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The old house where prominent Chinese novelist, poet and literary critic Qian Zhongshu (known in the West as Chung-shu Chi'en, 1910-1998) spent his childhood has survived demolition and has been turned into a museum commemorating him.
The house has been rebuilt since last December and recently opened to the public displaying Qian's life and achievements.
The 100-year-old house is located in the quiet city of Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu Province, where Qian and several other renowned scholars in his family were born and raised.
The house was due for demolition when a hospital next door planned to expand in 1996. Debate on whether to remove it lasted for two years and finally the local government decided to protect the historic site and have the hospital expansion built in another location.
Qian lived in the house until he left for the Tsinghua University in Beijing.
As the most famous member of his family, Qian is regarded as a great master of Chinese literature and culture. French President Jacques Chirac described him as "the embodiment of the finest features of the Chinese nation" in a message to Qian's wife when he died in 1998 at the age of 88.
His most famous 1947 novel Fortress Besieged, the English version was published by the Indiana University Press in 1979, became one of the favorites of Chinese literature fans.
The novel depicts the ideas, hopes and aspirations of Chinese intellectuals in the first half of the 20th century.
Qian was also respected by scholars for his literary critiques on classical Chinese and Western literature.
(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2002)
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