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Learning and growth

Lin Huiyin

Architecture and verse

Lin Huiyin (Republic of China · Hangzhou · 1904-1955) — Architecture and verse.

Learning and growthThe industrial ageArchitecture and verse

What actually happened?

Her best-known poem, You Are the April of This World (1934), subtitled 'a song in praise of love', ends: 'You are the blossom of tree after tree, the swallow murmuring between the beams; you are love, warmth, hope; you are the April of this world.' It is often read as a love poem. Whom it was written for, people still disagree.

Doubt what only you see

At Foguang Temple only she could read the donor's name under the beam. Fearing a mistake, she checked the stone pillar outside; the names matched, and a Tang hall was dated.

You alone spot an odd number; check it in another system first.

You need not say the noble words

Her brother died in an air battle over Chengdu. Her elegy begins by admitting she has no language fit for the age, and still weeps after understanding everything.

At a funeral you can say: I don't know what to say, but I'm here.

The hardest part is setting out

In her letter from Shanxi she wrote that she had never travelled, found it hard to start, and once out did not know how to stop.

Go to one trial class instead of deciding for six months.

How do I use it today?

Pick one thing you are holding back on and write one line each: what second piece of evidence would settle it; what you feel that the ready-made words cannot hold; and what you want to see once you are out of the door.

Deep read

The Name on the BeamWhen only you can see it, doubt yourself first, then find a second witnessThe others made out a few official titles; she alone read the donor's name, then went to check the stone pillarWeeping for HengWhen someone close dies for a great cause, you do not have to say the noble wordsHer brother was shot down over Chengdu; three years later she admitted she had no language fit for the ageLetter from ShanxiWhen you cannot make yourself set out, remember what it is like once you are outShe had never travelled, she wrote; hard to start, and once out she did not know how to stop

Read alongside

Li QingzhaoTwo women writers driven from home by invasion, eight centuries apart. Li Qingzhao recorded a collection scattering on the road south; Lin Huiyin kept writing on a sickbed in Lizhuang while the society's drawings were moved from city to city. Xu XiakeBoth learned the country on foot. Xu Xiake walked to see mountains and rivers with his own eyes; Lin Huiyin climbed into temple roofs among the bats to measure buildings no one had recorded.

Further

Li Qingzhao Xu Xiake Marie Curie Florence Nightingale

Lines to keep

You are love, warmth, hope; you are the April of this world.