Lin Jinghun (Chinese, 1883–after 1964), Calligraphy: “Returning at Midnight, the Moon Is at Its Zenith,” 1964
Ink on paper, inscribed, dedicated, dated, and signed, with two seals of the artist.
Image size: 26 1/2 × 12 5/8 inches
Frame size: 33 1/4 × 16 5/8 inches
Calligraphy:
“Returning at midnight, the moon is at its zenith.”
Dedication:
“For the remembrance of Qing Kun, my esteemed shijiang.”
The term shijiang is a respectful traditional form of address for a younger descendant of a scholarly or cultivated family.
Signature:
“Lin Jinghun, at the age of eighty-two.”
Date:
“Third month of the jiachen year, the fifty-third year of the Republic of China,” corresponding to 1964.
Seals:
“Seal of Lin Jinghun”
“Heart Studio”
Lin Jinghun was born in 1883 in Antang Village, Dayong, Xiangshan County, now part of Zhongshan, Guangdong Province. A member of the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance and an early participant in the movement that overthrew the Qing dynasty, he studied at a military academy before conducting revolutionary activities under the cover of working in the salt administration.
In 1907, Lin followed Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary forces and fought Qing troops for seven days and nights at Zhennanguan, present-day Friendship Pass, before retreating into Vietnam. On April 27, 1911, he participated in the Huanghuagang Uprising in Guangzhou. After its failure, he escaped to Macao and worked with other members of the Revolutionary Alliance to organize the defection of New Army troops stationed near Xiangshan. Following the liberation of Xiangshan, he helped lead local revolutionary forces toward Guangzhou.
After Sun Yat-sen resigned as provisional president in 1912, Lin moved to Hong Kong and entered business. He served as magistrate of Xiangshan County in 1924 and was again briefly involved in county government during the political conflicts of 1925. He later participated in preparations for the Guangxi Industrial Bank. When Hong Kong fell to Japan in 1941, the occupation authorities reportedly attempted to compel him to serve in a collaborationist administration. Lin refused and eventually escaped to Shaoguan. After the war, he served as a standing committee member of an organization commemorating the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance and as chairman of the Guangzhou Zhongshan Native-Place Association.
Surviving calligraphy by identified participants in the Huanghuagang Uprising is exceptionally scarce. This dated work is therefore important not only as an example of Lin Jinghun’s calligraphy but also as a primary historical document. Because previously published biographical accounts generally record his death date as unknown, the inscription “Lin Jinghun, at the age of eighty-two,” together with the date 1964, establishes that he was still living and artistically active in that year. The work consequently supplies a significant missing detail in the historical record of his later life.
The calligraphy was dedicated to Qing Kun (1929–2009), the father of the present consignor and a head chef at Sun Hung Heung Restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Born with the name Hing Kwun, he later dropped “Hing” and became known as Kwun Chow. He entered the United States as a “paper son,” a term associated with the immigration histories through which many Chinese migrants claimed familial relationships in order to overcome exclusionary restrictions.
In 1964, when Lin created this calligraphy, Qing Kun was working as the head chef of Sun Hung Heung, a prominent Chinatown restaurant operated by the Lum family. The dedication suggests that Qing Kun was respected not only for his professional standing but also as a person with an appreciation for calligraphy and the arts, and that he may have maintained relationships with artists, intellectuals, and members of Chinatown’s cultural community.
The expression “Qing Kun shijiang” is especially meaningful. Shijiang was not an ordinary form of casual address but an honorific traditionally applied to a respected younger descendant of a scholarly or cultivated family. Its use here conveys affection, respect, and a sense of cultural fellowship between the elderly revolutionary and the younger Chinatown chef.
Lin dated the work according to the fifty-third year of the Republic of China rather than by the Gregorian calendar. Written in 1964, fifteen years after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, this choice signals his continued identification with the political and cultural traditions of the Republic of China. Within the context of San Francisco’s Chinatown, the inscription also bears witness to the diverse political affiliations and historical memories maintained by overseas Chinese communities during the Cold War.
The work is therefore more than an individual example of calligraphy. It connects the revolutionary history of early 20th-century China with the immigration, restaurant, and cultural history of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Through the relationship between Lin Jinghun, a veteran of the Huanghuagang Uprising, and Qing Kun, a Chinese immigrant and respected Chinatown chef, the calligraphy preserves a personal encounter between two generations of modern Chinese history.
Michaan’s Auctions gratefully acknowledges the descendant of Mr. Qing Kun for offering this work and for generously sharing the invaluable family history that allows its wider historical significance to be understood.
林警魂（1883年至1964年后）书法“夜半归来月正中”，1964年
水墨纸本，题字、上款、纪年并署名，钤艺术家印两方。
画心尺寸：26 1/2 × 12 5/8英寸
镜框尺寸：33 1/4 × 16 5/8英寸
释文：
“夜半归来月正中。”
上款：
“庆昆世讲留念。”
“世讲”是传统社会中对书香门第后辈所使用的尊称，带有敬重与亲厚之意。
落款：
“林警魂时年八二。”
纪年：
“民国五十三年甲辰三月”，即1964年。
印章：
“林警魂印”
“心斋”
林警魂，1883年出生于广东香山县大涌安堂村，今属中山市。他是中国同盟会会员及辛亥革命先驱，早年曾在讲武学堂学习，肄业后以办理盐务为掩护，从事革命活动。
1907年，林警魂追随孙中山领导的革命军，在广西镇南关，即今友谊关，与清军连续作战七昼夜，革命军失利后撤入越南。1911年4月27日，他参加广州黄花岗起义。起义失败后，林警魂逃至澳门，并与其他同盟会成员联络，策动驻香山县前山的新军反正。香山光复后，他与任鹤年等人指挥香山军进军广州，成为最早进入广州的革命队伍之一。
1912年孙中山辞去临时大总统职务后，林警魂转往香港经商。1924年8月，他出任香山县长，同年12月离任；1925年又在复杂的政治冲突中短暂参与香山县政务。此后，他曾担任广西实业银行筹备主任。
1941年香港沦陷后，日军曾试图威迫林警魂在傀儡政权中任职，但他坚决不从，辗转逃往韶关。抗日战争胜利后，他曾担任中国革命同盟会纪念组织常务委员，以及广州市中山同乡会理事长。
参加黄花岗起义者留下的书法真迹极为少见。因此，本作不仅是林警魂书法艺术的实物遗存，也是一件重要的第一手历史文献。现有传记资料通常将林警魂的生卒年记作“1883年—？”，未能说明其晚年经历及确切卒年。本作明确题写“林警魂时年八二”，并纪年“民国五十三年甲辰三月”，证明林警魂至1964年仍然在世，并继续从事书法创作。由此，本作填补了林警魂晚年生平记录中的一项重要缺环。
本作上款人为“庆昆世讲”。庆昆先生（1929–2009）是本件作品委托人的父亲，也是旧金山唐人街新杏香酒楼的主厨。其原名为Hing Kwun，晚年去掉“Hing”，以Kwun Chow之名为人所知。他以“纸儿子”身份进入美国。“纸儿子”是美国排华时期特殊移民制度下形成的历史称谓，许多中国移民通过申报虚构或替代性的亲属关系，突破排华法律所设置的入境限制。
1964年林警魂创作此幅书法时，庆昆先生正在由林氏家族经营的新杏香酒楼担任主厨。这一题赠表明，庆昆先生不仅是一位受到尊重的厨师，也可能具有对书法与艺术的深厚兴趣，并与旧金山唐人街的艺术家、知识分子及文化社群保持交往。
林警魂称庆昆为“世讲”，尤其值得注意。“世讲”并非普通的应酬称谓，而是传统社会中对书香门第后辈所使用的尊称。此处既包含长者对晚辈的爱护与赞许，也反映出二人之间建立在文化认同和相互尊重之上的关系。
林警魂没有采用公历纪年，而是题写“民国五十三年”。1964年距离中华人民共和国成立已经十五年，他继续使用中华民国纪年，显示出其对中华民国政治与文化传统的持续认同。在旧金山唐人街的历史语境中，这一纪年也见证了冷战时期海外华人社群在国共两党及不同中国政治认同之间所作出的多元选择。
因此，这件作品的意义远远超出一幅个人书法。它将20世纪初中国革命史与旧金山唐人街的移民史、餐饮史及文化史联系在一起。通过黄花岗起义参与者林警魂与华人移民、唐人街名厨庆昆之间的交往，本作保存了两代中国人之间一次真实而珍贵的历史相遇。
Michaan’s Auctions衷心感谢庆昆先生的后人提供这件作品，并慷慨分享相关家族历史，使其更广泛的历史与文化意义得以被重新认识。
For condition report and additional photos, please contact the Asian Art Department.
