On September 19, 1962, Stuart Layden, an "old friend" of Chinese, died of a heart attack in Washington at the age of eighty-six. Before his death, he made a will: "... My body was cremated and my ashes buried at Yenching University in Beiping... If this is not possible, the decision on where the ashes are buried is up to my friend Philip and his wife. ”
Traditionally, Christians have refused to be cremated, but in order to be buried on the other side of the ocean in China, Stuart Redden was willing to be reduced to a bouquet of ashes. What is the origin of this "Philip Fu" mentioned in the will?
The origin of "Situ"
In the 19th century, Hangzhou was one of the most influential cities in China for Christianity. In 1869, an American missionary came here, his name was John Linton Stewart. In order to quickly learn Chinese and integrate into the lives of the lower classes, Linton rented a large tobacco house for 3 years. Due to the lack of soil and water, malnutrition, and tireless missionary work, Linton finally fell ill and had to return to China for recuperation.
While in the United States, he met a like-minded girl, and after the two married, they returned to China and built a small two-story building in the alley next to Hangzhou's West Lake. In 1876, the couple had a love affair, and the eldest son, John Redden Stewart, was born. Because he grew up in China, Redden gave himself a rather Chinese surname "Situ" according to the harmonic sound of "Stewart". The name "Stuart Redden" has accompanied him throughout his life ever since.
In this small lane, parents built churches, opened schools, and gathered a large number of missionaries to settle here. Over time, the locals called this place "Jesus Lane", and the original name was forgotten. Stuart's three younger brothers were also born here, they went to school and played with Chinese children, "the fireworks of the Spring Festival, the lanterns of the Lantern Festival, and the food on the shore of the West Lake", all kinds of memories, constitute a beautiful childhood that they will never miss.
In 1887, Stuart And his brothers were sent back to the United States by their parents for a better education. When they first arrived in the United States, they ate with chopsticks, sang praises with Chinese, and even wore Chinese costumes, which made them "ignorant" of the language and culture of the motherland. Everywhere he went, they were seen as "offbeat" until years later that he felt like he had finally become "a normal American boy." ”
Return to China
In 1904, the Boxer Rebellion had just subsided after burning churches and killing foreigners. In this year, Stuart Layden completed his studies at Concordia Theological Seminary, and out of enthusiasm for religious causes and nostalgia for China, he resolutely gave up the good life in the United States and returned to his "hometown" Hangzhou with his newlywed wife, Irene, to engage in missionary work with his parents.
Stuart Layden was different from other missionaries in that in order to convert Chinese to Christianity, missionaries should first understand China's national conditions, study Chinese culture, and combine the Christian spirit with China's traditional ethics, rather than brutally and rudely incite them to abandon the worship of their ancestors, otherwise it would be counterproductive and the consequences would be unimaginable.
During his three years of missionary work in Hangzhou, he spoke fluent Hangzhou dialect and traveled throughout the countryside. In the decades that followed, with his outstanding language talent, he not only learned Mandarin, but also spoke fluent Shanghainese and Nanjing dialect, but no matter what he said, his mouth always had a Hangzhou flavor. Stuart Leiden was proud of this, and he felt that Hangzhou dialect had a rhythmic beauty that no other dialect could match.
Born in Hangzhou, grew up in Hangzhou, Stuart Leiden's favorite food is also in Hangzhou. Renhe Road's ZhiweiGuan, Hefang Street's Wang Runxing Restaurant, he is a regular customer there, ordering a dish that is called a tunnel: "Pieces should be thin, fat stomach; Mulang tofu put more pepper, to burn into the taste; ring the bell to boil a little." The so-called "piece" refers to pork belly, "Mulang tofu" is fish head tofu, and "boiling a little" means fast. Not a local foodie in Hangzhou, I don't know these doorways at all, and I don't have experienced guys who can't understand these requirements.
In 1913, after the death of his father, Stuart Leiden accepted the invitation of Jinling Theological Seminary and went to Nanjing to teach as a professor of Greek for 11 years, and bid farewell to the hometown of Hangzhou.
Receiving a favor from others, a lifetime of retribution
In 1918, Stuart Leiden was ordered to found Yenching University in Peiping and personally served as its president. Not long after, an 18-year-old young man dropped out of Peking University and transferred to Yenching University to study politics, and he was the "Philip Fu" mentioned in his will - Fu Jingbo.
Fu Jingbo was a Manchu Zhenghongqi man, his grandfather had made meritorious contributions in the battle to encircle and suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and was named a Zhenguo Duke by the Qing government and a great general, and the name "Jingbo" was to commemorate his grandfather's many years as an official in Gansu, which means "Jingshui is magnificent". Although his father, Fu Ruiqing, was only a minor official of the Five Pins, he often walked in the palace, so he also saw Empress Dowager Cixi when he was a child.
In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, when the country's power was weakening, Fu Ruiqing was determined to restore the new and encouraged his children to accept new schools. In 1917, Fu Jingbo followed his father to the Tianjin Youth Association, listened to the "theory of rejuvenating the country through education" expounded by Situ Leiden, and his heart was greatly shaken, and he became his loyal "fan" from then on. A year later, when he heard that Situ Leiden had founded Yenching University in Beiping, Fu Jingbo immediately transferred from Peking University to Yanda University.
During his studies in Yanjing, Fu Jingbo was unfortunately infected with lung disease, and Stuart Leiden and his wife often came to visit and carried butter, milk and other nutritional products, and Fu Jingbo was able to recover quickly and continue his studies. In his spare time, Situ's mother, Mary, taught him English until his graduation in 1924. The Fu family was grateful for the Situ family's care for the children, and often warned Fu Jingbo to "not forget the dripping water grace", and the two families have been in close contact since then, like a family.
After graduation, Fu Jingbo, with his fluent English and strong activity ability, worked as a consultant in several provincial governments and met many political celebrities. In order to repay Situ Leiden, he introduced Han Fuqu, Yan Xishan and other political tycoons and business rich people to Situ Leiden, raised funds for Yanda, and volunteered to serve as Situ Leiden's secretary and handle his personal affairs.
Appointed Ambassador to China
With Fu Jingbo's help, Stuart Laiden established regular contacts with people from all walks of life in China and directly involved various political issues in China. For example, in 1933, when Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi of the Gui clan joined forces with Chen Jitang of Guangdong Province to launch an anti-Chiang Kai-shek campaign, Situ Leiden twice acted as a lobbyist, having a long night's talk with Li Zongren, and at the same time persuading Chiang Kai-shek to personally meet With Li and Bai in order to break up the anti-Chiang alliance.
On the issue of Japanese aggression, Stuart Laidon's attitude was relatively resolute, always stressing that "only strong force can stop Japan's aggression" and calling on the British and American governments to support China. After the September 18 Incident, Stuart Not only praised the patriotic actions of the Yanjing students, but also personally held demonstrations with the students and provided shelter for more than 20 exiled students in northeast China.
After the July 7 Incident, although Yanda stayed in Beiping, Situ Leiden always refused to cooperate with the puppet government in North China, and used various relations and channels to escort anti-Japanese students to Hong Kong and other places. At the same time, he and Fu Jingbo took advantage of the opportunity of attending the meeting in Hong Kong every year, went to Hankou and Chongqing to meet with Chiang Kai-shek, and others, and delivered letters to the members of the Japanese main peace faction and held informal talks with the Nationalist Government.
These activities of Stuart Redden attracted the attention of the Japanese army in North China. On December 7, 1941, the day of the pearl harbor attack, Stuart Leiden returned to Beiping by train from Tianjin, where he was arrested by the Japanese army at the railway station and imprisoned for three years and eight months. He was originally strong and strong, but after three years of imprisonment and mental torture, his health was much worse than before, and he returned to the United States for recuperation after Japan's surrender.
Soon after the victory of the War of Resistance, the Kuomintang-Communist Civil War broke out. In 1946, President Truman sent his envoy, Marshall, to mediate, which ultimately failed. In March of that year, Fu Jingbo accompanied Stuart Leiden to Shanghai from the United States, and went to Nanjing to meet Chiang Kai-shek nearby, and became acquainted with Marshall. As soon as the two men saw each other, Marshall said to Stuart, "You are a "China communicator," and if I fail to mediate the peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Republic, this matter will be entrusted to you. ”
Stuart Leiden said that he only understood education and did not understand politics. A week later, President Truman's order came down and he was appointed ambassador to China. He had been struggling in his heart for a long time, and when he thought about it, the Kuomintang and the Communists had their own students on both sides, and many of them were in high positions, so it would be a beautiful thing to try to mediate peace talks.
However, to serve as U.S. ambassador to China, he must meet one of his requirements, that is, the task is heavy and Fu Jingbo must serve as an assistant. After Marshall asked for instructions from home and received permission, Fu Jingbo, an ordinary Chinese citizen, lived in the US Embassy under the name of "the ambassador's personal adviser". Because of this relationship, Chiang Kai-shek was particularly kind to him, and Soong Mei-ling always affectionately called him Philip.
Buried in China
In August 1949, with the fall of the Nationalist government, Stuart Layden, as a scapegoat for U.S. policy toward China, offended both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and had to leave China in disgrace. Due to the restrictions of the US government, Stuart Layden could not contact the outside world at will, and was depressed all day, unfortunately stroked, and fell into a half-body failure. He had no relatives in the United States, and his son's income was poor and he could not afford to take care of his father, so after Stuart Redden fell ill, thanks to the care of Fu Jingbo's family.
Situ Leiden returned to China, and Fu Jingbo's family also went to the United States, and they took good care of Situ Leiden's life like their father. After a period of recuperation, Situ's right hand can write, eat, and walk in the courtyard on crutches. After living in China for most of his life, he was not accustomed to American food, so Fu Jingbo's wife tried to make him as much Chinese food as possible.
In the eyes of many people, Stuart Leiden is the president of Yanda University and the ambassador to China, and must live a life of high society. But in fact, Stuart Layden focused on education all his life, had no savings at all, and lived a difficult life, and even had the feeling that "every time I see beggars, I feel that I belong to their category".
Therefore, Fu Jingbo gave him an idea not to resign as ambassador to China for the time being, mainly for two reasons: One is that he is worried that the US government will choose another person and cause trouble to Sino-US relations; second, he can enjoy the treatment of ambassador without resigning, and he will have a salary of more than one thousand US dollars per month. At the end of 1952, under pressure from the U.S. government, Stuart layden resigned, lost all sources of income, and had to live on the support of a charity.
In September 1962, Stuart Layden died of illness. Before his death, he gave all the books and documents to Fu Jingbo, and asked Fu Jingbo to bury his ashes on the campus of Yanda University, accompanied by his wife Irene. However, due to many reasons such as history and reality, this wish has not been realized, and the ashes have been preserved in Fu Jingbo's home.
In 1972, President Nixon visited China, and China and the United States laughed and hated each other. The following year, Fu Jingbo was invited to return to Yenching University, and he took the opportunity to mention the old president's will. However, the old enemy became a new friend, but the crime was not easy to wash away, and Yenching University refused his request. Twelve years later, when Fu Jingbo visited Beijing, he made another request, but was not answered.
Since then, Peking University has twice expressed its willingness to bury Stuart Redden's ashes, but this matter has been delayed due to the opposition of some alumni and the bombing of the Yugoslav embassy. It was not until 2008, with the joint efforts of people from all walks of life in China and the United States, that Stuart's ashes were finally buried in China. However, the cemetery is not in Beijing, but in his birthplace, Hangzhou Banshan Anxian Garden. The tombstone is inscribed with only one line: "Stuart Leiden, 1876-1962, the first president of Yenching University." ”