Classic Love Stories Selection: Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng
Liang Sicheng was the eldest son of Liang Qichao, and also his father’s favorite. Due to political circumstances at the time, Liang Sicheng was born in Tokyo, returning to China with his family only after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Lin Huiyin’s father, Lin Changmin, was a brilliant political dreamer and explorer. Lin Huiyin, being intelligent and charming, was deeply loved by her father and received an unconventional yet excellent education. It was largely due to the prestige of both families, and certainly also because of Liang Qichao’s fondness for Lin Huiyin, that their parents arranged an early engagement for them. However, this feudal marriage arrangement did not diminish their mutual admiration and deep love for each other.
This love and marriage have been remembered largely because of Lin Huiyin, a talented and beautiful woman, and it has become the subject of much discussion due to others who were infatuated with her outside of the marriage. In fact, Lin Changmin’s decision to marry Lin Huiyin to Liang Sicheng was because he valued Liang’s steadiness; a romantic person desires a stable home even more.
The men Lin Huiyin encountered throughout her life were all far from ordinary, and each shared a certain degree of intellectual affinity with this brilliant woman. With Xu Zhimo, she shared poetry; with Jin Yuelin, it was academic discussions; and with Liang Sicheng, they had endless conversations about art. Regardless of how the world has interpreted Lin Huiyin, when she was nearing the end of her life, she instructed that the inscription on her tombstone should read “Architect Lin Huiyin.” When Liang Sicheng asked Lin Huiyin, “Why did you choose me?” Lin playfully replied, “I will spend my whole life answering that question. Are you ready?”
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
