Historical Imprints (Shanghai Chapter: National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units)

Author: Fan Chongde
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: Yu Garden is located in the northeastern part of the old city area in Huangpu District, Shanghai. It is north of Fuyou Road, east of Anren Street, and adjacent to the Shanghai Old City God Temple to the southwest. It is a famous classical garden in Jiangnan, a renowned historical and cultural site, and a popular tourist destination both domestically and internationally. Yu Garden was originally a private garden during the Ming Dynasty, built in the Jiajing and Wanli eras, with a history of over four hundred years. The garden owner, Pan Yunden, styled Zhongli and styled Cong'an, failed the imperial examination and built a pond, piled stones, and planted flowers and trees on several vegetable plots west of his residence, Shichun Hall, for his own enjoyment. In the 41st year of Jiajing (1562), he passed the imperial examination and went abroad to serve as an official, once holding the position of Governor of Sichuan. His father, Pan En, styled Ziren and styled Lijiang, reached the rank of Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and Minister of Justice. The Pan family was one of the prominent clans in Shanghai at that time. After Pan En retired from office and returned to his hometown, Pan Yunden built this garden to allow his father to enjoy his later years. For the first ten years, as Pan Yunden was serving abroad, the garden construction was interrupted and never completed. In the 5th year of Wanli (1577), Pan Yunden resigned from his post and returned to his hometown, then dedicated himself to building the garden. He hired the stone piling artist Zhang Nanyang to plan it. By the 18th year of Wanli (1590), after more than two decades of painstaking efforts, Yu Garden was completed. "Yu" carries the meaning of "peace" and "tranquility," and the garden was named "Yu Garden," which implies "to please the elders." In ancient Chinese, "Yu" is synonymous with "Yu," hence the name "Yu Garden." At the time of its construction, Yu Garden covered over 70 acres and was meticulously designed by the Ming Dynasty garden master Zhang Nanyang, who also personally participated in its construction. The entire garden was grand in scale and beautiful in scenery. Ancient scholars praised Yu Garden as "the most extraordinary and beautiful garden in Southeast China" and "the crown of famous gardens in the southeast." Pan Yunden's family fortunes declined in his later years. In the 29th year of Wanli (1601), Pan Yunden passed away, and the Pan family gradually declined, unable to bear the enormous expenses required for garden maintenance and management. In the late Ming Dynasty, Yu Garden was acquired by Zhang Zhaolin. In the following hundred years until the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, Yu Garden changed hands several times, and the garden gradually fell into disrepair. In the 25th year of Qianlong (1760), to prevent this famous scenic spot from being forgotten, some wealthy merchants and scholars in the area pooled their funds to buy Yu Garden and spent over two decades rebuilding pavilions and towers, adding stone formations, and renaming it Xiyuan. In 1918, Lu Xun used the pen name "Lu Xun" for the first time and published "The Diary of a Madman," the first modern vernacular novel in the history of Chinese literature, in New Youth. After the May Fourth Movement broke out, Lu Xun actively engaged in this anti-imperialist and anti-feudal patriotic movement using his novels and essays as weapons. In the following years, he published novels such as Medicine, Blessing, The True Story of Ah Q, At a Tavern, Desolation, and Zhang Luojun. In October 1927, Lu Xun, accompanied by his wife Xu Guangping, left Guangzhou for Shanghai, marking the beginning of his last decade of brilliant work. Upon arriving in Shanghai, Lu Xun gave lectures at over ten institutions, including Labor University, Guanghua University, and Fudan University, inspiring young people to dedicate themselves to society. Starting in 1930, he joined the China League for the Freedom of Movement, the League for the Defense of Chinese Rights, and the Chinese Left-Wing Writers' League. Lu Xun was one of the main initiators and leaders of the "Left League." He attended the founding meeting and delivered an important speech titled "On the Chinese Left-Wing Writers' League." On the night of January 17, 1931, due to the betrayal of informers, the young writers of the "Left League," such as Rou Shi, Hu Yeping, Yin Jiao, Feng Keng, and Li Weisen, were arrested by the Nationalist authorities and later secretly executed. To commemorate the five martyrs of the "Left League," Lu Xun and Feng Xuefeng jointly edited the special issue "Vanguard: Tribute to the Fallen," while also publishing Lu Xun's "Biography of Rou Shi" and "The Blood of the Vanguard of the Chinese Proletarian Revolutionary Literature," which exposed the brutal persecution of the Nationalist authorities against progressive literary workers and the secret killing of revolutionary young writers. On April 11, 1933, Lu Xun's family moved into No. 9 Dalu Village, which is now known as the "Lu Xun Former Residence." Combining his observations of the rapid changes in Chinese society and reflecting on his own life experiences and ideological evolution, Lu Xun came to realize that the revolution led by the Communist Party of China, which represented the interests of the Chinese working class and peasantry, was the hope of China. He firmly believed that the Communist Party of China was the only party capable of leading the Chinese revolution to victory. Due to years of intense struggle, Lu Xun's health deteriorated. In the spring of 1936, he fell seriously ill and was diagnosed with severe tuberculosis. Despite the persistent advice of his friends, he insisted on staying in Shanghai to continue his work for the development of revolutionary literature. He said, "It is better to work and live fewer years than to live more years without working." On the morning of October 19, 1956, at 5:25 a.m., Lu Xun passed away in his residence at No. 9 Dalu Village, Shigao Road (now Shanyin Road), Shanghai, at the age of 56. Lu Xun's life was a glorious and heroic one. He spanned the two periods from the old democratic revolution to the new democratic revolution, experiencing extremely sharp and complex national and class struggles, accumulating rich experience in struggle. His outstanding social practice and works fully reflected his great personality and revolutionary fighting spirit.