Su Xueling · Thorn Crown

Author: Fang Weibao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Su Xuelin's father, named Xi jue, styled Shaoqing, and styled Ding San Yi Sheng Yang, was born on the 19th day of the 12th month in the Jia Wu year of the Tongzhi era. There were seven brothers and sisters, and he was the eldest. Su Xi Jue and his brothers were once deeply devoted to the imperial examinations, even kneelingly before the Kui Xing statue, praying for success in their studies. However, despite their fervent devotion, their academic progress was limited, and they only achieved the status of a "scholar" (). When Su Xuelin was very young, her father and his brothers had already given up on the imperial examinations and had discarded all the examination papers (). Her father, Su Jin Xia, who had gained some success in his career, helped them each obtain official positions through donations. Su Xuelin's father was appointed as a Dao Yuan and posted as a candidate in Shandong. Su Xi Jue had three sons and two daughters, and Su Xuelin was his fourth child. When he was posted as a candidate in Shandong, he took his second and third children, Shao Zhang and Shao Lan, and his wife Du, but left his eldest son Shao Ji, his eldest daughter Shu Meng, and his youngest daughter Su Xuelin with their grandparents. Su Xi Jue never received a permanent position in Shandong, but he was frequently assigned to various duties. Later, because his superior, who had once highly regarded him, was transferred to another post, he was not valued by the new superior and returned to Zhejiang. After returning, he was still not discouraged and insisted on traveling to Yunnan, believing that Yunnan was a remote province with less competition in the officialdom, and that the then Governor of Yunnan, Li Jing Xi, being from Anhui, might favor him as a fellow native. However, he did not stay long before the Xinhai Revolution broke out, and he had to flee back hastily. While her father was away seeking a career, Su Xuelin did not spend much time with him before she grew up. Under these circumstances, her mother, Du Wan Qing, became the closest person to her. Besides her father, her second uncle and fourth uncle had a significant influence on Su Xuelin. Her second uncle, Xi En, styled Jun Ping, had once attempted to enter the imperial examinations. Due to his so-called "inherent fate of causing the death of his wife," he resolved to become a monk. However, he failed to become a monk and instead went to Japan for studies in law and politics. Later, he participated in the anti-Japanese movement among overseas students and was sent back to China. After returning, he actively promoted revolutionary ideas and participated in raising funds to establish Shanghai Chinese University, mobilizing the Su family to invest in it. Hu Shi later graduated from this school, and Su Xuelin therefore believed that she had a "connection" with Hu Shi. Because her second uncle often discussed the theory of "expelling the Manchus" with his brothers and nephews at home, Su Xuelin was exposed to revolutionary ideas from a young age. Her fourth uncle, Su Xi Gui, also studied at Shanghai Chinese University. He was intelligent and skilled in poetry and literature, and he became Su Xuelin's earliest teacher and the one who nurtured her love for literature. After the Su family moved to Shanghai, due to the large population and the lack of income, they could not sustain themselves financially, and they stayed there for three years. Grandfather Su Jin Xia, therefore, gave up his idea of living as a hermit in Shanghai and led the family back to their hometown, Taiping. At this time, Su Xuelin's father could no longer hold an official position, but he was unwilling to give up. Later, thanks to the recommendation of a fellow clansman in Beijing, he became a small civil servant. Perhaps because of the effective recommendation, although his position was not high, his income was quite substantial; he also purchased a residence in Anqing, the provincial capital, and took a concubine. As the eldest son, the heavy burden of the large family fell entirely on his shoulders. After Grandfather Su Jin Xia returned to his hometown, his old friends repeatedly persuaded him to rejoin the officialdom. Although he was not intentionally trying to remain loyal to the Qing Dynasty, he did indeed become a hermit like Bo Yi and Shu Qi. Su Jin Xia did not forget the traditional of the old Huizhou people, and he donated funds to establish a school, naming it "Hai Ning Xue She" (Hai Ning School), partly to commemorate his unfulfilled dream of becoming the magistrate of Hai Ning, and also to provide a place for the Su family descendants to receive education. After the family returned to Taiping, Su Xuelin spent a brief period of time studying there. In August 1998, Professor Tang Yin Nan of Kaohsiung University of Technology in Tainan, at the request of Su Xuelin, went through many difficulties and spent 1,200 US dollars to buy back Hai Ning Xue She and completed all the procedures to donate it to the Huangshan Cultural Bureau. In November of the same year, Su Xuelin also transferred 3,000 US dollars to the cultural bureau in Taiwan as maintenance funds. This clearly shows her high regard for Hai Ning Xue She. Su Jin Xia passed away in June 1914, less than two years after living in poverty in the countryside.