His Legacy

His great grand-uncles and great-grandfathers, Sir Song Qiao(BC Shen), Sir Ha Qiao, and Sir He Qiao came to Shu(Sichuan) from Yellow Mountain, Anhui and became officials there. They were active in politics and wrote poetries. Therefore, they are known as the "The Three Honorary Scholars of the Shen Family" in Shu(Sichuan). The Shen family's ancestral home is in Taoyuan, located on Yusha Street of Chengdu. His grandfather was Shen, Hezi, a famous calligrapher and painter in western Sichuan. On October 17, 1885, the Yiyou year of The Emperor Guangxu, Shen, Yangfang was born. He was raised by his paternal grandmother Lu Shi, Baoding Wen, until he was 14 years old. His biological father, Shen, Nengxian, who was also known as Gongyi, served as deputy minister for The Department of Treasury of the Qing Dynasty in the capital. He died in office in the year of 1900, amid the Boxer Rebellion and the Siege of Beijing under the Eight-Nation Alliance after the Empress Cixi declared war on 11 nations.

​

In 1905, his stepmother brought Shen, Yangfang back to Beijing. Shen, Yangfang entered Beijing Capital College. After graduation, he worked in the Department of Justice for the Qing Dynasty, in the late years of Emperor Guangxu (1908) as the head of the Department. In the early years of the Republic of China, he passed the civil service examination and was admitted as the head of the accounting division in the Department of Finance, and then served as the supervisor of the Capital University which later became Beijing University. During Republic of China’s Beiyang Era (1912-1928), he served as the public affair chief of the Railway Bureau. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (1937), he refused to take up a position under the Japanese occupation China and stayed home. After the victory of the Sino-Japanese War, he served as commissioner of the Ministry of Railways, retired in 1948 and returned to Beijing. He lived in the apartment owned by his eldest son C.S Shen at No. 47 West Siyang Street, Beijing.

​

Shen, Yangfang was born in a family of scholars and public servants. Raised in an environment with rigorous academic values and strict discipline. Since childhood he received the education and influence of Chinese traditional culture, poetry, books, rituals and music, which molded his characters and style. He inherited the essence of Confucianism, caring about his country and the people, other values include loyalty, piety, honesty and integrity. He kept in mind of his stepmom’s teachings: "Be a good Confucius scholar and don't take up an official position for personal gain." He wasn’t attracted to fame, wealth, and didn’t pursue power through his positions. He displayed the character and personality of an orthodox Confucian scholar. He worked in the Department of Justice in the late Qing Dynasty and witnessed the corruption in the officialdom. He was deeply disgusted by the hideous habits of the corrupt officials, but he was deeply helpless and could only express his resentments through his poetry. His long poem "The Sigh of the Officials" vividly depicts the corruptions in the officialdom. In the poem "Women in Disaster" showed his deep sympathy for the women who were caught in natural and man-made disasters and suffered a lot in life and death.

​

After 1949, the fall of the Republic of China in the mainland, and the country came under the Communist rule, Shen, Yangfang could only rely on the income from his rental properties to support his family. In 1963, he was hired as a librarian of the Beijing Municipal Museum of Literature and History. Around the time of May 4th Movement in 1919, Peking University recruited a group of student activists who claimed that they were fighting for the poor and injustice in the society. (Much like the Communist Propaganda we see on college campuses today). Communist leaders Li, Dazhao and Chen, Duxiu called on Peking University employees to donate money to these “poor” students. Shen, Yangfang was also called to donate money to help, and he generously did so. And one of the students who received his donations was named Mao, Zedong, who turned out to be one of the most evil men ever lived and killed more than 100 million Chinese people under his ruling. When the Cultural Revolution broke out in 1966, the Red Guards from Beijing Girls' No. 3 Middle School ransacked Shen, Yangfang's house and burned his collections of rare ancient books, ancestral calligraphy, paintings, manuscripts and letters. They sealed off the main room in the house, drove Shen Yangfang and his family out of their home, and confiscated all properties. All the family members were evicted out of their house. Their house was occupied by the Red Guards and used for Communist Propaganda. On March 21, 1971, Shen, Yangfang died of illness in Beijing People's Hospital at the age of 86. The Family’s house was not returned to the Shen family until 1984.

​

Shen, Yangfang, throughout his entire life, had witnessed many wars and man-made disasters. He had personally experienced many eras in China, including Qing Dynasty, Beiyang Era, Republic of China, and Communist China. He suffered from wars and witnessed the disasters caused by the Sino-Japanese War, the battle of Peking, the 1911 Revolution, the North Expedition Campaign, the Chinese Civil War and many others. He knew that peace in the world was hard-fought for, and he wrote poems numerous times to express his joy in the prosperous times. In 1949, he was classified as an "Anti-Revolutionist" and was a revolutionary target. However, with the traditional mind of a benevolent man, he focused on world peace and national prosperity, regardless of personal gains and losses, and sincerely supported the arrival of the "peace and prosperity" in his mind.

​

His first wife Gao, Jifen died of illness in Tsingtao in 1936. Shen, Yangfang bought a cemetery in Wan-An Cemetery in the western suburbs of Beijing, both Shen and his wife were buried there. He wrote a poem behind the tombstone: "It's hard to be embarrassed when things don’t go your way, but when in love, your memory would thereof be enriched.” During the Cultural Revolution, the Wan-an Cemetery was destroyed by the Red Guards. In 1981, the children of Shen, Yangfang rebuilt the tomb for him and his wife. Erected a new inscription: The tomb of the poet Shen Yangfang of southern Anhui and his wife Gao Jifen. And on the backside of the tombstone you can still see the poems he had written during his time. After all those turbulent times Shen, Yangfang had been through, we hope he and his wife can finally rest in peace.