People of Shanghai: The Man Who Made His Home Into A Museum

Mr. Shen, a former prosecutor, is a Shanghainese resident who is soon to be evicted from his home. He has turned his house into a museum in Jing’an District as a way of preserving and paying homage to a historically important neighborhood before it is demolished. New York University Shanghai Professor, Lena Scheen, is featuring Mr. Shen in the book she is writing on the impact of Shanghai’s fast urbanization. She invited me to visit and document Mr. Shen during her research, as part of my Shanghai Love Notes series:

 “Old Shanghainese are those who grew up in the shkiumen areas. They are educated. They are civilized, but they are also calculating. They are not very kind in some aspects, but they are still very civilized with each other. In this alleyway, I have never seen a case of husband beating a wife… maybe there were cases of a wife beating husband.”

“During the 5,000 year history of China, country has always been placed before home.”

”We empathize with what you are you doing, but in your own words: Why are you doing this?”

“My rights to live here were never given to me: First, they were taken by a legal transaction. Secondly, my family used bloodshed and had given their lives for this country. My family produced many revolutionaries who helped protect China during WWII. I lost three members of my family during this war, and ten had fought in combat against the Japanese.”

Shen’s explanations and approaches often reflect the logic of a legally trained mind. 

“You’ve asked me a lot of questions, and now it’s my turn. You’re American, where was the National Anthem of the United States written? The anthem was composed during the Revolutionary War, the writer was inspired by the war scene he observed from a boat. Is the original manuscript of the American National Anthem still available?” 

Lena and I looked at  each other, “I wonder why he wants to know this…” 

“If the manuscript is still preserved in the United States, it must be very well preserved, right?”

Like a prosecutor about to rest his case, Shen then took out a map of his soon to be demolished neighborhood, and  pointed to a house just meters away from where he lives,  

“Well, this… This is the birthplace of the Chinese National Anthem.” 

Shen pointed to the former residence of Tian Han.  Tian Han’s "March of the Volunteers" was adopted as the provisional national anthem in September of 1949. During the Cultural Revolution, Tian Han was jailed and died in 1968 and his "March of the Volunteers" became a banned song. However, in 1982, Tian Han’s original song was once again adopted as the Chinese National Anthem that we sing today. 

According to Shen, Tian Han wrote the National Anthem in the very house that will be demolished sometime this spring.  

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR

Gabby Gabriel is an American artist, writer, educator, humanitarian and entrepreneur living and loving Shanghai. Gabby' is a street photographer who enjoys finding and documenting everyday love on the streets of Shanghai. Her photo series, Shanghai Love Notes, combines photography and poetry to tell the stories of Shanghai and the stories of the heart.  Love isn't always an obvious gesture; it can be displayed in the most mundane tasks. Through her work, Gabby sends messages of hope and inspiration from everyday inside stories of humanity that we may pass by without a second notice. She often interviews her subjects to better understand their individual stories. Underneath the photograph, Gabby creates a poem that ties together the photo and the concept of the everyday "love note.” Follow the project on wechat, but searching “shanghailovenotes” in the official account section. “Why is love reserved for the heart? For whenever I feel love, I feel it oozing out every part of me, over my ears, around my elbows, out my fingertips and into whatever I touch.” – Gabby Gabriel

Photo: bettynewvision

Related Articles