Back to 80: My Literary Life

Two days later, Fang Minghua was at work when he suddenly received a call from Wu Tianmin.

"Minghua, did Zhang Yimou come to your place two days ago?"

"Yeah, he and I discussed making this movie for a while. What happened?"

"He came to me yesterday and said that this movie is going to use all non-professional actors, including the heroine. Do you agree with his idea? And also gave him a set of methods on how to select non-professional actors?"

"Brother Wu, do you think what he is doing is wrong, or do you think the methods I mentioned are not good?" Fang Minghua asked.

"I heard the opinions that Yimou said are very reasonable. What I'm worried about is that Yimou can't choose the role well. It's very difficult for non-professional actors to film. After all, this is his first time directing a film. You don't know what I want to do for him. How much pressure was he under when filming this movie? I'm really worried that he won't be able to do it well."

Fang Minghua was silent for a moment and then said: "Brother Wu, I understand your feelings. But think about it, the heroine is a 13-year-old girl. Where can you ask him to find such a young professional actor now? You can't Why don't you go to Yandian and Yangzhou Opera to find students in their twenties to film? It's too inconsistent, so I support his opinion."

"As for the problem of non-professional actors who have never learned acting and it is difficult to get into the role, I think Zhang Yimou can handle this problem well."

On the other side of the microphone, Wu Tianmin's voice came after a while: "You are more confident in him than I am. Okay, just follow what he said. Since you let him do it, let go of his hands and feet!"

"Haha, Brother Wu, maybe he can really surprise you." Fang Minghua said leisurely.

Zhang Yimou took his crew away and took the train straight to Zhenbeibao, Ningxia. Along with him was his partner He Qun who was seconded from the Guangxi Film Factory.

Fang Minghua's days passed slowly.

In addition to going to work, I write "My Journey is the Sea of ​​Stars" in my spare time. In my free time, I also have another hobby: appreciating celebrity calligraphy and paintings.

I slowly read through the four large boxes of calligraphy and paintings, and also bought a book called "Chinese Calligraphy" by the well-known calligrapher and calligraphy educator Mr. Lu Weizhao and "Hua Quan", a theoretical work on painting in the Qing Dynasty. I would read them when I had nothing to do to cultivate my sentiments.

When I have time, I also visit Yan Bingchu and ask for advice on how to appreciate celebrity calligraphy and painting and how to preserve them.

Ever since Fang Minghua bought Zheng Banqiao's "Ink Bamboo Picture" from Yan Bingchu for 3,000 yuan, the two knew each other.

Later, Fang Minghua bought some famous calligraphy and paintings one after another and asked Yan Bingchu to help identify them. Yan Bingchu had nothing to do all day long and was willing to be consulted by others. The two of them became friends every year.

There wasn't much to do at work this afternoon, so Fang Minghua took the three paintings of Daqian, Qi Baishi and others he bought at the History Museum and rode to Yan Bingchu's house in Baoji Lane, Nanyuanmen, letting him admire them and telling him about the paintings.

"This piece of Zhang Daqian's "Picture of a Beautiful Couple" is a splash-color and ink painting with lotus as the theme. The lotus is very delicate, the colors of the pair of mandarin ducks are colorful, and the scene in the thick shade is magnificent without being crafty. It can be regarded as one of Zhang Daqian's paintings. better."

In Yan Bingchu's study, the old man was admiring and explaining to Fang Minghua.

"Qi Baishi is good at painting shrimps, and Zhang Daqian likes to paint lotus. Appreciating and painting lotuses are his biggest hobbies. In his early years, Zhang Daqian painted mostly freehand paintings. Later, he went to Dunhuang and was influenced by the Dunhuang murals with heavy colors. He began to turn to heavy colors. In his later years, he combined with splash-ink landscapes Integrated into the lotus, Zhang Daqian's lotus paintings combine handwriting, heavy colors, and splashes of ink. They have a unique style and become a school of their own. There is also the Daqian School of Painting."

"Your painting "Picture of a Jia Couple" is a work of Zhang Daqian's later years. At that time, he was going through a period of transformation from copying masters of various schools with fine brushstrokes in the early stage to his own splash-color and ink style in the later period. You can see it from his brushwork. out."

Listening to the old man's introduction, Fang Minghua looked at it carefully.

"Actually, one of Zhang Daqian's most famous paintings is not a painting of lotus, but a painting of the Yangtze River. It's called "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River" and is collected by the National Palace Museum in Taipei."

"There are several paintings called "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River". Xia Gui of the Southern Song Dynasty, Wang Meng of the Yuan Dynasty, Dai Jin of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Hui of the Qing Dynasty, and Wu Guanzhong in modern times all painted "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River."

Fang Minghua listened with interest and couldn't help but ask:

"Mr. Yan, which artist among these "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River" do you think is the most famous?"

After hearing this, Yan Bingchu stroked his gray beard and said with a smile: "In my opinion, the most artistically valuable one is the one painted by Wang Hui, the "Four Kings" in the early Qing Dynasty - 16 meters long, and it is said that it cost seven This huge painting was carefully completed over more than a month. I have seen this authentic work before, and now it is in the hands of Chinese-American Weng Wange, who has many calligraphy and painting cultural relics in his hands."

"Do you know who Weng Wangge is?" Yan Bingchu asked again.

Fang Minghua seemed to have heard this name on the Internet and had done something quite controversial, but he couldn't remember it at the moment.

"He is not famous, but his ancestor is very powerful. His name is Weng Tonghe. He was the teacher of the two emperors Tongzhi and Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. Weng Tonghe is known as the "first mentor of China's reform." Basically all the cultural relics of the Weng family are from his hands. "

"My father Yan Ganyuan and his father Weng Zhilian were good friends. In the early years of the Republic of China, they took me to visit them. Once, Mr. Weng became so interested that he took out this ancestral treasure to appreciate it. I saw it once."

Yan Bingchu said finally.

Imperial Master?

Fang Minghua suddenly remembered.

It’s not Weng Tonghe but his descendant Weng Wange!

It seems that he donated more than 100 Chinese cultural relics collected by his family to a museum in the United States for free, including the famous "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River". But when it donated the book collection to China, it asked for US$4.5 million.

This incident has a great impact on the Internet, and many people think that he is a foreigner. Although the outside world has criticized Weng Wange, he himself has not given an explanation to the public.

After all, this is someone's own thing, and no one else can take care of it, so in the end it will just go away.

What a pity.

An old man and a young man were sitting in the study, one asked questions humbly and the other explained generously. They were chatting happily when they suddenly heard a knock on the door from outside.

When a family member went to open the door, a middle-aged man hurriedly walked in. Through the open door of the study, Fang Minghua discovered that it was Jia Pingwa who came in.

"Brother Jia, why are you here too? Looking for Mr. Yan?" Fang Minghua came out to greet him.

Jia Pingwa first said hello to Yan Bingchu, and then said to Fang Minghua: "No, I'm looking for you! I just went to your magazine and said you were out on business, so I went straight here, and sure enough you are here.

"Did I buy some paintings at the museum? Let Mr. Yan explain it." Fang Minghua explained with a smile.

Of course, he wouldn't say that he spent more than 300,000 yuan to buy it and wipe out all those words. He just said that he bought dozens of them.

"Brother Jia, what do you want from me?" Fang Minghua asked again.

"The Writers Association has informed you that the opening ceremony of the Literature Improvement Class of Xijing Literary College will be held at the Xincheng Theater the day after tomorrow. You are invited to attend."