Sheep bid farewell to the old year with the new trend and the monkey greets the new year with righteousness (photo))
Horse spoon facial makeup production/Li Jiyou
Folk toys
< p>Maroon MonkeyMonkey Opera Production/Yang Zhizhong
Mane Man Production/Bai Dacheng
Xu Zhuo
The Year of the Monkey is coming. The cute monkeys become the most delightful objects to watch. Mr. Xu Zhuo, the veteran American editor of the overseas edition of "People's Daily" who has personally produced zodiac wall calendars for 20 consecutive years, has done it again this year. This Year of the Monkey calendar shows many monkey images that are smart, carefree, and blessed with good fortune and longevity. We specially invited teacher Xu Zhuo to tell the interesting stories behind the calendar production and present them to readers of all ages. We wish our friends good luck in the Year of the Monkey and longevity and health.
1997 was the Year of the Ox in the lunar calendar. I selected classic works from cultural relics and folk art related to cattle, edited and designed them into a large 16-page calendar, and the response was very good. Since then, driven by the concern from all sides, I have insisted on compiling one book every year, gradually forming my own unique style. After 12 years of the first round, we started the second round, and the second round has been done for 8 years. Now, 20 years later, when I look through these 20 wall calendars, I can still vividly remember the work I did for these calendars. Every year I see everyone looking forward to it as always, and I feel really indescribable joy.
The wall calendar is not large, but it embodies the emotions and efforts of many people, showing the talents of countless artists from ancient to modern times. It takes a year to compile the annual wall calendar from collecting works to printing it out. Each work is hard-won and has many evocative stories behind it.
Gather all the words "Monkey"
Take this year's Year of the Monkey calendar as an example. As soon as the Spring Festival passed last year, I started looking for "Monkey". Monkeys are very similar to humans in terms of size, movement and intelligence. They are active, clever and cute. They have been good friends of humans since ancient times. In folklore stories, interesting stories between humans and monkeys are common. For example, monkeys love to eat peaches, so among the 12 zodiac animals, the ancients regarded them as a symbol of happiness and longevity.
I thought there must be a lot of works with monkeys as the theme, but it is not easy to find them. Because a wall calendar for the Year of the Monkey has been produced in 2004, many classic works about monkeys in cultural relics have been used. Fortunately, monkeys have a close relationship with humans, so there are still many artworks with monkeys as themes in folk art. In particular, Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West" is an important image in the monkey calendar.
In order to enhance the academic, readability and knowledge, an article of about 1,000 words has been added. Each time, researcher Yang Hong, an expert from the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is invited to write. Similarly, 300 words of appreciation of the work and introduction to the author are added under each monthly picture, so that readers can not only appreciate the exquisite works, but also increase their knowledge. The increase in zodiac calligraphy in the past dynasties is also a feature of the second round of wall calendars. All "monkey" characters are collected from the "Chinese Calligraphy Dictionary", allowing readers to see "monkey" characters from different eras, different calligraphers, and different calligraphy styles. .
The homophonic pronunciation of "monkey on the back" means that generations of people have been granted the title of marquis
The upper right part of the second cover is a painting of "Ape Picking Fruits" on silk from the Song Dynasty collected by the Palace Museum. Partially, it is the best representation of apes in Song Dynasty paintings. The upper left still uses paper-cutting by Shen Peinong. This painting "Mother and Child Love" was created by Shen Peinong in 1991 for the last Year of the Monkey, and the one used in February is both dyed paper-cutting. There is a small monkey lying on the monkey's back, which is also a theme of "monkey on the back" often used in folk art. "Monkey on the back" is homophonic, which means that generations of people have been granted titles and hope for promotion and wealth from generation to generation. The shadow puppet "Monkey King" collected by the Shaanxi Provincial People's Art Museum is an excellent shadow puppet that I have seen that portrays the image of Sun Wukong. Li Cunsong's collection of Shanghai's dough sculpture Sun Wukong and Henan's Nancheng stone monkey are both typical masterpieces of folk artists. The stone monkeys in Nancheng, Henan are famous far and wide, and many people are still doing it. While flipping through a collection of "Folk Toys" edited by Li Youyou, I came across Beijing's "Maroon Monkey", which is both wonderful and rare.
The one on the lower right is the sugar painting "Monkey Holding a Peach", which I took many years ago in Pixian County, Chengdu. It depicts the monkey's look with just a few strokes, and uses the sugar painting techniques to the extreme. It’s a long story. In 1983, when I was still working at the National Art Museum of China, I went to Pixian County, Chengdu to collect folk art. On the roadside outside the cultural center, I took a photo of Gao Bangjin, an old artist who made sugar paintings. At that time, he finished one and brought it over for me to take pictures. After taking more than ten pictures, he left in a hurry and went to the next interview point.
After returning to Beijing, I carefully savored these photos and felt that the style, taste and skills of the old man's works were superior to others. Many of his works have the legacy of Han Dynasty portraits. The shading, expansion and contraction of "pen and ink", point by point, fast and slow movements are all done in one go. It is not a day's work, it is really wonderful. I just regret that I took too few pictures at that time. It is no exaggeration to say that in the following decades, I have never seen anyone who did better than him. Later, I always had a wish to take more photos of the old gentleman if I had the opportunity. Twenty-three years later, in 2006, I had the opportunity to go on a business trip to Chengdu. With the help of enthusiastic friends, I found this 83-year-old artist on the old street of Ande Town, Pixian County. Unfortunately, the old man's hands were no longer capable of doing what he wanted. Fortunately, his children also do well. They often set up stalls and perform at temple fairs, and they can rely on this craft to supplement the family income.
Bai Dacheng’s Mane Man Sun Wukong occupies the cover
The Year of the Monkey calendar always has a hairy monkey work.
In the display cabinet of Bai Dacheng's home, we can see that he has collected many works by famous hairy monkey artists. The picture "Hairy Monkey Shaved" used on the second cover this time is an early work by Ji Honggui, a famous hairy monkey artist in Beijing.
When designing the covers of the second round of zodiac calendars, a unified style was formed, that is, they were all partial and gray backgrounds of a zodiac work. In the first nine years, there were no same categories in terms of materials, so Created a problem for myself. When thinking about the cover of the Year of the Monkey calendar, I flipped through picture albums and searched online, and found many clues about the image of the monkey. Among the works I have shot in the past, I first thought of using Bai Dacheng's Mane Man in "The Palace of Heaven".
In April 2008, in order to introduce Bai Dacheng’s mane art in the overseas edition of People’s Daily, I went to Mr. Bai’s home for an interview. The old gentleman received me warmly and allowed me to film many of his manes one after another. Mr. Bai also demonstrated to me "Havoc in the Heavenly Palace". He placed the mane man on a copper plate and hit it with a wooden stick. The mane man would rotate according to the knocking, which was very vivid like the opera characters fighting on the stage. Zongren became popular in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and old Beijingers used to call it "Panzhong Opera". Bai Dacheng (male, born in Beijing in 1939) met Wang Hanqing, the second-generation descendant of the "King of Mane Man", at the age of 19. He studied art with him and saved the art of Mane Man from the brink of extinction. At present, only Bai Dacheng has inherited the skill of making mane figures. The mane figures he produced retain strong characteristics of Peking Opera and also have many new developments in themes.
The Sun Wukong used on the cover is a large Sun Wukong created by Mr. Bai specially invited by the Chinese Folk Writers and Artists Association for the Spring Festival Gala of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles in the last Year of the Monkey. On April 13, 2008, I took this photo at Mr. Bai’s house. Because the background paper I brought with me was a small sheet, this Sun Wukong with two feathers is very tall (42 cm). The background paper was not enough, so I cut out the pictures again after I came back and changed the background. Because the whole body was photographed back then, and the head was relatively small, the clarity would not be enough if only part of it was used for the cover, so it had to be re-photographed according to the composition of the cover.
I don’t know if this work is still there. If it is given away or sold, it would be troublesome to find out which collection it is. In April last year, I called Mr. Bai and asked if he was still there. I hurried to his house, and when I walked in, I saw the things on display at his house. I felt at ease all of a sudden. I asked Mr. Bai to take time to clean off the dust on it and repair the beads on the helmet. I will take pictures after cleaning.
Compared with the original, the large size of the hairy monkey has no color cast.
Last September, I brought lamps, shelves, and background paper several times (the background paper in the past was much older) , some places were torn and dirty, so this time I bought a new large piece of gradient background paper), a camera, and waited at Mr. Bai's house to take pictures of his large Monkey King and other monkey-related works. That day, several young people from "Travel TV" also came to take pictures of his works. They were in a room inside and I was in the outside hall. Mr. Bai had to deal with two groups of people taking pictures at the same time. He worked tirelessly and I The photo was quite satisfying.
After finalizing the draft every year, I will go to the "Holy Rainbow Color Printing Center" located on the west side of Madian Bridge on the North Third Ring Road to electronically separate the reversal films. For each selected picture, please click here Professional image adjusters adjust the colors to meet printing requirements, and then make a color sample for each image. If you are not satisfied, adjust it again and re-proof it until you are satisfied. When I came back this time, I was generally satisfied with the proof of the cover, but I was still not sure about the red tone on Sun Wukong's face. Is it too dark or too deep? I feel unsure. Fortunately, the real thing is still there. I think I'd better go to Mr. Bai's house and have a look. On the morning of November 13 last year, I came to Mr. Bai's house again with the proofs. I took the original and compared it. Yes, the color of the original is exactly like this, without any color deviation. This made me feel at ease.
That day I also brought the text and graphic design samples to ask Mr. Bai for his opinions. After reading them, he said he had no objections and they were all correct. I said: "The cover of the calendar every year is the most important. Once the cover is decided, it will be easy to deal with later. This time, using your mane man as the cover is really good. The red and yellow colors are very festive, and Sun Wukong is so energetic." After all, for This is the cover of the Year of the Monkey calendar. I was busy from April to November last year and went to Mr. Bai’s house 8 times. It was worth it.
The embroidered monkey works are selected from a stall in Panjiayuan
There are many monkeys in folk paper-cutting, but if you choose it for a wall calendar, the work of Shen Peinong, an outstanding paper-cutting artist in Beijing, is the most suitable . His works are rough and beautiful, full of ethnic decorative interest and full of life. Just like this year's painting, which uses dyeing to show a monkey carrying longevity peaches. The peony in the middle symbolizes wealth, and a bat above symbolizes happiness. The overall meaning is "good luck in the Year of the Monkey", joy and auspiciousness. It is most suitable to be used in the first month of the Lunar New Year. Mr. Shen Peinong has created many works representing the twelve zodiac animals throughout his life. This piece is one of a group of monkey works created in 1991 for the second Year of the Monkey. Although Mr. Shen has left us fifteen years ago, his works still have infinite vitality and still provide people with beautiful enjoyment.
Embroidery is a very important type of folk art. I really hope to find a good work with monkeys in it. In July 2015, I went to the stall of Pan Yuzhen, a Miao embroidery collector from Guizhou whom I have known for many years in Panjiayuan. Now she also has an embroidered garment with the same pattern on her stall.
This embroidery is part of the back part of the embroidered dress worn by Mrs. Gunzangtou when the Miao people held a grand ancestor worship "Guzang Festival". It was fully embroidered with patterns related to the life of the Miao people. The big tree represents the vast forest, in which animals, cattle and horses shuttle, and birds and insects fly.
Five lively monkeys with different postures climb up and down the big tree, illustrating the process of the Miao people creating a prosperous life. The entire embroidery expresses the Miao people's world view of "all things are animated and living", and is an excellent work in Miao embroidery. I asked her again about the author of this embroidered dress? Pan Yuzhen carefully wrote in my notebook "Pan Ji Wu Xiu, Wucha Village, Wuhe Township, Gedong Town, Taijiang County, Guizhou Province" and said: "This old lady was over eighty years old when she embroidered this dress. , now gone.”
I miss the toys I bought for a few cents
Mr. Li Cunsong is a famous collector of folk toys. I was with him in China back then. When I work in an art museum, I often help them take photos of their folk art collections, which gives me a better understanding of folk art knowledge.
For twenty years since 1997, we have received Lao Li’s full support every year. For example, when the Year of the Ox arrived, he would find all the cows in his family collection for me to choose and take pictures of. He also explained how to collect them in detail. Each item was not easy to obtain and had its own story.
Now, although Lao Li has been gone for five years, his wife and daughter are still eager to help me. When the year comes, I will find all the collections at home one by one for me to take pictures of. Therefore, every year on the wall calendar you can see the exquisite folk art collected by Lao Li over many years of hard work, many of which are now orphans. He said: "The toys I bought for a few cents at a stall back then can't be bought today no matter how much money I think of. The old artist is no longer around. Because he doesn't make money, future generations won't do it anymore."
One day in August last year, Li Cunsong’s daughter Li Youyou informed me that I had found the monkey. When I went to her house, I saw that there were quite a few. Among them are two cloth monkeys from Baoji, Shaanxi Province. I have seen similar works in albums and exhibitions in the past. I think the two opposites can be photographed in one frame and have a separate page.
While taking the photo, I found that the green tassel hanging from the outer edge of the hat blocked my face and made my eyes invisible. I took a picture of the one with the tassels, and the one with the tassels tucked in. The one without the tassels was better, with the eyes, ears, and mouth exposed. Then I took pictures of his stone monkey, monkey toys, clay-painted monkeys, etc.
When I took the complete picture for the first time, I found that if all kinds of monkey toys that can be played and moved are gathered together, the characteristics of the monkey toys can be better reflected. So I contacted Li Youyou and asked her to find some movable monkey toys made of wood and bamboo from Lushi and Junxian counties in Henan Province. When I looked carefully, I saw that each piece was a wonderful piece of local art.
Clay figurines have unveiled a new monkey baby to celebrate their birthdays
In addition to classic masterpieces and common folk art from past dynasties, each calendar also hopes to have new and exclusive works. For this reason, I Every year I think of some themes and invite artists to create them specifically for my wall calendar.
At the beginning of last year, in a clay figurine Zhang Studio store on Gulou North Street in Tianjin, I saw several works by Yang Zhizhong displayed in the display cabinets. One of them was a child running with several peaches on his back, which was very strange. vivid. I think I can make a fuss out of this work. Put a Sun Wukong mask on the child's head, and it can be associated with the Year of the Monkey. Carrying peaches on its back, it can be named "Monkey Baby Offers Longevity."
After the founding of New China, the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Culture established the "Clay Figure Zhang Studio" in order to protect and inherit the traditional art of Clay Figure Zhang. It created good working conditions for the descendants of clay figurine Zhang, and at the same time recruited a group of students to receive training from their predecessors. Yang Zhizhong is one of the first batch of students. He loves the art of color sculpture, is diligent and studious, and studies hard, becoming the most outstanding successor to the clay figurine Zhang's art of color sculpture.
I sent him the photos I took in the store and told him my thoughts, asking him to see if I could recreate one. After seeing it, he replied: "No problem." A few days later After that, the sketch was produced. After some time, the clay draft was ready.
On September 5 last year, I took a lamp, a stand, background paper, and a camera to his house in Tianjin to take pictures. At first glance, the style is consistent with the traditional clay figurine Zhang, and the characters are accurately shaped, exactly as I imagined them. Yang Zhizhong added an original, wonderful and vivid page to this wall calendar.
The Ming Dynasty emperor's "Picture of Playing a Monkey" is a very important theme in the representation of monkeys in folk art. The pair of Shaanxi Baoji Fengxiang clay sculptures I photographed before are very good. One large and one small, one high and one low, facing each other, the picture effect is good. Since it was part of the museum's collection, I wasn't in a hurry. Over the past 20 years, the art museum has been an important source of folk art in this calendar, and we have received their strong cooperation every year. They said: "I have never treated you as an outsider." Thank you very much.
I got to know Li Jiyou, a master of Shehuo facial makeup in Baoji, Shaanxi Province, when I was working in an art museum. I have seen the White Ape and Sun Wukong made by Mr. Li in the past. At the beginning of last year, when I was raising manuscripts for the Year of the Monkey, I naturally thought of Li Jiyou's horse spoon facial makeup.
I asked him if he had any new horse spoons showing apes and monkeys? He said of course. Not long after, he put the newly painted White Ape and Sun Wukong in a cardboard box and couriered them to my home. Before I even opened the package, I was moved. Because I was afraid of damage on the road, I packed it with three layers inside and three layers outside. Mr. Li said that the white monkey picture was designed based on the local traditional Shehuo facial makeup. The face is in the shape of an inverted peach, and the top of the longevity peach painted on the forehead has a small pimple bent over it. This is also the local Shehuo painting method.
There are many ancient paintings depicting apes. This time I used "Ape Playing" by Emperor Zhu Zhanji of the Ming Dynasty. It is a masterpiece of ape and monkey paintings in the past. It was recommended to me by my friend Hu Chui at the beginning of last year.
I searched online and found out that it is a collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. I can’t get the original film, but it would be fine if I could find a well-printed album. Later, when I moved to Liulichang, I discovered that this work was included in a picture album "Forbidden City Painting Book - Flowers and Birds - Monkeys" compiled by the Forbidden City Publishing House, and it was printed very well. I bought a copy and used it to scan when I came back, and the effect was very good.
The back cover paper-cut "Bingshen Welcomes Spring" is still specially created by Wang Xuefeng, a young paper-cut artist from Jinan, Shandong. This is the seventh consecutive year that he has been invited to create for my wall calendar since the Year of the Tiger. Every year after I called him, he would quickly cut it up and send it to me. What touched me was that every time he would carefully create five or six pieces for me to choose from.
“Yours is the best”
After the pictures and texts are compiled, printing is the final key to the quality of the calendar. Each time, I work with the technician who adjusts the image to adjust the color of the final image on the computer and print out a digital sample until I am satisfied. This is a key link in printing a wall calendar. Only if the printing is good can we move on to the next step. When I arrived at the printing plant, I had to be present when the printing started, whether it was the day shift or the night shift. As soon as each block is printed, I have to compare it with the printed digital sample. Only when there is no problem will I start printing in large quantities.
Year after year, with these 20 calendars, there are so many stories that touch me. Many friends said that starting from the first one, they have kept all 20 copies intact, forming a set of exquisite zodiac art albums. Every year at the end of the year, many friends look forward to the calendar for the coming year and call to ask if they still have it. Don't forget me! Some said: "I receive many almanacs and desk calendars every year, but compared with others, yours is the best. The pictures are beautifully selected and very practical." Others said: "I received the new year's wall calendar. It’s wonderful. It’s like this every year, and I’m grateful. I don’t use other calendars, only yours.”
In many friends’ homes, the wall calendars are changed one after another. Year after year they passed. I also gained a sense of accomplishment and felt very gratified. Now, although I have been away from work for 9 years, editing and making a zodiac wall calendar is still a major thing that I must do every year and has become a part of my life.