Chapter 27 3. Residence

The young Song Meiling grew up in a beautiful mansion combining Chinese and Western styles.In her whole life, she has never worried about living, nor does she worry about living. Because of her special status and social status, she not only has no worries about food and clothing, but also has no worries about housing. During the Anti-Japanese War, the work of the Women's Steering Committee was extremely busy.In order not to affect her work, Soong Meiling will have a personal residence in Fuzhi. It is said to be a residence, but in fact it is just a classroom converted. At one end of the classroom, a third of the classroom is separated by a laminate half wall, which becomes a bathroom.

Two-thirds of the bedroom is actually very simple: a medium-width rattan bed, a pair of small sofas and coffee tables, a small flat cabinet, and a few wooden chairs. Every time Soong Meiling comes here, she always takes a shower first (of course, in summer, Chongqing is one of the three famous "stoves" in China), and then lies on the bed for a while, and occasionally takes a nap here. In Chongqing during the war, air raid alerts were frequent. For Song Meiling's safety, Chiang Kai-shek's confidant, Xu Jizhuang, the assistant manager of the Peasant Bank, specially invited Song Meiling to move to live in the air-raid shelter in his mansion.

"That's good," she beamed.Because Xu's mansion is in Liziba, the journey from the Women's Steering Committee to there is at least four-fifths shorter than the Geleshan Villa. Considering the convenience of work, Song Meiling readily agreed to Xu Jizhuang's invitation. "Is it firm?" Song Meiling asked. "How can it not be solid! The rock on the roof of the cave is a hundred meters high." Xu Xieli replied. He described the construction structure of the air-raid shelter in detail: "The width and height are about 4 meters each. A bedroom is branched out, with a working room attached, and a couch and sofa are furnished for the wife to hide from the alarm."

"How much did it cost to repair it so well?" Song Meiling asked. "How much? Me, I didn't pay attention." "Bank charges?" she asked again. "Of course the bank expenses, this is the real estate of the bank!" Xu Jizhuang replied. "I will never go to your place to hide from the alarm!" She said firmly. "You are simply nonsense. Your air-raid shelter costs tens of thousands of silver dollars at least. It is outrageous to spend public funds indiscriminately! When you ran the Four Provinces Farmer's Bank, some people said that you embezzled public funds and acted recklessly. Now it seems that you just have This problem. Forget it, you don't even want to be the general manager!"

In Chongqing, she has been living in Geleshan Villa. Entering Geleshan, the road is very narrow, barely enough for a car to go on and off; the road is rough, and the gravel is very thin. This road was originally planned to be built, but because it cost too much money and occupied farmland, it was used. There were no military police all the way to the Geleshan villa, and there were only a few plainclothes near the villa. Only after entering the gate did we see guards with short guns. It is a villa, that is, a bungalow with a brick and wood structure and a tiled roof. The walls and ceilings in the house are all plastered, and no paint has been used.

In Song Meiling's studio in Geleshan Villa, there is a large desk, a swivel chair, two pairs of small sofas and several wooden chairs.There is only a medium-sized safe in the corner, without any decorations or flowers, fish tanks and the like.There are two maps on the wall - a map of China and a map of the world.Each map has a number of pin flags and other colored markers showing the current world situation. Here, when Soong Meiling finishes her work or needs someone to do it, she slaps her hands lightly, and soon after, attendants come in. This is how she "calls" her minions.

For this reason, the staff who followed her said, wouldn't it be better to buy a calling bell? Song Meiling said: "I don't need to call people's bells!" , This shows the spirit of natural human rights and equality. Servants, servants, and I are friends in terms of personality." The most famous residence of Song Meiling in the mainland is the "Meilu" in Lushan. "Meilu" is located in the east valley of Guling Mountain, Lushan Mountain. "Meilu" used to be Chiang Kai-shek's Xiadu official residence and "Chairman Xingyuan", but it is still famous as the "beautiful house" where "First Lady" Song Meiling lived.

"Meilu" was built in 1903.Built by Lord Lannolds of England, it was transferred to Lady Barry in 1922.Ms. Barry and Song Meiling had a deep personal relationship. In the summer of 1933, Ms. Barry gave up this villa to Chiang Kai-shek and his wife. The next year, Ms. Barry simply gave the villa to Soong Meiling as a gift.Since then, Song Meiling has become the owner of this villa. "Meilu", facing the Changchong River in front and Dayue Mountain in the back, is located in a position shaped like an easy chair.Chiang Kai-shek liked it very much and regarded it as a geomantic treasure.In his eyes, "back to the mountain and face to the water" is exactly in line with the pattern advocated by the Chinese Feng Shui theory.Song Meiling liked the tranquility and beauty here even more.Because the word "beauty" in Soong Meiling's name is more closely related to the owner of this villa, it is named "Meilu".

"Meilu" is very beautiful. In the "Meilu" garden, there are rare trees and flowers from Lushan Mountain, which can be described as lush and warm.The golden pine next to the stone fence in the courtyard is tall and straight, with a tree height of 30 meters. It is the tallest golden pine in Lushan; , in full bloom in early spring, the flower color is pure white, exuding a faint fragrance; Arrow feathers. In the midsummer season, the lingxiaohua that climbs the wall is full of red flowers, and is vigorous in the air; the orange petals of the "five-clawed golden dragon" are sprinkled with purple reds, which are as powerful as dragon claws.After autumn, the leaves of Liriodendron, which is known as the "living fossil", are dyed golden yellow; , brilliant red...

The garden structure of "Meilu" follows the natural style as the highest purpose, does not pay attention to artificial decoration, and pays attention to the style according to the situation.A small path cleverly follows the scenery and circles around, allowing people to watch carefully and savor slowly.There is a natural bare stone hill in the garden, engraved with the word "Meilu" and "Zhongzheng Title" on the lower left, which was inscribed by Chiang Kai-shek himself in August 1948.It can be said that this cliff stone carving is not only the "finishing" touch of this villa garden, but also the cultural imprint of the couple's love for "Meilu", and it has become a historical witness of their nostalgia for the mainland.

The "Meilu" villa under the shade of greenery is a stone and wood structure with two floors in the main building and one floor in the annex.The overall area is 4,928 square meters, and the building occupies less than 10% of the area, so the garden appears to be very spacious and clean, while the main body of the building is very suitable, neither clumsy nor delicate, showing a harmonious beauty. Climbing the cross-shaped long stone steps, stepping on the transparent balcony, and entering the interior is a living room with elegant decoration and a combination of Chinese and Western. There are cat's eye green carpets, dark green sofas, half-length photos of Song Meiling in different periods, and some photos of Chiang Kai-shek and his wife living in "Meilu" hanging on the walls.Next to it is Soong Meiling's bedroom, with a double bed in the center, which is said to be made of high-quality British wood.A round carved dressing table is placed on the left side of the bed, and exquisite daily necessities are placed on the square cabinet. The second floor is Chiang Kai-shek's office, living room and bedroom.The configuration of the bedroom is similar to Song Meiling's bedroom, except that there is an extra reclining sofa. Connected to the main building is the attached room, which was added in the winter of 1934 according to the intention of the owner.The attached rooms are connected by enclosed inner corridors.From the outside, it looks like a row of glass windows; the internal layout, one side is the passage, and the other side is the independent functional rooms: dining room, piano room, guard room, etc. ... History is merciless.This beautiful villa finally did not retain its owner. From January 1950 when Song Meiling returned to Taiwan from the United States until Chiang Kai-shek's death in 1975, in Taipei, Song Meiling followed her husband Chiang Kai-shek and lived in the Shilin Mansion. Shihlin Residence is located in Caoshan, 13 kilometers from the outskirts of Taipei.Surrounded by green hills, dense trees, and many hot springs, it is a famous tourist resort. After Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Taiwan in 1949, he chose this place. The Shilin Mansion is surrounded by dense forests. From a distance, you can only see a forest, but you can't see the inside of the mansion. Coupled with the heavy security, it looks mysterious and unpredictable. Surrounding the mansion is a wide lawn with green grass, flowers and trees, and dotted with rockery and hills.The stream here is gurgling, and there is a small bridge across the stream, which is quite similar to the scene of Xikou Town, Fenghua, Zhejiang Province, the hometown of Chiang Kai-shek. Shilin Mansion specializes in modern entertainment and fitness facilities such as swimming pools, hiking trails, basketball courts, and golf courses, making the mansion more beautiful and charming. In order to achieve the purpose of air defense of the official residence, the Taiwan authorities also painted the exterior of the official residence in the same gray-green color as the nearby mountains and forests. In terms of terrain, the Shilin Mansion is completely surrounded by the Fushan Mountain System, but its hinterland is very empty.In terms of military topography, this is a place that is easy to attack but difficult to defend.In order to take into account the safety of Chiang Kai-shek and his family, the entire mountain was fortified, with the intention of deploying the area near the official residence into an impregnable land and air defense fortress.At the same time, it can also be used as the general command post of the whole Taiwan during the emergency period. Shilin's official residence is tight and even a bit gloomy. According to Miss Song Meiling’s recollection: “The night I walked into the mansion for the first time was a night I will never forget in my life. I remember that a medical officer from the mansion greeted me at the gate of Shilin mansion. He kindly welcomed me into the gate of the mansion, and was going to accompany me into the bedroom on the second floor where Soong Meiling lived. "The moment I entered the official residence, I was really inexplicably terrified. Perhaps it was due to the education I received since I was a child. I have always felt awe of Chiang Kai-shek like an emperor. Who would have expected that one day I would enter Taiwan, the first The family's deep house compound, and was designated by the superior as a professional nurse to take care of Song Meiling. "The awe made me completely forget to pay attention to the furnishings downstairs of the official residence. I just feel that the official residence is extremely quiet at night, so quiet that people can even hear the friction of the muscles and veins of the whole body when people walk. Intuitively, apart from the tranquility of the official residence, the light It was also very dark. We walked to the stairs, and when we were about to go upstairs, there was a dog barking upstairs, and from the loudness of the barking, we could tell that it was two wolf dogs making the sound at the same time. At this time, I didn’t Consciously, I shivered. Since I was a child, I have been very afraid of dogs... "I nervously followed the medical officer and several guards up to the second floor. I finally saw the two wolf dogs barking loudly. One was in Chiang Kai-shek's bedroom, and the other was obviously a male dog in Song Meiling's bedroom. ... "Song Meiling's bedroom is not big, only about ten square meters in size.Under the dim lighting of a small five-candlelight lamp, I saw Soong Meiling curled up, resting on the bed.Although the dog was barking constantly at that time, Song Meiling, who was lying on the bed, was dozing peacefully on the couch. " At 11:50 on April 5, 1975, Song Meiling's husband Chiang Kai-shek finished his life. At 9:30 am on September 17 of this year, Song Meiling took her "China-US" special plane at Songshan Airport, left Taiwan, and flew to the United States. She decided to live in seclusion in the United States—a country that had educated her and supported her. Song Meiling's American residence is in Locust Valley, Long Island, New York. Locust Valley is located on the north shore of Long Island, New York. This is a 37-acre site that was jointly purchased by Kong Xiangxi and Song Meiling in the 1950s. According to the "Biography of Soong Meiling", there is a group of manor-style buildings in this shaded area. There are 3 main buildings, one of which has 28 suites. This is Soong Meiling's residence in the United States.Since the town of Locust Valley issued a very strict law many years ago, stipulating that every house must be built with at least 2 acres of garden land, therefore, every house here seems to be located in a secluded forest. Soong Meiling has lived in a quiet and almost deserted atmosphere since then. By some estimates, she receives no more than 10 visits a year.More time, "kill time by planting flowers, painting, reading, and practicing calligraphy."