Liang Zaibing's Witnessed Love: Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng's Mutual Support

In 1929, when Lin Huiyin gave birth to her eldest daughter, Liang Zai Bing, a young Liang Sicheng picked up his camera and kept pressing the shutter to record the moment. Three years later, when their son Liang Zeng was born, he did the same. This was not indifference to his wife’s postpartum period but rather a proactive request from Lin Huiyin—she believed that childbirth was an important life transition from girlhood to motherhood, and that the genuine physical changes and life marks deserved to be preserved. Liang Sicheng fully supported this idea, using his camera to witness every significant moment of his wife. Those postpartum photos later became the warmest marks of time.

From Meeting to Partnership: Family Background and Cross-Ocean Fate

Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng’s meeting began with close interactions between two prominent families. Born in 1904 in Hangzhou, Lin Huiyin’s father, Lin Changmin, and Liang Sicheng’s father, Liang Qichao, frequently interacted. The two boys met early at family gatherings. Liang Qichao intentionally arranged for them to study together at Songpo Library, where they deepened their understanding through mutual learning, and their relationship gradually grew stronger.

In the 1920s, they went abroad to study in the United States. Lin Huiyin initially wanted to study architecture but switched to fine arts due to gender restrictions in her department. However, her persistence was unbroken—she insisted on auditing architecture courses, breaking gender barriers through her actions. In 1925, her father’s sudden passing plunged her into grief. During this time, Liang Sicheng was like a solid rock, supporting her through the difficult period. In 1928, they held their wedding in Canada, and during their honeymoon, they traveled across Europe to explore ancient architecture for half a year, beginning their shared academic journey.

A Mission Across Two Generations: Field Investigations of Ancient Architecture

After returning to China, Liang Sicheng founded the Department of Architecture at Northeast University, pioneering modern architectural education in China. Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng joined the Chinese Architectural Society, dedicating their lives to field investigations of ancient buildings. In 1932, they surveyed Dule Temple in Jizhou County, Hebei; in 1933, they visited the magnificent Buddha statues at Yungang Caves in Shanxi; in 1937, they unexpectedly discovered Tang Dynasty inscriptions at Foguang Temple on Mount Wutai—this discovery overturned the long-held Japanese scholarly view that there was no Tang wooden architecture in China, boosting national cultural confidence.

When the war of resistance broke out, they did not abandon their academic mission. With their children Liang Zai Bing and Liang Zeng, they moved southward to Kunming and Lijiazhuang. Despite extremely harsh conditions and Lin Huiyin’s occasional worsening lung illness, they never stopped researching and recording ancient architecture. During that era of national peril, documenting Chinese civilization became their most steadfast belief.

Designer of the National Emblem and Guardians of Cultural Heritage

After the victory of the war, the couple returned to Beijing and engaged in teaching and research at Tsinghua University’s Department of Architecture. After the founding of New China, although weakened by illness, Lin Huiyin participated in the design of the national emblem, proposing core elements such as jade disks and five stars, which were ultimately adopted as eternal symbols of the nation. She also contributed to the relief design of the Monument to the People’s Heroes and promoted the modern transformation of traditional crafts like cloisonné, striving to integrate Chinese aesthetics into new-era architecture and design.

In 1955, Lin Huiyin passed away at age 51 due to worsening tuberculosis. Liang Sicheng personally designed her tombstone, carving her floral wreath pattern into the stone to preserve her artistic life forever. In 1972, Liang Sicheng also passed away. This legendary couple not only pioneered the investigation of Chinese ancient architecture and made outstanding contributions to cultural heritage preservation but also left an eternal spiritual legacy in the lives of their children, including Liang Zai Bing. Those postpartum photos not only record Lin Huiyin’s dedication to life aesthetics but also witness their shared hardships and deep love, becoming the soft yet firm marks of history.