and prime among them were the magnificent walls and gates that encircled old Beijing. These walls build during the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) and more than 400 years old. However, his was a futile struggle, and the walls were gone.The author - Wang Jun - 王军 - had given the book and English titles - The Record of Beijing. Perhaps it was in deference to Sicheng, and his earlier work – A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture. He and Whei were both bi-lingual and bi-cultural. Other than the title – this book is written in Chinese and I do not think that there is an English edition out yet.
Perhaps Sicheng and Whei – were born in the wrong period and wrong city, and possibly too advanced in their ideals in preserving the historical architectural structures of Beijing. Though these structures could be dilapidated, worn, and a hindrance to city traffic, the couple saw them as representing the soul and cultural roots and identity of the city. You tear them down and the city would be dead and your cultural identity scarred and lost forever.
For the idealism that they have for their be-loved city could not dove-tail with the vision of their new political masters. In rebuilding a new socialist China where the five red stars shone over the Tiananmen Square – the old must give way to new, however much Sicheng justified that the great walls were the handicraft of the proletariats.
For Sicheng – demolishing the East and West Gates that stood astride the left and right entrances of Changan Road into Tiananmen Square then, was like chipping off his left and right shoulders.
To read this book – you will need to know Chinese, and I don’t think there is an English translation, yet.
…Well, you see – tell you to learn Chinese and you don’t want. Better start learning Mandarin - 华语 - now ne – not only to speak but to read too -
It’ the month of the - Speak Mandarin Campaign - 华人华语 . There is much more than just solving the riddles in – 华文谁怕谁! - huawen shui pa shui - Mandarin - fear you not !
Postscript –
1. Chinese architecture and old Beijing walls and all
Ever interested in Chinese Architecture first came across the bilingual version of – A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture – in 2001. This was a re-print of the 1991 first bi-lingual edition.
While on biz trip to Hsinchu, - 新竹- Taiwan in 2005 – I came across the book – 城记 - A Record of Beijing – and ever interested in old Beijing and her walls, I bought the book. It is a chronology on the call to develop a master-city plan for the capital of New China – and woven with it the tale of Sicheng’s crusade to preserve the walls from demoliton.
The glimpses of life lives of Sicheng and Whei is made more complete after reading - Liang & Lin , Partners in Exploring China’s Architectural Past – a new copy of the paperback version was on displayed at Tampines library, which I chanced upon. Wilma drew from the letters between her the Liang’s - spanning from the 1930/s and into the mid-1950/s.
2. Lin Zhu -林洙 - was Sicheng student and daughter of a close family friend. Lin Zhu married Sicheng, in the 1960/s - as much a companion as to take care of him in his later years. A virtue of young Chinese ladies – which have many examples – such as the marriage of a young Soong Mei-ling to Sun Yat-sen who was in his later years.
3. Speak Mandarin Campaign. 华人华语 -
The bi-cultural, bi-lingual cream of the greater Chinese community - could present day Singapore produce the likes of Sicheng and Whei? I am afraid not.
Singapore no longer has the - 低温 - diwen - the foundation and climate – to geminate this unique bi-lingual bi-cultural cream. The success of Speak Mandarin Camping – which started off as - 多讲话， 少讲方言 – Speak more Mandarin, and less dialect – has produced a new generation of Singaporeans – whose first language is English, and with Mandarin - supposedly the mother tongue - as a distant second.
On the recent debate on dialects – and for those who thought that there is a value in it – they were berated as STUPID – on the suggestion of reviving the speaking of dialects. I think much of the debate is missing the jungle for the trees or the trees for the jungle.
With the effectiveness of the Speak Mandarin Campaign in diverting families from dialects to Mandarin, and with an education process, and a society that readily embraces western norms and cultures - and the bulk of the society and the elites are now invariably culturally illiterate with regards things Chinese.
The debate on dialects is more form then the substance. Without a strong ethnic cultural identity, Singaporeans, especially the Chinese-Helicopters (Singaporeans who graduated from mainstream - Chinese medium schools - defunct ) who made it in China, are concern that the young will be side-lined by China Chinese.
References:
1. Liang & Lin - Partners in Exploring China’s Architectural Past
Wilma Fairbank, University of Pennsylvania 1994
First paper back edition – 2008
2. A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture - A bilingual Edition
By Liang Ssu-ch’ng,,
图像中国建筑史
梁思成 英文原著
费慰梅 编 梁从诫译
百花文艺出版社出版发行，２００１年一月第一版
2001.9.15, 星州商务
(Original:
Liang Ssu-ch’ng
A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture, ed Wilma Fairbank. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press 1984.)
3. 城记 - – 看不见的北京城 – The Record of Beijing.
王军， 高谈文化事业有限公司， 2005
购于-
台湾新竹新光三越
NT400， 2005。2。22 元宵前夕
Links:
1. Speak Mandarin Campaign - 2009
http://www.mandarin.org.sg/2009/
http://www.thechinesechallenge.sg/
2. Liang Sicheng
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_Sicheng
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