Love Has a Way - The Life Wisdom of Ziwei

Author: Zhang Shengshu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: A pioneering classic love story, the romance between Eileen Chang and Hu Lanqing, is a typical pioneering love tragedy. Eileen Chang is pioneering; she is the daughter of an official family, detached from the mortal world, and became famous for her novels at a young age, making headlines nationwide. Hu Lanqing is supportive; he is charming and dashing (in that era, capable men were inevitably dashing), much older than her, and has rich life experience, working in the Japanese puppet regime. These two people should never have fallen in love, but fate took its course. No. 195 Changde Road, Shanghai, Edinburgh Building, an old seven-story apartment. Because Eileen Chang lived in Room 65 for over a decade, her love-hate relationship with Hu Lanqing unfolded here, so it is now listed as a protected cultural relic in Shanghai, even the elevator still retains its original German design. It truly embodies the saying, "Mountains need not be high, just have a fairy."
On a certain day in October 1947, Hu Lanqing, who was fleeing for his as a collaborator, returned to Room 65. In the morning, he leaned over and looked at Eileen Chang lying in bed, gently kissed her forehead, and bid her farewell. Eileen Chang burst into tears, half-rose to hug him, her voice trembling as she called, "Lanqing!" He turned and went downstairs. From then on, they never saw each other again. In 1995, the lonely Eileen Chang died in Los Angeles, California. But in Room 65, she left behind a lingering confession in Love in a Fallen City: "The power of love can make a city fall."
In 1943, the 24-year-old Eileen Chang, already a renowned literary figure, met Hu Lanqing, who was 15 years her senior. At that time, this noblewoman who had shocked the literary world and was celebrated nationwide had never been in a relationship. Hu Lanqing, however, was married and worked in the Japanese puppet regime, a master of political maneuvering and a quintessential politician. Yet, Eileen Chang's heart was utterly captivated by him. On the back of a photograph she gave him, she wrote a heartfelt confession: "When she saw him, she became very low, low to the dust, but in her heart, she was happy. Love bloomed from the dust." Did she foresee the tragic outcome of this "falling into the dust" romance? From their meeting in late 1943 to their marriage in 1944 and Eileen Chang's breakup proposal in 1946, their time together was brief. The sweet moments were fleeting. By then, Hu Lanqing had been hunted as a collaborator, yet he remained undeterred in his charm, living with other women, breaking her heart. So, is the fate between two people a blessing or a curse? When love spreads in the heart, who can judge rationally whether this person is truly the right one for life? After all, when reason surges in the heart, it means love has faded in the mind!
Then, if one retreats into monastic life, leaving worldly desires behind, can one avoid the pain of life? In Love in a Fallen City, Eileen Chang, through her characters, rebukes Bai Liusu: "Even if you shave your head and become a nun to beg for alms, you will still be entangled in worldly ties, unable to break free from people." Since one cannot break free from people, in the long journey of life, do you always hope to meet your Mr. Right, or do you want to turn every person you meet into your Mr. Right? The former is fate, the latter is self-creation—yet the two are not mutually exclusive. If one can first "accept fate," understand the limits of destiny, and then "create fate," won't it be easier to tailor one's path and achieve success more efficiently?
Since separation and reunion are inevitable in life, why do people place such importance on the division and union of emotions? Is love overhyped? In her autobiography Half a Life's Cause, Chen Wenxi introspects, saying: "The eternity of love does not lie in love itself, but in the fact that 'love can and may end.' Because the changes in life that exceed the ordinary can easily lead to changes in emotions. This is fate, yet it is logical." Does this statement perfectly describe the pioneering love perspective? And what about the cooperative type, which seeks stability? If they fall in love with a pioneering type, will it end in tragedy? The interplay of destiny and opposition truly reveals the wonder of creation.
Life often only allows one to reevaluate life's choices and recognize one's shortcomings after a profound experience. Only then can one understand what one truly seeks. This is the price of love, and also the price of life—it should be a turning point to break free from the illusion of external appearances and return to one's true self. When you cross it, the clouds will clear and the wind will calm, and the earth will still turn. But if you cannot cross it? Is that your fate?
The following chapters will analyze in detail the strengths and weaknesses of each main star in the pioneering type's love journey and provide guidance on how they can interact with people of different types in relationships.