Emerging from
the Huangpi Nan Lu Subway Station, it's impossible to miss:
Amid the rubble of a modern day war zone stands a stately red
brick mansion, unscathed despite the passage of time, its
beauty accentuated by the stark ruins surrounding it. Sixteen
blocks of century-old Shikumen Longtang homes, between Jinling
Lu (a street running parallel to Huaihai Lu, one block north
of Huaihai) and Yan'an Lu, have been razed to make room for a
new city park. For now, this elegant three-story home is all
that remains. And it remains only for now: Despite its
connection to an important part of the city's history, and
despite its designation as a state-protected historical
landmark, the Bei Mansion at Huangpi Nan Lu, Lane 25, No. 5,
is slated for destruction in a few short weeks.
Shanghai boasts a number of renowned native sons (and
daughters), but few have reached such levels of international
acclaim as master architect I. M. Pei. Known in Chinese as Bei
Yuming, I. M. Pei was born in 1917 in Guangzhou to the famous
Bei family of Suzhou. He grew up in Shanghai, living in this
house and studying at the St. John's College Middle School
before heading to the U.S. in 1935 to study architecture at
MIT. The outbreak of war with Japan prevented his return, and
he continued his studies, receiving his Masters from Harvard
in 1946. He would go on to become one of the most important
and influential architects of the twentieth century, if not of
all time, sharing his pedestal only with other greats such as
Frank Lloyd Wright. His striking designs include the Pyramid
at the Louvre, the Bank of China building in Hong Kong,
Boston's JFK Library, and the Fragrant Hills Hotel in Beijing.
The roots
of Pei's success, however, lay firmly in Shanghai. His family
was established as leading merchants and bankers in East China
as early as the mid-Qing Dynasty, as the grandeur of their
ancestral home in Suzhou attests. Of Suzhou's dozens of
elegant gardens, designated as World Heritage sights, the
Bei's Lion Forest (Shizi Lin) is among the most spectacular
and most touristed. The Bei family also had a firm foot in
Shanghai, China's hotbed of economic activity, starting from
the turn of the Twentieth Century. In 1912, I. M. Pei's
grandfather Bei Ruisheng bought a large, late 19th century
mansion on what is now Huangpi Nan Lu. He revamped the
Western-style, three-story mansion to add a more Chinese
flair, with everything from minute details to the grand
structure drawing elements from the Lion Forest, turning the
house into a genuine Shanghai-style hybrid in the grand
tradition
The Bei family donated Lion Forest to the state in the
1950s, and it's been a state park ever since. They have,
however, kept their Shanghai home. Until now. Although much of
the family ended up in Hong Kong and America, I. M. Pei's
niece, Bei Huizheng, chose to remain in Shanghai, staying in
the house along with her husband Fu Jianming, their young son,
and various cousins and in-laws of the family. While most of
Shanghai's old families have long since left China for greener
pastures, members of the Bei family have lived continuously in
this house for the past 90 years, the boy representing the
fifth generation in the house, but their loyalty to the
Motherland is hardly being generously rewarded. Due to their
continued presence, the house interior of the house has
remained in startlingly pristine condition, and it is one of
Shanghai's better-preserved architectural specimens.
In the 1940s, Kuomintang troupes forcibly seized the first
floor of the house, and in 1949, the Communists claimed it as
their own because it had previously "belonged" to the
Nationalists. During the Cultural Revolution, the entire
family lived in the cramped service quarters behind the house,
while the rest of the building was used for a school. The
beautiful, ornate tile-work on the floors of the bathroom,
kitchen, and balconies were systematically destroyed via
shovel, Mr. Fu explains, because they were deemed "ugly" by
the school's Red Guards. The remaining tiles on the first
floor, despite being covered in a thick sludge of mud, attest
to the original charm. All the stained glass windows were
likewise smashed into oblivion. Ironically, the government now
refuses to let the mansion be a part of its planned park
because the officials in charge consider it "ugly".
"During the Cultural Revolution, they hacked down all the
trees in our garden and then paved the whole thing over," Mr.
Fu exclaimed. "Now they're razing everything to put in a
park!"
Misguided aesthetics appear to be only a part of the
government's refusal to grant a stay of execution to the
mansion. In an article in Shanghai Morning Daily (Shanghai
Chen Bao) on 11 November 2000, Mr. Yin, the official in charge
of executing the demolition, was quoted as saying, "With a big
park, and only one house, these people will be too
comfortable. It's like asking the government to take care of
them like exotic birds!" He's remained adamant in this
position despite the family's offer to donate the house to the
state for use as a community center, museum, or other public
place within the new park. (Museum of Chinese Architecture and
Design, anyone?) Those who think that the vendetta against old
capitalist families ended with the Cultural Revolution should
think again. The family has made a full-hearted effort to save
the house, and I. M. Pei himself has hand-written a number of
letters to the government requesting that his childhood home
be spared the wrecking ball. Ms. Bei showed us a copy of one
of the letters, with graceful but precise calligraphy
attesting to a cultured background.
Shanghai's municipal legal code states that Shanghai's
important buildings from the "Golden Era" must be meticulously
protected and preserved. "1. Whether subject to private or
public ownership and use, the buildings must be preserved. 2.
Those responsible for the building are required to restore the
building regularly, fixing any deterioration, while preserving
the building's original appearance and not changing or
destroying any aspect. 3. Any intended alterations to the
building's interior or exterior must be submitted to and
approved by the Shanghai Historical Preservation Bureau."
Unfortunately, the case is being decided by those with little
understanding of these laws. Mr. Yin commented, "They say this
house is over a hundred years old. That would make it from the
Qing Dynasty. How can that possibly be? It looks so new and so
Western! They must be lying."
The Bei house was designated a protected historical
landmark by the municipal government, receiving the official
baohu danwei (protected unit) status in March 1999. The
brown and gold plaques that accompany this status can be seen
many of Shanghai's historic buildings, including those on
Bund, the Garden Hotel, and countless of lesser fame but equal
import. Protected status, however, has proved utterly to be of
little real worth for the Bei house. The absence of support
and enforcement for Shanghai's historic protection laws in
this case raises a much larger question: What's to stop
recalcitrant city planners from similarly rolling over
protected monuments in the future? Is anything safe?
The Bei family's
dilemma presents a troubling example to anyone who owns or has
contemplated buying a house in Shanghai. The house is
privately owned, with the deed belonging to older members of
the family who hold foreign passports and live overseas. The
family sought to launch a lawsuit to prevent the house's
destruction, but the courts refused to hear the case. Legal
recourses for protecting private property are apparently as
flimsy as the laws protecting historic monuments.
The Bei mansion is scheduled for demolition shortly after
Chinese New Year, although the family is fighting for a
reprieve. A bulldozer literally waits at their door, as
backhoes crash into the ground just a few feet away from the
front door. The migrant laborers who will be charged with its
demolition now sleep in what were the school's classrooms on
the first floor. I see it everyday as I walk along Huaihai Lu,
and double check that it's still there, check for the lights
in the second floor window indicating that the Beis are still
there, fighting to keep Shanghai from throwing the baby out
with the bath water.
To voice your support for preserving the Bei House,
please send a letter to:
Huanjin he Chengshi Jianshe
Weiyuan Hui (City Planning Department)
860 Beijing Xi Lu,
Shanghai, 200014
you can also CC to
Wenhua Weiyuan Hui (Cultural Bureau)
860 Beijing Xi Lu,
Shanghai, 200014
