In early autumn, at Lao She’s former residence at No. 19 Fufu Hutong, Dengshikou West Street, Beijing, two persimmon trees are already covered with green fruits. These two trees were planted by Lao She and his wife and are more than 70 years old. By October, this "Red Persimmon Courtyard" will be covered with red trees, becoming a popular autumn check-in spot in Beijing.
August 24 is the 60th anniversary of Lao She’s death. On the afternoon of the 25th, the 2026 "East of the Forbidden City" Ancient Architecture Art Season held a special event for Lao She Memorial Hall here. 30 Lao She fans gathered under the persimmon tree with green leaves and fragrant fragrance after the rain, listened to the drums, watched classic excerpts from the drama "Teahouse", and recited Lao She's famous poem: I don't know what heaven is like, but it is heaven in the autumn of Peking.
Lao She is recognized as a master of language. However, Wang Ren, director of the China Lao She Research Association, told China News Weekly that today, Lao She’s research on national character and cultural reflection should receive more attention. He is famous for his humor, but this kind of humor involves laughter and tears. He is called by the Japanese literary circle as having "Chekhov's smile and Gorky's bitterness". Behind his laughter is full of humanistic care and universal compassion.
"No one else is as suitable as Lao She"
Unlike most other new literature writers who were born into families of declining landlords and bureaucrats, Lao She, whose original name was Shu Qingchun, was born into a poor Banner family and could not read a word before the age of nine. One day, Liu Shoumian, a rich man from the neighborhood, came to visit by chance. After learning about the situation, he immediately said to Lao She's mother: "I will come tomorrow morning and take him to school. Sister, you don't have to worry about school money or books!"
Liu Shoumian was Master Zongyue, and he finally dissipated all his wealth and died in poverty. Lao She said that he believed that Master Zongyue’s intentions, words and deeds were close to Buddhism. Without Master Zongyue, he might not have entered school in his life, and he would never have known the joy and meaning of helping others.
Another disciple of Lao She was his widowed mother Shuma. My mother washed and sewed clothes for people all year round, and she never did anything perfunctory. Even "the stockings as black as iron sent by the butchers were washed by her until they were as white as snow." But no matter how busy we are, our home is always neat and tidy. The few pots of pomegranates and oleanders left by my father are well taken care of, and many flowers bloom every summer.
Lao She said that his mother passed on this soft and hard personality to him. He believes that suffering is a blessing and that everything can be done, but he cannot "go beyond the boundaries he has drawn."
Perhaps it was precisely because of Lao She's attitude towards life that when the All-China Association of Literary and Art Circles to Resist the Enemy (referred to as the "Literary Association"), a united front organization in the literary and art circles, was established in Wuhan in 1938, Lao She was elected as the person in charge. At first he didn't want to accept it, saying: "Who am I? I can't host it." But Zhou Enlai insisted: "If Lao She is to host it, no one else is as suitable as him."
At that time, Lao She had already become one of China's top realist novelists with his works such as "Lao Zhang's Philosophy", "Zhao Zi Yue" and "Camel Xiangzi". At the same time, he had no party or faction, devoted himself to writing, did not directly participate in the New Culture Movement and the May 4th Movement, and was almost uninvolved in influential debates in the ideological and cultural circles. He was accepted by both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and most people in the literary and art circles. In the end, he took on the title of "Director of the General Affairs Department" to take charge of the Cultural Association.
In the eyes of everyone, Lao She is eager for public service and justice. He works hard when he should be working hard, stands up when he should stand up, and tolerates humiliation when he should compromise. When he encountered difficulties at work, he would take the initiative to consult with Zhou Enlai, Guo Moruo, Mao Dun and others. Some activities of the Literary and Art Association were obstructed by the authorities, but he was able to resolve them because of his good personal relationship with Feng Yuxiang and others.
But not everyone approves of him. Many people are disapproving of the British humor in his early works "Lao Zhang's Philosophy" and "Zhao Ziyue". Some left-wingers feel that this kind of humor is not as effective as satire, while others feel that the humor is too deliberate and forced. Liang Shiqiu once recalled that Hu Shi did not think highly of Lao She's humor. But Liang Shiqiu himself felt that Lao She was very talented. His Beijing-style novels were quite unique and had his own personality. He "never looked down upon others."
Ye Yiqun, who assisted Lao She in presiding over the work of the Literary and Art Association, once recalled that people often said that Lao She was "covering everything and not offending others", but he believed that this was just one side of Lao She's character. Although Lao She was good at dealing with people and dealing with people with deep self-cultivation and sophistication, as long as he was doing the work of the Cultural Association, he would not hesitate to kowtow everywhere and was not afraid of offending others.
In 1943, Lao She and Zhao Qingge co-wrote the drama "Golden Sound and Yuzhen" (later renamed "Peach Plum Spring Breeze") to commend ordinary educators who persisted in education during the Anti-Japanese War. At that time, the struggle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the cultural field had become public. After the play was published and performed, it was rewarded by the Kuomintang government. Some left-wingers criticized the play for cooperating with the authorities.
Lao She once applied to resign from the leadership position of the Cultural Association. To this end, the Southern Bureau of the Communist Party of China mobilized the cultural circles to hold an event commemorating the 20th anniversary of Lao She's creative life. The event was jointly initiated by 29 people including Shao Lizi, Guo Moruo and Mao Dun in Chongqing. More than 300 people from all walks of life congratulated Lao She, calling Lao She's creation "a monument to new literature and art."
In the end, Lao She remained as director of the General Affairs Department. The Literary and Art Association is elected once a year, and he was re-elected for seven years. As Yang Hansheng said in his congratulatory message, the Literary and Art Association is a banner for the unity of all Chinese literary and art workers in the war of resistance, and it is Lao She who has been "hardly holding up this banner."
"Writer Leadership"
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Lao She and Cao Yu visited the United States in March 1946 at the invitation of the "International Education and Cultural Exchange Program" of the U.S. State Department. Cao Yu returned to China after the expiration of one year, while Lao She stayed and continued to complete his million-word masterpiece "Four Generations Under One Roof".
At that time, the first two volumes of "Four Generations Under One Roof", "Confusion" and "Stealing Life," had been published, and Lao She was writing the third volume, "Famine," in the United States. During this period, six works including Lao She's "Camel Xiangzi" were translated into English and published in the United States. After writing the third part of "Four Generations Under One Roof", Lao She collaborated with American Pu Aide to translate the entire book into English.
The prestigious American "Saturday Literary Review" called "Four Generations Under One Roof" one of the best novels published in China since World War II and one of the best novels published in the United States during the same period. Literary critic Kornfield wrote: "In the minds of many Western readers, Lao She seems to be more capable of inheriting the 'glorious tradition' of Tolstoy, Dickens, Dostoyevsky and Balzac than any other Western and European novelist."
In New York, Lao She had the closest contacts with several Chinese businessmen. He felt that these businessmen were not very businessmen, educated and particularly sensitive to the current situation. One day, one of them stuffed a letter into the crack of his apartment door. This person was Situ Huimin, an underground member of the Chinese Communist Party.
This letter from Peiping was signed by more than 30 people, headed by Guo Moruo, Mao Dun, Zhou Yang, Yang Hansheng, Cao Yu, Hong Shen, Zheng Zhenduo, etc. The letter read: "The first literary conference is about to be held in Peiping. All old friends have gathered in Peiping, except for one brother. Come back, old friend!" This was arranged by Zhou Enlai. Zhou Enlai also mobilized many of Lao She's friends to write letters to mobilize him, which finally prompted him to make up his mind.
In October 1949, Lao She set out to return to China and arrived in Beijing in December. In May 1950, the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles was established and he was elected chairman, a position he has held ever since.
Shu Yi, Lao She's son, once recalled that after the founding of the People's Republic of China, everyone addressed him as "comrade". He also called famous non-party writers such as Ba Jin and Ye Shengtao "comrade" but only addressed Lao She as "Mr. Lao She". This puzzled Lao She, and everyone explained to him: There was no rejection at all, but a respectful title of "teacher".
Young writer Wang Zengqi joined the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles in July 1950 and served as editor of "Beijing Literature and Art", where Lao She was the editor-in-chief. He later recalled in "Mr. Lao She": "Mr. Lao She is not the kind of person who is accustomed to speaking ambiguous, vague, and lukewarm Mandarin. I have been in the Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles for several years, and I have always felt that we are led by a writer." Wang Zengqi said that because of such a "writer leader", everyone in the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles gets along equally, is frank, has few worries about speaking, and is a bit bookish and bookish.
At the beginning of the founding of New China, a group of old painters had a difficult life because few people bought or collected paintings anymore. Lao She personally drew up a list of dozens of painters and sent "festival expenses" in the name of the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles. But he was not satisfied with just solving an urgent need. He also wanted to embark on a bigger undertaking: establishing a Chinese painting academy. He convened symposiums, drafted reports, and personally went to talk to Zhou Enlai. Zhou Enlai accepted his suggestion. In May 1957, the Beijing Chinese Painting Academy was officially established, and veteran painters such as Qi Baishi, Chen Banding, and Pu Xuezhai became public artists with salaries paid by the state.
Lao She has been serving as a deputy to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress. One year his proposal was to hope that the government would solve the supply problem of sesame paste. Soon, sesame paste was sold in oil and salt stores in Beijing, and Beijingers were able to eat fragrant sesame paste noodles again.
"A model worker in the literary and artistic circles"
In addition to his busy social work, Lao She wrote diligently. His high productivity is unique among the old writers of his generation. Zhou Yang once half-jokingly called him "a model worker in the literary and art circles." Wu Zuxiang once recalled that Lao She became depressed after not writing for a whole day and said: "This is not good, there is no work today!"
Lao She never called himself a "writer", but a "writer". He described that there was such a feeling in his heart that he couldn't stop. He named this feeling "the feeling of loving today." He said: "I have no party or faction, but I have a faction, which is the 'Goethe faction', the faction that sings the virtues of the Communist Party." Cao Yu recalled that after the founding of New China, Lao She wrote "so many things that it is unbelievable". In addition to 23 scripts, there are also works of various styles.
In the spring of 1950, the Beijing Municipal Government decided to spend 2.25% of its annual budget to renovate Longxugou. This is the city's first large-scale municipal project. After learning about it, Li Bozhao, the then director of Beijing People's Art ("Art for the Elderly"), suggested that Lao She write a new script and lent him reference documents. Lao She was so enthusiastic that he wrote for two months and completed the three-act drama "Longxugou".
Some critics questioned "Longxugou" as too straightforward and too political. But Zhou Enlai believed that this was exactly what New China needed. It made people understand why the new should replace the old. Zhou Yang published a comment in "People's Daily" "What can we learn from "Longxugou"? ", and proposed that Lao She be awarded the title of "People's Artist". Some writers from the liberated areas were unconvinced by this. Finally, Peng Zhen stated that this award was awarded by the Beijing Municipal Government because "Longxugou" is about Beijing.
In 1956, Cao Yu, Jiao Juyin and others discovered a teahouse scene from a play Lao She was writing, and encouraged him to develop it into a multi-act play. At first, Lao She's habitual reaction was: "Then we won't be able to cooperate." This sentence quickly spread within a small circle of Beijing's literary and art circles and became an internal famous saying at the time. But Lao She was quickly convinced and wrote "Teahouse" in just three months. In July 1957, "Teahouse" was published in the first issue of "Harvest".
During the rehearsal process of "Tea House", two different opinions emerged. Some people thought it was too dark and nostalgic, but Zhou Enlai liked the play and supported its performance. He said that from a political point of view, this is a good teaching material; from an artistic point of view, this is a great work. After "Tea House" was staged, it was suspended and re-rehearsed several times. It wasn't until 1979 that "Tea House" really became popular and became famous all over the world.
In the late 1950s, Lao She's good friend Cao Yu joined the Communist Party of China. Guo Moruo also disclosed his membership of the Communist Party in the form of "re-joining the party." Cheng Yanqiu, Mei Lanfang and other literary and artistic celebrities were also admitted as party members. Lao She was inspired by this and expressed his desire to join the party to the organization. One afternoon in 1959, Zhou Enlai personally went to Lao She's house to have a long talk with him, suggesting that he temporarily stay outside the party so that he could be more effective. Lao She obeyed.
Xie Zhaoxin, former president of the China Lao She Research Association and former dean of the School of Liberal Arts of Anhui Normal University, told China News Weekly that from returning to China to 1957, Lao She was in a "conscious identification period." As a writer from a lower-class civilian background, he deeply felt the great improvement in people's livelihood after the founding of New China and the hope brought by the new society under the leadership of the Communist Party. However, with the development of the "Great Leap Forward", literary creation gradually fell into the dilemma of formula. Lao She felt confused and had reflection. Faced with this dilemma, he gradually turned to the pursuit and inheritance of classical culture, and placed his ideals and emotions deep in his heart. However, this spiritual turn could not conceal his inner contradictions and struggles, which ultimately led to his tragic ending.
Shu Yi recalled that his father's character was very complicated and seemed to be full of contradictions. When there are many people, there is lively chatting and laughter; once the guests leave, there is no word and silence all day long. He is very kind and has no airs; but he is very temperamental and will not do anything he doesn't want to do.
In 1944, the Japanese army invaded Chongqing from Dushan, Guizhou. Many people were preparing to evacuate, but Lao She did not intend to run away. He said in a letter to a friend: "The Jialing River is so close and has no cover!" Unexpectedly, his words came true. On August 24, 1966, 67-year-old Lao She committed suicide by throwing himself into Taiping Lake.
After his death, a playwright who had been protected by Lao She and a painter polished a stone tablet together and neatly engraved the words "People's Artist Mr. Lao She died" in large Wei stele style. On the first anniversary of his death, it was buried by Taiping Lake.
"The best example of intellectuals"
After 12 years of silence, Lao She was finally revealed. In February 1978, Beijing held a grand burial ceremony for his ashes at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery and restored his title of "People's Artist". Ba Jin said in "Random Thoughts": "Lao She is the best example of Chinese intellectuals."
In the spring of 1979, Lao She's unfinished posthumous and autobiographical novel "Under the Red Flag" was published in People's Literature. No. 5, Xiaoyangquan Hutong, where he was born and grew up, became famous. Lao She never mentioned his birthplace to anyone when he was alive. After the novel was published, his family found this place based on the description in the novel, and found that the details of the environment here were basically consistent with those described in "Four Generations Under One Roof". When he was a child, Lao She often played with his sister here, using molds to make various kinds of pastries, just like Xiao Shunzi and Niuzi in "Four Generations Under One Roof".
When "Lao She's Humorous Collected Works" was published, Wu Zuxiang wrote the preface. He wrote that Lao She views people with a high degree of realism. He believes that there is no perfect thing in the world, and even appreciates "the beauty of imperfections." Lao She often said that it is good to be sarcastic, but one must look higher than others, farther than others, and more transparent than others. But he himself is just one among all living beings, and he has the shortcomings of others. Therefore, he could only look at it sympathetically, saying, "Smile, it doesn't hurt or itch."
Wu Zuxiang also recalled that when he worked with Lao She in the Cultural Association, they often hid from air raids in air-raid shelters together. Sitting in silence is boring, so they are right. Lao She once slapped his thigh and said: "Heavy rain washes the sea of stars! Look how majestic this sentence is! You have the ability, you are right!" He responded with the next sentence: "Changhong Mu Mutian." Lao She praised: Not bad. Another time, Wu Zuxiang came up with the previous sentence: "The plum rain comes back again and again." Lao She thought for a while, clapped his hands and said, "The wind leaves are in a group!" Another pair is: "Chen Shouzhu in the plain garden, Lao She thanks Bingxin."
In 1984, the China Lao She Research Society was established. Xie Zhaoxin said that this was the beginning of the disciplinaryization of Lao She's research.
In 1999, Wang Ren began to work with Zhang Guixing, vice president of the China Lao She Research Association, in collecting and organizing information on Lao She's life. What impressed him deeply was that "Lao She's death" became a hot topic in academic circles at the turn of the century. Many writings and oral histories were published, including many questions and reflections.
Wang Ren said that throughout Lao She's life, his feelings for his family and country and his seemingly easy-going yet strong personality contributed to his literary achievements and cultural personality, and also made him unwilling to be left behind and fell into a whirlpool. His self-awareness and self-destruction are ultimately the tragedy of an era.
Wang Ren feels that the research on Lao She in the past ten years has become "an old man and a scholar". Today, Lao She's relics and many research results are displayed in the Lao She Memorial Hall and are open to the public. The memorial hall is located in the "Danshi Courtyard" where Lao She lived for 16 years.
Lao She loved growing flowers throughout his life. Back then, the "Danshi Courtyard" was full of flowers, including more than 300 species of chrysanthemums of more than 100 varieties. The treasures of the town courtyard also include a large epiphyllum, a large silver star begonia, a large pot of wax plum, a large Ningxia wolfberry, two large pots of mountain shadows, a large vat of water onions, three colors of Lingjian lotus and a large bush of peace flowers. After his death, his family placed several jasmine flowers in his empty urn as a symbol of his fragrant flowers.
Nowadays, every autumn, it is hard to get a reservation for "Danshi Courtyard". On the audience guestbook, someone wrote "Persimmons are as good as you wish", and someone said: "Mr. Lao She, the persimmons in your yard are almost ripe. I really hope you can see Beijing now!"
