Chapter 7 Section 4 Shen Xingren, a famous lady of the generation

When Needham came to Menguantian to meet the famous sociologist Tao Menghe, Tao Zheng was still immersed in the great grief of losing his beloved wife.The friends who knew Shen Xingren during his lifetime, in addition to Tao Menghe's colleagues in the Institute of Social Sciences, including a group of free intellectuals such as Jin Yuelin and Lin Huiyin, while mourning Shen's unfortunate fate, also fell into the trap of hurting others, the death of rabbits and the grief of foxes. of desolation. At that time, there were four brothers and sisters from the Shen family in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. Their knowledge and demeanor were admired at home and abroad.The eldest sister, Shen Xingzhen, whose courtesy name is Yiyun, was keen on social reform in her early years. During the Revolution of 1911, she organized a women’s military regiment in Shanghai. During the Anti-Japanese War, she founded Shanghai Nanping Girls’ High School. favored by historians.Xingzhen's husband is Huang Yu, a veteran of the Kuomintang. During the Revolution of 1911, Huang promoted Chen Qimei as the governor, and he himself served as the chief of staff of the governor's office and the commander of the second division of the Shanghai Army. Become sworn brothers.During the Beiyang period, Huang, as the Minister of Education, secretly helped Feng Yuxiang to turn against him and launched the famous "Beijing Coup". President Cao Kun was put under house arrest, and the last emperor Puyi was expelled from the Forbidden City.Since then, Huang Yu's fortune has turned, acting as the prime minister of the cabinet, and taking over the power of the president, reaching the pinnacle of power in his life.After the establishment of the Nanjing government of the Kuomintang, Huang Yu was appointed by Chiang Kai-shek as the mayor of Shanghai Special City, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and chairman of the Beiping Government Affairs Reorganization Committee.

Shen Xingren is the second eldest in the family, the third is her younger brother Shen Yi, and the last is her younger sister Shen Xingyuan.The four siblings of the Shen family are quite similar to the four siblings of the Song family, each with different political ambitions, different lifestyles and life pursuits.Shen Xingyuan’s husband, Qian Changzhao (named Yili), was born in a scholarly family in Changshu, Jiangsu Province. He went to study in the UK in his early years. He studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Oxford University. He studied under Lasky, Weber and other famous scholars. Meng was also deeply influenced by the Fabian Society.After studying and returning to China, under the recommendation of his fellow countryman Zhang Jian, he traveled half of China for a year, and visited Zhang Zuolin, Zhang Xueliang, Yan Xishan, Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang and other powerful figures who were in charge of China's overall situation at that time.Soon, Qian Changzhao got engaged to the talented and beautiful Miss Shen Xingyuan. Because of the relationship of the Shen family, he met Chiang Kai-shek through Huang Yu, and was soon reused by Chiang.Qian Changzhao successively served as the executive deputy director of the Ministry of Education of the National Government; the deputy secretary-general of the National Defense Design Committee; the deputy director and director of the Resources Committee.When the civil war broke out and the Kuomintang was defeated, Qian quietly left Hong Kong. After 1949, he returned to the mainland from Hong Kong and served as the vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the vice chairman of the National Revolutionary Committee.During his lifetime, he left a "Memoirs of Qian Changzhao", which was published by China Literature and History Publishing House in 1998, 10 years after his death.Although the content of this work is brief, it is rich in information, and it is an important material that cannot be ignored in the political, industrial and educational history of the Republic of China.From this memoir, we can see that before the start of the famous Yellow River Sanmenxia Dam project, not only domestic celebrities, but also Professor Huang Wanli, the son of Huang Yanpei, strongly opposed it. Discordant voices, and the voices were Qian Changzhao's brother-in-law, the third child of the Shen family, and Shen Yi, a water conservancy expert who graduated from Tongji University in his early years and later studied in Germany.

During her stay in Germany, Shen Yi specialized in the management of the Yellow River. After returning to China in the 1930s, she entered politics. She served as the director of the Shanghai Public Works Bureau, the secretary of the director of the Resources Committee and the director of the industrial department, the deputy director of the Ministry of Communications of the National Government, and the mayor of Nanjing Special City. .Shen Yi has a special liking for the management of the Yellow River. In the summer of 1946, when he served as the special mayor of Nanjing, he still did not forget the problem of the Yellow River management. He specially organized a Yellow River advisory group to inspect the Yellow River Basin and hired three American consultants to come to investigate (Famous water conservancy experts including Savannah and Corden took this opportunity to investigate the topography and geology of the dam site of the Three Gorges Project proposed by the Kuomintang for the second time). In 1948, Shen Yi served as the director of the United Nations Far East Flood Control Bureau. He was stationed in Thailand for several years and led the management of the Mekong River.Later, Shen Yi went to Taiwan and served as the minister of the "Ministry of Communications" of the Kuomintang authorities for 6 years.Later, due to factional strife, the elder faction lost power, and Shen was squeezed out by the young faction, so he became the "ambassador to Brazil". He left his post and lived in the United States shortly after. He died in 1980 at the age of 79.Shen is the author of "Floods and Future Water Conservancy Problems in China", "Yellow River Chronology" (published in 1934), "Yellow River Problems" (published in 1935) and other monographs. He is one of the few water conservancy experts and municipal engineering experts in China. In 1979, Shen Yi was diagnosed with cancer, and hoped that his only surviving sister, Shen Xingyuan, wife of Qian Changzhao, then Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, would visit him.Shen Xingyuan went to the United States to visit after receiving a call and obtaining the consent of relevant departments.Before the trip, he was entrusted by the Ministry of Water Resources to bring the materials of the "Three Gorges Project" on the Yangtze River to solicit the opinion of the water conservancy expert on the construction of the dam.When Shen Xingyuan took out the materials, Shen Yi refused to read them. He said: "When the Sanmenxia Dam on the Yellow River was built, I wrote an article abroad and thought it was impossible. Chinese and Soviet experts refused to listen, and it became a joke. Why should I worry about it? Shen Xingyuan was afraid that it would be difficult to deal with business after returning to China, so he repeatedly persuaded him tactfully, and said, "The motherland respects experts and solemnly solicits (opinions) when they are far abroad."Shen Yi reluctantly read the information and wrote a few comments for her sister to bring back to China.In the second year, Shen Yi passed away.

It is not known whether Shen Yi's specific opinions against the Sanmenxia Project on the Yellow River were known to domestic high-level officials, experts and scholars.Some researchers later speculated that "at that time, even if his opinions were known to the people of the country, they would probably be regarded as vicious attacks from class enemies lurking abroad, which would instead increase the weight of the main founding faction."Indeed, this is the fate of many politicized projects.Shen Yi also wrote "Shen Yi's Autobiography", which was published in Taiwan 5 years after his death, in which there were many criticisms of Qian Changzhao's political career, especially his life in his later years.

Shen Xingren, a famous lady of the Republic of China, studied in Europe and America in her early years. During the "May 4th" period, her translation of the drama "Story of the Left Fan" was published in "New Youth".This play was later translated as "Young Mistress's Fan" or "Mrs. Windermere's Fan", and was performed on stage.This is one of the earliest vernacular script translations of foreign drama published in China, and it is also the source of the vernacular movement in China.It was on the basis of this exploratory achievement that the magnificent and far-reaching vernacular movement and new literature movement emerged.Afterwards, Shen Xingren and Xu Zhimo jointly translated literary works such as "Mary Mary", which aroused widespread attention in the cultural circles, and were especially appreciated by a generation of talented women and friends Lin Huiyin.

In addition to literature and drama, Shen Xingren was also interested in social and economic issues. In 1920, "Economy after European Peace" (written by Keynes) co-translated by him and her husband Tao Menghe was included in the sixth publication of "New Youth Series".Only four years after the Dutch-American science popularization writer Van Loon's famous work "The Story of Mankind" was published in 1921, it was translated into Chinese by Shen Xingren and published by the Commercial Press (1925), setting off a long-lasting trend in China. "Van Loon Fever".Cao Juren, who later became a famous newspaperman and writer, once recalled: In the 1920s, I accidentally bought the Chinese translation of "The Story of Human Beings" while waiting for the bus, so, "That afternoon, I read this historical story like a madman. The bus came. , I read it in the car. When I got home, I swallowed my dinner and read it on the bed. I read it until dawn, and finally finished it. I have read it again and again in the past fifty years, except, No other book attracts me so much. I am also determined to write a "Human Stories in the East". Time is pressing, and it seems impossible to write. But Fang Loon's influence on me is really greater than that of Wang Chuanshan and Zhang Shizhai. It's far-reaching!"

Although Cao did not talk about Shen Xingren’s contribution to translation, but without Shen’s efforts, no Chinese would have seen "The Story of Mankind" so quickly and had a great impact. I think Cao will not deny this fact yes. When Xu Zhimo returned from overseas, he founded a literary salon in Beiping, the Crescent Club. People who often come to the Crescent Club at No. 7 Shihu Hutong to participate in dinner parties and activities include Hu Shi, Xu Zhimo, Chen Xiying, Ling Shuhua, Shen Xingren, Jian Jichang, Lin Huiyin, Lin Yutang, Zhang Xinhai, Rao Mengkan, Yu Shangyuan, Ding Xilin and a large number of university professors and writers, as well as Huang Zimei, Xu Shenru and other business and financial professionals, and Liang Qichao, Lin Changmin, Ding Wenjiang, Zhang Junmai, etc. The social and political celebrities with slightly older qualifications can be said to be talented for a while, and they have the momentum of "talking and laughing, there are great Confucianists, and there are no white people in communication".According to the memories of the participants at the time, these people with different backgrounds, ages, interests, and occupations talked about politics, economy, culture, education, and literature, and their concerns were not the same. The purpose of "socializing" is the same.

During this period, Shen Xingren met Liang Sicheng, Xu Zhimo, Jin Yuelin, Hu Shi, and even the shy Zhu Ziqing and other male literati and scholars, and became good friends.Later, with Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin returning from Northeastern University to live in No. 3 Beizongbu Hutong and the formation of the "wife's living room", Tao Menghe and Shen Xingren became the main guests in the "living room".The "scientist Mr. Tao" in Bing Xin's novel "Our Wife's Living Room" refers to Tao Menghe—if one by one is seated. For Shen Xingren's elegant demeanor and beautiful appearance, as a woman, Lin Huiyin admired and admired Lin Huiyin, but Jin Yuelin, who had admired Lin Huiyin and loved him all his life, was amazed and fell in love with Shen Xingren when he saw Shen Xingren for the first time , Lao Jin, who usually does not compose poetry, uncharacteristically began to compose love poems, and wrote in a hidden poem inscribed to Shen Xingren:

Nature is like the shadow of bamboo, and the sun is sparse, and benevolence is the fragrance of orchid in the wind. Lao Jin uses the whirling bamboo shadows and the fragrance of orchids to describe the beauty of "Xingren", and his admiration and admiration overflow from the outside. Hu Shi, known as "Mr. Democracy and God of Freedom" (in the words of Tang Degang), once advocated that as a person with modern knowledge, he needs to have several girlfriends, because men and women often interact with each other in observing and handling things and cultivating their temperament. The benefit of compensation goes on and on.In his letter from Peiping to his mother in his hometown on April 5, 1918, he said that he was invited to have dinner at the home of Mr. Ding (Wen Jiang) and his wife. Tao Menghe, his fiancée Shen Xingren, and another lady Shen were at the same table. Everyone gathers and talks together.Then he said: "I am used to living in foreign countries. After returning to China, I have no girlfriend to talk to. I feel that an important member of society is missing. After a few months in Beijing, I only knew Mr. Zhang Xingyan's wife, Ms. Wu Ruonan. Wu My wife is the daughter of Mr. Wu Junsui (the owner of Beishan Building), a great Anhui poet. She lived in England for six years and is very knowledgeable. Therefore, I often go to talk to her. I only recently met the girlfriends mentioned above." Whether it is Whether before or after, Hu Shi needs to have a girlfriend to help him talk, especially a well-educated female friend, and Shen Xingren is the perfect candidate for his desire to be a friend of the opposite sex.

Maybe he is too shy by nature, or maybe he is too sad in his heart. Zhu Ziqing, a writer who teaches at Tsinghua University, has meticulous observations every time he sees a beautiful woman or a woman he likes, and has a concise record in his diary.Such as: On September 5, 1924, went to Ningbo by boat from Wenzhou to teach. "I saw a woman in the boat. She has a very beautiful face. She wears silk stockings, and the flesh color is clearly visible. The waist is also thin, and she looks like a weak willow facing the wind." On August 16, 1932, after visiting Putuo during the honeymoon, "I went to Shanghai, went to Liumei's place, and met Ms. Deng Mingfang, which was quite a standard." On January 22, 1933, entered the city, had lunch at Yang Jinfu's place, and discussed "Laughing Marriage" and "Small Waves in the Sea of ​​People" after dinner. "When Tao Menghe and his wife came, Mrs. Tao hadn't seen him for several years, but she was still a young man. The relationship between circumstances and life is really great."

Mrs. Tao recorded by Zhu is Shen Xingren. "A young man is like the past", which means that Shen's beauty and demeanor have not diminished in the middle age, and she is still young and sweet.It's not a mundane metaphor of a young lady with a still charm.From this rather implicit lingo, we can get a glimpse of Shen Xingren's breathtaking elegance and Zhu Ziqing's admiring and emotional vibrancy. Everything is passing quietly like the moonlight in the lotus pond described by Zhu Ziqing.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Shen Xingren started his life in exile with Tao Menghe.Years of wars and hardships in life have caused her body to suffer enormous wear and tear, and her life is gradually dying out in the ordeal. Since the Institute of Social Sciences moved from Kunming to Lizhuang, due to changes in the environment and climate, especially as Dr. The soot mixed together became smoke, and these sulfur-smelling thick smoke lingered over Lizhuang and surrounding areas all day long. It was almost the same as Lin Huiyin's experience. One day, I was bedridden several times.Tao Menghe tried every means to treat him, but in view of the lack of medical treatment in Lizhuang, Tao himself and even the highly educated medical professors of Tongji University felt powerless. He could only watch his pretty and quiet wife lose weight day by day.In the autumn of 1942, the Resource Committee of the Nationalist Government organized a delegation to travel around the Northwest and planned to set up a site in Lanzhou.After hearing the news, Tao Menghe found his brother-in-law Qian Changzhao and asked Shen Xingren to take a ride to Lanzhou for treatment.At that time, Shen Yi was in Lanzhou, and Tao Menghe was also preparing for the Lanzhou branch of the Institute of Social Sciences. He thought that he might be able to lead some people to Lanzhou soon, so he asked his wife to go first and settle down at his younger brother's place for treatment.In Tao and Shen's opinion, the air in the northwest is much cleaner than that in Lizhuang, which is of great benefit to those suffering from lung disease. In addition, the medical conditions in Lanzhou City are beyond comparison in Lizhuang, so Shen Xingren resolutely went to the northwest.Unexpectedly, this trip turned out to be a forever farewell. On January 21, 1943, Shen Xingren passed away in Lanzhou.