1944- 1945 When the US military completely destroyed Japan by carpet bombing, Mr. Liang Sicheng called on the United States not to bomb Nara and Kyoto, which have a large number of ancient Japanese architectural and artistic treasures. Results At the end of World War II, the US military dropped bombs and incendiary bombs in many cities in Japan 1 10, and Nara and Kyoto survived.
In order to protect the Japanese classical culture as a part of the world cultural heritage, Liang Sicheng transcended the narrow racial concept and revenge mentality, which has made Nara people feel something so far. Just as they did not forget that Du Dong, Jian Zhen brought them the highest level of culture in the world at that time, in order to protect Mr. Liang Sicheng of Nara City, Nara specially chose to erect a statue for Mr. Liang on the occasion of the anniversary of 1300.
Liang Sicheng took the map to see the American commander.
Jian Zhen monk who made great contributions to Sino-Japanese friendship, about 19 10 years after Nara's death, a Japanese teenager came to Nara with his father Liang Qichao and wandered among various monasteries. He is Liang Sicheng.
Liang Sicheng wrote in 1963, "Tang Zhao Style Palace and China Tang Dynasty Architecture": "When I was meditating, a childhood memory suddenly appeared in front of my eyes, probably in the late Meiji period or the early Taisho period. I accompanied my parents to visit Nara and met a Buddhist temple to rebuild the main hall. My parents once asked me to write my name on a tile under construction with a round of incense. More than half a century has passed, and my childhood thoughts are still in that tile-like Japan. I don't know if I have been to Zhao Ti Temple in the Tang Dynasty, but today when I wrote down my memory of Jian Zhen, I seem to have returned to my childhood and Nara. "
Later, Liang Sicheng wrote in the June issue of People's China 1964: "I can't help being immersed in the mood of returning to Japan. My nostalgia for Japan is like that tile, and it is inseparable from the land born in Japan. "
The memory of childhood in Japan has always remained in Liang Sicheng's mind. When he grew up, Liang Sicheng studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and later returned to China to investigate and protect ancient buildings, which deepened his treasure of ancient buildings and ancient culture.
Talking about Liang Sicheng's origin with Japan, Luo, a student of Liang Sicheng and honorary president of China Cultural Relics Society, told this reporter: "After returning from the United States, Mr. Liang became a member of China Architectural Society. China Architectural Society has kept close contact with a group of Japanese scholars for a long time. Scholars often mentioned by Mr. Listening include Araki Jiji, Kazuo Matsuzaki, Shigeo Hashikawa and others. In addition, some Japanese scholars and architectural societies initiated the establishment of the Guwa Research Association, among which scholars include Nozhen, Itochushi, Tomita and others. "
Mr. Luo joined the Architectural Society on 1940. He still remembers that although Japan's war of aggression against China was in full swing at that time, Liang Sicheng let Luo know about the protection of Japanese ancient buildings. "The articles published in the Journal of China Architectural Society are the materials I often study and learn." Mr. Luo Wenzhe recalled.
It is particularly worth mentioning that in the brutal World War II, Liang Sicheng and his family were almost killed by the Japanese army. Liang Sicheng was killed by a Japanese bomber on his way out of Beiping. His younger brother, Liang Sizhong, was an artillery officer of the 19th Route Army, and he died in the "Battle of Songhu" with the Japanese army. My brother-in-law, Lin Heng, was a pilot and died in an air battle to defend Chengdu. However, in spite of this, in 1944, when the allied forces were ready to start carpet bombing of Japan, Liang Sicheng, then the deputy director of Chongqing's "War Zone Cultural Relics Protection Committee", put forward the requirement of not bombing Nara and Kyoto from the perspective of protecting world culture, regardless of personal grievances.
According to Mr. Luo's memory, Liang Sicheng took a map to see the commander of the US military. "Nara and Kyoto were clearly marked on the map of Japan," Luo recalled.
Koichi Kotani, a reporter from Japan's Asahi Shimbun, also gave a detailed interview on this history, which was published in the newspaper on July 2, 20 10.
Gu Gu interviewed Professor Su Bai from Peking University. The latter recalled that 1947 or 1948 had listened to Mr. Liang's lecture when he was teaching at Peking University. "Liang Sicheng mentioned this during recess." Gu Gu also interviewed Liang's second wife, Zhu Lin. Zhu Lin also said that he heard about it directly from Liang Sicheng.
Gu Gu wrote in the article that although it is difficult to conclude that the reason why Nara and Kyoto did not suffer carpet bombing lies in Liang Sicheng's suggestion, his suggestion is of great significance to China and Japan. He quoted Luo as saying: "Liang Sicheng has made great efforts to protect cultural relics from war. The object of protection is not only domestic cultural relics, but also enemy cultural relics, which is of great significance to Sino-Japanese friendship. "
Hirayama ikuo, president of the Japan-China Friendship Association, advocated a statue.
Luo, who inherited Liang Sicheng's cultural relics protection work, visited Japan on June 5438+065438+ 10, 2007, and met with hirayama ikuo, president of the Japan-China Friendship Association. In the meantime, President Hirayama talked about Mr. Liang's achievements in protecting ancient buildings and proposed to erect a bronze statue for him in Nara.
"I am very grateful after listening to it. We haven't made a bronze statue of Mr. Liang in China, but the Japanese side took the initiative to put forward this idea, and Mr. Hirayama particularly actively promoted this matter. " Luo said to.
"In 2009, we went to Yangle Temple in Nara to hold a seminar in memory of Liang Sicheng. At the beginning, Mr. Hirayama was prepared to attend. Later, his body really couldn't support it, so he personally wrote a speech for the seminar on his deathbed. " Luo said to.
Hirayama wrote a long handwritten speech, one of which wrote: "Nara, the ancient capital, was listed as a world heritage by UNESCO, and the biggest crisis it experienced was war. It is said that Nara and Kyoto were the targets of American bombing. Nara was protected in the crisis because of Mr. Liang Sicheng's noble sentiment and just behavior of transcending national boundaries and protecting precious cultural relics and historic sites. Liang Sicheng is a great architect. However, he believes that the cultural relics and monuments in Nara are the common heritage of all mankind who protected our ancient capital during the war. "
Zhu Wenyi, dean of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, told the reporter that after the news of the bronze statue of Liang Sicheng in Nara came, "Tsinghua University took the lead in setting up a bronze statue design team, with Mr. Luo and Mr. (another disciple of Liang Sicheng) as consultants, and I served as the team leader, working closely with Mr. Hou Jianqun and Mr. Wang Hui, especially the sculptors and Mr. Wang, to promote the design of the bronze statue of Liang Sicheng."
20 10 On April 24th, the bronze statue of Liang Sicheng was officially unveiled in the auditorium of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to prepare for going to Nara.
Before the bust of Liang Sicheng was unveiled in Nara at the end of June, 5438+10/October, "Jian Zhen's sitting portrait will also be exhibited in Shanghai, and then he will return to his hometown in Yangzhou from October 26th to February 7th, 65438+February 7th, and be exhibited in Jian Zhen Library", Wang Yuxin, vice mayor of Yangzhou, told reporters.
However, the statue of Jian Zhen, who returned to China this time, is not the most famous statue in the Tang Zhao Temple in Nara. According to the Yangzhou Municipal Bureau of Religious Affairs, the wooden statue of Jian Zhen, a monk in the Thousand Hands Hall of Tanjie Temple in Tuduo Temple in Nara, was returned to Yangzhou and was built in 1733 (Japan enjoyed insurance in 18). It is also an important national cultural relic in Japan.
"Let Master Jian Zhen go back to his hometown to see the changes in the reform and opening up for more than 30 years. By revisiting the deeds of Liu Dudong in Jian Zhen, Yangzhou citizens can broaden their horizons and do more work in cultural exchanges." Wang Yuxin said.