Building Dreams in the World in April

"Building Dreams in April in the World": ——Lin Huiyin's poetry and architecture [Introduction] This is a literary biography intertwined with poetic tenderness and architectural rationality. It tells the story of how Lin Huiyin, a talented woman in the Republic of China, created her legendary life with architecture as her bones and poetry as her soul in the collision of Chinese and Western cultures. From the heart-pounding first meeting in Kangqiao to the academic brilliance discovered in Foguang Temple; from the perseverance in exile during the war to the defense of the ancient city on the sick bed, this book reproduces in delicate writing how China's first female architect found her own unique cultural expression between Xu Zhimo's poetic passion and Liang Sicheng's solid protection. The book not only presents Lin Huiyin's emotional entanglements with two outstanding men, but also profoundly reveals her journey of sublimating this emotion into cultural creation. Those architectural sketches written on the back of Xu Zhimo's letters, those sparks of inspiration integrated into Liang Sicheng's academic research, eventually condensed into the solemn outline of the Monument to the People's Heroes and the architectural concept of "Chinese Body with Western Function". Through a large number of unpublished "design manuscripts on the backs of letters" and other precious historical materials, this book completely presents for the first time how poetry, love and architecture blended seamlessly in the life of this legendary woman. When the lilacs bloom in April, when the Tang-style brackets of Foguang Temple are still standing upright, the "architectural meaning" interpreted by Lin Huiyin with his life is still telling: true eternity is the victory of beauty over time. This work is not only a female epic, but also a touching story of a nation protecting the cultural lifeline amidst the great changes of the times.