There used to be a gathering of scholars
Although this old house was named after Ji Xiaolan's former residence, the original owner was not Ji, but Sun Yuezhongqi, a powerful minister and the 21st generation of Yue Fei during Yongzheng period. But it is a generation of famous minister Ji Xiaolan who bid farewell to obscurity for my old house. One of his Notes on Yuewei Caotang was praised by Lu Xun as "graceful and elegant, full of natural interest", which established the fame and status of this old house today. Ji Xiaolan lived in this house for more than 6 years until his death in 185. Later, because there was still a house in Zhuchao Street, his descendants "cut the house half-leased" to Huang Antao, and since then it has changed owners repeatedly. In 193s, it was the secret contact point of Hebei Provincial Committee of China and the place where funds were transferred-Liu Mansion. After that, Fu Liancheng, a famous Peking Opera class, camped here. On October 1, 1958, Jinyang Restaurant opened here, and there has been no change since then. In October 21, the restoration project of the former site of Yuewei Caotang started, and on November 3, 22, the newly restored former residence of Ji Xiaolan was officially opened to the public. The plaque hanging on the door today was inscribed by Mr. Ji Qingyuan, the sixth generation descendant of Ji Xiaolan.
There are several great writers who have a great relationship with Ji Xiaolan's former residence, such as Lao She, Cao Yu, Cang Kejia, Zhang Zhongxing, etc. They may have celebrated their birthdays here, composed poems, or enjoyed the beautiful scenery and tasted delicious food. Lao She left the poem "How can the hump bear's paw boast, the cat's ears pluck at the fish, four fragrant springs, and ten wisteria flowers in front of the court?" However, the former residence of Ji Xiaolan, which Lao She and other scholars are familiar with, is not the same as this one. It is a hard-hilltop building with an inverted "convex" shape, with three rooms in the front and five rooms in the back and two rooms in the front. The first three rooms are foyer in the middle, the left and right rooms are separated by partitions as "ear rooms", and the last five rooms are "thatched cottages", with east-west communication and two rooms in the depth. The west wing has been demolished, and the east wing has been transformed into a "modern" hotel. There are only two halls and one garden in the former residence, which is less than 1/3 of the original area. Even if Mr. Lao She returns to his hometown, I am afraid it will be unrecognizable.
Nowadays, tourists are like weaving
The afternoon when they came to Ji Xiaolan's former residence, it was chilly in spring, but from a distance, the reporter had already seen the crowds in front of the former residence. When I got closer, it turned out that the tour guide was explaining the wisteria tree standing on the street. I saw that its branches were crooked and its bark was gray. Obviously, it had not recovered from the winter cold. It is said that this wisteria tree was planted by Ji Xiaolan himself. It used to be in the boudoir of two courtyards, but now it is forced to be exposed on the street because the house in front has been demolished. But don't look at it, it will be flourishing and fragrant in summer.
when I stepped on the veranda and entered the courtyard facing north and south, I saw carved beams and painted buildings, red, oily and green paint, all of which were bright and dazzling. At the southern end of the yard is the main hall. Facing the door in the hall is the portrait of Ji Xiaolan, who is tall and tall, with a long beard and a clear face. All kinds of information about the owner of the house are displayed around, and there is even a souvenir sales point. Interestingly, almost every tourist will make all kinds of surprised reactions to the portrait, and it seems that they don't want to believe that this is the charming university student Ji in their mind.
The yard is very small, with a total area of less than 2 square meters. The four corners are decorated with lawns. Just west of the yard, there is a big fish tank with a green face and a red edge. In the northeast corner, there are two begonia trees planted by Ji Xiaolan. Originally, one was cut down in the 196s. Now, the rest of this plant has also been cut off in half, sitting alone in the pocket yard silently commemorating the sad story that Ji Xiaolan fell in love with her maid Wenluan when she was a teenager, but she could not become a household.
At the northern end of the courtyard is the famous Yuewei Caotang. Opposite the gate in the hall is a sculpture of Ji Xiaolan, with antique study furniture on display at the back, but they are all antique objects to create an atmosphere. When I was about to admire the spacious thatched cottage, an old man who claimed to be a scholar of ancient architecture suddenly said, "This room has been rebuilt, and it could not have been so big. For one thing, Ji Xiaolan is just a minister, and he is not qualified to have a house of this specification; for another, it is just a study, so it is impossible to build it so big. It is very likely that the original porch was sealed and made part of the house. " However, the enthusiastic tourists obviously didn't care, so they flocked around the sculptures and furnishings and commented enthusiastically.
This afternoon, the reporter stayed in his former residence for more than two hours, during which the old residence received nearly 1 tourists, which was just the "off-season" as the doorman said.