Chapter 72 Xu Zhimo's Death Day

On November 19, they returned to Beijing by train from Hangzhou. Today is Xu Zhimo's death day. It's been three years.In the past two years, Huiyin and Sicheng always paid homage to Zhimo at home on this day.They put out a photo of Zhimo --- a photo of Zhimo's vivid smiling face, surrounded by flowers.A few good friends gathered together, feeling the irreparable gap after Zhimo left. The lights in the carriage came on, and the scenery outside the window became more and more blurred.The wheels and rails made a rhythmic crash, and the next stop was Kip Shek. Xiashi is the hometown of Xu Zhimo, and Zhimo's body was buried in the east mountain of Xiashi.Huiyin walked to the door of the carriage and tried to look out the window, but there was only the impenetrable night outside the window.Zhimo’s verses popped out: “…the train is running on the rails in the dark, passing mountains and waters…just relying on the narrow two roads, it is carrying this heavy, dream-like burden!… "

Many unconnected past events flashed before Huiyin's eyes, turning into a blur, and sadness flooded her heart.Faced with the eternal question of life and death, there is nowhere for man to escape.She thought, life is not like this heavy-duty train, panting forward in the boundless world, until the end known to everyone in the world.All people's efforts are just to make some sound and light in the long corridor of real life.Although "life is as incomprehensible and incomprehensible as death", as long as a person lives, he always has to move forward one step at a time. The train is running, and the next stop is Hangzhou.At some point, Sicheng came to Huiyin's side.The scenery along the way flew by, and they stood side by side silently.

At the end of 1934, Academia Sinica allocated 5,000 yuan to the Architectural Society, which asked the Architectural Society to survey and map all the buildings of the Forbidden City in Beijing, and then publish a monograph.Liang Sicheng is the person in charge of this project. At the beginning of 1935, the Nanjing government decided that Liang Sicheng would be the chief consultant for the repair and maintenance project of the Confucian Temple in Qufu, Shandong.In the same year, Liang Sicheng was appointed as a consultant to the Beiping Cultural Relics Protection Committee. Throughout the summer, Huiyin and Sicheng surveyed and mapped various cultural relics and buildings in Beijing.From the three main halls of the Forbidden City to Sheji Altar and Taimiao, from Beihai, Xihe Garden to the Temple of Heaven... the work is heavy, tense and enjoyable. Exploring and thinking in these epic architectural complexes gave them great spiritual satisfaction.

One early summer day, they climbed to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest in the Temple of Heaven for surveying and mapping.The Temple of Heaven is the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties presided over the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven every winter solstice.It covers an area of ​​almost 4,000 mu, and the overall area is larger than the Forbidden City, but there are far fewer buildings than the Forbidden City.The open and sparse space and the deep and quiet environment give people a sense of being out of the world.Looking down from the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, inside the red wall is a lush green shade. A straight avenue in front of you connects the Gate of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Circular Mound.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a circular hall with three layers of double eaves, and they stand on the third eaves.Under the feet, there is a dark blue umbrella-shaped glazed tile roof; above the head, the gold-painted roof is shining in the sun.This is the sacrificial hall for the emperors to pray for a good harvest. The 12 eaves pillars, 12 inner pillars and 4 central "dragon pillars" of the hall symbolize the 12 hours, 12 months, 24 solar terms and the four seasons of the year.The shape of the hall is simple and concise, full of commemoration.The resplendent Zanjian Baoding blends into the blue sky together with the wishes of the emperors.