Sunset in Silence---Wuhan Grand Hotel

Author: Hu Liuming
Publisher:
Publishing Date: July 1, 2005
Features: The history of a city. The story of a city. Every 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 very being. As you wander through it, you will feel that the old house has a soul. The history of a city. The story of a city. Every old mansion is clad in the vicissitudes of history, 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 it, you will feel that the old house has a soul.
This book is the second volume of the "Old Mansions Series," a thematic project by 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 opening a sealed door to forgotten memories. The history of Old Hankou and the history of Old Wuhan are, in fact, also the history of Old China. Nineteen 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 writer Hu Liuming, who grew up in Wuhan, endured years of hardship. With the help of her brother (the photographer of this book) and her daughter, she collected historical materials, searched for the remains of old buildings, interviewed figures, and took on-site photographs—before finally turning to writing. The book features historical figures from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, including high-ranking officials 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. There are also Western foreigners in China, such as officials from the British Consulate, renowned Western missionaries, and Russian tea merchants. Additionally, there are prominent figures in China's business community and Chinese agents of Western companies.
The book covers historical events from the Treaty of Tientsin, which established trading ports during the Second Opium War, 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 for the Defense of Wuhan during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The 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 Venov (built in 1902), the former residence of Zhang Xuanju, personally designed by him (built in 1912), the residence of Bishop Wu Deshi of the American Episcopal Church (built in 1913), the mansion of Xiao Yaonan, Governor of Hubei Province (built in 1923), the mansion of Ye Fengchi, 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 Caoxiangtai Garden in Wuchang (a garden-style mansion, built in 1935).
These old buildings, along with the people, history, and stories within them, are imbued with a strong sense of nostalgia, like the fading light of a setting sun—beautiful. The book includes over one hundred and thirty photographs, featuring old and new architectural photos, portraits, old maps, and architectural drawings.
And the title of the book itself is filled with poetic imagery. The passage "The grass is full of feeling, the setting sun is silent" from Zhang Lei's Song Dynasty poem "Fengcaozi" captures the essence of "the world has changed, but the people remain the same."