"The Last Champion" appointed by Empress Dowager Cixi
There are many rumors about a middle school student in Liu Chunlin. It is said that it was hand-picked by Empress Dowager Cixi. After the imperial examination, the examiner sorted the selected papers by grade, wrote to Empress Dowager Cixi, and requested to be awarded the title of "King James". Empress Dowager Cixi, who was worried at that time, was preparing to celebrate her 70th birthday, hoping to get some luck from the imperial examination. She read several people's papers first and found that none of them met her wishes. When I saw Liu Chunlin's test paper, the delicate and handsome lowercase letters on the test paper made Cixi's eyebrows spread out. She looked at the word "Liu Chunlin" and nodded frequently. Originally, this year's drought, Cixi associated with the "spring rain", that is, continuous spring rain, while Liu Chunlin's native Suning felt that this place name met her desire for peace and tranquility, so she named Liu Chunlin the "No.1 scholar".
After winning the first prize, Liu Chunlin was sent to Tokyo Star University for further study. After Guangxu returned to China in 33 years, he served as a member of the Advisory Board, promoted by Zhili School of Political Science and Law, and supervised by Beiyang Normal School. 1927, resigned from public office and stayed at home. He lived in Shanghai first, and then moved to Beiping. His address is Xizhiyi Hutong south of Xinhua Street in Xicheng District. After his resignation, he kept company with poetry, painting and calligraphy all day. Although he lives in seclusion, he cares about the future of the country.
From the September 18th Incident of 193 1 to the July 7th Incident of 1937, the Japanese imperialist crazy aggression against China escalated gradually. Under the dark rule of the Japanese Puppet, many people with lofty ideals are indomitable and indomitable, showing the indomitable national integrity of the Japanese people, and Liu Chunlin, the champion in the late Qing Dynasty, is one of them. Japanese traitors repeatedly invited Liu Chunlin to work for the Japanese puppet government, but he refused and angrily condemned them.
Refused to be the "Minister of Education" of the Puppet Manchukuo
After the September 18th Incident, Japan occupied three northeastern provinces. The following year, they supported Emperor Puyi as a puppet and established the Puppet Manchukuo. The capital is located in Changchun. In order to recruit talents, Puyi not only recruited a group of old people and young people in the late Qing Dynasty, but also wanted some influential people to work for him. 1March, 935, Zheng, the Prime Minister of the Puppet Manchukuo, led a delegation to look for it. They came to Beiping with the imperial edict signed by Puyi, and brought many northeast specialties as a meeting gift, hoping to hire the 63-year-old "last champion" as the "Minister of Education" of the Puppet Manchukuo. After getting off at Zhengyangmen East Railway Station, they got on a bus and went straight to the Liu Chunlin Tower in Xizhimen Hutong, west of the city. I sent it to the northeast specialty first, then explained my purpose, took out the "imperial edict" signed by Puyi and gave it to Liu Chunlin. Liu Chunlin looked him in the eye and said, "I am old and weak, so it is difficult for me to be qualified for the position of' Minister of Education'. You should hire another smart person! "
The two returned to Changchun dejectedly, told Zheng truthfully, and politely declined the hospitality. Zheng was very angry and scolded the two men.
A month later, I will personally visit Zheng. However, after arriving in Beiping from Changchun, he did not rush to Liu Chunlin, but first visited some old friends in Liu Chunlin to learn about Liu Chunlin's character, personality and hobbies. One of them said that Liu Zhuangyuan likes tea and water, especially Lao Zhang's one-yuan tea. So Zheng went to the teahouse outside the front gate of Dashilan, bought a few pounds of good tea, and then went to Xizhiyi Hutong for a walk.
Zheng He and Zheng are both famous calligraphers, but he is twelve years older than Liu, so he is called a "good brother". After the meeting, Zheng didn't invite him to his post again, but talked about the art of calligraphy, from four masters in Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties to four masters. Liu Chunlin just agreed, but he knew his real purpose. Zheng suddenly said, "My dear brother, you are the top scholar appointed by Empress Dowager Cixi, Lafayette. Manchukuo was still ruled by the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Kant loves you more. I will send you to Manchukuo to hold an important position. Can you live up to your high hopes? " Hearing this, Liu Chunlin righteously said, "Now you are not a king, nor a minister. You can ruin my reputation! " After that, he opened the door and threw Zheng Duan's tea into his hand. Seeing Zheng's resolute attitude, he left sadly.
Refused to write a plaque for a Japanese shop
Shortly after the July 7th Incident, the Japanese army occupied Beijing. With the deepening of military aggression and the gradual advancement of economic aggression, many shops selling Japanese goods have appeared on the streets of Beijing, some of which are Japanese goods and some are Japanese goods.
The plaque is a gold-lettered signboard in the shop, and its inscriptions are mostly written by celebrities or famous calligraphers. Therefore, some Japanese businessmen also use the name of old Beijing, and ask famous calligraphers to write plaques for their shops, so as to increase the brilliance of the shops.
Liu Chunlin is a famous calligrapher in modern times. His regular script enjoys a high reputation in Beijing, and once had the reputation of "regular script is the best in the world, and it was learned later". His regular script is delicate, straight, sparse, square, round, firm and soft, and his pen is elegant, smooth, steady and simple, which is necessary. Mo Bao, such as bookboards, book fans, book couplets, book tablets, book flags, etc. Deeply favored by scholars.
A Japanese named Kato opened a Fuji dealer in Bamiancao Street, specializing in selling bicycles made in Japan. He heard that Liu Chunlin, the last scholar, had good handwriting, so he went to Liu Chunlin Palace and asked him to write a plaque. Liu Chunlin refused, so he ordered Fu Jian to leave the city.
But this guy didn't give up, thinking that Liu Chunlin didn't want to write because he didn't have enough money, so he came to you three days later and brought four gold bars. He said to Liu Chunlin, "As long as you write an inscription for the store, I will pay a gold bar for every word. What do you think of Liu Jun? " Liu Chunlin, "don't say gold bars, just a word and a golden mountain. I won't sign it. You might as well ask another wise man! " Kato was conquered by Liu Chunlin's indomitable spirit and left in vain.
A few days later, another Japanese businessman came to Liu Chunlin. This man is about forty years old, not tall, with a chubby face and a pinch of "Hu". As soon as he entered Liu Chunlin's living room, he announced his name in fluent Chinese. It turned out that he was Ichiro Matsumoto, the Japanese owner of the "East Asia Building" restaurant near Xisipaifang Road. He invited Liu Chunlin to write a plaque. He is an "expert on China" and knows China culture and etiquette very well, so before coming to Liulichang, he went to a famous "Southern Paper Shop" and bought a set of exquisite "Four Treasures of the Study" as a gift. When Liu Chunlin heard that he was Japanese, he also came to chat. I invited him out without saying anything.
Refuse to be the "mayor" of pseudo-Peiping.
After the July 7th Incident, Beiping established the Japanese puppet regime, and wanted to find some celebrities to support Taiwan Province, including the last champion Liu Chunlin. They sent people to force Liu Chunlin to become an official of the puppet Ministry of Education several times, but Liu Chunlin pretended to be ill in bed and cleverly avoided the threat of the Japanese puppet government.
1940 in March, the "Provisional Government of the Republic of China" was renamed as "North China Administrative Committee". In June of the same year, Wang, a kindred spirit, was appointed as the chairman and was supervised by the internal affairs bureau. He thinks he has a friendship with Liu Chunlin. He is a scholar in the same subject and went to Japan to study together. He has always been on good terms. He thinks that if Liu Chunlin is appointed as the pseudo mayor of Beiping, he can not only help himself, but also get a good job in front of the Japanese.
One day, Wang wore a suit and tie, a Japanese military cap and an expensive gift to travel. I was very dissatisfied to see Wang wearing a Japanese military hat and covered in slaves. Because Wang assumed a sanctimonious posture, he had already heard about it. After the host and guest took their seats, they bowed bluntly and said, "My brother's character and talent are ten times stronger than mine. I hope my brother can defend government affairs for me. My brother feels very lucky! This Beiping' mayor' is none other than my good friend! " But before he finished, Liu Chunlin suddenly stood up from the cane chair, threw a cup of tea on the ground and roared, "I will never rely on foreign invaders." Being a traitor will come to no good end. Please don't talk! "The king said, had to excused himself.
The condemned and reprimanded king was angry with embarrassment. The next day, he sent troops to Liu Chunlin's home, robbed all the furniture, robbed his calligraphy and painting treasures collected for many years, and drove his family out of the house. Liu Chunlin said angrily, "Better be a beggar than a traitor!" Later, under the pressure of strong public opinion, Wang was allowed to return to China, and was allowed to redeem his paintings and calligraphy with heavy money, and returned the stolen property.
1942 65438+ 10 18, Liu Chunlin died of heart disease in Beijing at the age of 70 and was buried in Lugang village, the western suburb of Baoding, Hebei province. His epitaph reads: "Living in seclusion in the mountains, worrying about the country and the people". Praise the fate of gangs and heroes. People held a grand funeral for him and mourners flocked to him. Many celebrities sent elegiac couplets and eulogies, including two gold plaques with black background, which read "No.1 scholar" and "Chinese backbone" respectively.