Liberate yourself Chapter 44

 

1

 

How far is life and death? When people are old, they look down on their lives and do not feel afraid of death. In fact, there is only one answer to life and death: there is only a layer of paper between life and death. I just think that life and death should be very close. It's like a fall, a sickness, a car accident, maybe a plague and a raid of a natural disaster, all of which can break through the thin layer of life. .

In my middle and old years, I often went to funeral homes to attend memorial services. Because I am a photographer, in middle age, no matter whether it is an organization or a friend, as long as someone dies, there are always family members who want me to help me shoot the memorial service. The makeup artist of Shanghai Longhua Funeral Home is my friend. He said to me: Because my profession is to make up for the dead, many people are afraid to shake hands with me.

When I stepped into old age, my former teachers gradually died, and I must go to mourn. I am more and more familiar with funeral homes.

The principal of my middle school passed away and I attended the funeral. The atmosphere of sorrow, mourning, and even a heavy sorrow condensed in the air. The teachers and classmates of the past all lowered their heads, trying to hold back the tears that had gathered in their eyes, but the tears still did not listen. Slammed violently. Maybe it was the confusion that had collapsed in my heart, maybe the kind of sorrow that could not be suppressed, and no matter how much, it could not be able to withstand the pain of losing the principal of the alma mater. I can't feel the pain in words. Because I have a special feeling for the principal. At this time, it may be only tears that is the only way we can use to vent, and it will be a lifetime of mourning in the future, inevitable.

Shanghai Longhua Funeral Home was formerly known as Longhua Cemetery. It was built in 1952. In 1954, the city government approved the establishment of Longhua Funeral Home by dividing Longhua Cemetery into two. Located at No. 210 Caoxi Road, Xuhui District, it covers an area of ​​44,000 square meters, a construction area of ​​14,000 square meters, and a green area of ​​21,000 square meters.

The construction of the Longhua Funeral Parlour has become a historic symbol for the full implementation of cremation in Shanghai. In 1984, it was renamed Shanghai Longhua Funeral Home. With an annual funeral volume of up to 27,000, it is the largest funeral home in the world.

The Longhua Funeral Home used to be called Longhua Crematorium. The first time I knew that I heard about Longhua Crematorium, it was when I was about to enter middle school. My elder brother told me.

 

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My eldest brother worked in the district housing management office, and was a carpenter. He and his colleagues accepted a task to go to Longhua Crematorium for house repairs.

My elder brother is responsible for repairing the doors and windows of the morgue. Several colleagues saw a corpse on the bed, and they were so frightened that they escaped. My elder brother is bold, he actually ran to the bed where the corpses were placed, and inspected the corpses that had just been delivered.

    Under the leadership of a funeral worker, my elder brother also went to the mortuary, and there was a large corpse pond in the middle of the house. My elder brother said to me: The naked bodies were thrown into the pool water, and the corpse washers used a broom to wash their stiff bodies.

The funeral worker told my brother about the history of Shanghai funeral home.

At the end of the nineteenth century, a place dedicated to the funeral of foreigners in Shanghai, called "Song Maoyang Xing", was opened by the British Wellens at 28 Xinzha Road (now 1026). Afterwards, in 1924, the New York United States China Kesi Kodak Company opened a "Best Gift" at 207 Jiaozhou Road, Shanghai. The following year, the name was solicited through the newspaper, and it was finally named "Wanguo Funeral Home", which meant a place for funeral ceremonies for dead people from various countries.

　　 In 1934, the manager, Scott, saw that the American company did not want to continue to operate, so he took the opportunity to raise funds and operate independently. He changed his business policy and, in addition to continuing to serve foreigners, he turned his main clients to the wealthy and wealthy businessmen in China, the renown people at sea and the upper class. Picking up corpses from cars, getting cosmetic makeup, getting dressed in clothes, selling Chinese and Western coffins, contacting tombs, formulating tablets, applying for cremation, assuring ashes, and even asking Buddhist monks, priests, and nuns to do Buddhist things, tie paper, tie colors, and hang churches Mantles, charge d'affaires, storage of coffins, ashes, and other affairs, a full set of charge d'affaires, no need to worry about the funeral. Business was booming for a while, and it was overwhelming.

　　After the foreigners founded the Wan Guo Funeral Home, a businessman saw a lot of profit in this industry, and in 1928 he invested a small-scale funeral place at Gaolang Bridge of Huade Road and established a small-scale funeral home, named "Datong Office". In 1931, Tao Xing, a Nanchang native, restored the Chinese traditional etiquette and founded the Chinese Funeral Home, which was the first private funeral home opened for the Chinese. Since then, some bosses have raised funds to open funeral homes, and Shanghai funeral homes and central funeral homes have appeared in the Huxi area.

 

3

 

The funeral worker who told me about the history of the Shanghai funeral home was actually a corpse collector in the Republic of China. His name is Shi Xiaozheng.

During the Republic of China, many children died due to weather or disease. Usually they are abandoned by their families on the roadside or corner. At this time of the year, there will be corpses taking the streets and alleys to collect them with straw mats and small coffins, giving them the final dignity.

Collecting a corpse is a profession and a last blessing for lonely people.

"People die big, no matter what they have done in the past? They always want to accompany their relatives for the last trip!" Because of this obsession, Shi Xiaozheng has collected corpses for street victims for many years; I hope some relatives will give them away, so that they can fall back to the roots.

    Shi Xiaozheng, the deceased, lived in Beijing during the Republic of China. At that time, there were places of justice not far from the gates of old Beijing. Some of these lands belong to guilds, which are used to bury tragic fellow travellers, and some belong to temples or other charitable organizations. They are used to bury those who are homeless and die on the streets, commonly known as "lie down."

　　Shi Xiaozheng's father worked in Pujitang. Pujitang belongs to the charity of Qing Dynasty. There is a righteous place in Wanzi Village outside Guanganmen. In 1905, during the New Deal movement in the imperial court, Pu Jitang was renamed the Education Bureau. But the people in the neighborhood still call it a place of pride and justice. In the early years of the Republic of China, three beggars who had fled from other provinces to the capital and were adopted by Pujitang were managed by the local government. Two of them were blind, digging pits and burying people in the righteous land every day. One is dumb, surnamed Mao. He drove an oxcart to the city every day to collect "down." There was a banner hanging behind the bullock cart with the words "Land Cihang" written on it.

　　In addition to the dead, Mao Dua often meets living people, that is, abandoned live babies. Maomao put the live baby on the dead body, pulled it back together, and then gave the live baby to Pujitang’s wife who adopted the baby, and gave the dead to the blind man, so that they would be buried.

　　 Earlier, when he saw that there were dead people on the side of the road, Mao Muba took the dead people into the bullock cart. Later, the New Deal was improved, and there was a patrol bureau, which set new rules. Any unnamed corpses on the roadside must have a death certificate issued by the patrol before they can be taken away. So, when Dumbak saw the dead on the roadside, he first looked for the death certificate left by the police. If not, Mao Dua hurries the oxcart to another place. After waiting, it is estimated that the patrol has finished processing, and then goes back to pull the body away.

　　 At that time, the patrol patrolling the street always had a small book stamped with a death certificate stamped on it. Especially in winter, almost every day there is a dead lying on the street. The policeman looks at the suspicious place, tears off a death certificate, fills in a few words, stuffed in the neck collar of the dead person, waiting for hair The corpses like dumb came to take them away.

　　After pulling back to the Yiyi, the corpses were handed over to the two blind men for burial. Mao Dua pressed the death certificate under the mattress and collected it. After a year, no one came to ask, and Mao Dua threw away the old death certificate.

　　In 1938, the Japanese army who occupied Beijing built a crematorium outside Dongzhimen, and the undead corpses were all handled by the police station and sent outside Dongzhimen. At this time, Mao Muba was also old and could not move the bullock cart. He still lived on the edge of the righteous land, companionship with the undead who were brought back by him.

　　From 1905 to 1938, Mao Dua received and discarded countless death certificates. But there is one of them, Mao Duoba is always treasured, pressed under his mattress. It was the fall of 1919. Mao Duba received a young female corpse at Hufang Bridge. When he carried her into the bullock cart, his body was not stiff yet soft, and his hair was still fragrant. It is said that this woman is an unlicensed prostitute. The local policeman had warned her long ago about being a prostitute. But she didn't listen, and finally let the police see that she was dead by the road.

　　 This dead prostitute is the youngest and most beautiful female corpse ever held by Mao Dua in her life. So the dumb can not forget her. He remembered the place where she was buried in Yidi, and marked an open space beside it for his own sake.

　　 In the spring of 1945, the 75-year-old dumb man also died of illness. The neighbors of Yidi, according to his will, buried him next to the prostitute.

Shi Xiaozheng's father also took over the dumb job.

 

4

 

Under the arrangement of an elder in Pujitang, Shi Xiaozheng's father was transferred to Shanghai in 1947 and became the corpse collector of Shanghai Pushan Villa.

Shanghai Pushan Villa is located in Pushan Road, Zhabei District. It starts from Datong Road in the south and Liuying Road in the north. Although it is a small road, it is a major traffic road in the south of Zhabei District. For historical reasons, both sides of Pushan Road are simple shanty houses, which are the concentrated residential areas of the working people, and are called "poor streets" in Zhabei District.

For historical reasons, both sides of Pushan Road are shanty houses, and various small shops,

On Pushan Road, there are many small shops selling oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and daily necessities. There are several restaurants selling pancakes, fritters, tofu, small wontons, rice balls, and Yangchun noodles.

    Pushan Road is named after Pushan Mountain Villa. At the beginning of this century, many poor people did not cover their bodies and were not full of food. At that time, the north wind rose from the night, and the bodies of some frozen sages, old smokers and abandoned babies were everywhere on the street. So people who have money and want to do good deeds have started a charity specializing in collecting dead bodies.

    At the beginning of the Republic of China, Shanghai Merchants Wang Junsheng, Li Guqing, Zhu Jiantang, Chen Shaozhou, Pang Zhuqing, etc. donated money to build a small school in Puzha Mountain, Shanghai Pushan Road and Pushan Mountain Villa. The name "Pu Shan" is to give the poor a safe place after death. Some Shanghai celebrities Wang Yiting, Yu Qiaqing, Du Yuesheng, Huang Jinrong, etc. have also been named directors of the villa. After the establishment of the villa, it has developed rapidly, has a large scale, and has a wide range of influences. It soon became the largest charity in Shanghai.

    Pushan Villa used the collected funds to build the Jianyi Tomb to bury and cremate the "lunch" on the street.

There is also a material stack, which provides free coffins to the poor deceased. At that time, the Pushan Mountain Shicaizhan on Jiangning Road produced thin-skinned coffins with blue crosses and white marks, and built a burial ground near the north gate of Jiangning Road and Bridge, and built a crematorium in the south gate of Chengdu Road and Bridge. . Opposite the road of Pushan Villa is a storage place for corpses and cremated ashes.

Pushan Villa purchased nine acres of wasteland at first, and then expanded to more than fifty acres. Run a free school in Pengpu Township, set up Pushan Hospital on Xinmin Road, set up a branch village in the south gate of Ximenwai Bridge, and add 800 acres of Yizuzu land to the large field (later occupied by the Japanese army as a military airport), the Japanese army invaded China, the villa The office moved to No. 210 Beihai Road, then British Concession. The mountain's timber stacks are located at the southeast corner of the Gordon Road (now Jiangning Road) and Kangnaotuo Road (now Kangding Road). They are mainly made of thin-skin coffins.

Pushan Villa also has a small village stack on Longmen Road (now Wusheng Road), which is temporarily unburied or cremated.

During the "August 13" anti-Japanese war, the Kuomintang Air Force accidentally dropped a bomb near the big world with the largest number of people on the return journey of bombing the Japanese Izumo ship. More than 2000 people. The village sent all the corpse trucks and rented a number of trucks to the site to collect the wreckage. At one time, the Longmen road stacks were piled up like corpses. .

Shi Xiaozheng's father recalled the history of Pushan Mountain Villa, saying that Pushan Mountain Villa had a branch village at Xieqiao. Sponsor charities like coffin alms, burying corpses, and performing medical treatments. Funds are solicited from all sectors of society. When he first started, Pushan Villa hired a husband to wear a blue cross and a white cross-dress. He collected the dead bodies and violent bones in Shanghai and Baoshan counties and buried them in the site of the tomb. In the 10th year of the Republic of China, the Pushan Hospital in Xinmin Road was established with Chinese and Western medicine departments, and about 300 medicines were administered every day, and an epidemic clinic was added in summer. In October of the 13th year of the Republic of China, Pushan Villa organized 4 temporary burial teams to go to Jiading, Liuhe, Nanxiang, Songjiang and other places to be buried in the war zone where soldiers and civilians died in the war of war.

    After the one-two-eighth song in Shanghai in the Republic of China in 21 years, it was difficult to raise funds for charity. During the August 13th Songhu Anti-Japanese War in the Republic of China, the Pushan Hospital and Xieqiao Fenzhuang were destroyed by Japanese artillery. By the mid-1940s, funding was even more scarce. In May 37 of the Republic of China, the 5th meeting of the Shanghai Senate decided to allocate 10 million yuan for funding.

In 1954, Pushan Villa was received by the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau. In 1956, the new village of Pushan Road Railway and the residential village of Sujiaxiang were built in Pushan Mountain Villa and the original Yizuodi.

 

5

 

Shi Xiaozheng inherited his father's profession and was also a corpse collector. But Shi Xiaozheng did not work in Pushan Villa, but in Lianyi Villa.

Although Pushan Mountain Villa and Lianyi Mountain Villa are both funeral-related institutions in Shanghai during the Republic of China period, they are completely different in nature. One is public welfare, and the other is rich and private. Public welfare is the most pure public welfare, and the private sector is an early private sector.

The name of "Pu Shan" in Pushan Mountain Villa is that the poor want a safe place after death, and the rich want a little psychological balance. Some Shanghai celebrities Wang Yiting, Yu Qiaqing, Du Yuesheng, Huang Jinrong, Wang Xiaolai, etc. have also been named directors of Shanzhuang. After the establishment of the villa, it has developed rapidly, has a large scale, and has a wide range of influence.

After the liberation of Pushan Villa, it was changed to Pushan Road Primary School on the basis of the original building. There were many ghost stories while studying in this primary school. Later, the primary school was demolished and several buildings were rebuilt. I wonder if the owner who bought the real estate here knows This used to be a mountain village where dead people were piled up. After the reform and opening up, Pushan Xinyuan and Pushan Power Station were newly named.

"Pushan Villa" is Shanghai's most primitive funeral and funeral cause, while Lianyi Villa is different.

In the 13th year of the Republic of China (1924), Lin Yiquan, a wealthy businessman from Guangdong, purchased 10 acres of open land in the northern suburbs of the city to build a private graveyard. Trees and flowers were widely planted inside, known as Linjia Garden. Later, it was taken over by the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce and was named Lianyi Mountain Villa as a burial ground for the Cantonese. In the cemetery are the tombs of distinguished officials and social celebrities such as Ruan Lingyu.

Shanghai celebrities buried in Lianyi Mountain Villa include Yang Xingfo, Pan Gongzhan, Ruan Lingyu, Zhou Xuan, the parents of Kuomintang Shanghai Mayor Wu Tiecheng, and the Guo family of Yongan Company boss. During the fall of Shanghai, the mountain villa was occupied by Japanese troops and the cemetery was barren. Trimmed after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.

At the beginning of liberation, the area of ​​the cemetery was expanded to more than 200 acres, planted with precious trees such as pine, cypress, maple, camphor, etc. The cemetery was green and green all year round, and it was a Grade A cemetery in Shanghai. By 1956, more than 40,000 coffins had been buried in the villa. In July of that year, Lianyi Mountain Villa was taken over by the Shanghai Funeral and Interment Administration Office and changed into a city office tomb.

In 1966, the tomb of Lianyi Mountain Villa was demolished during the Cultural Revolution, and the Shanghai Blower Factory was expanded after the original cemetery.

Shi Xiaozheng was transferred to Longhua Crematorium when Lianyi Villa was taken over by the Shanghai Funeral Administration.

After Shi Xiaozheng was transferred to the Longhua Crematorium, he handled countless victims who had collected the corpses and died. Seeing all the joys and sorrows of life, the relationship is warm and cold Because some of the dead were actually rejected by their loved ones. Some people died in a car accident, but they could not find the families of the deceased. Shi Xiaozheng said, I hope some relatives will give them away and let them fall back to the roots. But reality is always impossible but these wishes.

My elder brother told me these stories and always sighed: Have you seen the chimney of Longhua Crematorium? Have you ever seen a crematorium?

The corpse advanced into the crematorium, went in for three quarters of a hour, and came out a couple of times, holding the urn in his hand, looking at the big chimney, the dust disappeared, and life was like a dream.

Only when we understand life and death can we know how to cherish our present; if we understand life and death, we can understand our gains and losses. We should retrieve everything we shouldn't lose.