Return From Exile
After returning to Beijing/Tianjian in 1888, Zhang managed to find work as a secretary/scribe for his former political enemy, Li Hongzhang. Reportedly, Li was so impressed with Zhang that he encouraged Zhang to marry Li's eldest daughter, Li Juou (李菊藕, 1866–1912), despite the couple's disparate ages and opposition from Li Juou's mother.
Nonetheless, Li Hongzhang still refused to help Zhang enter public life again and Zhang devoted himself to his literary ambitions instead. He and his family moved to Nanjing after the wedding and Zhang, with the help of his wife, began editing the various works that he had begun writing while in exile. The couple eventually co-wrote a cookbook and a martial arts novel.
In 1903, Zhang died in Nanjing at the age of 56 due to an unspecified liver disease. His wife died nine years later and they were buried together. Their graves were exhumed and desecrated during the Cultural Revolution five decades later.
Read more about this topic: Zhang Peilun
Famous quotes containing the words return and/or exile:
“I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, a plant, an inanimate object, indeed lost to us until the day, which for some never arrives, when we find that we pass near the tree, or come to possess the object which is their prison. Then they quiver, call us, and as soon as we have recognized them, the spell is broken. Freed by us, they have vanquished death and return to live with us.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“Public employment contributes neither to advantage nor happiness. It is but honorable exile from one’s family and affairs.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)