After the meeting, I began to search for information about Mr. Chen Yongjie and learn about his life. Mr. Chen (190 1- 1994) is a famous Chinese American philosopher. He promoted China's philosophy in the United States for 60 years and made great contributions to the spread of Confucianism to the western world. He is known as "the pioneer of Confucianism in North America". He was also awarded the "1992 Outstanding Service Award for Asian Studies" by the Asian Studies Association. The award speech praised him: "No one can match him in spreading China's academic tradition to the West."
In the process of reading the materials, I was deeply moved by two stories about him. It is said that once, he was invited to give a speech at a university in northern Vermont. On the bus on the way, a local farmer sat beside him. The man chatted with him and asked him if he worked in the laundry. Mr. Chen smiled and was noncommittal.
But Americans didn't give up. He went on to ask him if he washed it wet or by hand. Mr. Chen replied, "No, I'm brainwashing." China people living overseas are in a difficult situation; As a scholar, he has a mission.
Another story is the personal experience of Cui, a researcher at Yongji Chen, who mentioned his trip to Hanover in an article. He said that from two small things, we can see the far-reaching influence of Mr. Chen in the local area.
First of all, when he went to Daams College where Mr. Chen worked to collect information, he was warmly received. According to Professor Bai who entertained him, "In Hanover, anyone who knows China and speaks Chinese owes Chen Yongjie a debt of gratitude. Hanover is just a tiny place in the northeastern United States, unlike an international metropolis like new york, but you see there are so many Chinese-speaking teachers and students here, you know, thanks to Professor Chen. Professor Chen Yongjie established the tradition of China culture and education for Daams College, and I am honored to be a member of this tradition. "
Another most dramatic story is that the general manager of Hanover, where he stayed, heard that he came because of Chen Yongjie, and he generously decided to waive all hotel fees just because "Professor Chen is from Hanover, so you are our guest!"
However, in Mr. Chen Yongjie's hometown, few people know him, which adds a lot of difficulties and sadness to my visit to Mr. Chen's former residence.
In order to find Mr. Chen's former residence, I found two clues from his custom chronicle and oral autobiography. 1. Born in Nan 'ao Village, Sanjiang Township, Kaiping City, Guangdong Province, 190 18 (the fifth day of the seventh lunar month). Second, his father participated in the construction of the new village, but did not provide a specific geographical location.
In his oral autobiography, Mr. Chen said: "Our village is on a big island surrounded by water. It is one of seven villages. They are all Chen from the same ancestor, who lived there for about 800 years. There are about ten straight alleys in our village, and each alley has ten or eleven houses. At that time, it was very compact and there was no extra land, but the population was increasing. The custom in China can't add more floors to the house. The only way is to build another village. So the rich man asked Mr. Feng Shui to choose a place, but it was a low-lying land and had to be filled with sand from Shunde a few miles away. Father volunteered to supervise the sand filling and construction work. He has worked hard for this matter for nearly ten years. "
I have consulted local overseas Chinese cultural experts, but no one knows who Mr. Chen is. When I mentioned the geographical location where he was born, an expert gave me a clue that the new village should be Baoyuanfang. Whether it is, you have to visit it yourself to know.
So I found a student living in Kaiping and asked her to act as an interpreter and guide, and started my visit. At the end of February, 2009, the sky was clear in Wan Li.
We first took a bus to Kaiping Station, and then inquired about Baoyuanfang all the way. I was shocked when I saw Baoyuanfang! Although it looks a bit shabby, I have never seen such a well-planned and spectacular village.
It can be seen from the Jigong Monument in Baoyuanfang Xiucun that Baoyuanfang was built in 19 15, which was jointly owned by overseas Chinese living in the United States, Chen Xiangqin of Nan 'ai Village and Taishan March 8th Society. At that time, there were more overseas Chinese living in Sanpan in the United States than villagers at home, so most of the builders were overseas Chinese. At the beginning of opening the village, the person in charge paid great attention to the overall planning, forming a typical layout of Kaiping residential houses praised by local people.
In front of Baoyuanfang village is the Cangjiang levee. It is said that this 300-meter-long stone road was brought back from Hong Kong by Cangjiang Road when the village was built. At that time, Kaiping's water transportation was more developed than land transportation, and many materials needed to build a village were shipped to the entrance of the village by large ships.
Baoyuanfang sits facing south and spreads from east to west, surrounded by rivers. From the village pier, the first thing you see is the gatehouse and pavilion. The overall style of the gatehouse is Lingnan traditional architectural style.
Passing through the gatehouse and entering the spacious threshing floor, 24 rows of houses with the same architectural style are arranged neatly. Most of these houses are two-story brick walls and reinforced concrete bungalows, which form a unified style with simple and lively lines. There are 23 lanes in the village with a width of1.67m.. Ten houses in each row are built vertically from north along the conventional driveway. There are bamboo forests, banana forests and miscellaneous forests in front of and behind the village. The three watchtowers, Yang 'an Tower, Jiguang Building and Wuhe Building, were built to prevent bandits and flood control, and distributed in the east, middle and back of the village.
The two of us walked around the village and saw that every door was closed, just like an empty village. Many things happen. Finally, I found an open house. When I saw Chen Bo in the house, I asked him about Mr. Chen Yongjie. But he said that he had never heard of Mr. Chen's name, but what is certain is that his birthplace, Nae Village, is near here, and it is not far from turning a corner.
Chen Bo told us that the layout of houses and residents here is basically the same, and they are all three rooms with one bright and two dark rooms, commonly known as "three rooms and two corridors". The front porch and patio are platform-type, and the roofs of the back hall and bedroom are simple hard hilltops; Outside the two big wooden doors are a pair of low doors (commonly known as doors), about 1.6- 1.8 meters high, with a cross door common in Lingnan in the middle; The rooms on both sides of the porch are corridors, which enter the patio, which faces the hall and enters the bedrooms on both sides from the hall. In the middle of the second floor is an altar dedicated to ancestors. Most of the wood carvings on the altar are exquisite and brilliant. The foyer and patio fluctuate greatly, because they communicate the diversity of upstairs and downstairs, indoor and outdoor, and make up for the lack of single external contour. Thus, it makes sense that Kaiping is called "the hometown of architecture".
After bidding farewell to Chen Bo, the two of us rode motorcycles to Nae Village. As soon as I entered the village, I saw the big banyan tree mentioned in the autobiography of the school and teacher Chen. He said he would go to the big banyan tree next to the school before going to bed after school. His mother thought it was a sacred tree and adopted him as her son, which made his behavior more solemn. There is a stone bench under the tree. People often come to sit and chat at night. Their children also come here. Others go swimming in the river, but they never go.
It was almost noon when we got there. There is no one under the tree, but people can still be seen walking in the village. The layout of the village is just like what Teacher Chen said. There are about ten straight alleys, and each alley has ten or eleven houses. His father got married at the age of 34, and when he earned enough money, he and his fourth uncle, who were also in America, bought half a house for their parents, just half a house.
But when he was three years old, he had his own whole house at the end of the street. His mother lives in one room, his uncle is on the other side, and his grandfather lives in the hall without separation. This is a common way of life. His grandfather's eldest brother also has children, who are allowed to live in the half-house he bought for his grandfather later. This became their ancestral home, which still exists today and is where his uncle's grandchildren live.
Mr. Chen 1979 has returned to his hometown. He said that after he entered the village, he could recognize the overall appearance 40 years ago. All the houses, including more than one hundred brick houses, are still well preserved. It's just that some places have fallen off and need pruning. He finally walked to their house from the alley in the middle of the village. He said he was very impressed. When he was a child, he thought the alley was wide, but now it is so narrow. It is no more than four feet wide, paved with slate, and you can see the soil outdoors. This used to be one of the best villages around here.
At the end of his oral autobiography, Mr. Chen said that at least he wanted to go back to the village, if not more. This is not just a traditional feeling. There are his roots there, and he is full of gratitude for it. He said he was the first person to go to a new school, and he could do something for it. If he didn't go out to school, if his father didn't encourage him to do that, if he didn't insist on going to Guangzhou, he would either remain a poor farmer like most people there or go to the United States, Australia and Southeast Asia to make a living. He felt that he had a special opportunity and was grateful for it. He wants to do something for the village, but all he can do is send some money back and make some contribution to his hometown.
We went to the village to inquire about Mr. Chen's name. No villagers had heard of it, but when it came to teaching in an American university, someone pointed us to an alley. What we found along the road should be his ancestral home. As for his complete house, I haven't found it yet, and it may not exist long ago.
When I entered the room, I saw an old lady, who should be the nephew mentioned in my autobiography. Unfortunately, the old lady is old and communication is not smooth. But I saw a photo of Mr. Chen, which confirmed that this is undoubtedly the descendant of his family.
According to neighbors, the house where the old lady lived was built later, and the two old houses behind the house were Mr. Chen's ancestral houses. There is an iron general in the room, so you can't go in. I want to know what it's like inside. It is said that the house has been rented out, and it is estimated that it will not be much better.
I feel very sad when I see this house. If I don't protect it, it is estimated that it will soon cease to exist. As Mr. Guo pointed out in the preface of Chen Baisha Studies: "Chen Baisha, Liang Qichao, Chen Yuan, Chen Yongji, etc. They are giants in the cultural history of China and even the world, and they all have the value and significance of world cultural heritage. At present, the former residences of Liang Qichao and Chen Yuaner have been renovated and opened, which is conducive to humanistic inheritance and national education. It's a pity that Mr Chen Yongjie is unknown to people in his hometown. It is suggested that leaders and humanities scholars from Jiangmen and Kaiping should inspect Chen Yongjie's hometown as soon as possible, choose a good place, raise funds, and prepare, design and build the Chen Yongjie Memorial Hall. We should have a sense of urgency and send people to the United States as soon as possible to collect Mr. Chen's relics, especially send experts to visit his old friend, Professor Durbeyfield, an old-timer of Columbia University. We should thank the sons of Kaiping and Jiangmen, a great man who devoted his life to China culture and thought. He spread and contributed China's philosophy and Confucianism to North America and even the whole world, especially Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties. He is a master of dialogue among civilizations. "
Although there are many people interested in Mr. Chen in academic circles, it is often impossible to build a memorial hall. At the end of 2009, CUHK held a conference on the introduction of western learning to the east, and then went to Jiangmen for inspection. I originally listed Chen Yongjie's former residence, but later I failed to make it for some reasons.
On March 20 10, I led several scholars from Peking University, Fudan University and Shenzhen University to visit Mr. Chen's former residence, which should be the first time that Chen Yongji's former residence entered the academic field. Later, Mr. Li took scholars at home and abroad to inspect many times and wrote a proposal to Jiangmen city leaders. Unfortunately, there is no news.
Yesterday afternoon, Miss Li wanted to arrange for us to visit Chen Yongjie's former residence again, but due to time constraints, we couldn't make it. In order to relieve everyone's thirst for plum blossoms, I drafted this essay. I hope more people will pay attention to Chen Yongjie's former residence.
2017/11/20 22: 33 Yu Zijunju