正牌國母盧慕貞悲歌!! (Dr. Sun Yet-Sen’s first wife; one of our great grand aunts.)
English version click here for Chinese Version
Translated by Winston Li
Lu Muzhen: The Real First Mother of the Chinese Republic – Her Tearful Story!!
If the following article were set to a song in the American South, it would undoubtedly be in the musical style called the “Blues”. It surely would be called “The Real Mother of the Chinese Republic Blues”, because the life of our heroine, Mrs. Sun, was one of a poignant, heart breaking story ideally suited for the singing of the mournful blues!
Previous belief: Mother of the Republic had always and forever been Song Qingling? Or could it be Chen Cuifen, Dr. Sun’s beautiful, romantic, revolutionary companion?
But, wait… Long written off and forgotten in history there was someone else. She was Dr. Sun’s first wife, Lu Muzhen, the one who was faceless and voiceless, the one who was, in fact, “The real, original Mother of the Republic”…
It was, after all, the unwritten law of the old feudal society. What could one do but to obey parents’ order and follow the advice of a marriage broker? So, in the shadow of the ceremonial candlelight after the wedding, nineteen-year-old Sun Yat-sen was watching Lu Muzhen, his eighteen-year-old bride.
If truth be told, with ordinary looks, dark complexion, of short, petite stature and a tendency to keep solemnly within herself, Lu truthfully had little appeal to Sun. Be that as it may, what Sun found to be totally offensive and wholly unacceptable were her “bound feet” wound ever so tightly in white cloth at all times. His heart would tell him there was no way that she could become his indefatigable, revolutionary companion to accomplish daring feats running from here to the end of the horizon.
In May of 1884, after his wedding ceremony as arranged by his parents, the young groom decided to leave home to further his education. His life with the new bride, Lu Muzhen, would continue for the next thirty years less with reunion and more with separation.
On this, not much could be or should be said, as this was the accepted fate of a young girl in the old feudal society. It would never have occurred to Lu to complain or even harbor bitterness. Whenever her husband came home, she would quietly and obediently sew him a new outfit, packed his new clothes into a suitcase and leaned on the front door watching him take leave on yet another journey until she could see his shadows no longer.
It is said a man can never suppress his feelings. Sun Yat-sen was no exception. Yes, he found life under the old feudal society to be unbearable. Still he was deeply moved each time he saw his young wife faithfully take care of his dying father. She personally prepared his herbal medicine and made sure he was thoroughly cleaned up and well taken care of. Sun was deeply moved.
In the seventh year of their marriage, their eldest son, Sun Ke, was born. The next year, Sun, with his medical degree from the University of Hong Kong, embarked on his medical career in Guangzhou. His practice brought the family a measure of prosperity and peace, and a respite, however brief, of good fortune. In 1894 their eldest daughter was born. Their second daughter arrived the next year.
So what the heck happened? Lu Muzhen could not understand why Dr. Sun forsook his thriving medical career, as he again returned his wife and family to his ancestral village (Cuiheng near Zhongshan in Guangdong province).
In October of 1895, the first of many coups that Sun plotted was a failure. He had to flee Guangzhou quickly by boat at night, thereby failing to provide safety to his wife and mother. The two women were helpless – where could they hide?
Meanwhile, Qing soldiers were approaching their village…but wait… the soldiers were marching right through the village. They did not stop until 60 miles away!
This did not happen by accident. A fellow revolutionary, Lu Hao Dong (dubbed the first “revolutionary martyr” of the Republic of China), saved the lives of Sun’s family. Upon capture, Lu Hao Dong was severely tortured to reveal Sun’s where about. Yet, out of loyalty and friendship, he deliberately misled the soldiers. Instead of Cuiheng Village, he told them to go to Cuimei Village.
The Qing soldiers searched in vain for the Sun family until, finally, they were able to determine that a Sun family lived in the north. The exhausted soldiers then marched back toward Cuiheng again.
Hey, the soldiers were coming back? Poor Lu Muzhen, the short woman with the bound feet who just wanted to be a good wife…clearly she was living in a time beyond her understanding. Neighbors said if only she had money as money could tempt even the devils. So Lu Muzhen begged and borrowed some taels of silver (note: a tael is approximately 1.2 troy ounce) and handed them over to the corrupt soldiers who reported back to headquarters that no Sun family could be found.
After eluding such a life-threatening episode, Lu dared not gamble with her family’s life again. With her mother-in-law and four year old son, Sun Ke, in tow, holding her one year old daughter in her arms and her noticeable bump in her tummy (pregnant with her second daughter), she arrived in Honolulu with her eldest sister-in-law. From then on, they relied on the help of Sun’s eldest brother, Sun Mei, who had first established himself as a laborer and, later, as a prosperous merchant. Lu then began her task of bringing up her three children and her Por-Por, i.e. Dr. Sun’s mother who was already over 70 years old.
And thus life took its course for the next sixteen years.
The revolution finally became a success!
In the Nation’s capital of Nanjing, Dr. Sun sent for his wife and family. His family overnight became the First Family of the Chinese Republic, and Lu Muzhen the first to be called The First Wife of the young nation.
However, this clearly was not the life for Lu after all. She grew increasingly uncomfortable in her new role. After some twenty odd days in Nanjing, on March 25 of 1912, she left her two young daughters by Dr. Sun’s side and went home by her lonesome self, back to the old village of Cuiheng where her turbulent life had started.
Her husband’s world was no longer one which Lu could comprehend or in which she could participate. That much she understood. Her husband’s life and career had become so vast and important that he absolutely needed a much more capable companion at his side…this she also knew perfectly.
She, therefore, wrote to her good friend, He Xiangning (wife of Liao Zhongkai, an important charter member of early Kuomintang and Communist parties…herself a revolutionist and famous Chinese feminist) a personal letter in which she revealed that she understood the complexity of the family situation. Therefore, would she, He Xiangning, please relate her concerns and message to Dr. Sun that when he finally met the “chosen” one, she of the First Wife would be agreeable to accepting this concubine!
For a long time after this letter was mailed, there was no news, until one day it came. It arrived not in the mail, but in the personage of the personal secretary to Dr. Sun, Zhu Zhuowen. Zhu brought with him a long, handwritten note to Lu Muzheng, one written by Dr. Sun himself.
Hey, after some 30 years of marriage, wouldn’t she already know her husband by heart? Even before she opened this letter, Lu probably could already anticipate her husband’s response. After glancing at the letter briefly, Lu began to question Zhu in details about Song Qingling. Even at this point, Lu had imagined that Dr. Sun would finally be agreeable to getting a “concubine”.
Poor secretary Zhu, he could stand it no longer and yet, he did not know how to speak of this subject delicately. For a long time he was in deep, troubled thoughts. Finally, he said, “This second daughter of the Song family is a devout Christian…”, he stammered, and could not continue to speak. Finally he said, “Please continue to read the letter. Dr. Sun had made it very clear (as to what and how he wanted.)”
What? He did not want a “concubine”? Lu quickly read further…she wanted to cry, but she found no tears. This clearly was a letter asking for divorce.
Why and for what reason? Lu with the little bound feet had never in her life even considered a divorce. She could honestly answer that in these some thirty years of marriage, she had never violated the SEVEN RULES (note: traditional document listing seven acceptable reasons for divorce). So, why oh why…what was this reason for the divorce papers? After a lengthy consideration, she now understood the real answer: This second daughter of the Song family, a devout Christian, would not stoop to be number two.
Never mind, Lu thought to herself…No matter, Miss Song and I would maintain our good manners. I would treat her as a younger sister! She even thought of a well rounded way: all external affairs would be handled by Miss Song…all “outsiders” were allowed to address Miss Song as “Mrs. Sun”…Lu would not mind.
Secretary Zhu silently watched Lu. At last, Lu arrived at the painful answer. After some thirty years of marriage, her husband’s universe held no place for her any longer.
In May of 1915, Lu packed lightly for a brief trip to Tokyo, Japan, where she was to meet Dr. Sun one last time. She was warmly received by many compatriot revolutionaries, especially those opposing the pending marriage of Dr. Sun and Miss Song, important people like Hu Hanmin (another important member of the revolutionists). They all dearly wished that Lu could somehow make Dr. Sun avert what was considered a disaster.
Dr. Sun and Lu Musheng took their time to discuss behind closed doors, while those important republicans were waiting anxiously outside for their final decision.
Door was now opened. Dr. and Mrs. Sun walked out together, shoulder-to-shoulder. In a calm and quiet voice, Lu enunciated each of her words slowly, deliberately and said, “Mr. Sun, in sacrificing himself for the good of the Nation, is physically exhausted and in desperate need of someone to take care of his daily life. There is now someone. This someone is not only willing to care for him but also to ably support his various endeavors. “Here she stopped. Then she continued and announced, “I agree to the divorce.” Extending her right thumb, she squarely pressed on the dotted line of the divorce papers that had already been meticulously prepared by Dr. Sun.
Lu had one final request. She expressed her desire to meet Miss Song face to face just one time. Alas, Dr. Sun said she had already returned to China.
So, what else was left? Lu Mushen took out a packet which had been carefully wrapped in silk of bright red. It was her final wish for Dr. Sun to take this to his future wife as her wedding present.
And so, under these trying personal circumstances, Lu Muzhen returned to Cuiheng Village. She and Dr. Sun were never to meet again. When Dr. Sun passed away, no one considered sending her an invitation to attend his state funeral so she could bid her final goodbye. True to herself, however, Lu set up a private shrine for him at her home while she wore formal mourning garb.
So, what was in the red silk-wrapped packet that was Lu’s wedding present to Miss Song? After Lu departed, the packet was opened. In it was an elaborate quilt cover embroidered of the two love birds, Ying and Yang, playing by the lotus flowers. The gift of quilt of this kind was a very traditional Cantonese custom. Beside the quilt was an exquisitely carved jewelry box. This lovely box was a wedding gift to her from Dr. Sun’s eldest brother, Sun Mei, the one who had helped her and her family during their most trying moments!
Inside the box was a gold chain. There were also two gold rings set with sapphire. These were Lu’s private collection from her savings in her 30 years of marriage.
REVOLUTION -this was the awesome price that one had to pay.
At the end, this faceless, voiceless one, “The real, original Mother of the Republic”… Lu Muzhen was her name. She was never heard from again… lost forever in history. Only some fragments of news articles are now left for us to wonder…
Epilogue
Complied by Winston Li
Lu Muzhen Born in 1867, she eventually went to live in Macao after Dr. abandoned her. She died in 1952.
More information:
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu_Muzhen
Sun Yat-sen Born in 1866 to a Hakka family in Zhongshan county. He first studied abroad in Honolulu and obtained a CERTIFICATE OF HAWAIIAN BIRTH from Maui (Hmmm,shades of future birth certificate crisis with another president, perhaps??? I maybe just kidding…maybe). Late in 1983, he enrolled in Hong Kong in what is now known as Diocesan Boys’ School (DBS) and ultimately obtained his medical license from what is now the University of Hong Kong. He was instrumental in over throwing the Qing, the last Chinese feudal Dynasty and became the Founding Father of the Chinese Republic. He died in 1925. He modeled his “THREE PRINCIPLES” after the U. S. Constitution.
More information:
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen
Chen Cuifen
Born in 1873 in Nanyang but raised in Hong Kong where she met the young, dashing Dr. Sun.
She washed, cooked, smuggled explosives for the revolutionaries.
An ardent follower, a dedicated believer and truly an all-around perfect companion to Dr. Sun.
“(After the success of the Revolution), she retired to Zhongshan county with her adopted daughter Su Zhongying and son-in-law Sun Qian, grandson of Sun Mei (again, the very same eldest brother of Dr. Sun’s in Honolulu). Though never formally-married to Dr. Sun, Chen was recognized as a second wife by (his first wife, Lu) and was allowed to be buried in the family cemetery upon her death (1954)”… excerpted from The Forgotten Revolutionary Companion.
In the Hong Kong movie, Road to Dawn, Chen was portrayed by actress Wu Yue. The movie centered on an episode of Dr. Sun’s brief escape to Penang.
Song Qingling (also Soong Ching-ling) English name: Rosamonde
Born 1893 in Shanghai.
Second of the legendary Song sisters who all went on to marry the most important figures of the young Chinese Republic.
She was American-educated (from Wellesley College, Massachusetts).
She married Dr. Sun who was 26 years her senior, against her parents’ wishes. She has been hailed (wrongly) in many circles as the Mother of the Nation.
She sided with the Communists during the Chinese Civil War…her sister married Chiang Kai Shek, head of the opposing Nationalist Party.
Highly regarded and honored by the Communists to this day.
In the Hong Kong movie “The Soong Sisters” (宋家皇朝), she was portrayed by Maggie Cheung.
Buried with high honors in 1981.
Sun Ke (Cantonese: Sun Fo)
Eldest son of Lu and Dr. Sun, BA from UC Berkeley. He became a high-ranking official in the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Other references The Forgotten Revolutionary Companion http://www.wanqingyuan.com.sg/english/onceupon/women.html
Song Ching-ling Biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soong_Ching-ling
and http://history.cultural-china.com/en/48History7160.html
END