The happy marriage of Liang Shiqiu and his first wife
His first wife Cheng Jishu (1901-April 30, 1974), whose ancestral home is Jixi, Anhui, married Liang Shiqiu in February 1927. They have three daughters and one son, the eldest daughter Liang Wenqian; the second daughter (died in infancy); the eldest son Liang Wenqi; and the fourth daughter Liang Wenqiang.
Cheng Jishu came from a well-known family. Her grandfather had served as the prefect of Daming Prefecture in Zhili Province. Her father was the eldest son and ran a pen and ink shop in Beijing.
On February 11, 1927, Liang Shiqiu and Cheng Jishu, who had returned to China after completing their studies, held their wedding at the European and American Alumni Association in Nanheyan, Beijing.
Liang Shiqiu and his wife
In the autumn of 1921, Liang Shiqiu was still studying at Tsinghua University. At that time, Cheng Jishu had graduated from Beijing Women's Normal University and was teaching at Beijing Women's Vocational School. She had a classmate named Huang Shuzhen who met the Liang family. Huang Shuzhen felt that although Cheng Jishu was two years older than Liang Shiqiu, according to the customs of the time, she was still a good match. So she went to Liang's house to propose marriage to Liang Shiqiu. Liang Shiqiu's father is an enlightened person. He feels that under the influence of the May 4th New Culture Movement, young people are pursuing free love. It is best for parents not to do everything, but to give young people more opportunities to choose freely. Despite this, he still asked his wife and eldest daughter to go to Cheng Jishu's house for an excuse to visit and see each other once. They were very satisfied with the result of their look, and then his father wrote Cheng Jishu's "horoscope" on a red note and put it on the table: "Cheng Jishu, a native of Jixi, Anhui, was twenty years old, in the 27th year of Guangxu (1901) Year) February 17th, Yinshi was born. "
When Liang Shiqiu came home at the weekend, he accidentally read this red note and naturally thought that this was his family's matchmaking. Although this red note only provided basic information about the other party, for some reason, Liang Shiqiu was not resistant to this matter, but was full of curiosity and expectation. Some days later, Huang Shuzhen made an appointment with Liang Shiqiu and Cheng Jishu to meet at a women's vocational school. In the winter of 1921, Liang Shiqiu and Cheng Jishu had their first date. In a short period of time, they were deeply attracted to each other. When they met, they only talked for about half an hour. Cheng Jishu was not talkative and somewhat reserved, but Liang Shiqiu was very sensible. At the right time, they agreed to meet at Siyixuan in Central Park next time, and Cheng Jishu happily agreed. Since then, the two of them had many dates in the park, and they settled down in the park for the rest of their lives. Since then, almost all elegant places in Peiping have left their footprints. After graduating from Tsinghua University in 1923, Liang Shiqiu was sent to the United States to study. When leaving, Liang Shiqiu asked Cheng Jishu to have dinner at Yulouchun in Quanyechang to say goodbye. In 1923, Liang Shiqiu ended his eight years at Tsinghua University and packed his luggage to study in the United States in accordance with the school's requirements.
Liang Shiqiu and Cheng Jishu agreed to get married in three years and gave her a watch. Cheng Jishu personally embroidered a silk handkerchief for Liang Shiqiu with the "Picture of the Autumn Moon over Pinghu Lake" embroidered on it. While in the United States, Liang Shiqiu missed Cheng Jishu day and night, and returned to China in the summer of 1926 without waiting to obtain his master's degree.
In the early spring of the next year, Liang Shiqiu and Cheng Jishu held their wedding at the Nanheyan European and American Alumni Association in Beijing. Although Cheng Jishu had expertise in learning, she did not go out to work after her marriage, and her main focus was on caring for her husband and raising children. Whether Liang Shiqiu was in Shanghai, Qingdao or Peiping, she took care of her three children and husband without complaint. Especially after Liang Shiqiu became the dean of the Department of Foreign Languages ??and the Director of the Library at Qingdao University, he had many social activities. Cheng Jishu reminded him to study more business and get less involved in politics. At first, Liang Shiqiu couldn't listen to her advice, so she encouraged Liang Shiqiu to translate Shakespeare's works, and in disguise, guided Liang Shiqiu to study more business.
On July 28, 1937, Peiping fell. Liang Shiqiu felt that his earlier political comments were likely to lead to disaster, and some friends suggested that he had been on the "blacklist" of the Japanese army. The best option was to escape from Peiping. . But my mother-in-law is old and frail and cannot bear the pain of running around. He and Cheng Jishu weighed it for a few days and decided that he would leave first and wait until the situation calmed down before making plans. In the spring of 1943, Cheng Jishu's mother died of illness. When she and her children stood in front of Liang Shiqiu with a lot of luggage, Cheng Jishu was 43 years old, with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and gray hair around her ears. Liang Shiqiu not only worked for the state affairs with the enthusiasm of an intellectual, but also did not forget to work hard in translation, and the vicissitudes of life were revealed in his brows.
In 1974, in Seattle, USA, Liang Shiqiu and Cheng Jishu lived happily in their old age. However, on April 30, Liang Shiqiu and his wife went shopping in the market, and a ladder facing the street suddenly fell down on Cheng Jishu. She passed away due to serious injuries. The death of his wife was a heavy blow to Liang Shiqiu. He wrote the book "Memories of Sophora Garden Dreams" to express his condolences for his deceased wife. The latest version of "Memories of Sophora Garden" was published by Tianjin People's Publishing House in 2013.
2. A love affair that has lasted for centuries
Xuxian Han Jingqing (1931-1994) was born in October 1931. His father was a wealthy businessman who later moved to Shanghai. At the age of 7, she won the first prize in a children's singing competition in Shanghai. At the age of 14, she was crowned the "Queen of Singers" and became a dazzling new star in Shanghai. In 1949, Han Jingqing went to Hong Kong with her father. She wrote, acted, sang, and produced "My Love Is You" for which she won the Golden Horse Award for Outstanding Actor.
The relationship between Liang Shiqiu and Han Jingqing originated from a chance encounter. After Liang Shiqiu's wife Cheng Jishu passed away unexpectedly, he handed over the book "Memories of Sophora Garden Dreams" written with extreme sadness to the Far East Book Publishing Company in Taipei for publication.
Mr. Pu Jialin, the boss of this publishing company, invited him to Taipei for proofreading the manuscript. In fact, he wanted him to go back to Taipei to relax and get over the shadow of the death of his beloved wife. So on November 3, 1974, Liang Shiqiu flew back to Taipei, and his friends arranged for him to stay at the Huamei Building.
On the morning of November 27, as soon as the Far East Book Publishing Company opened its doors, Taipei “legislator” Hsieh Ren-chao and Taiwan’s famous singer Han Jingqing came to the bookstore. It turns out that Han Jingqing is Xie Renzhao's goddaughter. She has a copy of the "Far Eastern English-Chinese Dictionary", which Xie Renzhao sometimes borrows. Han Jingqing joked with him: "Why don't you buy a copy yourself?" Xie Renzhao said: "Should I sell it? If you don't believe it, I can ask the boss for a copy." So they made an appointment to come to Far East Book Publishing Company on this day. The boss, Pu Jialin, was an old friend of Xie Renzhao's for many years, and Xie Renzhao suggested that he needed a "Far Eastern English-Chinese Dictionary". Boss Pu Jialin handed over a heavy hardcover "Far Eastern English-Chinese Dictionary" to Xie Renzhao without hesitation. Xie Renzhao and Liang Shiqiu were also friends. When he took the dictionary, he said with emotion: "I haven't seen this old friend for many years!" At this time, Pu Jialin suddenly seemed to remember something and said: "He is in Taipei. , I invited him here." So Xie Renzhao took his adopted daughter Han Jingqing to Huamei Building to visit Liang Shiqiu.
Xie Renzhao was very enthusiastic when he saw Liang Shiqiu. After greeting him, he invited him to drink coffee at the nearby Tongyi Hotel. They hadn't seen each other for many years and had a lot to talk about. Han Jingqing couldn't get in the conversation and could only listen. Just at this time, another friend of Xie Renzhao came to drink coffee. The talkative Xie Renzhao took this friend to sit down and started talking endlessly. At this time, Liang Shiqiu and Han Jingqing, who had been left out, naturally had a chance to speak. Liang Shiqiu asked her what her name was? Han Jingqing told him her name was "Han Jingqing". Liang Shiqiu said: "Why is this name so hard to pronounce? Who gave it to you?" Han Jingqing said: "I got it myself. There is a sentence in "The Book of Songs, Tang Feng, Yan Du" that 'its leaves are jingjing', so I picked it. "Jingjing" was my stage name, but later I found that many artists used it, so I changed it to Jingqing."
Somehow, after Han Jingqing and Liang Shiqiu started talking, they always felt like they had something to talk about. Like breaking a river, she told Liang Shiqiu everything about her life experience. She told Liang Shiqiu that her ancestral home was Huangpi, Hubei, and her father was doing business in Shanghai. She was born in Shanghai in 1931. When she was 7 years old, she won the first prize in the Shanghai Children's Singing Competition. At the age of 14, she became a popular singer in Shanghai. In 1949, she moved to Hong Kong with her father and starred in the movie "Sakura Blooms Everywhere". After she returned to Taiwan, she wrote, acted, sang and produced the movie "My Love Is You", which also won the Golden Horse Award for Outstanding Actor. Later, due to skin allergies to oil paint, he withdrew from the film industry. Now 43 years old, he is studying in a TV directing class and wants to direct a few TV series to get rid of the trouble of failed marriage and love. In a short period of time, Han Jingqing introduced so much about her situation that even she herself didn't know what it was for?
Compared with her, Liang Shiqiu was unyielding and aggressive. From the sixth day of their acquaintance, Liang Shiqiu handed a letter to her face to face every day, just like doing homework. Faced with her hesitation, he wrote: "Don't talk about the cliff, it's the crater. We had no choice but to hug and jump down." Liang Shiqiu's blazing love flame finally broke through all the intellectual barriers of Han Jingqing. During those days, he suddenly became much younger, his face was glowing, he was full of energy, and the depression of losing his wife was gone.
Since then, Liang Shiqiu began to suffer from insomnia, and the shadow of Han Jingqing was always lingering in his mind. Every time around ten o'clock in the evening when Han Jingqing's advanced training class ended, he would wait for her at the door of the TV station. Han Jingqing had realized Liang Shiqiu's intention. During a meeting, Han Jingqing said to him: "I will be a matchmaker for you!" Unexpectedly, Liang Shiqiu blurted out: "I love matchmaker." The secret in the two people's hearts has been revealed, Han Jingqing's first The next day, he wrote a tactful "back off" letter to Liang Shiqiu, but Liang Shiqiu immediately launched an attack and directly confessed his love for Han Jingqing. After that, Liang Shiqiu wrote her a letter every day, talking about love, family, and career. He also often got together, ate, and went to the park. They all fell into the whirlpool of love. However, Han Jingqing's thoughts were also contradictory, which made her hesitant about her love for Liang Shiqiu. Because after all, Liang Shiqiu is 28 years older than her, has poor hearing, and suffers from diabetes. In the end, it was Liang Shiqiu's enthusiasm that cleared up the doubts in her mind. In this way, her feelings naturally merged with Liang Shiqiu's.
On January 7, 1975, Liang Shiqiu returned to the United States to handle his wife’s claim. Liang Shiqiu had mentioned Han Jingqing when he wrote to his daughter before, but her daughter never expressed her stance. This time Liang Shiqiu came back and introduced Han Jingqing's situation in detail, and gained his daughter's understanding, which in turn helped the development of his relationship with Han Jingqing. At this stage, Han Jingqing was also facing pressure from public opinion, but this did not make Han Jingqing discouraged or retreat, but instead ignited her love for Liang Shiqiu even more.
On the days when Liang Shiqiu flew back to the United States, he said: "Dear, my heart has been messed up, separation sorrow has begun to threaten me, God is unkind and cruel!" And Han Jingqing, who stayed alone in the boudoir, wrote: "Qiu: You You left, it seems that all the people in Taipei have followed you. My home is an empty home, and this city is so desolate!"
Since we met, Liang Shiqiu has been there every day With Han Jingqing, they would talk about literature and art, talk about state affairs, or eat or walk together... Liang Shiqiu was the first to express her feelings to Han Jingqing. She had experienced the ups and downs of love, and love was a sweet and painful word to her. However, she has passed the age where her mind is full of fantasies. The biggest obstacle standing in front of her is that Liang Shiqiu is 71 years old. She understands that love has no age limit, but he is already in his seventies, can only hear sounds with a hearing aid, and suffers from severe diabetes...
After Liang Shiqiu returned to the United States, Liang Hanzhilian suddenly became "News Storm" on Taiwan Island. "Twilight Love between a Professor and a Movie Star"... similar news headlines appeared frequently in newspapers of all sizes. The finger of blame was first pointed at Han Jingqing. Miss Han is young and beautiful, why is she allowed to marry an old man in his seventies? Is it about fame or wealth? Most articles believe that letting a person like Han Jingqing in the entertainment industry marry a "national treasure" master is a blasphemy to Liang Shiqiu. And a large number of his students who already had quite high social status actually opposed Liang Hanzhilian under the banner of "nursing group".
For Liang Shiqiu, this is a love related to life. He said: "I am like a lifeless tree trunk, inserted into a strong tree, and it suddenly grows vigorously with leaves, and maybe even flowers and fruits. Little baby, you gave me new life. You know Do you know?... My favorite color in the past was melancholy. You cleared the clouds for me to see the blue sky. You opened my eyes to see the gorgeous colors of the world. "
Liang Shiqiu was not satisfied with short love letters. He used his lifelong ability to run newspaper supplements and created a "Qingqiu Supplement" for his "dearest little kid". He copied down the current affairs and interesting things he got from reading the newspaper every day, just for his little kid to read and entertain himself. .
On March 29, 1975, Liang Shiqiu flew back to Taiwan carrying a suitcase of letters written by Han Jingqing to him. The couple, who had known each other for five months and loved each other for sixty days, finally got married on May 9 of this year. After that, they spent 12 years of loving life together.
On the wedding day, Liang Shiqiu was even more radiant than the bride. His dress was chosen by Han Jingqing, a rose-colored suit with an orange flower tie, a bouquet of carnations on his chest, and a ring on his hand that Han Jingqing gave him. Liang Shiqiu acted informally and served as the master of ceremonies. He stood in front of the red Chinese characters and announced the start of the wedding. He then read the marriage certificate to himself and then delivered the groom's speech amidst the laughter of the guests.
On May 9, 1975, she married Liang Shiqiu, a widower, and the wedding ceremony was at her home. When entering the bridal chamber, Liang Shiqiu was short-sighted and unfamiliar with the environment. He accidentally hit his head on the wall, and she picked him up. Liang Shiqiu laughed at her as a "juren" ("lifting" him up), and she laughed at him as a "jinshi" (short-sighted) and "number one scholar" (hitting the wall).
In his later years, Liang Shiqiu suffered from deafness and diabetes, and his physical condition was not optimistic. She took good care of his daily life. In order to provide him with a more stable environment, she moved three times in five years while he flew back to the United States to live with his daughter. She cooks and makes soup for him every night; she helps him walk from one alley to another; they raise cats at home, treating them as their children, and they love each other in the same place.
There were occasional quarrels, mostly because he accidentally ate something that was harmful to health, so she made a big fuss and ran into the bathroom when she was angry, while he sang the song they usually sang outside the door, "There's Always There" Waiting for You One Day", and soon she lowered her voice and pretended to be devastated and sang the song "Tears of a Lover" until she bent over and walked out of the door with a smile, until the two of them laughed happily and shed tears together - -The details of their love show vast green areas, not autumn yellow.
Peking (11) Far East (2) Taipei (1)