Chapter 3 Farewell to the second quarter, No. 3 Beizongbu Hutong

Just as teachers and students from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Nankai University, Peking University, Peking Normal University and other schools went south and west, many intellectuals who had no relationship with these universities looked around in the occupied Beiping, not knowing where their fate was.According to the relocation outline of the Nanjing government, in view of the critical situation and the shortage of government funds, apart from Nankai University in Tianjin, all famous private universities and private cultural research institutions in North China, including Yanjing and Furen, were all abandoned.Whether these schools and institutions are to survive or not, to die or to live, other than trying to find a way to get a chance to survive, they can only resign themselves to their fate and see how interested the King of Hell and the assistants who are holding ghost records around them are.At this time, the China Academy of Construction, which the famous architects Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin worked for, was a private organization, and naturally belonged to the list of "abandoned" by the central government.

Although the government was unable to take care of it, Liang Sicheng and Liu Dunzhen, the two pillars supporting the "grand structure" of the China Construction Society, sent professors and cultural celebrities such as Tsinghua University, Peking University Pan Guangdan, and Zha Liangzhao to the Nanjing Nationalist Government to demand resistance to Japan on July 16. They signed their own names on the public appeal, and these lists have been closely watched by the Japanese secret service, so they naturally could not stay in the occupied Beiping.At a time of great chaos and turmoil amid internal and external difficulties, Liang Sicheng hurried to the headquarters of the Construction Society in Zhongshan Park to discuss countermeasures with the old president Zhu Qiqian and his colleagues.The result of the discussion is: in such a chaotic situation, the China Academy of Construction can no longer work normally, so it has to announce its temporary dissolution and go their separate ways.The old president Zhu Qiqian was unwilling to leave Peiping due to old age and frailty, and Liang Sicheng was entrusted with the responsibility of the society's legacy work and future hopes of the society.At this time, what made everyone most worried and worrying was how to deal with the results of the work of colleagues in the academy - a large amount of investigation materials, drafts, plates and photographs.In order to prevent these precious cultural materials from falling into the hands of the Japanese invaders, Zhu Qiqian, Liang Sicheng, Liu Dunzhen and others decided to temporarily store them in the underground warehouse of the British Bank in the British Concession in Tianjin. You need to sign it together." The three of them lacked one, so they couldn't open it.

While colleagues in the China Academy of Architecture were busy dealing with various complicated affairs, Liang Sicheng suddenly received an invitation signed by the "East Asian Co-Prosperity Association", inviting him to attend the meeting and express his views on the "East Asian Cultural Co-Prosperity Sphere".Liang Sicheng knew very well that the Japanese had noticed his identity and influence in the cultural circles of Peiping, and he had to leave Peiping immediately if he wanted not to be a traitor to "co-prosperity" with the Japanese.Therefore, he and his beloved wife Lin Huiyin contacted the professor of Tsinghua University who could go into exile together, and packed their luggage as soon as possible, preparing to leave the city the next day.

At this time, Zhao Zhongyao, a professor of physics at Tsinghua University, came to Liang's house suddenly, and told Liang nervously that he had just sneaked back to Beiping from another place, and about 50 mg of radioactive radium was still in the safe of Tsinghua's laboratory. Dr. Rutherford gave it as a special gift to China when he returned from the Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University.For this extremely precious high-energy physics material that is embargoed all over the world, Zhao Zhongyao went through countless difficulties and obstacles, and finally brought it back to his motherland.Now that Beiping has fallen, the Japanese army has entered Tsinghua University. If this thing falls into the hands of the Japanese, the consequences will be disastrous.For this reason, Zhao Zhongyao remembered that Liang Sicheng, a "hardcore" alumnus, had a Chevrolet car, and decided to ask Liang for help, and they entered Tsinghua University together to rescue this scientific treasure that is related to the future development of the country.

After hearing this, Liang Sicheng immediately agreed to take the risk.At dusk, Liang and Zhao drove out of the city, risking being robbed by the Japanese army and Koryo Ronin who came to China with the Japanese, and drove all the way into Tsinghua Garden. In the empty laboratory, a lead cylinder containing radium was opened in a specially camouflaged corner.Taking advantage of the hazy night, the two drove out of the spooky Tsinghua Park, escaped the Japanese army's interrogation, and returned to the city with their beating hearts. After Zhao Zhongyao got off the car in a remote alley, he quietly disappeared into the night with this treasure.Liang Sicheng drove the car home, neglecting to eat, and packed up with Lin Huiyin.In the rush, apart from the necessary boxes of materials and work supplies, I only brought a few bedrolls and some change of clothes for daily life. All other things, including Liang Sicheng's favorite car, no matter how valuable or not, had to be treated by the Nationalist Government. The policy of creating a society has been "abandoned".The country is destroyed and the family is destroyed, the hero is at the end, and there is an indescribable sadness and sorrow in my heart.During the break, Lin Huiyin took out a pen and paper, and wrote a farewell letter to her American friend Fei Weimei: "Sicheng and I have spent several hours sorting out old documents and things. Along the track of life , to have amassed so much miscellaneous! Looking at the remains of the past, built on so many people and so many loves, which are now threatened, makes us sad beyond words. Especially Because we are in a sad and pessimistic atmosphere, and the future is bleak..."

In the early morning of September 5, 1937, Liang Sicheng and his wife brought their two children and the child's grandmother, together with Tsinghua University professor Jin Yuelin and two other professors, walked out of their residence - the gate of No. 3 Beizongbu Hutong.Everyone was in a hurry, and there was no time to think about and recall many past events. The minute and second hands of time passed by like needles in the heart. The moment he got into the car, the sentimental Lin Huiyin felt as if his heart was pulled by something. Eyes burst out. She knew that after this farewell, she didn't know when she would be able to return to her beloved hometown.

Although the doctor had warned her before that her body would not be able to withstand the tossing and displacement of thousands of miles, Lin Huiyin could only face the harsh reality and replied tragically and helplessly: "My life is determined by God!" The world is vast, and the mountains and rivers are yellow. Not only is Lin Huiyin's lifespan determined by the sky, once he leaves the residence where he has been with his life for more than ten years, the fate of the five members of the Liang family can only drift with the tide, listening to the Lord of the Underworld, or even whoever is in charge. The judge and the imp came to dismiss and deal with it.

The situation in Beiping at this time is: there are more than 10,000 puppet troops stationed by the Japanese puppet Jidong Anti-Communist Autonomous Government in the east; .Beiping, which was trapped on three sides, had only one passage to the south—Ping-Han Railway.And this main traffic artery next to the Marco Polo Bridge was cut off due to the outbreak of the war. The only way to escape was to take a car from Beiping to Tianjin, and then take a detour to the south by water.Many years later, Liang Congjie, the son of Liang and Lin, who was only 5 years old at the time, told the story of parting from Beiping in the bitter wind and rain:

The day before leaving should have been a particularly sad scene, but I don’t remember anything, but I remember that the train to Tianjin was full of heavily armed Japanese soldiers, and we were squeezed into the same carriage with them .Dad closed his eyes and fell asleep there, but I watched the "real guns" in the hands of the Japanese soldiers with great interest. A Japanese soldier smiled at me and waved.I just got over it.He asked me to touch his gun, and when I was very excited, I heard a roar from behind: "Little brother, come back!!" When I turned around, my father was staring at me furiously.I didn't know what I did wrong, and I was so frightened that I didn't dare to look at the Japanese soldier again, so I hurried back to my mother.In this way, we bid farewell to No. 3 Beizongbu Hutong.

After arriving in Tianjin, Liang Sicheng's family and Jin Yuelin from Tsinghua University took a short rest, and then took the "Bible" ship to Qingdao, then Jinan, Zhengzhou, Hankou, and finally Changsha.Before boarding the ship in Tianjin, Liang Sicheng could not predict the future and fate of himself and his family, so he sent several academic papers written in English on the discovery of ancient buildings together with a letter written by Lin Huiyin to his friend Fei Weimei in the United States, please She managed to publish her hard work abroad, with a note saying: "So many things have happened, we don't know where to start. Anyway, we are all safe. We arrived in Tianjin a week ago. I plan to take a boat to Qingdao, and from there to Jingnan, and go to any place where I can change trains and boats no more than five times—preferably Changsha, and try not to encounter air raids during this period. When the war is won, we can end our escape career."

The ship whistled and set sail. Liang Sicheng and his family stood on the deck of the Bible, looking at the receding land and the little fishing fires on the shore. They must have never thought that they would go to Kunming after arriving in Changsha, and finally moved to a place they had never heard of—— —Li Zhuang, Nanxi, Sichuan, lived in seclusion.They may think that China will win this war soon, and they will soon return to their hometown, which has left countless beautiful and warm memories in their lives.But just as Liang Congjie, who was standing on the deck with them at this time, watching the waves churning and seagulls flying, said many years later: My parents "maybe didn't expect that it would be nine years. At this time they all Young, healthy, and beautiful, they all come back as old, feeble patients." And send the nostalgia to the breeze, and the bright moon to send distant guests.Under the faint starlight, Liang Sicheng's family and Jin Yuelin arrived in Qingdao with the boat, and then took the train to Jinan.After nearly twenty days of running around, I finally arrived in Changsha.According to Lao Jin's letter to Fei Weimei, "There were no major problems along the way, but some troubles were difficult enough to deal with. We went around and went to Hankou, and finally arrived in Changsha. It was already October 1st. It’s the day. Union University starts on November 1st.” Lin Huiyin, who was originally thin and emaciated, was already exhausted after nearly a month of wandering. When he arrived in Changsha, he fell ill and had a fever, so he had to borrow a friend to rest temporarily.When his condition improved slightly, Liang Sicheng ran around for a few days, and finally rented three rooms on the upper floor of a two-story building next to the train station as the family's shelter. At this time, professors, students and some family members of Peking University, Tsinghua University, Nankai University and other universities in exile came to Changsha after several trips, and gathered in this place that was unfamiliar to most people.When everyone met each other, they were filled with emotions. Zhao Zhongyao, who had parted ways with Liang Si in the night in Peking, put a lead tube containing radium in a pickle jar, and set out for Changsha among the fleeing crowd.In order to avoid being questioned by the Japanese soldiers and the puppet army, he racked his brains, traveled day and night, ate and slept all the way, almost lost all his luggage, only the pickle jar in his hand was inseparable from him, and his hands were covered with bloodstains.When Zhao Zhongyao, shabby and disheveled, came to report to the temporary university office with a wooden stick and a jar of pickles in his hand after leaving Peiping for more than a month, the staff thought he was a beggar and ignored him. .When the "beggar" slowly put down the jar and claimed to talk to Principal Mei alone, Mei Yiqi was coming out of the inner room to see off the guests.Zhao Zhongyao said "Principal Mei" in a deep and hoarse voice. Mei Yiqi was shocked at first, and then tears welled up in his eyes... Zhao Zhongyao learned that Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin's family had arrived in Changsha, so he made a special trip to visit and thank him. and Tsinghua acquaintances.These friends from the enemy-occupied areas gathered together, in addition to looking for a little family warmth, more to express their chests with enthusiasm for the War of Resistance and concerns for their relatives in the enemy-occupied areas, predicting the war situation and China's future.One evening about ten days later, two scholars from Nanjing came to the door again on their own initiative. Liang Sicheng and his wife were very pleasantly surprised when they saw it.One was his old friend Li Ji, and the other was his younger brother Liang Siyong.In this foreign land where wars are raging and dangers are everywhere, brothers Sicheng and Siyong meet each other, and the brotherhood is self-evident.The meeting between Liang Sicheng and Li Ji was not what ordinary friends would say. The two parties naturally had mixed feelings, and they had a special feeling in their hearts.