中国北京 程家四合院， 郑希成画 CHENG COURTYARD (SIHEYUAN), Illustration by Zheng Xi Cheng, Fall,2015
ChenG COURTYARD
程振鈞四合院
CHENG ZHEN JUN BEIIJNG COURTYARD WHILE TEACHING IN BEIDA
1888程振鈞出生於安徽省婺源縣城儒商家庭
1905年程振鈞在安徽高等學堂親聆恩師嚴復《天演論》啟蒙
1909年程振鈞赴蘇格蘭格拉斯哥大學學習土木工程
1917年程振鈞歸國應蔡元培邀請在北大紅樓教育救國
1923年程振鈞購駐北京 府右街6號四合院
1929程振鈞成功籌辦西湖博覽會
1932程振鈞為籌劃修建杭徽公路以身殉職
程振鈞愛國奉獻的精神遺產永存！
程一若通過「四合院」跨文化讀解現代中國
CHENG DECIPHERING CHINA THROUGH
HER DEMOLISHED CHENG COURTYARD
2015年鄭希成鋼筆復原程振鈞四合院
“Zheng’s pen has been racing against the bulldozers of Beijing”
Zheng Xi Cheng, a renowned artist and activist spent his life preserving memories of the old Peking, particularly reconstructed Beijing Courtyards before many of them were demolished to make way for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
程振鈞四合院CHENG ZHEN JUN COURTYARD, 郑希成画 Illustration by Zheng Xi Cheng, Fall,2015
A Tribute to Zheng Xi Cheng
紀念鄭希成保存歷史記憶
It was an unforgettable week when I visited Mr. Zheng who agreed to render Cheng Courtyard based on the inforamtion from Cheng Deed issued by the government of the Republic of China in 1923, which I collected from the Beijing Archive eariler in 2015.
Zheng lived in a Nine-Twists Hutong within the second ring of Beijing where many traditional courtyards had been dissected and occupied by many families before they were demolished on the eve of Beijing Olympic Games 2008. I found Zheng at the end of a half yard with multiple rooms. Zheng’s domain was a compact scholar’s studio with a Buddhist painting on the wall. Zheng showed me his published book “BEIJING OLD COURTYARDS” where hundred of Beijing Courtyards were reconstructued by his pen so meticulously before the bulldozers knocked them down. I was impressed by his painstaking effort of preserving many family homes on paper, answering countless emergency calls from strangers who begged him to come and rescue what were imminently gone.
Cheng Courtyard, as well as Cheng legacy, now will forever stands tall in the Chinese memory thanks to Zheng Xi Cheng, a warrior, not with a sword, but with a pen. Thank you!
J.J.Cheng,
Aug, 15th, 2024, Beijing, China