The ups and down of Zhou Zuoren

 

Zhou Zuoren continued to occupy his courtyard home until his death 48 years later. Zhou enjoyed a similar status as Lu, until his name was blemished during the Japanese occupation of Beijing. In 1941, he was appointed Commissioner of Educa?tion by the Wang Jingwei government and during his time in power set about making changes to the house, including the west-wing room where Lu wrote Ah Q and his former dwellings in the back ,which he con?verted into a Japanese-style bedroom. Zhou also purchased No.30 opposite and built a private garage there.

But his choice to collaborate with the Japanese brought him short-lived success. He was imprisoned in Nanjing by the Kuomintang after the Japanese withdrew, in 1945. His property, including the siheyuan, was confiscated but in 1949, Zhou returned to Beijing where he had to share his beloved property with families who'd moved in dur?ing the interim. Zhou continued to work on his literary legacy, translating Japanese and Greek literature from 1950 to 1966; many of these, such as the Dialogues of Lucian, con?tinue to be the standard translations today. Sadly, a peaceful end was to elude Zhou as he was one of the many tortured and killed in the tumult of the Cultural Revolution.

 

There goes the neighborhood

 

Nowadays, No. 11 looks like it has been ransacked but Li, an old woman who has lived here 40 years, speaks passionately about its history. She described Zhou was still there when she moved in, and the lilac trees planted by Lu Xun were part of the front yard. So, too, was Zhang Shuzhen, the family servant. "She was the last of the Zhou household and every time someone came here in search of the Zhou name, she was their guide. She died in 2009,"Li said.

At present, "Nothing has been confirmed by the authority of Xicheng district conern?ing demolition,"said one resident. A 50-year old lady who lives in No. 30, pointed at Zhou's former garage and said, "The groove was still there when I was young and I often fell into it… there have been so many people moving in and out that almost 80 percent of them I've never known."

While Badaowan has long been on the demolition list to be integrated into the No.35 middle school campus, one ray of hope remains. "There is a possibility that No.11 will be kept for the future school li-brary,"said Sun Yu, "We hoped that it could be a part of the Lu Xun Museum but due to financial matters, it might not become true."