Libraries dedicated to two Chinese writers unveiled in Kunming

The winter reading event dedicated to Chinese writers Lin Huiyin and Wang Zengqi

In late December, a special winter reading event took place at Dongfang Bookstore, a historical and cultural landmark of Kunming which was originally set up in the city some 100 years ago in 1926.

By reading the works of a few Chinese writers born in the early twentieth century, particularly Lin Huiyin and Wang Zengqi, the guests celebrated the literary heritage left by all modern Chinese intellectuals with global reputation back then.

  

A reader reads inside the library of Lin Huiyin.

Two libraries dedicated to Lin Huiyin and and Wang Zengqi separately were opened to the public on the same day.

Lin Huiyin (1904-1955), also known as Phyllis Whei Yin Lin, was a female writer and architect. Her husband Liang Sicheng has long been hailed as the founding father of modern Chinese architecture. Wang Zengqi (1920-1997) was a playwright and writer particularly famous for his short stories and essays.

 

The library of Wang Zengqi.

The experiences of both Lin and Wang were closely connected to the National Southwestern Associated University, which sits inside today's Yunnan Normal University in central Kunming. As a temporary institution of higher education jointly formed by Peking University, Tsinghua University and Nankai University during the Second World War, it played a rather significant role in modern Chinese history.

Lin and Wang lived in Yunnan during the war as a professor and a student, respectively. And the Kunming stories they wrote have been read by one after another generations of local readers ever since.

  

Inside Wang Zengqi's library.

"I hope the stained glasses and old objects in these two rooms could remind everyone the special history and heritage of the city that we all live in," said Li Guoyao, the owner of Dongfang Bookstore.

Reporting by Wang Jingzhong; photographs providing by Dongfang Bookstore (Yunnan Gateway)