Sunset in Silence: Wuhan Grand Hotel

Author: Hu Liuming
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-07-01
Features: The history of a city. The story of a city. Every grand old mansion is draped in the vicissitudes of centuries, its rise and fall, glory and disgrace, and joys and sorrows permeating every brick, beam, and grain of sand, melting the passing years into its essence. As you wander through them, you will feel that the old houses have souls. The history of a city. The story of a city. Every grand old mansion is imbued with the of history, its rise and fall, glory and disgrace, and joys and sorrows permeating every brick, beam, and grain of sand, blending the fleeting years into its fabric. As you traverse them, you will sense that the old houses possess souls.
This book is the second volume in the "Grand Mansions Series," a thematic initiative by the Baihua Literature and Art Press. It is also a "nostalgia" classic edition meticulously crafted over five years by the publisher and the author. Opening a book is like unveiling a sealed memory. The history of Old Hankou and the history of Old Wuhan are, in fact, also the history of Old China—nineteen grand old mansions encompass architectural and humanistic history, architectural aesthetics and humanistic aesthetics, spanning from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, from 1860 to 1951. A century has flowed by, leaving behind much that has been forgotten by later generations.
The female author Hu Liuming, who grew up in Wuhan, endured years of hardship. With the help of her brother (the book's photographer) and her daughter, she gathered historical materials, searched for the remains of old buildings, interviewed figures, and took on-site photographs—only then did she begin writing. The book features historical figures from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, including high-ranking political and military leaders such as Zhang Zhidong, Sun Yat-sen, Wu Peifu, Xiao Yaonan, Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei, Zhou Enlai, Tang Shengchi, Yang Sen, and Xu Qiyuan; foreign nationals from various Western countries in China, such as officials from the British Consulate, renowned Western missionaries, and Russian tea merchants; as well as prominent figures in China's business community and Chinese agents of Western companies.
The book also covers historical events, from the Treaty of Tientsin during the Second Opium War, which established trading ports, to the Korean War (the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea). It focuses on the Warlord Era, the Northern Expedition, the Second Civil War, and the Battle of Wuhan during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The grand old mansions mentioned in the book include: the official residence of the British Consul in Hankou (the beginning of modern urban architecture in Wuhan, built in 1860), the villa of Russian tea merchant Li Veninov (built in 1902), the residence designed by the renowned engineer Zhan Tianyou (built in 1912), the residence of Bishop Wu Deshi of the American Episcopal Church (built in 1913), the mansion of Xiao Yaonan, the Governor of Hubei Province (built in 1923), the mansion of Ye Fengchi, the owner of Ye Kaite Pharmacy (built in 1924), and the garden-style mansion of Yang Sen, a senior Kuomintang general (built in 1927). The most recent and best-preserved is the Cao Xiangtai Garden in Wuchang (a garden-style mansion, built in 1935).
These old buildings, along with the people and stories within them, are imbued with a rich sense of nostalgia, like the fading light of a setting sun—truly beautiful. The book includes over one hundred and thirty photographs, featuring old and new architectural images, portraits, old maps, and architectural plans.
And the title of the book itself is deeply evocative, capturing the essence of "The World Changes, but the People Remain the Same," as expressed in the line "The fragrant grass feels affectionate, yet the setting sun remains silent" from Zhang Lei's Song Dynasty poem "Fengliuzi."