Sheng Xuanhuai's first wives, Dong, Shunyi,. In the Qing Dynasty, Dong Shi was a big family in Changzhou, and his father, Dong, was named Rong Chu, who worked as a route provider in Jiangxi. Mrs. Dong married Sheng Xuanhuai in the first year of Tongzhi (1862) and lived with Sheng Xuanhuai for sixteen years. Guangxu four years (1878), she died of illness, only thirty years old. She gave birth to three sons for Sheng Huaixuan: the eldest son Chang Yi, the second son He Yi, the third son Run Yi and three daughters. Mrs. Dong studied in a private school. She can read, write letters and write beautifully. There are many personal letters written by Mrs. Dong to Sheng Xuanhuai in the archives of Sheng Xuanhuai collected by Shanghai Library.
In the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), the Taiping Army occupied Changzhou. In order to escape the war, Sheng Xuanhuai fled to Hubei with his grandparents and younger siblings, and stayed in Hubei Liangdao Yamen, where his father Kang Sheng worked. After Mrs Dong married Sheng Xuanhuai, she also lived in Hubei with the Sheng family. In the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867), Sheng Xuanhuai's grandfather Sheng Long died in Hubei. Sheng Kang resigned and sent Sheng Long's coffin back to his hometown. Mrs Dong and Sheng Xuanhuai also returned to Changzhou's former residence to settle down. Shengjia has two main properties in Changzhou, one in Lane and the other in Qingguo Lane. When Mrs Dong and Sheng Xuanhuai returned to Changzhou, they lived in Zhou Xian Lane, a big house with nine entrances. Mrs. Dong lived in Zhou Xianxiang's former residence all her life.
The house in Zhou Xian Lane has been empty since Mrs Dong died. In April of the second year of Xuantong (19 10), there was a wave of hungry people grabbing rice in Changsha. At that time, Zhuang Youliang, a native of Changzhou, was deposed by the court and returned to his hometown with his family, but he had no room in Changzhou. He wrote to Sheng Xuanhuai and asked him to lend out his vacant former residence in Zhou Xian Lane. Sheng Xuanhuai agreed. After returning to Changzhou, Zhuang lived in Xiang until his death in the sixth year of the Republic of China (19 17).
After Mrs. Dong's death, such as Mrs. Diao, she took up housework. Diao was born in a brothel, young and beautiful, cheerful and straightforward, smart, and deeply loved by Sheng Xuanhuai. They lived together for 15 years, and Sheng Xuanhuai never married a second wife until Diao died in the 15th year of Guangxu (1889).
After Diao's death, Sheng Xuanhuai's father thought that his son must marry a formal wife to take charge of the housework, and urged Sheng Xuanhuai to marry a second wife. So I chose a good girl, the first banker in Changzhou.
The calligrapher is an aristocratic family in Changzhou, which can be summarized as "a scholarly family with a long history". Zhuang Cun, who served as assistant minister of rites for more than 40 years in Qianlong Dynasty, founded Changzhou Modern College of Literature. Zhuang Peiyin is the number one scholar in the 19th year of Qianlong, and also the first cousin of Zhuang Dehua.
In the autumn of the 17th year of Guangxu (189 1), a grand wedding was held for Sheng Xuanhuai, and Miss Zhuang became Sheng Xuanhuai's second wife.
Mrs. Zhuang, whose real name is Dehua, and whose real name is Li Yu (the 16th of the Zhuang family in Piling), was born in Tongzhi for five years (1866), twenty-two years younger than Sheng Xuanhuai. By the time Mrs. Zhuang got married, Sheng Xuanhuai was already a powerful person, serving as a supervisor in large government enterprises such as China Maritime Bureau, China Telegraph Bureau and Daye Iron Mine. Her industry is booming, and she bought a real estate in Shanghai. After Mrs. Zhuang married Sheng Xuanhuai, she lived in Sheng Mansion. She was exposed to many new things and smart, and soon showed her unique characteristics.
Mrs. Zhuang has two characteristics in her life: first, she believes in Buddhism, and second, she is good at managing her family.
The famous Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai was donated by Mrs. Zhuang. In the eighth year of Guangxu (1882), Master Huigen of Putuo Mountain carved five large and small jade Buddha statues in Myanmar and shipped them to Shanghai by sea. Among them, three small jade Buddha statues were transported to Putuo Mountain for worship, and two giant Buddha statues were temporarily placed in Shanghai for Shanghai believers to pay their respects. In the 26th year of Guangxu (1900), Master Huigen was funded by Mrs. Zhuang to build the Jade Buddha Temple next to Jiangwan Railway Station. During the Revolution of 1911, the temple was destroyed, and the jade Buddha was moved from Mrs. Zhuang to Liang Qing Temple in Shengjiajia Temple for worship. After Sheng Xuanhuai's death, Mrs. Zhuang gave up more than 0/0 mu of land on Betel Road (now Anyuan Road) in the public concession to rebuild the Jade Buddha Temple. It took ten years to complete from the seventh year of the Republic of China (19 18), and now it has become a famous temple in Shanghai.
In her husband's pavilion on Jing 'an Temple Road (Nanjing West Road) in Shanghai, Mrs. Zhuang employs more than a dozen tailors and embroiderers all the year round. Her main task is to embroider temples in Shanghai, Suzhou and Changzhou, such as chair covers, tablecloths, curtains, cushions, door curtains and so on. According to the monks of the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai, the embroidery used in the temple is still given by Mrs. Zhuang. According to the records of Tianning Temple in Changzhou, Mrs. Zhuang has donated money to the temple many times, the most important of which is twice. Once in the 22nd year of Guangxu (1896). When the Daxiong Hall of Tianning Temple in Changzhou was rebuilt, Mrs. Zhuang imported from overseas and donated twelve iron pear trees with a diameter of 80 cm and a length of more than 10 meters as pillars at a time. Once I bought a private garden in Changshu and donated it to Tianning Temple as my "next home".
(I hope to adopt it, thank you)