The Liang: A Documenta of Liang Sicheng & Lin Huiyin
Q-Can Art Museum, Shanghai I step into the first room of the Q-Can Art Museum in Shanghai and come face to face with a massive wooden model. A temple, standing at the center of the space. Around it, photographs and documents trace the life and work of Liang Sicheng. A couple of long tables display archival materials, sketching out the man and the architect. The exhibition isn’t empty, as I expected. Nine people are here with me. Considering the subject matter, that’s practically a crowd. Liang Sicheng was born on April 20, 1901, in Tokyo, Japan. His father, the prolific scholar and reformist Liang Qichao, was living in exile after the failed Hundred Days’ Reform. When the Qing dynasty collapsed in 1911, the family returned to China. His father briefly held a position in the new Republic’s government. But when power fell into the hands of the Beiyang Clique—a coalition of northern warlords—Liang Qichao stepped away from politics and devoted himself to introducing Western thought to Chinese society through literature and social movements. Liang Sicheng grew up in this progressive atmosphere, surrounded by culture and innovation. In 1915, he entered Tsinghua College in Beijing, marking the beginning of