May 13 2008
Tianjin Changde Dao
21 Changde Dao 常德道 21号 located in Heping District (和平区), Tianjin, the former British Concession. The four semi-attached two-story villas and a three-story row that housed four more loosely makes up the compound owned by 三爷 Third Grandfather as Dad calls - my great grandfather’s kid brother. Dad spent few years in Tianjin in his grandfather’s estate on 徐磨街 in the Japanese Concession. His second sister Changluan 常銮 fall in love with her second cousin Changxin 常鑫, hence married and settled in Third Grandfather’s compound.
Over the years, the Third Grandfather’s branch had seen their fortune seep away by lousy management and political unrest. By the time I started visiting them in the 1960s, Er Gugu and Er Gufu 二姑姑/父 with their six daughters (they are all very normal despite the incestuous relationship) had been quarantined to the corner. When the Cultural Revolution began, they were further condensed to the second floor that had two rooms plus a bathroom, used hallway as kitchen.
The villas were lavishly built. High ceilings, large windows, dark wood paneling, floor and staircases (Dad said they were Filipino wood), modern tiled bathrooms (tubs, not hole in the ground sort of thing) .. the quality was very similar with Uncle Weizeng’s. The Zhous and Zhangs were rather close social acquaintance in Tianjin. Uncle Weizeng knows Changxin from their younger days.
The earliest encounter I knew was at the Tianjin Military Academy 天津武备学堂 when Zhou was the head of the academy and my great grandfather was the student. This little antidote was lost on Dad when my parents first met, because he chose to know/speak as little of his past as possible. That was then. Now Dad would share his story with me.
When I visited Tianjin in 2003, I stopped by Changde Dao, but din’t contact any of Er Gugu’s family members. It’s the most unhappy time of my life. The front door was padlocked. Aunt Jenny said that they all moved out after selling it, and Er Gugu/fu are now living with their youngest daughter who’s few months older than I’m and her family.